#Darklina is endgame

[dhampiravidi]

Chapters: 4/4 Fandom: Shadow and Bone (TV), The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo Rating: Explicit Relationships: The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Original Female Character(s), The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov, Alina Starkov/Original Female Character(s)

Additional Tags: Mildly Dubious Consent, Cheating, Hate Sex, Revenge Sex, Crying, Tsar The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova, Married The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Original Female Character(s), Overstimulation, Oral Sex, Bisexual Alina Starkov, Facesitting, Sad Ending, Soft The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova, Shadow Summoners (The Grisha Trilogy), Bisexual Female Character, Snark, What Was I Thinking?, Tidemakers (Grishaverse)

Summary:

You catch your husband, the great Tsar of Ravka, Aleksander Morozova, in bed with the Sun Summoner. Then he announces his intention to divorce you. So you decide to get your revenge, the only way you know will hurt him.

This can be seen as a less-happy alternative to the universe presented in my other fic, Moi Soverenyi.

[earlsgrey]

it’s actually terribly funny to me that malinas and darklinas spent this much time beefing for nikolina to come out on top. it feels poetic

[ghosdeds]

Soooo I just found this in my drafts funnily enough — I wrote it before the second season came out so I guess sometimes in late 2022/early 2023. Back when I was (foolishly) hopeful for season 2 and honestly I might make something out of it and get to writing.

-

How, in my opinion, they can salvage the ‘call me Aleksander’ scene : flashbacks of moments between the Darkling and Alina that we’ve never seen before (the deleted scenes!!! More of Alina’s life at the Little Palace please thanks), prior to the unfortunate name reveal, shown to us one by one as Alina grieve for what could have been and for the man she’s come to almost love. Mal calling him by his name and Alina immediately snapping at him not to say it aloud, with us the audience realizing that she feels guilty over sharing this last confidence she’s gotten from him. The Darkling letting her know, very bitterly, that she’s made him feel .. human (not in so many words, ‘course), that he thought he’d finally found the one who’ll accept and understand him, his one true equal, that he believed for a second that he’ll never be alone again, and him looking back at her and telling her he’s been unfortunately mistaken, that it was a weakness on his part - I put my trust in a girl who cannot stand the thought of her own potential - and that he’ll never even think of trusting her ever again, with her yelling back that he never really did, did he, that his flowery words meant nothing because it wasn’t enough, that he’s never given them a chance, that he shouldn’t delude his actions for what they are to ease his own guilty conscience, and that she’s the one who’s never going to trust him again. And then we have the Darkling responding that she never did, either, because she ran off without hearing his side of the story. We see them glaring down at each other, the echoes of the proud, hurtful words barring them from adding more, then the Darkling disappears and she’s left alone with her dark thoughts. We get the ‘you betrayed me’ as well as the ‘all men can be made fools’ line from Aleksander. We get a ‘I was merciful’ moment from the Darkling, after he threatens Mal’s life. We get the ‘I want you to know my name, will you have it?’ line in a different way, maybe a ‘I want you to know my story, will you hear it, Alina?’ and him telling her about the events in the Demon in the Wood, and us being shown them, of course, and more - how he came to be an ever present member of Ravka’s court and the founder of the second army, how badly the Grishas were treated and are treated even now. I want him to tell her about his past lives. If he obviously trusts her enough to tell her the name tattooed on his heart, he trusts her enough to tell her all that’s happened to him, to make her understand that not all things are black and white, that it was for the greater good, for them, and when he realizes that she can’t see past his wrongdoings, we see his anger. How dare she judge him when she’s abandoned Ravka for a peaceful life with Mal? When she’s betrayed him?

Season 2 do not fail me I want the best angst ever written, please. Let Alina find out Aleksander destroyed Novokribirsk because they were actively trying to assassinate her and that he wasn’t lying on that front, it’s interesting to see her conflicted emotions at war. I want a lovers to tragic obsessive enemies. I want misunderstandings, with the frustrating realization that they’ll never talk about anything without making it worse. But I also want Alina to realize that the Darkling is the extreme, that what he is fighting for might have started as a good cause, but that he lost himself centuries-of-persecution earlier. I want her to learn from his mistakes. To see in him a version of herself that she might become, should she forget herself. Overall I just want to see her fight for her people and become BAMF. Ughhh so many thoughts

[koroleva-nazyalensky]

I have my grievances with season 2, sure, but one thing they did do is conclude it in a way that I personally would have loved the Grisha Trilogy to have ended the first time around.

