#I'm in love with Alina in theory

[sarascamander]

I think I sorted out my feelings for Alina. Why I like her but I actually don't.

I love the idea of her. This orphan girl who turned into a Saint and matyr. The sacrifice and pain she have to go through and everything. Its the kind of trope and story I would lap up instantly.

But the reason I actually don't like her and the trilogy itself is because the execution is lacking since I'm not a fan of the writing and Alina's pov can be annoying sometimes.

In toto, I like her potential but I don't actually like her character.

[dearmantis]

There's no love like our love

Pairing: Aleksander Morozova/The Darkling x wife!Reader

Summary: When the Royal Family finally turns on the Grisha, you find yourself caught in the crossfire. Alone, of course. You're always alone, it seems.

Warnings: murder, death, canonical persecution of Grisha, violence, mentioned death of children, sexual harassment, slutshaming, mentions of sex and cheating, suicidal thoughts, self hatred

Word Count: 6.6k words

Authors' Note: I DID IT! HERE IS YOUR PART TWO FOR A LOST EMBRACE! IT ONLY TOOK 76 YEARS! BUT I GOT IT DONE BEFORE THE END OF APRIL (this is also very not edited, and I'm still not a native English speaker).

Also, funfact: I cut the ending of this, just like I did with part 1. There was a whole other ending, but that was basically just a lot of fluff. I wasn't sure if people would want that from this series/twoshot specifically so I cut it. I can't tell of cutting the ending is a good or a really bad habit.

The title is from Lights are on by Tom Rosenthal!

Part 1: A lost embrace | Masterlist

The universe is filled with light. Billions of beautiful stars, all different sizes and temperatures, burning brightly and sending their energy out into the universe to bring warmth and light.

But there is even more darkness in the universe than there are stars, filling the space between the celestial bodies. An all surrounding nothingness that acts as a playing field for all of the beautiful, weird and wonderful things hiding in the endless sky. A canvas for everything else in the universe that hugs and surrounds all.

And one day, at least according to the most popular theories, the last stars will die and the universe will be entirely engulfed in darkness.

It began with a loud burst of light, and it will die quietly in shadows.

That knowledge used to bring you comfort and a feeling of belonging. The darkness became your new home, a special, safe place right next to your husband, but there is no safety and love to be found in the darkness now.

It was predictable, honestly. You should've known the second Vasily allowed the Darkling to travel Ravka to search of the Sun Summoner with only a few First Army soldiers for protection, but you simply didn't pay attention to the signs, too caught up in your own frustration and bitterness.

He didn't realise it either, it seems, because he simply left without even saying goodbye, leaving you behind to run the Little Palace in his absence. One night you fall asleep next to him, back turned towards him to visibly reject his presence, and the next morning he is gone, his side of the bed made and all of his most important belongings gone. No letter, no announcement beforehand, nothing.

Maybe his head was simply too focused on Alina to even remember that he still had a wife.

It doesn't matter anymore.

You're still awake when they come, three nights after the General left the Little Palace.

You're laying in bed, humming an old lullaby – one of the really old ones that you learned because he sometimes sings them to you when you can't sleep – while working on fixing the embroidery on the kefta of one of the younger students.

The disappearance of the Sun Summoner has led to chaos in all of Ravka, and there hasn't been a calm moment in the palace in weeks. You are forced, just like everyone else, to work until you pass out while keeping up appearances in front of the royal family. Everything needs to be immaculate despite the fact that the whole country is in a state of emergency, so you push small detail work like this into every free second of your day in hopes of doing something good.

You're so focused on your project that you don't even hear them approach your windows from the outside.

They sneak around, quietly taking out the guards until they're sure that they won't meet too much resistance, and then, suddenly, everything is very loud.

You don't remember what happens. Just flashes of memories. Little pieces that simply aren't enough to form a full picture, as if your body simply wasn't able to take it all in. Or maybe it refuses to remember.

Glass shatters, loud and unfamiliar steps echo like thunder through the halls of what was supposed to be your home, men with bad intentions are in your bedroom, in your house, in your garden.

And your husband is nowhere to be found.

The air smells like fire, panic and fear crackling in the air like electricity and the screams of the Grisha you swore to protect as if they were your own children echo through the building and outside.

Shots are fired in the distance, you're on the floor, the barrel of a gun pressed tightly against the back of your head.

There are more screams slicing through the night. You think you hear someone yelling your name, but before you can answer, one of the men who broke into your room slams their heavy gun against your head, and darkness welcomes you into it's familiar embrace.

When you finally wake it's to the sound of a gun shot ringing through the air, and though the bars of your new cage you watch through bleary eyes how one of your fellow Grisha runs away, his bright purple kefta unfortunately doing very little to hide his movements between the trees. You can't tell who it is, not in the dark.

A second shot gets fired. You see how it hits the Durast in the head, his body falling to the ground and staying there, unmoving. Nobody goes to check if he's dead or to drag him off and bury or burn his corpse. It's just left right there, next to a large ash tree.

Someone whimpers and sobs, begs for their life, but you can't take your eyes off the corpse. The way it just lays there, like it's nothing.

You haven't seen an actual battle in centuries. The Darkling is too paranoid to let you go, convinced that his enemies will target you in a fight and take you away from him. The thought alone used to turn his eyes cold and hard like ice, his whole body shaking with anger at the idea of you being in a dangerous situation. You haven't seen death like this, so fast and seemingly insignificant, in forever.

There is no triumph visible in the body language of the soldier that shot the Durast, but no shame either. A job done, nothing more. He doesn't celebrate or pat himself on the back. He just sits back down next to the fire in the middle of the camp and takes a sip of water, like the life he just took was worth less than even the life of a rabbit.

The other guards move to check the handcuffs of the others after that incident, making sure that everything works and no one is able to use their powers. Your heart races so fast it makes you dizzy, the fog in your head thickening and threatening to drag you back into unconsciousness.

It's hard to stay focused enough to take the whole situation in, but you try anyway, tearing your gaze away from the corpse. There are nine cages, including yours, one of them now empty.

The Grisha in the cages are, just like you, handcuffed with their hands far apart. Three of them are wearing their keftas - two of them being Alkemis, and you ask yourself if the Materialki were all still down in the workshops when the raid began - but the others, including you, are wearing whatever you wore to sleep that night. All of you are dirty, and you pray silently that none of them are hurt. It's hard to see with the lack of light. The cages all stand a bit too far away from the fire to truly see much.

The men who guard you, on the other hand, all look like they dressed up for a military parade. Their First Army uniforms sparkle almost, their faces clean shaven or decorated with carefully trimmed beards. This was planned. This whole raid was planned, probably for weeks, and you didn't notice. The idea most likely came up as soon as the General returned from the Fold, and no one ever picked up on it.

It feels like a relic from a time you're supposed to have left behind, a time you didn't even experience and only heard about from the Darkling and on rare occasions his mother.

The First Army doesn't hunt Grisha anymore. The king doesn't put you into cages. They just hate you, insult you, and harass you, but they don't physically harm you anymore. Yet... here you are.

Ravka isn't supposed to be like Fjerda, like Shu Han, like Kerch. The Darkling had made sure of that, worked for this one singular goal for centuries, and dedicated his whole life to it.

The thought of him makes your heart sting painfully, and you suppress the urge to worry for him, to wonder where he is and if he's safe. You have bigger issues than him right now. He's fine. There's no room for argument. He has survived wars and centuries of persecution. This won't kill him. He's probably out there somewhere, completely safe, trying to track down his sun summoner while you rot in this cage alongside the others.

After the handcuffs are checked you watch as four of the five soldiers walk to the cages of the two Alkemi, Ivanna and Ole, and pull them out, the fifth still sitting at the fire and watching the whole situation with mild interest.

You hear one of the guards make a suggestion on how to deal with them, and your stomach turns.

In your mind, you are 12 years old, hiding behind your mothers skirt. Her hand rests on your head, trying to soothe you as you watch with the other people your village how a woman gets dragged out of the cage they kept her in. You remember her face. She works as a seamstress. She gives you pretty ribbons to tie around your wrist or into your hair whenever your mother buys something from her.

The man – was he the mayor? The village head? You don't remember what he called himself – who pulled her out of the cage pushes her to the ground, right in front of a large rock, and motions for someone hiding in the crowd to come closer.

Another man steps forward, the blacksmith, in his hands the biggest hammer you have ever seen.

The woman starts screaming now, her voice breaking under the force of her violent sobs. Her body shakes horribly, and your own shaking hands dig deeper into the material of your mothers skirt.

"Please, please, I swear it. This is a misunderstanding. I did nothing wrong. I swear it. Please, just listen to me," the woman begs while the mayor grabs the thick rope attacked to her handcuffs and pulls her arms and hands to rest on the rock.

The noise the hammer made when it slammed down on her hands haunts you for centuries, just like her screams do.

Just like the screams of the Materialki probably will if you survive this when the guards push them to the ground. The only difference is that the soldiers have no large hammers to break their hands.

You can't move, can't speak, can't do anything, completely frozen in fear while the soldiers hold them down, each of them pressing an arm down onto the cold ground. The two have no chance to defend themselves.

The man at the fire finally stands up slowly, grabbing one of the rocks lining the fire to prevent forest fires, and walks over to the six people on the ground.

You watch him do it. You have to. You failed to protect your Grisha, and the least you can do is witness the horrors they have to go through because of your own mistakes.

Because you should've known. You should've known. Of course the royal family would turn on Grisha. Of course they would send the Darkling away before they raided the Little Palace. He is the last line of defence for the Grisha in this country.

You should've noticed the signs. You should've talked to the General about it, maybe even with Baghra. You should've started to prepare to evacuate the whole Palace, organized a place to hide with food and beds and water.

But you didn't. You didn't because you were too blinded by your own stupid quarrel with the Darkling. This is your fault. Every drop of blood that was shed that night, every bit of pain and suffering that your Grisha experienced, clings to you.

It's all your fault.

When the soldiers are sure that they broke every bone in Alkemis' hands, they put the cuffs back on and throw them back into their cages.

And then they walk back to the fire in the middle of the camp and begin to eat, ignoring the sobbing of the Grisha only a few metres away from them and the corpse still peacefully resting between the bushes and trees.

You wake up the next morning with aching muscles and the knowledge that you probably won't get out of this camp alive. Because as much as you would like to pretend otherwise, these people know you. If Vasily gives the command to have you killed, these men know that you're their target. And he would. You can't even blame him for it. You're the wife of the General, just as much of a symbol for the Second Army as the Darkling. Killing you would be a message to all of Ravka.

