#ZOYA NAZYALENSKY / headcanon.

[thelovelyinejghafa]

"But what about the rest of us?

What about the nobodies and the nothings, the invisible girls?

We learn to hold our heads as if we wear crowns.

We learn to wring magic from the ordinary.

That was how you survived when you weren’t chosen,

when there was no royal blood in your veins.

When the world owed you nothing,

you demanded something of it anyway."

- Inej Ghafa

[zoyalaisobachka]

I like to imagine that after Zoya becomes queen, Nikolai occassionally goes back to being Sturmhond now and then, and he always brings her little gifts from his travels. Sometimes she joins him somewhat undercover (not to the extend like he's with his Sturmhond identity) (she doesn't really like being on the ship, but she likes to see him enjoying this life).... I just...Zoyalai at sea.

[somnidasha]

nikolai lantsov is this type of man who has literally million playlists for every possible situation (and, as we all remember, there's not such word as "impossible" in his lexicon) and another million playlist that blended with his friends. and zoya is this type of woman who just plays her liked songs. and she definitely stole his spotify account even before they started dating. and nikolai's never mind because "i told you, zoya, i have the best taste"

[blessedsweetgirl]

Kaz, Inej, Wylan, Jesper and Nina deserve to grow old and live their life happily after the shit they have gone through, they deserve PEACE. Plain and simple.

But also some people need to chill cuz Leigh Bardugo said that "bad things will happen to the characters you love" but everyone is acting like she said that "one of them is going to die 100%"

[sophiewith7es]

some of my six of crows modern headcanons xx

nina and inej are taylor swift and phoebe bridgers best friends

inej is vegan and i will not be explaining myself

matthias’ snapchat username is matthiashelvqr but jesper’s is animal_loverjes123 because he made it when he was nine

wylan is scared of planes but not helicopters

jesper is scared of helicopters but not planes

nina and inej listened to midnights together when it was first released

jesper got matthias into star wars

jesper loves the prequels and clone wars, matthias prefers the original trilogy and rogue one

both nina and jespers first bi panic was watching pirates of the caribbean

kaz has a secret fear of escalators so he always takes the stairs even though it actively causes him more pain

kaz and wylan watch criminal minds together in silence, but they both say the line about tracy lambert together

matthias falls asleep to animal documentaries narrated by david attenborough

inej jesper and nina are big greys anatomy fans

wylan’s first crush was teenage simba

matthias plays rugby

they have a book club (audiobook for wylan)

they read the acotar series and all had vastly different opinions

nina was an avid zoella watcher

kaz doesnt pay for any streaming services but has all of them anyway, jesper also doesn’t pay but uses everyone elses

matthias pays for the netflix account though

him and nina share one profile and everyone else has their own profile

nina cried when they took new girl off netflix

kaz says he prefers dc over marvel just to cause conflict

jesper read percy jackson growing up and still has the same battered copies he read as a kid in his room no matter where he lives

nina was a harry potter reading child and also still has her original copies of the books

HARRY POTTER REWATCH MOVIE NIGHTS!!!!

wylan is a secret marauders stan

nina jesper inej and wylan are all marauders era fans but wylan is soooo much worse

wesper = wolfstar

jesper’s favourite movie is the breakfast club

kaz says his favourite movie is fight club but it’s actually fantastic mr fox

kaz follows six people on instagram: inej and all the members of one direction

he does that to piss the others off

jesper went viral on tik tok one time

matthias loves oasis (both the band and the drink)

nina fought for eras tour tickets and managed to get them all tickets

kaz is going as reputation (his usual attire) jesper as lover, wylan as evermore, inej as speak now (she got the speak now dress), matthias as debut (they got him a cowboy hat) and nina as red.

matthias secretly cried over the how to train your dragon ending

matthias and inej read a lot of classics and share their collection, they both annotate the books as well and enjoy seeing what the other has written

kaz has a do not disturb sign on his bedroom door like in a hotel and puts it on the door handle even when he’s not in there

kaz is weirdly good with technology

jesper collects mugs

kaz and inej steal pint glasses from pubs

when inej and nina listened nothing new on red(tv) they lost their minds

kaz loves boygenius

matthias and wylan love modern family, wylan’s favourite character is gloria and matthias’ is jay

jesper loves formula 1 and its the only sport he’ll watch

nina and matthias play animal crossing together

kaz terrors jesper on terraria

when they play minecraft functionally, inej is the builder, jesper is the farmer, matthias and wylan mine, kaz has netherite armour in like half an hour and nina collects flowers and tames animals

when they play minecraft disfunctionally they just blow shit up

kaz plays the guitar

inej DEVOURED the cruel prince series

zoya and genya are nina’s foster/adoptive sisters

wylan is scared of clowns and is like that one episode of new girl when nick has to go into the haunted house

whenever jesper does something stupid or doesnt do something or whatever he says ‘#yolo’ and moves on and it drives kaz insane

jesper has muggies of everyone

inej takes 0.5 pictures of everyone when theyre sleeping without them knowing

matthias loves the hunger games series

kaz regularly predicts major global events

wylan loves breaking bad

[awanderingtortoise]