Like obviously, I would’ve loved more Darklina. BUT, we’ve been living off of crumbs for years now, and they made Mal less of an asshole in the show, so I knew we weren’t going to get much post war room anyways. I’m sad the tethered scenes got cut short (RIP this isn’t real—let me) and he didn’t die in her arms, BUT he didn’t say she was nothing so I’ll take that as a win.

That said, I’ve always thought that an intriguing aspect of Alina’s character development is her affinity for power.

In the book, it scares her how much she wants it because it positions her in league with the Darkling.

"You were meant to be my balance, Alina.  You are the only person in the world who might rule with me, who might keep my power in check."

"And who will balance me?"

She fears it, and quashes her hunger for it time and time again, for Mal, for her own sanity. And yet, she doesn’t get a choice when she loses it. That loss permeates through everything, even her quiet life in Keramzin.

“Sometimes he would find her standing by a window, fingers playing in the beams of sunlight that streamed through the glass…”

This quiet life she defaults to makes sense for her character because her agency in the books wavers frequently and she’s very affected by Mal’s disdain for her abilities (for like the first TWO BOOKS–). But is frankly, boring as hell for a former saint. And, like the Darkling in a way, I did think she could deign to accomplish more.

In the scenario she’s placed in at the end of season 2, not only has she distanced herself from Mal willingly, but she gets the chance to be Grisha without the Darkling looming over her. She uses Merzost to revive Mal, has full control over her powers with all three amplifiers at her disposal, and used the cut, completely destroying a Grisha under the influence of Jurda Parem. On top of all this, she has fully accepted her role as Sankta Alina and is on her way to be Queen of Ravka. 

Think about the implications of this. A big theme in the books is that *ouat voice* all magic comes with a price, dearie. If Alina gets to keep her powers, it’s implied that she also gets to keep her prolonged life. She is at an all time high, her impulse controls are dead and out at sea, and her inflated pride has the potential to lead her to THE MOST satisfying fall.

When she uses the cut (in the same way the Darkling does) the upshot and shadow in her eyes as her mouth upturns slowly–UGH I’m honestly living for it. And like, we know she needs something to do while the crows are out there ice court heisting right? RIGHT? I’m not saying this is where I saw this show going, but since we’re here in this HD fanfiction world why NOT have Dark!Alina? How would show!Alina, crack under the Apparat’s influence? Who’s going to be her balance when the Darkling and Mal are gone and Nikolai is literally dealing with his own demon?*cough* and falling for Zoya *cough* What would it take to get this girl’s hair white? And what do I have to do to get a Yurified Darkling in the same room as her?

On that thought, (pardon my unabashed love for drama, I am a Darklina girlie in this Malina world above it all) if we even get to some version of the KOS Duology, does this mean she’ll still be Grisha when the Darkling comes back as the Black Heretic? Will she be queen? A mad saint shunned in the same way he was? A self-fulfilling prophecy? How absolutely delicious would that reunion be? For her to stab the monster and then become him? She wouldn’t be able to look him in the eyes and take the high ground like she did in the sanatorium scene. Everything he tried to warn her about would come to fruition. They could face each other as equals who made some decisions and just like retire together for eternity. (My delusional Darklina shipping ass is brought to you by Start a War btw… I read it immediately after Ruin and Rising on ff.net the first time around, I highly suggest it if you too are suffering)

To get back to the point, were it not for the Duology and the Zoyalai of it all, I’d honestly be for the Sol Koroleva route all the way. I mean, look at her!!!

Don’t you just want to see her gain the world, and then lose it all in the time it takes the crows to break Matthias of Hellgate? You can’t tell me a season 3 with an OP Sankta Alina dealing with post-civil war Ravka wouldn’t be entertaining at the very least.

Like, of course at the end of the day I want Zoyalai endgame with blue ribbons and rings the size of an acorn, peep the url, besties. But GUYS come ON we know how these things go. Mal’s gonna come back, reign her in and they’ll eventually end up in that boring orphanage with a cat or whatever anyways. In the meantime, we could have so much fun!

If you approach the show as you would fanfic, it’s not as maddening. Trust me, I’m a Darklina shipper and a Zoyalai shipper– you can’t even get to one of those without stabbing and burning the other. I know the showrunners would sooner give us some random love triangle with Tolya and Inej (a topic for another day) than all this but a girl can DREAM.

