#shadow and bone thoughts

[aquitainequeen]

Okay, so after much thinking about Shadow and Bone Season 2, I've narrowed down one major issue from which other issues arose, which is: time.

Time affects Shadow and Bone season 2 in several ways, but the four that stand out to me are time allowance, pacing, beginnings, and narrative. Time allowance and pacing rather speak for themselves. Netflix really should have given this season two more episodes, to provide more room for plot, dialogue, character arcs, etc; and others who are far better than me at this have elaborated on the pacing.

In terms of beginnings, Season 2 suffers from the same problem that harmed the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy; the writers had their hands tied about where they could feasibly start it. This impacts the whole season moving forward.

To elaborate: in the Original and Prequel Trilogies there were established periods of time between the plots of the films, so the OT takes place over four years and the PT covers thirteen years, which meant there was at least some room to hint at the building of character relationships between both the protagonists and the villains. Having time skips between the films allowed for hints of backstory to add extra weight; even if you haven’t read any of the (frankly gargantuan amounts by this point) material set between Episodes IV and V, you can still appreciate the knowledge that Vader’s been obsessively chasing down Luke Skywalker for the past three years, and you can understand Luke’s determination to beat the spectre that’s been hunting him across the galaxy.

In stark contrast and by necessity, the creators had to start The Last Jedi almost immediately after the end of The Force Awakens, because they needed to show the fallout of the cliff-hanger that was Rey holding out the lightsaber to Luke; what would happen when Luke began to train Rey, or return to the Resistance, or do whatever; what would happen when Finn woke up from his medical treatment. All of which did occur, but it meant that the first two films in the sequel trilogy ended up covering at most a week to a week and a half, at the end of which most of the characters still barely know each other, and their friendships/enmities don't have as much weight as those in the previous trilogies.

Compare this to Shadow and Bone. Season 1 ended with Alina and Mal leaving Ravka for the time being and Kirigan emerging from the Fold with the nichevo'ya, both of which could have allowed for some passage of time between seasons and Season 2 beginning some months later, as was the case with the books...

...but Season 1 also ended with the Crows planning what they were going to do when they returned to Ketterdam without Alina. And in my opinion this trapped the writers, because by necessity they had to show what happened when the Crows got back and suffered the logical fallout of stealing a job from Pekka Rollins. And since the writers now had to keep both the Ravkan and the Crows narratives in the same time frame, they also had to continue the stories of Alina, Mal, Kirigan, Genya, Nikolai, Zoya etc from this point as well. Which means that barely any time has passed since the battle in the Fold and Alina and Kirigan becoming, to quote Tolkien's Unfinished Tales, 'unfriends forever', and barely a few more weeks pass before the events of the season's final episode.

And the thing about Alina's journey is that it's not a story that can or should be told very quickly, or in a relatively short time frame. Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdoms, put together, is an epic, action packed, violent heist and revenge story. The Grisha Trilogy is a different kind of epic, a struggle to protect and save a kingdom, and even the whole world. It's a story that needs to address the persecution of a entire group of people, across multiple countries. It's a story where there should have been a lot more talking between the protagonists and the antagonists as they try to sway each other to their side. It's a story that should have included resistance fighters and guerrilla warfare, and far more struggles between the opposing forces as they challenge and occasionally dismantle each others' points of view.

It's the sort of story that should be told over months or even a few years, not weeks.

[phantasmicfish]

So shadow and bone s2 overall was like pretty meh for me but I crave adore flail at all the Crows scenes!

- Wylan and Jesper? Yes. Their relationship moved fast, but seeing queer happy healthy representation in a fantasy show is awesome! Honestly, go Wesper. Also love Wylan perpetually looking like a 12-year-old but still playing with grenades and things that go boom. Also also when he played the piano and Jesper was just //staring// at him I nearly wept.

- Nina totally schooling Kaz during that diner scene? Yes ma’am. I love her character so much, she’s got some awesome quips.

- Anything remotely involving Inej and Kaz? YES!!

- Really loving how we got two sides to Kaz this season. On the one hand there’s Kaz at his most vicious: the fight scenes, his IDGAF-if-I-get-hurt mentality, Kaz ready to take down Pekka Rollins no questions asked, calmly explaining the way he buried Pekka’s kid alive…

- And then we have Kaz grappling with his flashbacks and insecurities, with his feelings for Inej being his real weak spot… Kaz having a panic attack and Inej coming to help him even though she wasn’t supposed to… just. awesome. Loved them this season.

