#Why does alina keep getting kidnapped

[nyxsvalentine]

Did anyone else find Siege and Storm really slow? I’m halfway through and I’m just not making any progress💀 The Six of Crows duology and Shadow and Bone were so much more interesting

[heliads]

Are you currently taking requests? If so, could you write a Jesper fic around the line from the show where the conductor says to Jesper “not if you intend on having children one day” and Jesper and the reader make eye contact and then start acting adorably awkward?

jesper <3 also i mistakenly thought this convo happened at an earlier part in the show and had to go make some drastic edits so if some of it seems out of place that's my bad lmao

masterlist

You are sitting in a dimly lit bar across from your lover, wondering whether or not you’ll be alive to repeat this scene in a couple days’ time. As Dregs, both you and Jesper Fahey will be subject to Kaz Brekker’s various plots and plans. Although you’ve grown to like whatever dreadful sorts of mischief they entail, this one is different. This one could risk both of your lives.

You leave for the Unsea in a matter of hours, as Kaz has just managed to secure a means of passage over to East Ravka. You’ll be joining him, Inej, and Jesper on the trip to kidnap a Sun Saint, something that will probably be just as difficult as it sounds.

That’s why you and Jesper are here now, actually; although you’ll pretend it’s for something stupid, like wanting to have one final drink of legitimately good lager before you have to leave Kerch, you both know it’s so you can say your goodbyes in case something happens.

True, Kaz always does his best to protect the four of you whenever you set out on a job, but this is on another level entirely. There is no guarantee that the admittedly sketchy Conductor’s train will hold together long enough to ferry you across the Shadow Fold, and even if it does, you’ll still be trying to kidnap Alina Starkov out of a palace full of angry Grisha and the royal guard.

Needless to say, the prospects aren’t bright, even for a pack of Barrel street rats led by the one guy who’s notorious for never turning down a job, no matter how difficult. You and Jesper have chosen a part of the Crow Club where you’re sure not to be disturbed or overheard, and you’ve been here for a while now, unwilling to break the quiet peace and admit what you both know to be true.

At last, Jesper leans forward, close enough that no one else can hear you talking but still not close enough for your liking. “How are you feeling, love?”

You laugh quietly. “Better than ever. What’s a new job if not exciting?”

Jesper gives you an exasperated look. “See, most of the time I would agree with you, but this is different. It’s the Saintsforsaken Shadow Fold, and even with Kaz’s usually mad plan, I don’t see how we’re getting out of this.”

You sigh, tilting your head back as if you can catch some glimpse of a Saint to save you. “We always say that, and we always have a way of making it through. Kaz wouldn’t take up this guy’s offer if he wasn’t certain it would work, and even if he wasn’t, he’d have a scheme in mind to save us after all.”

Jesper nods, conceding this point. “That’s true. He has so many layers of plans sometimes that I don’t know how he keeps it straight in his own head. Perhaps he has a little locked diary of sorts where he meticulously notes every detail of his schemes.”

A faint smile crosses your face. “It would be hidden, of course. Either on his person or in a secret compartment in that battered old desk of his.”

Jesper grins fully now, his smile brilliant despite the half-light of the club. “Do you think he wears the key around his neck on a tiny little chain? I like to think that he does.”

The two of you allow yourselves a few more moments of quiet humor over the joke, and then Jesper sighs again.

“I’m serious, though. I need to make sure you’ll be alright.”

You reach out and take his hand, partially because you like being so close to him and also to calm the restless movements that seem to wrack his body. You consider the sight of his hands wrapped in yours, so familiar on a night like this, when everything seems completely changed.

You’ve had plenty of time to study how he moves, the way these long fingers wrap around his treasured pearl-handled revolvers or triumphantly slap a winning hand of cards down on a table. They’ve handed you drinks and helped you over puddles and pulled you close when you needed him most. You can only hope that you’ll have a chance to do all of those things again by tomorrow night’s time.

“I’m serious too, Jesper,” you offer, “I know the risks. I know it doesn’t look good. However, I’d rather go knowing that I can at least help the rest of you stay alive than remain here wondering what happened. I’m going, you’re going, and if we die, at least we won’t have to spend any more money on bullets.”

Jesper snorts. “That’s a terrible way to offset the costs of this mission.”

You grin. “Ah, but it’s still true. Trust me, we’re going to be alright. The stories from this alone will be worth a whole new round of ammunition.”

Jesper smiles at last, standing up from his seat to pay the barkeep. “We should probably get going. I know Kaz wants to speak to us all before we set off.”

Jesper offers you his arm, as if he’s a proper gentleman instead of the rogue sharpshooter you’ve come to love. You take it with equal gallantry, and the two of you head out of the club.

The night air is crisp and cool, an admittedly welcome relief against the smoky pressure of the Crow Club. You know Jesper frequents the place far more than he should, and Ghezen knows Kaz would never tolerate a word of criticism about his principal supply of funds, but it’s not your favorite place to sink your hours. It’s a little stuffy, a little full of people who all want to stab you in the back. If you’re going to risk your life, you want to do it out in the open, like the job you’re about to take.

You and Jesper linger as you walk, taking in the sights of the city one more time before you have to leave. The canals are close by in this part of the Barrel, scarcely a couple of lengths away. The moon shining on the dark water looks like a slick of petrol, the light so thick on the surface that you wonder if any of it actually goes beneath to illuminate the worlds of the water-dwellers down below. Perhaps they, too, know nothing but darkness; perhaps that fate remains for every single occupant of this city.

Jesper wraps an arm around you. “It’ll be fun, though, won’t it? I don’t think I’ve ever seen Ravka. Do you think it’s terribly different from here?”

You shrug. “No idea. Maybe the people there actually have a conscience.”

Jesper pokes you in the shoulder. “Rude. We all have terrific consciences. In fact, just the other week Kaz didn’t club a single person with his cane for a full twenty-four bells. That’s growth.”

You laugh at that. “Alright, you’ve got me there. We’re all a bunch of Saints. Any other conceivable differences between ourselves and the Ravkans?”

Jesper pretends to think. “They rely too much on tradition, they don’t have enough of a proper thirst for money, and they are severely lacking in pretty girls such as yourself. I think any Ravkan would be immediately envious if they saw you.”

You roll your eyes, although a persistent flush refuses to leave your cheeks. “Yeah, I bet.”

Jesper dramatically clasps a hand to his heart. “I speak nothing but the truth, my love. Of course, I would have to defend you from any and all adoring Ravkans, but I’d do it with ease.”

“That’s a bold claim,” you say, “But I think you can do it.”

Jesper grins. “Of course I can, I’m a terrific shot. Plus, I’ve got someone very important to fight for.”

He presses a kiss to your forehead to prove his point, then one to your lips because you’re already so close and to not do so would be positively criminal.

Thus, spirits significantly lifted, the two of you are able to trek back to the Slat to hear Kaz’s final message. You depart for West Ravka at six bells, Conductor in tow. His plan is to take the lot of you across in a rattling, smoking locomotive. You can only pray that it will hold together long enough to start up, much less take you across a volcra-infested Shadow Fold.

After a rather pressing shootout in which Jesper arrives at the train, alabaster coal in hand and angry coal manufacturers chasing him, you’re able to start off. It’s a rocky crossing at first, all of you doing your best to not panic even though the odds are considerably against you. There’s no way this should work, but you have no option but to trust that it will.

However, it does. Right now, you’ve made it through the Fold despite everything the world has brought against you, and you need to plan out just how in the hell you’re going to break into the Ravkan Little Palace long enough to steal a Sun Saint. Arken managed to find a small coach for the rest of you, and everyone’s in a vague state of panic as they try to figure out what the hell they can do so they don’t die before having to cross the Fold another time.

Jesper turns to Arken, speaking over the sound of Inej’s murmured prayers and Kaz’s dour complaints. “What are we meant to be doing? What is this?”

He holds up the gray crystalline substance that Arken had requested for the imminent break-in, glancing at it curiously. Arken looks up from his frenetic work over maps of the Grisha palace to throw a consternated glance Jesper’s way.

“That’s a lodestone, and I need it to open Fabrikator-made locks, such as the one that may be on the door of your friend’s room. I would recommend, however, that you not keep it near you if you plan on having children someday.”

You swear that time freezes around you. Looking at the different faces in this coach is like staring at an ancient oil painting of a classical scene- the sheer drama of it all could be the centerpiece of a gallery.

The moment Arken mentions having children, Jesper startles and looks directly at you. You don’t think you’ve seen such a complicated blend of fear, questioning, and general shock in a person’s expression since Jesper challenged Kaz to a shooting contest and lost. Technically, Kaz had guessed that the contest would happen and rigged the targets so he would win, but still. The point remains.

Inej looks up from her prayers to regard both you and Jesper with an emotion that can only be described as wondrous fascination. There’s a slight smile tugging on her lips, like she’s been hoping that something like this would happen for a while. You can guess that she’s going to question both you and Jesper on it later so she can collate a full report on just what went down down here.

Kaz, though, Kaz quite possibly has the best reaction of all. You’ve spent numerous years of your life working for and with Dirtyhands, which is why you know that the guy never lets anything slip. Ever. He’s had loaded guns pressed to his forehead and looked as unconcerned as if it were a limp dandelion.

Right now, however, the sheer disgust and horror that fleetingly crosses his face is the most emotion you think you’ve ever seen in him. Kaz looks as if he’s silently cataloging the places he’d rather be right now, and judging by the now permanent furrow in his brow, a few of those could involve Pekka Rollins’ various strongholds.

Jesper coughs awkwardly. “Yeah, I think I’m going to give this to you. Thanks for, uh, looking out for me.”

He all but hurls the lodestone at Arken in an attempt to get it away from him as soon as he can. Brushing his hands hurriedly together as if he’s just touched a container of radioactive material, Jesper hazards another glance towards you.

