#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone

[jaggedcliffs]

have I gone insane or was Prince Nikolai supposed to have shown up already??? like I distinctly remember him being at a meeting where he displayed his intelligence, his military competence, and his caring for the Ravkan people in utter contrast to the rest of his family, especially his brother???

and marriage proposals to Alina. there was at least one marriage politics-driven marriage proposal

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone #prince nikolai my beloved... #if they cut out his story (and the politics involved therein) for the sake of alina/mal I'm gonna riot #if they cut out his story (and the politics involved therein) for the sake of the crows...well i'll be a little miffed

[thebibliomancer]

Shadows of the Dark Crystal liveblog pt 10

Shadows of the Dark Crystal by J. M. Lee BECAUSE I WANT TO KNOW WHERE KYLAN WENT

Last times on book: Naia sets off on a journey to defend her brother Gurjin against accusations of treason against the Skeksis. She stops at Sami Thicket and is joined on her journey by Kylan the Song Teller. She and Kylan discuss a lot of cool lore and then he disappears. Dangit!

Chapter 12

Naia finds Kylan in a hole, another darkened creature occurs, and a lot of dreamfasting happens.

Apparently Kylan fell down a hole. Naia falls down the same hole while looking for him.

Womp womp.

Its some kind of dug-out burrow. Given the scale of the furniture, likely a Podling’s house but its abandoned. There’s dust all over everything and things have been left to rot. So abandoned or... would Podlings just leave behind everything or did something happen to the inhabitants?

Spooky.

Naia finds a mysterious and also spooky dark tunnel and decides, hey lets go explore down it! But remembering Kylan’s fear of darkness (because of the time his parents were horribly murdered by the Hunter) she tells Kylan to stay put while she explores.

“She trailed a hand across the overgrown wall to keep her bearings, feeling the soft spongy tendrils and leaves of the life that had taken root in the cavern’s abandoned insides. The leaves and coils shivered as she passed, crowding around her fingers to take in her scent, kissing her knuckles and fingertips.”

How evocative. I would hate it. But it does remind me of the swamp/forest scene from the movie. Which is a specific setting moment that Dark Crystal doesn’t always recapture.

Thra is weird! And a bit unsettling!

Naia sees a weird glow among the weird wall plants and starts digging at the soil of the wall to find out what it is. And she finds another one of those dark crystal (ha) veins, like the one she saw near the giga-nebrie.

Whatever these dark crystals (ha!), it goes beyond the Sog or its spreading.

Then Kylan calls for her help and she hears something big digging through the Earth.

“It’s the Hunter,” Kylan whispered, grabbing her arm in terror. “He’s here. He took the Podlings. Now he’s come to take us!”

This poor boy.

Also, huh, I guess the Hunter would account for the missing Podlings. Seems like random cave Podlings wouldn’t be ‘a worthy prey’ but maybe he’s just a serial killer who likes to fancy himself up.Where was the ‘hunt’ in killing Kylan’s parents in their home at night?

But no, its not the Hunter. Its a ruffnaw! That other thing Kylan mentioned wanting protection from, aside from fizzgigs.

It had thick oily fur coated in dirt and mud, and its eyeless face was spiked with hundreds of long whiskers. At the end of its pointed nose was a red flanged cluster of nostrils that flared when it took in the open air, flashing a warning crimson. The color was a sign of danger, and so were the huge hooked claws that made up the creature’s front paws.

I’m imagining.... a pissed off mole that’s also a wolf? I dunno. I can’t find a picture.

Another fun use for dreamfasting? JUST PSYCHIC!

Naia grabs Kylan’s hand and dreamfasts with him so they can talk to each other without making noise. I guess the limitation is that they have to be touching for it to work but its so cool that Gelfling are just vaguely psychic.

She warns him that the creature has been enraged by the crystals in the Earth and he tells her that Ruffnaw hunt by sensing movement, not by sight. Which seems obvious. What with the no eyes.

Neither Gelfling found another exit than the one they fell in so Naia gets some rope out of her pack to make an escape rope but the ruffnaw jumps on Kylan who backed away nervously.

Noooooo the very thing he feared would happen!

Naia jumps on the ruffnaw to try to keep it off Kylan. She considers stabbing it with Gurjin’s Sweet Real Metal Knife but remembering how the giga-nebrie reacted to being hit in the eye makes her reconsider.

No swamp to vibe in here.

Instead she. Dreamfasts with the ruffnaw??

I know Gelfling are vaguely psychic but what??

Instead, in desperation, she reached out to the ruffnaw with her mind. She first felt a searing, blinding light, then saw a dark jagged silhouette floating in a tunnel of fire, and finally felt the groaning of Thra itself - creaking and moaning in agony.

