#but I am also darklina trash

[thatbluebox]

ANOTHER LOVE | darklina & evajacks (w/ @Bells)

i wish our story could have had a different ending.

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 12 and 25 for the choose violence asks

Adjfhdgdgf mildly mortifying but very fair! I’ve also just been assuming any prompts I get are for Grishaverse fandom because that’s just the majority of what I’ve been getting asks about

Choose Violence Ask Game

2. A compelling argument for why your fave would never top or bottom

I am running out of these! I don’t think most of the characters are like “would never ever top or bottom” tbqh.

I think Zoya’s a top, no question. Nikolai strikes me as a switch with tremendous brat potential lmao. I think KoS leaning into her chaining him up every night was really funny and I support it. A cursory glance I took at the Zoyalai tag awhile ago seemed to suggest that the fandom doesn’t really capitalize on that? Highly disappointing!

3. screenshot or description of the worst take you've seen on tumblr

People saying Alina was the villain of the story. She’s a teenager trying to not get dragged into magic slavery and being forced to commit genocide like come onnnnn

6. Which ship fans are the most annoying?

Darklinas lol real unfortunate that I’m in the same trash can

7. What character did you begin to hate not because of canon but because how how the fandom acts about them?

Definitely not hate but I find the crows pretty annoying at this point just because their fans are so loud and get pretty superior when it comes to the trilogy. Also would have been true of show!Darkling if I didn’t already find him so annoying and disappointing.

8. Common fandom opinion that everyone is wrong about

Genya/David sucked. I really wanted Genya/Zoya to be a thing though I knew it was never going to happen. I think David was better in KoS but in the trilogy he’s just so boring and I felt like his big speech he gives her in R&R was rather barbed? I didn’t like it!

12. The unpopular character that you actually like and why more people should like them

Oncat is the most important character actually!!

I don’t know who’s unpopular tbh. Alina? So many people are mean about Alina. I actually shdhff did not like her much at first but I got really defensive of her seeing how the fandom talks about her and now she’s my daughter.

25. Common fandom complaint that you're sick of hearing

I mostly wish fans would just take a walk and chill out. Leigh Bardugo didn’t break into your house and kick your puppy. I find the way people talk about her as a person really appalling and unacceptable. Like she wrote some books! You can have your opinions on it but she doesn’t owe you anything? Idk I wish people would just have boundaries.

[iisabelinski]

I know it’s not Ben Barnes, but I’ve had this image stuck in my head ever since I read the books, and now that the series came out it just felt like the right moment to give in to my desperate desire to dress up Alina in full Russian-court inspired getup. No regrets. 

And just in time for the last day of darklinaweek2021 fuck yes XD

[sanktagenyas]

alrighty so i guess coherent thoughts about this book might be a very generous estimate of what i’m about to write here but i’ll write down my thoughts anyway ‘cause i wanna share and possibly hear yours like for real interactions with my posts are not just welcomed they’re encouraged.

ok so to start our protagonists are alina and mal and our antagonist is the darkling and i pretty much related to alina right away because i love a hero with insecurities and doubts, i love an underdog so of course i was always meant to fall in love with alina starkov on sight. now the darkling... should be that i and everyone else would be beyond tired of the dark, tall, handsome and mysterious/scary men in fiction especially when they whisk our hero away for even more mysterious and/or nefarious purposes that they leave them completely in the dark about BUT the charisma fucking jump off of the pages i don’t know what else to tell you. and i am deeply intrigued about him and his backstory and also him and how he feels about our protagonist because when you catch the attention of a centuries old immortal being that says something about you but it says more about said immortal imo.

we come to learn that the darkling is beyond ruthless and yet he still a capacity for love after all this time even if it’s quite out of use to say the least. and just the fact that out of the thousands of people who have crossed his path there’s this one girl he saw and he was like well look at that someone who’s not unremarkable for once. and i know that’s not exactly a romantic sentiment but that’s how it starts, folks.

but anyway to cap my little ramble here despite the fact that i’ve seen that kind of villain before i do still really love the darkling. i like that we don’t have all the facts yet about what led him to become who he is so there’s just the right amount of mystery around him to keep you wanting to discover more and he is just human enough that he is not this caricature monstrous villainous figure (alina would beg to differ but i don’t listen to what alina yells at people when she’s angry)

now onto mal. i’m trying to word this in a way that doesn’t make me come off as a raging anti because the truth is that would require me to be invested in mal enough to hate him and as of now i’m just not. with book one being told entirely in alina’s perspective it’s pretty in your face that we should care about mal. our hero loves him and we want her to be happy, right? plus we really shouldn’t ship her with the villain there are so many wrong aspects about that dynamic just to name one aspect the deceit and the lies. the foundation of darklina is so fucked we should not ship it, right? well see that’s where i would argue that my biggest issue with darklina as a ship is the darkling in the final act all but saying fuck alina’s agency i’m going to make her my puppet for eternity not because that is necessary to accomplish my plan but because i’m jealous and resentful that she left me behind and didn’t embrace my plans for ravka and therefore embrace me.

and you might think wait i’ve lost the plot we were talking about mal and now we’re talking about darklina and the darkling but rewind back a little i said my issue with darklina in the final act of the book is the darkling pissing all over alina’s agency. and he might do that in more extreme ways than mal but mal certainly does seem to view alina as property at times and that implies him not respecting her agency. i could point to the fact that saying “don’t tell me we don’t belong together” is only framed as romantic statement because it comes out of the mouth of one of our protagonists and not our antagonist but that’s a cheap shot, it’s easy. instead i’ll echo my thoughts i shared about that malina reunion in chapter fourteen. mal was not one bit concerned about alina there and even though he says later on that not one hour was spent not thinking about her and wondering about her wellbeing all that flies out of the window the second he sees her with the darkling during the fete and here’s the thing if he had caught them mid makeout session i could understand him letting jealousy completely overtake him to the point that he doesn’t ask if she’s ok or how she’s been treated here and just assumes based on appearances (let’s not forget before she unlocked her powers alina was well and truly miserable regardless of the luxury afforded to her by her new grisha status so appearances don’t mean shit malyen) that she must be hunky dory and then tiptoes the line around slutshaming her but definitely crosses the line over into making her feel like shit for circumstances beyond her control territory and all that over seeing her do magic trickery at a party with another guy. 

alina is allowed to be attracted to another man, she’s allowed to have feelings for another man. they’re both guilty of miscommunication as they obviously both feel the same way about each other but alina has the decency to keep her jealousy to herself and not have outbursts about mal getting close to other girls like she owns his ass or something. that put me off and then i was hoping there would be a talk that would clarify things and he would apologize and that happened but it also came with the revelation that mal was upset to see her happy with the darkling. so he’d rather see the woman he loves miserable and alone rather than happy and belonging? and that’s the romantic lead i’m meant to be fawning over? i’m just not seeing it right now and that’s why even as he so generously offers her absolution (idk if you can read my sarcasm but just to be clear it’s sarcasm) for having loved the darkling and tells her he loves all of her even the part that loved the darkling i’m like..... i don’t believe you boy.

i guess in summary my thoughts about mal as a love interest is i need some consistency you cannot have him throw a jealous fit over seeing alina standing with another man (that’s literally all they were doing for real) and looking happy about it and then have him be like i don’t care i love you anyway. you cannot have him act as though he owns alina and in the same breath throw in her face that the darkling owns her (i hate this foreshadowing thank you very much) and you cannot have him get cold or angry at so much of a mention of a life she might have that doesn’t include him and then expect me to believe he’s made peace with her having feelings for more than just him. he’s not even able to accept a scenario where she goes off and does shit that doesn’t involve him as he shows no interest in her life in the little palace for the longest time. meanwhile you can literally read all about alina wondering what happened to him and what he went through trying to get to her. and for the love of saints i would love it if alina would stop acting like she needs to be forgiven for these feelings i absolutely get that she feels conned and ashamed about it but you do not need to ask anyone for absolution for falling someone who made you feel seen for the first time in your life. fuck that noise.

i just know trust issues are gonna arise and i know he doesn’t feel that way truly. if alina turned around and at some point decided to show mercy to the darkling mal wouldn’t understand or accept it and i’d fully expect a guilt trip to ensue.

now that’s my thoughts on mal as a romantic lead and that’s about the biggest aspect of him we’re focusing on but i do think he is a brave man who genuinely cared for his friends and genuinely cares for alina as that whole journey to hunt morozova’s herd definitely proved. he loves her i don’t doubt that but one grand gesture doesn’t excuse the way he treats her earlier in the books is my point and as been pointed out by others i don’t like how much alina relies on him even when he isn’t here. her refusal to let go of him was directly affecting her happiness and overall health as she couldn’t come into her powers before she thought he was lost to her. if i’m not liking who the hero becomes when she’s with the love interest it’s a big indicator i’m not gonna love said love interest as much as i’m clearly expected to by the author. i like mal just fine, he’s not without redeeming qualities, i just don’t love him yet and i may never do and that’s ok.

