#shadow and bone criticism

[snowleopardtherebel]

thinking about the shadow and bone netflix series again and now im fucking pissed off

the addition of an entirely different book to the series, so that you had one main cast and then the other cast, made the show feel in credibly cluttered. they added in the crows to the series, and yet the crows felt constantly pushed aside by the show itself. none of the characters are memorable. they took out anything that made the characters memorable.

genya got the classic 'female character with horrific scars ends up dulled down in the visual media' treatment.

they added RANDOM RACISM that wasn't even really in the original books?

they took a FINAL BATTLE SEQUENCE that had been the CLIFFHANGER ENDING of one of the books and slapped it awkwardly in the middle of the second season.

zoya, a mixed race character tells alina, "you stink of the orphanage, half-breed" instead of just saying 'you stink like the orphanage'. great. make the white passing poc character be racist to another poc character.

the main character was not originally a poc character, i think they changed it because the actor who played her is chinese? but they didn't do anything with that fact except have ALL THE CHARACTERS BE HORRIBLY RACIST TOWARDS HER

oh also they completely erased inej's sexual assault trauma it's gone. non-existent. never even really mentioned. they also completely removed any mention of her gettt kidnapped by slave traders when that was a huge part of her story, and then ACT LIKE SHE NEVER HAD TRAUMA OF THE MENAGERIE TO BEGIN WITH like…ok.

then other nitpicky things like rusalye being tiny as fuck, nobody recognizing nikolai even though HE WASN'T DISGUISED. AT ALL, the darkling taking a back seat even though he was THE LITERAL MAIN VILLAIN, (iirc) genya's sa trauma not even really being brought up, the way the amplifiers were handled, so much character mischaracterization...

[scentedmiracleobject]

I have to say that I've never seen such a hypocrite fandom as much as S&B. You gotta love when Aleksander aka the darkling gets the blame for, not only his mistakes, but everyone's mistakes as well

- The betrayal of the first king ✅️

- Anti-grisha hate ✅️

- Otkazatsya intolerance of Grisha ✅️

- The death of Alina's family ✅️

-The death of Alina's friends✅️ wink🙈🕯📜

- The king raping Genya ✅️ 🤡

- Fjerda hatred ✅️🤡

- Shu Han hatred ✅️🤡

- Starting a war between 2nd and 1st Army✅️ (definitely not Zelatan's fault)

- People abandoning their Grisha children ✅️

- Every sin under the sun in that Universe ✅️

Let's act like Nikolai wasn't the one behind the murder of Alexi ( Alina supposed friend) and multiple Grisha and for what ??? For a union with Alina, he could've easily gotten if he had just returned to the palace. But, we as a Fandom will for sure blame the darkling for the KING, s3xully assaulting Genya because that totally makes sense 🤡

[chaoticace22]

do you know that thing when you open up tumblr and feel deep confusion?

ps. it's just a meme pls don't come after me

[strawbeb]

“i hope you die” lame, overused, unoriginal

“i hope your favourite book series gets a netflix adaptation which is actually good and popular only for netflix to cancel it after 2 seasons” horrifying, upsetting, stabbing me would hurt less

[theweeklydiscourse]

We’re going through this phase of fandom right now where people willfully ignore the sexist implications of female characters being shafted into housewife/mother roles or disempowered by the end of their stories. If you dare to criticize such writing decisions, you will be accused of sexism and be hounded for not “respecting their choices” as though these characters are actual people and not tools of storytelling. As if the cliche of female characters “sacrificing” their powers or having them stripped away exists in a vacuum and isn’t influenced by any larger cultural factors.

They’ll say: “Not every character has to be a girlboss!!” Or “Let women be soft and traditional!!” As if that’s some revolutionary way of thinking and not the norm. It’s an extension of choice feminism, dismissing any dissent about the quality of the narrative to make it make sense and avoid the uncomfortable truth. Diminishing the agency of female characters and cramming them into traditional roles is a common occurrence in many stories, and we should be allowed to criticize them without being silenced.

[dimalry]

I am once again asking you to donate to this family, as they have been trying to evacuate from Gaza and pay for the surgery of sami‘s father for nearly a year. I‘m begging you- please help this go viral so that we can save their lives.