Despite the fact that you are barreling towards certain death if this plan doesn’t work out, you don’t think you’ve ever had to try so hard to hold back a laugh.

“You might want to ask me first before you think about children, you weirdo.” You whisper under your breath.

Jesper chuckles, although he still seems vaguely alarmed. “Yeah, we can have a more serious chat when we’re not trying to run headlong into a death trap.”

Inej nods. “Tell me what happens.”

You strongly consider sticking your tongue out at her. “I would assume that you’d be listening in anyway, because the private nature of such conversations has never seemed to faze you.”

Inej beams. “That it doesn’t.”

Jesper lets out a sound that’s half laugh, half despairing sigh. When he looks back at you, though, he’s back to his same old self, the one who’d gamble his way out of and then into sixteen pounds of alabaster coal, who’d risk Kaz’s wrath to ask you out in the first place and make it worthwhile every single day. Who knows what the future holds for you, or whether or not there are children in sight. Regardless, you don’t have to think about it for a while. What matters now is you and him, and that’s plenty good enough for you.

grishaverse tag list: @rogueanschel, @deadreaderssociety, @cameronsails, @aleksanderwh0r3, @story-scribbler, @retvenkos, @thatfangirl42, @amortensie

[readerinpassing]

Alina is Fucked. Part Two of the why-Alina-Starkov-going-to-Ketterdam-at-the-end-of-season-one-is-incredibly-stupid meta masterpost I promised @kasamira (2/3)

Alina is fucked.

She is in Ketterdam, land of money and slavery.

8) Alina doesn’t have any money. She doesn’t have access to Ravkan State funds. She presumably doesn’t have access to Second Army funds either. She has maybe her savings from being a junior cartographer, if she manages to find a bank teller that will believe her when she says “I’m Alina Starkov, promise!” (I assume that when Aleksander played dress up with her, he did not give her pockets to stick her identification papers in.) Ketterdam lives and dies by the coin. She doesn’t have the money to pay for any of these people to even think about leaving, much less the funds to hire, mobilize, and feed the army that she thinks she will need.

a. btw, how are Mal and Alina going to feed themselves when they goes on this recruitment trip? Do they have any Kruge? Are they going to rely on Kaz’s generosity? Lol, Kaz is going to make them do dishes unless Inej nags him not to.

9) Alina is a grisha. Ketterdam is canonically established to have a thriving grisha trafficking industry. The Crows were literally hired to kidnap her and sell her into slavery (which, did they ever get around to telling Alina that? Does Alina even know why these random people are in Ravka?) She can not tell anyone that she is the sun summoner, or she will be summarily enslaved and placed under indenture.

Which brings us to our next problem.

10) How is she going to get a meeting with anyone important? If she goes around as a nobody, no one is going to give a shit about her. If she goes around as the sun summoner, she’s going to be enslaved.

But say for some reason, she isn’t immediately indentured the minute someone sees her sparkly hands.

11) What exactly is her sales pitch? 

My name is Alina Starkov, and I am the Sun Summoner! No really, I am, see! That’s my sunlight, no slight of hands here! I need allies to liberate East Ravka from the Apparat! Money? Um, do you take IOUs? The Ravkan treasury probably has money, and the Grand Palace is super gaudy, why don’t you take some of those gems? But don’t take too much, we’re going to need that money to keep fighting the wars and rebuild afterwards. Oh, The Darkling? He’s dead, I killed him. Oh and if you can leave afterwards when we’re all set up, and ready to stand on our own two feet again, that would be lit!

a) No matter which way you cut it, Alina is inviting a foreign power to invade her country when it is already in the middle of a two front war. Presumably, she will also need to tell her prospective allies that the Darkling is dead, because if Ravka hasn’t been invaded by other countries even in the middle of this two front war, it’s probably not because of the technologically outdated First Army (which is a whole nother kettle of nonsense).

b) telling other countries that you killed your country’s greatest military asset, simultaneously decapitating the other greatest military asset, the Second Army? Way to go Alina, you’re definitely going to sound like someone to take seriously. Also definitely not a bad idea to tell a non-aligned, possibly hostile foreign power that your country is uber-vulnerable. Seriously, other countries would think that this girl is an idiot.

c) This also isn’t counting the fact that the Darkling *isn’t dead* and news of his reappearance would probably reach Ketterdam shortly after Alina starts making the rounds, making her sales pitch that much worse, make sane people want to jump shit, and making her look like a liar or delusional, if she didn’t look delusional already.

12) So…does she think that they’re going to leave quietly? Realistically, the aftermath is that the ‘allies’ from Kerch loot, pillage, and burn everything, and negotiate over the corpse of Ravka with Fjerda and Shu Han, probably imprisoning everyone in the Second Army that they can get their hands on. Because why wouldn’t they? It’s the most strategic thing to do.

Good plan Alina. Good fucking plan.

To be continued in Part 3: Nikolai Exists. It’s still a stupid idea. Part Three of the why-Alina-Starkov-going-to-Ketterdam-at-the-end-of-season-one-is-incredibly-stupid meta masterpost I promised.   (this one isn’t written yet, I’ll do that at some point)

[juneisafantasyaddict]

If LB wanted The Darkling to be pure evil, there are literally a lot of things she could have done. But giving him a sympathetic backstory that is actually a legitimate reason for him to turn out the way he did was definitely not the way to do it. If she wanted pure evil, she could’ve given him a backstory that’s just a ridiculous sob story, not “for hundreds of years my people have been hunted and killed because of prejudice and no one did anything about it until I had enough power to.” Do you even realize how easy it is to get people to be on your side when what you want more than anything is for your people to be safe from harm?? That’s literally why we don’t get mad at heroes for killing people, it’s because we know they are protecting vulnerable people.

I’ve seen people say The Darkling is like Magneto (re: his fight against what was happening to mutants), and while that comes close, I think The Darkling is even more sympathetic because at least the XMen had the good sense to have Charles Xavier there to provide a more humane/viable alternative to Magneto’s solutions, and we got to see the difference between their methods. But, in the Grishaverse, we have a monarchy in Ravka that only sees the Grisha as useful for war but also doesn’t let them own property, we have a heroine who doesn’t seem to care about anything except meadows and her childhood crush, we have the entire country of Ravka that seems to only like dead Grisha because “new saint to build a cult over,” then we have the only person who seems to prioritize the protection of these people who have no one and we’re supposed to care that he’s ruthless with anyone he perceives as a threat to his people? When you haven’t given us a viable alternative to his methods? To make matters even worse, he’s not even imagining these threats, he is literally reacting to their aggression, e.g Fjerdans come for Alina, he uses the cut, Zlatan sends an assassin to infiltrate his secure building and kill Alina, but ends up killing another Grisha under his care, he kills the assassin and does Novikribirsk, etc.

This is not a justification of his ruthless methods of punishment for those who are threats to him and his people, this is a “you cannot expect me to focus entirely on his methods when he’s literally the only reason why his people have any semblance of protection” rant. The heroine who we think is going to save the day is basically dragged through her character development and all her progress is destroyed very quickly because of this ridiculous need to pretend that the underdog is always right (Mal, power is evil, blah blah blah).

Somehow, we’re supposed to just be ok with the fact that a group of people who haven’t exactly showed that they care about Grisha suffering are going to save them from prosecution? I mean, let’s not forget that this group includes: Mal who we already know is prejudiced against Grisha, Alina who *sigh* so much potential wasted there, Nikolai who I have decided exists for comic relief because I will not be convinced that a “maybe prince who is also a Jack sparrow type pirate should be king of a country with very complex social and political situations.” Like, I’m looking at this group of supposed saviors and honestly, I would rather take my chances with the 500 year old extremely powerful Grisha who scares everyone. Let’s not even forget that we’re somehow supposed to consider Baghra one of the good guys for “warning Alina,” even though 2 episodes later, we basically see that Baghra doesn’t exactly care about the survival of the Grisha.

Give people a truly evil villain and we will act accordingly. Don’t give us a Magneto type villain with legitimate points and then expect us to treat him like Voldermot or something. You can even decide to not understand Magneto because hello, we are given real alternatives to his problem solving skills right away. But with The Darkling it’s just “he’s pure evil because I said so, but like also this is how he got here, but also he’s super evil, but like do you understand where he’s coming from? but also he’s super evil even though he has points.” That’s not a villain dear, that’s a good person doing bad things and needs to be shown a better way.

You can’t give me an antagonist with a compelling, truly tragic backstory and then be like “now that you understand why and how this character ended up in this dark place and you can see that all this was probably avoidable if so and so did/didn’t happen, let’s totally blow up their life because so what if they’ve deeply suffered?” Especially when there’s a path to redemption right there in the protagonist who you have made sure to establish has a deep bond/connection with this person.

You want to write pure evil? Give me a character that has no remorse, no capacity to care for anyone or anything else, no reason for his cruelty, etc. Don’t give me guy who uses his power to keep his people safe and then falls in love with his soulmate so deeply he can’t stop looking at her and holding her hand in front of the whole country.

Also, can we like actually address the issue that got Nina kidnapped, made the Darkling who he is, and forces all Grisha to basically only have one life plan?

It would be so much easier to believe that The Darkling is a villain if there was an actual alternative to him, but there isn’t.

And btw, in this age of social justice, the fact that LB didn’t think people will see the value in a person from a marginalized community doing whatever is necessary to free his people from oppression is just LOL.

Ok, incoherent rant over.

[holden-norgorov]

I was wrong: an apology for Show!Kaz.

Listen, at first I didn't even want to write this post down, but as I noticed that a considerable amount of people have been showing disappointment toward Kaz not being "smart enough" in comparison to the book, I feel the need to point some things out with the hope of making you re-evaluate your line of thinking.

The thing is, Kaz Brekker in the show is a character that very much grows to book-readers with a needed careful and attentive rewatch.