You keep getting mysterious visions, Naia. Are you perhaps some manner of protagonist?

Then a whistle frightens the ruffnaw and it darts back down the tunnel it came from.

A dazed and confused Naia finds the escape rope and hucks it back up the hole and Kylan and Naia escape the spooky burrow.

“What happened? With that whistling call... Was that you?”

Kylan put his small fingers into his mouth and curled his lips in, then blew a loud, bold whistle that carried across the plan. He put his hands in his lap and shrugged.

“The ruffnaw fears the hollerbat call,” he said. “I heard it in a song.”

Naia sighed, but whether it had come from a song or not, it had worked.

Hey! Kylan has had decent rate of success so far with stuff he remembers from songs! Just saying! This is why bards rock.

Naia being vaguely annoyed that Kylan is 99% book learning by volume amuses me though.

Also amuses me: Naia checking her pack to make sure she didn’t drop anything in the doom cave and sees a trembling tail at the very bottom of her pack. She pulls the tail and out comes a terrified Neech who Naia soothes and then dunks on.

“It’s all right. It’s over. No thanks to you, little spithead.”

Ha.

Naia tells Kylan she dreamfasted with the ruffnaw and like me he’s like wait you can DO that??

He helps her over to a tree to rest under and since she’s so exhausted she can’t help but accidentally dreamfast a bit, mostly the emotions they were feeling in that doom hole. Like her shame that she wasn’t able to save them with wings she didn’t have yet.

At some point in this liveblog I’ll stop talking about how thrilled I am with this expansion on what dreamfast does and is but that time is not right now.

Because now I’m thinking about it. Gelfling can accidentally dreamfast just by touching someone. Is this idea that its rude to do that just something thats been socialized into them and not how their culture would have naturally developed? Because they’re psychic at a touch but can also hold stuff back. In this bout of accidental dreamfast, Naia still manages to keep some stuff hidden, although its Effort.

I don’t know but it seems like its something that all Gelfling are able to do. That when they’re young they do it pretty indiscriminately, and then a sign of maturity is that they start closing themselves off from other people.

Anyway, Kylan remarks that Naia knows more than she’s letting on considering she wasn’t surprised at the way the ruffnaw was behaving.

Naia decides to expo dump to him since they are companions, heck maybe even friends.

Another great art! Love it!

So Naia shares with Kylan... basically the book up until now. Although she keeps the stuff about Gurjin treason a secret.

Kylan shares with Naia his life and the night his parents were taken by the Hunter.

And here’s the weird thing! Naia sees the Hunter in the dreamfast! Not clearly, because it was dark! But she sees the bone mask and the eyes.

Maudra Mera claims she couldn’t see anything but darkness when she dreamfasted with Kylan.

So did Maudra Mera not see because she didn’t want to see? Did she deny what she did see? Intrigue...

Anyway, Naia tells Kylan about the crystals she keeps seeing.

“The crystal veins... they’re a sickness in Thra,” Naia said. “They darken the hearts of creatures. I worry about what might happen if the sickness reaches the Castle of the Crystal.”

Oooooof.

“The Skeksis will protect the Crystal,” Kylan assured her. “Ancient gods gave them the power to protect it when the castle was entrusted to them.”

Ooooooooooooof.

There’s a lot of dramatic irony in this book.

Also, “ancient gods”? Plural? Has Aughra been spun off into several people in myth? Give me the lore!

I actually wonder about Gelfling religion because. The stuff they can believe in is so tangible. The Crystal is Right There. They have immortalish Skeksis, akin to gods, living at the center of their culture. The world itself made a person just to hang out with its inhabitants.

Anyyyyway. The little adventure in the cave burrow has so wiped out Naia that she calls it a day and they make camp right under that tree they stopped to rest at.

#dark crystal #the dark crystal #Shadows of the Dark Crystal #liveblog #Naia #Kylan #i have a lot of thoughts and feelings about dreamfasting #constantly

[jaggedcliffs]

WHY THE FUCK DID THEY MAKE THE AMPLIFIERS MELD WITH PEOPLE’S BODIES

NO GROSS STOP IT

OTHER GRISHA WITH AMPLIFIERS AREN’T WALKING AROUND WITH BONES STICKING OUT OF THEM

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone #zoya doesn't have fucking bones sticking out of her neck or wrist or wherever she put her amplifier in the book #unless I WILDLY misunderstood the descriptions in the book #which is always a possibility #but I HATE it #I HATE looking at it PUT IT BACK

[jaggedcliffs]

better yet: David raising his hand to talk to the Darkling and the Darkling is just like “no...you don’t have to...okay fine yes David what is it?“

I love it thanks

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone #when I say I mostly like the side characters in s & b I do mean that I mostly like the side characters

