#Freddy Carter as Kaz is just incredible

[quicksweetdreamer]

Shadow and Bone - Season 2 episode 4

Live Nina and Jesper reaction

[jahayla-parker]

📱 - i loved the freddy x sister oneee so what if it's 100% freddy x sister and just their playful banter back and forth🥰

Hope you like it

Sassing Siblings : Freddy Carter x Sister!Reader SMAU

Desc: Freddy and his sister engage in playful sibling banter on their social media platforms

Warnings: middle finger emoji, bantering, ‘bullying’

Notes: I know the Freddy photo is YSL not Prada but I switched it for the fic.

liked by carolinemford, yourusername, amitasuman_ and 874,256 others

freddycarter1: thank you Paris ❤️

view all 134,354 comments

yourusername: awe they captured you in your natural element; confused 😌

freddycarter1: 🙄 hilarious

kittheyounger: 😂👌🏿

carolinemford: ❤️

amitasuman_: what are you thinking about here?

yourusername: his wonderful sister of course 😉

freddycarter1: that would explain the confusion you referenced 😌

liked by carolinemford, prada, amitasuman_ and 568,138 others

yourusername: Brought to you by Prada 😘

view all 246,189 comments

carolinemford: y/n, you’re stunning 🤩

yourusername: tysm 🥰

amitasuman_: sporting Prada?! Congrats❤️

calahan.skogman: woah, congratulations y/n!

freddycarter1: put more clothes on 🙈

yourusername: 🖕 you’re just upset Prada chose me over you 😌

freddycarter1: no, I’m upset seeing my sister half naked on my instagram 🙄

carolinemford: Freddy relax, it’s tastefully done

yourusername: thank you Caroline 🤗 yet another person who chose me over you Freddy 😝

freddycarter1: 🙄🙄🙄 I suppose your face does look pretty

amitasuman_: such a Kaz-like compliment 😂

liked by carolinemford, yourusername, kittheyounger, and 532,167 others

amitasuman_: First film roll with the finest angels one could wish for

#sixofcrows

Have a lot to learn 😊

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kittheyounger: Beautiful work x

sujaya_dasgupta: Beautiful

yourusername: one tip, for the first photo it would help to choose a better subject to shoot 😉 otherwise, these are incredible ❤️

freddycarter1: quit slagging off y/n 💁‍♂️

liked by prada, yourusername, carolinemford, and 754,256 others

freddycarter1: @/Prada

view all 634,246 comments

yourusername: copycat 🙄

freddycarter1: “first the worst, second the best” 😌

yourusername: beg your pardon? 😳

carolinemford: Freddy, rein it in 🤦‍♀️

archierenaux3: 🤤

prada: family of models ❤️

liked by freddycarter1, yourusername, amitasuman_, and 734,286 others

carolinemford: thank you IGH ❣️

view all 534,178 comments

yourusername: Caroline! You look stunning as always 😍

carolinemford: thank you love! ❤️ so glad to get you can you my little sister now 💍

yourusername: I’m glad you settled 😘

freddycarter1: this was a cute interaction… at first 🙄

yourusername: not sure what you’re referring to Freddy 🤷‍♀️😇

amitasuman_: lovely couple!

yourusername: @/freddycarter1 why do you look like a cardboard cutout of yourself? 🧐

freddycarter1: 😂 I didn’t see that one coming 👏

yourusername: I can’t get over how awkward you look here 💀 I know Caroline is stunning, but get it together you creep 😂

freddycarter1: 🙄 says the girl stalking her sister-in-law’s photo to comment again 💁‍♂️

liked by carolinemford, freddycarter1, daniellegalligan_, and 865,257 others

yourusername: Sneak peak 👑 w/ @/tchalamet coming to AppleTV soon 💙

view all 754,296 comments

tchalamet: love having you as a co-star 🥰

freddycarter1: @/tchalamet you’re in this too 🤯 I guess I’ll actually watch it then

yourusername: geeee, thanks 🙄 you’re such a great brother

freddycarter1: why thank you, I try 🥰😌

daniellegalligan_: y/n as a princess? Yessss!!! 💙

liked by freddycarter1, yourusername, kittheyounger, and 874,256 others

jacktwolfe: had a ton of fun at the S&B convention in Paris with my crow family ❤️

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freddycarter1: ❤️

yourusername: aweee Jack, you’re so precious!

freddycarter1: I’m in this too 💁‍♂️

yourusername: 🤷‍♀️

jacktwolfe: hehe, thank you y/n ❤️

yourusername: of course, you’re the best brother ever 🥰

freddycarter1: ruuude, with a capital r

yourusername: you didn’t even use a capital R 🤦‍♀️😂

amitasuman_: love this!

liked by carolinemford, freddycarter1, kittheyounger, and 684,257 others

yourusername: ☕️

view all 536,268 comments

freddycarter1: you could’ve called me to keep you company after being stood up 💁‍♂️

yourusername: I wasn’t stood up 🙄

freddycarter1: riiight, sorry sis

yourusername: who do you think took the photo Freddy?

freddycarter1: you, duh. I believe you could manage that y/n ❤️

yourusername: not everyone goes around talking ‘candids’ of themselves Freddy, that’s just you ❤️

daniellegalligan_: I took the photo Freddy, leave your beautiful sister alone 🤺

amitasuman_: love this ❤️

carolinemford: radiant ❣️

liked by carolinemford, freddycarter1, tchalamet, and 874,256 others

yourusername: 👸💙

view all 634,354 comments

tchalamet: 🙇‍♂️

carolinemford: new favorite Cinderella ❣️

freddycarter1: fitting role 😌❤️

yourusername: oh?👀

freddycarter1: you’ve always acted like a princess, about time you get paid for it 😉

yourusername: 😂 bite me

daniellegalligan_: so hyyyppeed! 💙💙💙

Freddy Carter Navigation

My Main Masterlist Navigation (All My Works)

Tag: @b3kk3r-by-br3kk3r @ell0ra-br3kk3r @missdreamofendless @alex-kazbrekkersimp @nikfigueiredo

[summersunqueen]

SAVE SHADOW AND BONE 3 & SIX OF CROWS SPIN-OFF

Netflix HAS to get its act together. The fact that they keep on canceling absolutely phenomenal shows is actually devastating because we love them. We love them and laugh with them and cry with them, and then Netflix just ends them, even though our shows are amounting to something so much greater. But I’ll admit, my breaking point has to be the cancellation of Shadow and Bone 3 and the Six of Crows spin-off. Learning that just broke me completely because all of GrishaVerse, especially my gorgeous Crows, have been so important to me. And seeing it all come to life in front of me…that’s a kind of beautiful I can’t explain. But then suddenly finding out that this show is done and the cast aren't going to film together, especially regarding the fact that six amazing people - Freddy, Amita, Kit, Jack, Danielle, Calahan - will never be seen on screen together ever as our Crows…and reading their goodbye posts…

So, I’M DONE. I’M COMPLETELY FED UP WITH NETFLIX TAKING UP OUR BELOVED FANDOMS AND DROPPING THEM ON THE GROUND WHILE PUTTING UP TRASH ON PEDESTALS. So once we're done, there will be no mourners, and no funerals! (Except for maybe five mourners and one funeral, but that’s not anything new…)

Also, please sign the petition ((I’ve linked it below)). It takes nothing to do so, and I know that we, this incredible fandom, will come for them, for this. And if we couldn't walk, we’d crawl to them, and no matter how broken we end up, we'd fight our way out together - pencils drawn, keyboards blazing. Because that's what we do. We never stop fighting. We SHALL never stop fighting for our GrishaVerse, and everything Leigh Bardugo has created for us, because that is what we do. We are lovers and we are fighters, so with our love and with our fight, we are going to get our show back.