[lilu787788]

I could never side with Alina, Mal, Nikolai, Zoya, or the others, because their so-called mission was built on naive idealism and staggering ignorance of power. The destruction of the Fold, which they paraded as some kind of moral triumph, was in reality a fatal strategic failure. The Fold was not just a curse. It was a wall that kept predators at bay. For all its danger, it created a necessary boundary that stopped Fjerda and Shu Han from tearing Ravka apart. Erasing it while knowing enemies waited just beyond was not heroism. It was recklessness. It was the act of people playing at leadership, people who had never had to make real decisions with real consequences.

In eliminating the Fold, they stripped Ravka of more than a barrier. They removed a symbol of power, a geopolitical fact that demanded caution from aggressors. The moment the Fold vanished, Ravka stood naked before its enemies. Aleksander’s disappearance only made this worse. With him gone, the Grisha lost the one person who had fought for them with more than empty speeches and fragile alliances. No new defense was put in place. No army strong enough to hold the borders. No plan to deal with foreign aggression. No system to protect Grisha from being hunted in the streets. Alina and the others replaced harsh reality with fantasy. And fantasies don’t survive war.

Aleksander’s decision at the port was not cruelty. It was strategy. It was power used with restraint, directed at those who posed a real and immediate threat: Zlatan and the Drüskelle. They were not innocents. They were murderers gathering to destroy Grisha lives and destabilize the region. Aleksander acted fast and with precision. He didn’t revel in bloodshed, but he did what was required. He made sure the message was clear: Ravka is not yours to carve up. That is not evil. That is leadership. That is what real rulers do when their people are in danger.

Meanwhile, Nikolai stood delivering polished words that meant nothing. Alina and Mal congratulated themselves for their purity, while leaving a shattered nation defenseless. It was not only shortsighted — it was insulting. Their performative virtue was empty in the face of nations that had long wanted to see Ravka burn. Their ignorance of realpolitik wasn’t just foolish. It was dangerous. And in a world that mirrors our own — where aggressors wait for weakness — their choices feel not only unrealistic, but offensive.

Fjerda would waste no time. Shu Han would make their move. Civil unrest would ignite as the false promise of peace fell apart. Grisha would be scapegoated and butchered. Aleksander’s absence would be a gaping hole no one else could fill. The monarchy would collapse, exposed as ornamental and hollow. And the so-called heroes would become the architects of their nation’s downfall, remembered not as saviors, but as the ones who opened the gates and let the wolves in.

Aleksander was never the villain. He was the only one who saw the entire board. He knew that peace is not given, it’s enforced. Hope alone is not a strategy. Fear is what keeps the enemy from crossing your border, from hunting your people, from tearing your country apart. He understood that to lead in a brutal world, you sometimes must make brutal choices — not because you want to, but because no one else will. In removing him and the Fold, Alina and her allies didn’t end Ravka’s suffering. They ensured it would grow.

[is-today-tomorrow-in-nz]

the darkling had a lot of repetitive phrases he used when he was manipulating people. this has been said before, but he says “you and i are going to change the world.” a LOT. like bro please get a new line we’re all tired of your bullshit he also uses the argument of grisha aging against people. he points out to alina that she’ll outlive mal, and points out to nikolai that zoya will outlive him. in both of these situations, he wanted the couples separated. he kept scaring them by making them think of losing each other. and idk i think that’s interesting.

i didn’t even like darklina in the beginning of the first book 1) age difference(he states he super old at the start, the worst part is he’s MUCH older than the age he lies about)2) he was being all mysterious and vague about how the little palace and grisha fit into alina’s life3) he seemed to be avoiding confrontation from alina when she asked him questions. ik that’s mostly because he was lying out of his ass but he was still leaving alina guessing pointlessly in the dark and let alina feel like an outsider. he was giving ALL the red flags even at the very start . But seriously, the two interacted a tiny bit in the first book (and that ended with him stealing her power and taking ownership of her), barely at all in the second, (and even that was just a whole lot of the Darkling being a creep and stalking on her, giving her mental trauma) and a tiny bit more in the third. (In which the Darkling killed several of her loved ones, destroyed her childhood home, and in turn, Alina killed him)

Just wanna say I'm not Anti darklina. I just want to khnow what do you think about this stupid fans :)))

Before I start, I want you to know that I'm staunchly anti-darklina and not for the reasons you think.

