#all my homies HATe the darkling

[morallyambigous]

I feel like often times people completely miss the point of the darkling and just further prove pretty privilege. Like the whole point of his character is to critique the overused trope of the dark, brooding, “morally grey”, immortal love interest that too many romance books fall into. Like the whole point is that he’s attractive and charming and STILL IRREDEEMABLE AND EVIL. Almost everything he does and all the ways he connects with Alina is a manipulation tactic. His character also critiques and highlights how creepy the immortal love interest trope is, especially in YA romance novels, where the man is hundreds or thousands of years old and the girl is still a teenager. There is a reason they always go for teenagers who don’t know any better instead of an actual adult who’s at least on a somewhat similar plane of maturity as them, and that is because they are vulnerable and easy to manipulate and it is creepy. straight up. there is a reason that the darkling consistently surrounds himself with vulnerable teenager girls like alina, zoya, and genya. its because he knows what to say to manipulate them and use them for his own ends with literal regard for them as people. and people totally miss the point of his admittedly tragic past which is that you can have a sad upbringing and it still doesn’t excuse or make up for your own horrific actions. so yeah all jokes about turning to the dark side for ben barnes aside, if the darkling wasn’t hot people wouldn’t sympathise with him nearly as much and he does not deserve to be redeemed. literally a canon woman abuser. although his character and what he represents and what he critiques is very fascinating to me. anyway stan literally almost any other man in the grishaverse 

[significant-ace-nnoyance]

“the show ruined the darkling the show ruined darklina” oh you mean the show considered the nuance of without overly romanticizing a centuries-old power-hungry ABUSER who has committed genocide and taken advantage of countless women and it explored the ways in which “darklina” as a ship dynamic is really about him manipulating a lonely vulnerable girl and using his trauma to victimize himself as an excuse to lash out and fulfill his blatant power grabs and excessive violence against innocent people, and it emphasized how being lonely and having complexity doesn’t justify war crimes and instead focused on empowering the victims of kirigan’s abuse and didn’t pretend like darklina was for a moment a healthy valid romantic choice for alina because it wasn’t it was a relationship predicated on gaslighting manipulation and literal enslavement based on the traumatic experiences of the author herself and it should not be romanticized in any way shape or form? HAHA WELL GO CRY ABOUT IT IM HAVING A BLAST

[ultimatetrashgoblin]

Sent this to my gf, thought tumblrland might enjoy it (this is an anti Darkling/Darklina account)

Bonus:

[ID: Texts read “Here in the grishaverse every woman is girlboss and every man is babygirl” “Except for the Darkling”

“Fuck the Darkling we hate the Darkling anyone who doesn’t hate the Darkling can not be trusted” “Idc if he’s played by Ben Barnes you can still love Ben Barnes and hate the Darkling” It’s not that fucking hard Jfc” “If I see one more pro Darkling/Darklina edit or post I am going to explode the internet with my brainwaves”]

[hypermo0n]

After Zero's fight with Black Doom:

Eclipse: YOU ALMOST DIED. YOU WERE LITERALLY CLINGING TO LIFE WHEN WE FOUND YOU.

Zero:

Zero: Fair but.. I did blind him in one eye!

Eclipse:

Shadow, secretly impressed and proud.

[all-inmoderation]

me going to the malina tag on ao3 and SMASHING the "exclude: alternate universe- modern setting" button every time

[eerna]

OKAY IM GLAD I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE HORRIFIED BUT STILL MORBIDLY LOOKING AT THE STUPID ANTLER COLLAR LIKE. THAT LOOKS SO PAINFUL AND IF I'M NOT WRONG ALINA WANTED TO HIDE THEM IN A SCENE BUT THE DARKLING WAS LIKE NAW BITCH WE GONNA SHOW THE WORLD (on that note, jessie and ben play their roles so well i almost feel bad for ben because he's such a cheery guy irl but as the darkling he makes our skin crawl)

YEAH YEAH YEAH my collarbone stings just looking at it but I CAN’T LOOK AWAY MY DUDE....... Alina being so sad and disgusted and trying to hide it was so heartbreaking to see. FUck the Darkling all my homies hate the Darkling. Jessie and Ben are great!! And tbh..... I just can’t see Ben as someone scary.... like he is onscreen killing and committing atrocities but his eyes are so warm and calm. I think I only feared him for real like twice, once when he talked to the Conductor and the other time in the fold when he screamed at Zoya lol

[thesvenqueen]

TO THE END

S&B Episode 8 (I get a bit rabmle-y at the end there but, it's a good end review I swear!!)