~Thank you, Vee

Petition Link:

Netflix Requests: (it would be such an inconvenience if an entire fandom were to spam this)

The Cast's Good-Bye Posts:

Freddy Carter (Kaz Brekker)

Kit Young (Jesper Fahey)

Amita Suman (Inej Ghafa)

Calahan Scokgman (Matthias Helvar)

Jessie Mei Li (Alina Starkov)

[that-sweet-thief]

just finished binge-watching season 2 of shadow and bone. my thoughts are mostly in disarray but the cringe is real.

this was an off-paced, haphazard fanfiction. it'd be just fine if the writers weren't paid for it but they actually are, so it's just... wow. I'm at best mediocre when writing in english and i reckon even i would do a better job of writing dialogue.

anyway, here's a list of my thoughts on the show, though it's more of a word vomit than a comprehensive series review:

no ivan or fedyor. immediate downvote for that alone. ivan should've survived so we could have a heartbreaking moment between him and fedyor across the two sides of the battlefield. i guess they thought there were too many characters and couples to juggle already. or maybe the actors weren't available, who knows.

costume design took a surprising turn for the worse: for example, nina's and zoya's dresses were eyesores. how anyone could make these two very attractive women look that frumpy i've no idea but they've managed. i liked sankta neyar's costume, sturmhond's coat aaand that's about it.

the settings were more varied, so glad we've seen a little of bhez ju. the introductory map-to-location shots were very helpful for people who haven't read the books, namely my gf who fell asleep halfway through the show. also, if the music had any tracks that weren't already from the first season i'll be incredibly surprised, it's that repetitive.

they've messed up nikolai as a character mainly because the actor misunderstood his assignment, though i don't know what else he could've done with the mess he was given. while he's still sympathetic, lovely and witty, paddy's nikolai thinks of sturmhond as just another disguise, rather than who he really is, to the point of gifting said disguise to mal. that's irreconcilable with my understanding of nikolai, whose real mask is the bastard prince.

tamar & tolya were better realised than expected. along with the exclusion of the soldat sol cult, their zealotry's scrapped which is a big win for them. i enjoyed their scenes, great casting too. though, as an ardent kanej fan, i cannot in good conscience support the blink-and-you'll-miss-it tolya/inej moment. tamar/nadia had maybe a minute of screen time but better than nothing.

sankta neyar was a pleasant surprise, great idea to show how powerful durasts can also be. people often disregard materialki so this was refreshing. what i liked about her is how formal, collected, old-fashioned she both appeared and acted, as if her manners and speech style were leftover from a few centuries ago, kudos to her actor tuyen do.

the crows' arc was... lacking in some way. maybe it's because pekka rollins' attitude towards kaz and his group is very different than how it was established in the books, here he was way too proactive and less secure in his position in ketterdam for some reason; anyway rollins' framing of the crows felt off to me.

the crows' character dynamics are interesting and the saving grace of the show, all kanej and wesper scenes were great. seriously, the tension of kanej & cuteness of wesper nearly destroyed me.

they did helnik dirty, of course, but that was a given.

freddy carter outperformed everyone this season, i really think out of all of them he's given the best performance, sometimes even better than ben barnes and that's practically heresy coming from me, his devoted fan since ages ago when i first saw narnia.

i kinda dig that they brought in a tidemaker (fruszi) who's practically an early version of zoya for the darkling's side but her death felt cheap. i mean, the crows arriving to help out nikolai and his team at the very last second was already eye roll inducing, but then nikolai shoots her in the neck? cheap. also, if she and zoya came to face off that'd be interesting since they share so many similarities. i personally don't think it will but if the series continued along with the darkling's canon resurrection, i wish she'd lived and replaced elizaveta, she certainly seemed devoted enough.

david and genya made me cry. that's all i have to say on them.

baghra... where do i even start with her? baghra's nonchalance, her one-eighty about deciding to help alina find more amplifiers is stark raving bonkers imho. yet at least most of her scenes weren't as bad as they could've been, her proving to mal he was the firebird and her saving genya as well as alina actually came across better than the ultra passive, constantly berating version in the books. her death felt less dramatic but more spiteful, though aleksander's reaction to her death was appropriately heartbreaking. ben & zoe sold it so well, my eyes actually welled up.

speaking of sasha, his death is soooo badly executed, it's impossible not to be pissed off at the way they filmed it. even the books were more sympathetic to his demise and alina herself showed much more empathy for him at the end. it's genuinely disturbing how they framed it, makes alina seem more like a villain than the reluctant hero she used to be. i guess it fits with the surprise ending: how she kinda becomes what she sought to destroy, poetic irony and all, but still...

aleksander's whole arc this season makes him seem more desperate and pathetic and so, less of a tyrant: he doesn't even take control of the country or more than a small group of grisha let alone become tsar, instead the apparat rules over ravka on behalf of the lantsovs till nikolai is coronated. he and his people constantly lose to some clever last minute thwarting by alina's allies. the only thing scary about him is the nichevo'ya, the shadow monsters, which in the books are entirely under his control and that of course makes it all the more terrifying. here though, sick and tired and dying, he's merely desperate and fearful. the lack of wins on aleksandr's part really defeats the purpose of the writers' continuous attempts at making him simply the most terrible, horrifying and supreme villain of gregverse.

nope, can't get over it, aleksander practically died in her arms in the books, here she just looks down at him like she's the villain. i guess she now is. oh and mal's retort to sasha about dying in her arms was somehow a foreshadowing, see, but sasha doesn't get that because he's evil, see? gosh, so patronising.

since they've constantly emphasised this season how it was the fold's and thus sasha's fault that grisha were persecuted (not that this explains the ceaseless mistreatment, endangerment and more often death that grisha face everywhere they go, of course, nor does it explain his backstory) i gathered they'd go for a retcon but i didn't imagine they'd exonerate baghra, the apparat and tie the border wars with shu han and fjerda to the fold's existence entirely. the reason the war broke out in the first place was because those countries' fundamental approach to grisha was to kill them or worse. that is what grisha persecution meant. and now... what, the war is over, just like that? i have no words.

also, the exclusion of the "don't let me be alone" line. now that I think about it, those writers should be fed to nichevo'ya.

alina, alina, alina... sure, she's a self-insert, so her motivations don't make sense anyway, but as sweet as jessie is and how hard she tries, show!alina is now an equally awful mess as book!alina. the two things i liked about her this season were her manipulation attempt through the tether and the ending where she goes a bit darkling. the latter, i really like. i wrote a fragment of a power reversal fic before but never put it up, might just do that now.

i'll admit: it's rather funny how mal dumps alina after losing his amplification because he doesn't feel the same way anymore. he doesn't know if it was him being an amplifier that made them love one another. see how easily he turns away from alina? if i were aleksander, I'd be laughing at her from the grave.

[beginnerblueglass]

Ok ok so now that I’ve read Crooked Kingdom (and loved it) I can honestly say that l prefer the Kaz vs. Pekka Rollins scene in the show so much better!?

In the book it’s just one small scheme overlapping with a dozen other schemes that are all happening at the same time. It’s literal chaos and then in the middle we have this incredibly important scene where Kaz finally begins to get revenge on the man who ruined his life. I much preferred the show having the Kaz/Pekka showdown be the main event. It had so much more emotional weight. And having him get arrested and thrown in prison at the end? Idk it felt more satisfying to me.

