#caul shivers

[xserpx]

‘It’s a comfort, telling yourself there’s some big right thing out there. That you could seek some wise old bastard in the mountains who’s got the answer. Then there’d be no need for doubts and regrets.’ He looked sideways, sunlight glinting off his metal eye. ‘But far as I can tell it ain’t that simple. Right things, wrong things, well … it’s all a matter of where you stand. Every choice is good for some, bad for others. And once you’re chief, you can’t just do what’s good for you, or those you love. You have to find what’s best for most. Worst for fewest. Like your father tried to, and with no magic eye to see the outcome.’ He sat back, one leg stretched out, and looked towards the sea, breeze stirring the grey hair about his craggy face. ‘Doubts and regrets, they’re the cost of casting a shadow. The only folk without ’em are the dead. For what it’s worth, I’d say you did the best you could.’

— Caul Shivers, The Wisdom of Crowds by Joe Abercrombie

‘Then why does it hurt so much?’

‘Said you did your best. Didn’t say it wouldn’t hurt. One thing I can tell you …’ And he frowned down at that ring on his little finger. ‘Doing your worst feels no better.’

[chloristoflora]

"The rest will be different. I'll see to it."

"Nice, clean murders? I doubt it. You set your mind to killing, it's hard to pick the number of the dead." Shivers slowly shook his head. "Morveer and his fucking like might be able to step away from it and smile, but I can't."

"So what?" She walked slowly to him, the way you might walk to a skittish horse, trying to stop it bolting with your eyes. "Back to the North with fifty scales for the journey? Grow your hair and go back to bad shirts and blood on the snow? I thought you had pride. I thought you wanted to be better than that."

"That's right. I wanted to be better."

"You can be. Stick. Who knows? Maybe you can save some lives, that way." She laid her left hand gently on his chest. "Steer me down the righteous path. Then you can be good and rich at once."

"I'm starting to doubt a man can be both."

"Help me. I have to do this... for my brother."

"You sure? The dead are past helping. Vengeance is for you."

"For me then!" She forced her voice to drop soft again. "There's nothing I can do to change your mind?"

His mouth twisted. "Going to toss me another five, are you?"

"I shouldn't have done that." She slid her hand up, traced the line of his jaw, trying to judge the right words, pitch the right bargain. "You didn't deserve it. I lost my brother, and he's all I had. I don't want to lose someone else..." She let it hang in the air.

Best Served Cold, by Joe Abercrombie

[firstlawincorrectquotes]

Shivers: Alcohol is cool, but have you ever had someone genuinely care about you?

Cosca:

Shivers: Me neither, pass the bottle.

[blacksummerfes]

给富婆抠一下怎么了？

[felagund-fiollaigean]

I love how so many of J.A's protags are disabled. glokta, monza, shivers, craw, probably more in later books. I'm not disabled yet so I don't know what it's like but these protagonists are in pain most of the time, if not all of it. it's brought up in every chapter they narrate because that pain stays with them all. of. the. time. because that's what it would be like to survive those injuries, live with those issues. and I don't know I can't think of another book I've read with a disabled protag where the author never lets you forget about their pain or their disability to such an extent.

[lairn]

meant to draw this when i finished best served cold

[devotedlydeepeststrawberry]

I'm currently on chapter 'Science and Magic' on 'Best Served Cold'(yes, I'm a really slow reader), and for someone who hates Logen, Shivers sure does have a similar journey to him. Especially with their lack of luck in travel companions. How come the 'savage' and 'dumb' northmen are the most social ones in the group? And no one believes them about the crazy shit they had to deal with?

Also while I hate Morveer as a human, I like being in his head.

[igerzixis]

Yooooo best served cold movie in the works! Finally my muse Caul Shivers gets the screen they better cast him so hot

[xserpx]

What's OOMF?

Every AoM book in the top 4 is incredible, but then I'm always surprised when ppl rate TWOC highly because to me it was such a step down, but every time I say that there's a voice in my head like "Ok but Lessons, but Savine, but Leo, but VICK!!!" And I'm like yeah OK you make good points.

I'll never understand BSC dislike, especially as far as Monza goes. Pacing issues? Sure. Rogont is insufferable? 100%. It's kind of a downer? Eh, OK. But Monza is boring? Or the idea that Shivers is the "good guy", or that he changes too fast? Get off my lawn. The strength of BSC comes from the dovetailing of Monza & Shivers's stories, they're both incredibly good characters, I empathise with both of them, and they're both to blame! If you don't like them then I understand why you think the book sucks, but also you're wrong 😂

non-oomf ranking first law on twitter with every age of madness book in the top 4: 😁

they didn't like best served cold because they thought monza was a bland and boring mc: 😔

[xserpx]

He knew he’d wept all those times, and he knew why, but he couldn’t remember for the life of him how it had felt to do it. He wondered if there was anyone left in the world he’d cry for now, and he wasn’t sure he liked the answer.

— Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

"Your father said I was the least likely nursemaid he ever saw. Said I brought you back from the brink." He looked at her then, and a tear streaked from his good eye. "But it was you brought me back."

"You soft fool," she croaked through her cracked lips. "You can't cry. Not you."

[chloristoflora]

Monza was right. Mercy and cowardice were the same. There were no rewards for good behaviour. Not in the North, not here, not anywhere. Life was an evil bastard, and gave to those who took what they wanted. Right was on the side of the most ruthless, the most treacherous, the most bloody, and the way all these fools cheered for her now was the proof of it. He watched her riding slowly up at the front, on her black horse, black hair stirring in the breeze. She'd been right about everything, more or less.

And he was going to murder her, pretty much just for fucking someone else.

He thought of stabbing her, cutting her, carving her ten different ways. He thought of the marks on her ribs, of sliding a blade gently between them. He thought of the scars on her neck, and how his hands would fit just right against them to throttle her. He guessed it would be good to be close to her one last time. Strange, that he should've saved her life so often, risked his own to do it, and now be thinking out the best way to put an end on it. It was like the Bloody Nine told him once - love and hate have just a knife's edge between 'em.

Best Served Cold, by Joe Abercrombie

[vera-dauriac]

SHIVERS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(You know. If you want to. 💓)

😆 I’m taking art requests until 11:59am June 3, EST! This is to redeem my previous promise to the universe if something gets resolved I’d run a little giveaway.

Request whoever you want - they don’t have to be from a fandom I know. You don’t have to be my mutual or follow me or have interacted with me either! I’d draw among requests I received here & other accounts. Send requests anonymously if you like (although in this case, I won’t be able to tag you once I finish). 

For my previous rounds, see (1) (2) though unlike then, this time I'd be drawing in B&W~

I don't want to come across as too egoistic (?) so I won't tag any fandom this time; I'd just let this post float and see who'd find it 🥺

[blacksummerfes]

two years ago i drew this i still love it haha

[felagund-fiollaigean]

he's so funny

[lairn]

People with better memories than me, did Shivers explain how he got his name in the first law trilogy or only in bsc? Also did he ever mention hating his brother in front of Ninefingers?

[xillionreblogs]

Oh wait when Shivers’ casting is out I can throw Shivers and Monza’s photographs into those little algorithms that can generate a hypothetical child’s face from parents’ photo 😳 now come on casting directors😳😳😳

Joe Abercrombie fandom, look at what might be happening. I'm not sure if I'm excited or terrified.