#the welsh gambit

[starkdirewolflove]

Went to see Deadpool and Wolverine tonight, it was amazing. Great to see Hugh Jackman as Wolverine again and in the iconic yellow suit.

Spoilers

Ryan Reynolds slips perfectly back into character as the Merc with a Mouth filled with risqué insults, crazy epic fight scenes and fourth wall breaks. Is Deadpool the “Marvel Jesus,” after this?

The fight scene over Logan was epic and the exchange with Wade and the TVA agent was brilliant saying Logan was the best thing to ever come out of Canada. “Get my country’s name out of your mouth.” Lol

Also love the multiverse pisstake and the shade being thrown at Warner Bros/DC with the Henry Cavill cameo. They did a bit of an Across the Spiderverse thing with all the various Deadpools (was that a Welsh Deadpool or just a nod to Wrexham AFC?).

Cassandra Nova was a cool and interesting villain, she’s never really been used in any X-Men tv shows or films before so it was a nice change and funny that the main villains in this movie were both British.

The cameos were many, amazing and a few surprises that weren’t leaked yet, felt like a bit of a eulogy to the Fox Marvel characters. Wesley Snipes’s Blade, Jennifer Garner’s Elektra, Tyler Mane’s Sabertooth, Dafne Keen’s Laura/X23, Aaron Stanford’s Pyro, Ray Park’s Toad, Chris Evans’s Johnny Storm/Human Torch and the debut of Channing Tatum’s Gambit. I laughed when Evans came on screen and thought is this his Captain America or Human Torch? And I can see why they never made that Gambit solo film (no offence to Channing Tatum). Also why was Laura even in the void if she was from Wades timeline/universe after Wolverine’s sacrifice in Logan?

Now that mutants are slowly being integrated into the MCU I would like to think we’ll see more of the Wolverine’s, if not Logan then Laura since Wade was allowed to bring them both to his world.

[theholmwoodfoundation]

THE HOLMWOOD FOUNDATION PILOT EPISODE CAST/CREW - PART ONE

REBECCA ROOT - MADDIE TOWNSEND/MINA HARKER

Rebecca trained at Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts. Theatre credits include A Midsummer Night’s Dream at Shakespeare’s Globe, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time for the National Theatre (UK and Ireland tour); Rathmines Road for Fishamble at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin; Trans Scripts at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and American Repertory Theater in Cambridge, Massachusetts; The Bear / The Proposal at the Young Vic; and Hamlet at the Gielgud Theatre and Athens International Festival. TV, Film and Video Game credits include Monsieur Spade, This Is Christmas, Irvine Welsh’s Crime, Hogwarts Legacy, Horizon Forbidden West, Heartstopper, Annika, The Rising, Sex Education, The Gallery, The Queen’s Gambit, Finding Alice, Creation Stories, Last Christmas, The Sisters Brothers, Colette, The Danish Girl, Flack, The Romanoffs, Moominvalley, Hank Zipzer, Boy Meets Girl, Doctors, Casualty, The Detectives, and Keeping Up Appearances.  Radio credits include Clare In The Community, Life Lines, The Hotel, and 1977 for BBC Radio 4. Guest appearances include Woman’s Hour, Front Row, Loose Ends, Saturday Live, and A Good Read.  She plays Tania Bell in the award-winning Doctor Who: Stranded audio dramas. Rebecca has also recorded numerous documentary narrations, audiobooks, and voice-overs. Rebecca is also a voice and speech coach, holding the MA in Voice Studies from Royal Central School of Speech and Drama.

SEAN CARLSEN - JEREMY LARKIN/ JONATHAN HARKER

Born in South Wales, Seán trained at the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama. He has worked extensively in audio drama, television, theatre and film.  Seán is perhaps best known to Doctor Who fans as Narvin in the Doctor Who audio series Gallifrey and has appeared on TV in Doctor Who - The Christmas Invasion and Torchwood. Recent TV credits include Mudtown (BBCiplayer/S4C), Dal y Mellt (Netflix), His Dark Materials (BBC1), All Creatures Great and Small (Channel 5), A Mother's Love (Channel 4) and Series 5 of Stella (Sky1).  Films include supporting leads in Boudica - Rise of the Warrior Queen, cult horror The Cleansing,  the lead in Forgotten Journeys and John Sheedy’s forthcoming film ‘Never Never Never’

SAM CLEMENS - ARTHUR JONES

Samuel Clemens trained at the Drama Centre London and is an award-winning director with over twenty years’ experience. Samuel has recently written and directed his debut feature film ‘The Waterhouse’ with Take The Shot Films & Featuristic Films and represented by Raven Banner Entertainment, which is due for release this coming year.  In addition, he has directed fourteen short films, winning awards all over the world including shorts ‘Surgery (multi-award winning), A Bad Day To Propose (Straight 8 winner 2021), Say No & Dress Rehearsal’. Samuel also directs critically acclaimed number one UK stage tours and fringe shows (Rose Theatre Kingston, Swansea Grand, Eastbourne, Yvonne Arnaud, Waterloo East Theatre) and commercials include clients JD Sports, Shell and Space NK. Samuel is also a regular producer and director for Big Finish Productions & Anderson Entertainment. He has cast, directed, produced and post supervised numerous productions of ‘Doctor Who – (BBC), The Avengers (Studio Canal), Thunderbirds, Stingray (Anderson Entertainment), Callan, Missy, Gallifrey’& Shilling & Sixpence Investigate’ and many more. Samuel has directed world class talent such as, Sir Roger Moore, Ben Miles, Tom Baker, Sylvester McCoy, Alex Kingston, Frank Skinner, Rita Ora, Rosie Huntingdon-Whiteley, Rufus Hound, David Warner, Celia Imrie, Samuel West, Youssef Kerkour, Sophie Aldred, Ian McNiece, Colin Baker, Olivia Poulet, Stephen Wight, Jade Anouka, Mimi Ndwendi, Michelle Gomez, Peter Davidson, Paul O’Grady and many more. Samuel is one of the founding members and directors at Take The Shot Films Ltd and is Head of Artistic Creation and Direction. Lastly, Samuel is a regular tutor at The London Film Academy, The Giles Foreman Centre for Acting & The Rose Youth Theatre and is a member of The Directors Guild UK. As for upcoming projects, Sam is currently in pre-production on his next feature film “On The Edge of Darkness”, which is based on his dad’s stage play “Strictly Murder”.

