#and Zoya eventually learns this

[margoshansons]

To all the Zoya fans…

We still have King of Scars. They can’t take that away from us yet, we still have that beautiful duology with that amazing ending.

Our girl deserved so much better and Sujaya did such a good job bringing her to life

[thanks--for--listening]

not to expose myself as a Hamilton fan but I wonder if the season 2 ending of SAB is leading Alina to the same kind of sentiment as “winning was easy, governing’s harder”. How many times was Alina told that tearing down the fold wouldn’t solve all her problems? So much of her behavior was singularly focused, and now that she’s got these added responsibilities of being expected to help lead (on top of the effects of using merzost), I wonder if she’s going to realize that she doesn’t want this life forever. And that’s how she’ll find her way to an ending that’s more along the lines of the books

[kanejbr3kker]

zoya learning that she is worthy of love is the single most beautiful, most heartbreaking thing i have ever read about in a book ever. like she is just this girl who's been betrayed by all the people who were supposed to protect her over and over again to the point where she felt like she had to turn herself into this heartless monster who only cared about herself just so she wouldn't feel that loss again and then she finally meets someone who loves her unconditionally and all she wants is to be with him but she has a such strong sense of duty that she thinks it'll never happen or that even if it does he'll come to hate her eventually and watching her learn that there is love in the world and that she is deserving of it is just so fucking emotional and leigh did such a great job conveying it in this essay i will-

[ohsalome]

Ivan and Phoebe by Oksana Lutsyshyna

Ivan and Phoebe is a novel about a revolution of consciousness triggered by very different events, both global and personal. This is a book about the choices we make, even if we decide to just go with the flow of life. It is about cruelty, guilt, love, passion – about many things, and most importantly, about Ukraine of the recent past, despite or because of which it has become what it is today.

The story told in Oksana Lutsyshyna’s novel Ivan and Phoebe is set during a critical period – the 1990s. In the three decades that have passed since gaining independence, Ukraine has experienced many socio-political, economic, and cultural changes that have yet to be fully expressed. The Revolution of Dignity in 2014 marked a pivotal moment in the country’s history, as it signaled a shift towards European integration and a strong desire to distance itself from Moscow. Prior to this, Ukrainian culture had remained overshadowed by Russian influence, struggled to compete for an audience and was consequently constrained in exploring vital issues.

77 days of February. Living and dying in Ukraine

"77 Days," is a compelling anthology by contributors to Reporters, a Ukrainian platform for longform journalism. The book, published in English as both an e-book and an audiobook by Scribe Originals.

"77 Days'' offers a tapestry of styles and experiences from over a dozen contributors, making it a complex work to define. It includes narratives about those who stayed put as the Russians advanced, and the horror they encountered, like Zoya Kramchenko’s defiant "Kherson is Ukraine," Vira Kuryko’s somber "Ten Days in Chernihiv," and Inna Adruh’s wry "I Can’t Leave – I’ve Got Twenty Cats." The collection also explores the ordeal of fleeing, as in Kateryna Babkina’s stark "Surviving Teleportation '' and "There Were Four People There. Only the Mother Survived." 

It also highlights tales of Ukrainians who created safe havens amidst the turmoil, such as Olga Omelyanchuk’s "Hippo and the Team," about zookeepers safeguarding animals in an occupied private zoo near Kyiv, and one of Paplauskaite’s three pieces, "Les Kurbas Theater Military Hostel," depicting an historic Lviv theater turned shelter for the displaced, including the writer/editor herself.

In the Eye of the Storm. Modernism in Ukraine 1900’s – 1930’s

This book was inspired by the exhibition of the same name that took place in Madrid, at the Museo Nacional Thyssen-Bornemisza, and is currently at the Museum Ludwig, located in Cologne, Germany. 

Rather than being a traditional catalogue, the publishers and authors took a more ambitious approach. Rather than merely publishing several texts and works from the exhibition, they choose to showcase the history of the Ukrainian avant-garde in its entirety – from the first avant-garde exhibition in Kyiv to the eventual destruction of works and their relegation to the "special funds" of museums, where they were hidden from public view.

These texts explain Ukrainian context to those who may have just learned about the distinction between Ukrainian and Russian art. Those "similarities" are also a product of colonization. It was achieved not only through the physical elimination of artists or Russification – artists were also often forced to emigrate abroad for political or personal reasons. Under the totalitarian regime, discussing or remembering these artists was forbidden. Archives and cultural property were also destroyed or taken to Russia.

"The Yellow Butterfly" by Oleksandr Shatokhin 

"The Yellow Butterfly" is poised to become another prominent Ukrainian book on the themes of war and hope. It has been listed among the top 100 best picture books of 2023, according to the international art platform dPICTUS.

The book was crafted amidst the ongoing invasion. Oleksandr and his family witnessed columns of occupiers, destroyed buildings, and charred civilian cars. Shatokhin describes the book’s creation as a form of therapy, a way to cope with the horrors. "During this time my vision became clearer about what I wanted to create – a silent book about hope, victory, the transition from darkness to light, something symbolic," he explains.

Although "The Yellow Butterfly" is a wordless book, today its message resonates with readers across the globe.

A Crash Course in Molotov Cocktails by Halyna Kruk

A Crash Course in Molotov Cocktails is a bilingual poetry book (Ukrainian and English) about war, written between 2013 and 2022, based on Halyna’s experience as an author, volunteer, wife of a military man and witness to conflict. 