I liked that in the show we already met and saw Alby, this mischievously adorable child, so it’s easier to feel Pekka Rollins’ terror (and it makes Kaz a lot scarier too :). I also enjoyed the added “ooh did Nina really betray Kaz? Oh silly of course not!” and for it to seem like Kaz was at Pekka’s mercy at first and then for him to take control like that (not before getting the snot beaten out of him)?? Very sexy.

Finally, Freddy Carter is one million times a better actor than the imaginary Kaz Brekker in my head. He freaking nailed it. I can’t say it enough.

While I agree that the placement of that scene so early in the story is.. odd.. I think it can still work. If Pekka breaks out of Hellgate when the Crows bust Matthias out, he can continue to be a player, only with a mutual hatred between him and Kaz. He’ll ally with Van Eck and continue to cause problems with the purpose of taking Kaz down. Very much want to see it end with Inej threatening to cut out his heart ❤️

[kitchfit]

Year in Review: TV Shows

¡Feliz Dia de los Reyes! And Happy New Year! And also happy belated Hanukkah, Christmas, Yule, Bodhi, Kwanzaa and Diso, probably some other holidays. BOXING DAY. You all get a gift! And it's the same thing you ask for every year that I know you love so so much: Unwarranted opinions about tv shows from a stranger on the internet! I am truly generous.

Shadow and Bone s1-2

Confession: I grew up with these books. It’s one of the only book series I snatched up as soon as they were released, and to this day I will read anything Leigh Bardugo slaps my face with, so I was ecstatic to discover they were making a Netflix adaptation. And damn one thing I cannot critique is the casting for this series. Jessie Mei Li pulls off the classic orphan chosen one YA protagonist so well without being cliche, which is also something Bardugo was able to do in the books. And Freddy Carter and Kit Young have just become Kaz and Jesper in my head, replacing whatever image I had of those characters originally. Also evil Prince Caspian is hot!

Season one is genuinely a fantastic adaptation. They seamlessly combine the storylines of Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows. The gaps in pacing from the first book have had their slack picked up by these lovable criminals playing out a similar storyline to their first book, with Alina taking the place of the Grisha scientist as their object of kidnapping. Everything plays out so fluidly that I was enamored with my first and second watch through.

Season two on the other hand is messy as all hell. They try to adapt multiple books into one storyline like season one, but none of them blend in well together. The bastardized Crooked Kingdom plot (which was my favorite in the series) is completely disconnected from Alina’s story to the point it felt confusing and exhausting each time they went back to it, while the Siege and Storm and the Rise and Ruin plotlines are so rushed I could barely follow what was supposed to be happening. Plus they added their own ending, which is fine conceptually, I get them wanting to do their own thing, but I wish they either just adapted the books, or committed to making something original, instead of this clustered amalgamation.

The Owl House s3

Everyone knows this is a show that deserves MINIMUM six seasons and a movie. The world is incredibly fun and versatile, and the characters are fascinating and enjoyable to watch. But Disney is homophobic and lame and Oh My Shit is that Steamboat Willy making out with Oswald the Rabbit?? Holy Shit. I can’t believe that’s canon now! Thank you Bob Igor. 

That being said the writers and animators did a fantastic job on tight storytelling in these last two seasons. A lot of shows that aren’t given enough space to tell their story will cut out “filler” content to shove all the dramatic moments they want in your face (looking at you Voltron), but Owl House strikes a nice balance between slice of life character episodes and the more plot focused episodes in the short time they have. There’s so many background details and one off lines that create an intricate backstory that adds both to the lore and the motivations of our deadly Puritan villain. It also delivers on a fantastic ending that works both as a definitive end to the series or the jumpstart to a sequel if it ever gets graced with a renewal.

Merlin s1-5

Back in the day this show was grouped in among the other popular BBC shows at the time + Supernatural, and thus it gets a similar reputation nowadays as a queer-baity overrated show that goes on for too long. I don’t think that’s wholly undeserved, but Merlin is leagues better than either Supernatural or Sherlock and is much more consistent in delivering quality episodes than even New Who, though that last one is higher quality overall imo.

The cast all give a fantastic performance as their characters go through some genuinely well written character arcs, especially Anthony Head as Uther who blends goofy freak with hateable bigot so well that his antagonism commands the flow of the entire first three seasons. Like what’s his fucking problem? After he gets out of the picture however the pacing does tank as the plot forces out about three near identical Morgana takes over Camelot conflicts.

This show is also campy as all hell, and blends together lighthearted comedic episodes alongside extremely well written dramatic plots pretty well, though it occasionally stoops to some tonally dissonant melodrama. Uther falls in love with a farting witch like two episodes before Morgause nearly kills Arthur. I do think the will-they-won’t-they between Merlin and Arthur was written intentionally, and while their friendship is enjoyable to watch develop, the answer is obviously Won’t, because gay people don’t exist in Camelot times. Also Guinevere’s characterization fucking tanks in the last season for no reason at all, but it does have a good ending overall.

Dragon Ball Z Kai s1-4

Every year I make my dad watch a shonen anime all the way through. In 2020 it was Jojo’s, 2021 it was Hunter X Hunter, last year it was Naruto (Ocean Cut), and this year it was Dragon Ball Z Kai. So far there’s been no losers, he’s loved all of them (though he got burnt out on Part 5 of Jojo’s). It took a bit for him to get into Dragon Ball; the Saiyan saga did not hold his interest until the Vegeta fight, but he was thoroughly engaged through the Frieza saga and ESPECIALLY the Cell saga. He told me Cell is the most evil villain in all of the anime I forced this 49 year old to watch. I myself had never watched all of Dragon Ball Z in order before this year, and I’m happy to say most of it holds up, at least in Kai.

Season one is overall hard to rewatch from the beginning, since after Goku’s death we get several episodes of mindless training and running on Snake Way that we already know won’t pay off, but damn the cinematography and choreography in that first Vegeta fight is genuinely stunning and I can probably rewatch that anytime. Season two on Namek pulls off writing without Goku much better. There’s a strong sense of tension as all of these different conflicts barely miss each other: Frieza’s army killing off the already small population of Namekians as Vegeta, Gohan, and Krillin are searching for the Dragon Balls. Writing Vegeta as a secondary protagonist in this arc despite still being a violent jackass is genius and this whole section is thoroughly engaging. Pacing grinds to a crawl when the Ginyu Force show up, and I’m sad to say this continues into the Frieza fight. It’s a good fight, but after the Supper Saying shows up they could have ended things pretty quickly, but the fight draws on and on until even Goku gets bored. 

The Cell saga is easily peak Dragon Ball. This is the season Saturday morning cartoons would replay over and over again, so it's the one I’m most familiar with, and damn it I see why they did that. It’s a fun, messy time travel story that focuses on the development of our two biggest protagonists. Goku and Krillin? Nah fuck them I mean Gohan and Vegeta. We get conclusions to their character arcs that are so bombastically enjoyable that Toriyama NEARLY approaches good writing.

Season 4 on the other hand can’t decide whether it wants to be a continuation or its own thing and it shows in the pacing. The Buu saga is way too fucking long for no reason, the stakes rise to an absurd extreme and towards the end none of the characters seem to take any real notice. Goku lets his own son die to save a dog and an old man and then laughs it off as a brain fart. I like Majin Vegeta and regular Buu but everything afterwards overstays its welcome.

Castlevania s1-2

It’s kind of insane to me how good this show is. It takes the plot of an NES game with minimal dialogue and cool set pieces and transforms it into an epic ensemble story where every character has a fascinating arc to explore, not to mention animated BEAUTIFULLY. The show does NOT hold back on gore, but at the same time pulls it off with elegance so the blood and guts don’t feel gratuitous. Castlevania 3 was also my favorite as a kid despite never having finished it so it was personally very satisfying to see this one adapted. 

