#𝖎𝖎𝖎. *ੈ ˖ ° ⥽ you gleamed like silver in the distance... ⥼ ⅋. about

[zmeydeva-arch]

continuing with my blog theme of body horror i am afraid to say that zoya does take one of juris' eyes after she kills him ( in addition to the scales ) and she eventually fuses it to her forehead using her abilities as a durast. unlike the scales she buries the eye beneath her skin but when she is tapping into her empathic abilities it does uhhh open up and glow like her regular eyes but obviously it is horrifying and gross given that IT DOESN'T MATCH THE PAIR SHE ALREADY HAS LOL also it is implied that she kept the eye for years before choosing to embed it in herself <3

[zmeydeva-arch]

i feel like this goes without saying but it so important to know that while zoya is absolutely capable of tenderness and compassion romance with her will always have an undercurrent of hunger… of venom. she was born of a violent heart and that doesn't change when she is loved or is giving love. she brings this voracity with her into every relationship she has. she doesn’t know how to put it down!! hunger and love have no distinction to her. when she loves she feels that ache in her teeth, she feels that itching her palms. on top of this she is a terribly powerful individual. i don’t really think regular humans could even withstand an encounter with her on a uhh a purely physical level either. she IS the dragon and she loves as dragons do; she is jealous, she is cruel, she is loyal, but most importantly she enters into a relationship with a sense of totality.

[zmeydeva-arch]

as much as zoya loves nikolai i can say with full confidence they never marry while she is queen given how political of a move that is and not only do politics have no place in their relationship but zoya also refuses to put forth even the inkling of an idea of a new line of succession forming. i like to think she is probably the last or one of the last queens of ravka because her reign quite literally signifies a democratization of their government. this is based solely on the fact that she was chosen rather than simply given a crown and that idea will persist until a monarchy seems fairly obsolete.

[zmeydeva-arch]

it's all about zoya potentially having the most soothing color palette ever associated with her ( ivory, silver, periwinkle, powder blue, lavender ) and YET she is someone who is highly combative and confrontational! she is not decorated with warning signs actually quite the opposite. she presents herself as a clear sky when she is actually the heart of a tempest

[zmeydeva-arch]

getting a wee bit emotional thinking about no matter the verse zoya always somehow ends up in a position of leadership or even just the north star of whatever friendship constellation she finds herself in. she is the person always rallying the group and willing to make the tough... not always morally sound calls for the betterment of the collective. it should also be recognized that this stems less from her thirst for power ( which is also a thing! ) but more so her striving towards community no matter where she is. the grisha are othered... the suli are othered... witches are othered... she is always seeking out her people and trying to keep them safe by any means necessary and if that means wearing a crown or leading an army into battle she will do just that Every Time

[zmeydeva-arch]

the constant throughline in zoya's story is this inevitability that she will always end up surpassing her mentors we see it with botkin then the darkling and finally with juris but i think the real takeaway here is zoya is always an eternal student. she has her pride and this wicked self-assuredness but she is not too prideful to admit that she still has so much to learn and is COMMITED to growing into her power and reaching her full potential by any means necessary. THAT is what she owes herself and it is was she will continue to do throughout the centuries. it is this very factor that keeps her sane throughout her immortality. she has to keep evolving and learning because she is her own gauge for the passage of time. the world moves with a quickness and the people around her are fragile and fickle in comparison. change is measured by her own progress not what surrounds her because she has an entirely different chronology now that is unsuitable to the short term.... ANYWAYS

[zmeydeva-arch]

there is... something to be said about zoya being a fresh water creature; she has a distaste for the open sea, yet she is always at her most relaxed when submerged in a tub. water is obviously one of her ruling elements but when mixed with salt and sediment well it no longer can sustain life, at least human life that is! there also is pure water in blood and of course zoya's connection to rain and the water found in vapor i do often thing about her capability to render herself entirely into mist as well but that is a post for another day

[zmeydeva-arch]

it is always love or lust with you people but i can say with my full chest zoya is always Lusting for love and there is no other way to describe it

[zmeydeva-arch]

happy sunday who is trying to get their fingers sucked and neck bitten? huh

[zmeydeva-arch]

   ⊹      THE DRAGON’S EYE:   empathy explored through transmigration

as a warning,   before i get into the nitty gritty of this post there are MAJOR spoilers in here for rule of wolv.es so if you haven't finished or made it to this point in the series and would like to remain unspoiled do not proceed further…   with that out of the way let's begin.  