Is the celebrity au plot coherent yet? Somewhat! Is it more fun to IGNORE plot and just write random non chronological scenes? Hell yes

[naddybln]

Headcanons Grishaverse x reader

- the darkling took you from your parents when you were just about a year old

- you showed your powers early and your parents were afraid of you, just like the rest of your hometown

- growing up in the little palace was fun, everybody loves you

- having lessons with Bagrah were hard but effective

- Bagrah and Aleksander proteticing you at all costs

- Ivan and Fedyor are your male best friends, you are close to them and train with them

- Ivan cracking a smile around you

- Zoya is a little jealous because of your relationship with the Darkling

- she likes you nevertheless

- Genya and you are really close, wanting to spend time with her as often as possible

- trying to encourage her about David

- you offered her to kill the king, she denied it cuz you would get into a lot of trouble

- you visit David from time to time

- him explaining his new inventions

- you got hurt during training once and Aleksander went furious

- threatening everyone around him

- you needing to calm him down and ensure him it was an accident

- him not leaving your side for the first few days

- Genya taking care of you if she has the time

- Zoya might have thought the other Grisha who hurt you a lesson

- Ivan and Fedyor checking in on you multiple times a day and bringing you sweets

- Once you're healthy again you continue your training but this time everyone around you is carful not to hurt you (more like afraid of Zoya and Aleksander)

[lissa-edem]

Nikolai: trust me, my ruthless Zoya.

Zoya: I'm not yours, idiot.

Nikolai: as you say, my dangerous Zoya.

[zoyalaaai]

So during the nostalgia rewatch/reread of Merlin (BCC) and KoS/RoW respectively the merthur & zoyalai parallels were paralleling … so hear me out:

Zoya & Merlin meeting each other in immortality/long life wandering the earth while missing their dumbass golden kings and one true loves.

They form a very sarcastic, slow blossoming friendship talking about dragons, teaching each other about grisha powers and magic respectively and all the people they have known and lost, their kingdoms and their hopes and dreams smothered by living through it all alone.

Zoya plants a garden for Merlin‘s friends, Merlin fills it with life and magic.

Eventually they start talking about Nikolai and Arthur, how much trouble they went through to save them, how overbearingly idiotic they used to be and how much it hurt to lose them despite it all. How much they loved them, how much it still hurts to walk this earth without them.

Merlin talks about Arthurs bravery and his caring heart and how their hadn’t been enough time for them. Zoya tells him of Nikolai and the doubts and the love and the greatness of a man that was a king at heart.

And in having finally someone who understands, who relates and who listens they keep them alive, keep their love alive.

[tirkdi]

Hey Hi

I am a huge zoyalai fan but I have had this one headcanon for a long time and after discovering your blog I thought maybe you'd be interested in discussing it.

The headcanon is that Zoya would not actually go for Nikolai pre KoS because he wasn't her type. Her type was Mal, even Tolya, someone simple, romantic, not wealthy, not in power and someone she could cast away if she felt trapped. I feel like she would avoid men who came into power through their birth or wealth because of what happened to her in her childhood. So zoyalai works mostly because they have been friends for years prior to becoming a couple.

I love that you came to me for this, anon!

This is admittedly not a headcanon I've ever considered. And I think there are a couple reasons for that.

The first reason is that I started shipping zoyalai years before King of Scars came out -- so well before we had any hint of that backstory -- and I wrote a little about why here. I don't think that backstory was something Bardugo had decided on before she wrote the OG trilogy (I think she would have written/treated Zoya differently if so) so I didn't get a sense that there was a mental barrier there for Zoya.

The second reason, which is related to why I didn't get a sense of that barrier, is that I one million percent, deep in my heart, believe that if the Darkling had shown even the slightest amount of sexual or romantic interest in her she would have jumped on that in zero seconds flat. If he'd wanted to make her ... Darklingista or whatever, there would have been absolutely no hesitation on her part.