In conclusion, I did not prematurely lose David for nothing, I need to know where they’re going with this, so please be more chill so we get that unhinged season 3, thank you.

[gwandas]

I actually cannot stress enough that I am normally down for anything. As someone who is normally happy with canon/endgame ships acotar has been… a humbling experience to say the least

[darkolaism]

so many ppl hating sab s2 ending like . alina runs away losing her powers and living a housewife life with mal? BAD. alina becomes a queen, realizing her worth and at least doesn't run away from her GRISHA life ? DISGUSTING. Pick a struggle and what the fuck you want lol

[mesillusionssousecstasy]

Shadow & Bone 2x04 - “Every Monstrous Thing”: Alina & Aleksander

“- It’s good to see you, Alina. (Aleksander) - You’re not real. (Alina) - The Sea Whip has made you stronger. I always told you, you were meant for more. Power suits you. (Aleksander) - Stay away from me. (Alina) - I’m trying to protect you from the fighting. (Aleksander) - You lured me away from my friends. (Alina) - To keep you safe. (Aleksander) - To kill them. (Alina) - Only the Lantsovs. But my creations are somewhat unpredictable. Not unlike you. (Aleksander) - Get out of my head. (Alina) - Why must you be so difficult? I’m only doing this because I care about you. Let me help you. I’ll be back for you. I have no intention of hurting you. You must know that by now. (Aleksander) - Forgive me if I don’t take you at your word. (Alina) - I was honest about what mattered. (Aleksander) - Like creating the Fold? (Alina) - Your obsession with the Fold is naive. Destroying it won’t solve Ravka’s problems. They’ve hated us and hunted us long before the Fold existed. I was there. Now stop this, please. And come with me. We’ll rule together side by side. I promised that you and I would change the world. And I intend to keep that promise. (Aleksander) - That is never going to happen. (Alina) - How do you see this playing out? You and your Lantsov Prince happily ever after? Your faithful tracker curled up at the foot of your throne. I have seen what you truly are, and I have never turned away. I never will. Can they say the same? (Aleksander) - They’re not the ones obsessed with power and control. (Alina) - Power must be controlled. And you are playing a very dangerous game with it. (Aleksander) - You don’t want me to tear down the Fold, because if I do, I’ll destroy the only thing you have left. (Alina) - Have it your way.” (Aleksander)

They are definitively endgame for me!

[waldensblog]

That's it. We're gonna have to A Very Shadow and Bone musical our way out of this one, guys.

[aleksanderscult]

Funny how LB started claiming in recent years that Darklina was abusive (I mean it was toxic, but not for the reasons she says) and that she'd never write an abusive relationship (she has made Malina endgame), but then goes and makes her every other relationship outside of Grishaverse a Darklina ripoff. In Ninth House - Darlington and Alex Stern: A dignified intimidating gentleman and a scrappy scrawny young woman who feels like she doesn't belong in an elite establishment. Gee, I wonder if those names remind me of anyone, hmm. And apparently, in her newest book the Familiar, she attempted a Darklina copy again. She fanned Darklina flames when S&B trilogy had just come out and was very ecstatic about Darklina. Then around the time when "Shadow Daddy" trope and "YA FMC was manipulated" shtick started gaining popularity, Darklina became a staple for abusive relationships. Correct me if I'm getting the timeline wrong, but either way it's like she didn't dig further to analyze her own writing and simply decided to drop it before she got labeled to be "promoting problematic relationships" in her books. But she sure milked it and continues to milk Darklina, its vibes and reminiscence for all its worth. She wrote it and can do whatever she wants with it, but doing the same thing in not two, but three different book series set in three different universes is just peak lazy writing. "Darklina was horrible and shouldn't even be considered a relationship" - not even the author herself can come up with an idea how write a better relationship and keeps doing the same one over and over. Can't wait until I see a Kanej ripoff too...Oh wait, that was Zoyalai.

That woman really fell prey to her purist fans. So she had to change her tune about how Darkling was totally, inclusively abusive and no fun at all.

(like girl?? I can think of another ship you have created that oozes with toxicity and most importantly gets on our nerves)

And she clearly profits from Darklina and its dynamic for money (and therefore copies it in her every book). It's a popular trope so why not? Who has the time to spend it on writing about something different? Easy cash.