FRUITION:   zoya's empathic abilities begin to manifest themselves a few months following her union with the dragon saint,  juris.   juris is not the first grisha to bear the title and form of a dragon.   when he trains zoya he implies that the dragon is not simply a state of being but it is also a mantle,   in a sense,   that is worn and passed through generations.   this is important to note because zoya's empathy is not an addition to the presence of the dragon but the two are one in the same.   this six sense,   this heightened perception,   and emotional awareness of those around her is referred to as:   the dragon's eye.   this is very similar to the concept of a third eye,   which is heavily entwined with both hindu and buddhist traditions.   the third eye is said to be located above the pineal gland which i am only bringing up because reptiles specifically use their pineal gland to sense light,  or in other words,   to help see.   the pineal gland is a dormant organ in humans…  but not in zoya.  

zoya's killing,   and subsequent consumption,  of juris in the fold is zoya's second death.  juris explains that the proper conception of an amplifier requires sacrifice from both parties involved.  when zoya killed the tiger as a young girl for its teeth,  a part of her perished in the process,   though at the time she was unaware of it.   this was not a proper union between souls and its imperfection is described in how zoya was only  allowed a fraction of the tiger's power.   her second death,   the slaying of the dragon,   was one of totality.   there was a definitive ending of one life as she traversed into a new one with the dragon and all the dragons that came before him nestled into her shadow.   these past lives and their wisdom,   and immortal knowledge are the root of zoya's empathy.   she is firmly imbedded to the making at the heart of the world   ━   she is thousands upon thousands of hearts dead and buried and renewed over and over again.  

IN PRACTICE:   this ability remains dormant at first,   with good reason.   the full scope of the sight would have driven her mad if she were to let in all her past lives at once.  it begins in glimpses into the strongest emotions of those around her:   rage,   grief,  blindingly bright bouts of happiness,   and the depthless pits of depressions.   without means for regulation it is the emotional stimuli around her that drive her into premature transformations.   the dragon is closest when the eye is open widest:   she grows teeth,   scales like armor,   wings that cut through the blades of her shoulders.   it is excruciating as she fights against the dragon's eye;   it only results in her becoming more of a half-formed creature.  when she begins to allow herself to become more in tune with the internal wellbeing of those she shares her life with it is only then that she can reach a point of equilibrium:  the woman and the beast both become satiated through an act of mutual eating.

her act of mercy on the battlefield against the fjerdans is when she finally is able to conduct a fully balanced transformation;   whereby both the past dragons and the current zoya are in unison with each other rather than in opposition.   mercy,   benevolence,   and forgiveness is how proper mastery of her power is achieved.   she holds both ruin and revelation in her mouth;   both pardoner and executioner.   her status as a saint being solidified following this display of clemency is no surprise at all.   there is nothing people find more novel,   more divine,  than compassion from a force above that may strike you down.   the vengeful god that inevitably…   chooses forbearance.   thus the people give her a crown and they call her queen but her empathy is not a kindness,   it is a form of sapience.   a knowledge that comes from a degree of immortality.   she only choose mercy because she let go of her childish impulsivity but when she chooses violence now it is with all the ancient conviction of a primordial storm witch.   it is deliberate and it is final,  and in a way…   it is a justice.  

WITH REFINEMENT:   for the extent of empathic link itself there is no real limit to what zoya may access.   telepathic communication is reserved for when she is in her dragon form and is in no possession of a voice of her own so she may project her thoughts into the minds of others.   emotion,   in its rawest iteration,  is closest to her at all times.   she can easily sense how others feel about her but more importantly if she encounters an individual enough she is able to recognize their distinct emotional signature in a crowd of thousands.   every person has a different psychological threshold,  a  resting point when they are in a state of calm and composure.   for example;   if someone is prone to anxiety naturally and zoya is familiar with them she will be able to tell that this is a chemical imbalance rather than fully fledged panic because she is able to identify the root causes of one's sentiments.   that being said,  this awareness should not be mistaken for mood manipulation.   she cannot calm a person or incite fear,   she is strictly a bystander in this process. 

it also must be noted that there is an element of memory retention to this skill as well.   certain emotions are firmly rooted in past instances,   facets to memory like trauma are deeply entwined with one's individual history.   zoya can recall these instances,   usually unwillingly,   since they bubble to the forefront of a person's psyche when they are having an emotional response to a catalyst.   zoya understands this to be an intrusion and as i stated above getting caught in a wave of nostalgia usually does not typically suit her interests.   when she gains the mental fortitude to combat it she typically bars this aspect to her empathy from taking hold  and hijacking her senses.   this gateway to memory is more commonly used to read the emotional history of places.   for instance,   if one of the dragon's past incarnations had visited a building in particular years prior,   zoya may press her hand to a door or a wall and be able to see that landscape as it once was through her third eye.  if the pull is strong enough zoya can be whisked off into a vision from a departed era that highlights the potency of that tether,   if it was a great tragedy she will see those deaths,   if it was a joyous occasion,   she will witness that kiss.   when she fully unlocks the breadth of her empathy she becomes her own creation myth,   a genesis and exodus,   she is a series of infinite beginnings and cessations.

