Hi i’m at episode 4 now and i’m just gonna share some of my thoughts bc SO FAR THEY’VE FIXED EVERY ISSUE I HAD WITH SHADOW AND BONE ?!
Mal is PERFECT what the heck I can’t believe that I love him now
I LOVE what they did with Alina’s character. Instead of going with the ‘i’m not like other girls’ shtick they focused on how different she feels for being half-shu which leaves such a more powerful impact on her storyline (I know they had said that was the direction they were going for in interviews but I was septic. I’m so glad to see they pulled it off extremely well)
The crows. Nothing needed to be fixed for them of course. Just happy they stayed as incredible as they are. I love them so much.
Not specifically about the show but I just peaked at twitter and the first thing I saw was a Mal fancam by someone that didn’t read the books? This is great right?
Anyways I feel like I have so much more to say but I can’t remember anything rn. I’ll come back after i’ll have watched a couple more episodes.
I don’t know how to express this well but I really like how flowers and ribbons are motifs that Bardugo emphasizes especially in Kaz Brekker’s backstory and Nikolai’s life which I feel are sort of foils of each other. Both of them mask their feelings for their crush - Nikolai with humor and Kaz by not addressing them at all. While Nikolai came from wealth and Kaz from destitution, I feel they both desire the same simple things. To have their loved one safe and to maintain some sort of power but not abusing their power (Kaz taking Haskell down) (Nikolai trying to choose a rightful leader). They both have a sense of moral and justness that they cling to.
Kaz remembers the detail of Saskia’s red ribbon. It’s a symbol of his lost innocence, childhood, his love for life and others. I thought it stood out because this was a detail disclosed to us in a flashback but Kaz didn’t verbally share it with us , the readers. It is only when he repeats this detail to Pekka when we realize this red ribbon is personal to him and deeply affected him. Kaz is a deeply sentimental person at heart and he is still a child hurt by the loss of losing everything that made him happy. He lost the red ribbon. And you see why he is so deeply vengeful. He remembers everything he lost.
For Nikolai. he seems to have this sort of fetish . Well I don’t like fetish word. But obsession with Zoya’s ribbon. It’s Something that signals his crush on her throughout the book.
Geraniums, Inej’s mother’s favorite flower, comes up a lot. And right after Inej talks about Kaz and how he won’t give her flowers. But obviously Kaz is this man who is providing for her. He gives her a ship. He thinks of what she wants. We do get a flower moment in CK when Kaz dumps the geraniums into the canal and swoops a cloak around Inej like a phantom in the night. It’s sweeping. It’s romantic and over-the-top.
Not sure about other flower moments but it is mentioned quite a lot in the books like the blue irises for Alina as a symbol of the Darkling’s manipulation and Mal’s care for her.
I love how flowers symbolize the thought and care that the partner shows for the other. I guess that’s usually what most people use flowers for in books but I like how its mentioned consistently through different relationships in the books.
“I don’t care if you think I’m a Saint or a fool or the Darkling’s whore. If you want to remain at the Little Palace, you will follow me. And if you don’t like it, you will be gone by tonight, or I will have you in chains. I am a soldier. I am the Sun Summoner. And I’m the only chance you have.”
If there is one thing I AM going to do, it’s draw a bunch of pretty women from my silly little comfort series on my silly little day off for the good of my silly mental health, so jot that down
