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⠀⠀⠀ smolder & smirk

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Almost halfway through Morocco, and I still have no clue what is it supposed to be about, but Marlene is gorgeous and her confident dandy strout in a suit and seductive gay manners were totally worth it.

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LOTTE VERBEEK as GUILIA FARNESE THE BORGIAS (2011-2013)

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pookaseraph:

@is-today-tomorrow-in-nz There’s a great phrase ‘Born on third and thinks she hit a triple’, sums up Zoya

Zoya is clearly set to parallel Darkling though. They even spell it out.

How?

She's an ordinary powerful Squaller, who's given power beyond measure. Her adolescenece is spent in comfort of Little Palace, so she takes that possibility away from other children. She's rash, cruel and arrogant, yet people are lining to kiss her shoes. She never shows a single quality a leader should possess, yet somehow she's VOTED a Queen in hereditary monarchy...

While the Darkling was born a Shadow Summoner- unique, immortal Grisha. Huge chunk of his life, especially youth was spent on the run, with no security, not even a roof over his head or food in his belly guaranteed. No reprieve, because laws didn't protect Grisha in any way. He's immensely patient, determined, completely disregarding his own well-being as long as it serves his goal. He shows empathy even towards those, who harm him. He doesn't care about who or what people are, only if they're capable and reliable. If he can't prevent it, he makes sure their suffering counts. After centuries of servitude and setbacks, he decides to take matters in his own hands, prepares a Coup, and eventually gets on the Throne. All we know about his reign, is that he listened to his subjects' concerns. Despite all of the above, he's constantly viewed as unnatural, suspicious, bloodthirsty and/or straight up evil.

Zoya didn't end up repeatedly maritally raped as a child bride thanks to the Darkling's law. She got education and opportunity to work on herself in relative prosperity thanks to the place he built from nothing, a privilage he earned through his service. She stole more power from others without thinking half a step ahead, while on a journey he arranged. Her beef with him stemmed from too little attention she somehow felt entitled to, and the fact HER people died due to their own actions in aftermath of his military move. She has him tortured and he hands her the crown.

Remind me again, where are the parallels?

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sad-outsider:

here is a fanfiction on this topic I can also recommend this fanfiction with dark!Alina

starlikesilences:

going full cat by shoving a glass off his nightstand every day just as he's falling asleep 😂😂

Okay, Alina doesn't feel confident enough to feed Aleksander false information once she knows how the Tether works...

But why not distract him? Annoy him? Tease him?

Randomly pop up, sing a catchy song ten times in a row, and once she's certain he remembers it, disappear.

If she catches him explaining something, repeat "Are you suuuuure?!" after every sentence.

Think about him very hard, when she's preparing for bed, pretend she doesn't realize it and cut him off as she's lifting her chemise.

Hell, if she'd allow herself to admit she's interested in him, she could make a game of guessing his name before he gives it to her.

Yeah, none of that might win her the war, but a distracted mind is more likely to make mistakes.

edit: He's touch-starved! She knows it!

Run her fingers over the back of his neck, before he realizes she's there, and disappear.

Put her head on his shoulder as he's in middle of a council meeting.

Poke him with her finger. Again. And again... Has she never seen a cat?!

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If KoS had even a drop of realism, there would be no "Second Army".

What kind of idiot wants to join the organisation, whose majority of members got slaughtered by the Crown's other soldiers without repercussion mere months earlier?

The new regime is standing on a corpse of the most powerful member of their group.

The new regime isn't able to guarantee even safety within their borders from foreign forces.

Uncertain position of not-quite serfs, likely facing even more hatred, since otkazat'sya serfdom is still a fully functioning thing in Ravka.

The cells abroad are somehow working with no issue. They didn't need help from within Ravka in the meantime, they're fully functioning and knew how and who to contact after the Civil war.

Leadership consisting of the least well-suited and qualified people around. All well under thirty, when Grisha live longer than ordinary humans.

Voluntary conscription within Ravkan borders.

Obvious nepotism.

No discipline. IN. A. FUCKING. ARMY.

Siege and Storm- Chapter 17 (Leigh Bardugo)

This would've been a good tactics, if:

a.) Adrik weren't a child even by Grisha standards (and didn't speak as such).

b.) He were qualified to stay and fight.

Picture fully-trained adult asking to be allowed to join special operation he wasn't chosen for, but it is in his capabilities.

Ideas?

Like your orders are worth nothing and all they need to do to go around them, is a drop of stubborness to come back a week later?

Alina should back down the moment Nadia admits Adrik will do what he wants anyway. That's not soldier's behaviour. If he can't follow a simple order, he's unfit to actively serve in the army. And he sure as hell shouldn't be allowed anywhere near battlefield.

He acts like an unruly child, and that's how he should've been treated.