- l've loved the switch in title cards every episode, really great detail and so fun to see what they come up with - bowler hat gang UNITE - HOW DARE YOU FORGET MILO WTF - oop Zoya piecing the puzzle together, yes girl - AHHHH MATTHIAS AND NINA YEEEES. - >.> there's only ONE BED <.< - NO DON'T LEAVE - :( god damn it, y'all killing me here - can you at least share the bed before you go?? - YES TO KERCH, LETS GO - "I will keep you warm" ASKLFGKLASDGBASDFNKB - WE NEARLY HAD A KISS WHY YOU AHHHHHHHHDLKASGALSKDHGVLSDKVBLKS - omg they let them get waffles I COULD CRY - oh they were so happy god DAMN IT - Fedyor WHY WHY WHY WHYYYY THEY WERE HAPPY GDI - they dooo though they dooooooo - UGHHHH we got 3 mins of happiness ffs I hate it hereeee - "remember who's driving" bitch I know you did NOT - bro Inej realizing someone is below deck with them YES YES YES - "I'll ask again, who are you?" god Jesper intimidating is HOT AF HELLO??? - boy Kaz has no buisness looking that good too jesus - mhmmmm, you be right Alina. - yeaaaaaaaah this is bad, this is really bad - ohhhhhhhhh my GOD - bruh, the SCREAMS wtf - ffs Mal can you please listen for once - INEJ COME ON YOU TOO???? UGHHHH - ok book quote I see you, nicely done - "us" it's just you tf you mean - again, Mal, I know you said you're not smart but bruh what kind of plan was that - JESPER NOOO YOU DON'T GET IT YO - YEAHHH BEAT HIS ASS INEJ - HE CALLED HER WRAITH OHHHHH - Ivan jfc - NOOOOOO INEJ - ZOYA HELL YES LETS GO - JESPER, BOY, THAT WAS DOPE BUT THE CUT OH MY GOD OH MY GOD - KAZ COMING IN CLUTCH THANK FUCK - she kissed the knife before she threw it I am just...I am dying hello HELP?!? - INEJ GOT THE DARKLING BITCH I SEE YOU QUEEN - Kaz is literally laying on top of Jesper even with his phobia I can not right now - girl don't you waste all your knives!!! - KAZ. WITH THE CANE. PROTECTING HIS INVESTMENTS. FUCK YES. lmao - owowowwowowowow my hand owowowow - YAS QUEEN LETS GO - save???? YOU engulfed the whole fucking city into darkness because they pissed you off shut the actual fuck up - Mal. Sweetie. what are you doing?? you literally brought a butter knife to a cut fight - I V A N. BITCH. NO. - JESPER BABY LETS GOOOOO - god with every spin of his gun I fall more in love jfc - byeeeee Ivan!! - whyyyy you no aim for the head Mal?!?!? - lmao Kaz ready with his fucking cane to wack some mf monsters I'm here for it - thank you for showing Kaz hella struggling with his cane and walking, I appreciate this so much - Awwww Inej, sweet baby - SHE GAVE HER A DAGGER BLESS - aw :( Kaz realizing Inej really might leave, oh sweet boy - LISTEN, Kaz can't break a deal homie. there is a lot at risk here that he can't lose - ......that might fix the problem. - For Inej, he did it for Inej and that's it and Inej was over in the back fighting to not fucking hug him I can not - Kaz be right, from experience Zoya please. - lmao "I still don't like you" ZOYA girl come on - this entire Kaz & Inej conversation I have no words I'm crying - "I need you" the face & noise I just made were not human ahhhhh - I mean, we know you stay, BUT PLEASE INEJ STAY - MATTHIAS - YOU WAIT MATTHIAS CHILL WTF - IT WASN'T THOUGH - come ON Matthias how do you not believe her??? - that literally broke my heart oh my god - he ALWAYS has a plan - ayeeee I got one for you - oh you shit, I see you - yeahhhh bout that, he ain't dead - welp, that's definitely not good.. - "follow" nah I only follow Kaz Brekker thanks

Netlfix, seriously, just go ahead and announce season 2 because we ALL want it. I NEED it so badly just, do it do it do it.

In all seriousness, as for as YA book adaptation, this is top notch if not the best adaptation I've seen. The cast was A+, nailing the characters so beautifully and bringing life to some that I really didn't fully appreciate in the books. Specifically Archie with Mal, credits to him and the writers (and Leigh) for really working to make him a stronger, fully developed character. It was so well done and I am really rooting for them more so than I was in the books.

Crow wise. Brilliant. Absolutely fucking brilliant. Kit, Freddy, Amita, Danielle, Calahan; literally the most perfect casting. Period. I was so incredibly nervous when the show was announced how casting would go for the crows. They're my favorites, ones that I really treasured and when I tell you just the cast photo I had a feeling this was going to go well. Well was an understatement. I was absolutely blown away by how well they nailed the Crows. The humor, the small gestures, the teasing and comments; absolutely perfect. I have only one complaint, the same as Kit: GIVE ME WYLAN!!!