They don't treat you much differently than they treat the others, to your surprise. You get starved like the others, glared at like the others, and dehydrated like the others.

You could almost believe that they somehow don't know who you are if it wasn't for the insults.

Every Grisha gets insulted, some more creatively than the others. Especially the two Alkemi get made fun of for their broken, swollen, and discoloured hands by the soldiers, like they aren't the reason why they look like that. Other insults directed at other Grisha in the camp, on the other hand, are overused and boring, like when they asked Lena, an Inferni, where her spark is, why her fire has disappeared.

"I thought Infernis are always so hot-headed? Come on, give us a show!" One of the older men in the camp says to her on your second day awake, and it makes your skin crawl. You wish you could claw those mens eyes out, make them bleed.

But the insults they direct at you, those are personal. They prove that they know exactly who you are despite never saying your name once.

The Darklings slut. That's what you are to them.

His favourite toy. A bedwarmer. A plaything. A whore to entertain him. A distraction from the war. A thing he can let his frustrations out on.

That's who you are in their eyes. Nothing more. Certainly nothing that deserves respect or should be feared. The fact that you and the other Grisha can't use the small science makes them braver.

The worst insults are the ones they come up with after the third day in the cage, right after the soldiers get a quick visit from one of Vasilys messengers, because their words are suddenly no longer insults. They are observations and a horrible, new truth that convince you that their earlier insults are true, working hand in hand with the thoughts and fears you had before any of this even started.

"Don't look at me like that, whore. Everybody, even us fools in the First Army, know how enamoured your husband was with the sun summoner. How many times do you think he fucked her before she ran? Probably did it right behind your back in your shared bed, you stupid thing. I bet she was the last thing he thought of before the guards that accompanied him shot him in the head."

The soldiers celebrate the news of the Darklings death like they just won the wars with Fjerda and Shu Han and tore down the Fold with their bare hands, drinking alcohol and eating freshly hunted deer meat while you and the other Grisha grieve and starve. You don't allow yourself to cry like the others, but you can feel your soul rip itself apart.

You begin to lose yourself after that.

Your sanity runs through your hands like sand, your mind desperate to escape the smell of the Durasts rotting corpse that the soldiers never bothered to remove, the insults, the screams of the other Grisha when they get pulled out of their cages (one a day, always only one a day, like they're trying to drag it out), the desperate hunger that burns in your stomach, the thirst that tears your throat apart, the death of your husband: reality in all it's horrible shapes and colours.

First, you spend a few minutes caught up in a nice memory, like a short conversation in the gardens of the Little Palace, drinking tea and leaning on his shoulder while he tells you about his day. Then the daydreams get longer and take more control over you until you spend days staring at nothing, buried so deep in your own mind that you're no longer aware of what happens around you.

A small part of you hopes that they'll kill you while you're in that state, caught up in the past. Everything is better than reality, and with every second that passes when you're fully aware of your surroundings, that reality becomes more unbearable.

You love remembering the time before Alina the most. You know that her only sin is shining a light onto the lies, destruction, and rot surrounding you, but without her light, you were able to pretend.

You are good at pretending.

The light just makes it harder, and sometimes you slip up and accidentally sink into a more recent memory, your mind racing through different thoughts so fast that you're unable to stop it.

Like how the girl whose kefta you repaired that night, little Bibi, probably ended up dying without it after working so hard to prove to everyone that she earned it. And now her corpse lays somewhere in Ravka with no one to take care of it, to lay it to rest.

The kids are easily the worst thing to remember. Every time you do, it feels like the guilt eats your heart or whatever is left of it right out of your chest, ripping and tearing on the muscle like a wolf on a bone.

How many of them got out of the Palace in time and are now hiding somewhere, probably scared and alone with no one to help them and no idea how to get to other Grisha or back to their families? How many of them are stuck in cages just like you, starving and terrified of the First Army men who are only waiting to get the command to kill them? How many of them didn't even make it out of the Little Palace and died at the hand of the soldiers during the raid?

How many children were buried and burned that night?

Your husband isn't much better to remember either. The words of the First Army soldiers burn themselves into your mind like hot coals. You don't want to think about it. You've never wanted to think about something less in your entire life, but no matter what you do, the pain of losing someone you've known for almost your whole life feels like a knife stuck in your chest.

"... guards that accompanied him shot him in the head."

It's odd, really, how all consuming grief can be even if a part of you hates the person you lost. Almost surreal.

There have always been chapters of your life subtitled with "before the Darkling". There aren't supposed to be chapters subtitled "after the Darkling", not even a single one. It's wrong. It's entirely wrong. He's supposed to be a constant. Something that doesn't move, doesn't change, doesn't leave. He was supposed to be here until the end of everything.

He wasn't supposed to leave you behind. You can't do this without him. You can't lose him. This isn't right.

It's the last piece. The last drop required to convince you that giving up might not be the worst option. If they succeeded in killing the Darkling... what can truly be done anymore? What can you do? You can't free the Grisha in your camp, not with your hands cuffed so far apart from each other that your arms regularly start cramping, and a stomach so empty that it feels like your entire body is trying to collapse in on itself to fill the void. You can't convince the soldiers to free you. You can't save the children and rebuild Ravka into a safe place once more, not alone. You can't do anything on your own. You are nothing.

So why shouldn't you die? Why not join your husbands soul, wherever it may be now? What is left for you to do here? What can you do?

Death haunts your sense of smell and vision. It haunts your mind, and it haunts all of Ravka. Why not let it carry you off? Away from the pain, the suffering, the fear and grief and rot.

There is only more to come. More horrors that linger in the unpredictable future, and no one left to fix it. You certainly can't do it, Baghra - if she still lives, that is - doesn't care enough about others to even attempt to fix anything, and the sun summoner evidently can't do it either. All she can do is shine light on the evil lingering in the dark, but she's not strong or persuasive enough to improve and change the nightmares she exposes.

The Darkling could've done it. He would fight tooth and nail, drench his hands in blood and ash to free the others. He has fought his whole life, after all. He could've done it again.

But you can't. You can't take his position in this war, as much as you wish you could. You can't even get your hands out of your stupid cuffs, no matter how hard you try.

Baghra was right in the end, it seems. You really are too weak to stay at her and her sons side as their equal. You are dust, nothing more.

Now that you're here, stuck in a cage and unable to defend yourself in any way, you ask yourself once more how she and her son could've possibly survived this long. How did they not give up? What do they have that you lack?

"When the entire world hates you and wants you dead, the best thing you can do is live."

That's what she said back then, but you simply don't understand how she found the strength to keep going. You can't find it in you, no matter how much you look. Your whole life is gone. Your friends are probably all in cages or dead. Your husband is dead. Your home is gone. There is nothing left, no reason for you to continue.

Your husband would want you to keep going, a voice in the back of your mind answers, and you can feel the sharp stinging in your chest return at the thought.

You miss him. You miss him so much that it feels like you're being torn apart from the inside. And if you're really honest with yourself, you have to admit that you have been in this state for a while.

All of that anger and jealousy was just your bodies way to avoid facing the fact that you were lonely. No wonder you immediately fell back into routine like a desperate little cat when he finally gifted you some attention after Alina fled. Your entire being was begging to get him back.

And now you will never have him again because you were both too stubborn to simply talk with each other. He will never understand how much it hurt to see him obsess over someone else, and you will never know why you suddenly weren't enough for him anymore.

You will never hear his voice again, or knit him a new scarf for winter, or wash his hair for him after an exhausting day. You will never be comforted by him when you have a headache or watch the first snow of the year cover the grass outside of the Little Palace. You will never fall asleep next to him again, his arms wrapped around you and your face pressed against his chest as his heartbeat and calm breathing lull you to sleep.

He will never hug you again or surprise you with breakfast. He will never help you choose jewelry for an event again, give you his cloak when you're cold, kiss you, laugh at your horrible jokes, or moan your name into your ear, his voice raspy with love and desire while he tries to bring you to another orgasm before his own crashes down on him.

You will never do anything with him ever again.

Turning your head slightly, you stare at the soldiers sitting at the fire, eating some form of stew. You can't smell it. The stench of the decomposing body is too strong, and you wonder how the soldiers can stomach food in this environment.

You can barely breathe on some days without gagging every few seconds. It's so horrible that it drives tears into your eyes.

They talk and laugh about some servant girl, and you silently ask yourself what fate the servants of the Little Palace met. How many of them died that night? How many fled? Did any of them try to help the Grisha that might've fled? And saints, what happened to the Oprichniki?

Slowly closing your eyes again, you pray that the wind changes direction and starts blowing the smell away while you try to think of something that gives you strength.

The first thing that comes to mind is your amplifier.

You haven't thought about that day in a while, not since Alina came to the Palace and your heart and soul drowned themselves in jealousy and hate.

But it's not right to forget something so special. You should remember.

Who else in all of Ravka got proposed to, not with a ring but with a barn owl and a knife?

He has been gone for months, looking for something in West Ravka, choosing to trave through Fjerda and around the Fold to avoid going through it, and the constant worry that he would be discovered keeps you awake on some nights. He sends a letter once a month and promises you over and over that he would be back in the spring, but you still end up surprised when one of your friends drags you out of your bed in the middle of the night and ushers you towards the Generals quarters.

And when you open the doors you find him leaning against his desk, a knife next to him on the table and a barn owl sitting quietly in a cage, large eyes looking at you curiously, but you don't even see those things. Not at first, at least.

You just see him.

"You're back!"

Quickly jumping over to him, you throw your arms around him and press your face against him, a deep laugh bubbling in his chest as he moves to embrace you tightly.

"Careful, my love," he murmurs, his hands finding the back of your neck and pressing you closer to him.

You stay like that for a while, holding each other tightly while he whispers soft words into your ear.

"I'm so happy to see you. I missed you so much, little love. I hope you weren't too lonely without me," he coos, pressing a long kiss onto your head.

You're about to answer him when the bird finally makes himself known. Turning your head quickly you look at it, and the owl turns it's head to the side as if it's trying to do assess you carefully as well, it's dark eyes looking you over a few times. You feel a bit self-conscious in your night dress, but instead of shying away, you decide to let it look.

"Is that what you were looking for in West Ravka?" you ask, gazing back up at him.

"I did a lot of research over the past year, and I think this amplifier would be strong enough," he explains, his voice as soft as a feather.

"Strong enough?"

