a little parallel i guess

SHADOW AND BONE, S02E03

Crooked Kingdom, Chapter 14

the way they both were so in sync with this whole moment killed me in the best way. couples who side eye together stay together

Rewatching shadow and bone so here are some my favourite details I don’t see loads of people talking about part 2

“I know what Kaz thinks, I’m asking what you think” - so important in terms of Jesper’s relationship dynamic with Kaz and his desperation to please him and how it’s really his relationship with Wylan and the healing process he begins during Crooked Kingdom that begin to let him grow as himself and trust his own sense of self instead basing it on someone else

Everything about the Lynx flush omg.

Zoya’s hairstyle in the demonstration scene… this isn’t really an observation I just adore it

Inej’s disdain towards the outfit she wears during the acrobatics as almost definitely a hint to her feeling like she’s wearing Menagerie silks is heartbreaking and I think about it every time

Having Mal know immediately that blue irises - “not the white” - are Alina’s favourite flower is the most perfect wonderful reference to Inej’s father telling her that lots of boys may bring her flowers but it will be the boy who learns her favourite flower that takes her heart it’s so clever I love it so much

“Now get your Saint and let’s go” because Kaz can’t cope with intimacy the intimacy of the scene he has to finish it with an insult to distance himself from her I’m not crying

I recently watched the deleted wesper scene again and

I can stop thinking about how uncomfortable it is to put your arm around someone whilst they are leaning against those metal rods of the bed

Like, I have a bed like this and those rods push into your back and your arm and your head, and the way Wylan and Jesper a sitting with Jespers arm behind Wylan's back and them both leaning against the metal rods

I just KNOW Jesper's arm must be uncomfortable as fuck but that man is so smitten with his boyfriend he doesn't care

I feel like, in light of the SAB show cancellation, I should do another kanej fic rec list of older/underrated fics that I love?? Because, like, just because the show ends doesn’t mean the fandom is over! The fandom lives through creators who keep making cool stuff about these stories and characters, and through the people who seek out and enjoy that content.

I think about this a lot, honestly: there’s such a recency bias in fandom, as though if a new season isn’t *imminently* coming out and people aren’t posting a million new fics *now* then the fandom must be dead—and that’s just not true! As a writer, the best thing is getting comments on months- and years-old fics. And if anything, I hope this cancellation inspires people to go back and consume the SOC fics and art and edits that they love, and to comment on them, and to talk about them with other people who might love them.

We have the power to keep fandom alive in our hands; Netflix doesn’t. It never has.

EVERYONE WHO LIKES THE SIX OF CROWS/ SHADOW AND BONE SHOW

POST ABOUT IT

DONT STOP

POST ABOUT HOW YOU LOVE IT, EVERYWHERE THAT YOU POST

SHOW NETFLIX HOW NUMEROUS WE ARE, HOW MUCH WE LOVE IT

DONT LET THEM CANCEL IT WITHOUT A FIGHT

CAUSE THATS WHAT WE DO!! WE NEVER STOP FIGHTING!!

nikolai lantsov is so mastermind by taylor swift coded

like wdym no one wanted to play with me as a little kid so I've been scheming like a criminal ever since to make them love me and make it seem effortless... that's mister nikolai right there

look it is established that im a wylan girlie but matthias is so fucking underrated.

i have been made to protect you only in death will i break this oath ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME?????? IF I DON’T GET TO SEE CALAHAN SKOGMAN PLAY MATTHIAS AS THE REVERENT, STARS IN HIS EYES WHEN HE LOOKS AT HER FINDS RELIGION AGAIN IN HER MAN THAT HE IS I WILL TEAR NETFLIX DOWN MYSELF.

give me my emotional support reformed eugenicist you fucking fucks!!!!!!!!

Shadow and Bone season 2 spoilers

Nina punching Kaz is not something I thought I’d see this season but I am not angry about it

He is the perfect Nikolai.