The relationship between Trevor, Alucard, and Sypha is also adorable and one of my mainstays when I think of fictional Polyamorous couples. Their dynamics are further developed in the latter seasons, but the Dracula fight is so stellar that I was satisfied with ending it there for now, I still need to watch the Rondo of Blood anime.

My Adventures With Superman s1

This show was so cute! And also very vindicating after Snyder’s Superman changed every depiction of the character into a deconstruction on whether helping people is good or evil. Or maybe those were the only ones I saw after that. I was introduced to Superman through the Justice League cartoon and that will always be my primary understanding of the guy, so it’s nice to see Clark written in a similar light. 

However, it’s Lois Lane that really takes center stage in this show. I mean it’s her adventures after all. She is NOTHING like any previous Lois Lane and is an essential brand new character, and she plays off of Clark’s personality SUPER well and their romance is adorable to see develop. I saw a lot of comparisons of her character to Luz and honestly I see the resemblance, not only in design but in dialogue. Which is fine I like Luz, but it forces me to compare it to the Owl House. 

While this show also has very little time to tell its story, unlike TOH it’s paced like shit. Every episode that they put out is fantastic, but all of them feel like the conclusion to a grand story arc, rather than 10 episodes in succession of each other. They introduced multiverse shit in episode SEVEN. And while I love the new design of Mr. Mxldsjdnsk (especially considering I had just finished Dragon Ball Z), they did not earn that shit. This is obviously a production problem I can’t blame on the writers, but this is a show clearly designed as a slice of life with action thrown in, it needs cute fillery episodes, dammit. STOP RUSHING EVERYTHING.

King of the Hill s1

I don’t know if it's a controversial take to say King of the Hill is easily the best adult-oriented American cartoon, right? I think everyone should be on the same page on this. Like the Simpsons is way too long to be objectively good anymore. Maybe Futurama outclasses it but like. Family Guy? American Dad? BIG MOutH? None of those even have jokes. King of the Hill manages to not only be hilarious as all hell, but also tell a meaningful story.

As someone who has grown up in the relative south (Not Texas) I see it as both a satire, celebration, and deconstruction of the culture of rural America. Most episodes focus on Hank trying to give Bobby a meaningful childhood and teach him valuable lessons, but in the process realizing that the culture he grew up in kind of fucked him up a bit, and instead of digging his heels in and refusing to change, he alters his behavior and views for the sake of his son. Bobby himself is a lovable goofball who shows off the fun of growing up as some country hick. Watch this clip of Bobby playing spin the bottle right fucking now.

Adventure Time: Fionna and Cake s1

ANOTHER PIECE OF MEDIA CAPITALIZING ON THE MULTIVERSE TREND LETS GO. I spoke before about the inherent metafiction in Multiverse narratives. I think Fionna and Cake understands that aspect well, which makes sense as in Adventure Time the Multiverse had already been an established fact. This sequel is more of an elaboration on previous world-building from the original, rather than following the trends of Marvel or whoever. It also makes me care about two characters I couldn’t give a shit about in the original, that being the title protagonists. They were cute in Adventure Time, but in my first watch through I really couldn’t be bothered with the watered down, gender-swapped variants of our main dudes, and in this show they basically discard all those episodes anyways! Cool!

Their arcs follow the existential nightmare of being people from a “noncanon, illegitimate” universe, and their quest to bring magic back to their world. It’s a compelling narrative and their differences and similarities with Finn and Jake are genuinely fun to compare and contrast while also being fun characters in their own right. I like the realization Fionna has midway through the series that the violent adventures she craved are actually kind of horrifying, and the simple quiet life she used to have was nice. I’m excited to see what the writers have in store for the both of them in the future.

But the real meat of this season comes in the deconstruction of the fan favorite character, Simon Ice King. Fionna and Cake was his fanfiction, after all, though that gets somewhat retconned. He was already a tragic figure in the original, and the final season gave him a bittersweet ending: his sanity returned but now eternally separated from his wife by her Eldritch transformation. This show gives his character the space and time to process exactly what the hell he’s supposed to do with his life now as well as understand the problems he and Betty had when they were in a relationship. I’m glad to see Simon finally get something far more resembling a happy ending than he ever got in the original.

Adventure Time s1-7

This is a show that I would describe as “high patience, high reward.” It’s not something I truly got into until college, as I was put off by what I saw as Lolz Random humor I was trying to distance myself from as a Cool Mature Teenager™. I still had a hard time getting through the first couple seasons in my first watch-through, but it was an easy show to put on in the background while doing research for papers. Eventually I was hooked and sped through all of it at blinding speeds. 

Fionna and Cake inspired me to revisit the show, and I’m happy to say I have a higher tolerance for the aspects of the show I found obnoxious the first time around. The wacky mathy-math lingo of the characters generally fades into the background and builds a distinct vocabulary of this goofy sci-fi fantasy world. It was also fun to see how aspects of the earlier episodes inspired later developments of the world, like the Zombie Businessmen establishing a possible dystopian setting for our goofball protagonists.

Unlike my first viewing, the pace breaker actually started around season five. Their are some fantastic episodes in this period of the show, but overall the world stops developing as fast and each episode acts more as an exploration of the characters. It’s nice to spend more time with all of these weirdos, but it’s made it tough to binge. That’s actually a positive now that I think about it. 

I like Finn a lot. I like that he’s flawed and he fails all the time, it makes it more enjoyable to see him mature as a person. If any episode encapsulates his personality the most, I think it’s the Hall of Egress, where Finn is trapped in a dungeon that resets every time he opens his eyes. It’s probably my favorite episode in the entire show, and plays to all of AT’s strengths: a great mix of comedy and introspection without ever being melodramatic

Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

I was initially disappointed with this show when I realized it wasn’t a direct adaptation of the original comic. It plays this fact as a twist, playing out the first volume in its entirety until the very end, where SPOILERS Scott Fucking Dies. The “Takes Off” part was literal: that dude is Gone. The second episode even plays this for laughs as Envy Adams has a spontaneous concert over his funeral and no one besides Ramona seems to care that their friend exploded. It felt like a cruel joke making fun of fans of the original. 

I’m glad I pushed through, though, as all of this was a ploy to put Ramona in the center stage, changing the goalpost of Beat Up the Seven Evil Exes to Investigate the Seven Evil Exes for possible murder/kidnapping motives Columbo-style. In most of the adaptations, Ramona is always playing off of Scott’s dumbass behavior, and it takes a while to truly dig into her personality. Putting her center-stage gives the audience an immediate view into her character and she may be the most likable she’s ever been. 

This show works as a sequel to the original through some time-travel shenanigans, and brings back series creator Brian Lee O’Malley, as well as the cast from the movie. This whole deal, if the rumor is true, apparently came out of Michael Cera responding to a group email meme with the og cast a decade late with “That’s funny,” and got everyone talking again. With that in mind it changes my view on the show as a whole, it's not a cruel joke, it’s a love letter to everything that came before it. 

I do still have a couple complaints, mostly that a few characters are heavily flanderized, namely Wallace and Scott himself, but like. That’s fine. How many times have we seen these characters explored? Like what 5 times now? I’m fine with them taking a comedic back seat to explore the dynamics of the rest of the cast. It’s also really satisfying to see all the exes get meaningful character arcs, which they never really got in the other versions of SP including the original. It makes me want to see what else they might have in store, but there are no plans for a continuation. Probably because that cast listing was expensive as hell. Do you know how much Chris Evans voice acting costs??? $7.50/hour AT LEAST.

