#i don't know if you can tell but i love genya as much as zoya and nikolai

[lilisouless]

Zoya: the theater group that was supposed to come for the anniversary of the end of the Ravka war cancelled, i promised a play!

Nikolai: don't worry, i got this

---

Zoya: remind me never blindly trust an "i got this"

Nikolai: why? they are making a good job on the effects, and they will do anything for money

Alina: shhh! my big moment is comming!

Jesper with a long white wig: But my beloved Mole-

Wylan whispering: Mal-

Jesper: There has to be another way!

Wylan shirtless and with a six pack painted on his belly with a marker: There is no other way, Alina. Its your fate and dying for you its mine, as said by the cool and not at all awful tattoo of mine

Mal: I wasn't shirtless when i died

Alina: in my mind you were

Jesper: i can't do it!

Wylan: you must!

Jesper: okay! (fakes stabbing Wylan who fakes a collapse) oh Mal, Rakva will honor your braveness, and i will always remember how much i love your abs...and personality and all that shit

Alina snifs: its like they were just there

---

Zoya: so..why did she choose that role?

Nikolai: she said it she wanted a loud range of emotions

Nina with a big fake black kefta: Join me, Alina Starkov! join me to the shadow side , HAHAHAHA!

Zoya: at least practicing her evil laugther actually paid up

Jesper: Never! you just will just steal my power!

Nina stomping her foot; but why won't you give it to me?! why-won't you give it to me!

Mal: and...now "the darkling" is crying like a baby...at least they got that right

Nina: You need me! you need the shadow!

Jesper: no...this is..BONE! (fakes stabs Nina)

Nina: noooo! i am dyiiing....nooo, why didn't i bring a blade proof kefta, nooo

Nina fake coughing: Alina...please...do something for me...

Jesper fake crying while an onion slips from his fake kefta: yes?

Nina: "cough" tell...Zoya...to give that little grisha, Nina Zenik (the cutest one) all the waffles she wants (fakes a collapse)

Jesper: now its my time to die too, Tamar. Tolya, bring me my boytoy

Mal: excuse me? "man toy" please

Kuwei enter the scenario while dragging Wylan around

Tolya: is he supposed to be me or you?

Tamar: he has an undercut, so probably me-

Kuwei: Sankta Alina, we can cure you! I can cure you with my axe!

Kuwei turning around,showing a sidetail on the other side of his face: this makes me want to do some poetry

Tamar: oh, he is both of us, like the detail that the arm playing me is more muscular

Tolya: its literally not-

Jesper: no...i´ll die, my job here is done

Kuwei as Tolya : but my saint! you can't leave us!

Kuwei turning around as Tamar: Ravka is still a mess

Jesper: And thats your problem now, so long suckers! (fakes to die over Wylan´s body as Kuwei cries)

---

Inej with a fake blue kefta: i hope all of you know how lucky you are to be on my pressence

Zoya: this whole play is awful, all our portrayals are so one note and exagerated, we are not like that on real life. My eyes are too good for this sight

Inej : A triple funeral, a country with no money (flips her hair) my eyes are too good for this sight

Zoya: everyone shut up

Matthias with a cardboard crown: Oh yes, and i am the king now, i was hidden to treat my injuries completely unrelated to demonic possesion and (looks up at cue cards) improbable...i am a pearl...something , something...charming

Nikolai: who let him play me?

Kaz with a cheap red wig and a patch before the big curtain falls : and i...was ruination

Zoya: always the need to have the last word

Genya clapping: as "she" should

[echocentric]

✨ Grishaverse incorrect quotes ✨

Tamar: Don’t worry, I have a permit.

Tolya : ...This just says “I can do what I want”.

-

Nina: Everyone knows that Santa is an invention designed by the big five corporations to sell tinsel and video games to an unsuspecting public.

Kaz: The whole “childhood wonder” stage just blew right past you, didn’t it?

-

Jesper: Hey, what’s the name of the guy who lives down the hall?

Inej : His cats' names are Walter and Rose.

Jesper: That's not what I asked.

Inej : That is all the information I have.

-

Cop: What are your names?

Zoya: Don't tell them, Nikolai.

Cop, writing: Nikolai...

Zoya: Crap.

Nikolai: Nice going, Zoya.

Cop:

Nikolai: Uh oh.

-

Genya, texting David : *sends a voice message*

David , texting back: I’m a little busy, is it urgent?

Genya: No, don’t worry, just listen later.

*later*

David : *presses play*

Genya's voice message: THERE’S A FIRE-

-

Wylan: Why are you on fire?

Kuwei: This is just how my day is going.

-

Tamar: Alright, listen up you little shits.

Tamar: Not you Nadia. You’re an angel and we’re thrilled you’re here.

-

Genya: Remember what I told you.

Zoya : Don’t be a cunt.

-

Inej: An Apple a day keeps the Doctor away!

