#also... why did they change it to have alina initiate all those romantic scenes? i feel like that was a weird choice

[everfolk]

just finished shadow and bone! i liked it but i especially liked the last couple episodes. i also have some thoughts so i'm just gonna put those in the tags

[dylanobrienisbatman]

In relation to your previews asks, let's mention that most of the physical interactions that Alina had with Darkling were against her will or not initiated by her. The Darkling had to use Mal's face at one point to actually make out with her, which makes the line "tell him what i showed you in the dark" that d4rklinas romantize so much so fucked up. He is mocking her for interactions she didn't want to have with him.

Okay ik you sent this like... a while ago, but i wasn't sure how to respond tbh. But you're 100%, completely, totally right. (lol sorry, i let this get away from me... it's kinda long)

Even the physical interactions that she has with him in the show, which she initiates, are still... not great in terms of consent? because yeah, she initiated it, but the person she thinks she is kissing is not real. She has been lied to, consistently, and as a result, by his design, she believes that she is kissing someone who does not exist. The version of Darkles that she begins to have feelings for is the product of his manipulation of her. Every scene he has with her where he is trying to get her to develop feelings for him, he lies, about who he is, what he's done, his history, his intentions, ALL OF IT. Also during this time he is stealing her letters that she has written to Mal (and never sending them), AND stealing the letters Mal has sent to her, and reading them all. So while she is 'falling for' this false version of him, he is manipulating her, lying to her, and isolating her in order to control her. So even though she initiated the kiss, it doesn't make a damn bit of difference, because consent is only valid if it is informed. Because everything she thinks she knows about him is a lie, she doesn't have informed consent about the relationship she believes she is entering into. Alina is a victim of abuse, full stop, and every interaction they have is a part of that abuse.

And in the books, she has even less agency over the situation she is in. He initiates all of their physical contact in S&B, and it is a tool of manipulation. He kisses her because he believes that a physically romantic relationship is going to benefit him in the long run. He kisses her the second time, at the party, specifically because he knows Mal is in the castle, and he is trying to control her. In both the show and the books, that scene gets romanticized a LOT, but if you consider what he is actually doing in that scene... it's super fucked up. He is not suddenly overcome with lust and passion for her, it's not this scene of pure, romantic desire taking hold. He is trying to control her, and he is manipulating her. He knows Mal is there, and he believes that a passionate kiss will help to steer her away from him when they inevitably reconnect. Think about it, in the show, he meets Mal, he uses information he got from Mal to try to woo her further, and then, while he believes Mal is being held somewhere safe so that he can get the location of the stag from him, he spirits Alina away for a passionate kiss. Instead of telling her that Mal is there, and trusting that she would chose him over Mal (spoiler alert: he knows she wont, and that's why he does what he does), he lies to her, and manipulates her. That kiss isn't romantic, it's showing the audience the lengths he will go to to try to maintain his ruse over her.

That's what Ben Barnes was trying to articulate when he said he added the extra kiss where he runs back to her and kisses her one more time. Because the next scene is where Alina (and the audience) discovers the truth about him, so he needed to REALLY play up the "romance" and the sweetness of it. Because that's why he's doing it. He can see that something is about to happen that will threaten his control over her (he thinks its Mal, but its actually Baghra) so he uses that kiss (both in the book and the show) to try to confuse her and make her doubt people who would speak against him. That extra kiss was Ben understanding the assignment.

And don't even get me started on the scene in S&S when he LITERALLY SEXUALLY ASSAULTS HER while wearing Mal's face. He knows that she would not want to kiss him, or be physical with him. He is not pretending to be Mal because he loves her so much or what the fuck ever weirdo D*rklina's wanna say he's doing. He is trying to terrify her. To make her doubt her own mind. He is using his power against her, violently, and in a way that i'm sure he also hopes will poison her against Mal by making her associate being assaulted with the image of his face. She believed she was safe, and that the boy she loved was coming to be with her in the way she wanted him to be, she was vulnerable and she was giving herself willingly to the person she loves, and as she is doing that he changes his face. He does it to terrify her, to assert his power and his dominance over her, and to remind her that she is not safe anywhere, even in her own mind.

So, back to the line, "did you tell him what you showed me in the dark", you're 100% right. He is mocking her, and he is trying to shame her, for things that happened between them either without her consent, or without her having all of the information needed to fully consent. He is using his control and manipulation of her to manipulate her MORE.

That's the thing I just want to reiterate, over and over. There is no 'ship war'. Not really. Nothing that happens between Darkles and Alina is romantic. In the beginning, it seems that way, because of the first person POV writing, but thats the trick. Because we are only in Alina's head, we are being manipulated too. But those scenes, they aren't actually romantic. They are moments of abuse. Leigh is trying to show the audience how much those things can muddle up, and how it can be hard to tell the difference sometimes, when your abuser is charismatic and charming and handsome, but that doesn't mean it's not abuse.