ATTILA PUSKAS - DRACULA

Attila Puskás is a native Hungarian Voice Actor born in Transylvania – Romania, so Romanian is in his bag of tricks too, but most of his work is done in English, in a Transatlantic Eastern European Accent, but is quite capable of Hungarian, Romanian and International Eastern European accents, plus Standard American. His voice range is Adult to Middle Aged (30-40+) due to his deep voice. Vocal styles can range from authoritive, brooding to calming and reassuring and much more. He’s most experienced in character work, like Animations and Games, but his skills encompass Commercials to Narration as well. He’s received training through classes and workshops, pushing him to the next level to achieve higher standards. Now on a journey to perfect these skills and put them to good use!

PART TWO: HERE

PART THREE: HERE

[pippastrelle]

Bulletpoint liveblog of C3E91 let's go!

First half: Bell's Hells

Gotta love Marisha as Sam's protege. What's the opposite of phallic? Somehow they made a hotdog costume that. And now back to sadness…

God, Orym's immediately in soldier mode.

Where are they going to go from here? If they're so in the open. Are they going to go down the Bloody Bridge or escape through Issylra? I mean, makes sense that Liliana doesn't want to tip them off, but still a woman convinced that working for Ludinus will work out somehow…

Possessing a human to escape the divine gate is pretty smart. Yeah, right, that's probably what Ruidusborn were from the start (if Predathos is sentient enough to plan).

I know she's rightly frustrating to others but Liliana is so interesting. I love characters getting so torn between morality and feeling like enduring sacrifice must be worth it.

I do like that she's still pro-god-eater too.

Oh??? Commune with Predathos??

Aw, but that's what Predathos would want her to think. That thing's will be fine for her. Anyone getting some Asmodeus vibes?

Apathy being no better than distain is something the Bells Hells know about the world. They weren't targeted. They were pawns.

"Angry at those who put it there"…. But Ruidus is a piece of Exandria. Would it be mad at that, I wonder? I'm genuinely curious whether Predathos would actively want to destroy Exandria or whether it will be mere collateral.

Oof. Yep. Don't tell Liliana about the back door.

God I love Liliana. Still got that love for Imogen. Still got that hate and defensiveness around the gods. I see Imogen genuinely reaching out to her mum, but also being a little passive-aggressive with it to try convince her. Clever.

Haha Chetney's passive-aggressive interogations are my favourite. Makes sense that Ludinus and the Weave Mind are separate entities with separate goals, even if they're using each other. Curious how the Weave Mind will deal with Predathos.

"Be the… mother hen to them." God I love Liliana. She's very intelligent in using herself to get her way. Thank you Laura Bailey for fascinating mother PCs.

Evoroa knows where Ludinus is??

Blunt polite Orym.

Genuinely, Liliana is more swayed by Predathos itself than I realised. Looking like a three-way gambit. Who -- Ludinus, Predathos, Weave Mind -- will win?

Cold, intimidating Ashton and cold, intimidating Liliana. Revealing.

This conversation with Liliana is everything I wanted.

And this is great with Imogen. They can use Liliana. It's not really about morality anymore.

Good question, Fearne, about the daughter abandonment. Oh. Ludinus visited her directly? I thought it was Otohan first. I mean, this is the sad thing. Liliana was vulnerable and swept into a cult, and we see how seemingly impossible it is to escape over a decade of belonging there. Who knows? Any one of the Bell's Hells could have been her.

Good, Laudna, keeping you guys going.

Aaaaaaah, Imogen. Tackling Liliana's priorities.

I like that Evoroa's coming with them. That'll be fun for Exandria.

I feel like we can never stop complimenting Matt's descriptions.

XD I mean, I'd panic too, being teleported into the middle of an encampment. Convenient though.

….Love the constant reminders of how INSANELY powerful Liliana is.

GOD, LILIANA, THAT BETTER BE A "I WISH I COULD GO WITH YOU" SORRY!

….Isn't the base of the Malleus Key super guarded too?

Time for another TPK!

Chetney/Travis is so smart. Using Otohan's stuff to pose as her underlings.

XD Ashton's wonderful CHA.

Laura might've rolled not great.

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO BAD DECEPTION CHECK!

Are they fucked?

Ooh maybe Keyleth's people attacked again?

Diolch byth (Welsh) -- thank god -- for Orym's insane passive perception.

FUCK they haven't even been able to talk about FCG yet.

Telepathy is so uncanny. So sick.

(HA! I've always wondered what it's like to wear a big costume like that. I've worn a unicorn head before but full body?)

What does Phantasmal Force do? OOOH the mind illusion thing! Pleeeeeeeease work.

I am deeply villainsexual. Intimidating Imogen makes me so gay.

GO LAUDNA! SUCCESS! Christ, they have no resources. What would have happened if they failed there?

HA! Is Ryn statue still there? Just casually drag her out, y'know.

The Ruby Vanguard is having a costume party, guys, don't judge the hotdogs.

Can they teleport still or are they going to have to find somewhere to long rest?

God, the graveyard of past battles around the Malleus Key is such great worldbuilding. Oh, god, even pikes and trophies? T_T Looking out for the Changebringer.

Keyleth's going to have a hell of a report after this. Do they remember they sent her lot to Issylra? Thank god Sending works again. XD Well, "works". User error aside.

HA! True spouse goals. Swapping Nat 1s.

T_T Marisha bringing the fan. I'm still so curious when/if Sam will reappear.

Props to Ashley reminding them about the exhaustion.

Fuck. FCG. I'm still so sad. Brilliant character. How do you even begin to process that? How can they reconcile this with FCG's martyr complex? These characters don't know about hit points. Who knows if they could've taken her down? Oh why does it feel better to be killed by Otohan than for him to go down killing her….

Imogen reckoning with Liliana vs. her mum. Even if Liliana doesn't support Ludinus, the question is how much that'll tangibly matter.

A lot of these guys have to question "what they were designed for". A lot of these guys were "made" for someone else. Aw, Laudna apologising for it: her and Delilah. And yeah, it's why Liliana is also a great, tragic reflection of the Bell's Hells.

Ashton's fantastic. Orym's fantastic. Chetney's fantastic. Fuck, the Ruby Vanguard have fucked them all up.

Awwwww Laudna and Imogen's little "I love you"s. The Bell's Hells are so special to me.

Chetney piecing things together around Aeor. I am curious how much Ludinus is interfacing with aeormatons, as opposed to other Aeor anti-god technologies.

Oh, Christ, Evoroa's been here the whole time. Bless. I wonder how crazy it must be on Exandria for her. Aw, love Chetney welcoming her. In his own way.

Haha "It's had some work done". Accurate, Ashton.

Are they going to go to Aeor?? Are they going to chase Ludinus there??

Evoroa's fun. Cool, so Predathos is in a glass and adamantine prison? I'm surprised it's in any way physical.

Yes. Sicc something and anything on Ludinus! I adore their energy. How does anyone survive contact with the BH?

THE MONSTER IS GOING TO BE BOLO FROM AEOR!