Kaz: An Apple a day can keep anyone away if you throw it hard enough.

-

Nikolai: Can you pass the salt?

Alina : Can you pass away?

Nikolai: Too much salt.

-

Nina: Why do you not believe that ghosts are real?

Jesper: Never seen one.

Nina: Okay, I mean, there’s a lot of things that you can’t see that are real.

Jesper: What can’t I see?

Nina: You can’t see gravity. That’s real.

Jesper: Yeah, I can drop an apple.

Nina: Fuck.

-

David: I’ve become a bread crumb dealer to four crows at the lake. They pay me with a bit of everything. Like shiny things, fabric, or pens. But recently they paid me with a 20 dollar bill they found somewhere. So I decided to buy them some more expensive bread. They loved it. So they understand what to do. Give me money. I’ve probably racked up about 200 dollars at this point. Is it morally wrong though, I mean. They’re the ones who steal the money from others. Or perhaps they just have a big pile laying somewhere. Should I keep on doing this?

Genya: You sound like the start of a Batman villain.

[helenvader]

"Now... you know sacrifice."

"Beyond everything you've ever known."

This scene takes place where LUDA died.

Why did he never try to tell her about it? I know, because the writers didn't write it. But it makes no sense. Everybody WOULD try to explain.

...

Tamar is so annoying. And she doesn't even look like she belongs to the show, she looks weirdly modern?

...

Plot armor in the interior fight with the shadow monster was incredibly strong...

...

"Let me carry the hatred of this world." - ok, at least SOMETHING. But Alina doesn't get it. Of course.

Why couldn't they make him sympathetic BEFORE his dying scene?

...

Not the meadow again...

...

Sasha is dead for a minute and Alina already used merzost. Notice that he didn't use it to resurrect the woman he loved when he created the Fold. He used it so as to SAVE GRISHA. He used it for others. She used it for herself.

...

"I don't want any heretics to find his body and make a martyr's relic of it"

WHAT? She's such a self-important bitch. He ASKED you to do it. You have to twist everything, don't you?

...

How can Kaz know poetry that Tolya quotes? Do they teach it on the streets of the Barrel?

...

Genya really was reduced to a victim. But is David dead? People killed by the shadow monsters do not disappear. He might be alive. And I hope he is!

...

"You both have every right." What bloody right do Zoya and Genya have to burn Sasha? Burning him is not revenge, it's what he bloody wanted to avoid his body to be misused.

I feel so sad for him. Finally. Finally something made me feel something.

...

Oh no, a speech? Please no.

...

Fjerdans looking at the Fold that is no more. Yay! Now they can enter Ravka from anywhere.

...

Ha! A bee! Ha!

...

Isn't a privateer basically a pirate licensed by the government to capture enemy ships, allowed to keep the spoils in return? Why do they need one?

...

No. Don't spoil Kanej. Taken out of the book context, what Inej says sounds like she only cares about the physical part of love. :-(

...

Mal being Sturmhond is like Dread Pirate Rogers from Princess Bride. 🤣

...

Oh I see, privateer as in "spy". Maybe slaver ship hunter, too? I can accept that!

...

Mal in teal frock! 🙃

...

Ah, yes. Slaver ship hunter. I do like that!

...

How can King of Ravka give pardon to a Kerch prisoner?

Except it didn't work anyway.

...

The Apparat!

...

Sobachka is a monster, as expected. :-(

...

Alina *so* doesn't deserve Nikolai.

...

Enter Zoya and Genya, the new nobility as it seems. Including shallow conversations. Oh wow, a refuge. That has been done before, hasn't it? Oh, but that doesn't count. It was evil when Sasha did it. At a much higher risk.

Doing away with coloured keftas is important, yes.

So Shu Han is suddenly just "estranged"?

WHAT DRUGS DID THE WRITERS TAKE?

...

Triumvirate indeed.

...

Isn't the Lantsov banner light blue? But maybe it's just a coronation thing.

...

Jurda parem.

Impressively gory.

Alina, that was some smirk. Not walking the same path as Sasha? Just look at your face.

A great ending. Too bad so much of the show was meh.

[heliads]

LISA CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!! you deserve it all <333

can i request a 🎬: casting call? i would love one for the grishaverse!!!

i don't really know how to describe myself so i hope this is enough! i'm shy and quiet but once i feel comfortable with someone i really like to tell them about everything that i like, i love music and i have a playlist for every single thing you can think about, i love writing since i was 11 and taylor swift is my ultimate inspiration. my favorite color is pink and i listen to a lot of true crime podcasts, i'm a big perfeccionist and very romantic, i think?

tell me if you need anything else, congratulations again! you're a big inspiration <3

thank you so much!! you are a big inspiration to ME

i ship you with genya safin!

i am connecting the dots. you are a romantic. genya is a romantic. you are a perfectionist. genya likes things to be perfect. it all makes sense. if genya was alive in modern times i KNOW she would have The Best Playlists for literally everything. the two of you would make them together! taylor swift goes on the 'killing the darkling' playlist. zoya laughs. zoya will face the combined wrath of both of you, which is a terrible thing indeed. you and genya show up to fetes and balls with color coordinated attire. she will talk to people for you and you can get her out of boring events early. it's a partnership made in heaven.

thank you for taking part in my 7k celebration!!