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siriuslyobsessedwithfiction:

And if they're not bigots, that means they raised Alina not to be a bigot, which means she would accept Sasha as a person and not some creature from the start, which means she would at least talk to him before running away when Baghra told her a boogeyman story, which means none of the shit show after that would happen, and Grisha would finally be free and Ravka would prosper under new rule, which means *smashes keyboard*

stromuprisahat:

@siriuslyobsessedwithfiction And even if she got scared and ran, she'd have a reasonable place to go. "Mrs. Starkov, please, put the pan down, I only want to talk to Alina."

Had everything gone according to his plan and Alina had not been an orphan, how do you think Aleksander would have dealt with having in-laws?

At first he'd try to charm them- it's easy way to get on Alina's good side.

Then it really depends on their worldview and personalities.

Assuming they're both otkazat'sya, he'd probably treated them the same way he does others he doesn't want to offend, perhaps he could grow fond of them, if they're Grisha-friendly and reasonable.

He'd definitely try not to get too attached- they'll die soon anyway.

There's quite a potential for self-reflection and/or hilarity.

If they're warm and loving, yet not delusional, he might realize avoiding loss by avoiding attachements makes his life poorer.

He might learn to care for himself a little. His mother taught him how to survive, but living and enjoying life didn't quite make it into his vocabulary. I'd like to believe seeing his soulmate treated differently might make him re-evaluate his stance.

There's also the contradiction between familial relationship and actual age. There WILL come a moment, when the terrifying Black General becomes "young man".

I truly hope they're just ordinary kind people, not some bigots. Sasha deserves family, who'll bully him with love and affection.

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#easiest way to recognise an amplifier is via grishas #they could very well have some as captives and slaves #who have no choice in the matter

stromuprisahat:

@unabashedmoonlight Or good old brainwashing and abuse. Vanya isn't unclean witch, he's the village idiot, loved by all animals. His pure soul can recognize demons. If he ever starts to think, we can beat it out of him.

siriuslyobsessedwithfiction:

I always thought the amplifier animals were bigger and more beautiful. Which made them easier to identify. Perhaps they preferred to be isolated from their kind sometimes or other animals acted different around them.

Demon in the Wood comics added an extra storyline about another amplifier in the area- a bear- and Aleksander's Eryk and Annika's sidequest to hunt it.

(Surprisingly, it only adds another layer of tragedy.)

... that leads them into the otkazat'sya village on the other side of the mountain...

Otkazat'sya located and killed an amplifier.

(How? How do they recognize it?)

The don't hunt it, because they're afraid it's dangerous.

They don't hunt it, because they're hungry.

They kill the bear, because it is valuable to Grisha.

They recognize the connection between Grisha and amplifiers, so they destroy what they can.

They call it the DEMON bear... just like they call Grisha witches.

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Alina's the first one, because she's also covering her eyes.

I don't agree with the idea that Alina's romance storylines are like a What-if Beauty & The Beast where Belle chooses Gaston. Because Alina isn't half the character Belle was so their character arcs can't really be compared. If one wants to make a comparison with BatB then Alina's story would be more like "what-if one of the Bimbos that pined after Gaston went to the Beast's castle instead of Belle?" And there we'd have a shallow girl whose entire personality revolves around her Chad boyfriend eventually kill the Beast because he's Evil™️ and unnatural. Which is essentially Alina's journey in TGT.

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I just noticed that you've also familiar with The Folk of Air! I've read Cruel Prince and I'm halfway to Wicked King. What have you enjoyed most about the trilogy? No spoilers to Wicked King and the Queen of Nothing, please lol.

Jude.

I love the woman. I love her determination, her spine, her paranoia and emotional idiocy, her love for her family, her capability and cunning. I love that she is truly constantly in danger, but if anyone tries to get her, she'll do anything to survive or at least take as many with her as possible.

She's the cockroach kind of character, but with goals.

My Queen. <3

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The beast doesn’t need to transform to be loved. He doesn’t have to turn into a boring fucking prince to be loved. Or renounce to the essence of who it is. To me love is not transformation, love is acceptance and understanding.

Guillermo del Toro

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Abduction, by Maria Panfilova

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the beauty loves a beast

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The Beauty and the Beast but it’s Asoiaf

Reference:

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Just opened my Enemies and Lovers package, and I'm totally not crying about how beautiful it is.

I might take some pics when there's better light.

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He wasn’t sure he recognized himself. On the northern ice, his choices had seemed clear. But now his thoughts were muddied with these thugs and thieves, with Inej’s courage and Jesper’s daring, and with Nina, always Nina. He couldn’t deny the relief he’d felt when she’d emerged from the incinerator shaft, disheveled and gasping, frightened but alive. When he and Wylan had pulled her out of the flue, he’d had to force himself to let her go.

Six of Crows- Chapter 29 (Leigh Bardugo)

I still think it should take more than a single mission for his complete change of heart, but I like watching Matthias starting to respect the other Crows.

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#do not mistake this as her turning into a cold blooded killer however. bc i hate that. i want her to stay kind and feel guilty for it a #little.

I hope sansa gets to kill someone in twow. Every other major pov character has I think its her turn