#S&B Before

[stromuprisahat]

The irony of Alina coming first in the key motif of her trilogy for the first time in all her story at the end of it, when she's butchered into a shell of herself, only for the last two mentions to come back to "THE BOY and the girl" in the very same chapter...

When SHE is the main character, from whose POV we see the most of the story. SHE is the one the plot revolves around. SHE is the one enticing the reader from the summary on the cover of the book.

The prologues and epilogues are the only parts written in third person- therefore arguably not tainted by Alina's own skewed list of priorities-, yet that's the place Malyen's for some reason clearly put first.

Just in case you still believed you were reading a story about a girl realizing she's special...

[keferon]

“Mistakes on mistakes until” ch 69 spoilers below!

Ahahahahahahah here I go again

Mistakes on mistakes until until I can draw Jazz with my eyes closed

I woke up, checked my phone, woke up for real and decided that whatever plans I had for this day yeah no they can wait a little bit kfkgnfk

Also. Consider listening this while reading. Or don't who am I to tell you what to do~

[stromuprisahat]

stromuprisahat:

Even of we look at it through era-appropriate lens- there's no GOOD memory. Sure, slap your kid a little- this is 19th-esque century- but screaming and punishments shouldn't be the ONLY thing they remember! How much more interesting could Alina's relationship with AK be, if she remembered switch AND warm hugs. It could be more complex, nuanced- loving "mother", still subjected to age-appropriate mentality and values! But no, we got Anne Cunt, Baghra 2.0...

Hello! I loved your post about Baghra and how she is a glorified egoist and super toxic!!!

I would like to know your opinion about Ana Kuya, the terrible woman who screwed and oppressed Alina when she was still a child!!!

⚠️TW!: Domestic violence and abuse!⚠️

Thanks, anon!

Apparently that's a similarity that they share, the Darkling and Alina. They both had shitty, abusive mothers. And in Ana Kuya's case it's pretty much the same. She was physically abusive and Alina and Mal remember her fondly. And that's the problem. Instead of having the characters admit that she was a horrible mother figure, we have them look back on her punishments as something...worth to be remembered fondly??

Let's dive in her most fucked-up moments.

Talking shit about the children she's assigned to look after. Alina and Mal both heard her but she's still an icon in their eyes! 😍

No 'cause imagine comparing your mother figure to some blood-thirsty creatures with sharp claws and teeth that live and thrive in darkness.

Uhh...

Excerpt No. 1, in which the protagonists talk about Ana Kuya's physically abusive behaviour.

A LETTER?!

Girl, if I were you I would say adiós and never look back. What letter are you talking about?? 😭

Ana Kuya being responsible of Alina's shame for wanting to get it on with a man. This woman and her morals are imprinted in her mind.

Imagine having to spend your last day with your love and choosing to talk about her. And the memory is again toxic 🥹

Other couples: "Let's talk about our happy memories"

Malina: "Let's talk about how our mother abused us"

They have literally zero good memories from her. Only shouting and beatings.

Now that's a woman to admire!!

Do you hear that Alina?? You must kiss their shoes otherwise you would be like that poor girl on the road! 😠

Excerpt No. 2, in which the protagonists talk about Ana Kuya's physically abusive behaviour.

Excerpt No. 3, in which the protagonists talk about Ana Kuya's physically abusive behaviour.

Excerpt No. 4, in which the protagonists talk about Ana Kuya's physically abusive behaviour.

If a child refuses to eat a food, beat it!

Aha! So she does acknowledge it, huh? But what does it matter? We forgive her in this house😍❤️

(also can we talk about how they wanted one of their friends to meet her? Like guys whyy??😭)

Thank the heavens actually.

In my opinion, children need mostly love and understanding. But they also need discipline, yes. But NOT through physical violence. NOT through constant screaming. This is wrong but it's very possible that in Ravka it's accepted and forgiven? Because I also remember reading somewhere that when Nikolai was a child and misbehaved, they were punishing his best friend physically (I haven't read the duology so please correct me if I'm wrong). So even the royal family found it normal.

But having the characters look back to it as something that was okay? And they adored her?

I'm sorry but I didn't shed one tear when she died. Botkin's death affected me more than hers ever did.

Alina when she died: "Oh my God!"

Me when she died: "Oh thank God!"

[falsehero]

[cowboylikejesper]

one thing about jesper fahey is that he’s always been down bad for wylan. in six of crows, in crooked kingdom, in shadow and bone. it doesn’t matter, he’s always been DOWN HORRENDOUS for wylan

[stromuprisahat]

Huddled in the kitchen cupboard, listening to the grownups gossip, she heard the Duke’s housekeeper, Ana Kuya, say, “She’s an ugly little thing. No child should look like that. Pale and sour, like a glass of milk that’s turned.” “And so skinny!” the cook replied. “Never finishes her supper.” Crouched beside the girl, the boy turned to her and whispered, “Why don’t you eat?” “Because everything she cooks tastes like mud.” “Tastes fine to me.”

S&B Before

Assuming the chapter's written in chronological order, Alina already had wasting sickness, when she arrived in the orphanage.

Grisha waste away when they don't use their powers. To use them, they have to manifest first.

Alina's self-gaslighting isn't only the result of her upbringing in Keramzin, but it's a defense mechanism she developed very early on.

Can you see how her scratched out origin story from show fits nicely even in books?!

(from Sab Prologue)

The boy and the girl had arrived within weeks of each other…the boy was short and stocky, why but always smiling. The girl was different, and she knew it.

To me, on reread, that screams- Alina came to the orphanage already knowing about her powers.

Which puts a whole new light (heh) on my interpretation of Alina’s background and how little she seems to remember her time prior to the orphanage.