now i wanna take a moment and a couple sentences (it won’t be a novel i swear, pinky promise!) to talk about the twist that i should have seen coming miles away and i already know once my sister watches the show or reads the book whatever comes first i will be mercilessly teased about not seeing it coming. but when i found out the black heretic and the darkling are one of the same my jaw dropped. as memers might say i took that personally. and even though we have a lot of grounds to covers still and unanswered questions such as is the darkling still alive? if he is what is he up to now? is baghra dead in a ditch somewhere or worse? will alina and genya ever see each other again? why was zoya so standoffish and violent with alina, what’s her story? the question in my mind most prominent is what happened to the darkling? what happened for him to become who he is. i love the quote monsters are not born they’re made and i much prefer to see a villain who wasn’t always one than one who is just evil for the evulz. so i want a backstory and i also wanna learn about baghra while we’re at it.

it’s all fun and well for her to denounce her son’s actions but and i hate to break it to her but YOU RAISED HIM LADY. so yeah baghra’s whole speech to alina is missing parts for sure because she’s not just gonna admit her hands are covered in blood as much as the darkling’s are. not without some pressing at least. 

sooo to cap off all this i guess i would have just two throwaway remarks and that is that i am getting a lot of gay vibes from alina and if i took a shot every time she remarks on genya’s beauty or just gushes about genya in general i’d be drunk by now and i hope we get an actual queer romance somewhere in these books even just between side characters. second remark would be ivan i’m waiting for you to find some redeeming qualities my dude, i was rooting for you! at first he is a raging dickhead about it but seemed to mellow some and then near the end it’s right back to square one and i am really sorry about his brothers dying but having lost family members is not actually a get out of jail free card that gives you free range to mistreat people just because you can.

[doesitmatterseriously]

Jesus shit I disappear a lot.

I’ve been lurking on ao3 a lotttt. An unhealthy amount. And I’ve gotten into darklina.

Listen…I know it’s toxic but I like trash okay? And I read the grisha books and fucking HATED HATED Them. I ranted to my fiancé for like 2 months. Thank the stars for fanfic authors!!

I literally found a fic that I have accepted as the official ending. seriously.  it’s called “Start a war” by nymja on ao3.

I’m also beyond looking forward to the following on ao3:

“Dark Guardian “ by FairyRingsandWings (this is one of my most anticipated ones!) it’s incredibly interesting and is an au that involves demons/etc. it’s amazing and well researched. She runs an amazing tumblr under the name @thedarklingxalina Check it out!!

“ The Fight we never had” by PoetHrotsvitha.  this one is amazing because it’s self-aware it’s just hilarious. It’s been one of the most fun ones that I’ve read in a very long time in the comment section is to die for. I am so looking forward to the story and can’t wait to see how it ends. I’m definitely rooting for our creepy Alexsander. I dunno if she has a tumblr or else I’d put her user name. But seriously this one is fucking fabulous!!!!!

“ I have a longing” by LRcee

Jesus this one is just a feel good au. I fucking love It and I hope the author continues to write more because the writing is amazing. It’s intelligently written and every time I read it I spend the whole time smiling!

“ forgiveness doesn’t taste like this” by EvilPeaches

I never in 1 million years thought I would like any story with Alina and Ivan. And normally I do not like dark fics. Parts of this were really hard to read and there is another story like where she puts deleted scenes and extras, and there was literally one part in “ deleted scenes “ that I had to start and stop and take a break for a good while after reading. That’s a sign of a good writer. Anything that makes me uncomfortable and makes me genuinely think afterwards.  it’s at the end now with only one more chapter left but I’ll be damned if I wasn’t rooting for Ivan even though I am literally a hard-core darklingxalina shipper. This is one of those stories that is incredibly well written and just made me feel so many different emotions. It is very dark. But it really goes in depth about how in mortality and misery would affect you as well as your relationships with other people.

“A Space of Flowers” by ecphrasis

Part of series “ Darklina Cottagecore AU” , The entire series is amazing. I literally never thought I would be interested in a cottage core au but it is beautifully written and the author did a lot of research into making it feel like it’s in the century that it’s taking place in. It’s heart wrenching in and has so much angst. I truly hope that the author continues it and also that they get a happy ending. But the writing is just beyond beautiful. Fuck it is just gorgeous! Written by @ekphrastic 

”Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times….” by xxwalkinwonderlandxx

another AU that is in progress. It’s just incredibly interesting and I’m really looking forward to see where it goes. Not too much is given away so with each chapter update I’m still guessing and wondering what’s going to happen. Has been an incredibly fun read and can’t wait to see more! 

And the final one that is in progress…

“ I wanna see you in the light of the morning “ by renaegeorge

Omgggg. This one is so hilarious. Like whenever I’m having a bad day I’ll read this. I can’t wait to see how the story goes because it is just a feel good fic. I fucking love it! Please check this one out. The author is amazing and she writes so incredibly well. 

I have no clue if anyone actually read this but I beg you to please check these out and if any of these authors have tumblr that I don’t know about them please tag them so that way people can see their Tumblr in case they write on there. leave comments and kudos! Let them know if you enjoy it! And if anyone has any really good fics to recommend to me let me know. This isn’t even half of what I have bookmarked but I’m always interested in fics. 

These are my current favorites that are still in progress. I’ll do my other favorites at some point. But if you hated the ending of the grisha series like I did then please check out “Start a war”. I genuinely accept that as the ending now. 

And if you hate the darkling, then I totally understand. I totally get it but don’t attack me. People like what they like. Like straight up. 

[qqueenofhades]

DARKLINA!!!! Ahhhh! Like I shipped them so bad form the beginning, I had no idea what happed after cause I have never read the books, but damn they have so much chemistry!!!!! And I was so sad that they were not going to be a trying!!! 😭🥺

I mean... like....

She's the Sun Summoner. He is the Shadow Summoner. Light/dark, Persephone/Hades, queen/king, hero/villain, You Are The Other Half of Me/There Is Nobody Like Us. There is angst and desire and trash and "we are on opposite sides now but still drawn to each other anyway." There is the whole "we want to protect the Grisha but have fundamentally different ideas how to do that." There is them both being pretty people (and obviously Ben Barnes) and him being an ancient immortal sorcerer who just goes around simping so hard on her at All times (and we approve). Like. What were we SUPPOSED TO DO?!??!

Also, there is definitely plenty of stuff that is not going to make me ship them any less yet to come (he can visit her at night alone in his chambers which are now hers, she sleeps in his bed, there are more kisses and almost kisses, psychic connection, she uses his power after he uses hers, etc) and I'm over here sitting atop my cranky Make More Villains Love Interests You Cowards hill and shouting at clouds. Like no, it absolutely does not work out in the books, but also, they said they were gonna change things, I'm still shipping them no matter literally what happens, and that's that.

Also... Mal is just...boring? I'm sorry, but he is. He is a perfectly nice match for Alina in real life (though he develops serious Wyatt s2 syndrome in book 2 -- if you don't know the reference this is not a good thing), and he is acceptably sweet in the show, but he is not really that interesting of a character. He grew up with Alina and they have a childhood crush on each other and he's a good tracker. Like that is... pretty much all we know about him (as I said in some tags earlier, he only exists as a corollary of her story and her needs, while Aleksander exists dynamically entirely separate from Alina). She starts and ends in pretty much the same place with him and loses her powers and goes back to live on a farm with him in obscurity? Nah son. Give me the epic romance and drama and FANTASY and darkness and other stuff that is much more complex and interesting. Give me Alina/Aleksander and make it messy and passionate and twisted and escapist. I don't need my fiction to be real life. That's the whole goddamn point.

Anyway, I have a whole other rant on how the "villains/antiheroes don't get to have love interests because it is a reflection of how love interests are treated in media as a reward for 'good people' and treating morally grey people as nonetheless human and capable of love is too scary and complicated for those in need of neatly packaged Moral Messages" thing almost always gets in the way of the really most interesting ships, heh, but yes. Anyway, Darklina Rights, there is always fic and I am planning to write more of it for them myself, I'm super used to ignoring canon that I simply do not vibe with, and that is just that.

[black-rose-writings]

Reading Siege and Storm because I hate myself

To begin, I’d like to state that this is my first read-through and I only have vague idea of the plot I’ve gathered from fanfics and tumblr posts.

Long post ahead

Chapter 1

So... at first I was like - huh, this isn’t as bad as I thought, but the moment Alina gets introspective, it all goes to hell.

Like, she’s being physically made sick by not using her powers, which is making her feel useless - like, she says, pretty much verbatim: “The only thing I was ever good at was being a Sun Summoner and I’m not that anymore.”

I’m gonna beat those paragraphs over the head of anyone, who says Alina got a good ending.

I’ve also noticed just how often the like “I pushed that thought away” is used and more often than not, it’s used on thoughts that should probably not be pushed away.

Ah, yes, here he comes, my boy Darkles, being the dramatic bitch he always is. We get it, you’re the hot villain, tempting the good and pure heroine away from being good and pure.

And I’m just now realizing how many times in this chapter has Alina lamented their lack of privacy. We have to ensure the reader doesn’t hink she’s *gasp* sleeping with Mal.

Chapter 2

What?

Alina is tripping balls while being put under by a Heartrender, got it.

Darkling is being the voice of reason, but I’m getting the distinct feeling it won’t last.

Ivan gets one point, because Alina is in fact a traitor, but he’s also being a cunt, so it doesn’t really count.

Alina at Sturmhond: Do you even care about Ravka?