I binged the whole season in a consecutive-7h-long binge-watching session during April 23rd, and came out of it feeling mildly disappointed with the way Kaz had been written (but not portrayed; Freddy was truly amazing). The one aspect that really bugged me at first was that his typical modus operandi when it came to plotting and scheming (by which I mean, keeping the big picture of his plans to himself and revealing just tiny pieces to everyone else according to each one's strengths and weaknesses, so as to make sure to reach the maximum potential of success while risking failure as little as possible) seemed to be kinda absent. I could easily make peace with Kaz not being as ruthless as he is in SoC, because the writers couldn't possibly make only-viewers willing to root for someone like Kaz without presenting at least some way in which he was vulnerable compared to other villainous characters. And to be honest, the fact that Kaz was ambushed by Pekka and forced to his knees not only nicely ties up with him wishing for Pekka to kneel in front of him at the beginning of SoC, but it also provides a reason as to why he would become closed-off and hesitant to apologize to Inej in the future. He was so concerned and willing to openly apologize to Inej in this scene that he lowered his guard enough without thinking and ended up giving Pekka access to Inej's name and revealing to him his own soft spot for her, before being beaten up.

That said, this was not my issue with the character. My issue was with the absence of his modus operandi as a masterful planner. I just didn't feel it during the binge-watch. But then I carefully rewatched the show, paying close attention to the actual succession of events more than to how accurate the characterization of the Crows was compared to the books. And I completely changed my mind.

If you pay attention, you can see that Kaz has been manipulating Arken from the very beginning, and everything Arken has accomplished was made possible because Kaz wanted it to happen, so that Arken would believe to be one step ahead of him and not see his betrayal coming. He quickly realizes that he and Arken think alike, and that he has to find a way to outsmart him.

As soon as the Conductor appears in the show, Kaz points out that he reached out to him not only because he can make them cross the Fold, but also because he smuggles Grisha who are unwilling to fight out of the Little Palace. He immediately grasps that the Conductor actively profits from the existence of the Fold and therefore that his own transport has to be constantly operative and effective. Which makes him realize that there has to be a political interest in his smuggling business for it to be allowed to flourish and survive undisturbed, and that someone has to financially back him up and subsidize the mantainance of the train and the feasibility of the crossing.

Soon after the Crows discovered that Nina had been captured and could no longer guide them to the Little Palace, Arken tries to sabotage their mission by convincing them to abandon it. This is where Kaz understands that he is actively interested in their kidnapping of the Sun Summoner to not happen, and begins suspecting he might have a separate agenda.

He purposefully risks the whole mission on Jesper not gambling everything away while looking for alabaster coal by deciding to grab the goat by himself, which is a less time-consuming task. This grants him the opportunity to attend to a quick rally for West Ravka's independence led by General Zlatan, where he sees Arken retiring with him in a private tent. His suspects about Arken are validated, and he understands that Arken has been smuggling Grisha out of East Ravka to the West with the support of Zlatan, who is also making some kind of alliance with Fjerdians and keeping a blind-eye to druskelle hunting and capturing Grisha (as we find out later on).

While they are crossing the Fold, Kaz is visibly skeptical of Arken's story about the transport being conveniently effective because of his knowledge of engineering and physics, and a chunk of luck. Arken seems to know too well how to safely cross the Fold, and the trasport seems to have worked far too many times for it to be the product of the underground, illegal practice of just one man.

In East Ravka, Kaz comes up with the Royal Archive Heist with the hope of stealing the Little Palace blueprints from the Palace of Kribirsk. But there's a very short scene here, which apparently seems unimportant but is actually pivotal: Kaz gives Arken money to make friends with East Ravkans so as to grant them a safe passage to Os Alta. Keep in mind: at this point Kaz is sure that Arken has been given by Zlatan a personal agenda to carry out regarding the Sun Summoner (I genuinely believe he also grasps that the secret plan is to kill her, so as to prevent the Fold from being destroyed and their smuggling business from being no longer profitable), so he knows Arken has total interest in making sure that they actually have a ride to the Little Palace. Which means, by urging him to "make some friends", Kaz already knows Arken will come up with a plan to be able to arrive to Os Alta and carry out his own mission at any costs, if the blueprints of the Little Palace that they are planning to steal end up being useless. And not only that: he wants Arken to believe he is being one-step ahead of them by "saving their asses" with this back-up plan, so as to easily come to the conclusion that the Crows have no reason to distrust him (how could they, when he finds them a second way-in?) and completely disregard the idea that Kaz might stab him in the back before he does the same thing to them. This is some mastermind thinking and completely IC for Kaz, because all the inner workings of his schemes go completely unnoticed on the outside.

Now that Arken proudly looks like the one who managed to grant them passage to Os Alta, he has no reason to believe Kaz might have ulterior motives when he decides to be the one carrying out a preliminary exploration of the Little Palance's hallways, despite his wounded leg making it difficult for him. But here's when Kaz sees Marie and immediately understands that she's supposed to be a decoy for Alina. So he coldly plans the whole kidnapping operation so as to make sure Arken ends up trying to kill (or directly killing) Marie. Which is why he shows no surprise when Arken reveals he can actually open the Fabrikator-made door with a device he carries with himself (probably provided by Zlatan to be able to get access to Alina's private rooms, or maybe already in his possession from when he had smuggled other Grisha out previously), and shows no hesitation when saying outwardly to everyone that Arken will be the one actually carrying out the kindnapping just because "he knows his way around Grisha locks". I actually believe Inej senses that there's something going on that she doesn't fully know when Kaz so light-heartedly allows Arken to lay his hands on their 1 Mln Kruge prize, but her suspicions (likely born out because she knows Kaz too well) are quickly put to rest and given an explaination only after Arken effectively falls into his trap.

After Alina escapes from the Crows in the following episode, we are led to believe that Kaz abandons the idea of kidnapping her again because of Inej, and this turns out to be actually true (despite Inej herself being incredibly suspicious of this, because of how unseemly it would be). Inej also believes Kaz to be so calculating that she points out that he might have planned to let Alina go in the first place and to detonate Arken's transport so as to travel with the same sandskiff Alina is embarking on and kindap her there. Inej would not have such a suspicion if Kaz's reputation didn't live up to that modus operandi.

While we actually learn that Kaz was being genuine with Inej about having abandoned the idea of kidnapping Alina, we also quickly learn that Kaz has spent the last two episodes silently coming up with a whole new other plan to make sure they can go back to Ketterdam without being killed by Dreesen and Pekka Rollins.

Now, as you can see, this is actually a lot. And this whole progression of events is handled so smoothly by the writing that it's fully admirable only by rewatching the show and paying close attention to Kaz's actions, while also knowing how his mind works. All of this is internal workings, which is typical Kaz.

So, I was wrong. His modus operandi is very much present. It's just barely detectable, as it should be for it to be believable. I hope this might reassure some deluded fans who came out of their watching session feeling let down by Kaz not looking "smart enough". It's all there! And the fact that so many of us couldn't see it at first hand, if you think about it, is just further proof that Kaz's intelligence and ability to scheme were handled extremely well. They couldn't make his mental workings too obvious to the casual viewers, or the character would have lost what actually makes him brilliant, which is the ability to outsmart others without being detected, exposed or anticipated.

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

SEBASTIAN, kirei, gilgamesh, the darkling, alina, zoya, genya, nikolai, rhysand, feyre. this will keep you busy i am sorry. but i had to add the last two for the suffering

I already did Sebastian!

Fate Characters

Kirei:

I love him! No notes. I’ve said this before but watching Zero with no context was really funny because he’s introduced in a fairly low key way but it’s immediately like “WHAT is wrong with this man?” simply because of the (english dub and original) voice actor choices.

Frankly he’s got to be the main highlight of the series for me. He’s this very fun combination of fun!horrible, gross, and miserable. I love the wildly different bullshit he gets up to depending on the Stay Night route. I do wish he was slightly more present sometimes but Heavens Feel III was really awesome about giving him some very fun scenes.

I do wish we got some more Emiya Gohan style fluff content featuring him? Or something focusing on the post Zero, pre Stay Night days. But that doesn’t have much to do with the story proper lol.

My main main critique of Stay Night is lack of focus on his relationship with Rin, though that ties into my general “Stay Night should be about Rin” complaint tbh! But yeah we never see her react at all to his various villain reveals? Like in UBW he kidnaps her, or in Stay Night (Saber route) he fucking stabs her. She generally seems really unfazed by any of it! If she expected him to be that evil all along, I want to see more of why! If she didn’t, then I’d like his reveal to have any impact?

Gilgamesh:

Gilgamesh is SO interesting! His lore is a little harder for me to follow because the majority seems to be in FGO and/or Strange Fake and I have less familiarity with either. (I still do not understand how the fuck FGO works)

But just the differences between Archer and Caster Gilgamesh are so wild. And also simply from a craft perspective, I don’t often see a character who’s allowed to run such a wild gamut between unambiguous villain and protagonist. So just seeing that big of a range is very cool.

Grishaverse Characters

The Darkling:

I love him so much. He’s so fucking awful and petty and stupid. I’m forever pissed off that the fandom does NOT appreciate him for the mess that he is, and instead see him as this boring woobie who’s never done anything wrong in his life. The sheer wasted potential in terms of fandom content is so sad because he’s so popular! But no one’s actually bothering to engage with the character.

In terms of “wasted potential” and “done dirty by the creator” I just think that KoS was. uh. garbage. I actually liked his RoW shenanigans a lot. But choosing to bring him back via bee goddess was stupid, sorry. Also I think there was a lot of wasted potential in TGT wrt how one note his role was. LB “killed him off” at the end of each book and then at the start of the next one he’s always like “nvm I’m back! and more insane!” which on one level is iconic af. But also I think she could’ve done more interesting things with him.