"To keep you with me. I didn't believe it at first either, but this little bird could give you forever. Time would no longer be able to take you from me. I could keep you for eternity."

Tears well up in your eyes, your hands moving to hold onto the front of his kefta as he reaches over to the knife and holds it out to you.

"You don't have to do it right now. You can get to know the owl and see if it feels right. Think about it for a while. It's a big commitment, after all." His empty hand moves up to cup your face, and the tenderness in his gaze makes your heart race. "If you chose the amplifier, I will stay with you. I will be at your side until the end of everything, I promise it. I will take care of you when you're hurt, hold you when you're sad, and laugh with you when you're happy. I will fight at your side, protect you with my life, and take care of you until I die."

Biting your lip weakly, you look up into his eyes, somehow darker than the night sky. "And if I don't choose to take the amplifier?"

"Then I'll still do all of those things. I will just have less time by your side, but I will cherish that time just as much, sweet girl."

You don't know when it happens because you start to loose track of time after the first week is over, but at some point in a random night one of the soldiers goes into the forest to get fresh water from a nearby river and doesn't return.

You're not conscious enough to notice it, and the soldiers are too caught up in their preparations for tonight's entertainment.

You don't even notice how they move through the camp, their eyes looking at each and every grisha they have, and judging who would be able to provide the most fun tonight. You just wish you were lying on the floor.

If you laid down, you could pretend that the heaviness on your chest is your husbands weight and not a heavy mountain of grief that tries to drag you down into the heart of the world.

He liked to do that. Lay on top of you to make sure that every single centimetre of you touched him in some way. You used to jokingly complain about it, but he never stopped. Every time he knew you needed comfort he would lay down on top of you, his heavy, strong body pressing you deep into the mattress while he talked, either asking questions about your day and whatever might be bothering you, or telling you about his, always carefully pressing small kisses onto your face and neck.

He must've known that his weight comforted you, made you feel safe. You've never wanted to be crushed into a mattress by him so badly in your whole life.

You don't hear it when they discuss if you're weak enough now to remove you from the cuffs. You don't even hear it when they open your cage, the old metal screeching loudly.

You don't realize that anything is wrong until one of the soldiers unlocks the cuffs and your body falls to the floor like a wet sack of flour. A loud groan leaves your mouth, your voice rough from lack of use.

The soldier grabs your ankles and drags you out of the cage, your upper body dragging over the floor. After being hung up for so long, you realise very quickly that you can't move your arms at all. The muscles start twitching as soon as you even attempt to bring them together, and a horrible, sharp tingling sensation makes itself noticeable. You bite your teeth together to stop yourself from screaming out.

A wave of panic crashes over you as soon as you fully understand what's going on, trying to kick the man dragging you closer to the fire, but none of your movements seem to really bother him.

As soon as you're close enough to the fire, someone flips you onto your stomach and buries their hand in your hair to pull your head up. Your back bends horribly, and you hiss out in pain as your eyes find those of the soldier who broke the Alkemis hands with a rock.

He doesn't say anything. He just looks at you, eyes taking in every flinch and twitch in your face.

You stay like this for a few seconds staring at each other, when he suddenly spits directly into your face, a wide grin splitting his face into two a few seconds later before he slaps you. Your head drops to the ground quickly.

"Let's get started. Markus can join us later when he's done," someone says. Three seconds later, before you have time to register what he means, you have a small knife in your back.

A blood curdling scream leaves your throat and tears well up in your eyes. You want to beg, to humiliate yourself even further and kiss their shoes in hopes of escaping this, but the last shred of pride left in you won't let you.

One of the soldiers steps onto one of your hands, twisting his shoe a bit in the process to make it hurt more. Someone else grabs your other arm and twists it behind your back until you scream out once more. This time, you scream your husbands name, unable to stop yourself in time. It's a broken, pathetic sound that echoes through the trees like a gunshot.

You know he won't come, but something about saying his name again feels almost cathartic, so you continue to scream it out with your full heart and soul. With every hit, every kick, and every stab wound, you scream the real name of the black heretic out into the endless night and beg death to bring you to him.

When the first gunshots get fired into the forest, you mistakenly assume that they're shooting at you and tightly close your eyes. Your heartbeat rushes loudly in your ears, and your mind replays the events of the first day when the Durast got shot. You can't even stand up and run. Your whole body is consumed by pain.

This is it, you think. Loud screams pierce through the air, gruelling, blood curling screams that scare you half to death.

Your mind races, trying to quickly find a last memory to remember before a bullet pierces your chest or head and kills you, something sweet and soft and perfect, like your wedding night, or your first kiss, or your-.

A loud scream rips itself out of your throat when a bullet hits you right into your leg. The man who shot it is dead seconds later, torn to shreds by darkness itself, but you don't see it, your eyes still rightly closed as you wait for the next bullet to hit you.

It never comes.

Instead someone yells your name, and you think it sounds familiar.

"Ivan!" the man screams, and a second later, someone carefully turns you onto your back and falls to their knees next to you, pulling your head up into their lap, their large hands cupping your face.

You don't want to die. You're not ready.

"My love, my love, it's me. Can you hear me?," he speaks. Fabric ruffles and something wide is dropped over your shaking, weak form, and your whole body feels warm for the first time in days. A familiar scent enters your lungs, somehow overpowering the stench of rotting corpse and fresh blood.

"Sasha?" Squinting your eyes, you look up, trying to focus on the blurry face hovering above yours. He's easy to recognize. The ink black lines over his face are unique to him, almost out of place in this world, just like him. You want to reach up and touch him, but you can't. Your muscles won't cooperate.

"I'm here, my little love. I'm right here. I found you. And I'm so proud of you. So, so proud of you. And I'm sorry," Aleksander answers. His eyes sparkle like stars, tears rolling down his face and dripping onto yours like raindrops. In the back of your mind, you realize that you've never seen him cry in front of people like this before. Only ever in private. Now his voice is almost breaking, his sobs so loud it drowns out the noise of your own hammering heartbeat. It must be a dream. He would never allow himself to show weakness like this.

Ivan appears next to him like a ghost, his hands covered in blood as he carefully lifts the thick black cloak Aleksander covered you with from your legs to look at the injuries there.

"Sasha," you rasp out again. You want him to hold you so badly, but you can barely speak. All you want is to be held by your husband.

"Right here. I'm so sorry, sweet girl. So sorry. I promised I would protect you, and I failed. I'm so sorry, I will never make that mistake again, I swear. I'll never take you for granted again. I'm so sorry for being late."

You want to respond, to calm him down, but he doesn't give you a chance to talk. He just continues with his panicked, slightly hysterical rambling, his whole body shaking under the force of his sobs.

"I'll take care of you. I'll make sure you're safe, and I will never leave your side again. No one will ever hurt you again."

His thumb strokes your cheek gently, and the love in his gaze almost feels like a punch in the gut. He looks absolutely in love and absolutely devastated as well. "I thought I lost you. I kept looking for you in every camp I found, but you were never there, and none of the soldiers would tell me where you are. I was so sure they killed you. I was so scared. I thought-"

Aleksanders voice shatters like glass, his body almost curling in on itself as he presses his forehead against yours. You recognize the breathing pattern he uses, an old trick he taught you a few years ago when you were still new to your position as the Darklings wife. He's trying to stop a panic attack from taking over.

"I'm so proud of you. You're so strong and brave, my darling girl. My lovely wife. I love you so much. You're so good, so good for me. I don't know what I would do without you. What I would do if they... I'm so sorry. I don't deserve you. I'm sorry."

He sounds broken, you notice. You've never heard him like this in your entire life. Tears flood your eyes, and you take a deep breath, more of his familiar scent entering your lungs. Rosemary and ash, with a hint of something sweet.

"I'm never going away again, I promise. I will never leave you again, sweet girl. Never again. You will never be able to get rid of me. I will bind myself to you, body and soul, until the end of everything, I swear it."

You're starting to get dizzy. Everything is so overwhelming.

"Am I dead?" You hear yourself asking, your vision dimming slowly, and you're sure you will be dragged back into unconsciousness by your body soon. Aleksander laughs, and it's oddly light and relieved, considering the context.

"No. No, you're alive. You survived. We both survived."

You smile.

Part 3: So I stayed in the darkness with you

Taglist: @savagejane1 @deadunicorn159

[stromuprisahat]

I love your takes on the grishaverse so I was wondering what you thoughts was on the theory/headcanon that Alina didn’t really lose her powers but unknowingly locked them as she did before the books’ beginning? Maybe there was a period where she couldn’t summon light bcs she was too exhausted and stressed out by the whole ‘final battle’ thing – banishing thee Fold, Mal’s ‘death’, Darkling’s death – so she assumed she had lost it. And then it was easier to unknowingly continue like that bcs it allowed her to remove herself from ruling and making any decisions and just have her simple co-depended life with Mal as she always wanted.

Personally, I don’t think that’s what happened in canon (certainly not what Bardugo meant) but I find it feasible as fanon interpretation, considering how depressed and deluded Alina appears post-RAR.

I'm more leaning into the explanation, that she intentionally, yet subconsciously rid herself of them (and maybe revived Malyen, when we're at it, since the second life bullshit is just that- bullshit that doesn't make sense, since no other amplifier's running around the same way. But then again- I'm very skeptical, when it comes to Malyen actually being one- he has no properties others do.).

Alina recognizes that as long as she's Grisha, she won't be able to be only with Malyen, and she already admitted she's trying to mould herself into whatever he seems to want from her.

Merzost doesn't seem to be random- it's driven by intention. Ilya "upgraded" mythical animals to have certain properties, Aleksander fucked up first, but then managed to find a way to actively protect his people, when in situation his powers weren't enough. Alina lost what made her special, but since her goal wasn't finished yet, other Sun Summoners sprang into existence and fucked up destruction of the Fold, because it's merzost-made, therefore logic tells us ordinary Small Science shouldn't be enough to vanquish it.

It's true the previous time Alina worked with merzost, her powers "disappeared" for a while, but the "magic" also isn't working from nothing. No matter what we're told, there is a cost, some input. It's not "pure creation". We can see it, when Sasha makes nichevo'ya- he's using his own essence, his life force or whatever want you to call it, to draw them into existence, so Alina would need ~something~ to distribute her powers among others, and the amplifiers are just that- they amplify, wider one's range, not give a new ability.

Besides- there's the question of what grandpa Ilya wanted. If he aimed at Grisha being accepted, instead of othered, why would he take away from one the give to more. It might look pragmatic, but the range is too limited and even if he created such "tools" over and over- he'd only make a new caste of "once-Grisha", instead of levelling the playing field.

