Sab Cast - Tumblr Posts

I love them😪✨💖

Crows cast on the set of Shadow and Bone season 2 (2023).

Reading people's facial expressions has never been my area of expertise but even I could tell you that the only thing going through his head is "whatamIdoingherewhatamIdoingherewhatamIdoinghere"

I'm sorry but Leigh Bardugo did not write "now it was risk filling up his nose and mouth, making him feel giddy and invincible. He loved it, and he hated himself for loving it. He should be thinking about the job, the money, getting out from under his debt, making sure his father didn't suffer for his antics. But when Jesper's mind even brushed up against those thoughts, everything in him recoiled. Trying not to die was the best possible distraction" for you to perceive Jesper Llewellyn Fahey as simply the flirty sharpshooting comedic relief who third wheels Kanej.

The piano scene in S2E3 is somehow talked about SO MUCH but also not enough, and I know that doesn't make sense but hear me out. Wylan has been in the Barrel for how long with nothing from his life before, only the decency he stubbornly clings to (hence why he initially refused to make bombs for Kaz, but his desperation got the better of him) and, if we use the information from the books, his flute. And we know the significance of music in Wylan's identity: he used it to hide his disability by setting whatever was read aloud to him to a melody in his head; the music room was the only place in his father's house he was ever happy in; and, in Crooked Kingdom, he recalls sitting at the piano bench with his mother, and it's one of the few memories he has of her because she "died" when he was young, so of course his memory of her is going to be a bit foggy.

Music wasn't something he got so good at to win his father's approval the way science and maths were - music was always his. It's what makes him Wylan and not Jan Van Eck's son, and being in the Barrel has tried to separate him from that part of his identity. Yes, he plays his flute in S2E1, but he plays it out of desperation. How long has it been since he's played music because of how connected he is to it, not because he needs money? It's something he yearns to do, and so when he and Jesper break into Pekka's country estate, Wylan doesn't take his eyes off the piano when he notices it - not even while Jesper is talking to him. He yearns to feel the press of the piano keys beneath his fingers, for the comfort playing music always gave him, and I think this is beautifully signified in that frame where presses the broken piano key: he so desperately wants that comfort and security, but can't have it.

Even though it looks like he sits at the piano to encourage Alby to keep playing, it's more so because he couldn't pass up the opportunity to do what he's yearned to do for so long. It's only 30ish seconds, but he loses himself in the music he plays, in that security he's sought since he first arrived in the Barrel. He's reliving sitting at the piano bench with his mother, and a show headcanon I have is that this little piece of music was something Marya taught him or wrote for him or something he wrote for her. Either way, it's made him lose himself in those happy childhood memories of him playing the piano with her.

Then that momentary peace and comfort is snatched away from him as he snaps back to reality. He's not at his father's house playing piano with his mother: he's in the Barrel, wrapped up in the company of literal criminals, and his mother's been dead since he was eight (well, we know she isn't dead, but he doesn't). His guard goes back up, and he goes back to being Wylan Hendriks, the demolitions expert keeping a privileged past and childhood traumas close to his chest, the boy who was desperate enough to start playing criminal with a band of thugs and thieves.

(gif by me, scene credits go to @/autumnspacks on ig)

This genre of Freddy Carter smiling like a proud little kid after filming the most gut-wrenching scenes in the entire show.

SHADOW AND BONE CAST (being cute and chaotic) @ ASOCAS 2023

He's simultaneously giving Kaz Brekker and post CK Wylan Van Eck as in mercher Wylan Van Eck I'm so unwell right now.

WHO GAVE THEM THE RIGHT TO POST THESE ON THE SAME DAY AS IF MY HEART CAN HANDLE IT

It's her world we're just living in it.

DOES IT EVER DRIVE YOU CRAZY JUST HOW FAST THE NIGHT CHANGES

Whoever decided to put Wylan and Nikolai IN THE SAME FRAME and SIDE-BY-SIDE can I personally thank you but also DID YOU THINK MY HEART WAS GOING TO HANDLE THAT

The GV fandom clamouring for a video of Kit and Alistair's Uptown Funk karaoke performance is just us once again clamouring for the photo of Freddy eating a banana with his Kaz gloves on.

I love the way S2 showed the difference between how Jesper approaches a high-stakes situation in comparison to Wylan, specifically in the scene where they sneak into Pekka's estate by entering through an open window. Jesper practically jumps from the windowsill and then twirls his gun, whereas Wylan gently lowers himself from the windowsill before lightly dropping himself down when he's crouched close enough to the ground.

We know that Jesper thrives off chaos and spontaneity, hence why he leaps from the windowsill and immediately twirls his gun: he's diving head-first into the action. He actively seeks fights because of the thrill they bring him, because he "always felt better when people were shooting at him". You can practically see the adrenaline coursing through him.