Look let's face it. That woman is a hypocrite and has the spine of a gingerbread man. So it's no wonder that most of her characters are like that as well. I would highly respect an author who sticks with his/her opinions and writing choices than someone who wavers every now and then because she's afraid of her own fanbase.

[ncarnesir]

You know this is the part that makes me say the most LB had another ending planned and either changed her mind or was pressured to do so. Cause no matter how bad you are... it's not possible to be so off track with your writing involuntarily.

Zlatá Malina (Golden Raspberry), pt. 10

Siege and Storm- Chapter 20

The confrontation after Alina witnesses Malyen's newest hobby of beating up male Grisha and kissing female Grisha that aren't her., pt. 2

Yeah, I'm not sure if this was supposed to be hot, but it feels more threatening.

Am I the only one to see an undertone of aggression again?

WHAT THE HELL was that?

Why does it read like "What did YOU do?!"?

While Alina tends to jump to conclusions, this time I have to agree with her. Malyen's "us" sounds very much like "YOU".

Another point Alina should've used as a stepping stone for further development.

This is rightfully among the most hated exchanges.

Malyen wants to carve out what makes Alina herself.

Even if he didn't know about the connection between Grisha and their powers, he DOES know she's healthier and closer to thriving than ever. He wants to take away that one thing that makes her shine- both literally and figuratively- regardless of what impact it might have on her. He correctly recognizes "it" stands between them, because this way they're incompatible, and he already made a half-step to change, but didn't like it, so something has to give.

Something obviously being Alina.

Supportive boyfriend of the year.

Alina finally manages to tell him, so he literally turns his back on her and goes get drunk.

Over and over.

Alina taking the first step for reconciliation.

Alina apologizing.

Alina taking on the blame.

Alina trying to lift him up on her level, when he's more than happy with her in his shadow.

Alina's desires shrinking to be whatever Malyen wants... and she's sorry it might no longer be possible?!

(Da tag)

[sad-outsider]

How Leigh Bardugo and the showrunners shot themselves in the foot

I was talking to my cousin recently, FYI, she didn't watch the show or read the books, but she thought Darklina was endgame and she was disappointed when I told her it wasn't. And she's not the only one who thinks so. Hell, when I bought the books, I myself thought that Darklina was endgame, I wanted them to be endgame, and judging by the number of fanfictions, I wasn’t the only one who was disappointed in the end. So I have a question: why advertise Darklina’s ship as the main one, if in the end they won’t be together anyway? What was the point? Make money from a popular ship, only to show readers and viewers a big nothing at the end, and then complain when your fan base spits at such an ending? What were they expecting? That we'll just suck it up and thank them for deceiving us? Someone should have told them that people usually get angry when they are given something they didn't want. At best, disappointed fans will spit on the canon and go write fix-it fanfiction, and at worst, they will write angry reviews. And that's exactly what happened. Darklina may not be canon in the books and the show, but in the minds of many fans they are endgame, and no amount of shouting from Bardugo and the showrunners about how toxic this ship is and how evil the Darkling is will change that. Congratulations to you, Bardugo and the showrunners, you dug yourself a hole, I hope you stay there for deciding to deceive a bunch of people.

[astrababyy]

https://www.tumblr.com/astrababyy/738088417973420032/one-thing-i-really-liked-about-feyre-in-the-first

This post of your makes me wonder if SJM wasn't a onetrick pony and respected her own stories and actually wrote characters and not tropes of girlboss ™️ what would've feyre's character trajectory looked like? I'm interested to know what do you think her arc would've been?

I sometimes feel like the problem isn't even Feysand being a ship it's SJM molding Feyre (& nesta) so they are similar to their bat boy mates. Because like there's S&B with darklina being it's most popular ship. Sure it's not endgame and that's because Leigh didn't completely change Alina's whole personality to fit the darkling. Alina got to keep the characteristics that made her who she is which is what made the chemistry between the two interesting too unlike in SJM's stories where she obliterates her fmc's entire personality to fit their male li and in doing so it ruins any appeal in the "ship" itself. Feyre/Feysand and Nesta/Nessian are both examples of that.

hello, anon! i rarely ever receive asks regarding meta or characterization so thanks so much for this lol <3

as i stated in the post you linked, i do believe that feyre's natural arc would've had some sort of internal conflict regarding both her trauma from under the mountain and her being turned into a faerie. i feel that rhysand's comment about her "human heart" could've been emphasized better in the second book and would've served as an interesting contrast from rhys, her established mate in the story. their morals are vastly different from each other; how does this change their relationship? would feyre accept him for who he is? would she judge him, scorn him, try to help him?