- Inej’s fight scenes were awesome! Love her helping the girls on the ship, love her officially regaining her freedom and then deciding to do what she wanted with it, love all her moments with Kaz/just how aware she is what he hates skin-skin contact and needs space…

- Alina and Nikolai are maybe the only other characters I cared about this season aside from the Crows, and that is 100% due to their chemistry! Sorry not sorry, but Mal and Alina look like two adorable raccoons pawing ineffectually at a garbage can lid in comparison. I was totally unprepared to fall in love with Nikolina, and yet here we are!

[mesillusionssousecstasy]

Shadow and Bone 2x05 - "Yuyeh Sesh (Despise your Hear) : Alina Vs Baghra

Because it's very important for the end and for a potential season three.

"- Tell me the truth. This connection you share with Aleksander, what else is there to it? (Baghra) - I don't understand what you mean. (Alina) - There's a difference between not understanding and refusing to face difficult truth, girl. Just now, when you were with Aleksander light exploded out of you as if it could hardly be contained. So, what aren't you telling me? You said you wanted a way to shut him out. You won't be able to move beyond this until you face it. (Baghra) - I feel him. (Alina) - Are you saying that as a projection, he can touch you? (Baghra) - It's more than that. Every time I use my powers, I feel him. His hands on me, making me use it. Even after we escaped the Fold and I cut the antler from his hand, I still felt him. I told myself to ignore it, that it would dull with time. And once I had the Sea Whip, it did. Its power, it felt... different. I felt different. I felt... free. The power was... Was angry, but it was mine. Mine alone. And then I saw him again. It was like he stole my powers all over again. Like the Sea Whip was no longer mine but also his. (Alina) - And why did you think that? Because he's why I sought it in the first place. If it weren't for him, I never would have take the Sea Whip's life or power. If it weren't for him, I'd still be a mapmaker. He was the first person to show me that I wasn't just some weak stick from Keramzin. That I was Grisha. That I was powerful. That I was meant for more. (Alina) - Even without Aleksander's influence, those things remain true. (Baghra) - But so much of what I have done and who I am is because of him. Even my powers are tied to him, the man who manipulated and betrayed Genya, betrayed Ravka.... (Alina) - Who betrayed you. Violated you. Aleksander is hundreds of years old, nearly infinite in his power, and yet, a scrap of a girl has bested him not once, but again and again. You are who you are in spite of him. Because your will is stronger than his. The only way you'll find peace is to finish what you've started. Dismantle the Fold, go to the heart of Aleksander's creation and heal the wound he's left on this country. (Baghra) (Come on, Alina betrayed him because of you. She wasn't violated, she was the once initiated the kiss) - But I can't do it without the Firebird. (Alina) - I will help you find it. (Baghra) - No lecture about combining amplifiers? The abomination of it all? (Alina) - Two amplifiers ago, I would have cautioned you about greed, power. No. The abomination would be not to see this through to the end. (Baghra) - You know where to look? (Alina) - I know where to start. Morozova's workshop, or what remains of it." (Baghra)

[nina-the-ninth]

If I get the motivation I’ll do the whole chapter

[futuristicclambiscuitmaker]

сьогодні згадувала колись the staple of української джен зі культури "коля - не коляй".

через те, що тільки що закінчила читати "короля шрамів", думаю про те, що ніколай ланцов теж коля.

а ще думаю про те, наскільки великий укр грішаверс фандом. цікаво.

[sparrowmoth]

This was the kiss he’d been waiting for. It was a gunshot. It was prairie fire. It was the spin of Makker’s Wheel. Jesper felt the pounding of his heart—or was it Wylan’s?—like a stampede in his chest, and the only thought in his head was a happy, startled, Oh.

Please do not use, edit, or repost my art without permission.

[capinejghafa]

SOC SPINOFF WAS GONNA FEATURE KAZ AND INEJ'S FIRST MEETING. NETFLIX I WILL FIGHT YOU.

[skepticalcatfrog]

Here's what I'm thinking about on this fine evening: Ketterdam has a HUGE CANAL SYSTEM that runs pretty much through the entire city and I, somehow, completely missed that.

Here's the Ketterdam map, right? We know her. We love her.

BUT, let's zoom in a little:

You can see very clearly here that those thicker, darker colored lines connect distinctly into the harbor, which means that they are ALSO WATER.