Also I’ve said this before I think but I would’ve loved to see more focus on what he actually does once he’s briefly in power. He *is* ruling the country for the first time, after wanting to for who knows how many centuries. I would’ve loved to see what he even attempted to do, if anything. And if he did literally nothing and only focused on hunting down Alina? Then that itself would’ve been a fairly powerful point to focus on, because it highlights how all his noble talk of bettering the country and saving people is utter bullshit.

Alina:

I love her! She deserved so much better! It’s really frustrating how KoS completely sidelined her and then brought back the Darkling to undercut her arc and all her sacrifices.

On the one hand, I kind of respect the sentiment of like “let her rest.” But hardcore not for this series when the R&R feels like it’s forcibly shoving her back in the kitchen and admonishing her for ever wanting anything else :/

Idk the misogyny inherent to Alina’s storyline just makes me really sad for her!

Zoya:

I love her a lot but she’s just so unevenly written rip. Also like I don’t really appreciate the retconned race swapping for brownie points. I understand and respect LB wanting to make the series more diverse but the way this was done leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

I feel like KoS just pivoted her character into such a completely different direction and then turned around and insisted that actually she’s always been like that lol. Making her Alina 2.0 Girlboss Version just did not work for me, I already really liked Zoya for Zoya.

Genya:

Genya had the single most interesting in S&B but then I feel like she got hardcore sidelined as the story progressed. She just never was as dynamic after that, and I feel like that was LB struggling to balance too many plot threads. I just wish she had more going on and more to do as the story progressed.

Also it really creeps me out how people in the fandom talk about her. Particularly Darkling stans. But ugh.

Nikolai:

Love him! Hate his duology!

He’s a character that, while always delightful to read about, is also most interesting to me conceptually. I just wish LB had done more with him.

Especially with KoS, like I was really disappointed with the utter lack of engagement with post monster trauma.

ACOTAR Characters:

Rhysand:

🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪

Rhysand pisses me off so bad because he had SO MUCH potential. He’s so fucking interesting in ACOTAR. And then literally everything in ACOMAF onwards happens.

Feyre:

Idk did she even really have a personality? Especially as the series progresses she’s just reduced to a caricature that knows nothing but judging other people and being horny for Rhysand.

Send me a character and I’ll do a bingo board for them!

[corpsebasil]

Easily Replaced | Part 5

part 6

The Ocean looked like it wanted to strangle you with both hands.

"There's no other way out of Kerch?" You demanded, clinging to Jesper's arm as you walked towards the docks.

Since you were eight, you’d hated the sea. Hated the smell, the look, everything. It looked angry today, not even a day after you and the Crows had hired the Conductor, the sky murky overhead, the humidity making your hair frizz. You wrinkled your nose and gripped Jesper's arm tighter, savoring his familiar scent and warmth.

"I've got you, you know that." He told you, stunningly gray eyes winking down at your pinched face. He knew why you hated the water—what haunted your worst nightmares. He had nightmares, too. "We'll be in Ravka soon. Then we can rob a Grisha tent, or feed Kaz to a Volcra."

"We could feed Inej to a Volcra." You mumbled, and Jesper poked you roughly in the side.

"Inej is lovely. As are you." He reached over and fiddled with the Volcra tooth on your necklace, pinching it between his index finger and thumb. "Where did you get this, by the way?"

      She tugged it out of his grasp gently, the tooth sharp against your skin. Memories of a snowy wasteland north of Ravka and a woman with a cane and the temperament of a wet cat came to mind. You missed Marmee, the woman you’d lived with from the time you fled Ketterdam at eight until you were fifteen, and her strange Fjerdan ways, desperately, even now.

Even when you bore scars from the country that had pulled you out of the lowest point of your life.

"My grandmother." Was all you said, and Jesper took the hint to drop the subject.

"We'd better hurry," Kaz's voice met your ears and you shivered involuntarily, refusing to meet his eye when he passed you on the dock. "this weather is shit. We'll be lucky to get into Ravka by sundown in these conditions."

His limp was worse today than usual—it always pained him more when the weather turned cold and rainy, and he clutched his cane roughly, a scowl on his face. You knew he'd be grumpy today. He always was when he hurt.

"Maybe you can bully the ocean into calming down." You mumbled, and Kaz shot you an exasperated look.

You weren’t sure what you’d expected to change between you and Kaz as of last night, but you shouldn't have been surprised when the first words to you from him were rude. He made a face at your hair, piled hazardously on top of your head, and snorted.

"Did you battle a wildebeest?" He asked, gesturing vaguely at your head, and you didn't deem him worthy of a reply.

"Good morning." The Conductor sniffed, nodding his head at you as he approached the group on the docks.

"You're late." Kaz deadpanned in reply.

"Are you excited to cross?" Jesper asked The Conductor loudly, ignoring his friend, and the mustache-wearing man looked up from being jabbed in the bicep with a sharp nail from you as a greeting.

"It's all part of the trade. I've crossed more times than I can count." He gestured to his sleeve and smiled half-heartedly.

You reached over and snatched up his arm.

"HEY—" you squealed, and Kaz flinched. "Look at this. Look." You commanded, and held the poor man's arm out towards Kaz. On the Conductor's left forearm were quite possibly the most tallied scars Kaz had ever, in all of his eighteen years, laid eyes upon.

"I want this many tallies," you said, grinning down at the man's arm. "the Fold is so scary—how do you get across it? Have you ever fought a Volcra? I have."

"You have never fought a Volcra," Kaz commented, but everyone ignored him.

"It's a trade secret," the Conductor replied, giving you an amused look. "you'll see once we land in Ravka."

"Where's Inej?" Kaz asked, turning to Jesper, and you let out an unflattering grunt.

"We're holding up the ship." You said and pulled your arm from Jesper's, stomping your way towards the deck. Your eyes darted towards the churning water as you stepped over the gangplank to the ship, your stomach tossing in unison as you forced down haunting images that always followed the sea.

If you didn't lose your lunch before you got to Ravka, you’d lose your mind.

~

"It's not fair that I wasn't born a Sun Summoner," You pouted and crossed your arms over your chest, slouching aggressively. "Why does Alina get to win? I'd look great in a Kefta."

      The boat trip to Ravka had been brief but debilitating. You’d only seen Inej once, puking over the side of the ship, but you were still so irritated with the Suli girl for winning Kaz's favor and for cutting your face that you didn't do more than offer her a handkerchief.

Even then, the two of you stayed in tense silence around each other.

    Now that you were in West Ravka, piled into a carriage, you and Inej wouldn't stop playing The Staring Game, waiting for one another to crack under the weight of the other's stare. You were crowded against the window of the small carriage you were in, and it was burning hot.

"You look great in everything." Jesper told you, pulling your attention, and scooted closer on the bench beside you, stretching out his long legs.

      The Conductor wasn't leaving either of you much room and Kaz, across from you, wouldn't stop death-glaring you like he expected you to summon a demon onto the carriage just because you were there.

"What the hell are you looking at?" You snapped, irritated with the weight of Kaz's glare, and he rolled his eyes.

"How'd this happen?" Jesper asked, and poked your cheek with a frown on his face. He ignored his best friend when Kaz gave him a glare that implied he was committing treason. "And where'd you go off to last night? I saw you sneaking off down the street all dressed up in your murder gear."

You glared at the person you liked the most out of everyone in that carriage and poked him right back.

"None of your business," you said maturely, and glanced over at Kaz. He watched you with an inscrutable look on his face that made him look like he'd smelled something foul. "I got bit by a snake." You said, and shot daggers at Inej with your eyes.

The girl at least had the decency to look embarrassed for throwing a knife at you.

"I bet." Jesper snorted, elbowing you like you were talking about an inside joke, and Kaz cleared his throat.

"If you two are going to be annoying," he began, and rolled his cane between his fingers, "you ought to ride in the box on the back of the carriage. Some of us have more important things to do than gossip."

"Like what?" You demanded, and Inej stared at the window like she was waiting for a miracle from God.

"Like the Conductor." Kaz started, his eyes sliding to yours, and he frowned before looking to the man crammed against the window beside Jesper. "I didn't hire you simply to get us across the Fold. You're with us because you smuggle Grisha out of the Little Palace, and that's the location of our target."

"Sun Summoner." Inej corrected.

"Alleged." Kaz cut back, and Jesper snorted.

"They wouldn't keep a fraud in the most secure location in all of Ravka," Inej pointed out, and Kaz ignored her, sending a zing of satisfaction up your spine.

"You said you have a contact who can get us inside. A Heartrender." Kaz continued, and the Conductor nodded.

"Mmhmm."

"How do I know we can trust her?"

"Nina grew up there."

"Most Grisha grew up in the Little Palace. Very few would betray their general, and fewer still would help foreigners kidnap their most prized possession."

"Nina's a radical. Thinks Grisha should get to choose if they serve the Crown. She despises involuntary service more than she does Fjerdans."

"What's wrong with Fjerdans?" You scoffed, raising an eyebrow, and Kaz rolled his eyes. You thought you were going to hurt him if he rolled his eyes at you one more time.

"She's Grisha." The Conductor laughed bitterly, casting you a look. "Don't be stupid, girl." He said and despite yourself you felt embarrassed.

"Watch the way you speak to her." Kaz set a dark look onto the Conductor and the man frowned.