I hate Alina as a character and I believe the Darkling deserves a better partner than that village idiot. So don't expect any sympathies from me for her or for her 'trauma'. S&B is a chosen one trope and Alina is a stagnant protagonist. She had no thoughts beside Mal for THREE WHOLE BOOKS. And before you pile on me screaming, 'She's a teenager!', I'd like to point out that so was Katniss, Harry, Hermione, Percy and several other YA protagonists and they all did remarkably well in their quests. Where as Alina is a boring, judgmental and doormat of a character with air between her ears. So no, she's not going to receive any grace from me.

Now repeating phrases is a crime? Did Nikolai not have one? or did you forget about 'When people say impossible, they usually mean improbable.' or 'I love it when you quote me.'. I believe even Kaz had one. Somehow it's just a problem when the Darkling does it; that too he did like TWICE and to two people.

Besides, this whole, Zoya was also conveniently manipulated by the evil villain and was a victim too, was one of the most BS thing LB had ever written. And please, don't pretend like LB doesn't retcon her own stories. Eg. Genya's power was so rare in Book 1 that no one could do what she does till LB needed someone to disguise Nikolai. Suddenly, the Bataar twins could do it too. And by Six of Crows, even a poorly trained, fresh out of school Nina could tailor anybody like a piece of cake(not talking about the parem!Nina). Yeah, that's how much she retcons. So I'm no way believing that suddenly Zoya became so special to the Darkling that he said 'You and I are going to change the world'. Aleksander was like 500-700 years old and for an immortal like him, Zoyas were a dime and a dozen.

Zoya was the result of LB shooting her own foot by writing a stagnant character like Alina. So once LB got rid of her, she needed a new character every bit opposite to Alina-a confident girl boss who makes grown men quiver and yet every man would fall at her feet and bend over backwards to accommodate her. And voila! Zoya was born with the perfect amount of toxic girlboss energy and temper to bring down storms. Plus don't you think Zoya's entire character backstory is copy paste of Danny from GoT?

Anyways, coming back. When Aleksander was pointing out the mortality of their relationships, he was telling the truth. So is he supposed to just sugar coat things to the people who destroyed everything he built? Is he supposed to be nice to them? You seem to have a problem when he hides the truth and also have a problem when he tells them. So…

Coming to your other points;

1) Age difference - In real life, I strongly condemn it. But in this case, it's not like he was asking for it. Sure, Aleksander would love to have age appropriate relationships with someone mature enough to understood the struggles of Grisha. However, he can't because THEY'RE ALL DEAD, unlike him. So what is an immortal being supposed to do? Remain celibate for the rest of eternity?

2)I don't know how old you are but I'm going to assume you're working individual. So every time you have new coworker in your office, you'll spill out all your secrets to them right off the bat? Do you confess your sins and desires to them? Seek their forgiveness? Or beg for their acceptance?

See how silly it sounds? You're holding Aleksander to standard that you, yourself won't practice in real life. Aleksander is not a love sick boy, he's an experienced army general and Alina never earned his trust. You don't even have to look far and wide; Book 1, chapter 5 gives every info you need to know. He told her the reality and as usual it went past her. So no, there were no red flags. Your girl was just that stupid.

And when exactly did he make her feel like an outsider? Please, he never have to gaslight Alina, she can do that all by herself. Besides, did he stop her from training? or mingling with Grisha? Or let other Grisha mistreat her? She never opened her heart enough to actually learn about any Grisha. She even forwent eating at the common table after a few days. Even simple banter like Marie talking in Suli, was offensive and indirect hit on her worthlessness in Alina's eyes. And when she asked Genya to eat with her and Genya tried to explain why she can't, Alina's response was, 'I'm not going to weep into my soup.' She thought they were all mocking her. So how exactly Aleksander play in role into making her feel insecure? She had a major main character syndrome and was in a perpetual state of victimhood. Whatever she felt, I assure you, she did it herself.

Finally, he did not take ownership of her. He learned that she never could be trusted and used her as a weapon. He had bigger things at stake than an idiot's sensitivities. So he made sure the trigger for her powers lies with him. It's a trolley problem and I agree with what he did. In Book 2&3, Alina was his enemy, in case you missed that bit.