Me at Alina: Do you?

Chapter 3

“Mermaids are not real”. I’m pretty sure they are in the Grishaverse.

My boy Darkles is still making sense, but Alina is dedicated to being against him just for the hell of it, it seems.

Did this bitch just throw a tantrum, because he told her, what we can assume is the truth? Okay. Like, I get that she’s at best 18, but still. Not exactly the type of protagonist whose head I like being in.

And in that moment, dozens of smut fics were born.

Chapter 4

Wow, that was quick.

Aaand. What had just happened?

Chapter 5

Sturmhond is a funny bitch, I’ll give him that.

And this entire conversation, it seems like Mal’s entire purpose is to stand behind Alina threateningly and repeat what she said, lol.

I’d like to remind Alina (and LB) that a king in an absolutist monarchy (which is what Ravka appears to be) is very much a tyrant. Don’t make it sound like Ravka didn’t have a tyrant before. And at the very least, my boy Darkles seems pretty competent.

A man calling himself a Storm Dog likes dogs. No shit.

Chapter 6

I hate Mal. Dude, this is your girlfriend, maybe like... listen to her? Don’t bludgeon her with the one other guy she was kinda-sorta with, when you are a well known manwhore?

I don’t know man, I don’t like him.

Everyone: You can’t have more than one amplifier, it’s dangerous.

Alina: Haha, sparkles go brrrr

Chapter 7

In other news, pirates are funny.

Holy shit, they have a plane.

That was... a lot. And we’re crossing the Fold again, yay.

Chapter 8

You feel bad for the Volcra but not for the people you’ve left for dead in the Fold last time? Okay.

Baby Volcra. Am I supposed to say “ew” or “aww”? If I tried doing both at the same time, it would probably sound like one.

Jesus fucking Christ this book is a ride.

Did Alina really just have an “oh no, he’s hot?” moment? *sighs*

Puppy boy has a title longer than Daenerys, jesus.

Alina, my dear, you could have waited for a bit before doing that. There’s like thirty soldier with guns around you and you’ve just punched a prince.

Then again, you’ve never been smart, have you?

Chapter 9

For once, I completely agree with him. I know you two have lost your one shared braincell on that first crossing of the Fold but still, that was very dumb of you, Alina.

I’m starting to get why people were calling Nikolai “Darkling light”. Definitelly seems appropriate.

Mal, calm the fuck down, that was the least romantic proposal I’ve ever heard and you know it.

You two didn’t even let Alina get a word in for the last page. What right do you have to her, Mal, huh? Nikolai is making sense and you’re being an idiot.

What’s your deal Mal? What the fuck do you want?

And why in the hell are you the endgame love interest?

That’s an awful lot of guilt-tripping you’re doing there, Mal. No need to be pissy about it.

Chapter 10

The bones thing is definitelly yikes.

Saints, Mal, are you on your period or something? Alina doesn’t belong to you. Alina can make her own choices. Get a grip.

“You think I’m like the Darkling?” Yes. The Darkling isn’t all bad. You’re at war. No need to get your panties in a twist over a few fingers.

Oh, look, Alina has a cult now, nice.

Chapter 11

Your “dad” is a rapist, Nikolai. Quite possibly a pedo. He got exactly what he deserved.

I’d go for the second option. Especially after that stunt. Jesus, you could have asked her beforehand.

At least Darkles had the decency to make out with her in private.

Also like... why is every single person in this series so far an asshole?

Chapter 12

We meet the King again, unfortunately.

Alina gets Darkles’s old job.

This should be a total disaster, but let’s see where it goes anyway.

Chapter 13

Alina’s nuts, yay.

(I know they have a Force-bond-thingy. I also know they did it before Reylo did.)

Chapter 14

Oh boy, Alina’s not doing as bad as I thought.

For the 100th time in this book, I wish I had Nikolai’s confidence. Though it is getting a bit too much.

Puppy boy is dropping some truth bombs. Nice.

But he doesn’t realize that my boy Darkles has very good reasons to not align with Fjerdans - a) they think he’s a demon and b) they want Grisha dead.

I’m not gonna say she was, but like... the monarchy is very much corrupt.

Oh, boy, Baghra. This one’s gonna go well.

Yep, Baghra’s as pleasant as ever.

So... Baghra’s plan in book 1 really had been to just have Alina run away and hope for the best? Jesus Christ, lady. I’m not saying she deserved to have her eyes taken away, but she is definitelly a trash person and I’m not surprised her son turned out the way he did.

Also, I’m fairly certain that Baghra is literally slowly killing herself - that the reason she looks so old and frail is because she’s started to supress her power and it’s literally killing her, because, you know, she’s bonkers old.

Chapter 15

Nerd Alina > Self-pitying Alina

Also, I’m just saying, Alina comments on Zoya being attractive a whole lot - I get that she’s meant to be insecure, but I’m interpreting it as her being gay, because I need some happiness in my life, okay?

Just kill the sleazy old Rasputin-wanna-be. There’s plenty of them to go around in this series.

Chapter 16

Vasily takes after his father in creep factor.

Why not the Darkling being courted by a horny prince? Be a bit creative.

Chapter 17

Nikolai has big ADHD energy and I love him for it. Fits right in with the heavily autism-coded Fabricators.

*sighs at heteronormativity again*

*sighs at improper gendering of titles*

Date night with Mal. This is gonna be a disaster, isn’t it?

Chapter 18

Fun night of cultural appropriation, yay.

I hate cultists.

LET. ALINA. GO. FERAL. Please.

You two are going to give me a headache, I swear.

Darkles cockblocking Alina. And Malice threw a tantrum. Nice.

Chapter 19

You’re way too harsh on Genya, Alina.

Horny Alina rights.

They have a laser, now. Cool. Or, well, enormously hot.

Mal is being a drunk a-hole. Great. When does he become likable? Does he ever?

Banter between Mal and Alina? Kinda weird, always somehow comes back to either of them being insecure.

Banter between Alina and Nikolai? I’m all for it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m still a Darklina trash, but like... Nikolai is fun. I could see him and Alina having an arranged political marriage and ending up falling in love years into it, that’s all I’m saying.

Chapter 20

Just let this one go, Alina, please. You two are not working out. Please, end it with him. You’ll both probably be happier. (I’m saying this with the full knowledge that Malina is endgame).

Jesus Alina, get your shit together. You have every right to be mad, because you two didn’t actually break up, you didn’t kiss Nikolai and also, I don’t like Mal.

Sooo... when is Alina going to realize her manchild of a boyfriend is an amplifier?

Chapter 21

Alina has the horny sickness, lol.

Jesus Christ, girl, I don’t want to read your vaguely suicidal thoughts.

Mal, you fucking idiot.

Alina, stop defending Mal.

Chapter 22

Alina has a logical thought? Impossible.

Finally, some action.

Chapter 23

Oh, boi, this is going great.

Oh, boi, Alina’s having another martyr moment.

And, we’re done.

Finally.

That was a ride. Nothing really happens for like ten chapters and then everything happens in one and a half.

[viki-13]

Bestie I'm obsessed with Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom Just... Kanej😍 And Wesper And I am in love with Nina Zenik I'm still in denial about Matthias😭

And I liked the Nikolai duology too, Zoya is a queen and no one can convince me otherwise, and Zoyalai is so perfect

But I thought the main trilogy was trash Like SAB Alina was the most annoying protagonist ever. Seriously. Did she ever make a choice in any part of the story?? It felt like things were happening to her instead of her doing things. Less of a protagonist and more of a side character in her own story.

Siege and Storm Alina was much, much, better. I loved how she stepped up to the mantle of the leader, but Mal annoyed me so, so much. I'm not sure how I feel about Mal. It felt as if the only time they're 'happy' together is when Alina is helpless and out of her element, and the moment she becomes powerful he can't live with it. I mean, he as good as told her that he couldn't accept her being Grisha. I don't really like him. Ruin and Rising was decent, but I hated the ending. It felt like Alina had to lose her powers in order to end up with Mal, and I'm not sure I like that.

Genya and David ❤❤❤

And I... kinda liked the Darkling? Not in a 'he did nothing wrong, he's precious and pure' kind of way but more in a 'he's an anti-villain, but he's complex and I can see his perspective even if I fully don't agree with it' sorta way. I mean, if I had to deal with six hundred years of reports of Druskelle killing my kind and Shu Han using people I know as experiments, I'd go a little insane too. I didn't understand what that part about him making an army in the Nikolai duology was (like, wouldn't it be safer to just go into hiding until Mal, Alina, and Nikolai are dead?) but I read Demon in the Wood and it was better than the entire trilogy combined.

So... yeah. I'm feeling conflicted. Might reread TID to feel better.

Dude literally the same! Like the SaB trilogy was honestly pretty bore. I was legit gonna drop the grishaverse after reading it but then the show came out n I was like... Ok let's try out SoC AND OMG THEY CHANGED MY LIFE! I ALSO BOUGHT THEM😂.

Nikolai, Genya, David, Tamar, Tolya and Zoya carried the entire series. And yes I also liked the darkling very much. Like I don't ship darklina but if there was a 'best written villian award' the Darkling would win.