(Goddammit Twitch. Is anyone else getting a glitch when windows overtop of it make it skip forward?)

"STOP INTERRUPTING THE STORY!" Lore mood XD

Laura's face during Evoroa's story. Also mood.

I'm curious if Ludinus still plans to use or could use Fearne.

FRIDA TT_TT YUP EVERYTHING'S ALWAYS PAINFUL ALWAYS. Are they going to get a message from Christian?

Finally, Chetney checking up on Evoroa.

"I have a passive perception of 33. I heard it all." Is that higher than Vex'ahlia?

……………………How many bodies do they have in the hole at this point?

I can't imagine how physically shitty Ashton must feel on top of everything.

Laudna and Ashton have always had a great dynamic. Brings out the bluntness and wisdom(?) in both of them. Christ, Evoroa's going through it too.

Imogen and Orym have always had a great dynamic too. Both trying to keep things running, especially with each other. And the fact that Orym's not even out for revenge has always been fascinating… but it's still about the massive weight of Will and Derrig's deaths on his shoulders. He's a little guy, both literally and metaphorically, and god he's had to deal with so much, and the more they deal with, the more responsibility they get. I really like that, despite their potential conflicts, Imogen and Orym have always just wanted to get along. It's what I love about the Bell's Hells. They're genuinely broken but they genuinely love each other but they're genuinely broken but they genuinely love each other.

DORIAN SENDING! Was it just that he was asleep last time? I hope so. God, Orym/Liam's voice breaking breaks me.

[pesterloglog]

Dirk Strider, Dave Strider

Act 6, page 7734-7738

DIRK: Maybe we should go over this again.

DIRK: Because, honestly, I'm still not sure I get it?

DAVE: what

DIRK: Who are we actually fighting again?

DIRK: Jack Noir?

DAVE: yeah

DAVE: well

DAVE: one version of noir

DAVE: theres a shitload of them though

DIRK: Which one is this?

DAVE: hes yours

DIRK: Ours?

DAVE: yeah

DAVE: the one from your session

DIRK: But,

DIRK: Our Jack spent months in prison.

DAVE: well i guess he broke out

DAVE: hes kind of like a huge fucking deal now

DIRK: When did this happen?

DAVE: i have no idea

DAVE: i wasnt here

DIRK: I guess neither was I.

DAVE: hes got lord english powers tho

DAVE: hes apparently like

DAVE: just

DAVE: wretched fucking news

DIRK: Damn.

DAVE: hes going to be hard to beat

DAVE: even armed with the ultimate weapon:

DAVE: some swords

DIRK: Sounds like some shit is going down.

DIRK: Let's not downplay our sword gambit, though.

DIRK: I have yet to encounter a problem where a sword didn't factor into the solution at least in some way.

DAVE: i bet

DIRK: Bear in mind... I haven't actually SOLVED many problems over the course of my life?

DIRK: But the ones I have, man.

DIRK: Swords proved hells of instrumental.

DAVE: what do you mean you didnt solve many problems

DAVE: didnt you like

DAVE: program robots and stuff

DIRK: I guess I meant real problems.

DIRK: Involving...

DIRK: People.

DAVE: oh

DAVE: those

DIRK: So Jack has... Lord English powers?

DAVE: yup

DIRK: Does that have anything to do with Jake?

DAVE: not according to my current understanding of a mostly nonsensical body of information

DIRK: Hmm.

DIRK: What does it actually mean then?

DAVE: not sure

DAVE: mostly that hes really hard to kill i think

DIRK: Ok.

DIRK: Well, that's decent intel, at least.

DAVE: he MIGHT be vulnerable to welsh things too

DAVE: dont quote me on that

DAVE: because

DAVE: it will make me sound like an idiot

DIRK: Alright.

DIRK: ...

DAVE: ...

DIRK: Do you know when he arrives?

DAVE: i already said i dont know

DIRK: Right.

DIRK: ...

DIRK: Guestimate?

DAVE: um

DAVE: not soon enough is my best guess

DAVE: and i guess

DAVE: also my opinion?

DIRK: Oh.

[dear-indies]

hey! i was hoping that you could help me with a face, pretty please. i'm looking for a cis female in her early 20s that give off sort of artsy and creative but heavily depressed vibes. she also deals with a drug addiction, so someone who has at least one role that deals with that would be a great help as well. overall ethnicity absolutely does not matter! thank you for your help and for what you do for the rpc. i've been following for years and i'm so glad that you've been a constant with this blog.

Anya Taylor-Joy (1995) - The Queen's Gambit.

Florence Pugh (1996) - A Good Person.

Kaitlyn Dever (1996)

Emma Mackey (1996)

Zendaya (1996) African-American / German, Irish, English, Scottish - Euphoria.

Antonia Gentry (1997) Afro Jamaican / English.

Juliette Motamed (1997) Iranian - We Are Lady Parts.

Sierra McCormick (1997) - Edge of Everything.

Kiana Ledé (1997) African-American, Swedish, Mexican, Cherokee.

Chloe Van Landschoot (1997) Unspecified - is queer.

Daisy Edgar-Jones (1998)

Peyton List (1998) - School Spirits.

Milly Alcock (2000)

Odessa A’zion (2000) Ashkenazi Jewish, German, English, some Irish, Northern Irish, and Welsh.

Ayumi Roux (2001) Japanese / French.

Not cis but also:

Lizeth Selene (1997) Mexican [Black, White, and Unspecified Indigenous]- is genderfluid and queer (she/they).

Hey anon! Thank you so much for your kind words! I don't tend to watch anything with dr*gs/addiction involved either because it can be triggering or I get really angry that it's a horrible portrayal so I'm probably missing so many roles, I'm sorry!

[charitysplace]

How's the Writing Going?

How’s the Writing Going?

I found this on Rachel’s blog, and it looked like fun so I’m going to do it too. 🙂

Right now, I’m working on the next book in my Tudor Throne series  (book one is out next week!), which takes place in the Welsh Marches and follows the thread of Sir Richard, Margaret Pole, Lady Anwen, Lord Meuric, Sir Thomas Lovell, and Lady Tyrell. It’s tentatively titled The Welsh Gambit. (more…)

[becausegoodheroesdeservekidneys]

If we're doing food discourse, then may I ask what's Welsh breakfast like? Because I'm German and the whole waffles/pancakes/bacon thing is miles away from anything I'd consider breakfast food, so now I'm curious what everyone else's standards are.

Interesting, okay so

It's not unheard of for pancakes to be breakfast here, but they're an indulgent breakfast, not an everyday thing. And not with bacon, although there are places that offer it these days.