One of my fellow fans also pointed out that if merzost is magic, perhaps Alina used it to become an ordinary otkazat'sya. I don't believe so. She might've made herself to appear as one, but after all those books spent reading how is being Grisha integral part of their being, something that makes them themselves... looking at post R&R Chapter 17 Alina isn't looking at slightly more traumatized Alina that can't summon the Light because it's not a part of her. It's looking at a husk of the girl, just like the ends of previous books, when she was suffering due to missing her powers on physical level.

And her lack of skill, when using merzost previous time would support it. She locked away her powers and her hair went white the first time. She got rid of her Light, but her body "remembers" it's missing something.

edit: Also- thank you for (positive) feedback, I'm not being rude, I'm just an social idiot with totally not ADHD, so I get focused on "the point", and forget the social stuff like greeting and replying to nice words, which ARE very motivating for me, but HERE'S THE STUFF I'm thinking about and my brain's coming up with coherent answers- LOOK!

[bumblesimagines]

Imagine:

Meeting Alina

Request: Yes or No

Revamped version of this! I don't know why I felt so strongly about revamping it but maybe its cause I've started reading the first book

~~~

Not many ventured into the library willingly. There'd been Genya, until she read nearly every book and grew bored, and Zoya but it'd been back in the day when she thought (Y/N) would pay her a piece of mind if she showed interest in his hobbies before she moved on to trying to charm the General. (Y/N) couldn't fault her ambition. It was what drove Grishas.

But (Y/N) never ventured into the libraries for grand tales or recountings of past war heroes. No, he searched high and low for more information on the very man he was connected to by blood. The Darkling, the creator of the Fold and someone he once trusted and loved wholeheartedly. 

Until the Sun Summoner arrived and with her, the potential to destroy the Fold. He should've been relieved at the news of someone with the potential to overthrow General Kirigan, he should've. But the girl was clumsy, stubborn, awkward... 

Loud.

He heard her every day when she had free time away from Genya and whatever other practice had been thrusted upon her. Her footsteps were obnoxiously loud, her breathing even louder. She made flimsy attempts at hiding herself, choosing the most obvious of spots where she was still visible even if she ducked behind a shelf. Sure, she'd been a mapmaker before her discovery and all her training was for being a proper Grisha, but he'd seen children more sneakier than her. 

(Y/N) could feel her gaze stabbing into his back, distracting him from his reading. He'd changed reading spots six times since her arrival just days prior. Zoya had taken the hint after the third time, though of course, not after one last attempt at flirting that'd been promptly ignored. Stubbornness was a decent thing, especially for someone with her abilities. He preferred she wasted her stubbornness on someone else. But, he knew one way to frighten people. 

His hand dipped into his coat, fingers tracing the loops keeping his favorite throwing knife buckled to his waist. His fingers slipped around the cool handle, movements slow to not draw attention until he pulled it free of the loop and swiftly threw it in her direction. He heard it embed itself into the wood of the bookshelf, her surprised squeak, and the thud of a book falling onto the floor followed by a sharp curse. 

(Y/N) closed the book he'd been trying to read and turned around to face the Sun Summoner, watching her scramble to pick up the book she'd dropped on her foot. "I don't enjoy being watched." His sharp voice made her head raise and she clutched the book tight to her chest, clinging onto it like a child would to a toy. He cut the distance and tugged the knife out of the shelf, just mere inches from where her head had been. 

"I-I'm Alina." She finally spoke, slightly widened eyes glancing between his face and the blade.

"Everyone knows who you are, Sun Summoner." He responded and stepped away, returning to the table. He resisted the urge to sigh when he heard her follow. "I don't particularly care."

Her features seemed to brighten at that. "I've... I've noticed you spend quite a bit of time here." She said and placed her own book down on the table. Grisha Theory and Practice. A classic, if it weren't a bit boring. Alina traced the title over the book with her fingertip, her eyes darting between the book and his features. 

"Do you need something, Sun Summoner? Or are you feeling bored? I could ask Botkin to extend your lessons. I hear you're quite good." She was horrible but progress had been made, or so he heard.

"No!" She answered quickly and he nearly smirked at the terror in her voice. "I-I was just curious about you. And- please, just call me Alina. The Sun Summoner is quite a mouthful-"

"I'll call you whatever I like." (Y/N) had never been known for his sweetness and yet, she remained by the table. Her brows lifted slightly, taken aback by his sharp words again, and her eyes dropped back down to the table, just briefly. 

"What will..." She trailed off and swallowed, swiping her tongue over her lips and tilting her head up to meet his eyes. "What will you call me?"

"A bother." The answer came easily but she'd managed to make his brows furrow in perplexion. She was an odd little thing.

"That's quite enough, (Y/N)." General Kirigan's voice sliced through the air and (Y/N) spared the man a glance before turning his back to him and arranging the books on the table into a neat pile. "We don't treat our fellow Grisha in such a manner."

"Zoya's done worse." It felt childish, muttering like that.

"But you are not Zoya, are you?" General Kirigan stared into the back of his head before turning his attention to Alina. "I apologize for my brother's... attitude. He can be quite rude to those he doesn't know well."

"Brother?" Alina breathlessly repeated but before she could prod more, Genya's voice called for her from the doors. She bowed her head and stumbled over her feet before hurrying in the direction of Genya's voice. It wouldn't matter. Genya would tell her enough to quench her curiosity and leave the more important parts out. 

"It wouldn't kill you to be kind to her. At least pretend to care for her wellbeing." General Kirigan sighed. "We need her. She's important."

"You have Genya spying on her for you. You've spent the past few days trying to get her to fall for you. You'll have better luck finding the stag before that happens."

"And you wish to know why that is? Why she won't ever see me in such a light?" General Kirigan leaned against the table, his dark eyes watching him intently. 

"Because she's in love with the tracker? The one she writes letters to? Genya's shown me some of the letters. I'm surprised he's a tracker. One would think he's as blind as an old lady if he can't see her feelings for-"

"She may harbor feelings for him, yes." He nodded and (Y/N) clamped his mouth shut, the look swirling in his eyes making him feel nervous. "But I'm afraid she doesn't speak of him as much as she does you. She asks about you often. I believe you've caught her eye instead, and for our plan to work, I need her completely and utterly on our side. Your new task is to ensure those feelings grow into genuine love. If you grow to care for her, you may keep her afterward."

"Aleksander-"

"I'm sure you'll carry out this task dutifully as always. Don't disappoint me."

[aleksanderscult]

I loved your analysis! Can you analyse the (barely there, not enough) Darklina scenes from the KOS duology? I could not rationalize some of what was going on there.

First of all, I'm so sorry for taking that long to reply, anon! (Hasn't it been over two weeks since you send this or what??😭😭)

Second, thank you so much for your kind words! 💗💗

Third, you and I both friend 🤝🤝

'Cause honestly I didn't know what the fuck was happening in that interaction too 😭

I'll actually analyze the only Darklina scene we got in RoW. But if you want another one too, just send me an ask!

So! Let's dive in and analyze that hot mess, shall we?

(note: I had to go back and read this scene very carefully in order to understand what the actual fuck they were saying💀)

⚠️TW!: PTSD, trauma⚠️

The way he's so obedient with her even in this life 😭

If somebody else had ordered him to do that, he wouldn't obey. But Alina? Alina is a different story and this is the first time he hears her voice since his death in R&R.

'Any little victory'

Uhh....okay...??

You made him wipe his feet. I'm.... impressed??

(confusion levels 📉)

LMAO MY BOY WOKE UP AND CHOSE VIOLENCE

I always believed that the dynamic between Aleksander and Alina involves lots of teasing. But not in the fun sense. But in the sense of "I'm getting under your skin. My words to you sting".

And that's what the Darkling does here too. He's a prisoner. Their prisoner. So he tries to gain the upper hand by using his wits, his past with Alina and the latter's trauma against her to get even.

Pretty clever, huh?

See what I mean?

He tries to weaken her confidence and it's interesting that back in Keramzin he also tried to get even (and he did) by killing her mother figure.

Aleksander: "Wanna fuck with me? Wanna mess with me? How about that time when I burnt that orphanage and killed your "mother"?"

*Alina's sure confidence is gone and now the Darkling has the upper hand in her feelings*

OUTSTANDING MOVE 👌

Excuse me, Misha? Who the Hell gave you the permission to interrupt or talk at all??

Also, do you really expect from the Darkling to remember a little boy while he was too busy trying to rule a nation, win a war and persuade Alina to join him?

And if you also expect him to remember you from that time when Baghra went out to confront her son while you escorted her, then you're also wrong. 'Cause he was too busy being furious that his mother sided and helped the opposite side and too busy being distraught because he was watching her fall to her death.

You're not important, son.

Sit down.

LMAO THIS IS SO HILARIOUS

Misha you're still an infant. Please shut up.

I honestly liked him in the Grisha Trilogy (I found him a cutie) but now I want to slap him and everyone else in this duology except Aleksander

The Darkling has survived numerous murdering attempts against him. He was finally killed by Alina not because of some grand display of her powers but because the former was so heartbroken by Alina's fate (and his own because he would be alone) that he just gave up on his life. Basically he committed suicide.

Misha, you wouldn't be able to kill him even now that he's powerless and in chains. Probably you would stumble and fall in the effort or smth.

Uhh actually no, Mal.

Threating him only makes you sound like idiots, honestly.

Also, since when did Mal gained ✨wisdom✨?

Wasn't he the hot-tempered one in the trilogy who always got angry with the mere mention of the Darkling? And the one who wanted to kill him as well?

Alina, you know damn well what his name is.

Honestly, I think she didn't say it because she wanted to respect the fact that he trusted her to keep it.

And I agree that Yuri is a horrible name for him. Makes him seem like a fisherman 😭

Meanwhile Alina in S&B:

So either Bardugo kinda forgot these scenes or we're led to believe that these scenes weren't her being happy, but we thought she was happy.

(me casually ignoring that theory because I choose to believe only the things that MAKE SENSE)

The fact that Bardugo made Alina believe that she was unhappy when she was whole with her powers and surrounded by people like her but totally happy now that she has no powers (a part of her soul actually) and living with a man that slut-shamed her in a toxic, childhood place is umm... yeah. Not good.

So basically:

Aleksander: "You look different. You look like shit. What the fuck did they do to you? This is not you"

Alina: "No bro I'm happy now that I live in toxic conditions where the teachers mock me, Mal takes me out for a walk to forget my psychological traumas and I raise some Grisha children that will fade because they don't use their powers and some others that I probably am in no condition to raise. At least that's what the author said is happiness, bro."

Aleksander: "......."

Alina: "......"