"My apologies." He grumbled, turning to look out the window, and you mashed your lips together to prevent a smile.

tags| @balmasedas @euphoniumpets @subjecta13-thefangirl @itisroe @thefandomplace @kaitlyn2907 @alice-the-nerd @beeposstuff @kykymyeon @emberlei @tomhollandisabae @sakuramadae @louweasleymalfoy @thehighqueenandking

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Yeah,exactly. One of the main problems with M*lina is how static their relationship is. We’re told they’re each other’s home and have feelings for each other but we never really see their relationship evolve and once they reunite(which in other better written friends to lovers relationships usually means showing how they’ve changed and wether they’re compatible together)nothing really changes either they solve their misunderstandings in 5 min and that’s it and this is actually a great example of how boring and devoid of any real storytelling Western shows,etc are becoming. The fake/woke puritanical crowd refuse to accept that how a relationship begins isn’t as important as how it ends. Darklina might have toxic elements or whatever but in the hands of a better writer the process of their relationship and how it ends should be much more important than bring so pure and unproblematic.With Aleksander you get to see the progression of him being so stoic and unreadable when he first meets Alina to becoming more vulnerable and even at times unhinged(getting emotional in the war room scene,Alina’s potential kidnapping,threatening his mother,rejecting Zoya,begging Alina to understand him,etc)and we get to see how being with Aleksander affects Alina too and that’s what a well written relationship should strive to do. And let’s be honest I don’t think viewers would care very much about the destruction of the Fold if it wasn’t for Aleksander carrying the plot on his back instead of rooting for the two orphans in o defeat him like LB intended(sorry to break it to you B*rdugo but LOTR did it so much better yet it was supposed to be originally children’s books,imo).

And this is why I find Darklina a much more interesting ship, because you get to witness their relationship grow and change but as you said this isn't the case with M*lina, their relationship is the same throughout. I do agree with what you said about how there seems to be this fixation of characters and relationships being pure and unproblematic. I've been noticing it more and more often lately with various tv shows and books and the fandoms and especially with reviewers and reactors. It's like a character does one thing wrong and the attitude of some fans is 'hang them they are a terrible person and their character has been completely ruined there's no going back now'. Which to me is just nonsensical. The amount of times I've seen a character do something the fandom doesn't like or something that is questionable and they've then been marked as ruined or bad is ridiculous, its the same argument they use that their character development has regressed or been thrown out the window because they've done one morally grey thing. In fact I've said this before but character development does not have to be linear, a character can improve but they can also have set backs, that doesn't make it bad development it just makes it human. One of the most popular phrases I see is 'character 'A' would never do this' but the thing is as circumstances around a character changes so too does the character, so things they might not have done in say season 1 become a plausible character choice in later seasons.

But more and more lately there's been this trend of making sure that your 'good' characters remain pure and don't ever do anything wrong and unfortunately this makes them boring in my opinion. I like to see characters make mistakes and I like to see how this effects them and how it changes them, do they grow from it or does it lead them to making more questionable decisions? A flawed character has more room to grow and is just more interesting to me which is probably why I like the darkling so much. As you pointed out we get to see Aleks grow and change as the season goes on from someone who comes across as very stoic and cold, the perfect general to someone who is vulnerable and flawed. It's the same with Alina as the season goes on we see her shift from someone who is insecure and feels useless, who is overlooked by others around her to someone who is confidant and who in important within her society and who owns her own power.

M*l however is a different story and I think it stems back to this purity complex. I think they were so desperate to make sure the character was liked they tried to paint him as this pure, shining knight who could do no wrong. Unfortunately this really watered down his character to the point that there isn't really any substance to him at all and he is very one dimensional. And he has no development at all, the M*l we meet in the beginning of season 1 is the same M*l as at the end of it. As terrible as I think the character is in the books at least he did have some character development in the first book in that at the beginning he didn't see Alina and he had no feelings for her from what we could tell and he slept around but come the end of the book he does develop feelings and does confess them to her and commits to her. However in the show they wanted to keep this 'can do no wrong' character so they made it clear to the audience that he did have feelings for Alina in the pilot episode and so he has feelings for her in the beginning and he has feelings all through the season and he has feelings at the end and absolutely no character development. The ironic thing is though is whilst they made Aleks so much more human in the show in a way they made M*l less human. The fact that he has no flaws and that he never does anything wrong makes him seem like this pure angel caricature as oppose to an actual person. Even down to deciding that he doesn't sleep with Zoya despite the fact that at the time he was free to do so as he wasn't in a relationship with Alina and it being book canon. That would have made him less pure and the less ideal knight in shining armour. I also feel like they use this later as a way of kind of comparing pure M*l with evil Aleks because Aleks has slept with Zoya look how morally corrupt he is, unlike M*l who held strong against temptation.

I like what you said about how a relationship starts isn't as important as where it ends. I agree with this I think the thing that makes a relationship interesting and well written is seeing that journey and seeing it come to completion to look at where they started and see the growth and change. Which is why when you have a ship like M*lina where they seem very fixated on the past and where the relationship began and where there is very little to no change in their relationship, I find it very boring.

[givemewallywestorgivemedeath]

Let's talk about the two best new students in Titans Academy

(I'm not including people like Billy Batson- aka well established heroes- I'm only talking about the completely new students created just for this series)

(New students at Titans Academy- not including Dane, who was late to class)

Alright so Summer is chill (pun intended) but we don't know much about her other than her ice powers. Matt is op af (with the Titans even theorizing that he's a second Superman clone) and he's also a super genius.... Other than that, not much personality so far. Brick is angsty and .... angsty. That's about it. He trains and avoids people.

Now Alinta we are going to get back to. (Because she's awesome)

Moving on down, we have Tooby, who..... is friends with Stitch? That's all I got. He seems alright but again, not much personality. Then we have Gorilla Gregg, who's main thing is that he's a Gorilla and that he's there....

Finally we have Stitch who doesn't get much characterization at all but is also the second best character. I don't make the rules (I do)

(See the A.W. there on Alinta's phone? That's important)

Oh also there's Dane who.... was late one time???

As you can see this series is really struggling to give these kids personalities. There's just too many to develop well. But the one person who has gotten development??? My beloved speedster, Bolt!!

(why is Cyborg training the speedster and not, oh idk, Kid Flash who is literally a TA at the school???)

So Bolt (aka Alinta) is pretty awesome. She's just trying to live her best life and be a hero. She can only use her superspeed for short periods of time but that doesn't stop her!!!

(that's not a complete speed equation!!!! You can use your superspeed for longer if you just ask any speedster for the full thing!!!!!)

Alinta is from Australia and uses the speed equation to use her powers! What I find interesting is that it only worked for her and we don't have a last name for her...... Is it potentially Chambers? Or Thawne? West? Allen? Gasp... Garrick????

Not that she needs to be related to the others but I do find the lack of a last name... suspicious to say the least. (Also, imagine if this is another flash fam cousin, how hilarious would that be??)

Amanda Waller is basically trying to recruit Bolt to her Suicide Squad. She really really really wants a speedster on the team. She's already attempted to kidnap Bolt once (it failed spectacularly because, y'know, she's a speedster. One does not simply 'catch' a speedster)

(WOOOO!!! Go tf off Alina!!!! Hell yeah!!!)

Alina tells off Amanda Waller like a badass and Waller sends her goons (the suicide squad) after her because she really really really wants a speedster.

(I like the self control she's showing to keep her speed below what would break her wheelchair)

Have I mentioned that Amanda Waller has a mind controlled Superboy in the Suicide Squad? No? Well, she does. He's very volatile.

So yeah, the Titans rescue Bolt, her and Kid Flash kick butt together and all ends well. I guess Amanda Waller gave up on catching her? And the Titans didn't expel Bolt like she feared, so yay.

So, yeah, that's the best newbie so far. Bolt.

(as far as I'm concerned, she's already a member of the Flash Family despite only knowing KF. He's going to show up to a family dinner with Bolt in tow and no one will even question it)

PS

Uh, Amanda Waller really wants a speedster and she's already kidnapped/mind controlled one Young Justice team member..... Someone go check up on Bart.

[serpenteve]

king of scars rant 💅🏽

cw: spoilers for king of scars

Honestly, I hated this book.

The Lore

I definitely hated how this book pretty much retconned the original trilogy and made it all but pointless. So Alina had to lose her powers because there are comic limits to Grisha power but Zoya can turn into a fucking dragon and become the avatar now?

The Shadow Fold had to be destroyed because it made Ravka weak but now it's open season on Ravka without the Fold holding their enemies back and every other week, there's some new assassination attempt from Shu Han or an open declaration of war from Fjerda or blackmailing debt-collectors from Kerch? How is Ravka still functioning, honestly?

Nikolai

I'm sorry, Nikolai, but this book actually made me low-key hate you. Like, the narrative wants so badly to prove me to me that he isn't like other imperialist monarchs! He....remembers people's names and fights alongside them!!!

Another character in this book (Isaak) spends the majority of his narrative idolizing Nikolai and trying to be like him and talking about how amazing he was to his family and then when he dies........Nikolai barely even gives a fuck? I got the sense this friendship was entirely one-sided.

Also, why is this marketed as a Nikolai duology and named after him when he's barely the main character and has to share the narration with 3 other characters---one of which is literally occupying the same locations as him? 🤨

Zoya

Oof, where to even begin with this one.

Listen, I would have been 100% on board with this book being entirely focused on Zoya. She's the real protagonist in my opinion so the fact that had to share the narrative with 3 other people (including one person who doesn't even influence the main plot and another who gets discarded by the end) was really bringing down the potential of her story.

Because there wasn't enough room for her character development, everything about her arc is completely rushed. Like, she can fire-bend and bee-bend in the span of 3 hours? WELL OKAY THEN. Oh, she can just turn into a fucking dragon now because she opened some random ass door in her mind? WELL OKAY THEN.

I hate hate hate it when female characters get accused of being Mary Sues but there's something to be said when we're jumping heads and everyone is just like "Wow, Zoya is so pretty, Zoya is so badass, Zoya is so cool" while not really having any real consequences for her flaw. Like, we all know Zoya can be bitchy and mean (and we love that about her 😌) but....she pretty much gets away it with and doesn't face any backlash for it. Add this to the fact that she becomes the Grisha avatar with very little training on her part and voila. The entire world of the Grishaverse bends its rules and reality around her in typical Sue fashion.

Nina

Girl, what was even the point of your story? I kept waiting and waiting and waiting, stupidly assuming that her story would somehow merge with the main one but it never came.

