#alina starkov is like kill all the amplifiers for their sweet sweet power

[jebbifurzz]

Watching episode 1 of Shadow and Bone season 2:

Okay, let me get this straight...

The protagonist, whom the narrative says is soooo good and pure and morally upright: is on a quest to kill a bunch of ancient sentient animals so she can steal their power.

The antagonist, who we are told again and again is SUPER evil: is freeing his people, who are being imprisoned and killed due to how they were born, and fighting against the oppressors.

The cognitive dissonance is killing me. I don't know if I can bring myself to watch more.

[sheikah]

favorite darklina moments?

Anon I’m so sorry because you did not sign up for the crazy long post you’re about to get but..HERE WE GO! (The “read more” no longer functions on mobile and I’m SO sorry to everyone this annoys.)

uM??? Soft. Literally the moment I knew I was trash. He takes his glove off to touch her??? Romance???

Okay so a few things here. 1. This is just my stupid emotions clouding my judgment but I think that if Alina hadn’t cut and run after Baghra told her the truth about him, she probably would have been able to convince Aleks not to expand the fold and instead to destroy it. Why? Well, I know he is playing her throughout the first book but he’s showing a lot of self-awareness here. Knowing he’s the only Darkling means he’s calling his own deeds greedy and evil. I think he might have been convinced to right those wrongs under the right circumstances and I like the vulnerability of this conversation for that reason. In R&R he tells Alina that he only decided to expand the fold and force her to take the stag’s amplifier after she left and “chose…” (clearly meaning chose Mal). Is that a viable motive for the murders he committed afterward? No lmao but I’m trash. 2. Alina is literally 24/7 checking him out. This is her POV. She is constantly calling him “perfect” and other very complimentary things 🤣 3. The inherent longing and romance of that last line. I’m sorry but that’s Good Shit and I love Alina’s dubious response as much as the declaration itself lol. 

I just love the cute lightheartedness of this scene and also the fact that he has taste. I mean we been knew because of The Aesthetic, but still. He knows garish when he sees it.

This whole scene because reasons. Idk man it’s just hot. It’s a YA book so we aren’t going to get the kind of smut I crave but the pining that results from this moment being cut off early is MY SHIT and I love the unexpected soft politeness of what he says before he leaves…

Bitch!!!! Say yes!!! 

This!!!!!! I wanted powerful and uninhibited Alina SO BAD. And obviously, so did he. (And lbr, so did Alina herself lol).

Idk I just love the angst of this. This is a clear admission that just like he was playing her, she was affecting his judgment too. He was a fool. A fool in love maybe??????? Lol ignore me.

On one hand, this is a bit creepy and possessive. But on the other hand I fucking love it. They’re both deeply lonely and at the end of the day? That’s the kind of tragic OTP I thrive on.

And see, THIS is why it’s so important that we get the story in first person. Because while the Darkling IS very problematic and I can see why people who hate the ship are squicked out to some extent, what matters is that we know that Alina still struggles with her feelings about him throughout the whole trilogy. After everything he has done a part of her still wants him and a part of her still acknowledges that he accepts her power in a way no one else really does. Also, lol at her once again commenting on how good he looks.

What can I really say? I live for this. My favorite moments in Alina’s story are ones where she allows herself to confront, if only in her mind, her own desire for power (”I was eager”) and I love that even while she just admitted to loving Mal, she can’t help herself with Aleks. “I could drown in it.” Bitch, me too. 

Just the way this is worded idk. She’s literally killing him. He’s been evil and conniving af. That’s not lost on me. But Alina doesn’t hate him. There’s no, “Just a little longer so I can kill this asshole” or “Just a little longer so I can send this monster to hell where he belongs.” No. She’s sending him “to the next world” and she’s gonna follow? Ok. Nothing to read into that at all.

Everything about this!!!!! “I respect your ruthlessness”??? A line that would work on me lmao. Also I live for hurt and vulnerable Aleks showing this bitterness. He’s allowing her to see that she hurt him, you know? Also love that it’s honesty when she says she wanted to see him. There is so fucking much mutual pining in this ship it’s torture. And even after everything they’ve done to one another they’re still like this!! How dare they! Let me live!!!!