The readers: "........."

ALEKSANDER IS HONESTLY ALL OF US FRR WITH HIS LINES

"In peace"

Yeah, having PTSD certainly is peaceful. And knowing that you abandoned your country and left its fate to chance certainly makes you sleep like a baby at night.

"We chose the life we wanted"

Alina, you didn't CHOOSE to lose your powers. And before that you didn't even know what you wanted to do with your life. It was a last minute decision for you.

"I fell pray to the same greed that drove you"

Girl, are we the only ones who did our homework??

In his POV in RoW he confirmed that he tampered with merzost in the past because he wanted to stop Ravka's wars. So as far as we know he never used power exclusively for himself.

"I paid the price for tampering with merzost"

Now hold a second. I thought that the reason Alina lost her powers is because Morozova wanted that said power to be shared by any otkazat'sya around. It wasn't that much of a punishment as much as a need for Morozova to share that power.

Unless it was..... both?

I just want a guy that will believe in me and my abilities the way Aleksander does with Alina, man 😭

He strongly believes that she could become a Queen even without her powers. And he's actually so right when he says to her that her wounds won't heal. Because no matter how much you try to convince yourself that you are alright. No matter how hard you try to persuade your mind that you're not broken, reality will always hit you. Some wounds never heal and Alina's certainly will not. She didn't lose a toy, she lost a part of her soul and witnessed many die. How the hell does she think she's suitable to raise children, when she herself is NOT okay psychologically?

"In the wake of your wars"

Excuse me. Why is the Fjerdan and Shu wars always the Darkling's fault??

"And maybe when our country is free, then that wound will close"

She sounds so brainwashed bye--

And just like I said, wounds like that never close unfortunately. It can only become more bearable with time. But not forgetable.

Ah yes. Bardugo makes us watch how cute their relationship is.

Am I supposed to take off my camera and snap pictures of them whispering with tears in my eyes: "They look so adorable"?

'Cause I won't.

The way Bardugo has made Mal unfazed by the Darkling's comments. A thing that completely contrasts his nature in the Grisha trilogy.

He also made him have "sassy" lines because we've got to like him somehow, right? 🤗

Still hate him

Basically, dear anon, the author has made Mal more "likeable", immune to the Darkling's insults, patient and witty in order for us to change our mind about him and finally like him.

(mission failed btw)

He is literally nothing like his trilogy counterpart and, if possible, she made him more annoying.

(how the hell she managed to do that, I don't know)

I just feel sorry for Aleksander who has to deal with all these jerks. If I were there, I would have helped him kill them and bury their bodies.

Because you let your heart and feelings get the better of you, Aleksander. Because you proved to be the most human of all these characters here. You let her come close. And that's what killed you.

(also, shut up Misha)

Alina, you could have said "no" to that invitation. So stop acting like they dragged you from the hair here.

"Do you think you could manage it?"

Do you, Alina? 'Cause really, what did YOU do to make the lives of Grisha better? At least he built a palace for them.

"It's not like you didn't get a fair try before. Hundreds of tries"

Yeah, and half of them failed because you got in the way. You refused to listen to him and, even if you didn't like the way he dealt with the persecution, you chose to run away (again) instead of deciding to stay and do better.

SHE DID NOT JUST SAY THAT ZOYA AND NIKOLAI COULD DO BETTER LMAO 😭😭

Zoya, the very fact that he mentioned you should feel like a badge of honor.

And yet Ravka is in its worst condition ever.

Sorry Alina but I don't see shit from them.

The fact that the Darkling keeps mentioning that he's eternal is to remind them that he has seen everything and done everything. He has more experience than they will ever have. Not to gloat about it. And yet Alina takes it as the latter.

And it's funny that Alina turns him down for the job saying he has no powers when Alina herself suffers from the same condition 😀

Finally someone with self-reflection.

THAT'S WHAT I'M SAYING!!

PREACH!! PREACH!! 👏👏

When you have the "villain" exposing the true problem in the story, the flaws and failures while having the heroes screaming "EVERYTHING IS FINE. YOU'RE WRONG!" then you know that something is wrong.

How the Hell are they gonna provide eternal peace in Ravka and to the Grisha when:

They have no experience

They are too busy criticizing the villain instead of looking at their own flaws

They doubt themselves

(you can add to the list, guys)

And he's not shaken because he's talking with a Saint, Zoya. He's shaken because he's talking to Alina. She always had a way in getting under his skin. He said it.

"Fine. Make me your villain" fits here 'cause he never perceived himself as the bad guy but he knew that this is what others thought of him.

I think it still stung to him to know that others saw his every action in a negative light but he still kept going. And sometimes he even used it (at the end of R&R).

Alina still wants to believe that there's something redeemable inside him. Her POVs were always the "kindest" in the way they painted the Darkling.

MISHA COULD YOU PLEASE SHUT IT

What about his mother, huh??

Who, despite the abuse he suffered from her, he still cared about??

Alina?? Oh boy, he was in love with her, obsessed and gave her so many chances. Something that he almost never does unless he's desperate.

So PRETTY PLEASE STOP TALKING

Meanwhile the Darkling in R&R, chapter 11:

"I have regretted many of the things I’ve had to do in this war."

So either Bardugo forgot that or Alina did or Aleksander changed his mind.

Or (my theory) Bardugo changed his perception in order for us to feel less sympathetic towards him.

Nevertheless, at least he has a spine and knows where he stands.

And Alina wanted the Darkling to say it not for him but for her. So she can feel okay. Unless Zoya is talking bullshit.

YES ALEKSANDER WHY DIDN'T YOU LIE SO OUR HEROINES COULD FEEL BETTER ABOUT THEMSELVES???!!

HOW DARE YOU?? 😠😠

He tries so hard to persuade her that the reality she lives in will not pay off anything. First off, this is not who she is or what she was meant to become and second, why does she teaches children stories that are lies? Feeding them false hope, repeating a circle that others had also been doing.

"Do you *really* believe..."

He wants to make sure that she stands by that. He just can't believe that this is her opinion. Her choice.

He just wants her to shine people!! 😭😍

"Those stories tell us the only people who matter are Kings and Queens. They're wrong"

Now tell me, Alina, which stories do YOU tell them? What do you teach them? That the world is as rosy as the orphanage they live in, where they only eat sugar and play the piano? Do you imagine what kind of reality check will those children get once they live in the real world?

And here, ladies and gentlemen, we see the Darkling having reached his limits and saying "Fuck this shit I'm out"

Congratulations, Aleksander! You survived that meeting with these buffoons and their groundless arguments!! 👏👏

Here, have this! 🏅

He saw his chance (Alina holding Mal's hand) and seized it. But I think he really meant all those questions he asked to Alina.

So, dear anon, what we have here is the villain making his effort (again) to be heard and understood. He tries to make them see his own point of view: Ravka is in serious danger and Zoya and Nikolai are in no position to protect it. He, on the other hand, can since he has more experience and balls to deal with these issues. The Darkling is no pussy. He truly makes hard decisions when he must, something that essentially all rulers must do when the situation calls for it.

But! We have the good guys silencing him and threating him (even having a little child to do the last one) in order for the reader to understand what he has left in his wake. How much pain he has caused.

Mal has gotten ✨magically✨ wiser and calmer and has actual wits to repel the Darkling's insults in order for us to get to like Mal and see how much he has changed.

Alina sounds like a brainwashed woman who is convinced that her lifestyle is great! That wanting something more (idk. a throne and changing the world maybe) is sinful and unfitting of her.

Aleksander is the only one who thinks otherwise for her, though. Thank God, I mean!

He sought Alina out both to reclaim his powers and because he just wanted to see her.

Personally, in this scene only the Darkling makes sense. The others either want to feel good about themselves by threating him or want to convince him that "Hey, we're the good ones here. We know what we're doing, okay?" and his own ways are shit.

Dear anon, if you have any other questions or want me to analyze any other Darklina scene from this book or duology that I didn't include, then just say so!

And please any others who want to add something about this scene, feel free to criticise in the comments! 💛💛

[sad-outsider]

Why I didn't like the ending of R&R. Part 4. Let's talk about pairings

I'm back! Let's continue the analysis, this is the penultimate part.

Another problem of the finale is that Nikolina storyline, speaking in Russian, is Bondarchuk’s gun (that is, it leads to nowhere and it is generally unclear why it appeared).

In the story, Alina has three love interests - Mal - a childhood friend and first love, Nikolai - a charismatic prince who decided to take the throne through cunning through a political alliance with Alina as a Saint, and Darkling - an immortal Grisha and the only equal to the heroine in strength (in theory, in practice it is much stronger), with whom Alina has an unbreakable connection. It's logical to assume that all three ships will play a role. But in reality, Nikolai acts as a third wheel, because the main confrontation is between the Darkling and Mal.

Mal symbolizes Alina's past - life as a otkazat'sya, and Darkling present - life as an immortal and powerful Grisha. It is logical to assume that Nikolai represents the future - life as a Saint and Tsaritsa. Logical, but apparently not for Leigh Bardugo. In her story, Mal is the past and the present and the future and everything in general. There is no one else for Alina and there cannot be anyone else, otherwise she is a slut (this is not my opinion, if anything). And that's the problem.

Yes, I didn't like the fact that Malina became the endgame. And no, contrary to popular belief the anti is not at all because my shipp (Darklina) is not the endgame (although I perfectly understand those who are unhappy about this, because it was Darklina who lured us into the plot, this is a fact, and this can be easily proven) . No, I would be quite happy with Nikolina. I didn't expect Darklina endgame after the Darkling burned down the orphanage and killed Ana Kuya and the instructors (which, in my opinion, was his most disgusting act in the trilogy) and promised to break Alina (which would have break him too, IMHO).

The main (but far from the only) reason why I (like, I assume, many others) cannot accept Malina endgame is that the author broke the entire plot for her sake. Think for yourself, because of Malina all the fuss happened with the third amplifier, because of Malina Alina in the end lost her powers, ceased to be a Grisha and was able to calmly go into the sunset and not have consequences for her rash actions, because the problems are Grisha and Ravka no longer concerns her, because she is now just an ordinary otkazat'sya, because of Malina Mal was ✨magically resurrected✨ and because of Malina Alina rejected Nikolai.

Why was it even necessary to introduce a love line between Alina and Nikolai, if in the end it did not lead to anything? Unclear.

If I were the author, I would rewrite the entire plot, because I wrote some kind of nonsense *khm* What am I talking about? Oh yes, I would have left Alina her powers, let her destroy the Fold herself, left Mal dead and ended the plot with Nikolina, even despite my great love for Darklina. Not a perfect ending, but at least a satisfying one. A favorite pairing is good, but you need to think sensibly and not ruin the entire plot for it.