[shesmyplusone]

oh boy.

So, I've watched all of S&B season two in less than a day. And let me tell you...I'm very disappointed!

As a show, there were things I liked. I'll start with some of those-

the acting: Really good! I really took to all of the new actors- especially Nikolai and Wylan, who have always been two of my favorites. Strong seasons from Daisy Heard, Jessie was great as always, and really came around on Nina's actor too.

Costumes: I enjoyed about 90% of them (not Zoya's dress at the end of the season. but that's a whole other can of worms). Jesper looked great!

The Darkling: He was shown to be as pathetic and sad as he's always been. Him dreaming about Alina and her stabbing him was wonderful. Happy Genya and Zoya helped put him in the ground, at least for now.

Zoya/Nina: I was actively really upset when Zoya wasn't sending Nina off on her mission before season 1. Their dynamic means so much to me and the narrative, but I had assumed we were going to have to sacrifice Zoya's SoC storyline to allow her to build her S&B storyline! But we weren't! They got to interact. I wish it had focused more on Nina leaving in the middle of the war, and what it was like for her to come back, but there were just too many different characters and moving pieces to get in depth focus on that, and I understand that.

Jesper!: He was great. he's always great. Zero notes! Loved him a Wylan having a past. It made up for the other Crows reallyyy going through it with their love interests.

And the bad things:

As an adaption: Really rough. Like I understand the desire to get through both S&S and R&R. but they completely butchered my favorite book in the trilogy (maybe the whole series!) to do it. They took the Apparat out entirely. They lost most of the Sun Summoner cultists and Alina granting her power to them on the Fold. Nikolai did not become the monster and spend half of the season chasing the crew around. No firebird hunt! Alina lost her little trip with her friends, lost the comradery that came from traveling up and down Ravaka with Mal, David, Genya, Zoya, Nadia, the twins, and Adrik. No Oncat at all!!!! Alina never thought she had more to lose because she never realized she even had it!!!!!!!

They rushed her into wanting to save Ravaka, pulled her away from the girl who wanted peace to herself and to help children like she was.

I understand they didn't want to lose Jessie, Archie, and Ben at the same time. (Debatable about Ben. but that's for later). The set up and destroyed so much of the story for the hope they might get a season 3 (with Netflix's trackrecord, i'm not hopeful).

But man. they lost so much of what i loved about the trilogy. I know most folks don't love it. even going through the tag I can see most people are mostly here for the crows. Where was the huge awful civil war!!! one battle!!! with a rip-off Zoya (bangs and all). And a different squaller got to do lightning before Zoya!!! I'm grumpy.

and there is a slim chance that we get a season 3 that ends with Mal and Alina on their little farm. but man, i don't want to take that bet. What a waste!

Matthais: i love the boy, but man, ever single one his scenes at hellgate were like pulling teeth for me. insane he had a whole arc to himself while zoya was shoved whereever the writers needed her to be.

Nikolai's Monster: So happy they snuck it at the last second. But man, it should have happened earlier. My favorite R&R Zoyalai scene is not the ones with Alina, but when Nikolai turns back into a man and Zoya catches him falling out of the sky, a scene that is paralleled in RoW. I get it, yet again, that the viewers barely knew Nikolai, so turning him into the monster halfway through the season was silly, but they could have done it in episode 7 and i think it could have worked.

DAVID!!!!: Are you kidding me!!!!! I know he could alive, as there was no body, but we already went through this one. GENYA already goes through this once. this happened solely so the triumvirate could be Alina, Zoya, and Genya. But when Zoya said the world I literally burst into tears. It's supposed to be David :( Alina's "oh we don't need the orders anymore" is supposed to come from Zoya figuring out in KoS/RoW that the lines are not so neatly drawn. David has to help Nikolai with his inventions!!!! Like!!!! Who's going to chain up the monster!!!

Mal: he should not have fucking left. that speech he gave about being happier on the ship with Strumhund is NOT his story. it's Nikolai's. He would never leave Alina!!!!

Zoyalai: I'll just get to it. It feels like the writers were baiting me specifically. "Let's let Nikolai interact with literally ever other character in the universe. but Zoya!" And at the end, when i thought we might get something with Alina telling Inej to tell him where Zoya was. Nothing! (Well, Elivabeta's Bee was a nice touch) but! not a single conversation! Alina's going "comfort him" while he's king. She's still in charge of the second army, while Zoya's just "in charge of training". They're still engaged!!!! I literally thought she was stopping the engagement when she gave the emerald back. but nope!

i have no faith there will a season three, and honestly. not sure i want one. what a mess. if these showrunners had wanted a crows show so badly, they should have just fucking done one. the trilogy is not perfect, but had a solid, good storyline with characters with arcs and purposes and and it's really hard to see how they redeem that.

