Listen to this podcast at your peril because spoilers lie ahead. Make sure you've

seen all the episodes of Shadow and Bone and welcome to The Grease of Us.

This winter, I got to talk to Arthur Lieber Duco about how ideas of belonging

and fitting in play out in her work. Finding the people who allow you to be

yourself, who don't tolerate you but celebrate you, is just a tremendous gift.

This is a theme that I am really engaged in. Who stands beside you? Who has your back in a fight?

Who knows you best and loves you despite your faults? You know, who sees your strengths and

supports them and amplifies them? And then we started talking about our favorite relationships

in this series, Shadow and Bone. And when talking about romantic pairings or ships,

it brought out another side of her. Can you talk to us about shipping and what it means to you?

I mean, for me, the ship is always about the slow burn. I want to be an agony before I get

that first kiss. You know, I'm one of those people that once the couple gets together,

I'm like, am I interested in this anymore? Yeah. Yeah. It's bad. But is there such a thing as a

right pairing? Oh, I mean, I love a villain protagonist romance.

You look lovely, by the way. You look like you needed saving.

I love enemies to lovers. That's another trope that I can't get enough of.

I like this. This isn't where I have my way with you.

I can't wait to be back in my own bed. Yeah, I can feel just how much you hate sleeping next to me.

Speaking of tropes, you know, the childhood friends thing was definitely at the root of that.

I knew what would happen if I somehow passed their test. They would have taken me away.

To a palace, Alina. They would have split us up. I'm trying to get back to you this whole time.

That is the way I write my stories. And that is the way that I want to show to play out.

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