The most common two breakfast options for everyday are cereal and milk, or toast. Toppings vary wildly, but I *think* Marmite is a particularly British one? I think I've heard non-Brits express surprise about it before. So, assuming that's true, you butter your toast and then you put on Marmite, which is a black paste made of yeast extract that has successfully run a campaign of many years about how you either love it or hate it, which is a very bold advertising gambit but certainly worked. Marmite makes an excellent vegetarian stock when used sparingly. You can flavour gravy with it. And yeah, we sometimes put it on toast.

I believe there are those who like Eggs. I do not so I can't say much more.

For more involved breakfast, there's the Cooked Breakfast, also sometimes known as the Full English. Various things get cooked for it, but sausage, bacon, egg, hash browns, mushrooms, tomatoes, baked beans and toast seem to be pretty standard. Black pudding used to, but it's fallen out of favour by now, because it's gross and also made of congealed blood.

Those are all largely pan-British, though - there are some Welsh-specific options, though they're all a bit niche. You tend to find them in independently owned cafes, generally. First up, laverbread!

Laver is the Wenglish name for the same seaweed the Japanese call nori, which I believe is used in sushi. Over here, and especially along the south coast, it was a breakfast staple for centuries. We would grind it and mix it with oats to make bara lawr (laverbread), a sort of oatcake or patty:

Those would be fried in bacon fat and served with more bacon. It's an acquired taste - I've tried it, and it's alright, but it's obviously a very salty dish. Some people don't bother with the oats and just fry off the laver to put on toast, which means eating salty slime and pretending to enjoy yourself.

In many coastal regions, these would also be served with cockles. Cockle fishing was a huge industry in Welsh coastal regions, and you can still get both laver and cockles very easily in coastal markets like Swansea - very low food miles, too, which is nice.

The Welsh variant on a cooked breakfast - the Full Welsh - is therefore a full English that features cockles and laverbread as well as sausage, bacon, egg etc.

Another option is Welsh rarebit, often with bacon. Usually for breakfast you make a milder version than a standard Welsh rarebit, which is very strong - instead you use a milder cheese, make it a bit mustardy, and serve with bacon/tomatoes/egg/mushrooms etc.

And finally, a Glamorgan sausage! Essentially I guess this is a veggie sausage - it's made of cheese, leek, butter and herbs, and rolled in breadcrumbs. Like with most of these you can of course have them for dinner too, but they are an acceptable veggie cooked breakfast.

But, as I say, the standard staple is cereal or toast.

[reggieisme]

Intro

about me

an agender bisexual

also asexual

they/them

big cat person

i’m polish pfff

i speak polish, english and french (learning welsh bc i want to)

the funniest person ever! #laughoutloud

interests ig

i like reading. reading is fun. i said it. reading is fun if you are reading something you are enjoying

marvel is amazing. it’s literally so good it’s SO GOOD. been a proud fan since childhood and i’ve been an andrew garfield spiderman supporter since DAY ONE people. DAY ONE.

star wars! i grew up on the star wars movie and i’ve always enjoyed them. also disneys a wimp for not allowing poe and finn to have a romantic relationship.

the queens gambit. ong i love this show i cannot tell you how much i love the show. AND THE BOOK. OH MT FOD UTS SO GOOD.

dead poets society- love the movie and it makes me fucking sob every single time.

i have a passion for writing. i love making stories and creating things and daydreaming about characters i’ve made and shaped.

the umbrella academy AHHHHH. it’s such a good show please go watch it if you haven’t

DAREDEVIL. OH AHHHH. I COULD MOAN ITS LITERALLY PERFECTION.

TICK TICK BOOM! im a huge musical fan i love musicals. i love tick tick boom especially, and not only bc of andrew garfield.

THE HUNGER GAMES. i make sure to read the books every single year at least once and watch the movies. i cannot explain how much i love this franchise

harry potter- literally my childhood. we, ofc, don’t speak of the author, but i love the magic you feel when you watch the films and read the books. also my wand collection is growing at an alarming rate and i’m not worried. (remus lupin is my favorite character btw. also huge marauder stan. #wolfstar)

maze runner! i like the books and i love watching the movies. favorite character is probably newt or minho. it’s something about those two i swear. also newtmas, i’m sorry but yep. btw i don’t hate teresa

BBC SHERLOCK. OH CHRIST I COULD TALK ABOUT THIS FOR HOURS.

Peaky Fucking Blinders. my heart goes out to this show. much love istg

dune. i have all of the books and i have seen the new movie which i rlly enjoyed. i understood it, surprisingly and i need to read the books

LITTLE WOMEN. I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE BOOK AND THE MOVIE. I COULD LITERALLY TALK ABOUT IT FOR SO LONG ITS NOT EVEN FUNNY.

i’m a big chocolate fan. many ppl have told me i act like remus lupin which i ADORE. remus is honestly just so great i’m sorry i love him sm.

big music fan. i love music

i skateboard fun fact. i have a longboard and a large penny board? i broke my skateboard so i’m stuck with these two bad boys (i’m rlly bad at tricks)

FRIENDS. i love friends so much omg. (chandler’s my favorite)

Shadow and Bone! really good show and the books are good

Six of Crows! Literally the best.

SNOWBOARDING. it’s so fun i love it. the thrill, the snow, everything omg. it’s so unbelievably fun

ICE SKATING. my mom fortunately forced me to learn ice skating at a young age AND I WAS GOOD AT IT. I WAS SO GOOD AND THEN I QUIT BC IM A WIMP. i can still skate just can’t do the tricks i used to be able to do sadly

[celiabowens]

underrated SFF books (YA and Adult)

So uhm, since I keep seeing the same books on my dash all the time (and I like them too, just...there’s more! to read!) here’s a list of less popular SFF books, divided into YA and Adult. I’ve tried to mention when there is lgbt rep and the trigger warnings. Also, books written by poc will be in bold. Please point out any typo or mistake or if I’ve forgotten specific rep/tw mentions.

All of these are books that I’ve read and enjoyed (by enjoyed I mean anything from 3 stars and above), but if anyone wants to add titles please feel free to do so!!

YA:

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi: beautifully written, fairytale-like story rich in mythology (inspired by several Hindu myths. There’s a full list on goodreads indicated by the author herself). Roshani’s prose is gorgeous.

A Crown of Wishes by Roshani Chokshi: it’s a companion novel to The Star-Touched Queen, but both can be read as a standalone. I liked this one more than its companion and I particularly loved how the romance was written (slow burn, but specifically, the author really highlights the mutual respect between the characters, we love to see it).

The Young Elites by Marie Lu: fantasy trilogy set in a world inspired by Renaissance Italy, in which children who survived a mysterious and deadly illness ended up with strange and dangerous powers. Secret societies and a female villain!

The Kingdom of Back by Marie Lu: historical fantasy following Mozart’s sister, Nannerl, a girl as talented as her brother, but afraid of being forgotten because of the lack of opportunities she has to be seen and heard. Nuanced sibling relationship, no romance.  