Bee and Puppycat s2

Damn this show is so comfy. Everything from the characters, the music, the voice acting, the animation style, the COLORS! Even when the show hits the dramatic button it never stops being such a delight. It’s also longer than I remember, and gives a lot of time for every plotline to unfold. There’s intrigue and mystery surrounding every inch of this Mario Galaxy-ass setting, and it never fully reveals its hand, but that never takes away from the simple, slice-of-life story about two roommates taking part time jobs to make ends meet.

There’s a heavy theme of responsibility and young adulthood with all of the characters, which is also super relatable to me rn. The most responsible character in this show is the six-year old landlord with WAY too much on his shoulders. I like the dynamics with the Wizard family, I feel they present very realistic sibling relationships overall.

I tried checking out season 1 on youtube. I’ve heard people call it a continuation, but season 2 really is just a reimagining of this short youtube series. It’s only an hour long but for some reason it failed to grasp me. It’s somewhat tonally different, and the romantic tension between Bee and Deckard is weird to me after watching season 2. I’m glad they abandoned that as a plotline.

And those are all the shows I watched this year. LAST YEAR. I did not finish this when I wanted to, so to speed things up I’m gonna skip over the final movie list. Long story short Coraline rules, Home Alone 2 is violent and funny, Love Actually Hugh Grant is hot, and Christmas Vacation SUCKS. Fuck National Lampoon all my homies Hate national lampoon. Next time I will be doing the final games list. Wahoo!

[flameunquenched]

the sab brainrot is real. massive massive massive spoilers for season 2 of shadow and bone under the cut. you have been warned.

my overall expectations for s2 were low. really, really, laughably low. however, i have to admit, i came out of s2 (at nearly 5 am, so about 4 hours ago now, ahahahaha kill me) with some...cautious optimism about the potential future of the televised grishaverse. there were several things and changes i honestly loved, several that i hated, and a few i am very curious to see where it will go.

again. major spoilers beyond. if you've opened this read more, this is your LAST WARNING to refresh the page and carry on. if you read this before finishing the season and then come bitch at me, i am going to laugh at you.

the main change that i loved was the showing of the fact that merzost is a corrupting force. like. yes. that's what the books should have done to begin with if lb was at least a slightly better writer. merzost is warned time and time again to be this horrible, universe-breaking rule and yet, we still the darkling getting...no consequences for it in the books? now, granted, they were written as very, very limited first person by an incredibly unreliable narrator by a writer who, frankly, had no business writing in first person. so perhaps the darkling was being steadily corrupted by his usage of the merzost, thus leading to his increasingly, uh, ooc behavior throughout the books.

but, in the show, we got to see it. i LOVED the coughing and the steady weakening of the darkling. i LOVED seeing his increasingly crazed moments. the moment where he throws a mini-tantrum in his stolen room? yes please. loved it. loved it loved it loved it. even his cutting baghra's finger off and sorta tossing it at vladim (was that his name? idr) was just the chef's kiss of his increasingly spiral decline into madness.

i loved also that he had very little overall control over the nichevo'ya. am i probably spelling that wrong? sure. do i care much? not on 4 hours of sleep! 8D that moment in e8 where the nothing attacks alina and the darkling tries in desperation to stop it and almost can't? yeah, baby, we do love to see it. too much so in the books, the darkling is painted as this almost flawless character who is so incredibly strong, how can you stop him? but to see on screen the fact that he's breaking down in private, that he's struggling to control his dark children, that he's erratic and reckless? yes. and at the same time, we see him execute utterly incredible plans. the e7 bit where his grisha are steadily advancing and mowing down nikolai's army? that is how you show the fact that a character is ancient and ruthless and extraordinarily gifted in military combat.

i could rant at length about the darkling so lemme just move on to other things lol.

the crows absolutely stole the first half of the season. tbh, i kinda thought that the 'quest for the sword' was a bit contrived and very much a way to keep them in the general grishaverse plotline after the pekka rollins stuff had ended but the showdown between pekka and kaz was just magnificent. freddy carter, you massively talented bastard. you're gonna be one of the actors of our generations, i can already tell. i am strongly of the opinion that the crows carried the first half of the season on their collective shoulders and i for one would watch 5 seasons of just the crows killing people, stealing things, and all sorts of unresolved sexual tension between kaz and inej. give it to me. i will admit that the last couple episodes, especially where they showed up at the very end with the sword, made me eyeroll hard. deus ex crows was the phrase i used and i stand by it.

i loved that the king was killed in the fight at spinning wheel. get fucked you rapist cunt.

i honestly really enjoyed the altered ending. alina's decision to use merzost to revive mal was excellent. neither i nor my friend finn were expecting the last few minutes. like. holy shit can we talk about that coronation scene? the set up for s3 being jurda parem (if it gets renewed and now i kinda hope it does tbh) AND THE BEE. THE BEE. I SCREAMED, I LITERALLY WAS LIKE AAAAAAHHHH WHEN I SAW THE BEE.

i will be the first to admit that i despised kosrow with the intensity of a thousand burning suns but the setup was gloriously done. book fans will know immediately what is coming. fuck kosrow but kudos to the overall team for that delicious, tiny, two-second teaser. loved it.

we're not talking about david. nope. denial is a river in africa and i am swimming in it.

i really enjoyed the connection between alina and the darkling. i thought it was well done. the scene where baghra breaks it and severs the darkling's hand was just. urgh, the chills. i will admit that i disliked heavily the fact that baghra was kinda the plot donkey - ie the one who carries the plot and explains it but i see why they went that way. it was easier in the book for alina to sow hints of the mal/firebird thing ("mal's a bird?" jesper you absolute icon) whereas in the show, we don't really get her thoughts like that. i liked the sea whip bit. i am of the opinion that the whole 'morozova/black heretic/only one darkling' was handled...not necessarily poorly but i think the other characters should have been made more aware of that from the start and their reactions more obvious. in the book, that realization was just utterly shaking when it was delivered but here it felt hollow and lacking. idk maybe i'm just being overly critical. it's possible.

and also...mal! book!mal is probably one of my top five least favorite literary characters...ever. and yet, the show turned him around so beautifully! archie's performance was stirring, moving, commanding. his chemistry with jessie was off the charts and i honestly loved the ending for him. i love that he was not the one trying to hold alina back. i love that he wasn't afraid of grisha, that he didn't try to stand in the way of the nikolai alliance. everything i hated about mal in the books, they removed, including that gods awful affair he had with zoya. thank all the gods and saints for that.

so yes. cautious optimism. i had my doubts and there are things i did not like (david...oh david...) but overall, it was not anywhere near the absolute dumpster fire i was expecting. and hooo boy was i expecting.

[z1m1nys0ldat]

Shadow & Bone - S2

What I wanted to happen:

Kaz Brekker picking a lock 

Feydor showing of more of his heartrending abilities 

Feydor + Ivan reuniting 

Fivan (in general) 

Wesper (in general) 

Who I wanted to see:

Feydor Kaminsky 

Genya Safin 

Ivan

Kaz Rietveld (young Kaz)

Jordie Rietveld 

Favourite moments:

Jesper admitting to liking Wylan  

Kaz buries Pekka’s son 

David & Genya - “You don’t need fixing” 

Kaz fighting the Dregs 

The Crow’s flashbacks/hallucinations 

Baghra’s death

The Crows fight with The Disciple 

Genya finding David’s plans for a ring 

Inej & Kaz in the chapel saying their goodbyes 

Good things:

The sets were beautiful; Novyi Zem was so vibrant and full of life. The architecture and fabrics shown were so detailed, the streets honestly felt so full of life. I loved seeing more of Ketterdam and Kerch, it made it feel even more real. The darkness and grittiness of the streets was so clear and really added to the atmosphere of those scenes.  Shu Han was simply a work of art. The merchant’s tables and their wares were so intriguing and realistic, and the alter (if that’s what it’s called) where Zoya and Tolya paid their respects to the deceased was so beautiful. 