[justanotherfanaccount]

shadow and bone s2e4 reaction

everyone's reactions to the engagement 😳

zoyas back to herself hahah

bitch ass...she is not ruined (she is ruination)

damn...openly kissing right after your engagement announcement?? 👀 yes...I see nothing going wrong

ope...guess who was right and who's brother saw that!!

what is this boy doing??? (baghras finger) God damn

they really made baghra a better (nicer) person in this version though...

"it'll give me some comfort to know you're with me" is the nicest thing kaz can say hahaha

"if the plan goes awry" ...book kaz's plans never go awry...they just turn into plan f

"kinda like your face" IS THAT THE RIP-OFF "maybe I liked your stupid face" !?!?! IT BETTER NOT BE

ok jesper guessing what kaz is gonna say was amazing top notch quality...one of my new favorite moments

...this is also crooked kingdom...(the costumes)...it SCARES ME

...ope...nina is in this plan...she might ruin it (she hasn't really been a CROW yet...she cares more about Matthias at the moment and Pekka can give her that)

anndd...that happened sooner than I expected

it took kaz almost a whole book to forgive jesper for ACCIDENTALLY telling people they were leaving town...idk how he's gonna forgive nina for PURPOSELY doing this

love alina learning the cut...get it girl

also Tamar and Nadias chemistry 👀👀 I see you (ps Tamar is so gorgeous how do I focus with her on screen 😭)

David's actor is so good! the pain in his voice when he mentions genya 🥺🥺

"I share no bond with kirigan" 😳 girl is done with him

"it's a little unsettling how you talk about him like he's someone else" get it mal! I love that line

please be a kaz plan please be a kaz plan please be a kaz plan please be a kaz plan

inej saving the people on the ship 😭😭 I love her so much

again I say...please be a kaz plan please be a kaz plan... how else does he forgive nina?

this is literally crooked kingdom...the fake plague?

YES ITS A KAZ PLAAANNN

I KNEW IT I LOVE KAZ PLANS

wylan 🥰 (it was such a short scene...I just love him)

jesper in his costume brooo

hell yeah I love crazy kaz

"you'll never find your son in time" badass shit

start begging Pekka. start begging.

honestly...not mad that they moved this plot up sooner cuz there is still a lot that happens in six of crows and crooked kingdom with van eck and the ice court...this gets Pekka out of the way

aahhhhhh freddy is an amazing kaz!!!!

right after his big Pekka throw down he looks at jesper and nina like he was ashamed he learned his secret and it just ahhhhh

tolya and his poetry hahaha loovee

damn nikolais brother whose name I forgot! rude!

Vasily...it was said

ew...don't kiss her hand vasily...nasty

his son being okay gets me though 🥺 the little boy didn't do anything wrong and kaz knows that

"you could come with me" for being so good at flirting with everyone...i love how bad he is at it with the people he actually likes

"I can't make you any promises, or predict what might happen between us. but I can tell you that, I'd like to find out." CRIES 😭😭

ok imma be honest...I got a bit of wesper in e4 spoiled for me because I opened tumblr and THERE IT WAS and was SO UPSET because I love their slow burn

it just seems like they rushed it...they barely know each other...GIVE ME MY SLOW BURN

but also this scene is really cute

BUT WHY WE MOVING SO FUCKING FAST BRO

...I went back and rewatched the scene because as I said in a previous post...I always rewatch wylan scenes and

WYLANS LITTLE TURNED AWAY SMILE AFTER JESPERS SPEECH OMGGG HES SO ADORABLE

kaz being mad at inej but just because he was worried about her 🥺

"weak link" this bitch is so bad at feelings...we all know you love her

I just know that if we could see in his head like the books he'd be yelling at himself

I love nikolai "wear it that is...not punch me"

this scene is like word for word! love!

Vasily gives me slimey vibbeess

I'm so excited for this scene

AND HERE WE GO

BRO WAS LITERALLY RIPPED IN TWO

darkling really just walked past alina like 🚶‍♂️

I love the darklina scenes thouggghh they're done so well to the book!!

is it bad to say that I expected genya to be...worse than she is??? 👀

like girl was described as missing an eye and basically looking almost non-humanlike due to the torture she endured

but now she has like some scratches on her face

"do you see him?" 👀 same alina...same

(imma just put this here in my small shameful way but...the darkling looks really hot when he's trembling with anger 😗...)