We learn that things are still shit for Grisha. The Shu are kidnapping them and making them into crazy supersoldiers and Fjerda are getting them addicted to some parem variant to create their own Grisha slave army from birth?

Why on earth would being a Grisha at the Little Palace be a choice in this world? It's either you become a soldier in the Second Army or....you get a fate worse than death. Wouldn't the atrocities committed against Grisha radicalize most Grisha anyway? Like, sign me the fuck up, I want to kick some ass against people trying to literally experiment on me???

Nina's necromancer powers were pretty badass though, not gonna lie 🙌🏽

Isaak

Isaak was honestly the best part of this whole dumpster book and then he gets killed for no reason. And Nikolai doesn't even give a fuck?

Why introduce this new character if we're just going to use and discard him? I kept wondering why we were getting palace updates from a new character instead of just using Genya or Tamar's perspective.

Also, the whole thing with princess Ehri was a bit racist to me? Like we have a Chinese-coded character being a deceptive backstabber (or front-stabber in this case lol) and nearly dies while giving off some serious dragon lady vibes. I get the sense she did die in the original draft and some editor was probably like "Hmm, well maybe we shouldn't have another dead POC" so she survives. At least she didn't speak in broken English like Botkin 🤷🏽‍♀️

The (Anti) Climax

This was easily the most anti-climactic ending to a Grishaverse book I've read. It's a shame because it has all the elements that could have made it badass? Like we've got saints with god-like powers but Zoya easily defeats Elizaveta by suddenly unlocking fire-bending, bee-bending, and transforming into a fucking dragon. I just can't take it seriously.

Elizaveta herself was too easily distracted as a villain. What the hell even happens to the saints when they die in this place? Do all their miracles that affect the rest of the world just disappear? Who knows. The book ends with Fjerda declaring war and a failed assassination attempt by a Shu Han princess.

Yuri & the Darkling

And finally this brings me whatever mess is going on with Yuri and the Darkling. I get the sense Leigh was super pissed with Darkling stans and created this weird strawman with Yuri's character. Honestly, I thought he was kinda funny because I'm sure even without real-world fans simping for the Darkling, there would certainly be people in the Grishaverse who would gravitate towards the Darkling and see him as a savior of sorts, especially with the world's Grisha being arguably worse after his death and the destruction of the Fold.

What bothered me was the bizarre preachiness of the other characters. Like Yuri literally only exists so that Zoya and Nikolai can take turns being like "Actually, Yuri aka Darklina stan placeholder, the Darkling was the VILLAIN of the series and you were just too stupid to see it, etc"

...Like, girl, we know he's the villain 🤦🏽‍♀️ If we're going to create a character just to preach to Darkling stans, then why does the entire plot revolve around trying to bring him back into the story? It's like Leigh has a weird love-hate relationship with the Darkling. She hates him and she hates his fan club but she still needs him because otherwise there's no magical plot conflict.

Fridge Logic

If there is no limit to Grisha power and you can just take however much you want from the heart at the making of the world, why the hell did Alina get punished for the amplifier nonsense in the original trilogy?

If the saint's powers are limited to the edges of the Fold, how are they able to manipulate stuff outside of it?

Juris claims when you properly possess an amplifier, you become a living amplifier in return. So is how the Darkling and Baghra became living amplifiers? Or is that just still some unexplained merzost nonsense from Illya Morozova?

What the hell even considered merzost now with all this retcon?

If the Darkling can possess Yuri and magically transform his features to be his own, then why did he need his own body?

And if he can change people's features by possessing them, why did Nikolai get to keep his?

Why did the obisbaya ritual fail in the first place?

Prose

The only positive is that the prose is like a million times better than the original trilogy, but considering how terrible the original is, I suppose that's not really saying much.

[firelxdykatara]

it has been less than a few days since the show came out and i have seen so many dumbass anti darklina takes. why must all fandoms be like this

LMFAO honestly, i don’t even know

it’s really funny, too, because show!darkling is so fucking tame compared to the books

i never read the books (i know how they end and ben barnes isn’t there to make me put my clown shoes on), but everything i’ve heard so far tells me that in the books, the darkling is much more over-the-top and cartoonishly evil after The Reveal (i still hate that alina got his Evilness infodumped on her, gods forbid the main character find some shit out for herself, but anyway), and in the show he like.... is worried for this girl he cares about because he thinks she got kidnapped, then when he catches up to her and realizes she really did run away he -checks notes- kills the stag, sticks the collar on her (which they had to make look so brutal because, i suspect, nothing else he does really seems all that bad comparatively), keeps his word about letting mal live, and the worst thing he does is let part of a city get eaten up by the fold for a minute.

yeah, ok, some villainous things there, but compared to the books where he kills mal in front of alina, making her watch as the volcra feast on his corpse, among other shit like.......general kirigan is downright tame in comparison. he didn’t do anything that he couldn’t come back from, if the show (-cough-leigh-cough-) were at all interested in redeeming him.

and frankly, even if he had, i’ve stanned worse villains and worse relationships and still shipped them and wanted redemptions and shit so like, idk why antis can’t just stick to their happy little corner and leave the ‘bad’ relationships to those of us who can appreciate them? it’s not that hard lmfao. no one cares if you think darklina is ‘toxic’ and ‘manipulative’--it’s called ‘enemies to lovers’ for a reason, not ‘mild dislike to lovers’, come on.

[mcd-ms-rants]

Wow you all are the best <3 <3 thanks so much!!

so without further ado

STUFF I DIDNT LIKE ABOUT SEASON 3:

• Ok why does this season have SO MUCH FILLER

• Waaay too much in my opinion

• We never actually find out what that fragment Zane has is for I mean Emmalyn did find something but she escaped before Zane could force her to say it soooo :/ and then mcd was discontinued

• I don’t understand Aphmau’s reasoning for not being Irene. When Zane says “you would deny your birth?” she tells Zane that she has no memories of Irene therefore she is not her. Well Aph honey tell that to the 38373 tourists that visit everyday just to see you -_-

• Wow was it really that easy to kidnap someone from Phoenix Drop the home of the new Irene damn Zane has his work cut out for him

• I mean he literally walked IN FRONT OF Dante

• Speaking of Zane, i don’t really like his s3 version. Him having the untouchable status of high priest was a big part of his character and removing it made him even more one-dimensional if it’s even possible. Now on top of being a way too simple character you don’t even have the one thing that made you unique. He wasn’t written to be a side antagonist and as someone who likes his concept I feel that he deserves much better. he shouldve been used in s2 as a main antagonist with ivy as a side maybe and not in s3 because it ruined him :(

• Tho why is he not treated as a big threat. He’s a shadow knight. Note that I pretty much skipped past all scenes with Aph in them so if she does something I’ve mentioned below, ignore it. She should’ve sent a warning letter or something to the lords of the neighboring villages like hey the murderous emo priest is back get yo shit together. No one even knows he’s back. for the record I feel like he grew weaker as a shadow knight?? Aren’t they supposed to have greater strength? I don’t understand why his strength level keeps changing throughout the season. It’s apparently easy to defeat Dante but not Lucinda?? Is it bcuz she’s a witch and has long-range magic? Cant shadow knights teleport and use magic too or am I getting it wrong

• I don’t like the ending to Dante and Gene’s fight. He legit laughs and it sounds like he has asthma I’m sorry he sounds like he’s choking there no hate tho...anyway why tf does he leave? All I remember is that the people somehow got freed from his memory magic (again, how??) and surrounded him. why is that a problem?? Knowing him he would’ve just massacred them. or used them as a hostage to force Dante to cooperate this makes no sense

• SO. MUCH. FILLER.

• I don’t like how in Zane’s Wrath it shows a whole village burning and then Zane says “hmm only about 30 people have been slaughtered.” EXCUSE ME HE MASSACRED A VILLAGE ONCE HE CAN DO IT AGAIN. He’s a shadow Knight now where did the advanced strength go?? AND THEN HE SLEEPS RIGHT AFTER. So THIS part of being a shadow Knight applies but his strength doesn’t?? • I don’t like how Emmalyn interacts with Zane. I get that they needed to make it a bit funny but there’s nothing funny about being kidnapped. they should’ve stuck the comedic relief somewhere in between the large amounts of filler. Zane’s a psychopath and a homicidal maniac and Emmalyn should be more scared. I mean it’s evident Zane wasn’t gentle when kidnapping her just look at her house. why is she talking causally. ok even if you argue that he hadn’t shown his true colors yet she knows of him and has heard of what he does. and for the record WHY DOES SHE SPEAK TO HIM NORMALLY AFTER HE SLAUGHTERS SO MANY PEOPLE. Like after the village rampage she cries for a minute and then she’s back to being a scholar who asks waaay too many questions. and purposely withholding info from someone like Zane doesn’t seem like a good idea to me idk abt the rest of you

• I feel like Lilith was really forgotten in the season bcuz of Alina having Shad’s relic and all that jazz. • Garroth was REALLY forgotten. im pretty sure he was neglected the first few episodes and then they chucked him with Hyria to have a really long tea party

• BUT at least we got some Ro’meave angst with Garroth and Zane yelling at each other. wish we got more of it tho it will never be enough

• ZANE IS SUPPOSED TO BE SMART. We can see that so many times in his concept. He’s meant to smart and cunning and calculating and manipulative how could he be that way if he was dumb. STOP WRITING DUMB DECISIONS FOR HIM. I hate how they made Emmalyn keep the fragment someone like Zane would never let anyone else keep something of *zane voice* POWER so why does she have it here. Zane wouldve logically kept it with him. I get that he could be overconfident enough to sleep while Emmalyn was free but no way he’s letting her keep the fragment. The script keeps making him do stupid things whyyy

• Aphmau being a shit friend again. When Lucinda arrives back at the Alliance Island and Malachi tells Aph about all the shit Zane did she’s just like BUT I need to find out about Irene. EXCUSE ME those books aren’t going anywhere but your friends sure are. Even Malachi says “you’re going? What about all the stuff that’s going on at home?” or something like that. YA CUZ WHY WOULD YOU LEAVE KENMUR IS DEAD AND DANTE IS GRIEVING.