The costuming continues to impress me! The intricate details of each characters outfits really added to their realness and authenticity.  The Kefta’s were absolutely beautiful, as always! The details in each of them was amazing - I loved how Kirigan’s Kefta began to feature Alina’s gold throughout the season. 

The casting was fabulous! Jack was incredible as Wylan, despite not having red hair he really embodied Wylan for me.  I thought Patrick did an incredible job as Nikolai and really sold the performance. 

Some of the acting was absolutely incredible!  Freddy Carter really channeled Kaz Brekker this season, and not only that but he really channeled Dirtyhands. There were so many scenes where his performance gave me chills! His ability to really become his character is superb! The mannerisms, the posture, the facial expressions, the voice, everything just screamed Kaz - Dirtyhands - Brekker.    Ben Barnes continued to amaze me! His performance as Kirigan is honestly incredible. His ability to channel Aleksander’s vulnerabilities, manipulations, ambitions and cruelties all at once is something I will never not be in awe of. Kirigan’s pain and rage is so beautifully acted out this season and I found myself on the edge of my seat every time he was on screen! Amita Suman - Just Amita Suman! My God was she incredible! Not a single scene went by that she didn’t dominate. Her interactions with Mogen were so chilling and so harrowing. I wouldn’t be suprised if there was an Oscar with her name on it in the future.  

Matthias’ religion.  I loved how they showed Matthias relationship with his religion and how he is trying to reconcile wanting Nina while still believing in his God.    The fact that he refused to fight the wolves as they were sacred and important to his culture and his God, and then later calling out for Nina (A Grisha) and trying to get to her as he is dragged out of the ring is such an interesting dichotomy and I’m looking forward to how they might take this further. 

The transitions the season were insane: Kaz in The Disciples room -> Kaz in the river 

Bad things. 

Some of the acting left things to be desired.  There were a few characters whose acting was not at the level as everyone else’s, and I found this quite distracting and it did take away from my ability to suspend-my-disbelief a bit. An example of this was with some of the background Grisha characters, such as Fruszi. 

Some of the scenes could have gone further.  The scene where Kaz tells Pekka he buried his son was incredibly acted in the show and I did love it, however in the book the scene was much longer and there was no mention or motive of having Pekka confess to Heleen and the Constable’s murders or him releasing Inej. The focus is more on Kaz’s anger and revenge, he is much more insistent in the book that Pekka says Jordie’s name; however once he gives up the information about where Pekka’s son is after he begs and Pekka runs off, Kaz reveals that he had never even seen his son and his motive was simply to have Pekka seen running out of town with his medics in tow at the same time that the plague was appearing at his establishments. Kaz is far crueler in the books, mocking Pekka and saying how the sound of his son crying for him was the sweetest sound he had ever heard. I feel like in the show Kaz rolled over and gave in much easier and far quicker, whereas in the book the exchange lasted far longer.  

Inej should have gotten her own ship at the end instead of joining Sturmhond’s crew. 

I would have loved to have seen my two favourite characters come back - Ivan & Feydor Kaminsky. 

Overall 

I really enjoyed it! It was fun and dramatic and had some really cool action scenes. I think it followed the first season pretty damn well, and I’m looking forward to seeing what they might do with a season 3.  There was some bumps in the road along the way, things I wasn’t so keen on but isn’t that always the way... 

It’s definitely not an accurate and verbatim adaptation of the books but it is without a doubt an impressive and enjoyable one. 

[malkaleh]

My Shadow & Bone feels 5 episodes into S2 from someone who has only read the crows books:

NIKOLAI MY BELOVED (get wrecked Vasili). I adore him. I really do.

Inej is everyone’s favourite and that’s how it should be. (This is true in the books as well)

Freddy Carter absolutely and completely embodied Kaz (I mean the entire cast is incredible but like particularly That Moment Covered In Blood).

I am murdering DARKLES myself for doing what he did to my precious baby Genya. (Ben Barnes still gorgeous but STABBY)

Tolya and Tamar being the best.

I am so invested in the Crow-Grisha-Prince Nikolai found family Polycule (aka why all the Crows have diplomatic immunity in Ravka). I might have fic about it. It might involve all Nikolai’s friends beating up Vasili.

WYLAN.

Listen all my feelings about Inej are obviously just MY HEART.

And Nina. (listen @shes-a-voodoo-child is the Nina to my Inej).

And Zoya. Zoya whose story I think I’m spoiled for (I think? I looked up some things)

ALINA. ALINA. ALINA.

[rainy-day-gracie]

They are so incredibly lucky to have gotten Freddy Carter for Kaz.

He perfectly captured Book Kaz in season 2, it honestly seems like he was holding back in season one compared to how unhinged Kaz was this season.

This scene was amazingly done, I know it was rushed by the writers, but seeing Freddy work was truthfully worth it compared to some half assed heist the writers would’ve pulled out of their asses otherwise.

I just loved Kaz this season, all credit to Freddy Carter.

i buried him. six feet deep. he went into that box so easily.

bonus:

[southslates]

so i’m really hoping that this is just because shadow & bone is pre-six of crows, and this may be an unpopular opinion, but i wasn’t the biggest fan of kaz’s characterization in the show.

what he did was amazing and he had his strokes of genius and freddy carter is the perfect kaz, but i was definitely missing that very violent ruthlessness. and i was missing the “greed is your god” kaz and the “my father is profit i honor him daily” kaz and the “kaz brekker didn’t need a reason” kaz. he wasn’t half as dramatic with his dialogue as he could have been.

i think maybe some violence would have been great, something graphic and gritty that shows us we’re not messing with a con artist. pekka captures and threatens kaz all too easily in the first few episodes. 

i’m hoping the bastard of the barrel doesn’t carry that much weight for now because this is pre-soc, but kaz is supposedly known as one of the most ruthless men in ketterdam and i just did not at all get those vibes

he was a thief, a trickster, and incredibly smart, but his plans never really came to fruition and he was outsmarted more than once

this is not the kaz brekker who can see five steps ahead of the audience and jesper and inej at all times. jesper and inej in the show didn’t have as much faith in kaz as they did in the books

so fingers crossed by the time we get into six of crows we do have that kaz, the kaz who pulled out a man’s eye and threw him overboard and tossed another one off a building for extorting a sex worker. i want to see his backstory, i want to see him ruling the stave, i want kaz brekker, dirtyhands

[perkamentus]

FREDDY CARTER for BOYS BY GIRLS Photographed by Phoebe Fox

What drew you to Shadow and Bone as a project? When I get the breakdown through with the audition, I saw 'fantasy series and epic adventure'. I kind of thought, 'great. I know this world.' And then I read the scripts and I read the books, and it totally subverts your idea of what a fantasy series can be - in terms of diversity, storylines. It has all the hallmarks of fantasy: incredible magic, grand scale, and palaces, and armies. But beyond that, there is an amazing human element and there are comments on immigration and discrimination, and it did so much more than I ever expected it to. Then just the character of Kaz was such a gift because he's so cool and such a badass. I got pretty attached to him pretty quickly.