Idk I love this because they’re such opposites in everything from appearance to ideology but they still have this pull on each other that drags them each nearer the middle. He brings out Alina’s ambition and she brings out his softness. Also, “I had a taste for you once” is probably my favorite line in all their interactions. I know everyone else loves “make me your villain” but this line is just sexier somehow and it comes from Alina! Alina toying with Aleks’s desire?? MY SHIT!

Give me dark!Alina! GIVE IT TO ME!!!

SO MUCH in this passage. This is in R&R so by this point the damage and history and pain in this ship is off the charts and Alina is still sitting here thinking about how she wants him. “I didn’t want to go …  I wanted this whispered confidence.” We love to see it. And then there’s his name. I actually love his name. It’s my husband’s name lmao (though he spells it with an x). And I agree with Alina that it’s kind of laughably cute that the big, bad Darkling has such a common (but pretty!) name.

More than that, I feel like a lot of people overlook the significance of this moment. In “The Demon in the Wood” we learn that Aleks was on the run for basically his entire youth. He’s gone by fake names since he was a child. That story is so heartbreaking, being in his head while he’s coaching and drilling himself to adapt to these false names and identities in a convincing way. He couldn’t share his real name with anyone. But what must that have done to his sense of self? Especially being so young, his ability to develop an identity like a normal person was taken away. He must have wanted, for years, maybe even centuries, to be able to be his real self. But he’s clearly never trusted anyone with the truth. Until Alina. And this isn’t soft, naive S&B Alina. This is “ruthless” book 3 Sankta Alina, his enemy in every sense of the word who has multiple times left him for dead (he deserved it but that’s not my point). And he trusts her with this and shares this intimacy with her and it makes me weep ok?

This is sexy. What else can I possibly say? It’s hot. My favorite piece of Darklina art is from this scene lol but I wish there was more fanart of this moment that actually depicted them as they are, with him basically sitting and Alina all up in his junk between his legs. I accept the Darklina isn’t canon but there are no other shippy scenes in the trilogy that match this one imo. THEIR POWER. It’s so good lol.

She literally killed him lmao. She was literally the one doing the stabbing here. She ended his long life and he’s still being sweet with her?????? The last thing he wanted to hear was her voice and his name???? Ok thanks.

K the funeral scene broke me but I am glad they gave him a proper funeral. But what I’m really here for? Alina Starkov’s last line of dialogue and last thought in The Grisha Trilogy is about Aleks and no one can take that away from me.

Anyway sorry for the giant trashy post I just have a lot of feelings about them. This is almost every scene so I failed to tell you my favorite moments rofl. They’re all my favorite. I guess if I had to pick three? The Winter Fete scene, Alina trying to kill them both in the chapel, and “let me.” Oof. 

Thanks for tolerating my insane and overwhelming love for this ship!!!!!

[abookandacuppa]

Shadow and Bone review

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Rating: ★★★★

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha... and the secrets of her heart.

This book was amazing! I’ve heard nothing but good things about it for months and decided to finally give it a go. I really enjoyed that this had such strong Russian vibes, which isn’t something I usually see in fantasy fiction.

The main character, Alina, was my favorite (not surprising). She’s a lonely girl, having grown up as an orphan with all of one friend, Mal, who is also her only friend in the army they’ve been conscripted to. She’s head over heels in love with him, but believes the love is unrequited, so she’s content to simply be his best friend. But then, as the army is attempting to cross the Shadow Fold (a swath of darkness inhabited by dangerous creatures), they’re attacked by aforementioned creatures. To save Mal’s life, Alina uses hidden magic she didn’t realize she possessed, outing herself as Grisha (basically a person with magical talents... though it’s not technically magic, but for the sake of simplicity, I’m calling it magic).