Here is another meme for you, see you in the final part🤗

[tirkdi]

I don't know why but I've been imagining this a lot for some weird reason. If somehow darklina do end up together just SOMEHOW do you think at one point they'll get bored of each other? Will darkling's obsession with Alina eventually wear out? maybe Alina will want to try something else with someone else. How would darkling react to that? He's possessive as fuck but sometimes I wonder he would understand that unlike him, Alina never really got to be truly free and explore things for herself. I mean I don't think he'll let Alina go lol but do you think aat some point in centuries they might open their relationship?

This is such a hard question because when we're talking about immortals, I tend to believe that almost everything is possible, so this is where metas trying to answer the question (as opposed to fics) get tricky. Is it possible? Totally. Is it likely? Hard to say. I think the question we're getting at is – what are the conditions under which it might happen?

I'm taking the premise of this question to be that somehow, probably during R&R, they get together and rule Ravka (why not?). So we're dealing with not-quite-end-of-R&R Darkling & Alina. It will take them a while to work themselves into a relationship in the first place, and there are a lot of ways that could shake out. But assuming they get there, to a place that is respectful and reciprocal (if not gentle and loving), how long would that feel like 'enough' for Alina, and in what ways?

There are a few things going on here that I'll call out. One thing, to your point of he wouldn't let Alina go, is that we have an example of what an extremely long-lived relationship looks like for him already: Baghra. When the trilogy starts, he's like 800 years old and still living with his mom! Whenever we see them together they're fighting, but they don't leave each other, and right up until the second before she did it, he couldn't fathom that Baghra would jump off a mountain rather than just coming home with him. Similarly, I think it's unlikely that he'd stop needing Alina at any point. At the same time, Alina is different than him – but I do think it's reasonable/probably correct to envision an Alina who never needs him as much as he needs her, even a gazillion years later.

Another question then would be, at what point will Alina feel like she wants (and, importantly, deserves) happiness/something more? There's some character work that has to shake out there, because I'm having a hard time envisioning an Alina that ended up with Aleks at the end of R&R doing anything but being really hard on both of them for many, many years. How does she develop from there? Depending on the setup, I could see his and Alina's relationship getting to a point where they fight like he did with Baghra, but also similarly neither of them has any intention of ever leaving the other. Balance sounds nice in theory, but can be tricky to implement! Their relationship might end up less like a balance and more like a seesaw.

So then, there's the question of – is Alina looking for someone other than him to make her happy or to piss him off? The pissing him off seems pretty straightforward (and I think we have some fics like that that I've seen?). Assuming she isn't doing it to upset him, that she genuinely wants more than him, then I think there's the question of are we talking about sex or are we talking about a relationship with someone else? I do think you could come up with a setup where eventually he'd come to terms with sex, reassuring himself about how the Zoya lookalikes he sees leaving Alina's room in the morning are going to die in like a minute anyway, he doesn't even have to do anything.

I could also see a setup where you could make a power dynamic like that that he'd even enjoy, if he let himself. I think a lot about the Oscar Wilde quote: "Everything in the world is about sex, except sex. Sex is about power." If he allowed himself to acknowledge that he liked the ... humiliation? one area of his life where he was not in control? ... then I could also see him being into it, as long as he felt secure enough in the relationship between the two of them. And that right there is the whole reason we (or at least I) love this ship – their power dynamic is endlessly fascinating and there are so many different ways it could go

[cristalbeesnow]

last session of work on today's topic 6. curvy: Nina. beautiful doesn't mean being skinny, it means being yourself and loving yourself! It's a topic very dear to me, having had girls teased about their weight in class. 7. orphans: jordie and kaz. ok I know, it's no longer (I hope) a current issue but I know that not many years ago, at least where I come from, unfortunately if you were an orphan you were considered different and criticism was often mixed with fake pity... even Mal and Alina they are orphans, but I chose two orphans with a dramatic destiny, two boys who lose everything to the cruelty of the world... 8. bonus: dyscalculia and aspenger: jordie and kaz. ok guys this is something I found in more than one fan fiction but nothing is ever said about it in the book so let's keep it as ooc. After all, nothing is known about Kaz and Jordie's childhood. Personally I'm fascinated by the theory that Jordie hated school not only for the rules (if he's like Jesper I assume he was also hyperactive) but for some difficulty in mathematics... being dyscalculic I recognized myself very much... for Kaz... the My interpretation is different but this too is plausible. I don't know if the author said anything about it or if it's all ooc. how I would like to know more about their life before ketterdam!! there would be so many things to tell!!! ah I created two other wallpapers, one on Nina and one on jesper but since they are off topic I will put them aside in a few days...they are two themes that really struck me....(I'm talking about gambling and the addiction of yurda but like I said, I'm off topic...) ah and very love nadia/ tamar and jesper/wylan 💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕💕

[orlissa]

hi! sorry if this is out of the blue but can your write a drabble based this on lucife59 drawing

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30982610/chapters/81993070#workskin

it's probably one my favorites bc of how Aleksander throne is facing Alina and also she need a step bc she smalll

It took some time (sorry!), and I'm not even sure if I'm completely happy with it (damn you, writer's block!), but at least see, I wrote something post-worthy after two months of silence. It's just just over 1K words, too!

Artwork added to the post with the artist, @lucife56's permission

The Lantsov thrones, those garish, golden, monstrous things, were burned on a pyre right at the Grand Palace steps on the night of the Great Rebellion—the symbolic end of the Lantsov dynasty, a long awaited bonfire. They never even learned if it were Grisha or disgruntled otkazat'sya who dragged them out of the throne room—not that it mattered.

Afterwards, for a week or so, there was just something apt, something poetic about simply standing in front of their people as Ravka's new Tsar and Tsaritsa—as conquers, victors, leaders chosen by the people and by the heavens—, and talk about the dawn of a new era and the end of the wars, about not returning to some never-was greatness but forging their way into a brilliant future, about their service to the people. It was empowering. It was right.

Then it all quickly got old as Alina—through speeches and audiences and other different appearances—learned how taxing it can be to stand for hours in high heels, heavy skirts, tightly corseted, and with an overly ornamental headdress on her coiffed hair. Then she understood the absolute necessity of having a throne. Thankfully, Aleksander seemed to be on the same page regarding this issue.

“I’ve spoken to David about our thrones,” he told her one night as they were just about to snuff out the lights. “I presented him with some pointers about the general designs, but gave him free reign beyond that—I find his genius shines the brightest when he is unrestrained. I hope his work will be to your liking.”

Alina let out a relieved sigh as her head hit the sinfully soft down pillow. “As long as it allows me to rest my legs and won't have me picking splinters from my bum, I'll be more than happy with his work."

And she was, because David, like always, outdid himself, and the new thrones, finished in less than a week, were beyond gorgeous: made of lacquered ebony, inlaid with gold and decorated with intricate carvings, they commanded respect without being overly ostentatious. They were also rather comfortable—not an insignificant factor, given how much time they were likely to spend on them—, and, maybe most importantly, the same size.

Which was an admirable, symbolic gesture, a way to reassure everyone that she was not some consort like Tatiana used to be, there to be seen, but not heard, but a co-monarch, an equal. Someone who wielded power, someone who made decisions. And in theory, Alina loved it, and let Aleksander know it as well, in the privacy of their bedchamber. Enthusiastically.

But in practice—well, that was a different question.

Because in practice two same-sized thrones meant two Aleksander-sized thrones, who was… how to put it nicely? Of slightly greater dimensions than she was. Not in the girth, like Pyotr was, so it wasn't like she was swimming in the throne, but in… well. Let's just say that he was tall enough that, when standing, she had difficulties kissing him without his active cooperation. And that he could easily tuck her under his chin—which was, admittedly, rather nice. But because of this difference in height, while Aleksander sat regally in his black-and-gold throne, soles of his feet steadily on the floor, while hers dangled a good four inches above it.

And it was terrible—maybe not from the outside, but in her mind? Sitting there, listening to military commanders giving reports and the old nobility begging for their new Tsar and Tsaritsa’s favor while her feet didn’t even scrape the floor… It made her self-conscious, feeling like a child playing dress-up—deep down she was sure that the people around her would catch up on it too soon enough, realizing that she was nothing but a fraud, an impostor, a symbol with a pretty face, nothing more.

By the time the audience ended, she was struggling to keep her tears at bay.

They were to appear again to hear their people in a couple of days, but she was already trying to come up with some excuse to avoid it, and the whole throne room altogether. After all, Aleksander could handle it well enough alone, couldn’t he?

She should have known that her discomfort would not escape Aleksander’s attention, though.

It was only two days later that he sought her out in the middle of the day—when she retreated to her new little studio, nonetheless, to avoid all the curious eyes—, with an oddly secretive smile on his lips.

“Come with me, milaya,” he said, his voice more pleading than commanding.

She reluctantly lifted her gaze from the canvas. “Where?”

“To the throne room.”

She almost winced. “I really can’t, not now.” She made a half-hearted gesture towards her paints. “These will all dry up…”

“Then I’ll get you new ones. And it’ll be just a couple of minutes.” He caught her hand and started gently pulling her towards the door. “There is a surprise waiting for you there, if that’s enough of an incentive.”

It was, but just barely. Still, she let out a slow breath and let herself be pulled out of the room.

At first, she saw nothing out of the ordinary in the throne room—the same high windows, the same banners, the same thrones, the same…

And then she spotted it.

Right in front of her throne stood a low stool, more of a step, really, made of the same glossy ebony as the throne itself. Biting into her lip in excitement, she stole a glance at Aleksander—he beamed—, then walked up the dais to the thrones. There, she stepped on the stool, turned like a ballerina in the Imperial Opera House—or she would have liked to believe—, then sat down, her feet resting comfortably on the stool. Not dangling, like a child’s—resting, regally, like a queen’s.

Perfect.

Aleksander went to her, sat on his own thorne, and, turning it slightly towards hers, leaned in. “So?” he asked, his voice just a tad smug.

