Leigh Bardugo's Blog, page 802

FORTUNE COOKIE (via @morganfahey) #gameofthrones

FORTUNE COOKIE (via @morganfahey) #gameofthrones

xxchasingthewindsxx:Alina Starkovsoooo lovely and...

xxchasingthewindsxx:

Alina Starkov

soooo lovely and atmospheric

it's 04:55 in the morning were I am and I can't sleep. And when I hit the L-key on the keyboard, your adress is what shows in the adress bar (or what it is called). So I ask you, what is your remedy for sleepless nights?

Poor thing. I have no remedy. I find the audiobook to Howl’s Moving Castle or anything narrated by Hugh Fraser really comforting, but I tend to sleep badly.

fwiw, I’ll be up all night drinking coffee and revising. solidarity.

ironmouse:Alina and Mal in happier times, part two.I was...

ironmouse:

Alina and Mal in happier times, part two.

I was almost afraid to open this because I fear (and love) @ironmausu feels. And lo, I am teary. It’s like seeing my characters through a totally different lens.

Pretty much in fangirl heaven. Theme from Game of Thrones +...

Pretty much in fangirl heaven.  Theme from Game of Thrones + intro images from The Legend of Korra.  (via @Dedalvs)

"I know clary is the main character but is she meant to be a little annoying? I love the books, I..."

“I know clary is the main character but is she meant to be a little annoying? I love the books, I just can’t stand her thought process.

— ***”

-

Look, it’s okay if you don’t like Clary. Characters are like real people: there is no such thing as one that everyone loves. She is meant to be realistic and flawed, of course—she’s impulsive and rash, she’s quick to act and sometimes also quick to judge—and just like with real people, that means some will like her and some won’t. (In fact, with Clary, I deliberately gave her a lot of traits I associate with boy heroes in fiction: impulsiveness, recklessness, lack of regard for her own safety, the responsibility to protect her mother, best friend, boyfriend; the responsibility to save the world. I wanted to see how they would sit with a girl protagonist. And, well, a lot of people don’t like it.)

One thing I do find interesting is that with male characters, they are very rarely called “annoying.” You can hate a male character,  or find them evil, but annoying, being a very dismissive term is applied almost uniquely to women and female characters. In fact, this seemed so across-the-board to me that I looked around and indeed found a great essay by Leupagus about just this:

(To Anyone Annoyed By A Woman: An Open Letter)

Jeri Ryan shows up as a sassy con artist on “Leverage,” and people groan about how annoying her character is. Michelle Borth plays a self-confident sailor who sleeps with Steve McGarrett on “Hawaii Five-0” and someone writes a horrifying story about how she gets murdered — and gets dozens of people praising it for “killing off that annoying bitch.” People gush about Michael Fassbender and complain incessantly about January Jones in “X-Men: First Class,” calling one amazing and the other — you guessed it! — annoying. Ellen Page is so annoying in “Inception.” Gwyneth Paltrow is so annoying in “Iron Man.” Annoying, annoying, annoying — it would be funny if it weren’t so predictable. 

So I guess what I would say is that of course being a female character doesn’t meant you get a pass from anyone ever not liking you. But if you’re using the word “annoying” to describe a girl or woman, real or fictional, take a moment to stop and ponder what it is that makes you think that character is annoying, what precise actions she took that bothered you so much, and whether they would have bothered you if a boy did them.

(via cassandraclare)

daphyluvsyousoshe:I drew Alina Starkov from Shadow and...

daphyluvsyousoshe:

I drew Alina Starkov from Shadow and Bone/The Gathering Dark by Leigh Bardugo

 ~Chapt 12~
[‘m sorry, I whispered to it. I’m sorry I left you so long in the dark. I’m sorry, but I’m ready now.]
spolier Alert
This is my rough drawing of chapter 12, the scene where Alina calls out to the light and summons it by herself.It’s probably not very accurate… The book says there are tears sliding down her checks~but I dun really know how much so….here’s my rough guess…

An more accurate drawing would probably include ghostly white thingys with the opacity of aprox 20% running towards Alina as she summons the light from the surroundings. Alina’s hands with be up like an opera singer reaching the chorus of a song. bright shiny orbs that would require more photoshop effects would glow out of her hands and transform into bright swriling beams that circle the room~~~ and her hair would be glowing too~~ but I can’t draw hands

http://daphyluvsyou.tumblr.com/post/41739620251/the-non-textured-version-aline-starkov-from

Love this and so thrilled that you chose this moment to draw. Hands shmands!

Ok so i don't have the book with me and I won't be able to get it anytime soon, but i wanted to ask: what village or town does Alina come from and was she orphaned because of the shadowfold or because of a border war with another country? did Mal come from

Thank you! I’m glad you like S&B and I love questions :)

Mal and Alina come from a group of nameless settlements in the valley of Dva Stolba, near the southern border. Their families were the victims of one of the flare ups in the border wars with Shu Han. Technically, they weren’t orphaned by the Shadow Fold, but I think it’s worth saying that Ravka wouldn’t be nearly as vulnerable to attack from the north and the south if it hadn’t been crippled by the Fold.

now back to work I go :)

Ok so i don't have the book with me and I won't be able to get it anytime soon, but i wanted to ask: what village or town does Alina come from and was she orphaned because of the shadowfold or because of a border war with another country? did Mal come from

Thank you! I’m glad you like S&B and I love questions :)

Mal and Alina come from a group of nameless settlements in the valley of Dva Stolba, near the southern border. Their families were the victims of one of the flare ups in the border wars with Shu Han. Technically, they weren’t orphaned by the Shadow Fold, but I think it’s worth saying that Ravka wouldn’t be nearly as vulnerable to attack from the north and the south if it hadn’t been crippled by the Fold.

now back to work I go :)

Ok so i don't have the book with me and I won't be able to get it anytime soon, but i wanted to ask: what village or town does Alina come from and was she orphaned because of the shadowfold or because of a border war with another country? did Mal come from

Thank you! I’m glad you like S&B and I love questions :)

Mal and Alina come from a group of nameless settlements in the valley of Dva Stolba, near the southern border. Their families were the victims of one of the flare ups in the border wars with Shu Han. Technically, they weren’t orphaned by the Shadow Fold, but I think it’s worth saying that Ravka wouldn’t be nearly as vulnerable to attack from the north and the south if it hadn’t been crippled by the Fold.

now back to work I go :)