In pushing down her powers did she also push down on her memory of her powers prior to the Duke’s orphanage?

Alina always insists she’s not different, that she’s not Grisha, later on. I love this initial rejection of that- if Alina came in knowing she was different, was Grisha, it makes her later rejection of being different more nuanced.

I really wish that was touched upon later in the book. Either after Alina accepts being Grisha, or at the end when she is hiding herself again.

[bi-writes]

is the conversation about how this started out as a contract sort of thing ever brought up again between simon and MOB? either she's slightly insecure because it could have been anyone but her or just as a passing thought?

no. they don't talk about it.

they don't want to talk about a life they don't think was even real.

[bitethedevil]

going absolutely insane every time I see art or screenshots where you can see Raphael’s thighs. losing my mind. going feral. clawing and barking at the screen.

[slapthebass]

DIR EN GREY - ROCKAVARIA 2015 - BEHIND A VACANT IMAGE

↳ Toshiya

Bonus:

[stromuprisahat]

Love how "King's Army" means First Army, even though all Ravkan Grisha are the Crown's property, therefore arguably more King's than ordinary soldiers.

But who cares about details, when it's obviously us, Ravkans, and ~them~...

I won't even start on Anne Cunt, feeling the need to interrupt with otkazat'sya propaganda. No wonder Alina supressed her powers in this enviroment. One has to wonder how shameful and/or deplorable was being discovered to be Grisha. Not openiy, of course. just hints and side remarks such nature might be undesirable.

Very interesting that most grisha seem to not hold much loyalty to the kings and rightfully so but later in the books they're made to bow to another lantsov king anyway coz one of them who wanted to overthrow the monarchy was a bad guy 🥴

[stromuprisahat]

Demon in the Wood (Leigh Bardugo)

Two of the Grisha sat by the fire: a handsome man in blue and a woman in red robes with a haughty, refined air. ... The woman in red turned back to Mal and Alina, her dark eyes blazing. “We are not witches. We are practitioners of the Small Science. We keep this country and this kingdom safe.” ... The woman in red looked down at them. “If, by some small chance, one of you is Grisha, then that lucky child will go to a special school where Grisha learn to use their talents.” ... The woman in red slides her hand around my wrist. I feel a sudden rush of pure certainty wash over me. I stop struggling. A call rings through me. Something within me rises up to answer.

Shadow and Bone- Before & Chapter 11

“And you’re a living amplifier. Like Ivan’s bear.” The hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Like Ivan’s bear.” An unpleasant thought occurred to me. “But that means—” “That my bones or a few of my teeth would make another Grisha very powerful.” “Well, that’s completely creepy. Doesn’t that worry you a little bit?” “No,” he said simply.

Shadow and Bone- Chapter 5

[biherbalwitch]

one thing I love about wesper (besides being uhaul gays in both book & show) is that they have a healthy, beautiful relationship with communication & support in times of conflict (perhaps the healthiest in this damn universe) while also being questionable/morally grey people who are literally part of a gang bc often in media queer relationships are either tragic, one of them is toxic OR they're perfect benevolent people with 0 flaws and yeah sure those are required ofc but I like the idea of queer characters getting to be a lil bad, be gay do crime, and deserve a good & happy love life all the same especially since Jesper is bi and I can count on one hand how many bisexual characters got to be in a nice stable relationship peacefully

[miyakuli]

I just love how "Mastermind" song is as much a great villain song as it's a great love song

[purplebehittindifferent]

Battle won! You got 66g and crushing guilt!

That’s the end of chapter 2! Who’s ready for chapter 3? ME! ME! But wait- what’s THIS?

Masterpost

Prev (ch:2::8)/ End of chapter 2!

Next (INTERLUDE)

[deus-ex-mona]

if the trope works, it ✨works✨ y’know~

[completeoveranalysis]

[7]

Ooh I will say the expression of dark rage on Evil Wolverine is MAGNIFICENT here. They really went all out. This is gorgeous. 

Considering I hate looking at the man THIS looks fantastic! 10/10 Evil Wolverine panel, maybe only beaten by the one where he gets stabbed. 

And I suppose if you were going be mad about anything, being stabbed through the chest is a pretty reason.

Oh!

I mean yeah, I guess that is how it works. You stab a man and he wants to stab you back. 

On a side tangent I love that he has the same Pull-Sword-Out-of-Hand magic that Fai used on Kurogane before they went to Seresu. I’m a fan!

Fai and Kurogane are markedly less excited to see it come back this way but I think it’s neat!

MEANWHILE try not to think about Kurogane, who has spent his entire life haunted by the image of Evil Wolverine stabbing his mother with that sword, is now watching Evil Wolverine pull out the same sword to stab his son. 

I am interested in the hands in the final panel though let’s see what that means. 

OH. 

Oh. 

Yeah I suppose this too would also happen. 

If anyone WAS going to be stabbed by Evil Wolverine here it WOULD be Syaoran jumping in the way to save Lava Lamp. 

We get the whole reversal of Syaoran stabbing Sakura in Nihon, but now he is now defending them and being stabbed in return. 

Potentially foreshadowed in Outo with Syaoran being stabbed by Seishirou there as well. 

(As well as when Evil Wolverine kills Xing Huo, who ALSO betrays him while working for him, who ALSO got stabbed all the way through with the same sword, ALSO IN THE SERVICE OF SAVING LAVA LAMP)

And Syaoran closing the loop of, like… Lava Lamp defending Syaoran by giving him half his soul to protect him from Evil Wolverine, and now Syaoran defending Lava Lamp by protecting him physically from Evil Wolverine. The giving of a soul and the giving up of a soul to save each other from the same man.

IT ALL LINKS UP.