She could have told him how grateful she was for his thoughtfulness, for noticing her discomfort even when she herself was reluctant to admit to it. She could have admonished him for bothering David with such trivial matters. She could have teased him, telling him that he was impossible. Instead, Alina straightened her spine and looked at him almost coquettishly. “I feel like the empress of the world.”

Aleksander’s smile widened slightly. “That’s what you are.” 

[grishaverse-chaos]

The Darkling

why I like them: could have been SO GOOD in theory okay? I will never shut up about this because "character who everyone thinks is evil is actually just the victim of a smear campaign and some really bigoted propaganda" is SUCH a good character concept and I wish darkling fans were right about him because it would be so fucking cool and aesthetic

why I don't: he uh. he isn't that. he could have been so fucking iconic and instead he was just a vicious murderer. who grooms teenage girls.

favourite episode/scene: LOVE the bit where alina stabs his hand in s1e8. tbf that's more of a fav alina moment than anything else lmao, let me think... okay fr I love the "fine. make me your villain" scene bc it just really showcases who he is as a character and how he sees himself (hint: those two things are not the same)

favourite season/movie: imo he's better written in s1 of the show than in s2, idk though. and I do love his story in the kos duology lmao

favourite line: that one bit in rule of wolves where he says "everything I have done has been for ravka" because it's so clearly Not True and yet.... he clearly thinks it is.... so where does intent stop and impact begin...... it's deep okay

favourite outfit: purely for shits and giggles I'm going to say his black kefta in s2 where there's bits of gold bc I loveeee people being haunted by those they've wronged and I think alina haunting him really fits into that theme

otp: no thank you! in all honesty he prob could have been Fixed™ if he'd had a genuine relationship at an earlier age but he didn't so I refuse to inflict him on any other character. darkolai is interesting to consider though bc I feel like the ways they see themselves clash so heavily.... it's about self image and it's about villainy and law and justice and power and and and. they would Not be a good relationship but I think they should interact more for the Narrative

brotp: his sister ulla! they'd have such a fun sibling dynamic lmao I think it'd be sweet

headcanon: tbh I don't tend to think about him much beyond the big narrative stuff so I'm struggling to think of something that fits the genre of "headcanon".... but let's humanise him a little! I bet he reads really literary fiction and gets ever-so-slightly pretentious about it lmao

unpopular opinion: is it unpopular to say that despite his original good intentions he's a bit of a dickhead and not as smart as he thinks he is? in some corners of the fandom it totally is but idk

a wish: at this point there's not much more that could be done with his character beyond what's already been set up (him being mercy killed so he's not suffering in the thorn wood for all eternity) so I'm going to say that I hope his stans get better reading comprehension bc dear GOD some of the takes I see (posted in the alina tag btw I'm not deliberately seeking them out) are absolutely horrendous. is that too salty? perhaps. idc though it's my blog and darkling stans are free to block me if they don't like my takes

an oh-god-please-don't-ever-happen: I swear if he goes NEAR alina genya or zoya again I will reach through the fourth wall to kill him myself. only half joking btw I'd be so pissed. imo they've all had the closure they need narratively and for him to seek them out again would be a dick move of the highest degree

5 words to best describe them: used to have good intentions. that might be cheating but idk if I can pick 5 random adjectives lmao

my nickname for them: I call him darkles sometimes (bc it's funny and also I think it'd piss him off if people called him that in-universe) also a lot of less positive nicknames ("that prick", "shithead" etc) but idk if that counts

[polis-fandom]

I made a bingo chart full of my wild and very specific theories and wishful thinking for the Shadow and Bone Season 2. It's all about Nikolai, Zoya, and RoW crew (I feel like everyone's got the Crows covered, lol).

May contain SPOILERS for Grisha Trilogy and King of Scars/Rule of Wolves

Notes:

I made a post about my Sankta Neyar theory here.

Nikolai with Kaz's cane was here.

Rest under the cut.

"Alina tries to heal Nikolai" is about a scene from RR chapter 16, and I think it will have a 'Stronger than an Emerald' as a background music (it just sounds like it to me)

"Zoya flies the ship" "Zoya uses lightning" like come on! also the wildest theory is that she resurects *someone* with it ("I saw her do it twice, it worked splendidly - once")

"Alina punches Nikolai" to complete the gifset, lol

"Science bros" "Mad engineer" I just want to see David and Nikolai bonding over science (throw Wylan in too, and I might forgive Bardugo)

"Nikolai shots the Darkling" it was the greatest thing in the books, Zoya fell in love on the spot just hearing about it, I want an equivalent of it in the show. A proper Nikolai vs Darkling face off, before...

"Fancy shot" is for Nikolai showing off his "...an even better shot" skills in general.

"Genya warns Alina" I have a feeling that Genya actually will betray Darkling, like send a letter to Alina to warn her about Darkling's whereabout, or desert his new shadowy grisha group to meet with Alina, stuff like that.

"You are no Lantsov..." or some other mention of Nikolai's rumored bastardry. But I really want part of the scene from Ruin and Rising to make it to the show, because "I find that I can live with that" was such an amazing line.

"I know metal..." David's speech to Genya, like the rest of that entire scene, was amazing. Please, saints, make it to the show.

"Alina's hairpin" a wild theory that Nikolai in Ketterdam buys her hairpin of Kaz or Dresdeen, and involves himself into the plot. Yeah, I'm just running of that one picture of Nikolai dressed like a Kerch merchant.

"Tamar flies on volcra* (or teams up with Demon Nikolai)" in one interview Anna Leong Brophy said she was flying in harness for the last episode, and that's where my brain went.

"Zoya saves Nikolai" I love that part in RR final battle.

"Impropable" is that I got anything right.

[countrymusiclover]

56 - The Magical Border

Part 57

Gemini Runaway

Tag list ask to be added @icefrye19 @secretdreamlandmentality

Pulling the car up to a stop at the edge of the Mystic Falls sign I shut the passenger door gently. The wind was blowing through my hair with me holding Missy’s hand in mine. Caroline had said that no supernatural could get into the town anymore. So we're here to test that theory. “Are we sure that Caroline is telling the truth or could she just be concerned that there’s a threat inside the town?” He asked.

“I don’t think Caroline would lie about that. She loves her little hometown. - Alina no!” I screamed seeing that she was about to press her hand forward and step over the line.

She didn’t listen to me where she pressed her hand against the barrier where her hand turned red siphoning something. “Woah…”

“Alina, let go now - agh!” Vamping up to her I wrapped my arms her waist tugging her backwards but she pushed me away and I stumbled over the barrier where I winced feeling a hole forming in my stomach where I was impaled and died. Visions flashed through my mind where I did my best to get back over the line.

"Jacob!" I suddenly gasped shooting up in a sitting position. My heart beating quick as my eyes flickered around the forest landing on my twin brother laying on his back.

Joshua glanced down to my boyfriend Klaus who was still dead from the neck snap I had given him. He bent down placing his hand on his chest looking back up at me. “So he’s the father huh. I am surprised that you got him. Everyone knows to fear his name.” He got to his feet laying his palms flat for me. “You are doing what you were born to do, Raelyn Lane.”

One of my hands tangled in his curly blonde locks tugging on them making him moan pulling back when my heart began thumping loudly in his ears. “I will go anywhere with you, Klaus Mikaelson.”

“And I am with you, Raelyn Lane.” He declares smirking down at me seeing the genuine grin on my face and the wind blowing through my blonde hair where he wanted to live in this moment forever.

Grabbing a hold of his dog tag necklace I yanked his lips down onto mine vamping him onto his back catching him off guard for probably the first time. “If anyone else did that their head would be on the end of a spike!” He growled up at me with his hands behind his head smirking that devilish one.

“Yes, yes I know.” I attempted to mimic his accent by throwing my hands up in the air. “I will hunt down everyone you know and everyone you love because I am the Hybrid - ah Klaus!”

“One more step and I’ll kill her.”

“No you won’t!” Klaus growled vamping the hybrid against the tree behind me where my body got thrown harshly into another tree stabbing me multiple times where I felt my blood coming out.

“With this ring I forever, I do.” Klaus declares shifting his gaze from mine and down to the ring. He slides the ring on my left hand lifting his gaze back up to mine and holding his gaze strongly smirking.

“With this ring I forever, I do.” Laughing through happy tears I slid the band on Klaus’s left ring finger.

Klaus wrapped his arms around my forearms, wincing when he yanked me back over the line. I gasped holding a hand over the wound seeing it slowly stop bleeding and it finally healed. “Raelyn, what happened? Where does it hurt?” He was all in a panic grabbing a hold of my shoulder.

“Caroline…was…right.” Gasping I hugged my knees to my chest seeing our daughters all giving me a terrified look.

Hope played with the end of her pink shirt. "Mommy, are you okay?"

"What happened?" Missy tilted her head, always being the curious but innocent one.

Finally Alina came up to me apologizing. "Mommy, I'm sorry. I just could feel…magic."

"Next time you're mother or I tell you to do something. You do and don't fight us. We are trying to protect you, do you understand that?" Klaus raised his tone but not enough to scare them.

All three girls responded together in unison. "Yes daddy."

"Good right now Raelyn what happened. Tell me what happened when you crossed." He asked gently holding my shoulders.

Sucking in a breath I wrapped my arms around myself meeting his blue orbs. "It was like my life flashed before my eyes. I saw Jacob die,,..then me. Our wedding and everything in between. And then I fell myself bleeding out from where I stabbed by a tree…”

“Come here, love. Sssh.” He put one hand on the back of my head running his fingers through my hair. Leaving his other hand on my lower back holding me close to his embrace.n

Wrapping my arms around his neck, my fingernails were gripping his black leather jacket. Sniffing through tears I broke the hug rising to my feet along with him following shortly after. “Let’s get something to eat then we can sort this all out.”

Klaus drove us until we parked outside what looked like a bar. Entering the door a woman came around the bar top about to throw us out. “Oh I’m sorry sir, they can’t be here unless they are twenty one.”

“Oh my mistake, love.” He placed a hand on her shoulder with his eyes dilating when he compelled her. “You’ll let us stay without any fight. And you’ll pour some of your blood in two glasses if you want to get a good tip.”

She nodded, sending our daughters a smile gesturing to the open bar stools walking into the back room. “Here you girls can sit up here. I’ll be back with your drinks.”

“You really should not do that to the poor girl. She doesn’t deserve to be compelled.” I sat down beside the girls resting my arms on the bar island.

Klaus clicked his tongue. “I figured the girls should be able to enjoy a nice meal somewhere if we have it in our power to do so."

The waitress came back with our glasses and some juice for the kids. I raised my glass to my lips enjoying the taste of her blood running down my throat. My phone buzzed when I picked it up, pressing it to my ear. “Caroline, hey. What’s going on with you?”

“Oh nothing much heading into a bar for a drink. How are you and Klaus?” She replied through the phone.