• Wow why does Aph sound so surprised when Lucinda suggests making wanted posters you should’ve done it a long time ago

• The way canon mcd was left off was not great in my opinion and in some cases it’s downright awful. Emmalyn is stuck at the werewolf castle and they now know about Aphmau. Zane is powerless and useless, both of which so no favors for his already lacking character so idk what they could’ve done for him anyway. There’s so many inconsistencies throughout mcd regarding the way he was written. Aph wants to go tu Tu’La courtesy of a glowing book. Yay. im pretty sure Garroth is STILL with Hyria. travlyn is just chillin

• Basically pls give characters some better development and opportunities thanks and stop making Zane do dumb things he’s suffering from his lack of character development anyway

[lover-of-trash-and-people]

bittersweet netflix shadow and bone finale (s1 e8) rewatch; accoutrement: white wine with ice cubes in it (no YOU'RE a mom drink shh)

my wine's like fruity I love her

light and darkness title card we love to see it

Inej looking at Alina before she goes below deck to hide <3

okay that 'what can you really do on your own' was like not fun that shit hurted

okay but Jesper's 'not enough'? <3

oh no my baby Zoya's first inkling that Darkles does not really care

omg Helnik just appeared and I remembered how much heartbreak I have to face in this episode

gods I love Danielle as Nina so so much

'this can't be it' said she with her pleading smile with downturned eyebrows MA'AM I-

don't break my dumb little heart

I might hate Calahan's little accent but they're making me tear up

oh gods I literally cannot keep a hold on myself when Dani's accent bleeds through with full force, it's like she comes more alive or smth

'I will keep you warm' SIR WHAT-

I am surprised they showed a leaning in for a kiss so soon but I'm not mad about it

her little eyebrow twitch at 'what are waffles'

when that rando said 'i hunt slavers now' a dread settled into me because I knew what was about to go down

Matthias looking somberly at the stuffed wolf's head </3

I am so incredibly entranced by this exchange between Fedyor and Nina and what it represents, it's very interesting that they pushed up their storyline to match with the timeline

damn it's kind of jarring to be back in the Fold

'REMEMBER WHO'S DRIVING'??!!!! *you better stop* meme, *i am, disgusted* meme, *oh wow, oh wow* meme

Mal you fucking idiot you could never take the crows by surprise

the music rising as Kaz starts explaining his thought process, fucking perfection

haha Mal bitchass Inej caught you

'Because if he isn't with Kirigan's crew, he's with ours' WHEN I TELL YOU I SCREAMED

'And why would we destroy the Fold? It's the greatest weapon we've got' valid point at the moment but you know I don't necessarily agree with your methods

the use of the light tunnel in the show instead of Alina just being a super flashlight in the books is quite an interesting addition as well

is this an inappropriate time to point out how pretty Ben Barnes is

okay I kind of love the depiction of the shadow powers okay sue me

'they are traitors who tried to kill you' why are you suddenly making valid points despite having kind of committed low scale genocide

'i never said I was smart' YES MAL BE THE VOICE OF HIMBOS EVERYWHERE

Kaz's face going from 'can you believe this idiot' at Mal to 'fuck me I'm gonna do the same thing aren't I' at Inej

'For who would oppose us now?' *himbo romantic rival appears out of nowhere and shoots at him* god I love this show

him standing calmly in his ridiculous all black attire after nodding at his soldier to stop the himbo in his tracks, i fucking can't

could she summon light without the Darkling making her after he put the collar on her until the uhm moment in the books? idts but in the show she can hmm

'only because I'm not in the game' you tell him Jesper

not me snickering at 'you'll be seen not as a saviour, but as a heretic' LMFAO

'Shame. I'll have to give that speech again now.' THIS SHOW IS A FUCKING COMEDY AND YOU CAN'T PROVE ME WRONG

YES LET'S FUCKING GO SULI SOLIDARITY

Darkles casually whipping the Cut out like a shuriken or a throwing knife at Jesper because he shot at him lmao I can't

INEJ FUCKING GHAFA STABBED ONE THE OLDEST AND MOST POWERFUL PEOPLE IN THAT WORLD AND THAT IS VERY TELLING OF HER POWER

that moment where you actually think that affected him despite having read the books and watched the show

and then he has to go and fucking say 'it will take more than this' and I can't be help but be a little bit impressed at this old fool's resilience

throwback to when he said 'the king is a child' sir you make some valid points sometimes and it does make it difficult to hate you

I would just like to inform everyone that it is currently 6:09 am IST and I am sipping my second mug of wine while watching netflix sab for the second time instead of doing my three papers that are due tomorrow

I'm sorry but Inej jumping to check on Zoya after she gets knocked over by the volcra? first class display of solidarity and sisterhood as well as Inej's inherent kindness

Kaz jumping in front of a FUCKING VOLCRA AND STABBING IT WITH HIS CANE to save Inej, you best believe love is true, kids

god the volcra are so ugly and gross, they did such a good job with them

they kind of remind me of these creatures (I think they might have been called Hollows or smth) from the Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children movie

STAG VISION TIME

despite my dislike for the callous nature with which the stag plotline was handled, I kind of dig the stag vision scene

'It's just me and you now, Alina. And we're all we need, anyway.' I actually feel bad for this old fool simping for this wonderful gorgeous powerful woman despite lying to her and manipulating her and exploiting her power

okay 'I never needed you' *stabs the bone fragment out of his hand* beautiful power move I fucking love you so so much

alright ben looking like ✨ that✨ not only in physical pain but also emotional pain at what the Darkling clearly considers another betrayal from this girl he wants to give the world and maybe? loves? maybe? or at least has feelings for makes my fucking heart hurt while simultaneously soar at Alina taking back control and reclaiming her power as her own and stepping into her own

'how do you claim such power' okay could have had better dialogue there writers

the fucking score lifting as she says 'you cannot claim what was not given to you' good people my heart is full

one day I'll talk about my defense of the chosen one trope because god damn I kind of love it

hmm I wonder was that brief hesitation that we saw on Alina's face due to her thinking about the 'you chose to betray our people' comment or the 'i was trying to save us' comment because that will define some of her actions in the later seasons (hopefully god if we get some, I honestly don't know what with this stupid brownface debacle)

I'm not saying talking about brownface and pointing out that it is wrong (for further context, I am actually brown) and harmful is stupid btw I'm talking about the incidents involving brownface in question

I don't wanna talk about this anymore but I might feel like I need to and end up posting about it idk

goodness Ivan actually believing in this cause makes me so sad because he too has been victimized by the system that ostracizes Grisha and he has every right to feel the way that he does

Ben actually fighting in that ridiculously heavy cloak and kefta when he's about to turn 40 this year makes me super impressed because I as a 19 year old sometimes wake up with muscle pulls after weeks of inactivity it's weird idk

also I understand that this Mal Darkling fight is completely fanservice and serves nearly no purpose to the plot in general but like I? love it?

'I don't have to kill you Darkling. Your past will do it for me' YES HIMBO GO OFF YOU TELL THAT OLD MAN GODS THAT WAS SEXY AS FUCK

maybe it's because I know Darkles will survive and will come out of it more powerful but I can't get myself to feel bad for him at the moment

Inej and Mal tearing up at Alina's condition made me almost feel something despite it being super obvious she was gonna be fine and save their asses at the last moment

HER POWER

a solitary Kaz in spotted on the western side of the newly expanded fold in his signature all black emo boy look

okay but the crows with zoya and malina is such an adorable team? I literally love them so much?

INEJ'S FUCKING SMILE AT ALINA GIVING HER THE DAGGER AND KAZ LOOKING AT HER AGSGSGSHSJSJSK MY HEART CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE

SHE KNOWS JUST WHAT TO NAME IT WELL GIRLIE I KNOW IT TOO AND MY FUCKING HEART IS LITERALLY GONNA BURST

okay I know they had one interaction but Mal and Jesper would be besties in another universe

Kaz glaring at Jesper when he answers ''course not' to Alina's 'will you still be trying to kidnap me?' tell me one fucking adaptation that got the dynamics between characters this perfectly

okay why do I love that Alina kept the jewellery as maybe a small nod to she has the wits to, um, you know, I don't wanna say steal, but, um, yeah, steal it because she knew she would need money to survive on the run

oh Jessie I love you so much I wish you hadn't said those things on you ig story about the brownface

it's like every single celeb I grow attached to god's like nope that one is going to do or say something problematic (hey btw im not reassigning blame to god for stuff people have done out of their own free will, 'twas a joke)

AAAAAAAH them saying 'the deal is the deal' in the show even though they didn't have to but like they did and I love them for it

Inej literally not being able to not stare at Kaz's face and smile after this <3

'I didn't expect it to burn at all. But it can be destroyed in the end. Just like him' babe you're not wrong but like um just you wait

god Mal being on supportive boyfie mode is well, absolutely adorable, obviously, but I wish we got to see more of him as a person outside of his attachment to Alina

kaz my little demjin I wish you hadn't have had to suffer so much to meet the crows and find your calling

fastforwarding Zoya's arc is also an interesting choice to me

I wish the hug hadn't been done though, it didn't feel earned

maybe Alina awkwardly and half-heartedly (remember, at this point the alliance is fresh and they still don't entirely trust each other) reached for a hug and Zoya avoided her? and then the rest of Zoya's lines followed? that would have made more sense to me at least

I love Sujaya as well, she brought life into Zoya with whatever little screentime and scraps of writing she got

inej asking kaz 'what's your angle?' beep bop bleep morp I sense another incoming embarrassing love confession

'but we do need you' *stares at her face intensely* 'I need you' ah look at the clock, look's like it's time to screech and flap your arms like you're a volcra because you're incapable of containing your emotions

NO YOU CAN'T GO DIRECTLY FROM KANEJ PROGRESS TO HELNIK BREAKUP (TEMPORARY, MIND YOU)

helnik my loves you don't deserve this I'm so sorry for both of you

Matthias fucking smiling ruefully while he says 'this was... just a cruel joke all along' THIS IS NOT FUCKING OKAY

omg hellgate

AAAAAAAAH NINA IS ON THE SAME FRAME AS THE OG CROWS I CAN'T HANDLE THIS

CAMERA PAN FROM KAZ SAYING 'JUST HOW THIS ALL STARTED... WE'RE GONNA NEED A HEARTRENDED' TO NINA OVERHEARING HIM AND LOOKING OVER?????!!!!!! WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING THIS TO ME?!