The Midnight Lie by Marie Rutkoski: fantasy f/f romance! Both a coming of age story set in a society with a rigid class system and a slow burn f/f romance with a lot of banter. TW: abuse.

The Weight of Feathers by Anna-Marie McLemore: magical realism. The book follows two families of traveling performers that have been locked in a feud for over a generation. This was the author’s debut and I remember getting an arc of it and being impressed by both the prose and how the forbidden love trope was handled.

When the Moon was Ours by Anna-Marie McLemore: another magical realism novel. One of the main characters is a trans boy and the book focuses on issues of racism and gender. One of my favorite YA!

Strange Grace by Tessa Gratton: fantasy romance set in a village that periodically sacrifices a young man in order to keep a deal with the devil that ensures their prosperity. Also, polyamorous and non-binary rep.

The Rise of Kyoshi by F.C. Yee: first book in a duology following avatar Kyoshi’s life. It explores the political and cultural aspect of the Earth Kingdom and Kyoshi’s past. Bisexual rep.

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He: sort of a murder mystery fantasy, as the main character finds herself suddenly thrust into power once her father has been murdered. The story has a slow build up to a last part full of twists and machinations and it features lots of court intrigue. Warning: the ending is quite open and afaik there isn’t a sequel planned as of now.

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones: a quite unique take on zombies influenced by Welsh mythology (it’s super cool). The novel follows Ryn and their siblings, as they try to get by after their parents’ death by working as gravediggers. Only well, the dead don’t always stay dead. The characters read a bit younger than they are imo. There is chronic pain rep.

The Magnolia Sword by Sherry Thomas: retelling of the original ballad of Mulan. The book follows Mulan, who’s trained her whole life to win a duel for a priceless heirloom, as she joins the army. There’s a lot of political and historical details, which I really appreciated. Do not go into it expecting a fun adventure though. The descriptions of war aren’t extremely graphic, but be aware of the fact that most of the book is set during a conflict.

The Candle and The Flame by Nafiza Azad: standalone fantasy set in a city on the Silk Road! It’s a quite slow-paced tale about love, family and politics. It has lush descriptions of landscapes and cultures (and FOOD, there are some really great descriptions of food). It’s a very atmospheric book and while I struggled a bit with the pace I’d still recommend it.

Forest of a Thousand Lanters by Julie C. Dao: sort of an East Asian inspired retelling of Snow White, but following the Evil Queen before she became Snow White’s stepmother. I honestly haven’t read its sequel (which should focus on Snow White herself), but I do think this can be read and enjoyed as a standalone too.

The Queen’s Thief series by Megan Whalen Turner: it’s hard to point out exactly what this series is about because it has evolved so much with time. It starts out as classic quest/adventure series with The Thief (which may seem a classic and simple book, but is actually full of foreshadowing and has a really clever set up), but develops into a complex and intriguing political fantasy in The Queen of Attolia and The King of Attolia (and then goes back to the quest theme in book 5, Thick as Thieves).

Adult:

A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong: I’m cheating with this one because it’s technically a short story but I love Alyssa Wong’s stories so I’m putting it here anyway. It can be read for free and you should just...read it.

The Poppy War by R.F. Kuang: grimdark fantasy (TW: abuse, self harm, rape, drug abuse), inspired by Chinese history. It’s adult, but follows younger MCs and the unique blend of different historical periods/inspirations makes it extremely interesting. The characters are extremely fucked up in the best possible way, plus the use of shamanism is awesome. Please make sure you check all the TW before reading.

The Sword of Kaigen by M.L. Wang: a Japanese-inspired militaristic fantasy, with elemental magic, a badass housewife dealing with her past and hiding a sword in her kitchen’s floor. It has interesting and nuanced family dynamics and a great reflection on propaganda and the use of narratives.

Empire of Sand by Tasha Suri: first book in an epic fantasy duology inspired by Mughal India (TW: abuse, slavery). I really liked both Empire of Sand and its companion and I find them pretty underrated. Both books have great slow burn romance (with a focus on mutual trust and respect) and focus on culture, religion, self acceptance and politics.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia: a fantasy bildungsroman set in Mexico during the Jazz age. It’s a great approach to adult SFF as it follows a young girl on a life changing adventure. It features Mayan mythology and a god slowly becoming human (this trope is everything!).

The Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden: a coming of age story inspired by Russian folklore. The trilogy as a whole has one of the best arcs I’ve ever seen: each book is perfectly self-contained and has its own arc, but also fits perfectly in the bigger picture of the trilogy. The atmosphere is amazing, the cast of characters is extremely well developed. Also frost demons are better than men.

The Binding by Bridget Collins: historical fantasy, but with very minimal fantasy elements. It’s set in a world vaguely reminiscent of 19th century England. I’d say this book is about humans and self discovery. It’s about cowardice and the lies we tell ourselves and those we wish we could tell ourselves. Gay rep. (TW: abuse, sexual assault, pretty graphic suicide scene).

The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett: starting with City of Stairs, it follows a female diplomat and spymaster(!!). The whole trilogy features an interesting discussion about godhood, religion, fanatism, politics, without ever being boring or preachy. It has complex and rich world building and a pretty compelling mystery.

Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett: heist fantasy following a thief as she’s hired to steal a powerful artifact that may change magical technology as she knows it. Set in a Venice-like merchant city. Also, slow burn f/f romance.

Jade City by Fonda Lee: sort of a gangster urban fantasy, heavily inspired by wuxia and set in an Asian-inspired metropolis. It follows a pretty big cast of characters, each with their own journey and development. It features nuanced family dynamics and a lot of political and economical subplots. Not extremely prominent, but book 2 features m/m side rep.

Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse: inspired by Native American culture and specifically by the idea of subsequent worlds. It has a kickass MC and a good mix of original elements and typical UF tropes. TW: the book isn’t extremely violent but there is death and some gore.

A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine: space opera inspired by the Mexica and middle period Byzantium. It focuses on topics like colonialism and the power of narratives and language. It has one of the best descriptions of what it’s like to live in between spaces I’ve ever read. Also very interesting political intrigue and has a slow burn f/f romance (and a poly relationship recalled through flashbacks). I ranted a lot about it already.

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee: a Korean-inspired space opera with a magic system based on math. It’s honestly quite convoluted and difficult to follow, but it also features some of the best political intrigue I’ve ever read. Plenty of lying, backstabbing and mind games. It also features lesbian and bisexual rep and an aroace side character (TW: mass shooting, sexual assault, abuse). I also really recommend Yoon Ha Lee’s short-story collection Conservation of Shadows.