[troglobite]

random thoughts abt the shows i'm watching don't judge me for what shows i'm watching

i am impatient to see how That Plotline in t/d l/sso is gonna work out.

but it is interesting. so 8 episodes left, 8 weeks left.

and everything is up in the air. kind of unsettling but also compelling. it's nice that i can't actually predict what they're going to do with most of the characters. there are some things i'm sure of (trent is not going to out colin) some things i'm like "it would make sense, but not putting all my eggs in that basket yet..." (trent coming out, himself, and being like ??? y'all didn't know?) and everything else i'm like goddamn i literally have no clue (sam? rebecca? bex? keeley? zava? ted's Entire Situation?)

i didn't like at all michelle's face at the end of the episode & how we're just supposed to be like "good for ted voicing his feelings abt how what she did was scummy as fuck, but in his frustratingly calm way"

like. she's just. what, happy that he's now starting to be honest abt when he's upset? like i get that. but my Hetero Nonsense Instincts kicked in and i'm IMMEDIATELY worried he's gonna get back together with her. normally i'd say that's unlikely to happen w this show, but christ, the straights are fucking unpredictable. so much so that i'm also a little bit worried that rebecca's gonna end up with ted. both would Fucking Terrible Outcomes, story-wise and character-wise, and this is the final season, so i hope they don't fuck it up.

i also think the team getting so many red cards in the second half was kind of. pushing it. like yeah yeah, "lesson learned", fighting from a place of only hatred and anger--especially when it's FRESH--isn't great. but that was. laying it on a little thick. i don't think ted is the kind of person who ever really needs to be in the 'i told you so' position, and i didn't particularly like it. felt like a weird plot for that episode.

but i'm also just in a weird mood and having the colin, michael, and trent situation has me like 👀👀👀 so y'know lol

anyway also season two of sh/dow and b/ne is SO MUCH BETTER THAN FIRST SEASON.

we just made it to episode 7 and quite frankly i am So Tired of alina.

if i understand correctly, the first books were JUST abt her & her entire story?

how did anyone stand that. or did the show just make her so much worse?

i'm just frustrated by the cluelessness and...like... aughaughadgjalsdkfj

for a minute there i was much more compelled by her and her story. she didn't drive me up the wall.

and episode 7 sort of sent her careening again. they end on a cliffhanger--objectively useless given they released all 8 episodes at once--and i'm like "yeah right as fucking if, i know how this is gonna go down, it's v silly"

i mean it's NOT, but also.

you're telling me the wraith, inej, is just STANDING THERE WITH THE SWORD OF LEGEND DOING NOTHING?

yeah okay. c'mon, inej. as if. esp w nina and zoya there, too, like what the fuck.

Everybody Is Fucking Stupid

also it's always a little //shrug when you can see character deaths coming from a mile away.

it's why i LOVED a couple of the middle season episodes--

spoilers, i guess, if you care

but i did NOT see baghra's death coming! that was a shock, but it made so much sense! it was narratively compelling, it created an interesting timer and plot element, etc. very cool.

episode 7, though?

yeah no i knew nikolai's bestie was gonna eat it. i knew david would fucking sacrifice himself like a dipshit, bc narrative balance or whatever, bc he thinks he owe genya or some shit.

it does seem though like maybe this main plot about the fold will be over in the final episode, so if they continue making this show i'd LOVE to keep watching

bc i'm tired of kirigan (ben b/rnes does an incredible job making his silly little lines sound almost actually foreboding--but he basically sells it, bc he comes off as a powerhungry childish man who buys his own bullshit, so job well done) and i'm REALLY tired of alina.

i LOVE nikolai, i think he's very cool. i think they fucking clipped his wings when they made him love alina--SHE'S SO BORING AND ANNOYING, WHAT DO YOU ALL EVEN SEE IN HER?!

i'm literally a lesbian and every other woman character on this show is more interesting and compelling and has more personality than her.

poor girl. her personality boils down to selfish, clueless, obstinate, changeable. that is. about it.

it's just sort of wild.

for a minute there in season two it was like "oh okay. i'm beginning to understand her, now. she's been through a lot, and it's finally showing."

and then we swung right back around to "right, yeah. selfish and emotionally immature shortsighted dipshit. alas."

imagine if literally any other character in the show was the sun summoner. my god. kaz? inej? that would be fucking wild. i love it.

obviously that's not the case bc the books and there's a lot more going on--i'm just saying, narratively and character-wise, they're WAY more interesting and compelling than alina. which is a fucking shame. lol

but i am interested to see how this season ends.

i'd LOVE to keep watching a show abt the crows.

and for the most part i'd just love it if everybody stopped being like. carelessly stupid.

you really didn't think kirigan was going to create a diversion and instead seek to ambush you where you are? you really didn't think that they'd try and get amplifiers, too, or at least be tactically trained? you REALLY think they didn't know about your fucking GIANT NOISY AIRSHIP?

and then also did you REALLY think he wasn't going to immediately go for mal in any circumstance?

you really thought your fort, not far from the fold, was going to be safe from the fold when it's been moving and expanding further for months?

and you REALLY thought, alina, that going to the place where it all began in the heart of the fold WOULDN'T MEAN RUNNING INTO KIRIGAN?!

also why the fuck wasn't inej just swirling around with this sword of legend?! christ.