The Ukrainian-speaking audience is well-acquainted with Halyna Kruk – a poet, prose author and literature historian. Kruk is increasingly active on the international stage, with her poetry featured in numerous anthologies across various languages, including Italian, French, Swedish, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, Polish, English, German, Lithuanian, Georgian and Vietnamese. 

For an English-speaking audience, her poetry unveils a realm of intense and delicate experiences, both in the midst of disaster and in the anticipation of it. The poems are succinct, direct, and highly specific, often depicting real-life events and individuals engaged in combat, mourning, and upholding their right to freedom.

[rosemaze-reveries]

Can you do a male chief ,Zoya,bai yi romantic headcanons?

thank you for the req!! 😵‍💫😵‍💫 im sorry abt bai yi,,, i got possessed . anyway

⛓️🐺🏍️

⚜ When asked, Chief will insist that romance isn’t a high priority for him. Unfortunately, it’s very easy to charm him.

⚜ He’s got a huge heart and can understand a sense of you even without you opening up to him.

⚜ Everyone at MBCC knows that he shows his affection through actions not words, often before he can catch them.

⚜ Things like dropping everything to come fix your collar when he passes you in the hall, or cupping your neck to check you over after you come home from a mission, etc.

⚜ Even when he’s in a rush, he’ll still spare a few seconds to straighten out your sleeve or ruffle your hair.

⚜ He flusters a lot of Sinners by doing this but it’s in his nature to be a bit of a mother hen.

⚜ He’s always been careful about throwing around the words “I love you,” especially around Sinners who internalize every little thing. But he starts using them with you.

⚜ Often gets headaches as a result of using the Shackles. He likes it when you weave your fingers through his hair or massage his temples.

⚜ He’d never admit it, but he has a notebook with your name scribbled around his notes. They’re just mindless doodles to pass time during long phone calls, but he still always defaults to you.

⚜ Zoya isn’t always aware of her own strength, especially since she lets herself relax around you. She can be handsy and aggressive.

⚜ The type to stop you from leaving a room too soon, tell you that you “forgot something,” then gesture to her lips with a waiting smirk.

⚜ It’s impossible to overwork yourself around her. She can read you like a book. She’ll come to wrap her arms around your waist, feigning curiosity in whatever you’re working on... then sweep you up and carry you away.

⚜ Most of her date ideas can hardly classify as dates. You’ve learned that when she offers to “take you for a spin”, she means it literally.

⚜ A perfect night, to her, is getting to share some light banter under the stars or next to a fire.

⚜ While she’s not outwardly possessive, your honor is something Zoya doesn’t compromise on. She defends you with so much fury that most people have established you to be her property.

⚜ She can sleep off most injuries, but finds it cute if you fuss over them. She’ll let you treat them for her as she tells you stories about her scars.

⚜ Comes to you whenever she needs to blow off steam. One look at you, or one moment in your arms acts like a magic switch to ease her mind.

⚜ Bai Yi is the type who can only be found when she wants to be. She often appears in your life unexpectedly, but every second with her is a memorable one.

⚜ She often slumps her head on your shoulder to vent about nonsense like Che and K.K.’s antics or having a bad hair day.

⚜ Her weariness does feel real. She just covers up what’s really weighing on her with trivial things.

⚜ She calls you her lucky charm. It starts as a meaningless flirty nickname and eventually comes from a place of love. Every kiss from you fuels her to keep working.

⚜ Seductive in everything she does, including when she needs to shake you off her tracks. This kicks up a notch after you start dating.

⚜ “Chief, wanna see a trick?” — dangerous words from a dangerous Sinner. If you say yes, Bai Yi instructs you to hold out your wrists while she ties them together.

⚜ Suspicious. But you’re still curious to see where she’s going with this. She dips her head under your arms, resting your bound hands behind her neck ... and you realize you’ve been lifted up against the wall.

⚜ Helplessly you wrap your legs around her as to not slip. The last thing you remember is her leaning into your ear: “You’re just so adorable, I might lose track of time.”

⚜ That incident leaves you too winded to remember what happens afterwards. Where did she go? What was the trick??

[stromuprisahat]

You came here for Ravka. I came here to chain you to my stove.

Siege and Storm- Chapter 18

Skip your duties (that can help feed the country) to watch me be cool doing stuff! Anyone less important would do it for me!

This could've been sweetly melancholic if:

a.) The country they live off weren't collapsing and a few of Alina's lightballs could grant them at least a drop of much needed resources.

b.) Grisha don't get sick... and what has Alina's childhood, adolescence and life in Cofton been like? Malyen truly isn't bothered by it, is he? Either he's an idiot, who didn't connect the dots, and doesn't see it as weird, that Alina HAD been sick for such a long time, or he simply doesn't give a shit.

c.) Other Grisha... if he can't have her as ordinary otkazat'sya, he's willing to settle for ordinary Grisha. As long as she's NOT special, and has plenty of time to focus on him.

d.) As stupid as their party date was, it could've been something to distract Alina from her duties and the pressure put on her. This wouldn't be even spending time WITH Mal, just watching him be the skilled cool guy.

e.) Of course he hates the place that made Alina MORE than him. If it weren't for her time in Little Palace, she wouldn't even think about wanting more than to follow him around like a lost puppy.

Perhaps put some effort in it?

If Mal can so miraculously fit in everywhere, what's stopping him from taking his duties seriously? Not just mope around near Alina, but try to truly become captain of her guards? Learn about strategies and best ways to protect her, exercise and train action with the twins, look for more guards, train them and WITH them, consult Botkin...