The door behind us opened where I turned around on my barstool grinning brightly when I recognized her. She hung her phone up and put it in her back pocket. She opened her arms and I jumped down embracing her. “What are you doing here? I thought you were at college.”

“I was until I heard my mom talking about some vampire lurking on the border. But it’s great to see you and your girls.” She breaks the hug bending down on her knees to be the girl’s level. “Hi girls.”

Missy immediately went to her first, flinging her arms around her. Hope came after that with Alina following afterwards. “Caroline!” She hugged them each tightly, staring up at me and Klaus.

“I have compelled the bartender and I’ll pay for the drinks. So have at it, love.” Klaus raised a glass in his hands smiling.

Caroline shook her head. “I’m good, Klaus. Although I did see a playground nearby. I can take the girls too if you want me to.”

Missy jumped up. “Please!”

Alina danced around in a circle. “Can we go!”

Hope grabbed Caroline’s hand in hers. “Can we, can we?”

Klaus sat his drink down on the barstool meeting my gaze seeing that I gave him a head nod yes in agreement. “Yes you can go with Caroline. Just be safe.”

The three ran off before I heard my phone go off so I answered it by hearing my uncle Joshua’s voice. “Hello Raelyn, we need to discuss your current situation with your children. Meet me at my house in Portland.” He hung up the phone where I made a weird face towards my husband.

Comments really appreciated ❤️

[where-theres-smoak-2]

I definitely think the red fabric might be from Alina's gown. I'm sure other fans also think it might relate to Luda since she wore a red dress and white underdress a la Proto-Healer Kefta colors. But, personally, while I'm sure Aleks still does grieve for her, I don't think he'd be able to keep a piece of her dress after four hundred years. Plus, Luda's body presumably was left to decompose in the Sanctuary after Aleks created the Fold. He immediately got Baghra and high-tailed it out of there leaving her and the other hidden Grisha to end up in a mass grave. And since he's clearly longing for Alina despite his anger, it makes more the piece of fabric relates to her and how he usually has meltdowns due to her.

Yeah it did cross my mind that it could possibly be related to Luda but for pretty much all the same reasons you mentioned I ruled that out pretty quick. I mean as you said I am sure that Aleks still grieves and misses Luda but I also feel like enough time has passed that he won't be crying over a piece of fabric left behind by her. Right now his current feelings are for Alina, his focus is Alina.

Also I honestly don't think the writer's meant for Luda to be all that relevant seeing as they openly admitted that they didn't develop her character very much because they wanted to avoid the fridged girlfriend troupe, even though she was still the fridged girlfriend just now an underdeveloped fridged girlfriend. Point being that I think Luda was only meant to be a story telling device to show why Aleks created the fold and how he become the character he is today, I would be very surprised if they ever bring Luda up again in the show as I think in their view she has served her purpose. I personally would love to see Luda again and learn more about her but I jut don't think that is likely. So I really do think it is much more likely that the piece of fabric has something to do with Alina.

The only other theory I had and this is a huge books spoiler so fair warning but maybe the piece of fabric has something to do with baghra, if they are going to develop both books in full then there's a good chance Baghra will die in this season, she's the only other person I could see Aleks crying over like that, so maybe this is right after her death scene happens. In the books she throws herself from a cliff pretty much so maybe the fabric is where he tries to grab her to save her but fails. The flaw in this theory of course is that Baghra usually wears black.

But who knows guess we'll find out in a couple of days.

[sabrinaacarpenters]

Thoughts on s2?

im very 50/50 on it to be honest, there were some parts that i really liked but all in all i liked season 1 so much more

i loved that they changed alina's ending, i hated how the trilogy ended and i'm book m/alina's number one hater so i did not give a fuck that they broke them up tbh. i was fine with them in the show in s1 but in s2 they bored me to tears and they got together way too fast in my opinion. also i think she had way more chemistry with nikolai so even though zoyalai is one of my otps i don't mind that if the show gets cancelled they're kind of endgame here, since i'll always have the books. and i'm so here for dark!alina!!

for the crows part, i loved the kanej scenes from the books even if they were completely out of order lmao but amita and freddy has amazing chemistry so i ate up all their scenes i think wesper was very rushed, i don't like how they made them sleep together prior and i think their dynamic is the most different from their book counterparts, but if we don't get s3/a spinoff at least they're endgame now one of my biggest gripes with this season is NOT ENOUGH HELNIK!! i truly hoped that even though we wouldnt get the ice court heist they would break matthias out of hellgate in the second part of the season in like individual storylines for them, even though i did not like how quickly kaz took down pekka, freddy's performance was amazing in episode 4, truly one of the highlights of the season for me. and my girl nina had so many amazing scenes this season i was very happy for her. i think jesper was a bit sidelined this season compared to the previous one, but i loved the dream/hallucination scene with his mom and it was great to see him embracing his powers; its going to be interesting how the heist plot changes now that he's not hiding it wylan is very much still a blank slate which i like, bc thats similar to how it was in the first book. matthias being plagued by sex dreams was basically the only thing he had going on but you know what im not complaining lmao inej already leaving to hunt down slavers was a change i did not like, and what was that look between her and tolya??? i was bamboozled. i also feel like they erased a huge part of her backstory and trauma, which i hope they'll rectify given the chance, my insane conspiracy theory is that tante heleen isn't actually dead and she'll show up at the ice court

killing david was sick of them tbh and i hate it but still the biggest crime was putting zoya in the ugliest baby pink gown they could find in the last ep. they truly did my girl so dirty

[serpenteve]

LMAO court of porn and roses, i haven't read sjm but this sent me xD

i think the anon has a point tho! CW has done well with YA shows before. tvd, the 100, PLL, idk so so many ya shows that also typically followed the love triangles and various interesting cast of side characters. S and B hasn't even come close. (The 100 is a bit different maybe in the sense that it also got a fair share of adult viewers ig and it was generally less trashed on at least in the earlier seasons.)

I get that sab is a fantasy setting so might have more lore etc, but it's not a very COMPLICATED world to understand. in fact a lot of it is like this group has fire powers, this group has healing powers etc. (And they've got colour coded uniforms too!), the royal family and many citizens have no powers so they're the muggle equivalent, and the muggles are largely more dominating in this world. that's really the biggest chunk of what needs to be understood at a superficial level for the first book/season to make sense.

Additional info like the larger world can come in eventually, but things like tvd also would randomly come up with lore and audiences would just roll with it. Like ohkay now in s2 we have werewolves and also the blood of this x thing can cure vampirism and there is also some bloodline connection and hunter theory and whatnot??

Maybe it's the dumping of all the episodes in one go, but maybe it's also that sab just didn't capture non book folks as much that they'd want to make theories etc as to what's gonna happen. It just didn't create the fandom that it was supposed to. Book fans know the first one was the best one lol, and then it's the crows books that are more fun because of the heist. And non book fans didn't care all that much. And maybe this is my darklina bias but for most ya stuff you need a good romance subplot and sorry but ma*linas meadow scenes were a snoozefest for me. I couldn't care less and didn't want to sit through 10 meadow scenes. (The darklina scenes were good but those are probably done now)

You could generate enough debate or hype around character decisions and actions but the gregverse throws away all nuance in favour of making the darkling evil and where's the fun in that? So maybe have the main character face difficult choices? But it's basically alina has to do x y z to stop the evil darkling but now that she has done x y z she's gonna get punished? Was she given a choice between choosing more power vs taking more difficult paths to defeat the darkling? No she wasn't. So is there a fun love triangle where we can have folks pick a team? Nope, she has multiple love interests but one is an evil guy, the other is her childhood crush who in the show is perfect. The result is a decent ish show but not strong enough to keep pulling viewers back in.

I'm curious to see how the show fares after Season 2 because I think it will give us an idea of how many people are still invested. Are non-book fans going to tune in to another season? Will they go back and binge the first season to refresh? How will show darklina shippers deal with the darklina arc being derailed and demonized? Most of them already seem disappointed with the direction of the source material and have shied away from picking up the books as a result. Will the Mal and Alina dynamic be interesting enough to keep people rooting for them? And more deliciously, will there be a similar audience backlash if Alina loses her powers? 😈

I just don't think the source material for the original trilogy is really strong enough for non-book fans to actually enjoy. Even regular old book fans are salty about a myriad of things, let alone have much hope for how they could be adapted for the screen.

As for the love triangle, I think general audiences are getting annoyed with the overuse of the trope. Even Leigh clearly understood she played with fire by adding that Alina-Darkling-Mal-Nikolai love quadrangle because it left so much of the fandom against her canon ship that she conveniently had all the main characters of the Six of Crows franchise in safe one-to-one ships to avoid potential backlash.

[aleksanderscult]

IMO, LB tried to insert Zoya and Nikolai in the plot that was supposed to be for Alina and Aleksander. No one is gonna take that idea of my mind!!! Like she really tried to have this perfect monarchs of Ravka with a HEA for the grishas but fail at developing the idea. Unfortunately, LB had already taken away the real protagonists and had to continue the plot without them, so we were left with two characters that seem to have put there out of nowere.

This is the first time I'm hearing this theory.

I don't know if I agree or disagree but Leigh really can't seem to let Darklina go as it seems from the "Alex Stern" series. So it wouldn't surprise me if your theory is correct. It's like she loves this ship but doesn't want the real one to get together so she makes bad imitations of it to end up together (I hope this makes sense😭).

But I want to say that bringing back Aleksander was truly a huge mistake:

1) She really had to let his character rest. After all, I usually hate the whole resurrection trope in fiction. It's so dumb most of the times.

2) She had to find another antagonist for Nikolai and the others. Or better, let them handle Shu Han and Fjerda. Make a book that contains political intrigues (but Leigh doesn't know how to write that so 💀)

3) Bringing back Aleksander without having Alina on the picture was not good at all. "Darklina" was the heart and soul of the trilogy, no matter what the antis say. Their love, conflicts and bond made the books. Without it RoW "suffered".

Now if Leigh used Zoyalai as a second Darklina.... She failed like you said.

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