Also,Jessie as Alina, round of applause as well. I didn't mind her character in the book, but in the show I felt more connected and really was cheering for her and I have to give that to Jessie. Like Archie, she did a great job bringing the character to life and making her enjoyable, more fully developed tbh. I don't even need to go into Ben because I despise the Darkling as much as I did in the books so I'd say he was fucking brilliant.

The fact their budget was limited, they somehow was able to create a world so beautiful so incredibly well done and oddly inviting. The costumes, the sets, even the Fold looked nearly inviting. It all seemed so well done, so well put together and as I imagined it for the most part. The display of Grisha power was not corny but subtle and well created, not overdone like some like to do. It was believable and so cool to see displayed on tv.

Honest to god this is, to me at least, by far the best YA book adaptation in a long, LONG time. This coming from a HP, Twilight, Series of Unfortunate Events fan. I've seen YA books fail so badly (Euragon, ugh the heartbreak of that disaster) or just, be so flat it hurts...looking at you Twilight. Some having a cast that just, despises the entire book and movie all together, others so well connected and done so brilliantly only for the story to be torn to bits in some parts that you're left wondering if you read the same book at times (HP, never forgive you for that final battle scene, wtf was even that??). But for real, this had the perfect cast, perfect sets & editing, amazing music, fantastic writing to piece it all together and overall was just...absolutely amazing. Definitely going to be something I rewatch over and over and over again till the next season.

Thank you for not fucking it up <3

[thesvenqueen]

andddddddd we go S&B Episode 4

- is...is that song teasing Sturmhond???? NIKOLAI?! - really am enjoying these letters from Mal and Alina, they do great in telling the story well from both their views. - Least Genya knocked this time - "Any letters for me?" "No." ....Genya, we know. - HA she said fuck yo black, I'm wearing my blue thank you v much - "are you so anxious to be like everybody else?" uh...aren't we all? - damn he name dropped that QUICK HELLO?!?!?! - TIME FOR A HIEST LETS GOOOOO - Jesper & Milo. the precious friendship I didn't know I needed lmao - HE LEFT HIM A BULLET NECKLACE. Jesper you're too much! - "managed to win us over didn't you?" well....debatable. I sense you don't like him Kaz but ok - Ben, I adore you I do, and you're doing fantastic as the Darkling, but I can't. nope nope nope - "killed by it"....yeah, about that - oh the sorry sad story shut the actual fuck up you manipulative bastard - damn, Mal you got some real friends homie - Nadia & Maria so damn nosey but also....same haha - WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU WEARING KAZ OH MY GOD - I...I hate this so much. Kaz chipper and cute is so fucking gross I hate it I hate it I hate it get it off my screen please ahhhhhhh - Inej being right behind the guard oh my god that sequence was PERFECTION - again, the tiny bit of hinting at Jesper I love it - FEDYOR HIIIIII - ....why the fuck does the Darkling want Nina??? - ..the conductor is so up to something I don't like it - AHHH NINA & MATTHIAS YES YES GIVE ME - "Where you born a prick or was it by choice?" pffft yes Nina!! - "I feel nothing about you" you lying Matthias - Aw, Matthias really was trying to be nice Nina come on - "Shut up Jesper" "I miss Milo" HA - I KNEW HE WAS UP TO SOMETHING - Inej handing her knives to Kaz was so damn intimate jesus, I felt like I was intruding on a moment lol - Kaz "I refuse to do a talent" Bekker lmao - sheeeesh Baghra that was harsh - once again, the manipulation. BLEH. fucking gross - "I should go" yes, yes you should & run please - him locking the door as she left through, and the small smirk of satisfaction. yeah...he's getting exactly what he wants. UGH so gross. - yeah, now you see the problem Matthias? They were never to stand trial, they were just going to die - Knowing Genya is helping manipulate the situation just...ugh it hurts - DAMN Mal is one hell of a fighter holy shit - NOOOO NOT THE BESTIES - ughhhhh Mal find his north that is Alina while Alina finds a new one away from Mal. which honestly fucking SUCKS but also, seeing both perspectives is so great for the story telling for real.

