#grimmreading

[itsagrummel]

[itsagrimm]

Call of Duty Reading Recommendations

These series and fics make me laugh and shout with glee every time there is an update or I have the pleasure of re-reading them. If these were books in a bookstore or library, I would take them home with me.

Control by @Awesomistprime8

mostly f Reader X Graves with other possible pairings hinted.

Reader, codename Canary, is a soldier. A really good one. She is Graves second in command. But also sometimes she is 'Songbird' and Graves lover. But its just friendly. Just colleagues having fun. right? And 'Songbird' is just a nickname which means nothing. right?

this Series explores the dynamics of toxic relationships, longing, vulnerability, masking, mental healthy and generally how much of a workaholic Graves can be.

Bleeding Blue by @nsharks

f Reader X Ghost

this AU tosses us in a post-apocalyptic world where reader tries to survive in a winter forest about 5 years after a Zombie apocalypse. She meets Ghost, a fellow surviver, and his daughter. It's unclear yet if that meeting was to her luck or not.

This very plausible and well written scenario has a dynamic that feels most plausible in the face of needs and limited resources. No one is hero. The realities of this dire constellation overshadow everything and yet the characters act as pragmatic and kind as possible. A brilliant, strangely hopeful read

Memories of Youth by @halcyone-of-the-sea

Being a single dad to a teenager can be a challenge. Even to a seasoned captain like John Price. No wonder he instantly furrowed his brows with worry when the emergency phone rings and his daughters voice sounds through.

Sweet and psychological. Love a good short story where the feelings and emotions of teens are taken serious in all there complexity.

Ordinary Things Like Love by @antigonusyuki

König contemplating his adult life as a father and husband in comparison to his own abusive childhood. It's a short, bittersweet but highly recommended read.

It was Summer, Darling by @johnnytavish

Commander Graves X OC

Val is a new member of the Shadow company, quickly getting along with Graves, the commander of the infamous company. And while their sweet relationship blossoms, the circumstances are dire. An incredibly poetic and capturing read.

[itsagrummel]

Antisemitism in Krabat

Obviously I like the tale about Krabat a lot, including all it's retellings. And since i love it so much, I need to point out flaws in it so that it can be enjoyed in a more honest and reflective way plus allow people to make their own choices about interacting with old tales like it.

Jewish life in central-European regions like Lusatia faced somewhat continuous oppression and persecution. This antisemitic hatred is coded in literature as well, which shows up in the Krabat tale as an old tale carrying those rather classical antisemitic markers:

The antagonist is an evil black magic sorcerer who mistreats, kills and oppresses the otherwise as christian presented characters.

Vulnerable kids and young adults get recruited into the study of black magic. There is also the ritualistic killing of these kids by black magic for the benefit of the antagonist to prolong his life which is a version of the blood libel trope.

The first thing the antagonist teaches the protagonist Krabat is how to dry up a well. That is the antisemitic well poisoning trope.

The antagonist has a secret book called the Koraktor which is the invert of a regular book: it is black with white writing. In it are records on how to do black magic. In the context of the otherwise christian society it is noticeably marked as a bad book, drawing parallels to the depiction of the Tora by medieval Christians.

The antagonist uses his magical powers to be a secret political influence to a king, which leads to the as pointless and just out of evil desires portrayed continuation of a war. This fits the (international) jewish conspiracy trope of as jewish coded people or in this case characters just wanting to harm the good (christian) people out of no reason.

The antisemitic coded antagonist is shown to be greedy, never sharing his wealth with those he is expected to help out, which is another antisemitic trope. Also he orders his students to trick and lie to get him money.

I am sure there are more codes I missed since Antisemitism and both fear of and fascination for the occult go hand in hand in many more facets. Looking at the massive amount of fantasy literature with the same antisemitic tropes as Krabat (eg Harry Potter) it's clear that we need to keep looking at these pieces of literature to learn how to tell great stories without including harmful tropes.

[itsagrummel]

he canonically starts fights AND honestly is interested in the well-being of others.

[itsagrummel]

travelling through the beautiful north east of germany.

seeing a strange town or village name.

looking up it's source.

discovering a new word for something wet and swampy in sorbian.

[itsagrimm]

somehow it feels like every Goth in Germany owns or has read a copy of 'Krabat'.

[itsagrummel]

btw i am not entirely sure if that is something the regular reader knows of but the difference between the ethnically german and the sorbian population is much bigger than just language.

that's why krabat runs away from the german evangelical pastor and his wife. Krabat was at risk of losing much more than just his sorbian language skills but also his identity as a sorbian kid from a likely catholic family. and it opens up the question how kind and selfless the pastors family actually was when they took him in.

[itsagrummel]

Otfried Preußler: Krabat's parents died from the pest. He is a beggar boy now. It is winter. Jurij Brězan: There once fell a stone from the sky and the stone burst into pieces and out of the pieces came Krabat and Krabat was a human who came to do what had to be done.