#Stephen Black

[occasional-owl]

[lacnunga]

The gentlemen among my readers will smile to themselves and say that women never did understand business, but the ladies may agree with me that Mrs Brandy understood her business very well, for the chief business of Mrs Brandy's life was to make Stephen Black as much in love with her as she was with him.

Stephen and Mrs Brandy before

[fickleiris96]

[thinkanamelater]

I'm having too much fun with these

(Part 1)

[slow-burn-sally]

Are you in an Age Of Sail fandom like The Terror, Black Sails, or Master and Commander?

Are you in a fantasy/time travel fandom like Dr. Who, The Librarians, or The Magicians?

Are you in a period piece fandom like Pride & Prejudice, Bridgerton, or Persuasion?

Are you looking for a new hyperfixation or special interest to absolutely lose your mind over? Well then, step right up! Have I got the fandom for you!

It's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell!

This book and series have everything, folks! True love! Intrigue! Magic! Ships! Politics! Sly, subtle jokes! The sweetest cinnamon rolls! The most dastardly villains!

And it comes in two flavors! You can either watch the well done and chock-full-of-hotties 2015 TV series, or! you can read Susanna Clarke's deceptively addictive 800 page book full of footnotes! Both are guaranteed to pull the soul from your body and keep you enslaved in an enchanted fairy kingdom for the rest of your earthly days!

The series is now available for the low, low price of $5 on Amazon! Or, watch it FREE on YouTube! You can buy the book at affordable rates on many platforms where books are sold, and the audiobook is great too!

And if That doesn't sell you on this fandom, then just wait until you lay your peepers on this boy:

So, drop everything! Run to your local internet source or bookseller, and start an adventure of a lifetime that will leave your heart buried in a dark wood beneath the snow where you can still feel its ache!

Invest now, and we'll even throw in this grumpy autistic guy for free!

[dathen]

Crying weeping over Stephen becoming the King of Lost-Hope. The only time I actually teared up reading this book was the gut punch of him feeling lost and empty when he was (deceptively) told that the prophecy wasn’t about him, because it felt so good to belong to and be a part of something after a life time of being “neither African or Englishman.”

And then when he inherits the crown of Faerie IT CHANGES

His nature overriding the cruelty and desolation of the former king’s reign, the magical world reshaping itself to reflect his strong heart and kindness and nobility… He wished to belong somewhere and now it’s the faerie-world choosing to belong to him, and making sure he’s welcome and happy in it…. What an incredible resolution for an incredible character

[yeti-zeus]

One of my fav things in JSMN is that the two titular characters are not only the least important characters in the grand scheme of things, especially magically, but also actively hinder the return of magic to England even when they dont mean to.

[puddinginthemix]

Since I finished watching The Terror I've been thinking about "The Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell to The Terror Pipeline" (cf. Tumblr user pudentilla). I came to the show because a number of people I followed for JSAMN posts were also posting about The Terror, and naturally I was like, dudes on ships looking very cold and rather gay, what is this. Of course, I liked it immediately, but the reason for the "pipeline" still seemed fuzzy.

I joined this conversation about Tuunbaq's role in the story--how The Terror would still be a great show without the demon bear, but his presence definitely adds a certain whatsit--but things didn't really crystallize for me until I was reading an article that discussed speculative fiction as a form of resistance to the Western, colonialist, capitalist, masculinist model of literature that is often unfortunately dubbed "realist" fiction.

It would be easy to write The Terror as a "realist" narrative about the doomed Franklin expedition. All you do is take out Tuunbaq. It would still be excellent. And yet Tuunbaq--the entity that turns the story into speculative fiction--is the force that overwhelms the entire Western, colonialist, capitalist, masculinist enterprise.