Once again, Aleksander is not a teenage boy. He's an army general fighting an active war. If you cannot understand the ugliness of war then you can never understand him. There's a duality to every great leader. Winston Churchill was a war hero but he also caused one of the greatest famines in India that killed nearly 4 million people. So make of it what you will.

PS: If you're the anon who has been spamming Pro-Darkling bloggers these past two days, then this would be the last time, I'm responding to you. You claim you're not against the Darkling and then bring up the same three talking points like every other anti. So I'd appreciate if you could stick to your side of the fandom. However, if you're not, then this is not directed at you and I was not trying to offend you.

[elivenya]

So it's maybe just me but....i really don't like the trope where a young puritan protagonist goes into some sort of battle against an ancient (antagonist) character. A character who tries to fix something very serious and knows, because of his long lifetime, how the damn fucking world works. And then our young puritan hero comes and saves the word from this ancient beeing to save the status quo. And for some reason also outsmarts the ancient character....like seriously...this is the epidome of modern western brainrot...

[ackermental]

I swear to God, if original SW trilogy came out today, Luke would make peace with the Emperor and surrender to the not so subtle allegory for nazis, because of "nobody wins in a war", "if you do this, the cycle of violence will never stop" bullshit.

[raylasgf]

netflix renewing xo kitty for a THIRD season but cancelling shadow and bone… oh i hate them

[nikalaeva]

Time to take a break from the damn fairies and talk about damn Grisha

Imo, Shadow and Bone is not a bad book. Just the YA, the author didn't bother to understand Russian culture (kvass and herring, oh yeah baby 😂), but with a rather nice lore, plot and romance. Ending 0/10, but the story itself is quite entertaining.

Now to the main thing. Unpopular opinion, but for me so far Alina/Darkling is the best example of "enemies to lovers" trope. This is exactly what I think it should look like, and Leigh Bardugo did a great job summarizing the trope in one sentence:

"I will strip away all that you know, all that you love, until you have no shelter but me".

Of course, out of context it sounds terrible. And I would like Alina not to be such an amoeba, fixating herself entirely on Mal, and answer the Darkling in the same way, like:

"You've come so far that even I can't bring you back to the light. So I'll go after you. I will hunt you like game. And at the end, when you have nowhere to retreat, I'll destroy you. Where no one will see. Where you will disappear, and when I return, I'll do everything to make sure the memories of you are disappear too. Like you didn't exist".

I don't mind the tragic ending - let the Darkling die, let Alina end up with Mal, it's okay. But I will remember the real enmity and hatred, two strong personalities and the struggle of opposites, which slowly turned into the realization that they are in fact too similar, and others will never understand them the way they understood each other. I'm also disappointed because Mal is not the childhood friend, good guy a girl should be with. Their relationship with Alina is also toxic. But if you don’t expect anything different with the Darkling, he’s a bad guy, then with Mal it looks like Alina was choosing between Scylla and Charybdis.

I'm not saying that after all what happened it's bad to want a quiet, peaceful life, with a person you've known all your life. The problem is that after all, you are no longer the same children. And in the case of "Shadow and Bone" the plot does not seem to be looping, like Bilbo returning home, but erasing the whole story, like "she woke up and realized it was just a dream".

That is, Alina could become anything other than a Sun Summoner, as the Darkling wanted, or a queen for Nikolai. The characters in books, especially fantasy, differ from real people in that they are given more opportunities. People like fantasy because it's not like reality. But Alina, despite the fact she liked being a Grisha, she defeated the Darkling and survived the war, says to us: "I returned to where I started, and became an ordinary girl, which Mal always wanted me to be I always wanted to be". This is clearly not a peaceful life and love for home, but a message to young readers - don’t grow up, don’t change, don’t want more, don’t look for a place where you can be more interesting and better than at home.