Do more than just go where he's invited, act as if he WANTED to PROFESSIONALLY protect Alina instead of playing hero, when others can see it?!

Not to mention he can make himself useful even at those parties. If he does notice nobles hate Grisha, he can at least make a list. They're careless around him, why not listen? Why not consult with Nikolai to learn who they might need?!

He isn't there for Alina, he's there to drag her back into obscurity as soon as an opportunity arises.

Now, that he's doing something FOR Alina, he misses their period of stagnation, when she was slowly killing herself.

He admits it, while caressing her self-mutilation scar aptly representing their relationship.

And here Alina should pull: Never deign to deny. Instead her puritan shame kicks in.

I know Malyen isn't friends with anyone in Os Alta, but if he weren't such a jerk, he could've catch Nikolai for a moment and discuss a strategy. It's not like Kolya doesn't have an interrest in this too. ...and knows how to deal with Court gossip.

I think "We need to discuss what to do about everyone thinking you're a whore." could be added to post-strategy discussions with Alina too. If Malyen can sit in Alina's council AND act like her captain of guard, they deffinitely DO have to spend time together.

If only he'd become interested in reality and its requirements, quit seeing himself as a knight in shining armour, destined to save feeble helpless Alina, and acted according to her actual needs and requirements.

Perhaps sort his priorities differently and instead of bringing up his one-night-stand with Zoya and inviting Alina to make fun of Suli focus on your damn fucking job!

And you didn't read my mind!

And Alina accepts all the blame.

This could be Malyen spiralling. Or simply jumping to another reproach as soon as Alina attempts to address the previous one.

valid concern

digging into Alina's fear of corruption

reminding her right after she chose it (so the stress is really her own doing)

Yup! This is the crux of the matter.

Alina might operate under faulty assumptions, she had to be physically dragged back to Ravka, but eventually she's attempting to DO something.

Malyen saw what the system does to people like him, to his friends... so he decided to pack his gf and bail on it all. And when he finds himself back in the middle of it all, he's simply waiting to drag her away from it again, no matter what SHE wants.

The Collar is temporary, her position of Saint is temporary, her leadership of Second Army too.

They reacted to life-changing events in a way that made them two diametrically opposite people, but Mal's sticking around in hope for Alina's regression. And eventually he gets exactly that for all his trouble.

I'll keep the rest for an extra post since some extra shady bitch is chiming in.

[lilisouless]

But soc modern comedy-drama series (more leaning towards comedy) like a mash of friends and gilmore girls

-they are all college students, started by fighting over the last available apartment and ended up agreeing to share until they get more money. They are roommates, take breakfast together and help covering each other’s messes (except Kaz because no one ever know what’s going on with him

-Nina Zenik is majoring on foreign languages, she wants to prove her older cousin Zoya that she can take care for herself and that she is ready to travel around the world. Zoya has taught Nina that a full complete woman doesn’t need anyone else, only herself, but what if Nina begins to feel she does need this people on her life? Like this girl she connects instantly or this man that should not be her type but…it’s complicated

-Deep into the season she comes back fuming after finding out her “one woman show who needs no one ” cousin Zoya has entered on a freaking eight people polycule

-Matthias Helvar is the adopted son of the leader of a very strict religious group. He studies veterinary medicine and back home he is pretty much engaged to his adopted “sister” so he could have a proper and traditional marriage and he wants this until this loud and shameless girl comes around and makes him question so many things

-spoiler alert: Matty’s fiancee once comes to visit and ends up very charmed by Nina as well, also may not be a “she” after all

-Kaz Brekker, majoring on economy in order to take revenge on the man that ruined his life. But details are only revealed on small bits (think Phoebe Buffay from friends) and he seems unfazed by how horrible it seems to everyone else, he gets little screentime since most of his humor comes from doing things like coming at the department covered in blood or hinting that he may have hidden bodies in his secret basement or making snarky comments at everyone’s expense (think April from Parks and rec) the most current joke is that no one knows if he and Inej are dating or not.

-Inej is the first person of her circus family to go to a professional school. She is training to become a gymnast and she thinks there are a lot of pressure on her (couldn’t be farther from the truth, her parents want nothing but her happiness) the trainer assigned to her is a horrible tyrant. Miss Heleen goes from condescending the first days , rude and overbearing later and eventually Inej gets the feeling that Heleen is trying to sabotage her. But she doesn’t say anything because a Ghafa never gives up, they endure everything so she pretends to be happy when calling her parents and her friends see her as the reliant one, the voice of reason who gives the best advice so she won’t trouble them with her problems. The only one available to listen is Kaz when they go to the roof every fruday sunset, she just talks while Kaz does stuff like cleaning blood from knives or putting pins on a voodoo Pekka Rollins doll.

-Jesper used to study law but he dropped and started working as both a barista and a bartender at night to pay his debts . He had a bad fight with his dad because he doesn’t see himself as fit for the college life (aka, quits because he thinks he would fail anyway) , he never talks about this with anyone until Wylan accidentally overhears a phone conversation with his dad. They have to take the bus together, Wylan took a job on the same bar,share the same room where they take turns on whi gets the bed until they stop taking turns. After they start to get along better Wylan tries subtly to push Jesper into trying to get back to school and get a diagnosis because he may have adhd

-Wylan is a chemistry student , Jesper at first saw him as a privileged rich kid who is taking space in the room from someone that may actually need it and can’t afford something else until he learns that his father cut him out completely. He took chemistry on the hopes of getting his dad’s approval back since he may see how good he is at it. By the end of the season, Jesper and him enroll on art school where Wylan takes music and Jesper tries his luck on theater, which he turns out to be quite good

[infin1ty-garden]

VALENTINE'S DAY

˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ ✦ summary: headcanons of the shadow & bone characters on valentine's day ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ ✦ character(s): nikolai lantsov, tamar kit-bataar, tolya yul-bataar, genya safin and zoya nazyalensky ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ ✦ warnings: none ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ ✦ word count: 752 ˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳ ✦ author note: NOT A MODERN AU! sorry some are a bit shorter

masterlist.