SO. All that said. I think it is certainly possible to read that as a coping mechanism, right? She was going to be sold to a rich powerful man she did not choose, so one way to make sure that never happens again is to pick a rich and powerful man she does choose, the bonus being that then she has enough power and money to ensure that something like that never happens to her again.

For why she went after Mal ... I can't find the post where I went into this more but she literally picked him out of a crowd of filthy soldiers from the window of a moving vehicle. She didn't notice him because he was romantic (sorry my Mal hate is going to come out here) though I'd agree with you on him being simple. I felt like her going for him later was much more of a dig at Alina rather than any actual interest she had in Mal himself.

I do agree that Zoya and Nikolai work together because they have a friendship and a shared trauma. And importantly, so much of their romantic relationship happened after Zoya was queen and Nikolai was pretty much powerless – it's much easier and more satisfying to write that relationship, we avoid her own childhood trauma having to be dealt with too much (for better or worse), and it doesn't come off as pathetic on her part the way that her going after the Darkling would have.

[lunarthecorvus]

My Matthias lives headcanon -

Matthias and Nina's mission to help grisha in Fjerda

After the auction Matthias and Nina stay in the Van Eck mansion whilst the chaos from the auction settles.

After its all calmed down, Nina and Matthias go to Ravka for a few weeks and then set off to be undercover in Fjerda and run a network with Ravka, that helps grisha in Fjerda, and helps to change Fjerdan's opinions on grisha.

During this time, whenever they can, they send letters to the rest of the crows (yes, even Kaz). Every few months, they go on a break and stay in Ketterdam for a while, and sometimes they go to Ravka to see Zoya and Nikolai (Nina ends up loving Nikolai and establishing a siblingy bond) (much to Zoya's fake dismay).

Eventually, once the network is larger, they buy a place in Ketterdam and stay there for longer and run operations from their home. They do still go undercover and enjoy Fjerda (especially Matthias).

[grishaverse-chaos]

I might be in a very small minority here, but I actually really don't want Alina to have a corruption arc in any future seasons of s&b! (Mostly because I hate the trope of victims becoming just like their abusers, and it seems to me that that's where the show is going with her arc)

So here's what I want for her. (Under a cut because it got longer than I thought it would)

I want her to be angry and terrified about her new powers. I want her to be furious that the Darkling gave her his powers - one final act of violation that means she will never be able to forget him, no matter how hard she tries. I want her to be scared, constantly. I want to see her break down in tears after killing the Fjerdan assassin, because she didn't know she had his powers and is she turning into him? I want her to be scared of the adrenaline rush she gets whenever she uses her new powers. To refuse ever to use them again.

I want her to have PTSD. Nightmares. I want to see her wake up in the middle of the night, tears running down her face because she dreamed that the Darkling came back and forced her to train her shadow powers. I want her to reach for Mal only to remember that he's not there anymore - and maybe she wonders, is it her fault he's gone? Maybe he knew that she would turn evil. Maybe, just like the Darkling, she's going to push away everyone she loves.

I want Nikolai to transform into the demon, and Alina to see it and have a panic attack because what if that means the Darkling's back? I want her to talk to Zoya, and ask how she manages to stay so fucking calm all the time. I want Zoya to break down when there's nobody around but Alina, and tell her that even if she seems fine, she's terrified, looking around every corner to check for shadows. I want Zoya to confess that she fears becoming just like the Darkling, and Alina to reply "try having his powers"

I want them to bond over their fear, and each promise to pull the other out if they ever do start becoming like him. I want Alina to retreat further and further from the throne because she doesn't trust herself with power, and Zoya to step forward because even if she doesn't trust herself with power, she wants to test herself, to prove to herself that she is nothing like him.

I want Alina to be completely unstable, to panic every time she's in trouble and has to defend herself. I want her to stop using her Sun Summoning because she's afraid that even that might make her more like him, and I want her to get sick from it. I want her to be on the edge of collapsing at any given moment.

I want Nikolai to not notice a single thing about how Alina's breaking down, because he's busy and has a kingdom to run. I want Alina to scream at him and tell him that he's one of the only people in the whole country who actually gives a shit about her so can he act like it? I want him to look at her for the first time in months and realise that oh shit, his best friend is dying. I want him to write to Mal, begging him to come back, because as much as he wants to be able to save Alina himself, he can't.