"You go down just like holy Mary, Mary on a cross" but its Kaz and Inej when Kaz looks at her with the utmost devotion in his eyes during that scene in the church

the wesper deleted scene has been living in my head rent free since they released it. the way they look at each other, the vulnerability, wylan's little "wait no" when jes starts taking it back, wylan cutting jes off with a kiss, my word I loved it all

Rewatching Shadow and Bone so here are some of my favourite little details that I haven’t seen loads of people talk about (this is almost definitely just part 1 so stay tuned)

The bird cage in Heleen’s office

The masks on stalls in the Ketterdam streets, including Komedie Brute masks, what look like the Jackal masks, and what I believe might have been a sun summoner mask

The song that Ravkan soldiers in Mal’s unit sing whilst they march in s1e4 is the Kerch drinking song Nina sings for Inej on the boat in Six of Crows

Matthias’ hesitation before saying “I feel nothing for you” and Nina replying “then I guess that makes you good at your job” is SO reflective of Matthias’ realisation that Brum didn’t have to drown the good parts of himself to do terrible things the way Matthias always did; Matthias had grown to admire Brum for what he believed was the ability to silence the good in himself in order to do what “must be done” because he found that so difficult to do, and acknowledging that Brum didn’t find those things difficult the way he did was one of the most important moments of being able to separate himself from the Drüskelle beliefs and begin to understand that what he went through was actually abuse and what’s implied to be at least similar to Stockholm Syndrome (I’ve written at length about this and if I get going I’ll never stop, so if anyone wants to know more lemme know and I’ll tag you in my post about it)

“Pomdrakon Players”, the group the Crows join to infiltrate the Little Palace, references Ravkan desert “Pomdrakon” where you soak raisins in brandy then set them on fire and try to grab them in the dark that Nina tells Matthias about on the ice

This isn’t an observation I just thought you’d all like to know that when I was watching the map room scene in episode 4 every time Alina said ‘Aleksander’ I repeated her in a stupid voice, which was really unfair to Alina because she doesn’t know but it was a genuine reaction and I stand by it because screw the Darkling

The comment that the Fjerdans don’t mark ash tress because they’re scared, I love that. I wonder if they pray when they mark trees, like they do when they cut them down? I personally got the impression that all trees were precious but ash trees were sacred when I read the book

The valve to turn out the lights in the Royal Archives Heist because all the lighting is gas powered!! Like I know this probably was just a thing we knew without really thinking about but it’s also really cool in that it reminds us about the class difference between the Crows and the others since, at least in the books, gas lighting isn’t as common to the Barrel as candles and bone lights are but is implied to be more common among the Merchants

Also not an observation but “you’re the quarter master, aren’t you?” “Yep” *wallop* will never not be hilarious and iconic

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: the costume department for this show were goddamn miracle performers thank you for your service. I’ve banged on about the symbolism in the costumes before so I won’t now, but I have really only talked about s2 so I guess if you want more I could talk about s1

“No guns” *walking past Jesper* “no knives” *walking past Inej* “no weapons of any kind” *wait where’s Kaz* will always be fabulous

I genuinely have no idea how they did the Tailoring on Alina’s hair when Genya first does it for her but it is incredible like I don’t know exactly what changed but it just… I don’t know, it’s amazing

Nikolai is definitely going to show the appropriate reaction to being rescued by the shadow Cut, just saying...

He’s going to let Alina fuck his damn brains out is what I’m saying because that boy actually appreciates power unlike s1e1 Alina

general messy thoughts about sab s2 (spoilers ahead)

Things I liked:

- Genya. Daisy Head SLAYED completely she was SO GOOD. I didn’t like them downplaying her scars and I wished we had gotten the line “I am not ruined I’m ruination” especially knowing how much that line means to so many people but other than that Genya was everything Daisy did an INCREDIBLE job of playing her. I actually got teary-eyed at several points this season (and me and my emotions are not at all close so that’s a feat) and they were all either Genya or GenyaDavid scenes, which brings me to…

- Genya and David. They were so good. So wholesome. The best part of this season IMO. Like their brief scenes, them hugging in the woods, the tiniest moments STOLE the show. I cried for these two and these two alone. Also, David was so well-portrayed like I loved these two so much. 

- Several soft Malina moments that gave me butterflies and I felt accurately showed their dynamic, more toward the beginning of the season but they were there.

- Jack Wolfe as Wylan. I have some not-so-positive thoughts about the aged-up crows in general, but I still think Jack was a convincing Wylan and you can tell from both the show and from his interviews that he really cares about Wylan and his portrayal. Every time he LOOKED at Jesper I was like…wow just WOW.

