#MALINA

[dragonqueenstormwitch]

to be loved is to be seen

and it’s kaz choosing a ship for inej that he thinks suits her

it’s mal knowing alina loves the blue irises, not the white ones

it’s jesper memorizing wylan’s face and telling genya how to tailor him back

it’s david keeping a list of all the ways genya likes to be complimented

it’s nikolai designing a structure to protect zoya’s garden and promising to always make it summer for her

[jazzkrebber]

rip shadow and bone. we would have loved to see dark alina. we would have loved to see matthias finally get out of jail. we would have loved to see kaz learn to love. we would have loved to see zoyalai on screen. we would have loved to see wylan's story. we would have loved to see the ice court heist. we would have loved to see colm fahey. we would have loved to meet kuweii. we would have loved to see jesper get over his gambling addiction. we would have loved to see matthias relearn all he knew for nina. we would have loved to see inej find her family again. we would have loved to see mal find out what life is like without alina. we would have loved to see nina learn to live for herself, instead of her country.

we would have loved to see more of the characters we all know and love.

[northsonic]

I love when my ship has cute little bantering moments . When the guy is such a slut for his girl . When he would do ANYTHING to protect her . When they can’t help but run after their fine girlfriends (cause I mean who could blame them.)

[thechaoticrow]

for people who haven’t read the shadow and bone/ six of crows books, but have seen the show:

- inej ghafa is a survivor of childhood sex trafficking. she has ptsd and reacts in a panic attack at even walking past the menagerie

- kaz’s trauma isn’t just pekka rollins being responsible for jordie’s death, and waking up on the barge. he had to swim to shore, age nine and barely alive, using jordie’s body as a float

- the darkling has done far worse things than are shown on screen. he is not a ‘lost man’ and alina is not his ‘balance’

- alina was seventeen upon the darkling being nsfw/ romantic with her

- matthias helvar did not lead drüskelle, that was jarl brum- matthias is only just barely an adult himself

- the crows are not their own separate gang, they are part of the dregs, who per haskell leads and kaz takes over from haskell after haskell sold out his lieutenant (kaz) to pekka rollins

- zoya, genya, and alina have personalities outside of either being traumatised or hating each other

- alina never wanted any of the power and fame and idolatry, and in the end of the books is stripped of it all. she is very happy about this

- jesper is a gambling addict and somebody who watched the death of his mother

[malinastharlock]

Just felt like being naughty.

[clarkgriffon]

[undercover-grisha]

Zoya: “This is my husband, Nikolai.”

Nikolai: “Hello!”

Zoya: “And this is his boyfriend, Mal.”

Mal: “Hi.”

Zoya: “And this is his wife, Alina.”

Alina: “Nice to meet you.”

Zoya: “And this is Alina and I’s girlfriend, Genya.”

Genya: “Hi!”

Zoya: “And this is Genya’s husband, David.”

David: “How do you do?”

Nina: “Guys I was only gone for one year! What the fuck happened?!”

[ekbelsher]

Alina and Mal get attacked by volcra, and her Sun Summoner powers finally show up (for the Litjoy Shadow and Bone box set)

[saharzahids]

kai @miwtual's birthday countdown event day 3: lyrics

(in/sp)

[nerdy-frog98]

Best friends to lovers is THE trope.

As a romance girly, I have much appreciation for most romance tropes. Enemies/rivals to lovers? Passionate, exciting, fun! Fake dating? The potential for accidental miscommunication gets me every time. Second chance romance? Angst!! (Not insta-love though, that trope rarely ever works for me). But god, there really is something so fucking delicious about friends to lovers.

Maybe it’s the fact that there is a foundation of trust and understanding before anything explicitly romantic occurs. Maybe it’s that there is shared history, which allows for inside jokes and a level of comfort with that person that doesn’t exist elsewhere. Maybe it’s the slow burn potential, having two people who deeply love each other slowly realize it’s more than just friendship (meanwhile their friends and outside observers think it’s incredibly obvious). MAYBE it’s because it feels so much more realistic than nearly every other trope.

It is a mix of all of the above, but honestly, I love it so much because it takes away the potential for surface level attraction. Enemies to lovers is an incredible trope when done well, but sometimes it falls prey to seeming more like a lust fueled attraction rather than a love meant to last (& we love lusty romance, but I personally prefer love that feels like it will last).

I also like that in friends to lovers, the angst seems to be higher stakes. If you get into a relationship with your best friend, will it ruin your friendship? How will that dynamic changing affect your other friends? How do the insecurities of being in a relationship manifest when you do it with someone you already deeply love and trust?

Anyway, I thought about all of this because I went through all of the ships I’ve loved in the last 5 years, and 78.5% of them are some variation of friends to lovers.

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Something something the volumes it speaks that the Darkling felt the need to put Zoya and Alina in competition with each other and put them against each other from the moment they met so that they wouldn’t be able to immediately acknowledge what was being done to them and unite against him something something

[malinaa]

THE HUNGER GAMES, CHAPTER 25

[northsonic]

Something about friends to lovers that always gets to me . The longing looks . Everyone sees it but them. The pinning.

[cutterpillow92]

Shadow and Bone, S01E02: We’re All Someone’s Monster (2021)

@giftober 2024 | day 12: Hidden

[tsibeyantiger]

Currently re-reading the Grisha trilogy and one thing I had totally forgotten is that Alina is actually funny as hell. Like.

"Signed: Alina Starkov, idiot"

"What are your plans for tonight? - Hooking up with some cute heartrender."

"We will always remember this as the day of the herring decree"

"As someone whose bones are sold all over Ravka, let me tell you not to believe everything people will tell you."

"What are you looking at? - The chariots. I hope some will run me over."

[danburys]

@pscentral​ event 31: faceless ⮱ alina & mal (insp.)