Leigh Bardugo's Blog, page 551
May 2, 2014
viceroykim:
nameless — “Using our power makes us stronger. It...
:
nameless — “Using our power makes us stronger. It feeds us instead of consuming us. Most Grisha live long lives. The greater the power, the longer the life. And when that power is amplified…” (Shadow and Bone, p. 79-80)
"I’d been lonely all my life, but I’d never truly been alone before, and it wasn’t nearly as scary as I’d imagined." (Shadow and Bone, p. 250)
a mix for alina on her own as time stretches on
1. dead man walking — frederik wiedmann // 2. feral love — chelsea wolfe // 3. mirror — ellie goulding // 4. mad world — jasmine thompson // 5. running up that hill — placebo // 6. remain nameless — florence + the machine // 7. carol sparks — frederik wiedmann // 8. elastic heart — sia ft. the weeknd & diplo // 9. to be alone — ben howard // 10. mirror — lil wayne ft. bruno mars // 11. to build a home — the cinematic orchestra // 12. long time traveller — the wailin’ jennys
hreadsbooks:
Make War, Not Love: The Complete Collection
A...
Make War, Not Love: The Complete Collection
A collection of Southern Gothic-esque/Bluesy/Folk Rock mixes for the Grisha Trilogy post Siege and Storm.
Make War, Not Love [X]
She Would Rise - An Alina Starkov Mix [X]
The Problem With Wanting - An Alina Starkov Mix [X]
No Shelter But Me - A Darkling Mix [X]
Like A Stranger - A Mal Oretsev Mix [X]
Power Is Alliance - A Nikolai Lanstov Mix [X]
A Pretty Thing - A Genya Mix [X]
*This started out as a one playlist deal for the whole “Make War, Not Love” campaign back in February then expanded to making similarly themed character mixes for Alina, The Darkling, and Mal, which then expanded further into making a second Alina mix (because after all she is the main character, and the first mix wasn’t badass enough) and making mixes for Genya and Nikolai. So this may be added to after I have Ruin and Rising in my hands or if inspiration strikes again. Anyway, like every reader I have my own opinions on characters and such and it was really fun to set that all aside and just think from the character’s perspective music-wise…
This collection is just incredible. Thanks for the beautiful covers and the thoughtful playlists. Really smitten
AHHHHHHH!!!! HELL TO THE YEAH :D
AHHHHHHH!!!! HELL TO THE YEAH :D
This was the line I wrote when I thought maybe, maybe this can...
This was the line I wrote when I thought maybe, maybe this can be a book.
May 1, 2014
Lyanna of House Stark and her betrothed, Robert Baratheon,...
Lyanna of House Stark and her betrothed, Robert Baratheon, separated by the Dragon Rhaegar
Arya Stark and the "Bad Fan"
I usually stick to art here, but I could not resist this excellent piece of character meta.New Yorker tv critic Emily Nussbaum coined the term “bad fan” to refer to viewers who watch shows about morally compromised people primarily to revel in those moral compromises, and who subsequently attack those characters and critics who seem to stand in the way. Think of Skyler-hating Team Walt for Breaking Bad, the “who got whacked?!?!” crowd for The Sopranos, the people who watch the early seasons of Mad Men and go “man, those were the days!” And speaking of “those were the days,”Nussbaum’s latest article traces the phenomenon back to Norman Lear’s All in the Family, which intended Archie Bunker to be an obvious buffoon but wound up the vehicle for an unironically appreciated icon.
It got me to thinking: Do any female characters have Bad Fans? The only one I can think of is Arya Stark. Arya’s an incredible character, and Maisie Williams is a brilliant actor, in the vein of Walter White and Bryan Cranston, Don Draper and Jon Hamm, Tony Soprano and James Gandolfini, Stringer Bell and Idris Elba, etc. But you don’t need me to tell you there are both readers and viewers who justify her every action (Walt did everything for the family, remember?) and pillory anyone who takes issue with her in any way. (One guess as to which characters’ fans have been the most vicious about my Rolling Stone Top 40 Characters list — over a placement in the top 10, no less! ShowCat fans have been the model of gentility by comparison.)
And the logic employed is often protean to the point of incoherence — it’s not so much that specific arguments are being taken issue with as it is the notion that there can be any argument at all. Indeed, the Bad Fan phenomenon is closely related to something critics like Matt Zoller Seitz have pointed out about recent pop-cultural discourse, which is that everything must either be talked about as The Greatest Ever or Hot Garbage. An even slightly mixed review of a show or an episode people love will call down the fanhammer as swiftly and mercilessly as an out-and-out pan. Characters who generate Bad Fans are simply in micro what that larger inability to process mixed information is in macro.
The interesting thing about Arya is that unlike most of the male Bad Fan icons, she doesn’t have a wife to embody her Bad Fans’ frustrations and serve as an outlet for their ire — no Betty Draper, no Skyler White, no Carmela Soprano. Instead, she has a sister, Sansa, who winds up serving the same function. Much of Bad Fandom is a gendered phenomenon, pulling for he-man figures against shrewish wives who just don’t understand them. It’s fascinating to see how the phenomenon can alter itself to accommodate a female-female pairing while still targetingcharacteristics we typically gender female. The Bad Fan is nothing if not durable.
bryndonovan:
I have worked at Hallmark for about 20 years total...
I have worked at Hallmark for about 20 years total and this is probably the best card I have ever written.
volchitza:
“Do not let them humble you,” he said softly....
“Do not let them humble you,” he said softly. […] “I can promise you this, too: You are a soldier. You could be my greatest soldier. And if you stay, if you can endure this, one day all will know it.” He lifted my chin with his finger.
“I can promise you safety,” he said. “Or I can promise to see your suffering repaid a thousandfold.” With the pad of his thumb, he brushed a stray tear from beneath my eye. “You decide, Genya.”
[photo cred ©]
"My cheeks heated. You don’t want this, I told myself. But I...
"My cheeks heated. You don’t want this, I told myself. But I felt my edges curl like a piece of paper held too close to fire. “Mal—”
“I need to keep you safe, Alina, to stay focused on what matters. I can’t do that if …” He let out a long breath. “You were meant for more than me, and I’ll die fighting to give it to you. But please don’t ask me to pretend it’s easy.”
- Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo [ snippet ]
Beautiful