- Getting to see Nina interacting with the Crows was nice. Especially when they turn around and she has waffles and Kaz has that annoyed moment but then we find out Nina got them the info they needed because she’s a spy and she’s incredible? 10/10 and one of the few moments that felt accurate to the real crows. Also, that part where she was talking to the guard and pretending she needed to pee (idk that was a weird way to describe it I know) but that was so Nina

- Also, just them together in a restaurant vibing was what I needed

- “The barrel doesn’t belong to kings. It belongs to bastards.”

- Tolya and Tamar were so cool in their introduction like they’re so hot and cool and powerful ahh

- When Genya, Alina, and Zoya are all at the Darling’s funeral pyre that was chilling

- The slivers of foreshadowing with Zoya.

Things I didn’t like:

- The weird slow motion in some of the fight scenes was so unnecessary lol

- Okay I’m not a fan of the Darkling and I’ve made that quite clear in the past, but I do think he’s a good and interesting villain and I like the Flavour he adds to the story but this season the Flavour was just…not there. It’s funny how many Darkling stans I’ve seen angry about this season because for once we’re in agreement. Like he was so boring and weird and just creepy instead of interesting and creepy? I wanted to skip all his scenes. Also, they took out so many of the awful things he did in the books like what about him killing Ana Kuya? When he says “you’ll have no shelter but me” that line hits so much harder and is so much more chilling and awful because he’s literally killing off the people in her life. Turning Nikolai into a monster himself?? The moment Alina loses her powers in the books and the Darkling tells her she’s nothing is SO IMPORTANT because it shows he’s just interested in her for her powers, which is a big theme in the books. As wonderful as Nikolai is, he needs Alina for what she can provide for Ravka. The Apparat just sees her for her power. Everyone wants to use Alina for something except for Mal who just wants them to be happy and able to make their own choices. Anyways, the Darkling didn’t feel like the Darkling from the books at all. Also, he was just cringy. Like I was laughing when he was like “I have returned. And I’ve made some new friends” and stared at the camera it was so bad.

- Ruin & Rising is my favourite from the trilogy and I was so disappointed with how much was cut out for the most random crap, like hallucinating and eating butterflies?? Instead of the bonding time with the whole TGT crew? And no Oncat I’m crying. There’s so much character growth that happens and so many relationships that are deepened in Ruin & Rising and WHERE WAS THAT?

- Personally, I didn’t think Paddy was giving Nikolai. Like he seems like a good person and actor and all that jazz but he just didn’t feel like Nikolai and since Nikolai is my favourite, this kind of hurt.

- Erasing Mal from the story and his struggles. Look, Mal is not by any means a perfect character. And he doesn’t need to be. Let him be messy. Let him struggle and sometimes be rude and make mistakes because that’s real that’s compelling. They could have shown all the book!Mal haters that maybe they were being too harsh on him because he was struggling SO MUCH but instead they just turned him into Perfect Supportive Man. His character growth in Ruin & Rising is so good especially after you’ve spent Siege & Storm thinking “what is going on with this man.” Seeing him owning up to his actions and seeing him working on his flaws and seeing his support for Alina is so good and we deserved it especially considering how talented Archie is.

- Cutting Zoya almost completely out, especially since this is the book where she goes through a lot of growth. Also, the fact that Alina choices they’re making are cutting into Zoya’s future story >:(

 Things I HATED:

- Killing off David. WTF. Obviously we didn’t see a body so he might come back but like…what’s the point. We didn’t even get to see Genya and David get married.

- Almost all of the Crows content. The rushed Crooked Kingdom plotlines with none of the significance from the books. Rushed Wesper. Matthias working with Pekka. Nina’s character completely revolving around Matthias. Kanej focusing on Kaz’s trauma but not Inej’s and making her contract with the Menagerie all about Kaz and his vendetta against Pekka and killing off Tante. Actually, pretty much everything Kanej this season was so awfully handled. Also, just not a fan of the Crows being aged up and I tried to be okay with it but this season made me more upset with the casting choices. The Crows stuff was so so so badly done I want to cry. Comfort rereading the duology right now

- The ending. Just…frick the ending. I hate it. Too many thoughts I just hate it I can’t even talk about it

- I’ve already reblogged a lot of posts that go into things I hated but just in general it was such a mess they combined too many stories without doing them justice and there’s more I’m upset about but this is it for now