I want Mal to come back and tell Alina everything she needs to hear. I want him to convince her that her light is beautiful, that it is nothing like the Darkling's shadows, that she is nothing like him. I want her to bury her face in his chest and break down in tears, because she almost forgot how good he is at saying the right thing when she needs him. I want him to offer to take her away from Court, and her to protest, saying that she can't leave.

I want Mal to stick around, and while he's still there, Alina to tell Zoya about his offer. I want Zoya to tell her to take it, to go while she still can, before the wedding. (And if Zoya's saying this partly because she and Nikolai have gotten closer while Alina's been having her mental breakdown, and she doesn't love the fact that he's engaged to somebody else... well, Alina kind of guessed that anyway. She's happy for them.)

I want her and Mal to run away. Maybe they fake her death, maybe she just leaves. Either way, they don't go back to Keramzin. (That would require them to confront exactly how messed up their childhood had been.) Instead, I want Zoya to suggest something that the Little Palace desperately needs - something she knows the pair of them would be good at.

I want them to start a new orphanage, on the outskirts of Os Alta, for Grisha orphans. The Little Palace simply isn't equipped to handle children who aren't being raised into soldiers, and most Grisha children stay at home now, unless they or their parents want them to learn control over their powers. Grisha orphans, on the other hand, have nowhere to go but the Little Palace - so Zoya and Genya work on creating a school, and the orphans Mal and Alina are raising go there to study every day, then come back home to the orphanage. I want Alina to start using her powers again. Slowly at first - creating little balls of light that she plays with when she's alone. Then I want her to remember how much she loves using her powers, how much joy and euphoria it brings her. I want her to become happy and confident in her powers again, and return to full health. (She won't ever be completely comfortable with the shadow powers she got from the Darkling, but one day she uses them with the kids - making shadow pictures on the wall one evening, and she realises that even with his powers, she can do good. She can make them her own.)

I want the news to spread about this. Do people know that it's the Sun Summoner running the orphanage? Maybe, maybe not. Whether or not they know, the orphanage gets more and more well-known. Otkazat'sya parents decide to send their children there so they can study at the Little Palace. After all, they've heard of the couple that owns it, and they seem trustworthy enough. I want Mal and Alina to recruit a team of Fabrikators to help them build an extension onto the building so there's enough room for all the new arrivals.

I want adult Grisha - rogue Grisha, many of them - to stop at the orphanage if they're in need. Whether they've been injured or fallen ill, they ran out of food, they just need a place to sleep for the night - they come to the orphanage. They know it's safe. Some of them have no home to go back to once they leave. I want Mal and Alina to offer them a permanent place to stay at the orphanage. Almost everybody accepts the offer. Many of them find they have something they can teach the kids - whether that's a special trick you can do with specific Grisha powers, or something else (a dish they love to cook, a sport they played as a child, their favourite place to shop in Os Alta) - the children learn eagerly from each new arrival.

And I want Alina to realise, after a few years, that the orphanage has become a sanctuary for Grisha of all ages. I want her to wonder briefly if that makes her like the Darkling. He'd wanted to create a sanctuary for Grisha. Then I want her to look around at the happy children, at the older Grisha entertaining the younger kids, and realise that she succeeded where he had failed. She and Mal have created a safe place where Grisha aren't being thrown into battle. Sure, some of the children from the orphanage grow up and join the integrated army (the First and Second Armies have been combined into one army. Ravka is stronger together, and that's reflected by the army defending it) - but nobody is ever forced into military service.

I want her to know that, without even meaning to, she has become not only the Darkling's equal, but she has become better than him. She has made the country safer for Grisha. Not him. Her and Mal. She and Mal changed the world. (Again.)

[zoyalaisobachka]

I'm usually not a fan of "kids of-" headcanons, but- Nikolai putting Zoyalai kid(s) to bed and telling them stories from his time as Sturmhond and the crew singing Bones from Sail North to the kids is an imagination I can't get out of my head anymore.

[sophierequests]

zoya nazyalensky

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Angst: ☾ ┃ Fluff: ♡ ┃ Hurt/Comfort: ☆ ┃ Smut: ♤

“You are strong enough to survive the fall.”

oneshots

not how it was supposed to go (☆ / ♡) → Zoya's crush on the reader is becoming more and more obvious, how will she react when she sees them with another girl?

Maybe dumped wasn’t the right word for her current situation, since you two weren’t technically together. You had obvious chemistry, constantly flirting and spending time with each other, but none of you had yet dared to make the first move.

putty in your hands (♤ / ☆ / ♡) → When the new supposed Sun Summoner starts going on Zoya's nerves, the reader decides that it's time to cheer her up. But what happens when cheeky flirting turns into something more?