[daydreamingatnight209]

Okay so in honour of Shadow and Bone and the super amazing cast which I have fallen in love with here is a Freddy Imagine! 🥰

PLEASE LET ME KNOW IF YOU WANT TO BE ADDED TO A TAG LIST FOR ANY FUTURE WORKS ON FREDDY OR THE OTHER MEMBERS OF THE CAST.

Feedback is always welcome ✨💕

“I found my home with you”

Freddy Carter x Reader

Warnings - None, Fluff 💞

I definitely regretted wearing pumps on my way into work this morning. As soon as I stepped outside of the hotel grounds, the wind swept violently into my hair and through my body, my fluffy overcoat doing nothing to protect me from the cold. Still, I pulled it tightly around me and headed towards the bus station.

By the time I got into the hair and make up trailer to get ready for our last day on set, I looked like a drowned rat.

Despite the usage of an umbrella, my hair had lost its volume and curled right up from the ends. My clothes were cold and clammy against my skin and my fluffy coat had matted, now totally unwearable.

Kit glanced in my direction as I slam the trailer down behind me. He takes a moment to take in my disheveled appearance before letting out a booming laugh.

My teeth where chattering rapidly and I couldn’t think of something witty to say, so I just threw him my best sarcastic smile, desperate to change.

“You know, if you needed a lift I would of offered” A familiar voice raises from behind me.

I spin on my heel, faster then I meant to and almost hit the floor. The man I front of me catches me with ease, a gentle smirk resting upon his face.

I grin up at him and regain my balance.

“Good morning to you too, Freddy”

Suddenly, a long arm swings itself around my shoulders and I look up to see kit back at my side.

“Come on. Let’s get you in the chair” he lets out a small laugh again and I swing my wet locks at him, damping him slightly.

“I’m not the only one needed in the chair” I tease as we laugh together, walking down to the other end of the trailer.

I look back at Freddy, I see his smile had disappeared. In a feeble attempt to have it return I give a quick wave before sitting down to transform into my on screen character.

Although it was our last day on set and it was indeed a very bittersweet moment, I still enjoyed myself fully with the cast and crew which I now how the privilege of calling my friends. My day was spent running around with Kit, Jessie, Archie, Amita and Ben. I didn’t really see Freddy until the end of day when I was stripping out of character. Fortunately my clothes from this morning had dried so at least I didn’t need to worry about that.

I was heading out when I heard his voice again.

“Need a lift?”

I spin again, managing to keep my footing to this.

“I didn’t see you today” I questioned him, but it make out more like a statement.

He smiles and offers me an arm.

He throws my question off with one of his own.

“Are you going to the after party with anyone tonight?”

I shake my head.

“No. Are you?”

We arrive at his car and stops to open the door.

I bow slightly. “I see chivalry Isn’t dead after all.”

A giggle falls from his lips. The sound was low but somehow soft.

I step into the passenger side and fasten my seatbelt.

Freddy copies my actions.

“In regards to the after party, I erm, I wanted to ask you... to go with me?”

I watched as he cheeks flared up and tried to hide my confusion.

Why was he blushing?

I tap his knee in response.

“I’d love to go with you”

We arrive back at the hotel and walk our separate ways in order to get ready. Freddy promised to collect me when it was time.

I walk over to the wardrobe where my dress hung. It took me weeks to find it. I tentatively run my fingers down the material. If you had told me this would be my life a couple years ago, well I would have laughed.

Working on set as an actor, working my way up to producing... it all seemed impossible back then. Now I’m here, about to attend my first wrap party.

I wipe my eyes, ensuring the tears don’t fall and bring the dress down from its hanger.

It was time.

Freddy was at my door as promised, just as the clock struck 7.

I take a deep breath in and pull open the door.

My dress swings slightly as a take a step towards the man waiting.

His mouth wide open as a gasp escapes him.

I panic.

“What? Is it to much? It’s to much isn’t it? I’ll go change. Just give me a -“

I turn and attempt to go back into my suite, still rambling as Freddy catches my arm.

“You, you look incredible” he gushes.

We stand there for a moment, lost in the sea of each other’s eyes before Freddy jumps back into action and offers me his arm.

I take it and notice of his own outfit. It was smart casual, light blue suit pants and blazer with a white shirt and matching shoes.

“Hey we match, see?”

I shift slightly to show more of my outfit, before resting my head on his shoulder as we walk down to the function room 3 floors below.

The night ran smoothly. I laughed and drank with friends while celebrating everything we had achieved other the past few months.

Towards the end of the night, when I was pleasantly tried I slipped off my heals And hid them with my bag under a table. When I lift my head I saw Freddy standing over me.

“Care to dance?”

“The reason?” I smirk, stretching my petite legs.

He matches my smirk and outstretches a hand.

“Kaz Brekker didn’t need a reason. I suppose I don’t either.”

I roll my eyes. He caught me there.

I take his offer and we make our way to the dance floor. People break away but I didn’t mind. As far as I could see, it was just me and Freddy.

The music slowed and the beat changes to something more classical.

His hands meet my waist as he pulls me closer.

I force myself to face him, looking into his eyes again.

“Thank you” I whispered.

His sharp brows lift in confusion.

“I found my home here. With this cast, with these people ... with you”

Our noses almost touched and I could here his heartbeat underneath my palms.

He leaned in, closing the final gap between us and his lips clasped mine. He was soft, caring, gentle; yet the kiss was anything but. It was cause for fireworks.

When we finally pulled apart, I realised everyone was staring. It was quiet for a moment and then the cheering and clapping begun.

I buried my head into Freddie’s chest as shyness took over, Freddy laughed and held me tightly.

When the party ended, Freddie accompanied me back to my room. Just as I was about to shut my hotel door, Freddy place one last kiss upon my cheek and whispered into my ear.

“I found my home with you also. I hope I can continue to do so”

[xsamsharons]

Your post about Freddy carter as kaz is...dramatic. He did his job?? He acted like the character??? Every character/actor did??? You know that right

if i want to praise the job an actor did that i thought was good, i'm gonna do that and i don't need your permission. the show is a prequel so it doesn't include any of the crows' trauma or backstory apart from some mentions of inej's, which is why they could've damn well not read the books and just go in with what they saw on the script. instead of that, they read the books and cared about the characters (as they should). i'm praising freddy carter bc he is the one who has gotten the most hate for his character's adaptation and i wanted to give my opinion on it, which i'm allowed to do on my fucking blog. his performance was very good and the signs of kaz's trauma that he showed through physical acting were incredible. it's not dramatic to say we got lucky getting a cast that reads the books because, i don't know if you are in other fandoms, but that doesn't happen often. Yes, every actor read the books, (and i fucking mentioned that on my post tf??) but i thought freddy carter's physical acting was very good and since i saw a lot of people hating on kaz's characterization, i wanted to give my opinion on it. gtfo of here now please and thank you <3

[letsgofortacos]

So I just became a new part of the soc and grishaverse fandom and what I see disgusts me a little.

I see many people out there judging Freddy Carter because they don't think he's good enough for kaz. The damn show isn't out yet. You've seen no trailers or anything that includes kaz brekker (like, freddy carter in character).

So how can you feel okay with it to say horrible things to an actor even though you've never seen him play kaz? Is it because he doesn't look like an insta-f*ckboy? Or the dudes from pinterest you use for edits? Is it because his face isn't picture-perfect?

Yes?

Well, I personally have NEVER read in the books that Kaz is incredibly handsome, flawless, lookin-perfect. See, there are characters in novels that ARE described like that, like will herondale or jace. But I don't think the point in Kaz' character was to show people how good looking he is.