It broke my heart when he betrayed Alina cuz I pretty much hate Mal. Like the book Mal is ew. I don't ship Alina with anyone. Show Mal tho. ✨✨✨

Also yes the feelzzzzzz this gonna leave u with oh god. I cried. Like 3 times. Over 3 different people. In SoC and KoS. Like Matthias, David AND WHEN I THOUGHT HANNE DIED. Omg I was ready to be done with my life like just why. But thank the saints. Whew.

All other ships except Malina are ✨supreme✨

These are relationship goals man. If you don't have this the why?

'Maybe I liked your stupid face! '

This was mood. Chaotic gays at its finest.

I bought myself a pocket knife and named her Inej and everytime I'm scared or doing smth I don't want to I'm holding her the whole time.

Aaand yes the KoS duology ka plot was a bit.... Ehh.... BUT I'M HAPPY CUZ ZOYALAI AND NINA AND HANNA(I haven't found their ship name.... And I don't exactly want to.... Cuz like I ship them.... But Helnik. Just jfjsnensns)

The fact that your gonna reread TID. I love you man. TID is the first series I ever bought for myself and damn just wow it's so-

It's a life changer. There just are some books that literally change your life. But ok I'm not going there now.

Imma end this with 'I like it when men beg.'😉

[lover-of-trash-and-people]

shadow and bone rewatch s1e6 while drinking mid-range scotch

I wish I have a face that is as unlined and pretty as Ben Barnes' when I'm 39

Arken you dirty dirty liar

the face Alek is making at his lies that he knows are lies firstly because he knows the art of lying so well and also because he can read people very well

okay Ivan is kind of a bad bitch with his smirk at Arken's lies

alek's eyes narrowing and his little smile when Arken says 'im an entertainer' bitch I love this show

*grabs hand, pulls up sleeve, and discovers Arken's hand is full of marks indicating successful passages through the fold* 'well, that is certainly entertaining' I love this man with all my heart

him screaming is so fucking hot, is that weird for me to say

Nina being the Darkling's spy is quite interesting

Ben giving the Darkling crazy eyes when Arken owns up to his guilt is so cool

also wtf is Arken a fool trying to negotiate with possibly the strongest man in the world

kind of loved the darkness literally eating him

also love Alina learning to use her powers better when she is alone than when she is with anyone else, wish we got to see the cut in this season as per the books, ah can't have everything I guess

the camera pan to Jesper's gun at his side, amazing

god Jessie is literally so beautiful I need to see her bring Alina to the peak of her power so bad

netflix you better renew this series to let the plot run to its completion

HOW THE FUCK DID THEY CAST THE CROWS SO PERFECTLY

INEJ FUCKING TREMBLING JUST THE TINIEST BIT AS SHE BOWS SLIGHTLY TO ALINA SGSHSBSJJSJSSJ MY TWO QUEENS

'And where is my Summoner?' my little Darklina heart ouchie I really wish you hadn't used and manipulated her like this Alek it was incredibly fucked up especially considering you actually caught feelings

'Ivan and I won't fail you' oh Fedyor my baby, my angel, you don't deserve what is coming

Helnik literally recreating Titanic lmao stop this is a joke

I too would jump off the raft if I came to consciousness to see a gorgeous woman with magical powers with her hand on my back

omg but why is ryevost so pretty though

'I know exactly how she felt. The King's soldiers treated me the same way... I'm not myself today.' why must you do this to me, why must you fuel my darklina soulmates agenda idiocy

I don't quite think I have a problem with the Zoya Darkling relationship as much as I have a problem with the line they chose to reveal it to use with.

my drink's over and I don't know if I should have another, considering that it's 7 am

the tenderness with which he looks at Zoya and takes her hand and then when he says 'I shall relax when I have Alina' makes me believe more that the man that is reduced to tears time and again in front of Alina could in fact be the master manipulator I know him to be

god I can't wait for Zoya's character arc

'I speak six languages, it's part of my job' why is Nina literally the fucking coolest

Alina blinding the oprichniki was so hot, I can't wait to see more of her power and her ruthlessness

I know I've said it before but good god is Jessie Mei Li gorgeous

HER LITTLE SMILE AMONGST ALL THE PANIC AS SOON AS SHE SEES MAL, THE AUDACITY OF THIS SHOW TO MAKE ME FEEL THIS WAY

THE SCORE COMING IN AT THE RIGHT MOMENT, THEIR HANDS MEETING, HER SMILE AGAIN DHDHSBSNSNSNSNAN IM IN PAIN

REALLY?! YOU'RE GONNA GO DIRECTLY FROM MALINA TO HELNIK WITH NO CONCERN FOR MY HEART?

I simply cannot get over Calahan's accent lmao it's really funny

'im not afraid of you' he says to the insanely gorgeous girl with magic

HIM HANGING HIS HEAD IN DEFEAT TO INDICATE NINA HAS MADE VALID POINTS YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND I CAN'T BREATHE

'You're just a man. Like all the others.' she says and then forgets her train of thought looking at him as he strips. god I love this

not sleeping all night and then scotch is not a good idea, I think

'I promise not to ravish you' 'I hate the way you talk' her hand on his chest, his hand gripping hers, my fucking heart feels like it's about to explode

good god these shooting locations and sets are so beautiful

Alina throwing the flask at Mal and Mal going 'OI!' I fucking can't, I guess I am a

simp for childhood friends to lovers, give me more of that banter and childhood friend energy, I am thriving

wow it literally seems like they took book! Mal sl*tshaming book! Alina and made show! Alina sl*tshame show! Mal, hmm, interesting

'They would have split us up!' MAL'S LITTLE SMILE AT THIS, and the 'You wrote me letters?' Mal's nod, the Malina yearning stare, the Malina hug, 'thank you for finding me' 'always. I'll always find you.' NO MALINA YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND YOU HAVE MADE ME ABSOLUTELY FUCKING FERAL

I understand they had to split time between my ravkan babies and the crows and that is why there were several aspects that were sort of not reflected on enough but Alina's training at the Little Palace, Alina's cut, Mal's personality, a teensy bit of backstory for the crows, maybe one lockpicking scene from my boy Kaz

random note: we have far too many idols and paintings and pictures and whatnot of Hindu deities in our house apart from the specially designed temple (we are Hindus, so maybe it's not that weird but it's a little weird)

Kaz's cane is a literal star, it's so beautiful my heart wants to explode

'Why would Heleen get the Crow Club?' *literally fucking gets up and walks aways instead of answering the fucking question* I LITERALLY CAN'T BREATHE I'M LOSING MY MIND

'I know that voice' WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHT TO MAKE ME FIGHT FOR PLATONIC SHIPS IN FANDOMS

'We won't starve' omg get you someone who packs food for you when you go on the run together hiding from your ex who wants to capture you and use your powers as a weapon against your consent

Mal looking surprised at her summoning sunlight, Alina looking cautiously at him waiting for him to disapprove or run for the hills in fear or smth like that, 'I'm sorry it took me this long to see you... But I see you now' my dumb little shipper trash heart ouch

they really said we're gonna feed you this part asian couple as the protagonists in this show in 2021 and guess what I'm eating it's really tasty I'm very satisfied as a south asian

NINA'S LITTLE SMILE WHEN MATTHIAS WAKES UP WITH HIS ARM AROUND HER

'I can feel how much you hate sleeping next to me' 👀👀👀 BITCH SAID IMMA SPILL THE TEA AND THEN SHE DID

it's 8 am and guess what I'm getting another drink my parents have c*vid and are in govt qu*r*ntine centres there is nobody to supervise or stop me

I too say 'Why do you have to say things like that?' to my pretty crush when she flirts with me

Nina smiling at Matthias bragging about his conservative ways is my aesthetic

'No, it's not natural for someone to be as stupid as he is tall and yet, oh, there you stand.' MY FUCKING QUEEN

Matthias laughing uncontrollably at Nina saying something which isn't even that funny is a whole ass vibe

Kaz Brekker saying 'The Black General' ooh fuck yeah

YESSSS STEP OUT OF THAT CARRIAGE ALL SEXY BLACK GENERAL

isn't alcohol supposed to like kill germs? well, the amount in my system definitely will

I love my crows so much (always but this time particularly for setting that alarm in the stolen carriage)

ooh Polina recognising Inej by the knife yesss let's go writers

this Ivan Jesper showdown is all I needed from life and yet did not know about

Ivan taking off his cloak was, um, sexier than I wanted it to be

I just realised how thirsty I am going to sound in this post

'Has no one told you that keftas are Fabrikator-made and resistant to bullets, hmm?' 'Oh, I do love a challenge' LITERALLY EVERYTHING

im sorry to be pointing out flaws in a perfect show and adaptation but the line delivery on 'You robbed me of my brother, now I'll rob you of your life' from Polina was kind of weak