The long way to a small angry planet by Becky Chambers: character driven space opera featuring a found family journeying through space. A fun read, that also deals with topics such as sexuality and race. Quite easy to go through, as the world building and plot aren’t particularly complex themselves. f/f romance.  

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo: an Asian-inspired fantasy novella that gives a voice to people usually silenced by history. It follows a cleric (non binary rep) as they chronicle the story of the late empress, retold through objects that she used in her life. It focuses on bonds between women and the power that lies in being unnoticed. f/f side rep.

The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark: an urban fantasy novella, based on Orisha mythology and set in an alternate, sort of steampunk, New Orleans. I really like how creative Clark’s worlds are and how good he is at writing female characters (which rarely happens with male authors).

The haunting of tram car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark: novella set in an alternate steampunk Cairo populated by supernatural entities. It’s set in the same world of a Dead Djinn in Cairo, which is a short story you can read for free.

This is How You Lose the Time War by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone: epistolary novella set during a time-travel war. It has gorgeous writing and an amazing f/f romance. As a novella, it’s quite short but it’s beautifully crafted and so complex for such a short book!

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard: a novella set in the Xuya universe (a series of novellas/short stories set in a timeline where Asia became dominant, and where the space age has empires of Vietnamese and Chinese inspiration), but can be read as a standalone. It’s a space opera featuring a disappeared citadel and the complex relationship between the empress and her daughter as war threatens her empire.

One for My Enemy by Olivie Blake: self-published urban fantasy following two rival families in New York. Sort of a Romeo and Juliette retelling but with gangster families and magic. Honestly recommend all of her books, I love how Olivie writes and especially how she writes female characters.

[monsoonrps]

thomas brodie-sangster gifs

in this pack, you’ll find #263 268x150px gifs of thomas brodie-sangster (1990) as benny watts in the queen’s gambit (2020)​. thomas is of scottish and welsh descent, so please cast accordingly. all of these gifs were made from scratch by me for roleplaying purposes, but feel free to use them as sidebars and reaction gifs. go ahead and edit them however you want but please don’t claim them as your own. i would also appreciate if permission was asked for and credit was linked back to this post. please give this post a like or a reblog if you found it helpful/are an rph! ( tw: alcohol, knives, chess )

click here for all my gif packs

                                     ◢⁂✾ gif page ✾⁂◣

[lightsabove]

Band of Brothers Pandemic Headcanons, Part 1

PRESENTING: part one of how the Easy men handled 2020 and the pandemic, subtitled: the things my ADHD brain will do to avoid the things I actually have to do

Lewis Nixon: Nix donated thousands of masks and PPE to city workers when supplies were low at the start of the pandemic, but he also 100% pulled a Kim K and flew all of Easy private to an island where they could “forget about the pandemic” for a few days, except everyone actually got tested and quarantined (Dick Winters made fucking sure of that). Inadvertantly started a Twitter feud with D*nald Tr*mp when he retweeted the guy who said 45 shit himself on The Apprentice set regularly. Nix has also been bailing out all of the guys who have gotten arrested during the pandemic during protests, etc, and was suspiciously casual about it until the last night of the island party, when he gleefully pulled up a PowerPoint he made about everyone’s (righteous) arrests, played to the tune of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” and sung by Don Malarkey.

Harry Welsh: Harry and Kitty postponed the big wedding twice due to COVID. Kitty was very chill about it, not that Harry was surprised, and told Harry that she definitely wanted to wait until all their friends and family - especially the Easy guys - could all be there safely. That said, they were impatient to be husband and wife and just be married and ended up doing a city hall wedding with just their immediate family right at the end of the summer, with a big celebration planned for after things calmed down. Harry’s school mobilized virtual learning quickly and effectively; he was a great superintendent and loved by students and staff alike, which is how he kept his job even after getting into fist fights with COVID-deniers and anti-maskers.

Ronald Speirs: His murder stare has been very useful for intimidating people who don’t wear their masks (or don’t wear them properly). With Lew’s help he may or may not have tracked down resellers who were hoarding PPE, sanitizer, and TP to turn around at outrageous prices, and threatened them until they either ended up selling it the price they bought it or donated the extra money. Lockdown allowed him to dive into one of his favorite hobbies: collecting antiques (the shinier and more expensive, the better) and restoring antique furniture. He spends a lot of time looking for estate sales and while he doesn’t really use social media much at all, he’s obsessed with Facebook marketplace. Of all of the Easy men, it’s been the least difficult for him to keep mostly to himself.

Carwood Lipton: Could this man be anything other than a dream? When the pandemic was at its crux he spent his free time making sure all his neighbors but especially the elderly ones had everything they needed and did grocery runs a few times a week. Being a history teacher during the pandemic hasn’t been easy, but he is easily his students’ favorite teacher and they thrive in his class despite the circumstances. He’s the go-to person for coordinating Easy Zooms to check in on everyone and keep morale up. During the election he also volunteered to help get elderly voters and people who otherwise couldn’t get to their polling places.

Bill Guarnere: Got really into chess after watching The Queen’s Gambit. He told Webster in passing; Web was surprised, and said he thought chess was “too cerebral” for Bill. After Bill looked up what cerebral meant he got so pissed he challenged Web to a chess game, which Web ended up weaseling his way out of at every turn. Babe was so proud the first time Bill beat him fair and square. True to his fuck around and find out BPE (big Philly energy) Bill showed up to the ballot counting centers to counterprotest the Stop the Steal crowd. He surprisingly kept his cool until someone threw a brick that grazed Babe’s forehead, at which point Bill promptly lost his shit and landed a few good punches to the jaw before he was hauled off by police. Nix of course bailed him out, and it was memorialized with the line “Babe got hit, Bill lost his shit, worth the $50k I paid, we didn’t start the fire…..”

Joe Toye: He spent a fortune setting up his home gym after his local one was shut down in March, but totally worth it. Toye’s been playing a lot of Call of Duty and while he curses a lot on his headset, he always has a sharp-tongued lecture for anyone who uses slurs while playing. He has a pod he hangs with, which is good, because he and the dudes (including Compton, Bull, and Luz) tried to do shit like watch football games over Zoom, but because Toye had a 15-second lag in his broadcast he was always pissed being the last to know/react to what was going on. He got arrested during 3 BLM protests because Joe Toye is a fucking real one.

[old-long-john]

2020 a year in review!

I was tagged by @jadedbirch for this. Thank you, lovely! I’m glad you had good things in your year. <3

Top 5 Movies you saw this year 

Emma

The Personal History of David Copperfield

Jojo Rabbit

Get Out

Uncle Frank

Top 5 TV shows you watched this year

The Terror

Chernobyl

The Expanse

The Queen’s Gambit

The Umbrella Academy

Top 5 songs of 2020 

I’m going for a mix of songs and soundtrack music.