NIKOLAI LANTSOV

✦ He would overplan and over think every detail, he's worse than Genya

✦ Thoughts like "Which gift would you like better?" "An outdoor or indoor date?" "Maybe a date at the theatre?"

✦ He'd spent nights planning but nothing seemed right, Zoya knocked some sense into him. "I think they wouldn't mind all this expensive stuff, but you being there is enough"

✦ Would end up going simple, inviting you to dine with him

✦ The food would be some of the best you'd ever tasted

✦ After the dinner you would walk the gardens together, enjoying the fresh air when with his luck, he's being called back to the palace

✦ "May I have this dance," Nikolai intrigued by what your doing, takes you up on the offer

✦ The two of us danced until the meeting was on the back of his mind but eventually he had to leave but not without a kiss

TAMAR YUL BATAAR

✦ Tamar's mentality is more of "let's see what the day brings" but she does have some stuff planed

✦ The ship had docked in Novy Zem, a festival taking place near the docks. Tamar remembered you wanting to visit it

✦ The festival had carts lining the street with all kinds of delicacies from every corner of the world. Streets booming with colours. It was a beautiful site

✦ Tamar and you spent the day trying all kinds of food and just being around each other. She didn't mind spending all her money just for you to keep that lovely smile

✦ Then the both of you found yourselves in a local bar, singing songs you'd only learned the words to an hour ago

✦The day ended in a cot, somehow two people fitting in such a small space. You laying completely on her, sound asleep

TOLYA YUL BATAAR

✦ Tolya is the romantic out of the twins

✦ Still he would go simple being apart of Nikolai's crew means travelling a lot and that leaves out, a typical dinner date

✦ Living on a ship as well doesn't help. There aren't many places for a quite talk, let alone a date

✦ Instead he turns to what he knows best, poetry. He would spend days looking for the perfect book and then weeks annotating it. Underlining verses that reminds him of you or moments shared together

✦ He would invite you to the deck and by the time he did most of the crew were asleep. You thought he'd forgotten the holiday all together, you were wrong. He gave you a box of sweets he'd bought at the port in Novy Zem, along with the book

✦ You'd spent the rest of the night sharing the sweets and just enjoying each other's company

✦ When you finally had the chance to read the book, some of the poems described the stars lost in the night's sky, a sea of darkness, finding their true purpose upon the arrival of the moon. "You're my moon, the only purpose I need" (sorry it's cheesy)

GENYA SAFIN

✦ Genya would go above and beyond to make the perfect valentine's day date

✦ A picnic date if the weather calls for it with both of your favourite snacks, foods and deserts

✦ If it does end up raining a nice date indoors would be something she prefers over, a fancy dinner

✦ She doesn't mind dining in a expensive restaurant, but she thinks a more personal dinner at home, is better

✦ Genya would plan everything down to the last minute especially if it's your first valentine's day together

✦ She ended up getting her picnic date

✦ All kinds of foods were lined up in front of you as you enjoyed the sunny day and spending time with Genya

ZOYA NAZYALENSKY

✦ You would be the one planning the date and Zoya would act as if the holiday has little significance to her. You'd decided a date at a fancy restaurant was the way to go

✦ She'd loved it, the one you chose wasn't too crowded and the food was delicious. You'd talked about your future plans with one another, how your day had gone and so on

✦ After leaving the restaurant, the two of you headed somewhere a bit more reclusive to watch the fireworks

✦ Zoya too busy staring at the fireworks, didn't notice your hands putting something around her neck. Once she tore her eyes from the literal explosions of colour, she spotted a beautiful necklace. "Happy Valentine's day."

Thank you for reading!

[vorbarrsultana]

i'm in darknikolina mood, so HEADCANONS TIME.

let's say pre-canon!darkolai happened at some point, and darklina obviously was a thing during the trilogy, and then nikolina got married because it's the ending we deserve. as a royal couple, they're expected to have kids at some point, and eventually they have a daughter. both, tsar and tsaritsa, have a lot of complicated personal and political feelings about a certain shadow summoner, but they name her sasha anyway. it silenced a lot of gossipers: they assumed the tsarevna was named after her unlamented grandfather, tsar aleksander.

(in truth, grand duchess aleksandra nikolaevna was named after the darkling, lamented by many.)

but then liza & co ressurect aleksander. and he learns that now there is a lantsov girl named aleksandra, who is in equal parts alina and nikolai, his most beloved people. and she possesses alina's beautiful dark eyes, and nikolai's golden locks, and alina's dimple, and kolya's sunny smile. and the girl is also a grisha (a little alkemi, because they deserve representation) - the grand duchess (aged three) did accidentally turn the darkling's brandy into water during their first meeting.

so, of course little sasha has big sasha wrapped around her tiny fingers in no time. all the tsarevna has to do is ask. and the scary, powerful, terrifying darkling would do it. like, once sasha said she would like to have an octopus as a pet, and aleksander immediatelly was like: "ulla, ULLA. get me the prettiest octopus in all three oceans of this world for baby sasha, please. you're her aunt too, by the way."