'You're a-' *gets knocked out with the back of a gun* LMAO we love the hints

got excited at the prospect of kaz v. zoya until I realised they will not be letting the opportunity of kaz v. darkling pass up

my goodness is Amita Suman a splendid actress

I AM NOT KIDDING WHEN I TELL YOU I SQUEALED WHEN I SAW DARKLES EMERGE OUT OF THE SHADOWS IN FRONT OF MY BABY BOY KAZ

THERE BEING ACTUAL FEAR OR ATLEAST DOUBT ON KAZ'S FACE, THE LITTLE BACK STEPS AS

THE DARKLING WALKS TOWARDS HIM, AAAAH I CAN'T

THE DARKLING STOPPING AT KAZ SAYING 'SHE FLED ON HER OWN' AND THE HINT OF TEARS THAT WE SEE IN HIS EYES

'IT WAS PRETTY CLEAR SHE WASN'T INTERESTED IN BEING A CAPTIVE ANYMORE' YOU TELL HIM, KING

*ACTUAL FUCKING TEARS IN THE DARKLING'S EYES AS THE SHADOWS APPROACH*

NOT ME YOWLING LIKE A HYENA THAT THIS CHILD OUTSMARTED THE MOST POWERFUL MAN IN EXISTENCE WITH A FAKE MAGIC TRICK

'Are you sure you added enough cloves?' literally warranting a wide ass smile from my queen Alina making my entire fucking day

for some reason, no matter how much I push it from my mind, Ben Barnes dressed up as the Darkling, dancing to 'push it' keeps coming to mind, it's absolutely ridiculous

I got somehow distracted with interviews but good things came out of that as it gave my body the time for the booze to kick in

and I would just like to say that I love Leigh for all she has given me

Alina is so fucking compassionate, I have no much love for her. I can feel her guilt and her sorrow as Mal talks of Mikhail and Dubrov

don't particularly like how the stag plotline is woven in, could have been executed better

'You're afraid you might start to like me?' *flaps furs like a bird's wings in frustration*

'I DO like you' my fucking heart you idiots

the sexual tension is so palpable and the moment is so intimate I simply cannot

OMG SHE FUCKING FELL

that moment where you think he might let her fall despite having read the books and he doesn't and he tells her his name I- <3

YOU DARE TRANSITION FROM A HELNIK SCENE TO A KANEJ SCENE YOU REALLY HAVE NO MERCY FOR MY HEART HUH

people have talked about this endlessly but Freddie's little jaw tic after he says Inej because Inej is wounded and he can't physically bring himself to help her I fucking cannot

THE MUSIC PICKING UP AS KAZ LOOKS TO THE DARKLING'S CARRIAGE I CAN'T WITH THIS SHOW ANYMORE

and now for one of my favorite scenes in television and cinematic history, David Kostyk throwing a book at Jesper Fahey without even knowing who he is merely because he opens the door of his carriage and says hello to him before getting knocked out by Kaz Brekker while trying to run away

Immediately followed by another, the scene with David Kostyk raising his finger to put forward his point in front of the Darkling and the Darkling trying to let him know he doesn't have to before obliging is one of my favourite scenes in the world

also sir please stop being devastatingly attractive in your glorious appearance with your face and your black kefta and cloak because all that comes to mind is Ayesha Erotica's Emo Boy and I'm afraid that is terribly inappropriate.

'No, you look great.' *literally looks down from embarrassment or blushing* MALINA RIGHTS?

THE LOOK ON THE DARKLING'S FACE BEFORE HE SAYS 'NO ORDINARY TRACKER, NO ORDINARY GIRL' BITCH IM OUT OF BREATH

'ORPHANS OF KERAMZIN, REUNITED.' 'ADORABLE.' HE FUCKING SNEERED IRL I FUCKING CANNOT

GOD IT'S SO GOOD

[draggingthedregs]

as i said earlier, it is an ungodly length but i hope you can enjoy my late night, book-drunk opinions anyway!

***

guess who just finished “ruin and rising”?

i’m seriously not okay. someone send help. i got lots of thoughts, none of which you are obligated to read but this seems like the best place to share.

oh and spoilers, duh.

for starters. woah.

i can’t say it was what i expected but i had known that what my heart really wanted was kinda far out of reach. the ending felt real and feasible, complete with love and loss.

in terms of “ruin and rising” alone, i think it was possibly the strongest of the three books. the pacing was good, nothing felt like it dragged on too long or went too fast for its own good. i think that was really important as well, considering the fact that there was always something going on. literally,, always. no one ever got a damn break.

mal’s “death” hurt me more then i had expected. which honestly leads back to one of my main gripes with this story. the love square (which i elaborate on later in this post, just hold on a bit). i’m not going to lie. i hated mal. through the middle of “siege and storm” up to page 168 of “ruin and rising” (and even then it was a long road from hate to crying over him). he was an ass, i think we can all admit that. for awhile there, i even jumped on the “fuck mal” train and had no plans to stop at any station anytime soon. for the longest time, the relationship with alina felt so fragile and forced, like the only reason it existed was because leigh had written it into existence. though, as i read on, i saw why it was so strained and saw the eventual resolution, which i will admit i was happy with. mal and alina, however annoying and troupe filled their personalities were, did develop as characters. and their relationship made some semblance of sense in the grand scheme of things. does that mean i forgive the “on-again-off-again”, “cold-shoulder”, “we-cant-be-together-in-this-lifetime” bullshit? no. does that mean i suddenly love mal? also, no. does that mean i ship them? ugh slightly. does that mean in a magical dream world where i got to chose what happened, they’d still end up together? impossible to say. BUT i can say, that they deserved each other. and i am happy that they got their peace together like they both always wanted (no matter how out of place it felt at any point), especially considering the fact that she literally had to kill him.

my dear dear darkling... i knew what fate awaited you and yet, when the time came... it hurt just the same.

okay,, that was a bit dramatic. but come on. leigh wrote a damn good villain with aleksander morozova. i meAN, thE lAYERS. he was a horrible person and yet, so many of us still love him. he killed for fun, manipulated no matter the cost, preyed upon the weak because he could, literally blinded his own mother and still! i can’t help but love him. there was so much human woven into his darkness. the moments of simple longing, of exhaustion, of loneliness. in all honesty, if there had been a way to humanize him, to erase or explain away his atrocities and have him just be aleksander again, i feel like i would do it. but, in the context of the story i do understand why it wasn’t possible. redemption for the darkling was off the table, no matter how much humanity still remained. but that’s what makes him such a good character. you want him to be different because you can see the good and all the potential for things to change, for them to rule ravka side by side, but at the same time, he’s the same man who is still actively creating more shadow demon creatures to eat whoever he wishes. you can’t resist him and that’s why he’s so wonderful, yet horrifying at the exact same time. (though don’t worry i am still a trash can and the darklina ship is still superior in the love square. again, i promise i will get there).

i feel like i have to talk about how much i loved the “secondary characters” (i struggle to call them that because they actually run this shit). i will say, at first, i hated zoya. i am not a big fan of the “mean girl” troupe or the “i’m-prettier-than-you-and-i-know-it” thing but... she really grew on me. i looked forward to zoyas comments and constant bitchiness, as did the characters in the books. and when she left the note and the blue kefta with alina in the epilogue,, oh god my heart. and the ragtag crew of grisha making up the remainder of the second army were amazing. their banter and dialogue were some of my favorite scenes to read in “ruin and rising” and i want books just filled with them and only them. david and genya deserve the damn world, adrik was so great, nadia and tamar are so precious, and i will miss harshaw’s weird ass more then you’ll ever know. don’t even get me started on misha and oncat. they are the true stars of this series, you cannot convince me otherwise. god i love them all so much, what a brilliant cast of characters. except the apparat. fuck the stupid ass apparat.

i know what you’re thinking. “you forgot nikolai.” no. i promise you, i most certainly did not. i just love him so much he gets his own chunk.

i mean, how could he not? he’s one of those rare, genuinely perfect characters that are impossible to not love. and i don’t mean perfect because he has no flaws or he’s written unnaturally, i mean perfect because of all of his flaws. he is arrogant and calculating, brash and unapologetic in his ways, but he’s also kind and caring, witty and charming and way too clever for his own good. i rooted for him more then i have ever rooted for someone in my entire life. he made everything ten times better. you can always count on his ass to pop up in a flying ship with a shiny pair of boots, a witty remark, a new plan, and too many ideas.

now, the important business... the ominous love square.

i think the words i used were “one of my main gripes with the story” which is true, but i think leads to a bigger issue with some of the characterization in the story. the “love square” was a term i thought of in relation to the many overlapping and confusing ships that center around alina (obviously being mal, the darkling, and nikolai). all of the ships were so entertwined and written over top of one another that there was no other way for me to describe it and the square seemed like a nice enough analogy. it just felt like way too much on everybody’s plates.

i love nikolai and alinas friendship. i mean, LOVED it. because i loved it so much, i found the little nods to a ship odd and unnecessary. their story line was very focused on the fact that ravka would need a king and queen, hence the scene where he gives her the emerald and all but proposes right then and there. however, that scene would have made scene and carried the same weight had there not been the splashes of romance both before and after. now, i understand why people ship them. and honestly, if under different circumstances, i probably could’ve and would’ve shipped them myself. they would have had one of the best marriages in a society where you didn’t get to marry for love. but it just made everything more complicated. people would’ve speculated on a ship had there been no kisses or pining, soley based on the possibility of a marriage and because of their close friendship so, why was the canon addition of it necessary? i just couldn’t get behind it when i loved their platonic relationship so much and when there were two stronger and more developed ships, waging war in the background.