especially in regards to the impending war, i think feyre struggling with her newfound fae instincts, being different from who she used to be, and trying to reconnect with who she used to be while accepting who she is now could've been very profound and paired well with her struggles with the trauma she faced from under the mountain.

the major issue with feyre's characterization is how she was molded to become rhysand's partner, rather than being able to fit with him naturally and seamlessly. the same issue occurs with nesta and cassian's relationship, where her character has to be altered just to fit in with the person cassian is. in feyre's case specifically, it got worse as the books went on. feyre gradually became less and less alike to her old self without a clear reason for why she was changing in that way. as i stated before, her becoming a less violent-averse person due to her faerie nature is understandable and would've been a wake-up call considering her transformation, but feyre becoming less empathetic and understanding of the plight of the lower classes, becoming so much more okay with spending money carelessly, supporting rhysand's frankly corrupt government structure, etc. are all ooc.

feyre, as a character, had a lot of potential and could've had that transition into becoming this warrior queen without losing all her morals and beliefs, becoming a vessel for the pro rhysand agenda. it's truly unfortunate that her character had to devolve in the way it did.

[ncarnesir]

A Story of her Own

This is the story of a Sun Summoner that is much much older than the Darkling and is looking for her own haven if one might say. Can Aleksander be that for her? Is it even what she's looking for? Well you'll have to read the story to know ;)

Art on the moodboard is from Abel Klaer

Back in 2021, after watching Shadow and Bone for the first time, I somehow got inspired and started writing. And the result was this, my very first fanfic, A Story of her Own.

To be honest, there are a lot of cringe parts specially in the beginning and you can tell I'm newbie writer, but I'm still super proud of it. What I'm less proud of is that it's still not finished, but I've been working a lot on it recently so maybe I'm finally going to complete this.

I am taking a looooot of liberties in this, regarding canon, the magic system, the history of the world. But I do think it's at least coherent. Also there's a lot of smut because... I like that.

Chapters: 41/~70

Fandom: Shadow and Bone (TV), The Grisha Trilogy - Leigh Bardugo

Rating: Explicit

Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con

Relationships: The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov, The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Zoya Nazyalensky, Mal Oretsev/Alina Starkov, Zoya Nazyalensky/Mal Oretsev

Characters: The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova, Alina Starkov, Mal Oretsev, Baghra (The Grisha Trilogy), Genya Safin, Zoya Nazyalensky, Ivan (The Grisha Trilogy), Fedyor Kaminsky, Nikolai Lantsov, Nina Zenik

Additional Tags: Darklina - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Happy Ending, Endgame The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova/Alina Starkov, Romance, Angst, Fluff, Smut, Mutual Pining, Simp The Darkling | Aleksander Morozova, BAMF Alina Starkov, Morally Grey Alina Starkov, Sankta Alina Starkov, Older Alina, Older Woman/Younger Man, Who's scheming really ?, Morally Ambiguous Character, different POV, Minor Character Death, mild graphic depiction of violence, Implied/Referenced Suicide attempts, annoying pet names, Mention of triggering subjects coming in the future, Potentially more graphic depiction of violence coming in the future, Unlucky Zoya, Sun Soldier Malyen, BFF Genya, We hate Baghra, Scheming Nikolai, Apparat is not a bad guy, Several Explicit Sex Scene, Dubious Consent, Light Dom/sub, Oral Sex, Dream Sex, Manipulative sex, Rough Sex, Minor sex scene between The Darkling / Zoya (before Alina), Minor oral sex scene between Malyen / Alina, Personal interpretation of how amplifiers work, Personal interpretation of different grishaverse myths, Mainly based on the show, And the Wiki, English is not my 1st language, English is not my beta’s 1st language either, This thing is a full story (with plenty of smut for fun), Rated non-con because, Dream sex she doesn't know is not really a dream, Kissing while the other is not aware, NO rape

Summary:

Everyone always supposed the Sun Summoner would appear one day, the Darkling first, but somehow, they never imagined that maybe she was already there, among them.

Or how Alina is much older than she looks like and is playing a game of her own.