(aleksander: ugh, i hate the lantsovs, they're the worst.

someone: but, your excellency, you are cuddling the tsarevna right now?

aleksander, clutching sasha even harder to his chest: i said what i said.)

nikolai and alina are no help because they are aleksandra nikolaevna's loyal slaves too. as are aunt genya and uncle david. so, actual disciplining has to be done by aunt zoya, who is the only one immune to tsarevna's pleading eyes.

(aunt zoya is also little sasha's first girl crush, and she tells everyone that when she grows up she's gonna be general nazyalensky, and break hearts of boys and girls too.)

(alina is mentally preparing for the day sasha will have suitors because darkolai would try to decapitate anyone daring enough to ask their little girl out.)

and they live happily ever after, the end.

[wh0refornikolailantsov]

Prompt: “they'll never understand how much i love you.”

For Tolya x Reader please!!



I thought to myself, I can't make this angsty can I? But hey-ho I surprise even myself.

All The Things I'll Never Say - Tolya Yul Bataar

Content Warnings: Pining, So Much Pining And Not Even In My Usual Font. No Proof/Beta Reading, We Just Die I Guess.

He couldn't tell you. He wouldn't tell you. There was no reason to. Besides honesty, and as honest as Tolya likes to believe himself to be, the honesty was outweighed with all the responsibility of his own feelings.

Tolya is a warrior, when it comes down to it, he was raised and made to fight. In another life, in another situation, with other fates and with the grace of Saints he might have been something else. A scholar. A poet. Maybe, even yours.

But Tolya chooses not to linger on all the possibilities of lives unlived. It wasn't his nature to regret who he might have been, when who he was is what brought him to you.

You.

You, who's smile brought light to even the darkest parts of him. You, who he could believe all the poems were written about. You who's words brought comfort and voice feels like home. You, who if he had never known, he doubted he would know himself as well without.

It's easy to love someone. It's a second nature that you never have to learn unless you're taught out of love. Even those taught out of love can recognise it eventually, disguised as other things, like loyalty, or duty. "That's what Zoya sees it as," you had said, watching her with Alina.

"I am unconvinced that woman has a heart," Tolya had stated in response.

"Everyone has a heart, even if it's icy, or buried, everyone is capable of love in some way," you had looked at Zoya with such softness that for a moment Tolya was able to see her as you did, someone who had gotten lost in the time between innocence and now, someone who surely once loved with her entirety, and now didn't know how, "she just needs to be willing to let it in again."

It's easy to love someone. It's especially easy to love someone so willing to love in return. It's easy to love when love is given freely. You smile at him and the love is so freely given. Tolya knows where he was built for defence you were built for welcoming, his guardship against your openness in perfect parallel. You do not let the darkness of the life around you bury the light you bring into it.

He never had to try to love you, loving you was easy, easier than almost anything he had ever experienced before.

But it's easy to love someone, it's not easy to know what to do with that love.

He can't tell you, not in the clear ways that would make everything understood and known. His love for you isn't complicated, it is the most simple thing in his life. But this life, is complicated. And things pure and honest and hopeful need space to breathe and grow and where you brought light wherever you go, you needed to do more of that.

Tolya knows if he told you, if you knew, you would not care about the war and the loyalties and duty Tolya upholds, you would not care about the fealty and the obligation. You would go where Tolya goes, you would follow him because there is no place he could go where you would not rather be with him.

He doesn't doubt even for a moment how easily you would love him in return, just like you already do, quietly, peacefully, carefully.

He doesn't doubt that there is no darkness that could overcloud the light you bring, and yet he doesn't want that for you.

He wants you to be free and not fighting, he wants you safe and seen and always with a reason to smile that smile you do when you see him across the grass in the early morning.

Eventually Tolya has to leave, and he cannot be the reason this place loses you, he cannot take you away because it will hurt him to be without you.

It's easy to love you, it's near impossible to not want that love in return.

It's easy to love you, but it's hard to know that loving you, truly loving you, means he has to be willing to let you go, and the only way he can do that, the only way you can let him, is if he doesn't tell you all the things that he wants to every time you look at him.

He cannot tell you that you have made his life inconceivably better from the moment you entered it, and every time he has heard you laughter it has filled him with love worth a life time. He cannot explain how he is eager for the sound of your voice, and hungry for your company that no amount of time will ever satiate.

He cannot tell you that he will not miss you when he leaves, but he will instead leave a part of him with you that you can never return to him without staying at his side perennially.

He has never wanted words of his own more than now, knowing that no poet he knows can give you the sentiments you need, nothing can make you understand without asking you to be beside him, to stay beside him and he wants to ask you to do that. But he knows better.

It's easy to love you, it's nearly impossible to leave you.

His name in your voice carried through the distance between you brings him back to the moment, you wave him over as you sit with more people Tolya had met but never really known before you. He is slow to follow your request, as each step that brings him closer to you makes it harder for him to take the steps away again.

Nadia gives you a smile as she leans in to your side, whispering words only you can hear. You shake them off with a chuckle and Tamar throws her brother a knowing look, but Tolya cannot help but think how little she knows at all in this moment.

“They'll never understand how much I love you.” His minds whispers like a betrayal he could not run from.