[zmeydeva-arch]

the way most (if not all) of zoya’s love interests think she is the most beautiful when she is at her most monstrous (So True!)

[zmeydeva-arch]

i will say a vampire verse for zoya is not something i made on a whim (though i love some gothic drama as much as the next person) but the fact that she is a character so seeped in the iconography of the dragon and even more overtly “dies” to become one i don’t think it is a stretch to say her transformation has parallels to the act of rising from the dead, as vampires do. ALSO even more of an obvious allusion is made towards dracula himself and the root word of that name quite literally meaning dragon in romanian. with that implication comes all the vampire lore that details dracula as a dragon as well as a vampire. so what i am saying is even when i am not writing zoya in a vampire verse... she has vampiric qualities generally, such as the chill of her skin and her uhh fairly obvious taste for blood though she doesn’t exactly need it to sustain herself. NOT TO MENTION the numerous times in canon the point of her teeth are called out and how she mentions ‘hunger’ specifically puts her in the worst mood.

[zmeydeva-arch]

character / blog association.

animal:  dragons, white tigers, and black panthers. color(s):  silver, the blue of hydrangeas, ivory, obsidian, thistle, midnight blue. month:   february. song: dream girl evil by f+tm. number:    seven. day or night:   night ,  late or maybe early depending on your definition.  the hours when the dark is considering morning still. plant:   too many to count but to name a few: datura, white oleander, blue roses,  hydrangeas, banyan trees. smell:   wildflowers... but also bergamot, jasmine, and ozone.  gemstone:  sapphires and moonstone. season: late winter.   place: snowy, rugged mountains, secret gardens and orchards. food: fruit tart astrological sign:  capricorn, ruled by saturn and their own ambition <3 element:  air. drink: black tea / brandy.

tagged by:  my sweetheart @wrrnth​ tagging :  @queenwolf, @solahsan, @liesmth,  @notodin,  @wonedeus,  @heartvalor ( for nina or libby mayhaps? )

[zmeydeva-arch]

the morality debate around zoya’s character has always been interesting to me because the whole idea of classifying her as either good or evil or even trying to nail down her moral alignment feels counter productive when trying to explain her character. the truth is zoya will continue to VILLIANIZE herself, whether it is true or not means so little because the fact is she will never view herself as someone good. there is a time in her early years of immortality that she agonizes over the fact that she is not someone who has a “golden spirit” nor ever will.  she attaches so much of her idea of goodness to humanity and it is a losing game because as much as she tries to convince herself that she is still human, she has transcended humanhood fundamentally. 

is she capable of kindness? absolutely. is she capable of great atrocities? beyond question. and throughout her life she will continue both of these practices in equal measure. she is not quite a god but is certainly no longer a woman, so to hold her to the moral standard of humanity is limiting and does not capture the complexity of her existence. she becomes what the world needs of her that is what it means to have this strong connection to the dragon and to all her past lives. i would go as far to say an apt figure to compare zoya to is mother nature and the mythos surrounding that personification. also, the introduction of motherhood into her character here is an irony not lost upon me! 

[zmeydeva-arch]

CHARACTER INTERVIEW.

BASICS.

NAME  :    zoya nazyalenskaya. nabri NICKNAME/S  :    zoechka, zoyushka, zoika. ALIASES  :    sapphire,  storm witch,  rebe d’va urga/molniya. AGE  :    23-26.  SPECIES  :   grisha/dragon-blooded.

PERSONAL:

MORALITY  :    lawful / chaotic / good / neutral / evil / true    RELIGION  :    atheist... slavic paganism in applicable verses. SINS  :   greed / gluttony / sloth / lust / pride / envy / wrath  VIRTUES  :  chastity / charity / diligence / humility / kindness / patience / justice  KNOWN LANGUAGES  :    she is a polyglot originally and then after she consumes the dragon she gains access to more ancient languages through use of the dragon’s eye. ravkan/russian is her mother tongue and the language she is most fluent in. shu/mandarin/mongolian is her second language and she is essentially fluent. kerch/dutch/german she knows fairly well but she speaks it heavily accented and with a few gramatical errors. suli/romani/croatian/hindi she is conversational in  the following languages she knows due to the dragon’s eye: zemeni, ancient kaelish/proto-celtic,  fjerdan/similar to scandinavian languages/ ancient norse. SECRETS  :    her last name is a fairly glaring secret as well as her heritage and her life prior to arriving at the little palace. the dragon’s eye i suppose is a secret as well, while zoya’s dragon form becomes a ravkan symbol of strength her empathic abilities and the fact that she now is displaying skills that are not confined to only the summoning order is less known. 