Wylan slowly lowering himself until he's close enough to drop down is more careful and deliberate than Jesper's leap, and it shows the complete opposite: Wylan is more cautious and wary than Jesper because he doesn't thrive off the chaos of a fight. He doesn't find anything thrilling about being in a dangerous situation, especially when you consider his sheltered upbringing. (I say sheltered because, though abusive, his household never exposed him to the dangers of Barrel life. This is made clear in Crooked Kingdom when Wylan is reliving his first months in the Barrel, thinking about how "he might not have been happy at his father’s house, but he’d never had to work for anything. He’d had servants, hot meals, clean clothes. Whatever it took to survive the Barrel, Wylan knew he didn’t have it.") He doesn't want to get in trouble or get wrapped up in these sorts of situations because that's not who he wants to be - he doesn't want to be a criminal.

However, he inevitably leaps from the windowsill too (just when he's crouched low enough to do so) rather than slowly sliding off it and onto the ground, exemplifying how, despite how he doesn't want to be a criminal, he still contributes to the task at hand and gets involved in these types of situations. His hesitancy doesn’t paralyse him regardless of the fact that he doesn’t want to partake in criminal activity. Whether or not he wants to do it, this is the path he's decided to pursue and he needs to do his part.

This difference is also exemplified in the scene in S2E5 where Zoya and Tolya are recruiting the Crows for the heist to steal the Neshyenyer blade. When they offer payment for the Crows’ contributions, Jesper responds with “I like the sound of that” before taking a shot of something. In a way, it echoes the “time for a heist!” scene in season one, emphasising Jesper’s willingness to go on a heist due to the thrill it brings (as well as the prospect of a monetary reward). On the other hand, while Jesper is enthusiastically agreeing to Zoya and Tolya’s request, Wylan is giving him the bombastic side-eye due to Jesper's willingness to accept the mission without hesitation.

Again, Wylan can't fathom how someone could be so willing to go on such a mission, so he's side-eyeing Jesper in disbelief and almost disapproval but he's also not at all surprised because this is Jesper Llewellyn Fahey. Remember, Wylan doesn't thrive off adrenaline rushes the way Jesper does - he's only doing all of this because 1) his entire motivation is to "make his money, get out of town, and never speak the name Van Eck again" and 2) he pretty much has no other choice because he makes it very clear that "he would sell himself in the pleasure houses of West Stave before he’d ask for his father’s mercy".

I could give you a list of reasons why I need the spin-off but one that's high up there is that I need to see Calahan Skogman saying "bing bong bing bing bong. No, wait, bing bing bong bing bing" in his Fjerdan accent with a straight face and completely deadpan.

Oh I’m going to be absolutely INSUFFERABLE when the promo videos start coming through.

I know Wylan saying "always hit where the mark isn't looking" in Crooked Kingdom is supposed to be a humorous nod to his "who's Mark?" line in Six of Crows but I can't help but think of it as a representation of an overlooked facet of his character development.

What I find the fandom forgets is that he's ultimately the least experienced of the Crows and the one who, let's be honest, is the least cut out to be a criminal. It has nothing to do with him being soft or whimpy (I want to unleash my inner Dirtyhands every time I hear someone say that), it's simply because he spent most of his life sheltered from the brutality of the Barrel. Yes, his household was abusive, but "he’d never had to work for anything. He’d had servants, hot meals, clean clothes. Whatever it took to survive the Barrel, Wylan knew he didn’t have it" - and he spent a total of three months in the Barrel prior to the events of Six of Crows. Had he not started doing demo for the Dregs, he would have definitely died in the Barrel - especially considering how he clings to his decency and morality because it's all he's got left, but they won't get him very far in a place like the Barrel.

Due to his inexperience, as Leigh puts it in the Crooked Kingdom collector's edition, he "wasn't a Crow yet" in book one: he wasn't accustomed to Barrel life, let alone the life of a criminal. (It also references how he learns to trust his crew and is now a part of them not out of desperation, but out of a bond beyond blood, but that's for another time.) Going from not understanding what "[hitting] the mark" means because he's autistic to, as Jesper puts it, "[being] thoroughly corrupted" signifies how he's finally started becoming accustomed to a life he's never had to lead before.

We all talk about how Wylan was abused by his father, but what I don’t see a lot of people talking about is how J*n didn’t even allow his son to grieve his mother’s loss. At that age, Wylan probably would have only started to grasp the concept of death, and he also needed time to process and grieve Marya’s finality - and J*n wouldn’t let him do either. And to make matters worse, Wylan needed his father there for him during that time and instead J*n just gave up on him. He wouldn't even let Wylan talk about his mother and instead expected him to simply suppress his grief because "it didn’t pay to dwell on the past". This would have done just as much emotional and mental damage to Wylan as his father’s abuse and I don’t know why more people aren’t talking about it.

I do not and will not tolerate any form of Matthias Helvar slander.