"Tolya," you say again, as he nears. You pat the space next to you, eager to have him by your side. You know he is leaving, and you're waiting for him to tell you, you're hoping he will find the words to say that will make it feel less like a desertion. You try not to take the idea of him leaving with the heaviness of the idea of being forsworn but it's hard when no one has made you feel as seen as Tolya, and you always knew he would leave, but a part of you hoped, quietly, privately, even naively that he would want you to go with him. The hope was guileless but it was honest, it was real. You were not holding it against Tolya that he had not said a word, you expected nothing in return for all you were to him, because love has never been about what you get in return, you knew that. But this large part of you was calling to him, not asking him to stay, because you knew he would not, but begging him to ask you not to stay.

"Where'd you go?" you ask. His eyes look into yours and you feel the pressure in your chest rise as you want to ask him, you want to know all the things he hasn't said. But you don't. And you won't. "It was like we lost you for a second."

"You'll always find me again," Tolya replies and takes one of the bread rolls from your hand. "I'll never go too far."

[fantastic-nonsense]

going to be real here: I'm pretty tired of how so many people in the SoC fandom believe that Nina is forever doomed to unhappiness and loneliness because she lost her first love as a teenager. Yes, Matthias had a huge impact on her life and his death was devastating for her. But it's not life-ending. Nina's ending in Crooked Kingdom, while filled with significant tragic elements, is ultimately hopeful. Her story, like all of the Crows, is littered with sadness and loss but canonically ends bittersweetly in CK and happily in the Nikolai duology.

Nina ends Crooked Kingdom free. She's overcome her addiction to parem and (to some extent) learned how to control her changed powers. She's saved Ketterdam's Grisha and successfully gotten Kuwei on the boat to Ravka. She's redeemed to Zoya for running off and to herself for getting Matthias stuck in Hellgate in the first place. She's rich beyond belief and returning home to Ravka with a mission Matthias gave her. She loses Matthias, and that's understandably heartbreaking, but she is far from lacking purpose or significant personal wins at the end of that book.

Also even if she HAD ended CK completely shattered, that wasn't the end of her story. We got the Nikolai duology. She's got Hanne and her new friends. She's got Nikolai and Zoya. She's got Inej. She's (sort of) got Trassel. She's going to be Queen of Fjerda eventually. She's succeeding in her mission and fulfilling her promise to Matthias. She's happy.

Nina is 17 in the duology, and 17 is awfully young for the fandom to pretend like she's going to be alone and miserable for the rest of her life because her first love died. She will always grieve Matthias and think about what could have been, but the Nikolai duology is proof positive that Nina is not and never will be defined by that one relationship. Nina canonically gets to heal, move on, and end up as happy as the rest of the surviving Crows. The fandom should be able to acknowledge that and be happy for her.

[sxnyarostova]

grishaverse rarepair exchange for @foxhanbin!!!

prompt: Zoya/Alina, s1 rivals to lovers instead? so canon divergence, maybe whatever happens differently due to them falling in love?

hello! thank you so much for this wonderful request i sank my teeth into this one and it was such a joy to write this canon-divergent piece. i have a whole au regarding this fic so I'll just do a very quick plot summary. basically, zoya overhears a conversation between baghra and the darling regarding the latter's intent/manipulation of alina and rushes to warn her, but catches her fleeing the little palace. knowing that alina will most definitely not survive on her own (and consequently die, leaving the country without hope), zoya runs away with alina and the two of them hide out in the ravkan woods for a while as they try to get across the fold (they need to get out of ravka so that alina can train and stuff before she wrecks the fold). they eventually bump into nikolai, who offers to help them, and the rest of it is pretty much the same (except some divulgences as the whole amplifier debacle plays out differently). please enjoy this snippet of the beginning of this au! <3

She has got to get out of here.

There is nothing but trouble at the Little Palace, nothing but daggers carefully veiled and tucked away in the smiles of the people around her. The very thought of her being wielded as a blade by the very man she’d trusted– by the man she’d poured her trust into like water into a jug– manages to chill her to the bone despite the woolly kefta wrapped around her shoulders. The biting wind seems to spread from Alina’s insides, threatening to freeze her blood if she isn’t careful. She shivers despite herself and finds her gaze shifting downwards. 

Spread out beneath her dangling feet is one of many gardens within the Little Palace’s sprawling structure; from the second-storey window she’s currently leaning out of, everything looks miniature; as if it’s part of an ant colony. She despises everything right now and wishes that Mal had never been drafted to go on that sandskiff, but now is not the time for hindsight and wishful thinking. 

“It’s all in perspective,” she whispers, slowly inching off the ledge. Trust is what has driven her to desperation; desperation is what’s currently driving her to climb out of this stupid window, fear seizing her rabbiting heart. Shifting her weight so that she’s free to take a ginger step onto the roof shingles, she tries her hardest not to scrabble as she slides down the brickwork, one meticulously placed step at a time.

Alina has never been great at climbing: she guesses that’s why she loses her footing and all but scrabbles down the slanted surface, hands desperately clawing at the brickwork. She’s going to die here, she thinks, with hardly a single friend left in the world; she’s going to fall from this roof, break her neck, and–

She has never believed in miracles. Alina had learned a long, long time ago that hoping and believing and praying would never work in her favour: the Saints weren’t real, and the only… thing that she could rely on was her pluck. That’s why she decides that what happens then is not a miracle; it’s an act of goodwill from a person, not a Saint. A living, breathing person with a kefta of blue, her hands pushing a cushioning gust of wind upwards.