This Feeling by Alabama Shakes

Achilles Come Down by Gang of Youths

Meet Me in the Woods by Lord Huron

The Night Window by Thomas Newman

LM-118 by Marcus Fjellström

Top 5 books you read in 2020 (or fics or articles or whatever)

I read a grand total of 8 books this year, which was pitiful tbh but what can you do?

Master and Commander by Patrick O’Brien

Lighthousekeeping by Jeanette Winterson

Erebus: The Story of a Ship by Michael Palin

Leviathan Wakes by James S. A. Corey

The Last Smile in Sunder City by Luke Arnold

5 positive things that happened in 2020

I started learning Welsh. I’m still terrible at it, and I’ll be honest I make a half arsed effort most days, but I have done at least one short lesson a day, every day, since April.

I got a lot healthier, both in terms of my eating habits and my exercising habits. 

I finally spent time exploring the country park that’s nearby where I live and I think that did a lot to keep me sane when there was nowhere else to go. I loved watching the transitions from spring to summer and summer to autumn, and I can’t wait to watch the browns and greys of winter turn back into bright colours come spring. 

I finished and posted a fic that I was proud of in a fandom that I find pretty intimidatingly talented. I don’t finish a lot of writing anymore, so I’m just glad to have shared something this year.

I spent quite a lot of time drawing and I really like some of the art I produced.

Tagging: @nettlekettle @breaddemon @twobrokenwyngs @marsza @crucifythenburn @dimplesflint @ilackallhonour @candlewinds @vowel-in-thug @distantsnows if any of you fancy it. <3

[nocompromise-noregrets]

fic writer tag game!

Thank you to the fabulous @lemurious for tagging me! <333333

how many works do you have on AO3? As of just now, 164.

what’s your total AO3 word count? 928,515 - all but 160k of which has been written/posted since June of last year.

how many fandoms have you written for and what are they? 20 - not counting every individual fandom tag where I've used multiple tags for the same broad fandom. And they are: Tolkien (LotR movies/books, Hobbit movies/books, Silmarillion); Marvel (MCU, Captain America movies, Agent Carter, Ant-Man movies, Marvel 616, X-Men comics, original timeline movies, First Class, X-Men Evolution); King Arthur (2004 movie and mythology); Robin Hood (2010 movie and mythology); Three Musketeers (2011 movie); Kinky Boots (2005 movie); Call the Midwife; A Knight's Tale; Cursed; Wynonna Earp; Still Crazy; The Boat That Rocked; The Alienist; The Palace; Discworld; Ricki and the Flash; Star Wars (sequel movies); Harry Potter; 10 Things I Hate About You (movie); original work

what are your top 5 fics by kudos? Not Alone (X-Men Evolution), currently on 294; The Unworn Jumpers of Molly Weasley (Harry Potter), currently on 293; My Heart Is An Empty Vessel (Tolkien), currently on 279; In At The Deep End (MCU), currently on 274; Overrun By Halflings (Tolkien), currently on 145.

do you respond to comments, why or why not? I do now. I used to be a bit hit and miss because I never knew what to say, but since I came back to fandom and started writing properly, I've made a point of replying to every single one.

what’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending? I mostly do fluff, rather than angst, but The Memory of Water (King Arthur) is a bit angsty. And Never Forgotten (Tolkien) is very angsty. Although it's part of a series with a happy ending eventually... :D

do you write crossovers? if so what is the craziest one you’ve written? Nope. I've never had one occur to me, and I tend not to think in that way.

have you ever received hate on a fic? No, and I hope I never do. Although I did have an anon getting grumpy on Empty-Handed and one of the other fics I posted around the same time because they didn't like the implication that Bard and Thranduil were going to be with their wives as well as each other (they're...their wives? why would they not be with them, if they're all there?), and were grumpy that because it was technically an epilogue to Empty Vessel, which I'd only just started posting, it was spoiling that one. Which...well, I suppose it does, a tiny bit, but given that I hadn't written most of EV at the time, it really doesn't spoil any of the details at all.

do you write smut? if so what kind? Yes - but not particularly explicit because I am super ace and very awkward about it all. I'm pretty much smutted-out at this point, too, and the thought of having to write more is part of the reason why I haven't written much on Empty Vessel in a while XD However, chapter 100 is the next one to write, and I feel like it should include at least a little smut, so tomorrow I am going to roll up my sleeves and get on with it. :D

have you ever had a fic stolen? Not to my knowledge, although some of my stuff went up on one of the sites that everyone was getting aerated about a few years ago, and I issued a takedown and they took it down.

have you ever had a fic translated? I have! A couple of my things have been translated into Russian, and the lovely @antheawu-blog is translating It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like... into Mandarin!

have you ever co-written a fic before? Once, long ago, I was writing a great long LotR fic with a friend, but the only bit of it that ever saw the light of day was Blood and Ink, which I'm not super happy with if I'm honest. I rewrote some of the scenes we'd written as A River Loves A Stone last year, and that sort of led into everything else I've been writing since.

what’s your all time favorite ship? Oh god, I have loads. Gawain/Galahad from King Arthur (2004) will forever hold a special place in my heart. Bard/Thranduil (evidently XD ). Legolas/Imrahil. Elladan/Elrohir (yes, I know, I can't help myself and I don't care).

what’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will? I have a post-Age of Ultron Natasha Romanoff fic that I'd love to finish but I don't think I am ever going to have the ideas or the motivation for it.

what are your writing strengths? I don't know. Dialogue?

what are your writing weaknesses? Plot. Oh god, I cannot plot to save my life.

what are your thoughts on writing dialogue in other languages in a fic? I like to include odd words of Sindarin in my Tolkien fic when Elven characters are speaking (and the odd word of Welsh when it's modern!Bard), but I always include translations. I think it is inaccessible and exclusionary not to include a list of translations, and over-use of Elvish without translations, especially when used outside dialogue when there is an English word that can be used, is a strong reason for me to back-button out of a fic. Inside dialogue, it's a representation of the person's words, outside dialogue, unless it's a word that doesn't exist in English (such as 'mallorn/mellyrn' or 'talan/telain') it's showing off, and it shuts out anyone who doesn't know the words.

what was the first fandom you wrote for? X-Men comics - in 2002 I wrote Redefinition, a between-the-panels for a scene between Gambit and Rogue in an issue of X-Treme X-Men, and I'm still incredibly proud of it.

what’s your favorite fic you’ve written? At the moment it's a toss-up between Empty Vessel-'verse and All I Want Is You-'verse. But I have a deep and abiding fondness for A Quiet Understanding, the first longfic I ever wrote (well, it's 20-odd-k, it was long for me at the time).

