#Post Rule of Wolves

[azatas]

"we need more complex female characters" you couldn't even handle her

[maidenofcrows]

I feel like we don’t really talk about David threatening to kill someone for Genya enough. I mean, yes, it’s recognized as one of his peak moments, but I mean beyond “Aw, that’s so sweet of him.”

This is David Kostyk. He’s an inventor. His whole thing is to make new things. To create. He helped fight the epitome of destruction, so what’s the point of causing more destruction by taking someone’s life? It’s not antithetical to his character, but it’s also not the first thing I would ordinarily expect from him.

But then… we do know that David is extraordinarily blunt. We know that Baghra didn’t want to teach him out of fear of what he could become. And his friends don’t even seem all that surprised when he delivered the threat (they were all fairly aggravated; I digress).

This man absolutely meant what he said, and I firmly believe that if Yuri had offended Genya one more time, they would have found the body in 78 different strategically chosen locations

[dragonqueenstormwitch]

zoya ‘hatred’ is so insane to me because like. can we consider her life for a moment. sold by her own mother to be a child bride at age 9. groomed and manipulated in her younger years to serve only the darkling. loses the last person she truly loves (her aunt) when the darkling sets the fold on novokribirsk. watched countless friends and soldiers die during the war.

and you don’t like her because she’s ‘mean’? she’s better than me because if i suffered just one of the things she did, i would be WAY worse than a little mean and spiteful.

also, bear in mind, the same reasons people seem to give for not liking zoya - “she’s mean” “she’s rude to x” “she’s full of herself” are the exact same values they LOVE about male characters like kaz brekker.

[louhilainen]

I hated how the Nikolai duology pushed Alina, Zoya and Alina into the role of victims. I’m not saying the girls didn’t have a reason to hate the Darkling and that their grudge should have been left out of the books, but I just hated how badly it was written.

Alina being the Darkling’s victim undermines her. She was a woman who almost buried the Darkling alive, left him on the mercy of volcras and in the end, killed him with her own hands. Yeah, the Darkling did fucked up shit and she has a reason to hate him. But she wasn’t just a victim. The Darkling saw her as a threat. I cannot say if he saw her as his equal, but he saw potential and grew to admire her (and want her, lol). But the books seem to forget that and treat Alina like some fragile thing that needs to be protected from the evil Darkling.

Zoya says straight up that he manipulated her (Do you… I look back and I hate knowing how easy I was to manipulate.) Well, I cannot see how he manipulated her??? She did have a crush on him, but the Darkling did nothing to encourage those feelings. Yes, Zoya has every reason to hate Darkling about the attack on the Novokribirsk, and those feelings should be explored. But please, Zoya, don’t make up a narrative where you were his victim. You aren’t that special (Honestly, if the Darkling manipulated me I would thank him on my knees, be grateful Zoya loooool).

I can understand Genya hating the Darkling for making the nichevo'ya attack her. But the fault of her rape cannot be entirely put to the him. I seriously doubt even the Darkling had the foresight to see the King raping her. Yes, the Darkling should have taken her away from the Little Palace, and not given her choice for revenge. I don’t doubt for a second that Genya’s choice was convenient for him, but the Darkling did give her the choice to leave. (And he didn’t make nichevo'ya mutilate her because she challenged him, but because she defied his orders, but let’s not go there.)

I hated the scene in the end where Genya gives a speech about growing stronger from her experience and blaa blaa. It’s just so…. Unnatural and forced. I’m going to repeat myself, that I don’t have a problem with their grudges or hating the Darkling, I have just a problem with the way it was written. There’s no nuance or not showing how the manipulation affected them. It’s just telling, not showing. When reading a book, I don’t want to be preached to. I want to be immersed in the characters’ emotions and experiences. I want to be made to feel what they feel. I don’t want the narrative to push some kind of “right” way of interpreting the book. It just makes me feel annoyed and takes me out of the experience.   

[lunarthecorvus]

Aditi saving Leoni inadvertently saved so many other people. Just imagine how many more people other than Leoni who would've died if Aditi hadn't saved her.

I hope Jesper knows this

[jazzkrebber]

Kaz Brekker may not have needed a reason, but he always had one. it was always Inej

[xblackmariahx]

on fictional victims

(mouthwashing spoilers!)

so this is sort of like my 'on genya safin' post (which you can read here: https://www.tumblr.com/xblackmariahx/766319845622038528/on-genya-safin) but with more characters so yay!

so, as i said in that post, genya is my favorite not because of her trauma, but because she overcame it. however, recently, i got really into mouthwashing, and as you can probably tell by my profile picture, my favorite character is anya. anya didn't achieve great things or poison her abuser or even live to get justice like genya did, but i still like her. so why's that?

i think, looking back, i really do just like victims, no matter their ending (as long as they're well-written, ofc). everyone has different endings, and i think it's relieving to see that your story doesn't have to end one way.

let's take inej ghafa. did inej kill her abusers? no. did she get justice properly? no. however, she still fought men like them, and took down the brothel that gave her such trauma. sure, i doubt she even knows the names of the men that raped her in the menagerie. i doubt she even remembers all their faces. but she did live to fight, and that's an interesting ending.

i think genya safin is what every victim hopes to achieve. she achieved great things in spite of her scars, she got justice, and she was able to confront her abuser. she's an all around inspiring character, and i think that's an ending everyone hopes for.

and then there's anya. anya didn't do any of that. in fact, anya killed herself before even seeing jimmy die. i think something about that, about seeing a character who didn't achieve this great things and overcome her trauma, is comforting too. in my opinion, characters like these sort of say that it's okay to be hurt because of your trauma. you're going to hurt. you're going to be scarred, and bruised, and you'll hurt, and that's okay.

i guess what i'm trying to say is just flat out advice: try to be genya, but it's okay to be anya.

[grishaverse-only]

Fanfic Recs?

Can I have some Grishaverse fanfiction recommendations? Preferably on Ao3. I'm looking for Post-season 2 of shadow and bone as what might have happened had the show gotten a season 3 with all of the characters. A post King of Scars would be good too, hopefully with a Crows and Zoyalai heist. Really anything after canon would be good.

[heliocharis]

Rule of Wolves (2021) by Leigh Bardugo

[finalfantasyx]

Nikolai "then I will love her from my grave" Lantsov

[privateerandking]

[iri-lynx]

lil nikolai top gun!au doodle based on the fic "If I can't have love, I want power" by @dregstrash @wafflesandkruge & @rietveldbrothers

[sanguivorouscorvid]

RIP David Kostyk, the world wasn’t ready for your neurodivergent swag. the making at the heart of the world sure was though

[bookworm-center]

Nikolai, drunk: tell me why

Nina, also drunk: ain't nothing but a heartache

Nikolai: tell me why

Nina: I never wanna hear you say

Both of them: I want it that way!!!

Zoya, screaming: shut the fuck up, it's two in the morning!!!!

[nichyevosobachka]

Nikolai: It's my saints given bisexual right to be dramatic!

[lunarthecorvus]

Nina and Alina Paralells

⋆｡°✩-Orphans and grew up in orphanages

⋆｡°✩-Power loss (Alina lost her power, and Nina lost her original power)

⋆｡°✩-Baddass bitches

⋆｡°✩-Both bullied in the orphanages

⋆｡°✩-Lost their loves (one was temporary and one was well there is no chapter 40)

⋆｡°✩-Teenager soldiers

⋆｡°✩-Both hate their best friend's boyfriends haircut

⋆｡°✩-Held hostage by the Darkling

⋆｡°✩The Darkling has killed their some of their friends