[jaggedcliffs]

is the Three of Crows gang meeting the Darkling, Alina, Zoya, etc. a silly wish-fulfillment of “hey what if the main characters from each book series got to meet each other!!!” especially Kaz meeting the Darkling?

yes

was my heart still racing when Kaz met the Darkling?

also yes

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone #it helps that I don't remember the books well enough to say to what extent this foray messes with themes/character development #if I remembered the themes a bit better I might get angrier about them #I *am* kind of angry that kaz didn't really have much of a plan to deal with alina #but it's not like the plot could go anywhere else #I do like the kaz & inej debates about faith and saints though #they're nice character moments

[jaggedcliffs]

i’m still not sure what’s up with the Six Three of Crows plot and where it can possibly go (I think they’re replacing a kidnapping plot by The Apparat’s people? Or maybe a kidnapping plot by some random people? I vaguely remember something like that)

but Alina heisting herself right into their carriage is one of the funniest fucking things

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone

[jaggedcliffs]

Much like the Darkling/Alina romance, I was really only interested in the Darkling as “oh a sympathetic villain whom the narrative and protagonist remains sympathetic to throughout? cool. that’s neat, we can use more of those,”  without much actual emotional attachment to him

But the way he sliced that dude in half with the shadows?

H O T

#maybe the show's hot actor and hot shadow special effects will make me more invested #jagged liveblogs shadow and bone

[jaggedcliffs]

David throwing the book at Jesper is just alkshfljdfgsfjkj

it’s great thanks

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone #jesper's 'he threw a book at me' clinched it

[jaggedcliffs]

So I was never really invested in the Darkling/Alina romance beyond “oh a hero villain ship, that’s neat, nice to see those around” without any real emotional investment in it (though it was at least more interesting than Alina/Mal)

but damn, the way the Darkling rolls up Alina sleeves to test her power was somehow very...sensual. sexy

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone #or rather than the next day blogging because I was too tired to type these out last night #block the tag if you want to avoid spoilers

[jaggedcliffs]

you know what would liven up the lead up to the fantasy Russia magical revolution? three skilled, scheming, plucky teens doin’ a heist

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone #I mean I'm not opposed to it per se #I'm enjoying their plot #it's interesting to watch them cavorting across ravka and doing their schemes #I just don't know what they can possibly add #I don't know what they can do in the face of a revolution orchestrated by one of the most powerful grisha to exist #and an internal political situation that's been bubbling to the surface for decades #maybe they're just there to add a bit more fun #(does the take-over happen in book 1 or book 2? I thought it was book 1 but I cannot remember)

[jaggedcliffs]

so the Crows ended up being the most interesting part of the show, and even if Kaz made a couple of un-Kaz-like blunders, it overall gave some good development for the characters

but as much as I was happy to the see the Crows crew in Shadow and Bone I’m wary about their future in the series. because I can’t imagine them just doing random heists for another two seasons until it’s time for the Six of Crows plot proper, so they must to getting to the Fjerda heist next season

and...honestly...I’d be happier to just wait three seasons for Alina’s story to finish up and then get to the Crows, rather than shoving in the Crow’s plotline into the Shadow and Bones series

they deserve their own damn story, not being a sideplot to Alina

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone

[jaggedcliffs]

my memory of the books may be fuzzy, but I’m pretty sure Kaz would have broken both hands of that inferni dude

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone

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and you know even though the Six of Crows’ plotline is not canon compliant with the books (with the exception of Nina and Matthias’s story)...they still manage to be more interesting than Alina’s story so far

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone #and then keep cutting to mal? #the most boring character?? #to pad out of the story??? #you could at least focus on alina and *her* emotional journey #(I'm keeping these out of the tags for a reason and it's so I can bitch without a wide audience)

[jaggedcliffs]

Oh, so they’re doing a prequel to six of crows. kind of. or Matthias and Nina are getting their prequel story, the others are getting thrown in there to shake things up. I guess

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone #worried it will run into the prequel problem of 'these characters/relationships can't actually progress that much' #'because most of that happens in the main series' #but oh well #if anyone's wondering no I read absolutely nothing about the tv show #before going in

[jaggedcliffs]

i’m sorry show, you still can’t make me care about Mal or Alina/Mal

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone #I know you're trying very hard #putting in all those mal scenes and flashbacks #but I simply Cannot care

[jaggedcliffs]

in summary:

Alina, Mal, and Alina/Mal unfortunately remained just as boring as they did in the books. 

however, my interest in the Darkling did vaguely increase! you go you funky shadow man you

while the Six Three of Crows were the most entertaining part, I wait with terror for their future in this franchise

and though I’m disappointed Prince Nikolai wasn’t even mentioned (considering he’s protag of his own series and very important to the next two books), I wait for him with anticipation

#jagged liveblogs shadow and bone