PHYSICAL:

BUILD  :  scrawny / bony / slender / fit / athletic / curvy / herculean / pudgy / average    HEIGHT  :   167 cm  /  5′6 .  SCARS  /  BIRTHMARKS  :    most notable are tiger claw scars she has across her back/shoulder blades which she received after protecting tiger cubs on the border of fjerda at 12 years-old.  she has plenty of lichtenberg scars all over her hands that travel from her palms up to her forearms that she keeps adding to each time she summons lightning. along her chin she has a scrape mark from the church she toppled on her wedding day the first time she displayed grisha abilities. she has many many many more from all the wars and battles she has fought in but we truly would be here till the end of the week if i listed them all.  ABILITIES  /  POWERS   :    zoya is ridiculously over-powered i am not even going to pretend she is isn’t. transformation is her most notable ability she can change forms into a dragon and in that form she can summon storms, breathe lighting, and communicate telepathically with her allies. the dragon’s eye is zoya’s empathic ability that allows her to sense the emotions of those around her and even pick up on their memories if she knows the other party well enough. obviously she is a storm-summoner first and foremost with her lightning work being what she is known for... she can restart a heart which is incredibly difficult skill to master. as i said above she has display skills across the other grisha orders such a fabrikating and heartrending but she still is learning how to use this expanded skillset.  RESTRICTIONS  :    she is too emotional, too angry, and this can limit the focus she needs to perform her magic sufficiently. conversely her powers also don’t respond well when she chooses to shut herself off to any and all emotion as the source of her magic... quite literally is empathy. essentially it is imperative she strike an internal balance in order for her to unlock her full capabilities. 

FAVORITES:

FOOD  :    the real question is what will she NOT eat? she loves pickled herring, warm black-bread, blini with sour cream, but her favorite meal will always be dessert. she LOVES fruit tart especially raspberry.  DRINK  :    black tea or brandy.  PIZZA TOPPING  :    she is gross so i want to say anchovies.  COLOR  :    twilight blue,  soft periwinkle,   silver,   sapphire,   ivory  MUSIC GENRE  :    if we are talking in a modern context then the indie rock sad girl genre was made for her.  lucy dacus and phoebe bridg.ers... you will catch her screaming moon song. she probably enjoys russian folk music too for the nostalgia and how it reminds her of her aunt.  BOOK GENRE  :    she will tear up a romance novel as she mainly reads for escapism and when insomnia strikes so something light that doesn’t require a lot of time invested on her part is what is ideal for her. MOVIE GENRE  :    i don’t really think she would see films as something worth investing her time in really? but if she has to watch something i can see her enjoying historical dramas and again the romance genre as a whole. what can i say she loves love even if she doesn’t want to admit it.  CURSE WORD  :    when she is mad you will get a few swears out of her but she is usually more creative with her insults lol.  SCENTS  :    bergamot and wild flowers... ozone when she’s Pressed. 

FUN STUFF:

SONGS  :    gilded lily,  the cults  /  dream girl evil,   f+tm  /  bagdad,   rosalía  /  cry,  ashnikko  /  babylon,   sza  /  hard rain,   lykke li /  violent,   carolesdaughter  /  loose garment ,   muna AESTHETIC  :    lightning through cloud cover,  dampened earth after heavy rainfall,  a dew kissed garden in the early hours of the morning,  the moon’s rippling reflection in a puddle,   white tigers prowling,  a grass-stained white dress and hem lined with blood,  the clinking of metal bangles,  thunder booming in unison to a dragon’s cry,  a crown of silver wings wrought in steel,  dirt underneath fingernails and soil caked in palm lines,  crushed blueberries underfoot,  strewn petals of white oleander SINGS IN THE SHOWER  :    nope! LIKES PUNS  :    do you wanna get zapped into an early grave? go for it

tagged by :   my guardian angels @wrrnth  &  @daylighter​ <3 tagging :    legit everyone has been tagged in this already but please read i spent more time than i care to admit filling this out 

[zmeydeva-arch]

zoya’s name meaning ’life’ can be so personal when one considers the destructive nature of her abilities and how she is very much perceived as a saint of ruin when in actuality she is a guardian of rejuvenation which requires one to sow the land before new life can grow