So, if a person with a Six of Crows obsession and maybe a little too much time on their hands were to take that map and color it so that all of the water was blue, it would look something like this:

Now, I may just be stupid, but I'd like to believe there is at least one other person who will be as baffled upon seeing this post as I was when I made this realization. It's water!! Canals are a major form of transportation in Ketterdam!! This not only is very interesting to me in regards to Ketterdam’s culture, but it also changed the way I pictured the city in my head. This is life-changing stuff, people.

[these-conquered-woodlands]

kaz: Oh, so when crows remember people who wronged them and hold grudges, it's “intelligent” and “cool”. kaz: But when I do it, I’m “petty” and “need to let it go”.

[to-be-a-dreamer]

I’ve been reading the Grishaverse books/watching the Netflix show for the first time over the past couple weeks or so and I just have to say that I think it's so funny whenever Kaz gets snarky about Inej's proverbs or Matthias's religious talk or Jesper’s Jesperisms or anyone else being even slightly philosophical or theatrical or whatever because Kaz Brekker is the most dramatic bitch in all of Kerch. Like. I'm pretty sure this kid graduated top of his class from the School of Dramatic One-Liners with a double major in "Commit to the Aesthetic" and "Writing Epic Love Poetry Whilst Maintaining the Bad Guy Reputation". Dude wanted to impress a girl and wasn’t sure if getting the whole ass king of Ravka to find her long-lost parents was enough so he bought an entire warship from his friend who absolutely would have just Given It To Him but noooooo Mr. Protecting-My-Investment over here had to pay a fair price otherwise it doesn’t count.

The only, and I mean the ONLY reason I don't say he's the most dramatic bitch in the entire Grishaverse is because Nikolai Lantsov exists and that man once wore his entire army uniform under his jacket to go volcra hunting in the Shadow Fold on the off chance he would get to make a dramatic reveal at the end. He put a spring-loaded curtain in front of the weapons rack on his personal ship just in case he had guests he wanted to show off for. I wouldn’t be surprised if he did the dramatic flourish every time he opened those curtains for literally no one but himself. I also wouldn’t be surprised if he made that set up after he had guests he wanted to show off for. That curtain either went up two hours before he used it or it was the first thing he built on that ship there is no in between.

I need copious amounts of Expo markers, PowerPoint slides, and glitter to figure out which one of them takes the title it is CLOSE.

[wqemzz-blog]

Noooo hahaha just hand over the Kanej plotline🥺🙏 I promise I won't jumble up key character development moments in a way that irrevocably alters the overarching subplot and strangely downplays Inej's trauma😔 you're so silly why would you even think that❤

[ricky-mortis]

I think Dakkar should play that organ while they’re on the Nautilus.

[mesillusionssousecstasy]

Shadow and Bone Season 2 : DARKLINA

They are shadow and light, darkness and light, evil and good, black and white, death and life. Two faces of the same coin. 

[maidenofcrows]

“…but he held steady as she launched herself from the cradle of his fingers”

I need people to understand how important it is that Inej launched herself. Kaz held steady and provided the foothold, but she launched herself.

Kaz gave her a ship and a place to return. He holds steady in a different way waiting for her return. He supports her fully. But she launched herself. This is her mission, her endeavor, her drive, her purpose.

[dragonqueenstormwitch]

kanej going for a neck kiss first honestly insane good for them but makes me wonder if cheek, hand, forehead, or hair kiss will be next!

[sparrowmoth]

Does it ever make you a little crazy insane thinking about how Jesper and Wylan both have these gaping absences in their families, these needs that haven't been met for years, but as their stories become parallel, they find exactly what they need in each other's lives?

Because okay, hear me out, Jesper couldn't save his mom, nor can he ever bring her back, but he was able to help Wylan save his mom. His mom who was supposed to be dead. He was able to help bring her back in a way that he will never able to do for his own mom. And no, she'll never be Aditi, but I think she'll grow to love him as a son-in-law.

Wylan, meanwhile, lost his father's love at a young age. He will never be good enough for Jan, because Jan refuses to love or accept him as he is. But Colm, Jesper's father who loves him, who only wants the best for his son, meets Wylan when he's easily at his lowest point in life, when he's wrapped up in crime and scandal, and what does he say? "I think you’d be good for [Jesper]." And that means everything.

Jesper and Wylan don't just complement each other as a couple, their lives thread together like stitches closing long open wounds.