She sighed, eyeing you slowly, seemingly taking every inch of your body intently. Her eyes stopped as she met yours again. In the blink of an eye, you saw her face upside down, hovering over yours, never breaking eye contact.

the sun and her storm (☾) → The Apparat's cult is weird, but they wouldn't go as far as kidnapping the only known Sun Summoner, whilst knowing who their girlfriend is, would they?

The priest didn't budge from his spot, engaging in a tense conversation with Zoya, who was close to pushing him from his creaky wooden box. You didn't understand what they were saying, the casual chatter from the passing people overshadowing their talk.

i only want to be with you (♡) → After Genya's constant teasing reveals that the reader has a crush on somebody, Zoya gets slightly jealous.

A few weeks prior, you accidentally let it slip that you had a slight crush on a certain squaller, which seemed to not surprise your friend at all. Since then it became one of her most talked-about matters, effectively managing to drive you up against the wall. As soon as she realized that it wasn’t just a little innocent infatuation, but fully developed feelings towards your mutual friend, she didn’t want to let it go, constantly teasing or encouraging you to ask her out.

pages thumbed, heartstrings strummed(♡) → Zoya seems to be in the library more often than usual. What could be the reason for her sudden interest in the old tomes?

However, before you could even properly begin reading the book on amplifiers, you had planned on working through, the door opened again. A young woman with black hair and a blue kefta entered the room. You recognized her immediately.

the universe must have divined this (♡) → Zoya thinks the reader should dump her boyfriend.

At first, she considered leaving, knowing that she wouldn’t get any real chances to make a move on you. But when the friends you were currently with opted out to join the masses on the dance floor, you were left alone, still waiting for a man that wouldn’t show. Now it was her turn.

i don't need you (but oh i do) (☆ / ♡) → Zoya's and the reader's relationship is very unclear, causing her to deny even having feelings for her. When a certain Heartrender visits the Palace, things are bound to change.

"If you want me to." he smirked, "You're terribly tired because you didn't spend the night in your room. I knocked earlier and guess who I found inside? No one. I'm not quite sure whose room you slept in, but I think I have a sneaking suspicion of who it could be."

it's obvious i wanted to (☆) → Zoya can't admit that she likes the reader, and it starts getting difficult.

There was no point in denying that Zoya had developed feelings for you. No matter how hard she tried to push them away, to treat you just as a friend, she couldn’t deny that she liked you. Nikolai had already tried to convince her to confess at least a thousand times, but she knew that she wasn’t able to.

i'd marry you with paper rings (♡) -> Zoya and the reader recall some of the most important incidents in their relationship.

“Do you still remember the night when we first met?” you asked, looking down at Zoya, who was currently laying in your lap, absent-mindedly fiddling with the fabric of your skirt.

you drew stars around my scars, but now i'm bleeding (☆) → Memories of a long-lost relationship start to resurface.

Without giving yourself time to think, you pulled it out from underneath the clutter, absent-mindedly brushing the dirt off and letting your fingers run over the intricate silver embroideries around the collar. It was slightly damaged from being worn on the battlefield and during training, but that only made it more real. It was her kefta.

gift-giving (♡) → Zoya really isn't a holiday person.

Zoya wasn’t a holiday type of person. She didn’t do feasts, celebrations, dancing or gift-giving. She didn’t dress up, she didn’t decorate and she certainly wasn’t one to be jolly or merry. Not even after a Genya-induced drinking spree would she sink down to the level of celebrating Christmas of all things. At least that’s what she told herself. 

i need you more than you can ever know (☆ / ♡) → After a figuring out that she has feelings for the reader, Zoya decides to distance herself from her and their friendship with benefits. When a sudden accident causes more hurt than good, she finally comes clean.

The relationship you had was entirely and strictly platonic. You were co-workers that occasionally slept together when they needed some form of release, and that was everything there was to it. Until it wasn’t.

headcanons

zoya nazyalensky x f!reader dating headcanons (♡)

zoya nazyalensky x bookworm!reader headcanons (♡)

queen!zoya x fjerdan!reader arranged marriage headcanons (♡)

zoya nazyalensky x f!reader marriage headcanons (♡)

[homobuckybarnes]

Zoya and Nikolai are in a QPR. I don’t care that they poured their hearts out to each other- it was queer platonic

[awanderingtortoise]

writing snippet! zoya is a royally pissed ravkan baby boomer when it comes to the new grisha

when she was their age she was fighting on the front lines against the darkling smh they dont train them like they used to