now, my final bone to be picked... let’s be real for a second, alina in “shadow and bone” sucked. she was annoying and had no personality beyond being a sad, lonely, orphan in the darklings sparkly new grisha world. though i will say, in the later two books, i grew to like her. her character development did its job and i actually think she grew to be a pretty good protagonist. she did her best with the cards she was dealt and i think she did really well. however, her inability to pick a boy constantly bothered me. after being in love with her best friend for literal years, she is really ready to be be the first lady of the second army. and yes. sure you could justify it. she wasn’t getting letters in return, she’d been away for months, she was adapting to her new life, the darkling made her feel seen and wanted which is all a very new feeling to her. but then she goes right back to mal after he makes a confession that he didn’t realize he loved or needed her until she was gone for months (this was one of my biggest problems with mal. my problem only grew when he spent the entirety of “siege and storm” being a dick. but like i said,, we have reconcilied. we are fine now). there were times throughout the series where i genuinely didn’t understand why they were together, why i liked them together, or why i even wanted them to end the series together. alina even asks mal at the end of “ruin and rising” if there entire relationship was based solely on the fact that mal was the last amplifier and the fact that she even had to ask really says something. was their entire romance because of the amplifier? was it because of the “we-are-just-meant-to-be-together” thing? or was there actual chemistry? i really couldn’t tell sometimes. and the darklina ship was even more twisty and winding. he went from telling her deep dark secrets because he wanted to hear the girl he loved say his name to literally threatening everyone she loves because he wants her weak and all to himself. like,, whAt? (again,, layers) and don’t even get me started on the darkling and alina apparition interactions. those were a wild fucking ride. i felt like i was getting manipulated along with the both of them in those. but maybe that was the point of the darkling and alinas relationship. it was supposed to be so horrible yet so electric that you couldn’t pull away. but i doubt the same was meant to be said for mal and alina.

now i feel like i may be coming off in the wrong way. i loved more about this series then i didn’t. but me gushing about every fine detail and conversation that made my heart melt wouldn’t make for the most interesting read, if it was even coherent. all in all, i think it’s safe to say the grisha trilogy is great. does that mean it doesn’t have flaws? of course not. does that mean the flaws outweigh the good and the actual point of the story? absolutely not. my small complaints about a few things really do not take always from the fact that i love this series. i would love anything written by leigh bardugo, especially in the grishaverse.

if you’ve made it this far, that’s commitment. thank you brave soldier. don’t take anything i’ve said with anything more than a grain of salt. seriously. if this is your favorite series, don’t let my lil complaints ruin your day. because really, the good outweighs the bad here tenfold. i’m just a girl with a lot of opinions and a platform to share them at four am... it’s a dangerous game.

but, goodbye grisha trilogy. you have served me well and i will return to reread you soon. but for now i will do a lot of writing (i already have so many fic ideas brewing) and read all the fan fiction and tumblr posts i’ve been avoiding for fear of spoilers.

[elviriel]

grishaverse for your askbox thing :)

i love you :) 

the first character i ever fell in love with: The Darkling (he had me at the edgy name tbh)

a character that i used to love/like, but now do not: Mmm.... I think I tolerated Mal at the beginning and that descended into full on hatred, but I didn’t exactly like him either, so nobody xD

a ship that i used to love/like, but now do not: Nothing that I can think of

my ultimate favorite character™: Kaz Brekker. 

prettiest character: *sigh* The Darkling 

my most hated character: Mal. Look. I know Mal as a person isn’t that bad- he’s just a kid, yk? But Mal as a character, with his place in the narrative, the focus he gets, the endgame he gets.... I just. hate it beyond words. So yeah, Pekka Rollins is a worse person, the Darkling is a worse person, etc., but their narrative place suits them, whereas with Mal I’m just like “please get off the page i am so tired of reading about you”. It’s that thing where vague dislike of a character turns to hatred when you have to suffer their continued presence xD

my OTP: Kanej *cries* my babies

my NOTP: M*lina 

favorite episode: Let’s go with favorite scene, and I think it might be the Kanej bathroom scene in CK, so closely followed by the infamous “Kaz Brekker fights an entire goddamn gang” scene

saddest death: lk;gflflgfklfdlkgfdlkgdfl;gdf;lkgdflkg you know the one (*cough cough* the end of Crooked Kingdom) gkljdfljkgfdgf

favorite season:  Favorite book is Crooked Kingdom

least favorite season: Siege and Storm. Yes, it has Nikolai, but also it has so much Mal in it (do you sense a pattern) 

character that everyone else in the fandom loves, but i hate: Mmmmm... Well, again, Mal has stans xD but I think he’s not generally well-liked. I don’t think I have any tbh. 

my ‘you’re piece of trash, but you’re still a fave’ fave: Take a guess. It rhymes with Problematicling. 

my ‘beautiful cinnamon roll who deserves better than this’ fave: I wanna say Inej, because she suffers so much and doesn’t deserve it, but I also love her arc so much xD 

my ‘this ship is wrong, nasty, and makes me want to cleanse my soul, but i still love it’ ship: I think that applies to Darklina tbh 

my ‘they’re kind of cute, and i lowkey ship them, but i’m not too invested’ ship: David x Genya. I know, I know. I’m probably the only person in the fandom who doesn’t really care that much about either of them- i like them a lot but if I’m very honest, for me TGT is a blur of events I don’t remember, and the Darklina scenes are the only crystal-clear spots xD so... yeah, David x Genya are nice, and a re-read might change my mind, but I don’t feel too strongly about them. They’re cute tho. 

[lunaathorne]

The anti Zoya x Nikolai people have gotten louder since it was revealed that Zoya isn't white. Very interesting.

Skskksj this tea though, the tannic acid has bleached my soul😂

So....where do I begin? Ah yeah, the antis. I mean, you know what? They were doomed from day 1 itself! And the reason behind that was this: of the plethora of excuses they used against Zoyalai, not a single fucking one of them was valid enough to give them credibility, okay?

Let's do a rundown shall we?

A- Nikolai is asexual

Hate to break it to these antis but asexual people can also fall in love and believe it or not, some of them have sex or get sexually aroused too. Some aces form sexual relationships vis-a-vis people with whom they share deep emotional connections. Moving on:

B- Zoya is a lesbian?

I'm going to try to be as sensitive as possible here. See, Leigh is not Rowling of the Retroactive Representation. She is not afraid to put in wlw relationships (Tamar/Nadia, Nina/Hanne) or for that matter mlm ones (Jesper/Wylan) and so if Zoya was a lesbian, we would see something. Sure lesbians are not only about their sexuality, but the antis make it seem so?? "she can't date Nikolai, she radiates sapphic energy" WHERE?! Nobody has any problem with lesbian Zoya but the thing is she's already shown attracted to the Darkling and Mal. She could be bi.

C- Bi Erasure

This brings me to another sticky point. So let's assume Zoya did have feelings for women too. That would make her bisexual. But apart from a handful of people literally no body wants to acknowledge that bisexual characters exist. If a character's sexuality is unexplored they are either het or gay. We have a term for that. Anyway.

D- Zoy*lina/Darklina stans

I used to find the idea of Zoya*lina cute (I like Alina a lot, my baby) BUT THE STANS IDGAF. Most of them are like really Dark*lina stans or worse, solo Alina stans who ship Zoya with Alina/any other woman so they can have Nikolai for their fave too. It's a fucked up reason, not just for us, but for LGBT people too. Most of the times they hate Zoya tbh. They make her a bitch in fanfics, the clingy toxic ex, or a complete slut. As for Darklina, they call our ship garbage, when in reality, their ship is nothing but an ao3 fever dream based off toxic/creepy scenes. I know some people in that particular base who trash Zoyalai as "forced", "boring", "heterosexual nonsense" while also shipping their fave with a jerkass abuser in a het ship. I have to laugh.

A ship does not depend on whether the members are straight or gay. It depends on healthy relationships, on emotional connection, trust, companionship. Zoyalai is all of this and then some. Both of them want love, to be desired, the comfort of somebody else's presence. Why can't it just be platonic?-because THEY DON'T WANT IT TO BE?! They have both got friends aplenty- Genya, David, the twins...but they want something else. So, what we get is this beautiful story of a brave, intelligent man who is both physically and psycho-emotionally scarred, ashamed by the deeds of his father, struggling with keeping up a country, glossing over his pains with a veneer of good humour. And a woman who is as beautiful as she is fierce, ambitious, loyal, hardened by a terrible childhood and a dark past with a heart of ice begging to be thawed. Both see through each other and implicitly trust and respect each other. What's not to love?

Against this we have that gross ass ship which I will not name. Their arguments for their ship is he is the dark, she is the light, they would be iconic.

Finally (after a page full of my incapability to shut up) what you said just attests to their pettiness and narrow mindedness. Zoya being biracial makes me sooo happy. Firstly because people will finally stop using Katie McGrath/any white Pinterest model wearing blue outfits as Zoya (wtf mates), and secondly, half Suli, means half Indian (since the Suli are based off a mix of Romanis and Indians) and I AM INDIAN!!! also my eternal love and perfect Zoya, Katrina Kaif, she is biracial too (half Indian) so YAHOO.