[rey-jake-therapist]

*sorry I think my ask cut off the first bit here so I'm sending it again (Haladriel reminds me of Darklina, in the sense that both characters are so loved by me individually and the dynamic is fascinating, but as an actual ship in fandom? I have to navigate through the misogynist takes that are reducing the female character to a trophy)

I saw this in the haladriel tag on x and I think I pinned down the reason why there are certain people who can't handle dark ships and won't stop invalidating them by screaming about abuse/misogyny. It's because in their minds, they take things very concretely, not being able to 'read between the lines', and thus it's hard for them to really think in abstract ways. They just can't divorce fictional characters from actual problems in society. Don't get me wrong, there is a parallel between them that exists as a fine line, and we should absolutely call some things out. But in the realm of fictional characters, shipping, and make believe? That's strictly a 'them/individual' problem, not an 'us' problem. There are SO many haladriel shippers. We get so many fanart by talented people, many of whom haven't even heard of Tolkien. Are they supporting misogyny or have they had to 'navigate thru misogynist takes' in order to draw two characters together because they like their dynamic? It's not our fault that these canon police antis can't separate fiction from reality, and see every aggression toward a female character (unless it's by another female character, or it's a m/m relationship) as misogyny, while ignoring actual inequality in societies around us, as well as ignoring the truth that men can also become victims of abuse/violence. It all goes back to the funny hypocrisy of touting a beloved female character with admirable traits like strong, fierce, powerful, but the instant a male character challenges her and shows any kind of aggression at her - because spoiler alert, he's a villain, it's literally how he was written - these canon police antis whine about misogyny instead of just saying they don't see what shippers see in a fictional pairing and leave it at that. Like, it's ok, you don't need a reason to not like a pairing. The funny thing is, for all their fascination on Galadriel and Sauron as individuals, they fail to comprehend Sauron's character beyond what is stated in black and white in front of them (going back to the concrete vs abstract thinking). I'm not even a huge fan of Charlie, and even I can understand the 'seeing Gal as a trophy' bit is just a very simplified jest at the comparison to Morgoth and the Silmarils. If they actually bothered to read more of his interviews, it's very clear he sees her as beyond just that. Oh, she's just another ring to him basically? Ok but then why do I keep hearing cosmic connection spoken by him anytime Galadriel is brought up in interviews? Cosmic connection flew over this person's head like a frisbee.

I hope you don't mind me saying I never liked Darklina 🙈 I don't know if it's because I wasn't a big fan of the show in general, of because of the actor I found too pretty, or the dynamic in general... It just never worked for me.

I'm probably significantly older than most Tumblr users, old enough to remember how Mulder and Scully shippers were shamed and mocked when Internet and forums barely started to be a thing anyway 🤣 If you ever heard of X Files or even better, watched it, you know that there isn't a ship that's more vanilla than this one. And yet shippers were being mocked for seeing romance where there was only "platonic friendship" (joke on them, 9 years later Mulder and Scully were endgame), when we weren't told that "Scully deserved better" because "Mulder was abusive towards her

Shippers were always made fun to and it'll never stop, I'm afraid. I've stopped caring about what anyone has to say about a fictional romance I like tbh. I don't know if you use social media such as Reddit and Twitter, as far as I m concerned avoiding these places help a lot. Haters don't seem aware of Tumblr's existence, and I pray every day that they remain ignorant because I really like it here 💜

The best we can do is to keep having fun with what we love... That won't change these idiot's minds, but it will probably piss them off ;)

[darklinaforever]

You know, Grisha's perfect ending for me would have been Darklina endgame working for the good of Ravka.

But another ending that I would have loved is Alina who agrees to become queen alongside Nikolaï, who always overcomes her obsession with Mal, but who, since having lost the Darkling (her soul mate) due to the having killed, and that without him she has no more balance, well that she becomes like him / is established in the end as a Darkling in the making. Hello Dark-Alina !

Yes, because, sorry, but in any universe where Alina kills the Darkling, I can't imagine her staying nice / pure. It's impossible thematically speaking for me, since it no longer has any balance.

[yolixpan]

I have an idea for a fic, where after their time in the army, Alina and Mal get their farm, get married, have children and everyone says Alina "glows" with every pregnancy almost magicaly; but she is still unaware she is a Grisha. Until their last child reveals he/she is an inferni and chaos breaks out. The idea is a more mature Alina, who is aware of what being a grisha could lead to (the good and the bad), and she is more involved with everything at the Little Palace and, for personal reasons has to take a more firm stand for the grisha. And a Mal who is letting his predjuice get the best of him. I love Darklina and I would like this ship being an endgame, but I suppoused time will tell.