{"id":4432,"date":"2018-01-17T05:00:16","date_gmt":"2018-01-17T13:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/?p=4432"},"modified":"2018-01-14T16:01:03","modified_gmt":"2018-01-15T00:01:03","slug":"mark-reads-games-wizards-play-chapter-4-part-ii","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/2018\/01\/mark-reads-games-wizards-play-chapter-4-part-ii\/","title":{"rendered":"Mark Reads ‘Games Wizards Play’: Chapter 4, Part II"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the second half of the fourth chapter of Games Wizards Play<\/i>, the mentors meet their students. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Young Wizards<\/i>.<\/p>\n

AHHH I WAS SO WRONG ABOUT THIS, LET\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S TALK ABOUT THESE NEW WIZARDS I AM SO EXCITED.<\/p>\n

Penn Shao-Feng<\/b><\/p>\n

So, my prediction was that we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d gotten that scene with Dairine, showcasing her frustration with Nelaid and his teaching style, because it was a hint at what sort of student she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d get. She was going to learn why teaching\/mentoring was so hard by getting a difficult student! And as Kit and Nita approached their mentee, I suddenly had a theory: he would be overwhelmed by how famous<\/i> they were in the wizard world.<\/p>\n

I LOVE THAT THIS IS LITERALLY THE EXACT OPPOSITE DYNAMIC. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, the rug was instantly<\/i> pulled out from under my feet, and it made for a compelling read. Now, I can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t possibly be certain that this is what Duane intended! Part of the fun of doing this is putting down my impressions and interpretations for all of you to see, and then coming to realize I read a scene unlike EVERY HUMAN ON THE PLANET. Regardless, this is SUCH a fascinating choice for Duane to make. Kit and Nita were nervous about meeting Penn, but not for the right reasons<\/i>. One of the feelings that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s evoked by Penn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s introduction scene is an unease that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s palpable. Both Kit and Nita had not prepared themselves for the possibility that Penn would be a jerk<\/i>. Indeed, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like the world of Young Wizards<\/i> is full of assholes. I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122d argue that for the most part, this series is full of nice people who, even if they might be challenging to be around, are still trying<\/i> their best. The thorniest characters are still great people! (I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m thinking of Ronan and Roshaun in particular.)<\/p>\n

But Penn is uninterested in Kit and Nita as people and as wizards. He just wants to talk to Irina, who is arguably the most desired person in the room, and he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s shockingly condescending about it. For someone who comparatively knows so very little about wizards and Irina, he sure has an intense reaction to Nita not knowing where Irina is at that exact moment! AND NITA\u00e2\u20ac\u2122S RESPONSE IS SO INCREDIBLE, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL.<\/p>\n

More on that response in a second, though. So, what little I can gleam from this is that Penn is certain<\/i>. Even when he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s setting up a meet-and-greet with Kit and Nita for the following day, he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t sound anxious, worried, or like he even cares all that much if they get to know him. He thinks that all he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll need is an hour<\/i>. AN HOUR! Also, how the fuck does a teenager have a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153nice place\u00e2\u20ac\u009d in San Francisco in this day and age? I LITERALLY GOT PRICED OUT OF THE WHOLE BAY AREA A COUPLE YEARS BACK, Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL. Does he live with his parents? Is that what he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s referring to?<\/p>\n

Who fucking knows???<\/i> Because almost as soon as Penn is thrust into Kit and Nita\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s life, he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gone. No ceremony, no fanfare, and certainly no sense of camaraderie and respect. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ALL, I WAS NOT READY FOR THIS AT ALL. Maybe there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s something else going on here? Maybe he seems distracted and detached for a reason??? Whew, LORD.<\/p>\n