I was fascinated by the end of Mr. Hickey: on the one hand, he appears to reject his native culture in favor of reinventing himself as a wild cannibal shaman of the frozen north. On the other hand, everything about what Hickey wants/tries to do is colonialist, exploitative, and driven by the urge to dominate. He fantasizes that he's connecting with Tuunbaq, but he doesn't understand it at all. And then it eats his face.

That was the fantasy moment that made me think ohhhh, what a beautiful connection. Magic in Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell is always and forever the enemy of colonialist, capitalist, masculinist domination. Lots of other people have blogged about this (recently @fluentisonus, good stuff), and I won't rehash that in detail here. But in JSAMN, magic puts itself into the hands of a Black man, servants, women, people who reject conquest and domination as a way of living. It rescues and sustains those people (like Tuunbaq brings Silna a nice fat seal). But those who would use it to dominate others, it utterly crushes.

tl;dr: 1) The Terror isn't The Terror without Tuunbaq; 2) I rode the JSAMN to The Terror Pipeline and I think I get it now

[cliozaur]

JSAMN 20 Readalong. Week 3. Chapters 13–19

This week’s chapters are much darker compared to last week's, which featured resurrection and magical military experiments. The only comic relief came from Childermass and his reaction to Vinculus’ visit: “Yes,” agreed Childermass, “very great harm! For while he was in the pantry, he ate three meat pies.” We need more Childermass moments in this book!

Jonathan Strange is introduced, and he’s such a Persephone figure: spending half the year in a good place with his mother’s family and half in a bad place with his terrible father. The good place on Charlotte Square was clearly inspired by the lovely Georgian House museum in Edinburgh! (I highly recommend visiting it!)

Servants play an increasingly important role in these chapters. We have the manservant in Strange's household who, after enduring a night and morning of bullying from his asshole master, gains the upper hand thanks to his youth and better health. Then there's the entire situation with Lady Pole's city and country servants. It’s fascinating how the servants are portrayed as more sensitive and susceptible to faerie manifestations—they see and hear things their masters cannot. Is it because they are believed to be more superstitious and 'closer to nature'?

The theme of race is introduced through Stephen Black, who is described as intelligent, beautiful, respected, and highly competent, yet still lives under the constant threat of being accused of wrongdoing for no reason. His flashbacks to the dark place with chains are deeply unsettling.

The enchanted state of Lady Pole—and to a lesser extent, Stephen Black—feels like a vivid portrayal of clinical depression, making it truly painful to read.

The contrast in perceptions of Lost-Hope is striking. While it’s a bleak and oppressive place for both Lady Pole and Stephen Black, it’s amusing that, for the Gentleman, it’s a joyful, merry world of feasts and celebration.

[amberkendslacy]

Source

[fluentisonus]

part of a drawing I may never finish but. him

[butler-battle-bracket]

[burnsopale]

John. John, my love. It's the year of our Raven Liege 1816. You can't just brush your fingers across another man's face like that. I know Stephen is frightfully handsome, but ask permission first, okay?

[thejestersmelody]

𝒮𝓉𝑒𝓅𝒽𝑒𝓃 𝐵𝓁𝒶𝒸𝓀 ♚ 𝒩𝒶𝓂𝑒𝓁𝑒𝓈𝓈 𝒦𝒾𝓃𝑔 "Skin can mean a great deal. Mine means that any man may strike me in a public place and never fear the consequences. It means that my friends do not always like to be seen with me in the street. It means that no matter how many books I read, or languages I master, I will never be any thing but a curiosity - like a talking pig or a mathematical horse." Vinculas grinned. " And mine means the opposite of yours. It means you will be raised up on high, Nameless King. It means your kingdom is waiting for you and your enemy shall be destroyed. It means the hour is almost come. The nameless slave shall wear a silver crown; the nameless slave shall be a king in a strange country…"

-Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell

[thinkanamelater]

this is fine :)

@occasional-owl suggested i draw Stephen surrounded by the Gentleman's ridiculous gifts, and Of Course i had to do it !

[slow-burn-sally]