(Zoyalai gonna bang in book 2 I KNOW IT, the meltdown will be too delicious)

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Exactly,and I think the way M*lina are portrayed from the begging especially is a red flag compared to Darklina. In the show we’re meant to see them as this cute,pure friends who’re in love but for some reason aren’t telling each other how they feel(compare it to how Alina interacts with Aleksander who she’s known for shorter time)yet the co dependency and toxicity starts to show when Alina kills her entire team(yet has the nerve to say she wants to go back to the First Army where her “friends”are you mean the one you killed?)and spends what months pining after him completely ignoring her duties as as Sun Summoner or learning more about the Grisha persecution or the fact that M*l’s at war so maybe there’s a reason why he doesn’t write to her? I mean we’re half way through the show and her only focus is to destroy the Fomf to she can go back to her crush?How am I not supposed to root for Aleks hiding the letters from her when it’s due to that Alina was able to even start caring for the Grisha and form actual friendships?And in interviews Jessie’s days how Alina wants to save Ravka but has to deal with its bigotry which I’m sorry but applies more for Aleksander all Alina wants is M*l it’s no coincidence we finally start to see more personality and independent goals from her in ep.5 when she lets go of him.It’s really frustrating how hero centric the books and the show is with the latter adding racism and he info every “bad”character be racist towards Alina so we root for her(I’m surprised they also didn’t make Aleks racist as well thank god hot small mercies I guess).And ofc how can we forget M*l treating Alina as if she’s his property in ep.7 when that’s the role Aleksander should be having since he’s supposed to be the “villain”.And let’s keep in mind that at this point M*l doesn’t exactly know of his plans or that he collared Alina- besides Alina’s own biased opinion what he’s seen so far is Aleksander killing the stag and letting his Healer heal M*l so to have him call Aleksander “Darkling”and threatening to have his head like the old bigotry king is really something it doesn’t sound badass and it contradicts the way they’ve been trying to whitewash M*l- in the entire scene he sounds very much like his book counterpart actually. So yeah they might have tried hard to whitewash M* and M*lina from the toxic peace of trash he is and the way his relationship with Alina is portrayed but the problems still remain.Btw,Netflix Geeked released M*lina with the meadow and the ratio for that was hilariously embarrassing. I think fans will def cheer if they have Aleks set the meadow on fire on the show.😂

Yeah I never really saw M*lina's relationship as cute or wholesome, sure they had some sweet moments but all of that was kind of overshadowed for me by the toxic co-dependency. I will admit when I watched that scene where she says Aleks has taken her away from the first army and all her friends I did think which friends they're all dead now, I mean there is only M*l left unless she was including Mikhael and Dubrov in that but in the show she had only just met them so can't really call them friends. I do wish in the show that her causing the deaths of her unit had more of an effect on her but it just seems to be forgotten about.

As frustrating as it was to watch Alina pine for M*l and struggling with her grisha powers because of that I didn't mind as much in the show because I think they did show Alina letting M*l go and embracing her life at the LP even if it was only for a little while. I also feel like even after she leaves the LP she still has more agency than she does in the books, at least going after the stag was her choice in the show and not M*l's like it was in the books. I also like that unlike in the books the tent scene in ep 7 between Darklina was about Darklina and Ravka and the grisha and not her begging for M*l's life as it is in the books. That tent scene in the show was about everything that was between Darklina and their relationship, as heartbreaking as the scene is, at least it was about them and the issues they were having. I do agree though that it was hard not to be on Aleks' side in regards to the letters. As difficult as it was to see Alina upset and as morally grey as it was to take them knowing Alina was in pain and suffering because of it there is no denying that stopping those letters did benefit Alina when it came to mastering her powers and accepting her new life as a grisha. I mean she was miserable up until the point she lets M*l go and then we never see her happier than she is in ep 5. I'm just a bit confused how they expect me to root for M*lina and believe they are this epic romance when the only time we see her truly happy and carefree and confident is in ep 5 when she is with Aleks and has let go of her past ties with M*l.

As for M*l, I think he is never more like his book counterpart than in eps 7 and 8. I mean honestly I liked M*l a whole lot better in the show than I did in the books but they did whitewash him a little too much in that he became a little one noted. When it comes to how he behaves towards Aleks in ep 7 though as you said he doesn't know that Aleks has collared Alina yet, I think alot of his attitude and what he says about claiming the bounty the old king put on Aleks' head comes from that ingrained prejudice he has towards grisha. I mean there are quite a few instances where he shows a resentment towards grisha and a mistrust particularly in ep 1. I actually hope they commit to that aspect of his character in season 2, I know it seems strange to say I hope a character continues to be prejudiced against a minority but its not because I'd get enjoyment out of it but because I think it could be used as a good commentary on how being raised in a community that hates a certain race or group of people can lead to an individual being prejudice and how that person can struggle to break from those prejudices. I think it could be interesting to see M*l showing that distrust and resentment towards grisha but then growing out of it as he gets to them better very much like Alina did in season 1. I mean she too like M*l had a resentment towards the grisha and you very much get the impression that this is a common sentiment within the first army. Whilst Alina still seems a bit oblivious to how much the grisha are still oppressed, come the end of the season I do think she has lost that resentment towards them and does care for them (in the show that is I don't think she ever really does care for them in the books.) I think she still has a long way to go but there was some development there at least. Having M*l wrestle with these mistrustful and prejudice views towards grisha whilst relying on them to help him keep Alina safe and fight against Aleks would at least give his character some depth and make him a little less bland. Sometimes flaws can lead to interesting character development and I think that could be the case for M*l.

[black-rose-writings]

I read Ruin and Rising because I’m bored

And I also hate myself

Like with the last book, I have a vague idea of the plot and stuff from tumblr and fanfics. I will also be refering to Darkling as Sasha for most of this.

I am still Darklina trash and don’t particularly like Mal.

On a different note, I’ve finally moved for college, but the internet here is trash, so I’ll probably have a lot more reading time now, since most games I play are online and will crash without internet.

Before

Cool story. Let’s hope Alina stays a badass.

Who am I joking, I know how this ends.

Chapter 1

So far so good. I hate the Apparat, per usual. Alina’s there basically dying and that bitch can’t wait to see her do so.

Cult leader to the core this one. He probably hates that his figurehead is alive and also not brainwashed.

Cult leader doesn’t like swearing. How surprising.

My boy David is completely right. What kind of irresponsible dingus keeps centuries old books in a fucking wet-ass cave? (Or a tree for that matter *cough cough* The Last Jedi *cough, cough*).

Genya is fun to be around.

Oh, shit, let’s go.

Chapter 2

Jesus Christ, Alina, Zoya isn’t that bad.

This is one hell of a shitshow.

I live for this version of Alina. Badass. Scary. I want more of this Alina.

Chapter 3

Out of all the random little details from crappy smut fics, I did not expect Oncat to be from the books, lol.

Mal actually has a supernatural tracking ability. Like, literally, they put a bug into the pouch with gunpowder so he could make the shot. I guess this was kinda said before, but never this directly, right?

Alina’s merzost-skyping Sasha now, yay.

Alina is horny for Sasha boy. Yay.

Alina canonically has a praise kink. Nice.

I hate LB with all of my heart at this very moment. How dare she bait us Darklina people like this? How DARE she? (Shipbaiting is the worst, seriously.)

Yes, yes, yes. These two lines. That’s what their relationship is all about. They’re each others foils, the yin to the other’s yang and... ugh. I am Darklina trash to the core and this hurts.

Darklina: You have a terrible taste in men.

Alina: I liked you once.

My boy Sasha walked into that one.

Chapter 4

Alina is a Queen. And we love her.

David, my beloved, my spirit animal.

It’s surprising they can read it at all, given it’s been centuries. Have you ever tried reading medieval manuscripts?

Honestly, with a father that crazy, it’s no wonder Baghra’s a bitch. And I’ve seen it said somewhere that the books imply Ilya’s experiments are what caused Baghra to be a shadow summoner and you know what? I can see how you’d make that connection.

Why is there so few Tidemakers in the books? Waterbenders are useful. I want more waterbenders.

Alina picking up some habits from Baghra I see.

Ah, yes, we love an educated giant.

I’m starting to think Harshaw is a bit nuts.

Shut up, Hershey. Or at least share the weed with the class. I’m not here for this “He’s mean to you because he likes you”. I might believe that in like, elementary school, but yall are (more or less) adults. Jesus.

Well, that was a bombshell of a twist.

Chapter 5

Oh boy, we’ve got some trauma bonding for out merry band of misfits. Yay.

Adrik has a crush on Zoya. And she hates it, lol. Cut the kid some slack, he’s like 15 or something.

That reminds me, I have a four-leaf clover pressed in books from close to year and a half ago. Time flies.

They’re really diving into the Mal has supernatural powers, huh?

Ghosts, let’s go.

Alina “I’m so happy to be outside I start to shine like a fucking fairy” Starkov and Mal is entranced. He’s definitelly nicer now. I’m not forgiving him for all the shit he’s pulled before and for using the silent treatment way too much, but hey, at least he’s improving.

I am not a Zoyalina person, but like... gay? Please? Rivals to grudging allies to friends to lovers, 300k slowburn? Sounds more fun than whatever Mala dn Alina have going on, lol.