ANYWAY.

other than that great world and story and just overall very cool.

[laurore-stormwitch]

Did someone say Zoya and Genya getting ready for a ball? I had this sitting in my computer for a while. I've written it at the same time of the Nikolai/Genya interaction and went for that instead, leaving this unfinished, so that's the reason why they're similar. But even if this is not wildly original I decided to post it, maybe some of you will enjoy it anyway!

together now - AO3

word count: 2661 (cause I can’t write short fics sorry)

______________________________________________________________

“Zoya, if you move again, I’m going to turn your hair purple.”

Zoya rolled her eyes. Drama queen. Whoever believed that getting ready for a party with your friends was fun, clearly never had to deal with Genya’s perfectionist and dictatorial tendencies. She purposely shifted in her chair in front of the vanity, making Genya glare at her.

“Do you want me to complete my masterpiece or not?”

No, not really. Nothing about going to Sainkt Nikolai’s ball seemed to be exciting. Dreadful and annoying were the only two terms she could come up with to describe the evening in front of her. Mainly having to do to the fact that she was going to have to watch Nikolai and his future wife simper over courtiers and nobles, with the bride-to-be practically coerced to attend the ball. And she wasn’t even allowed to get drunk; saints forbid someone attempted to murder the king again.

“Do you want your hair up or down?” Asked Genya, moving some strands of her hair over her ears.

“Are you really inquiring for my opinion?” The squaller noted ironically, pouring herself another glass of wine.

“No, of course not. Down is better, they make you seem wilder.”

She winked at her and Zoya huffed again. Genya began braiding some thin locks away from her face, leaving the rest of her mane free on her shoulders. She weaved the fine tresses with silver threads and held them in place with diamonds pins. Zoya relaxed under her delicate touch.

“A bit more practice with breaking Grisha’s orders and I’m going to tailor myself at some point. What are you going to do when the day comes?”

She had meant it as a joke, the tone light. But through the mirror she saw a shadow pass behind Genya’s eyes and immediately regretted her words and lack of tact. They knew only one person who had held as much power as Zoya was wielding now; he was rotting in a cell beneath them, and Genya would forever wear his marks on her skin. Of course her mind would have run to him; she tended to darken whenever they touched the argument surrounding Zoya’s newly acquired abilities.

“I hadn’t meant to make you think about that, Genya. I’m sorry.”

Genya smiled at her, coming back to her delightful self.

“It’s okay. I’m just a bit worried about - well, about everything. How is it going with these powers? I’ve spied on you summoning fire the other day. You were glorious.”

Zoya curled her lips and held up her arm, making the fetter made of dragon scales dangle. Juris rumbled inside her. She had told Genya what happened in the Fold, in broad outline. Zoya knew that even if they didn’t say it, they were all concerned with this. She caught them glancing at her sometimes, as if they were waiting for a ticking bomb to go off. It was unpleasant, but she understood them; after all, she was waiting for herself to go off too.

“I’m managing. I’m still not so sure of what I can or cannot do.”

Genya kept working on her hairstyle thoughtfully, letting the quiet stretch between them. She bit her lower lip before adding something else, voice dropping to a whisper.

“Does it feel good?”

Zoya understood that question too. Power is protection. No matter the cost, it would always hold its appeal for a Grisha. That was the pull they felt towards the Darkling too.

“It feels risky.” She answered after a while, releasing a long breath. It was not like her to betray uncertainty or weakness, but she hadn’t anticipated how both frightening and fascinating it would feel to be in this position. “It’s so much power, Genya. What if I can’t control it?”

“If there’s anyone who can do it, it’s you, Zoya.” There was not hesitation in this answer. Yet, Zoya didn’t feel much reassured. She didn’t have a sense of who – or what – she was becoming.

“What if it’s too much power?” She realized that was not the right question, the one thing she dreaded to come true. She corrected herself. “What if it’s not enough, and I want more?”

At this, Genya paused, avoiding Zoya’s gaze, and fell terribly silent. She looked worried, almost scared. A shiver went through Zoya’s spine at the idea of eliciting something like fear in one of the people she loved most. She felt a stabbing guilt and the sudden realization that she didn’t want to explore this topic more and find out what Genya was thinking. She waved a soothing smile at her friend, hoping to stir this exchange away.  

“Enough of this. Don’t you want to show me the dress?”

Genya’s eye lightened up as she was pulled out from her gloom towards a more delightful diversion. She turned to the bed and pulled up Zoya’s gown, handing it to her. As usual, Genya had outdid herself. The gown matched the decor in her hair: Zoya thought of the dark midnight sky over Pachina while looking at it, one of the few memories she held from her childhood. When Genya moved it towards her, a million tiny crystals sparkled like stars against the sheer fabric. Zoya slipped inside it gracefully and turned to her, making the dress shimmer; the red head was gloating.