Nina genuinely being curious as to the status of the sun saint because she obviously still cares

Also, 'But she is a Saint' okay Kaz trying to earn brownie points you have succeeded

DID THAT SAILOR JUST SAY 'GOED MORGEN FENTOMEN' TO MALINA BECAUSE I AM NOT OKAY WITH THEM JUST THROWING THAT IN MY FACE ALL OF A SUDDEN

gods I know I'll probably see them again but my heart is full of sorrow as my eyes drink in the sight of my crows for the last time for a while

I know people were annoyed at the meadow flashbacks but guess what? as a darklina, I loved them

'now that the Darkling is dead' could have phrased that a little differently my dudes that line needed to hold more weight

am I glad that they showed Darkles in this state with his nichevo'ya as a tasty little cliffhanger despite not being entirely true to the source material? maybe but only because Ben Barnes saying 'follow' and the nichevo'ya doing exactly so sent a chill down my spine

well, that's it for now, I'll have to move on I guess, get back to my real life which I'm obviously not ready to do

thank you to whoever actually read these things

I probably should have just made reactions or commentary videos instead but I'm lazy

my tumblr will probably go into inactivity once more as I emerge from my stint in the grishaverse

it was quite short (less than 2 months), considering the length of my other obsessions but it was definitely more intense than the other ones

[teaenthusiast65]

Shadow and Bone Modern AU & 365 Dni/Days Crossover

And just like herpes, I am back my lovelies. 

Or, just like the pandemic, I never really left...

Anyway, another round of lockdown in my home of Australia has rekindled my fanfic writing love. The problem is however, I’m afraid the lack of real human contact might have made me a little insane in terms of valid story ideas. 

Scratch that, I'm entirely certain it has. 

Which is why I’m posting again to see if anyone would be reading this little plot bunny that has been jumping around my head. I mean, lets be honest, quarantine has an abundance of two things for me; Netflix and Fanfics. 

This idea of course, starts with the Shadow and Bone series! 

I’ve been a fan of Ben Barnes since his Caspian days and seeing him as the Darkling and his chemistry with Jessie as Alina, I just loved it so much!  

Yes, I ship Darklina. But are you really surprised? 

I’m sure by now everyone is familiar with the soft porn that was 365 Dni / 365 Days. A polish-italian-english smut fantasy that was made into a movie. I have mentioned it before in my desperate and shameful Netflix experiments. 

Basically, the story is about an Italian gangster who had a near death experience, where he saw this woman. He becomes obsessed with finding this woman and when he does, he kidnaps her! He tells her that he will keep her for one year (hence the name) and if after that time she doesn’t fall in love with him, he’ll let her go. His way of trying to get her to love him, is buying everything she wants, whisking her away on trips around the world and having a bunch of hot/crazy sex...

And I just thought, ‘Wow. Kind of reminds me of what the Darkling does to Alina. He takes her away from the life she’s known against her will. Does a bunch of things to get her to fall in love with him and it kind of works...’ 

So this is where the reincarnation idea comes in. I mean, the Darkling had waited a long time for Alina to show up the first time. Kind of made me think he would wait just at long, if not longer, for her to show up the second time...

I think you can all see where I’m headed with this idea. My question is though... should I? Would any of you be interested in reading something like that?

Or is the shame bell going to be my new notification sound for Tumblr? 

As always let me know. 

--Tea Enthusiast 

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

Genya, Zoya, Seras, Walter, Anderson, Elizabeth (Black Butler) for the character bingo

Genya:

I love her! I did not enjoy her with David though? And I’m still just really iffy on the torture and disfigurement plot point.

Zoya:

Zoya my beloved 💖💖 Unfortunately I think she was fairly unevenly written. I really liked her in the OG trilogy but I think KoS kind of just shoved her into the role of an Alina 2.0?

Also, personally as a mixed MENA and South Asian person, I find the way Bardugo handled her ethnicity off putting. Five books in we learn she’s actually a WOC, then in the sixth book it’s like TO BE CLEAR she’s high key white passing. Meanwhile all the official art has her be very visibly brown? Like idk it just feels a little slimy to get credit for the rep while trying to keep the character as white as possible.

Seras:

So she’s a character that really grew on me? I was annoyed with how she was handled in the OVA but idk I like her a lot!

It frustrates me a lot that despite being the everyman perspective we never see her really grappling with anything? Like she finds out that the government is a sham; that vampires not only exist but that she’s been kidnapped and turned into one; and even later on that perhaps she didn’t need to be turned because Alucard is so fucking OP he could have easily just saved her and kept her human. Seras never really reacts to anything. And that used to drive me insane but I’m okay with it at this point lol. What does exist of her characterization is very interesting though.

Walter:

Walter is so interesting!! WHY did he do the thing?? We’ll never know! I have so many opinions on it! Just so much to talk about but also fuck him lol

Anderson:

Faith driven characters like Anderson are just endlessly fascinating to me. I get the impression that he would have been perfectly happy to just dedicate his life to raising kids at the orphanage? And yet…

Also forever losing it at how he decides to go full suicidal plant monster, and wishes to have never felt emotions at all, after killing Maxwell. That was his son 😭

Idk I just think he’s very tragic! And his perspective is verrry fascinating to me.

Lizzie:

She’s awesome! Gets way too much hate in the fandom, and is honestly too sidelined by the story as well. Her turmoil over realizing that Ciel had been lying to her all along instantly made her 200% more interesting to me. And I’m like disappointed but not surprised that people latched onto her realizing— in horror— that she probably wouldn’t have been as happy to know that The Nameless Twin had survived vs Real!Ciel who was her fiancé to like paint her as an evil character lmfao. Like obviously you’re going to grieve the person you’re closest to more? And o!Ciel has lied to her so fucking much, of course she’s mistrustful of and angry at him! That was a pretty grave betrayal guys!

Send me a character and I’ll do a bingo board for them!

[vickiexz]

Shadow and Bone episodes 7 and 8 (the finale! Didn’t think I would finish it in a weekend but I had to)

- Wow

- We definitely veered into straight fan fiction territory. It’s cool, but a different experience. In a way I like that the show has essentially its own canon, that way the books stay in their own silo in my brain. No cross contamination. I’ve had friends asking whether it would be better to watch the show or read the books first, and all I could say was there is no “better.” S&B is a subverted Cinderella story, SoC/CK is a masterpiece (and also not portrayed in this show). A TV show is a TV show.

- it’s going to be hard for me to talk about the ending without comparing things to the book, because the changes to the climax in the fold are...curious. There was a lot of fiddling with Alina’s character in the show, a lot of things to show her having more agency, but also things that cancel a lot of her moral ambiguity. I get why they didn’t want to show Alina abandoning the skiff and everyone on it in the middle of the fold, but these things are important to who she becomes later. (I also really wanted to see her use the Cut, it’s one of my favorite moments from the book, but again, they are making her a lot less morally ambiguous). I also think it’s interesting how they shifted the way she gains control of the stag’s amplifier from “because I showed it mercy, it’s life belongs to me as much as it does to you for killing it” to “it’s life belongs to me because it was given to me.” That actually takes away agency from her. Now I know that they make these choices because they think certain things are just not going to come across as well in visual format, but I’m not entirely sure why this choice was made.

- Matthias and Nina’s story was near perfectly done. And I’m excited to see the development of the relationship between Kaz and the crows and Nina.

- Inej really got to shine in the climax which was cool. I like the way their accelerating Zoya’s development. But Kaz really gets shafted here and the more I think about it the more it’s bugging me. Kaz is a character that benefits a lot from a powerful first impression, which is what we got in SoC. He does not get that here. He comes off as kind of bumbling and cowardly instead.

Overall thoughts -

Ultimately, I think this was a very good adaptation of Shadow and Bone. It fleshes out the thin stuff, adapts the problematic stuff, and while it makes some subtle changes that may have some interesting implications in the long run, is generally faithful to the spirit of the story. Now, do I think the incorporation of the Six of Crows cast was a good idea?

Honestly, not really. I get why they did it, and I understand why making them into two separate shows wasn’t a viable option (Netflix isn’t Marvel, you can’t really pitch them a five year plan). Not to mention, adding a kidnapping plot to Alina’s story is a great way to make it more complex, and who better to do it than our Crows? I enjoyed their stuff (particularly Jesper and Milo) and I like how it upped the stakes of the core plot. But ultimately, it ended up flattening out some really complex characters and dynamics. When I heard the original concept for this show, I was fully prepared to get a Kaz that was not a lieutenant, not quite as advanced in his criminal career, but just as ruthless. Instead I feel like we got the reverse? He’s in charge, but of what? Why? Where’s my criminal mastermind? I can see how they made a choice to emphasize Inej and Jesper’s characters instead, but I wonder if that’s because they’re more “fun” and relatable to a broader audience.

Anyway, I could probably keep going, but this is already kinda long. Ultimately, I liked it, but I kinda wanna reread Six of Crows now.