Landing in an undignified heap on the ground, Alina does not dare look up. She doesn’t want to see Zoya’s blazing eyes, her curled lip: Alina Starkov wants with all her heart to leave and never look back at the Little Palace. Fold be damned, she thinks: there is nothing left for her here. But life and fate have never been particularly kind to her, and Alina braces for the worst when Zoya opens her mouth.

“Well? Where’s my thank-you, Starkov?”

Alina blinks, and her eyes narrow. “I’m sorry?”

“I just saved you from certain death,” Zoya says slowly. “I think that deserves a thank-you of some kind; don’t you?”

“You’re not going to ask–?”

Zoya exhales and gives her hair a toss. Her outfit for the fete is nothing short of a feast for the eyes; dressed in a lightning-blue kefta trimmed with mink fur, Zoya looks like a queen. Something in Alina tells her to genuflect in some way: it takes everything in her not to crumble on the spot.

“I heard something,” Zoya admits, wringing her hands together. She glances over both her shoulders, and as if she’s letting Alina in on the darkest secret in the world, leans in and says, “The Darkling– he’s not what–”

“I know. He’s been—” Alina hesitates because it’s not real unless she says it aloud: nothing is. She takes a deep breath. “He’s been using me.” 

“Oh, but you don’t know; not all of it, at least. Do you really think Baghra would've told you the whole truth?”

“No, but I’ve got to work with what I’ve got, don’t I?”

Zoya bites her lip and does another scan of her surroundings. “Have you a clue of where you’re going, Alina, or what you’re going to do?” A pause. “Don’t look at me like that. Tell me, before I make the mistake of sending the only hope this country has to her death.”

“I’m not–”

“You are. Don’t stand there with sunlight threaded in your hair and tell me that you’re not the lone candle in the rippling dark, Alina.”

“And so what if I am?” Alina exclaims. “It’s not like anyone else– they all see me as nothing but a weapon, Zoya, and since when did you stop thinking like that?” 

“I never thought of you as a weapon,” Zoya says quietly. “Jealousy is a monstrous creature, Alina: I hope you never have to brush heads with it.”

It’s a funny idea to entertain, the thought of Zoya Nazyalensky being jealous of her. Animosity is a concept easier to understand; jealousy, on the other hand, is notched with nuance and partiality, a grey area that Alina doesn’t quite know how to navigate. She has been jealous of many people in her life; being the seed and origin of the feeling, however, is novel to her.  

“You keep dodging my questions,” Zoya observes suddenly, before stating quite frankly, “You don’t have a plan.”

“I’m adaptable,” Alina argues. The beads of sand are rollicking down the hourglass, each one sliding downwards faster than the one before, and she needs to go; she won’t be able to breathe properly and rest her fraying nerves until an ocean separates her from Ravkan soil. “Zoya, if you’ve got something to say– let it out.”

“I’m coming with you: you’d be as good as dead, going off alone.”

Alina wants to be offended, but she feels more relieved than anything. Zoya is, to Alina’s chagrin, clairvoyant in her predictions. The two of them will be okay together; Alina’s never acknowledged miracles or saints, but what she does believe in is fate, and strings the colour of trickling blood. 

“All right,” Alina finds herself saying. “All right.”

(A storm ravages through Ravka that night, one of fantastical proportions. Later, there are rumours of daylight gracing the darkest evening sky– some dismiss them as searchlights angled in the wrong direction, or shooting stars that’ve strayed from their trajectories. Others believe it to be the second coming of the Sun Saint, the one that the Darkling claims to be mourning. 

Somewhere, the woods are aglow with the mingling brilliance of thunder and sunlight.)

[gruzeburya]

         AN ALTERNATE CRIME VERSE....      THE WITCH OF WHISPERS, WILL SEE YOU NOW      𓆩 ' 𝘢 𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘩𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘭𝘴

when zoya’s grisha power reveals itself to her on her wedding day in defense of lilyana instead of being rushed off to the capital she returns to novokribirsk with her aunt.   it is there that they formulate a plan to send her to os kervo to begin an apprenticeship with an herbalist there.   by the age of thirteen they have saved up enough money to send zoy.   a away and she begins her journey to the port city.   she does not last as an apprentice for long,    her eyes were always set on the true sea and where it could take her.   she began to save up money to book passage aboard a ship but eventually she grew impatient and at the rate she was saving it would be years before she could leave the city.   a year passes,    and when she is fourteen she finally builds up the courage to sneak aboard a trade vessel headed to kerch.   when she arrives in ketterd.   am she has the little money she has saved up and a collection of kerch words she had gathered from her instructor in os kervo.   it was scarcely enough to get her around but it was just the right amount for her to stay at a halfway house and gather her bearings.   

they begin to think her ghezen-touched...   two years have passed and she is a long-sought after asset.   this was not an overnight success though it had started as an accident after lingering around the exchange for longer than usual she had begun to hear whispers...    of the very interesting sort.   talk of shares and the flow of money none of it was luck though many of the traders spoke of it like it was such.   glorified gambling,    some men went to the tables in the barrel and others came here to these hallowed halls to do the same.    she was privy to where the kruge would land by using her summoning to manipulate acoustics she was able to find out what shares were being bought and sold long before anyone else.   in learning the value of the information she could provide she began to monetize her services under the guise of “financial advising”.   her business grew but so did the target on her back as she was a young girl living alone in a foreign city.   many attempts to kidnap her and force her to perform her services free of charge were made,    though unsuccessfully.   this is when she meets felix meijer,    a kerch merchant with ties to the zemeni jurda trade.   