“I always give you the best dresses. All eyes are going to be stuck on you.”

Zoya doubted it, considering how equally gorgeous the other girl was looking right now, hugged by velvet the colour of blood. Genya made her wirl around on herself while she smoothed the dress; Zoya tried to reach for the wine, but Genya snatched the glass from her hands. She shrugged her shoulders at her outraged look. “What? I’m not going to let you stain this magnificent gown, excuse me.”

“You know, you have David’s adoration all for yourself.” Zoya pointed out, scowling. “Don’t get greedy. Let them admire me instead. If I can’t get drunk, I can at least have a different kind of fun.”

Genya rolled her single eye turning her gaze to Zoya, furrowing a brow at her.

“I do hope that by now you know that you have someone’s adoration all for yourself, too.”

Genya had clearly noticed the subtle shifts in Zoya and Nikolai’s behaviour, since she had been dropping this casual and mildly vague comments for a while now. At first, Zoya just ignored them; but then it occurred to her that denying what was going on was not the way to fight this. That maybe the right angle was to approach it much like a military campaign: know your enemy before you defy it. Which for her, it meant to understand what was happening so that she could crush it. And since feelings were not an area of expertise for Zoya, she had figured Genya could come in handy. So at some point she had just let it become a mutual understanding that this whatever-it-was-thing was out in the open, and she started posing carefully pondered question of her own. Zoya crossed Genya’s eye for an instant, replying with a sceptical click of her tongue.

“Both his adoration and his efforts better be for Ehri, for all our sakes. Much like his gaze better be kept on her all night like she’s the most beautiful creature to ever grace this earth. If he cannot sell it to her, at least he has to sell it for the rest of the world.”

“With you in that dress it’s going to be a challenge to look at anyone else.” Teased Genya, grinning. Zoya glared at her, pushing down the uncomfortable satisfaction this remark brought.

“He seems rather immune to my appearance and my presence.”

A poor and unconvincing objection, to say the least. Genya scoffed, handing her the wine as if she was going to need it to hear what came next. Zoya gladly took the offering.

“You do realize I’m a Corporalki, right?”

“What would that mean, apart from making people faint every now and then?”

“It means he can keep his eyes trained on the ceiling all night for all I care, because I’ll still feel his heartbeat spike up every time you pass beside him.”

Zoya didn’t much like to have this particular piece of information, that stirred some unpleasant feelings in her lungs. She swallowed the rest of the alcohol, her throat burning for something else entirely.

“Do you peer in all your friend’s visceral reaction for fun?”

“Just the two of you. Want to know what happens with you?” Mused Genya, knowing damn well the curiosity that sparkled in Zoya’s eyes and even more well feeling her breath itch. Know your enemy, right? Zoya grunted, not even bothering to try and look unfazed.

“Fine. Rip the band aid off.”

“Your heart usually beats like it’s at war. On the contrary, it slows down when he’s around, like you feel- I don’t know, safer. At home.”

Zoya fell silent, turning the words over in her head. It was always a punch in the gut when she wondered when things have started to turn and understood just how much they had turned. Instead of lingering on this painful realization, she did what she knew best and deflected the conversation again where it hurt most. She had the strange belief that if the heart was indeed a muscle, you had to train it like any other one in your body. The more pressure and blows you would put into it, the less you would feel the pain with time. Yuyeh sesh. Be cruel to your heart.

“How are the preparation for the wedding going?”

“As good as they can be.” Genya’s gaze turned sweet and affectionate, and she went along. “No one would say anything, you know. If you wanted to stay away for a while or get some distance.”

“We both know that a lot of people would say a lot of things.” Zoya held her chin high. “And you know that’s not my way of doing things. This is my place; I’m not going to let anyone take it away.”

I don’t want to live in darkness. She fought and lost and suffered to get to where she was. She was certainly not going to give it up for a bad timed and poorly chosen crush. An idiotic and simple crush. Genya nodded, getting the hint that it was enough for today. She seemed to remember something and got back to her tailoring kit.

“Speaking of Nikolai, there’s one thing missing. He gave them to me before I came here.”

Genya walked towards her and clipped what looked like a pin on her dress. She made her turn around to look herself in the mirror. Zoya felt something warming her from the inside when she looked at it; it was more of a medal than a pin. Ravka’s double eagle was shining on her chest, pleated gold, with Alina’s sun behind it and an Etherealki blue ribbon. It resembled the medals she saw on the supposedly war heroes’ generals that worked with Nikolai, but it was more elegant. She brushed her finger on it, full of pride.

“Me and David have one too.” Genya showed her the other one she was holding before securing it on herself. It was Corporalki red. “David has a Materialki purple ribbon. Nikolai told me people should always know we are his most trusted generals and friends. That we work for Ravka as much as he does, and we are owed the same respect, even at a ball.”