So, let\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talk about that<\/i> line. For reference:<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Someone who\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sure he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the hottest thing on the street,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kit said. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Or thinks he is. And doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t mind who gets annoyed by the shade he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s throwing.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Oh, no<\/i>. I have two primary problems with this:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. It does not sound like slang Kit would use. This series is modern, yes, but aside from this, there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s virtually no slang used like this. Where did Kit pick this up? They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t watch shows where they might here this, and their primary friend group is wizards, none of whom I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve ever seen speak like this.<\/li>\n
  2. But even if I could momentarily excuse the first point\u00e2\u20ac\u201dit\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s really not that<\/i> big of a deal\u00e2\u20ac\u201dI\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m less inclined to ignore that Penn never threw shade<\/i>. Look, this term and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s related slang\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto \u00e2\u20ac\u0153read\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153drag\u00e2\u20ac\u009d someone\u00e2\u20ac\u201dare rooted in the ball\/voguing communities, and were invented and initially used by almost exclusive queer and\/or trans Black and\/or Latinx people. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve come to prominence lately because of the popularity of Rupaul\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Drag Race<\/i>. And I get that they are very<\/i> good words when describing the acts properly, but if ANYONE threw shade, it was NITA. Nita was the one who used some condescension and wit to insult Penn to his face, and he didn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t seem to notice it at all. Throwing shade is more subtle; it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a roundabout, indirect way of criticizing someone or something, and it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s best executed when the subject doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t even know that it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s happened. And you could argue that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the case with Penn, or he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s just such a jerk that he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t care. But yeah, he doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t throw shade at all!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    So, writers: please be careful about this sort of stuff. At best, this took me out of the text in an instant. At worst, it hurts. It hurts to see terms misappropriated like this.<\/p>\n

    Merhnaz Farrahi<\/b><\/p>\n

    I promise to scream about this cinnamon roll, too pure for this world, but I wanted to acknowledge the long internal narration where Dairine considers her dedication to finding Roshaun. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s been a subplot since the Pullulus War ended, but I don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t want that to seem like I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m discounting how heavily it has played into Dairine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s characterization. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s practically her only motivation at this point, and you can tell from the long sequence here just how much she thinks about finding Roshaun, how much she misses him.<\/p>\n

    It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s difficult to read, too, because it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so sad<\/i>. By it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very nature, the disappearance of Roshan denies Dairine closure. Sure, she found out definitively that he\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not dead, but everything else is a mystery. And until she finds him, there is no real means to get<\/i> that closure.<\/p>\n

    So I understand the obsessiveness that we see here. I get why she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s so intense <\/i>about it, too! It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not like she wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t intense before<\/i> she met Roshaun. That\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s always been a part of who she is! It just has a new focus. Which is precisely why Merhnaz already seems like the best possibly student for Dairine to be paired with. Mehrnaz is like a jolt of electricity; she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a shock to Dairine\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s system. And in that sense, it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s very similar to what Kit\/Nita went through. She wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t prepared to get a mentee who adored<\/i> her, who viewed her as someone worthy of a fangirl moment in person. Y\u00e2\u20ac\u2122all, Merhnaz thinks so highly of Dairine that SHE ASKS DAIRINE IF IT WAS A MISTAKE THAT THEY WERE PAIRED TOGETHER.<\/p>\n

    Oh my god, she is such a ray of sunshine, and I am already eager to read literally every scene she is in forever<\/i>. She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s from Mumbai! She wears a GEOMETRICALLY PATTERNED HEADSCARF. Her speciality is designing a spell that can \u00e2\u20ac\u0153take earthquakes apart from underneath.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d HELP ME, WILL THE GROUND OPEN UP AND EAT SOMEONE<\/p>\n

    https:\/\/youtu.be\/KUOuQGqTzWw<\/p>\n

    Mark Links Stuff<\/b><\/p>\n

    – My YA contemporary debut, ANGER IS A GIFT<\/a>, is now available for pre-order!\u00c2\u00a0<\/strong>If you’d like to stay up-to-date on all announcements regarding my books, sign up for my newsletter<\/a>! DO IT.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    In the second half of the fourth chapter of Games Wizards Play, the mentors meet their students. Intrigued? Then it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s time for Mark to read Young Wizards.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[533,510],"tags":[513,511],"class_list":["post-4432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-games-wizards-play","category-young-wizards","tag-diane-duane","tag-mark-reads-young-wizards"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4432\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/markreads.net\/reviews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}