(I’m starting to realize I’m not as much a Darklina person as I am anti-Malina person, lol. Like, literally everyone has a more interesting dynamic with Alina than tracker boy over there. Malina is at best boring AF and at worst toxic, codependent and emotionally abusive, while also being boring AF at the same time. It has literally nothing going for it except God herself liking it).

I can see why Nadia is gay in the show. The book version of her definitelly has a crush on Tamar. Homegirl likes a woman, who can murder her with the flick of her wrist and honestly? Same.

Alina has some big “coming out of lockdown after a year” energy atm.

The cat is one of the most realistic characters in this thing, lol.

And since Tamar is also heavily queercoded, our lovely ladies make off into the night, flirting. Or maybe not. Let me dream, though.

At least Blade Boy is aware that his tattoo is stupid. To quote someone ranting about him on tumblr: He’s embracing his identity as a tool.

Oh, boy, this will be fun.

Evil soldier is horny for Mal. Saints, is there a woman in this book who isn’t horny for Blade Boy?

And here comes Niki to save the day.

Chapter 6

Niki saved the day.

Fiberglass? And David being David. Genya being in love with her nerd of a boyfriend.

Jesus Christ, this one crazy kid has moved the technology in this universe a whole century on his own. So, when is David going to propose to him?

Baghra hasn’t changed much I see.

Baghra’s about to drop some truthbombs, but no, we have to be rudely interupted because Genya’s rapist is throwing a fit.

Chapter 7

How does Mal sound? Is she gonna say the Blade boy sounds like her dad? I mean, I know voices are partially genetic, but it has been tens of generations between them, probably.

So, we’re finally taking Genya’s trauma seriously after all this time? Good. Better late than never, I guess.

I wish that regicide was already finished and I’m pretty sure that Genya does, too. Stop defending the fucking king, narrative.

David’s a nerd in all things I see.

Someone please just kill the king already. And the queen, too, for good measure.

Now that’s a romance.

Infodumping and listening to said infodumps is a legitimate love language, Alina. Let them nerd out over poisons.

Wait, has Alina never directly killed anyone before? I thought she did... hmmm.

And just like that, it should have been over. Ugh.

Somehow, Baghra is a better teacher now than she was before. She half feels like a completely different character.

Nevermind, she’s back at it.

Chapter 8

Holy shit, Nadia and Tamar are canon. They have canon gays here.

So, which one of them is gonna die?

Chapter 9

We arrive at that scene. The one, where they should have fucked.

Jeez, girl, get a hold of yourself. Life is short, fuck a villain.

In other news, Genya and David definitelly fucked.

Chapter 10

Poor David. He just wanted to know.

Damn... I never realized just how young Baghra was, when she killed her sister.

I’ve already made a post about this, but it really does strike me like Baghra has already decided to end her life at this point in the book.

Why is that whole “but what if we’re related” thing even in there?

Chapter 11

We love a suprise attack.

When did Sasha boy learn that trick?

Baghra really just did that. Oh boy.

Chapter 12

No, don’t kill the kid... ugh.

Emotiona support cat. She should be friends with Milo.

Porrige for brains. Oof.

So Nadia was the one, who got bees set on her in the book. Cool.

That’s a good question. Why was it never brought up to Alina, that other Grisha get blocks, too?

David already thinking of steampunk prosthetic for Adrik is honestly kinda sweet.

Chapter 13

Back home... kinda.

Is that really... you really care about Mal bonking the Grisha school mean girl over a year ago? Okay.

Chapter 14

Angst! Yay!

And more angst.

Chapter 15

Sasha really went “My mom killed herself to save you? Well, I’ll kill the closest thing to parents you have.”

Chapter 16

Nikolai’s alive. Kinda.

And these two have such a sibling energy, I can’t.

And then they fuck. Ew.

Chapter 17

Wait, wait wait... so Alina isn’t even the one to destroy the Fold?

Okay. That’s... weird.

Holy shit. That was...

So, Aleksander is dead. Mal isn’t. Someone else destroyed the Fold for Alina and now she has no powers.

Okay.

That’s a weird-ass ending.

Chapter 18

The gays survived, so that’s nice.

Genya made good on her promise of making Alina a ginger, lol.

After

What emotion is this supposed to give me? Cause all I feel is kinda sad.

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Can I just say a ssomeone who recently finished reading the Six of Crows duology there are some really clear paralells between Nina/Matthias/Kaz/Inej with Darklina.I don't mean to offend the ships since I love them as well but I think this is one example where the narrative framing is important.Darklina gets destroyed in the trilogy and is framed as evil and manipulative while SOC couples have the chance to grow,change and find lvoe despite also being ''problematic.''

I haven't read the Six of Crows as I am still working my way through the trilogy. But I can still understand where you are coming from here. Even in the show I can see the parallels and I do agree that they seem to be presented and talked about in different ways. I love all of the ships, Helnik? I am here for it, gives me major Jon/Ygritte vibes who I loved, Kanej? Be still my beating heart, they are amazing and have some great heartstring pulling scenes. They've all got great chemistry but they do all also, like darklina, have problematic things about them. I feel like some fans of the show and I am assuming the books are very harsh on darklina but will look past all the problematic elements of the other ships.

Look I am a big supporter of ship and let ship. I really don't care or have a problem with what other people ship, if it makes you happy to ship it, then ship it ( I only have a problem when people will try to force their ship onto someone else or judge someone else for shipping something.) But I will confess that I find it a bit odd when people will trash Aleksander for putting shackles and the collar on alina and point out that he kept her as a prisoner then gush about helnik, because Matthias also had Nina shackled and kept her as a prisoner. Like I said no issues with people shipping one and not the other, its not like they are a package deal, its just I personally don't understand the thinking there. But everyone is entitled to their own opinions and I do understand that not everyone is going to see it the same way as I do.

As for the books like I said I haven't read SOC so bear in mind that this opinion is based off what others in the fandom have told me about the duology. From what I understand the SOC duology is miles better than the grisha trilogy which I believe there was alot of disappointment about the way it ends from fans and there are a few problematic things about the writing and character arcs. I obviously don't know LB so this is just speculation but it could be that having seen the criticism her first trilogy got she might have given the ships in her SOC duology better character arcs and the opportunity to grow, change and find love because she saw how disappointed her fans were with the darkling's character arc and how he wasn't given that opportunity.

That being said and possible spoiler alert for the king of scars duology but I also heard that she wrote a cult into the next duology she wrote which she admitted in an interview was based on what she called darkling apologists and then had one of the characters refer to those people in the cult as stupid and pathetic. Which if this is all true then... Yikes! I mean maybe its just me but I don't think its very respectful for an author to base a cult on her fans. I think its even more disrespectful to have that cult referred to as stupid and pathetic. I also heard she sort of redeemed the darkling but did in the worst way possible. But like I said I haven't read either of the duologies so this is all what others have told me (although I have read the article that refers to LB basing the cult on her fans) and so naturally I also don't really know the details. But if this is true and she did base a cult on her fans then respectfully there might be some more space for growing and learning? (Hopefully the interviewer is just stirring the pot?)

[qqueenofhades]

i watched the pilot for shadow and bone and i’m going crazy cause there are so many changes from the books, how do i tell my brain to shut up and enjoy it

Ha, well, I can't tell you how exactly to best do it for yourself and what specifically you want and/or are expecting from the adaptation. Speaking for myself, as someone who has read all the Grishaverse books except for Ruin and Rising (I'm halfway through the new one, Rule of Wolves, buy I definitely don't think it's as good as the others and am debating whether to bother finishing it), I enjoyed all the changes and the way they mashed the two series together and made a film universe similar but definitely distinct from the source material (and this, as we all know, is not the case with all adaptations). I was definitely also much more invested in the Six of Crows stuff, since those books are much better written and the characters are more complex.

The Shadow and Bone books were, afaik, her first ones, and to a grownup reader such as myself, they read as fairly standard YA. They only made me ship Darklina in the show because a) Ben Barnes is too pretty for his own good and b) they developed him as the exact kind of tragic trash man that I have an unfortunate weakness for. Before that, I didn't really have any feelings about him either way, though I do agree with the meta takes that it is a little iffy to position your villain as the guy who started out trying to protect oppressed people from a genocidal government and ended up driven to violence, since that creates the intentional or otherwise message that oppressed people are only valid as long as they resist "peacefully." The creation of the Fold, for example, is (as doubtless you know) quite different in books and show, and if they're going to continue to give the characters more moral ambiguity and complexity in show-verse, I am, as usual, all for that.

Anyway, since I care more about the Crows, and their storyline this season (as absolutely chaotic himbos, bless their hearts), is essentially all invented prequel material to SoC proper, I found it fun to get to see more of them when I didn't necessarily know what was going to happen, and to integrate them chronologically into Alina's main storyline and give them a chance to meet, since obviously they don't do so in book canon. That is one of the intriguing crossbreeds that can come by mixing the books up, and I liked that. After all, we got to see, for example, Nina and Matthias meet in real time, rather than the flashbacks that explain how it happened in SoC, and as a diehard Helnik shipper from before the show, aha, I certainly enjoyed how that was made possible.

So yeah, if you want strict textual purity, this is probably not the adaptation for you, and people's perspective on that obviously varies depending on how attached they are to the source material. But at least for me, as both a book reader and show viewer, I enjoyed the changes they made, and hope we get more seasons to see how that develops going forward.