Thank you! I tag @writerman, @allegoriesinmediasres, @sleepy-santiago, @angelic-kisses13 and @verecunda :D

[baronessblixen]

https://baronessblixen.tumblr.com/post/665223867197014016/the-other-day-i-watched-queens-gambit-im-a

Also kind of subject related, I was impressed at how Thomas Sangster and Harry Melling could nail the American accent. If I didn’t know they were brits I would think they are Americans, I know it’s their job but still impresses me lol!

It always impresses me too! I mentioned him the other day but Matthew Rhys, who is Welsh, constantly plays US characters. Michael Sheen has played several American characters as well.

But you also have Ewan McGregor who... always sounds interesting when he tries an American accent 😆

[chibifatou]

rules: answer these questions and tag some people you are contractually obligated to know better

@fvae fae thanks for tagging me!!❣️

name/nickname: anya/ann and there are too many nicknames pls

gender: female

star sign: pisces

height: 1.63m

time: 18:29

birthday: 4 march

favourite solo artists: lorde and syml

song stuck in my head: like you do - joji

last movie: it was so long ago i dont even remember

last show: the queen’s gambit

when did I create this blog: january 2020

what do i post: shit posts, gifsets and rbing what beautiful people make

last thing i googled: ‘vine three people dancing na na na’ PLQJSJW I wanted to show it to my brother

other blogs: @robbguette aka skam crack blog. I post there once a decade when I remember that it exists

do i get asks: sometimes🥺

why i chose my url: robbe + angel!! because of robbe😌 and im really happy about it

following: 69

followers: yes

average hours of sleep: around 6

lucky number: 4

instruments: once tried to learn how to play guitar

what am i wearing: pyjamas💅

dream job: anything that will make me happy pls im begging

dream trip: I still think that the one trip that I planned but was cancelled bc of corona was a dream trip🥺 it was to the netherlands and belgium (including antwerp). Also any trip with my bestie aka my dream travel bud

favorite food: hmqmdmq pizza??

nationality: russian

favourite song: i will say three just bc I can okay - ribs, the night we met, space oddity

last book read: master and margarita

top three fictional universes i’d like to live in: right now i can only come up with trc universe!!! imagine living ur life while ur friend’s dad is turning into a tree and then ur other friend has a raven as a pet that he found in his dreams and in ur free time u are trying to find a dead welsh king with ur gang— wow

I’m tagging @lesbeanfatou @q-meeee @tsjernobyl @nyttvera @birthdaysentiment @indimlights (feel free to ignore💞)

[semper-legens]

143. The Grey King, by Susan Cooper

Owned: Yes Page count: 124 My summary: In the Welsh hills, Will Stanton struggles to remember his prophecy. There is something he must do, something that will help the Light, if only he can remember. Meanwhile, Bran Davies struggles with his shadowy past and the mother he doesn’t remember, while in the mountain, the Grey King is watching... My rating: 4/5 My commentary:

The Grey King is the book that I think I would nominate as my favourite from this series. Part of this is because it’s so Welsh, and I love Arthurian stories that actually acknowledge the fact that the King Arthur legend comes from Wales originally - if there was such things as a real King Arthur, he was probably a Welshman! So this moody little journey into the Welsh countryside is totally up my alley.

And this book also introduces Bran! Bran is best boy. He’s an albino kid, kind of an outcast from society, who grew up with just his father. And, we learn, his mother was a woman who wandered down from the hills, gave him to his (adoptive, as it turns out) father and left. Because Bran is the Pendragon, the son of King Arthur, brought forward in time by Guinevere and Merriman to take part in the last great fight against the Dark. Despite this, though, he’s mostly just a regular kid. He kind of sits in the balance between the Drews and Will - he’s a kid who goes to school and cares about his dog, but he also has this magical legacy he’s learning about. He’s not of the Light as Will is, but he is connected to it. And he struggles with that, in a way we haven’t seen from Will for a couple of books. When his dog is killed because of the battle between the Dark and the Light, he gets angry and shuts Will out, and he’s totally in the right because the Light kinda sorta killed his dog, and he’s eleven, and this is all a bit much for him.

Meanwhile, Will. He gets nerfed in this book - it starts with him coming down with an illness nasty enough that he’s sent to Wales to recuperate. He’s lost touch with some of his Old One powers and knowledge, and that makes him a lot more human and a lot more fallible, more like a regular kid that happens to have magic powers than everything an Old One implies. It also adds a bit more tension in the start, as Will struggles to remember the prophecy they found in the last book and has to work out what to do for himself, no help from any others. Like I said, it humanises him, and Cooper does well to work in scenes of Will just being a kid from time to time to remind the reader that he’s, fundamentally, a twelve year old.

But there’s so much to talk about between Bran and Will’s relationship. Ok, stop me if you’ve heard this one before - Bran’s a lonely kid, different from his peers and his family for reasons he can’t explain or articulate, isolated without really knowing why. There’s something about him that’s just a step apart from everyone he knows, but he doesn’t understand it. Then this boy arrives, a boy he’s never met before, but with whom he instantly clicks. They just understand each other on a deeper level, in a way that goes beyond everything he’s experienced before. And as their relationship deepens, this new boy introduces him to a world he’s never seen before, but always, without knowing, been a part of. Yeah, I’m implying that Will and Bran are in love and gay and that magic here can be read as a metaphor for gay identity. I don’t think it’s the intended interpretation, but it’s there, and there’s something so lovely about seeing the relationship between these two lonely, strange boys blossom as they realise what they have in common.

Here we see more of that callousness of the Light. Will is seriously ill - he could have died! - and it’s implied to all have been a gambit to get him to Wales. Bran’s beloved dog is shot in front of him and he’s treated as an accepted casualty. The Light is not good, it will treat you as a means to an end, and if that means you suffer or die for the cause, it doesn’t really matter? Merry cared about Hawkin, but not the other mortals whose lives he’s trampled over in the process - he’ll throw the Drews in danger without a second thought. It’s harrowing!

Finally, let me talk for a minute about the human characters in this series. This book is almost all humans - apart from Will, Bran, and the Grey King, and a few cameos by Merry, most of the characters are regular people. One in particular, John Rowlands, has significance in the sense that he’s aware, vaguely, of the Light and the Dark, but he doesn’t deal with them himself or know on a deeper level. We see more and more of regular humanity creeping in - the book seems to be making a wider point about evil not coming by necessity from the Dark, in the character of antagonist Caradog Pritchard. He’s a bastard, but not an agent of the Dark. He’s been touched by the Dark, but isn’t of it. In the same way, John’s been touched by the Light, but isn’t of it. He’s a good man because he’s a good man, not because he has some supernatural power. And I love him.

That’s it for the Grey King - next up, the finale of the series, in Silver on the Tree!