#Here's me spreading bleak vibes with this meta 🤗🤗

[aleksanderscult]

Analyzing "Demon in the Wood" (book) - Part 2

(Part 1, Part 3, Part 4 and Part 5 btw)

Merry Christmas Eve and here have this meta to depress you cheer you up! 🥳🎁🎄🎅💕

Even though like calls to like he still was afraid of the darkness as a child.

And he didn't sleep for two days because of that fear.

And he was curled beneath his blanket 🥺

His mother didn't stop to think or ask if he needed light and be didn't want to disappoint her by saying "Can you leave it here?".

He wanted to prove to her and to himself that he's brave and he fears nothing.

No home to stay, no people to connect with.

Just with his mother, adopting new names every now and then, faking his life. And he despises this so much.

And yet Baghra dared to say "hE hAd PlEntY oF tImE tO LeArN hoW to LiE".

Yeah because he was raised on your knees, Baghra.

"They did their best to hide their tracks"

They were trying to leave nothing behind. As a child the Darkling was allowed to leave no trace, no memories of him in others.

And that reminds me: "Someone to mourn me"

Someone to remember him.

Also, it's notable that names are an important part of the Darkling's life.

- Adopted innumerable names as a child

- Held his true name close to his heart

- Kept saying Alina's name

- Trusted Alina with his name

- Refused to call Mal by his name

And I believe it was something important for him too because names were actually a vital part of his survival from the time he was born.

(So for anyone who says that he gave Alina his name out of some kind of manipulation technique, needs to stop. There's no way a person like him to give his name that easily).

The way they're thinking and hoping two different things.

Baghra hopes to gain knowledge and experience and Eryk a home and stability.

Their priorities really show their needs and characters at this point of their lives.

The way the Little Palace had all these three things 🥲

The thought of him waking up and thinking "Wait. Which name I go by now?" is so depressing and stressful. Both for Eryk and the reader.

I wonder if he really called her "Mama" at this point of his life or just Baghra with her usual grace said "You will call me by my name".

From this: "To him, she was always Mama, Madraya".

To this: "I will not fight you", said the Darkling.

"Then strike me down"

"You know I won't" 🥲

When Grisha fear and mistrust their own kind then you know that the situation is fucked up.

Baghra is extra careful 'cause she always had trust issues and made her son mistrustful as well.

It's really a dog-eat-dog world where every man is for himself and very few Grisha have made safe camps (actually the word "safe" is a stretch). And even when they do, they only let powerful Grisha to live inside.

Also, the phrase "a second Ravka" is kind of chilling. Ravka back then was divided between otkazat'sya who lived in the open and Grisha who lived in the shadows. Two different worlds and the Darkling became the first person who united them for the first time.

"Fear is a powerful ally" - DitW.

"Do you fear me, Alina?.... Fear is a powerful ally. And loyal." - Siege and Storm.

I can only imagine how many times the Darkling saw people either run away from him or wanted to use him because of his power. I bet he desired for someone to accept him as he is. To look at his shadow summoning and see it as a gift, not a curse or tool.

"I've seen what you truly are. And I've never turned away. I never will" is a phrase that he probably wanted to hear from someone too.

Wait. "Like calls to like", right? So when Aleksander was afraid of the dark, does that mean he was afraid of his powers in a way? *cries*

"Be careful what you wish for!🎶"

He tries so hard to impress his mother and live up to her expectations. That shows a child that is raised by a strict parent who almost always shows disapproval and is never satisfied with his efforts. Those children then feel constantly like failures.

(are you sad yet, dear readers?🥲)

What people cannot understand, they fear it. The unknown. The strange.

Baghra has been a pariah not only because of her powers but also because of her sex. So she had to toughen up and "hone" her sharp tongue too in order to make it difficult for others to boss her around or cast her out.

Sometimes I sympathize with her (but most of the times not😒).

To be honest, I find this fear kind of one-sided. I mean, Alina's power was unique too. No one else had the power to manipulate the light. And yet people liked her and were fascinated. But with Aleksander people were afraid of his power (even before he was the "Darkling"). So they showed acceptance with the power of light but not with the darkness.

Double fucking standards.🙂

(Of course they accepted her more easily because she was the one destined to liberate them from the Fold but still. Even if the Fold didn't exist, people would still show great favor towards Alina and not Aleksander.)