After this, Alina’s life becomes a whirlwind as she’s whisked away by the Darkling (a powerful Grisha who is supposedly a servant of the King) to live in the Little Palace (in the royal city) and train her powers to become a powerful Grisha. The Darkling tells Alina that she’s their only hope of defeating the Shadow Fold once and for all, a task he had been trying to do for decades.

I loved reading all about Alina’s training in the Grisha city as she attempts to master her power and become a skilled fighter. The politics among the Grisha orders was fascinating, as there’s a definite hierarchy of power.

It broke my heart to see Alina so alone in the Little Palace. She has no friends, and anyone who is interested in her is really only interested in her powers as the Sun Summoner, and what her powers can do to save them from the Shadow Fold. I hurt for Alina when she realized that, after Mal has made no attempts to contact her or reply to the numerous letters she’s sent, her best friend really doesn’t miss her at all. 

Her relationship with the Darkling was one of my favorite things about this book (not for the romance, but for the twist to come). He’s a mysterious, powerful being that shows and interest in Alina, and of course she’d captivated. He’s been one of the first people to show a genuine interest in her and treat her with love an kindness.

But then in turns out he’s a manipulative prick who wants to enslave Alina’s Sun Summoning power! Gah! My heart was galloping the whole time I was reading the section where Alina is clued in to the Darkling’s ulterior motive, when it was revealed that he was the one to actually make the Shadow Fold, and that he doesn’t want her to help him destroy it, but rather make it safe for him to enter so that he can expand it.

I was holding my breath as Alina fled the city, and I squealed happily when Mal found her. Their relationship was my favorite part of the book (for the romance, this time). They’re so sweet together, and it’s so obvious they’re best friends first and foremost, which, in my opinion, is how a romantic relationship should be.

I loved their journey across the country to track down Morozova’s herd before the Darkling could find the great stag and use it as an amplifier to control Alina’s powers. I loved watching them reconnect and air out all of their hurt as they thought they each had forgotten about the other when Alina was whisked away to the Grisha palace. But they’re so totally in love, and I loved watching them realize it.

When the Darkling caught up with them just as they found the stag, I wanted to shake Alina for not having killed the stag before the Darkling could. Seeing him put the collar of the stag’s antlers around her neck was so painful, but not nearly as painful as seeing that all of Alina’s supposed “friends” from the Grisha palace were actually actively working to assist the Darkling. Though, like Alina, I couldn’t really blame them--they assumed the Darkling’s intentions were pure when he said he wished to destroy the Shadow Fold.

But his true nature was revealed when they made it to the Shadow Fold and he used his powers to expand it immediately. When he made to leave Mal behind in the Shadow Fold, my heart stopped. But then Alina realizes that, upon showing the stag mercy, she actually had true ownership of the stag’s powers. This allowed her to no longer be under the control of the Darkling’s grip on her powers, and she uses it to save the day and escape with Mal.

I’m a little concerned about Alina’s love of her new-found amplified powers, but I sincerely hope she uses them for the good of the country to overthrown the Darkling. And I hope she and Mal continue to be safe throughout the series.

I loved everything about this universe, from the magic to the characters to the plot. The last 100 pages were a whirlwind of twists that I never saw coming but enjoyed thoroughly. I can't wait to read book #2.

--Ashley

[stromuprisahat]

#the darkling is right...? #alina starkov is like kill all the amplifiers for their sweet sweet power

She obviously needs to catch ‘em all to destroy the Fold. She’s just NOT strong enough to do so with no training, so gaining more power is the logical solution. She also never tried to permanently alter the Fold, and won’t until its complete destruction, so it’s plain to see she needs to gather more power first!

Watching episode 1 of Shadow and Bone season 2:

Okay, let me get this straight...

The protagonist, whom the narrative says is soooo good and pure and morally upright: is on a quest to kill a bunch of ancient sentient animals so she can steal their power.

The antagonist, who we are told again and again is SUPER evil: is freeing his people, who are being imprisoned and killed due to how they were born, and fighting against the oppressors.

The cognitive dissonance is killing me. I don't know if I can bring myself to watch more.