Sounds kind of... depressing, don't you think? 😉

[undercover-grisha]

Yeah I did NOT listen to y’all’s votes in the hair poll lmaoo 😭

[greensaplinggrace]

me describing the intricate polyamorous relationships that exist between an entire cast of characters

[theweeklydiscourse]

I don't understand WHY Bardugo wrote Alina's ending the way she did. Did she think it would make for a bittersweet, satisfactory ending? (It did not.) Did she think it would be sharp and realistic? (It unfortunately was a bit.) Did she think she'd be subverting expectations?? Did she love Mal so much she went insane?? I just don't get it. I just don't get it. If by the end of the series she forgot to add in more love interest for Alina (because she obviously didn't want to consider the other two despite being fascinated with Aleksander) she could just have. Let poor Alina be alone. Why condemn her to such a fate? I think everyone I've talked about this has unanimously agreed they'd cease to exist if they were in her place. It's so. So strange

It’s all a consequence of the underlying conservatism and misogyny of the series. This is best illustrated through the fact that even in Alina’s “happily ever after” she is still regarded as a weird outsider while Mal is beloved by their new community. It isolates Alina in a way that the Darkling never could, it’s representative of Alina’s permanent dependence on Mal as a consequence of their marriage. Mal is allowed to have a life outside of his marriage, while Alina has to depend on him for emotional connection. She can only find fulfillment in her husband while Mal is afforded the freedom (and means) to seek fulfillment from other places.

What I imagine Bardugo thought, was that it would be heartwarming and pleasant for the “boy and the girl” to return to simplicity and live happily ever after. Hence the line: “They had an ordinary life, full of ordinary things—if love can ever be called that.” In isolation, it’s certainly a sweet sentiment that one might smile at in a different story. However, in this story, it’s a clear attempt to romanticize the dire (and downright depressing) circumstances of Alina’s so-called “happily ever after”. It looks like a happily ever after, but readers with a critical eye can see it for what it truly is. They are able to see the way Alina is disempowered at nearly every level, that she had been relegated to this role because she dared to want more out of life.

This gestures towards the fundamental reason why Malina is far more disturbing than the likes of Darklina. It’s disturbing because it reflects the ways women are pushed to settle down and sacrifice themselves for their man and glorifies that sacrifice as the healthy alternative to “greed”. Sure, the Darkling is villainous, but his actions are so beyond the normal scope of everyday relationships that they fail to land the same impact as Mal’s mundane assholery. Alina is considered greedy for wanting to excercise her power and influence for a noble cause, but somehow Mal isn’t greedy for wanting Alina’s full undivided attention despite her many other responsibilities? The narrative validates his unreasonable requests by presenting the ending as something wholesome and heartwarming. Mal’s selfishness and greed is validated by the text because it is societally acceptable and encouraged men to have those traits. He has to be the more powerful one in the relationship for this traditional happy ending to work.

Bardugo condemned Alina to a depressing fate because she was so fixated on the image of a fairy tale happily ever after that she ignored how Alina would be impacted by it. I think this reveals Bardugo’s strange affection for Mal, but it also shows how she failed to see how the realistic mundanity of Malina would not work in her favour. Because…yeah it’s realistic all right, realistically misogynistic that is.

[rakan-gaza]

Rakan Abuijlan's family once lived beautiful days in the city of Khan Younis, Gaza. Their home was a safe haven, filled with love and hope. Mustafa (68 years old), the hardworking father despite his old age and chronic illness, worked in public affairs to provide for his family. Suad (66 years old), the caring mother, looked after every detail of their lives. Aisha (25 years old), the diligent daughter, was on the verge of fulfilling her dream of graduating from university with an outstanding GPA.

But the war changed everything.

Today, there is no home, no safety. All they have left is a tent that offers no protection from the cold or heat, living without water, electricity, food, or medicine. They are caught between the threat of bombings and the grip of hunger. Aisha’s dreams of a bright future were shattered along with the walls of their house.

This family, once living in peace, is now struggling just to survive. Mustafa’s health is deteriorating, and without medical care, he cannot endure much longer. Aisha’s education has come to a halt, and her dream of learning feels further away than ever.

We ask for your support and assistance for this family. Your donation could be the difference between life and death, between despair and hope. Let’s be the hope they desperately need in this critical moment. Help us restore the safety and dignity that the Rakan family has lost.

Donate now and be a part of saving the Rakan family's lives. Every contribution makes a difference.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for considering my request. Your support means more than words can express. Together, we can turn a story of loss and fear into a journey of hope and reassurance.

With deepest gratitude,

Rakan & his