Seriously, getting to see Mal's point of view really changes the story and makes him more of a likable character because you're fully understanding everything he's going through instead of him just retelling it later on. I know some people think they changed the character but I feel it's more enhancing Mal than anything. Gave him more story than Leigh did in the books, which was because the story was all from Alina's perspective. We probs would have gotten this if she told it like Six of Crows. Speaking of, A HEIST. WE GOT TO SEE THE CROWS DO A HEIST AHHHHHH it was so fucking GOOD. Gave me so much serotonin watching them do it, though I'll never get the image of a smiling, cheerful Kaz out of my nightmares for WEEKS lmao and NINA AND MATTHIAS. OH SAINTS MY HEART. MY FUCKING HEART. I AM READY FOR THE REST GIVE MEEEEE

[thesvenqueen]

TWO MORE TO GOOOO

S&B Episode 7

- OHHH a Jesper title card HELL YEA I LOVE IT - ughhhhh who CARES for this backstory because it's NOT me - but also MORE BEN YEE - sheesh Ben that acting boi, I nearly feel sorry for your character...nearly.. - S H E E S H heads will roll apparently - I mean, Baghra is not wrong. you leaned on FEAR instead of just earning RESPECT - WHY DOES NO ONE EVER LISTEN TO BAGHRA OMG if everyone would have just listened to Bagrha we wouldn't fucking be here - yeah y'all fucked - well, that went super well - DAMN he really carried Baghra that far SHEEEEEESH - "I made soemthing" yeah no shit - You can see Kaz struggling so hard to help Inej but his phobia just not allowing him to and my god, Freddy fucking Carter understood the assignment - Freddy Carter, Amita Suman & Kit Young UNDERSTOOD THE ASSIGNMENT PERFECTLY - "I'd miss me too. I'm fantastic." you shit lmao - I didn't mention this last time but the way they show Mal being able to hear/detect the stag is actually super smart and will def help with future stuff too. brilliant little thing to add - oh isn't he BEAUTIFUL - I mean, as someone that used to hunt, I genuinely would not want to shoot the stag. it's too beautiful - Ivan you shit head wtf - OH FFS CAN WE STOP NEARLY KILLING MAL SO MUCH JESUS - dramatic ass entrance for such a dramatic ass piece of shit lmao - WAS THAT NECESSARY?!? - Awww, thanks for fixing the cane Jesper bb - "what else is there?" idk how about telling her HOW YOU FEEL AND HOW YOU NEED HER FFS KAZ COME ONNNNNN - daaaaaaamn Kaz admitting he was wrong for once, WILD - MY CROWS SHUT UP IMMA CRY - "No saint ever watched over me. Not like you have." TATTOO THIS ON ME NOW. I AM DYING OVER THIS SO MUCH I AM AHHHHHHHHH - "I can't go back to the Menagerie" "You won't." GIRL YOU THINK HE GONNA LET YOU GO BACK WITHOUT FIGHTING FOR YOU DO YOU KNOW WHO YOU TALKING TO????? - DAVID NOOOO. - I mean, she right. nothing has been up to her since the beginning. - M A N I P U L A T O R - that is NOT an answer homie. you avoided the one question she fucking needed an answer to ughhhhh - OHHHH this is a cool concept. in the books you hear ALina's thoughts and feelings of how she felt him controlling her powers, but that's not really possible hear so adding the little bit of the antler onto the darkling's hand to show he has control....I like it!! keeps the audience understanding whats going on - David, bb, I don't blame you at all but also DAMN IT WHY YOU SO SMART - "Jes?!" THIS WHOLE SCENE I AM DYINGGGGGG THAT SLOW TURN TO INEJ I CAN'T - "It's Suli, for friendship!" JESPER'S FUCKING FACE & THE LITTLE FEET KICKS HE KNOWS ITS BUGGING KAZ AND HE LOVES IT IM CRYINGGGG OH MY GOD - I could legit rewatch this scene over and over again for days, it's too fucking good I cannot - GENYA - .....well this blows - Oh Genya, oh sweet Genya I am SO sorry. but he def put you in that position and for SURE our are his pawn dude come ON. He placed you with Alina for a fucking REASON - well Jesper loves a bit of role play sooooooo - "I'm a man of my word" Oh PUH-LEASE - you only appreciate the POWER she brings you, stfu - "you are a child" and you're a git - TELL HIM MAL - ZAMN ZADDY, you look fly af - GASP MILO!!! HOW?!? - THAT IS YOUR MOTHER YOU RUDE ASS BITCH - telling half truths is still L Y I N G - cool motives, still shitty - "Make me your villain" Done and done sir, thanksssssss - LOOKED OLDER?!?! stfu and KAZ'S FACE IN THE BACK OMG y'all are such shit I can NOT - L I A R. again, all these fucking LIES and you don't get why she doesn't trust you - NO MOURNERS, NO FUNERALS

The dynamic between the crows UGH I can not talk about it ENOUGH. The casting is absolutely perfect for them, honest to god! Ben is absolutely killing it though, hate the character which means he's doing an amazing job. GOD I really am going to be rewatching this for a third time now aren't I?