So accept it. You can give a show character a chance even though he doesn't look like that male model from the magazine. What some of you are doing is body shaming. Tell me I'm overdramatic, won't change my opinion.

Thanks for reading. If you agree, i would thank you guys to reblog. I just want to call out those people.

[retvenkos]

There have been rumors that sab is going to include six of crows next season. Any thoughts?

whoo, do i have some thoughts™. 

i should preface by saying, though, that if you are excited, good for you! if you think it’s a concept™, it most certainly is, and if you don’t want to see hate for the idea, then do not read ahead. i have some things to say about the idea, and none are too positive.

let’s get into it...

lol, plenty of spoilers ahead. mostly for the six of crows duology.

✧ *:･ﾟ

first of all, let’s hit it from an obvious, show running perspective.

six of crows is a lot™. there is so much happening in that book, and even more happening in crooked kingdom. not only are there new characters to add and explore, but there is new lore and new places that would all have to be hit. already, i felt like shadow and bone season one went fast. there was a lot to establish, and even more to expand upon, and i think there is so much to cover that trying to squeeze it all in would be a disservice to the characters and the world, which is the exact opposite of what the showrunners want, since they are lining up the grishaverse to be the new fantasy hit.

especially when the shadow and bone trilogy is adding in new places and characters, i don’t see the need for them to shoehorn in the six of crows duology. i’m sure there’s plenty for the crows to do, during these following two seasons. in fact, i’d even be fine if they wrote the crows out of the third season (which would ideally follow ruin and rising) entirely and maybe threw in a cameo at the end to get viewers excited for a six of crows show.

basically, there’s so much to cover, and shadow and bone already hit the ground running. i think that adding in the six of crows story arc would be too much of a time crunch, on the runtime of the show.

✧ *:･ﾟ

secondly, i’m ranting about a couple of characters, and how they are not six of crows duology ready.

the easiest one to talk about is kaz brekker, because book!kaz is dirtyhands kaz. our first introduction to kaz in the boks is him telling an opposing gang member that he can’t kill kaz, because if he does, his girlfriend will burn in a fire, and no matter how fast he runs, he won’t get there in time. kaz is like... “do you smell that? i think it’s her hair burning.”

and this is a more mild transgression of dirtyhands kaz. in the same book, kaz pulls a man’s eye out, he swallows lock picks, and he plans and executes the greatest heist of all time.

compare this to kaz in the show. kaz in the show is just a mean, angry boy in comparison. and this isn’t me hating on freddie carter - he did an amazing job. and this isn’t me hating on the writers either. i understand why they did that.

decidedly, there is a lot™ happening in shadow and bone season one. you don’t really get a lot of time with any one character, and if you do, it’s the shadow and bone characters. the showrunners knew they had to make kaz a likeable character to people coming into the series blind, and kaz brekker is a pretty hard character to like when you don’t get his backstory or even the slightest hint of it. part of what the six of crows books had going for it was the changing point of views, and inej’s trust and feelings for kaz. inej narrates a lot of stuff, and she does it in a more sympathetic way, making us give kaz the benefit of the doubt - especially since inej is such an upstanding character. you get a little bit of that is the netflix show, but you can’t get a lot of it because (1) time constraints, and (2) inej and kaz are actually at odds for a lot of the show - especially the opening bit. literally, their first interaction is a fight.

so, to get newer fans invested in this emo teen, they made him less dirtyhands. this is also fine because these events happen before the six of crows duology.

if we start the six of crows arc in season two, however, there is too much growth for kaz to do in between seasons. we need to see some of that on screen. especially since his plans were a bust, and the most dirtyhands thing he did was with the inferni, and he wasn’t the one to kill the inferni - inej was. (and i love that scene like the rest of you, but there could have been other ways to get inej to save kaz while letting kaz show some more of that ruthlessness.)

and that’s just kaz. admittedly, he’s an easy character to pick apart, but we have to talk about a few more.

nina zenik? yeah, let’s talk about her. the six of crows nina we knows has a lot of guilt over what she did to matthias - even if a lot of it is repressed. she has a slew of complex emotions over matthias, and it’s all been fermenting inside of her for a year. point is, in the show nina still thinks what she did was right, and she hasn’t had time to question that inside of herself. sure, in the books she still posits that what she did was justified, but there’s a bit of uncertainty there, caused by the acidity of guilt. i want to see that war inside of nina. it makes their love story all the more compelling.

and while we’re talking about helnik, let’s just cover matthias helvar real quick, because, personally, his character needs that time spent in hellgate, now more than ever.

i’ve already mentioned my beef with aging up matthias is a few other posts, but why don’t i reprise it?

matthias is an incredibly complex character, and part of what makes his change earnest is two things - the struggle he continues to feel throughout the duology, and his age. now stick with me.

part of matthias’ struggle is that he is still that little boy whose family were killed by grisha. in the books, matthias is only 18. that seems mature, but by all accounts, it most definitely isn’t. he doesn’t know anything about the world. he has been training to be a religious soldier, where he was heavily indoctrinated. what has matthias truly seen of the world? likely, very little.

furthermore, because he’s only 18, how many expeditions has he been on? sure, matthias has seen grisha tried for their “crimes” and he has been training against grisha since he was a boy, but do you think they’re putting eleven year old matthias out there, against full grown grisha? my bet is he only started truly hunting grisha when he was 14.

when he meets nina, he hasn’t been hunting grisha long, and he’s young enough to where we could truly see how him being smitten with nina could impact his thoughts.

matthias in the show is played by a man who is 27. no hate, this isn’t ageism, but if he’s been hunting grisha since he was 14, he’s been hunting grisha for 12 years. he has gone out on numerous expeditions. hell, in the show they give matthias a large amount of credit for capturing nina. it is sO much harder for you to buy the “nina is a beautiful grisha and has changed my life” storyline when he’s 27, almost 30. furthermore, this matthias has seen way more grisha trials. the concept that he doesn’t know that grisha aren’t given a fair trial is just absurd, at this point. furthermore, you add on the fact that he’s been indoctrinated longer, and it makes his story all the more difficult to grapple with.

on the one hand, i understand that they aged everyone up (which i was happy about, for the majority of characters. kaz, i am once again looking at you). on the other hand, it puts a huge strain on matthias’ character, and if they were to try to juggle the six of crows plot with the shadow and bone plot, so much nuance would be lost and the majority of new fans would not understand people liking matthias. you would risk alienating his character (and nina’s, by effect) and that is not what either character (or actor!) deserves.

they’ve already made it so hard for us to buy the “nina changes matthias” storyline - even though they’ve made him a tad sweeter and more likeable - and if they try to fast track it, it’s going to fall through.

i think matthias needs his time in hellgate for some soul searching and some struggle. with matthias, the only way out is through, and we need to have time for that to happen.

inej and jesper are a little less difficult to juggle since they’re are done pretty well, but i don’t want to see their complexity and nuance fall through (especially jesper’s) because the show is doing too many things at once.

basically, the crows are currently in their fledgling state, and if they were to be thrown into the six of crows storyline, it would not be nearly as fulfilling.

✧ *:･ﾟ

finally, i just want to say that the overall genre and theme of six of crows and shadow and bone are completely different. i feel like there would be far too much dissonance in the show. you could already feel it in season one, but because alina fears being kidnapped and then she goes on the run, it works. six of crows, though, is a completely different show and i think it would be odd to shift from ~life aboard sturmhond’s ship~ to ~breaking and entering in the ice court~.

✧ *:･ﾟ

anyway, those are my thoughts, anon. surely you didn’t ask for this, but you received it, anyway.