enter,    the hidden sapphire of ketterdam.   she is eighteen and living in the meijer mansion in the financial district at the height of luxury.   in the years prior she had gotten close to the merchant in hopes to uncover the unsavory about his trade ties and it was not long before she did.   the grisha girl had found that he was selling the jurda he was receiving from overseas at a higher rate than agreed upon thus pocketing a hefty sum in his name while paying off his partners the lesser agreed upon percentage of the earnings.   zoya used this information as blackmail and in exchange for keeping meijer’s secret he would set her up in his home and give her the title of mistress.   this new status would allow her a certain degree of protection and let the other traders know that there would be consequences if harm were to come to her.   it gives her more freedom than a marriage and also allows her some degree of mobility in ketterdam high society.   she carries on this way for years no longer using her talents for anyone outside of meijer’s circle though she will consider lending her services to the highest bidder...   

⊹  CURRENT WHEREABOUTS:   zoya is in the process of cutting out the middleman.    her arrangement with meijer is beginning to prove more trouble than it is worth.    she currently is attending ketterdam university studying economics but also befriending the sons and daughters of merchants from all over the world.   this is also her way of beginning to establish her own network outside of the financial district.    she is finding a way to doctor meijer's will so all his assets will be left to her upon his death.    before orchestrating his murder she begins to blackmail the house staff and security with her gathered secrets slowly changing the loyalty of those in her direct environment.  

* IT IS IMPERATIVE HER STATUS AS GRISHA REMAIN A SECRET IN THIS VERSE OR IT RISKS TAKING DOWN THE WHOLE OF HER OPERATION.

[sorcerry]

i never expected a completely perfect book to screen adaption, but this isn't even going off script out of necessity. they made everything so much more convoluted while stripping it of depth. so much was added but with all of that it felt so much more hollow. they tried to do too much and ended up doing too little. what made the sab books what they are is the love that permeates everything, this found family that builds up throughout the books. it's the dynamics between all the different characters, and the action and drama is really just the stage that all of that plays out on. there was barely enough time to have any banter between nikolai and mal, no bonding with the twins, no alina and zoya learning to work together and understand each other, barely enough time to show the depth of mal and alina's bond, which is what the entire series hinges on. they don't even get their happy ending??? and no world building. we barely saw any of the important locations from the second and third book. we didn't get to see what makes these characters who they are, and why they do the things they do. i love six of crows. i love those characters too. but if they were just going to use this as a way to build up to an eventual crow show, why not just skip shadow and bone and start there? why rush through it like this, no regard for the original story at all? and rushing through some of the crows plotlines as well. how do they plan to jump to a spin off series from this? they had such a great cast, who embody these characters. and then they decided to write the wackiest au fanfic with them. i've read better things on ao3.

[stromuprisahat]

Fun fact:I've seen decent male seducers/manipulators in shlocky,simplistic works that don't take themselves seriously(including works with sexism problems). Therefore,Barfdugo not only makes preachy stuff,but she's also supremely incompetent about it,lol.

Maybe a reason why even sexist,mediocre works have good male manipulators is because while the writers might have biases against women (thinking they're less intelligent,more emotional),they also have common sense enough to realize using people's emotions to take advantage of them is bad, whereas Barfdugo shames the supposed victims.

Well, yes, but it depends on who's the victim.

Alina's the whore, who needs to reject the malevolent seducer in black.

Genya's THE victim. First the Tsar's, but once that one's dealt with (by her hand and on Aleksander's order), it's the Darkling's doing. And she "correctly" points in his direction (, because in the meantime his past self gained more power than Tsar himself). He's the one, who manipulated her into getting her revenge instead of fleeing (and turned the Tsar into a rapist).

Zoya's strong because she saw through his (non-existent) manipulation a bit too late, but learnt from it, and never trusted another older, powerful man, who might want to use her (like an immortal dragon, who needs her to get back into real world, and WILL eventually overpower her).

In next books, we'll learn the Darkling sent those slavers, who kidnapped Inej, tried to force the twins' mother to abandon her faith and steal them directly from her breast, murdered Nina's parents only to make her an orphan... should I continue?

It's hard to write theories about faults in writing manipulators, when the alleged manipulator doesn't really manipulate his so called victims, while the true manipulators don't get acknowledged and neither do their victims.

[lilisouless]

Mal and Alina realized they were after all in love with each other for real

Alina went to an expedition to Shu Han , learned about her mother’s culture , after the war with fjerda realized she can balance her sun and shadow magic , meet Sankta Neyar

She became a legend like her, she, sturmhond (Mal) and Captain Ghafa became a tripulantion , Inej hunts slavers, Alina became a protector of grisha outside of Ravka ,she outlives them both and Misha,the kid they rescued but she and Zoya will always have each other

Mal is happy as a privateer , he and Inej are co captains, in a trip to Fjerda he meet his cousin Ulla, he made a mision of helping her go back home. Inej is still Captain Ghafa, she eventually got back with Kaz because they missed each other and will heal together

still a long distance relationship like on the books, the ice court happened,Wesper’s ending remains the same, Jesper reconciled with Colm,Wylan got his father jailed, Nina and Matthias saved Kuwei and Hanne got out with the crows after the heist

All three are working to change and save Fjerda from the long last brainwashing. David managed to scape the volkra but was captured by Fjerdans, Zoya saved him.

After Alina choose to abdicate the power to become an independent hero, everything on King of scars happened except David’s death and Tree’s resurrection.All of this will be canon now and there’s nothing Netflix can do to say otherwise