Respect. Recognition. Another time, Nikolai managed to surprise her. Because this wasn’t just a pretty thing, a nice embellishment. And while she had been his general for almost three years, that didn’t mean people had accepted and treated her with the appropriate regard. This was a symbol of the king’s trust, something that would force the nobles and the army to behave accordingly, even at events where it would be so easy to down-play her and treat her like another beautiful hollow courtier. Stupid thoughtful Nikolai. She was torn between wanting to kill him for making her feel like this or kiss him senseless for the same reason. Get a grip, Zoya.

“You’re not going to be like him, Zoya.” Zoya startled at Genya words, confused for a moment. She cleared her throat, shoving the treacherous thoughts she was having away. Genya had moved beside her, taking her hand in her own. Looking at Genya firm and proud gaze, she realized they were not talking about Nikolai anymore, and that she hadn’t dropped the conversation before because she was scared or angry at her. It was because she understood where Zoya’s fears were coming from, and she was facing them head on now.

“The Darkling.” She added to clarify, lingering on his name with a tremor in her voice. “Even with all the power you have, you are nothing like him. You managed to do what he had always claimed he wanted, and he had never done: you are saving Grishas, you are rebuilding the Second Army and you hold a position as the King’s right hand. What drives you is not the hunger for power; is the care you have for Ravka and your people. The Darkling wanted to control them, to own them. You protect them.”

Zoya tightened the hold of her hand, while looking at their reflections in the mirror, in the stunning gowns and the triumvirate’s pins. Two women who had believed in the wrong man and kept paying the price for their ingenuity, who had saved themselves in the end. She sucked in a breath, seeing someone she barely recognized; there was almost nothing left of the scared little girl. With the medal on her chest, diamonds in her hair and a glowing fierce light in her eyes she really looked like the leader she aspired to be. She wondered if she was still pretending, or some of the act was now true.

“Stop me before I can become like him.” Zoya blurted out, the words unsteady and whispered. Genya shook her head, leaning in towards her.

“You are different in every way. And you have something he never had; you have people who love you. Believe me, Nikolai is going to burn down all of Os Alta before he lets anything happen to you. None of us is going to let anything happen to you.”

“I’m not afraid of something happening to me, rather than to others.” What if I hurt Nikolai? What if I hurt anyone of you? Genya lowered her head on her shoulder, still holding her hand.

“We fought our way out of his grip once. We’re not going to let him bring us down. We’re stronger than we were before.”

“And we’re together, now.”

Zoya needed something to anchor herself on; the words felt uncertain, more like a question. Because she knew, deep down she knew she was still somehow living by what he had taught her: love is a weakness. And she knew that while Genya talked of friendship, Zoya herself was distancing from everyone. That she was suffocating her feelings for Nikolai, effectively cutting out the person she had relied on the most. That she didn’t know how to be close to someone. That, like the Darkling, she felt destined to be alone. And yet a part of her still needed to believe that a strand of what she conquered was going to save her, that someone was going to reach for her.

“And we’re together.”

Genya repeated, more firmly. We’re not going to let him bring us down another time. A litany. It was our blood on the skiffs, in the sand, on the rocks of a mountain. I’m nothing like him. An enchantment. And we’re together. He had taught her wrong. One day she would be free of this last cage, too.

[sophierequests]

Hello!!!! Can I request a genya fic? I dont really have an idea for it so feel free to write whatever you want! Thank you!!!!

they don't know about us

Navigation┃Main Masterlist┃Request

Pairing: Genya Safin x f!Reader

A/N: Hello!!! Ofc you can! I love her sm ngl. I had to think about what to write, because I genuinely had no clue what I could write about. But don't worry, your girl got the secret relationship trope going. I hope you enjoy this, and thank you for the request! Also, this is just 90% dialogue, I'm sorry in advance.

Summary: Unbeknownst to their best friends the reader and Genya had been dating for quite a while now. But what happens when Nikolai and Zoya are set on getting the two of them together?

Genre: Fluff and Comedy

Word Count: 2K

Warnings: I may have used a bad word once or twice (or thrice), poor proofreading, my bad jokes

“Nikolai, if you don’t stop following me, I’ll break that pretty nose of yours.” you huffed, as you walked towards the workshops, desperate to get the man trailing behind you off of your heels.

“As much as I appreciate the compliment, your flattery won’t distract me. At least not this time.” he answered quickly, reaching out to grab your wrist, “If you would just wait and listen to me, only fo-”

“Lantsov, I may not be an Etherealki or as vicious as Zoya, but if you don’t let go of me immediately, I’ll make sure that you regret ever even knowing me.” you hissed, turning around to face him.

Instantly, his hand flew off your arm, leading to him putting his arms up defensively.

“Y/N, I don’t want to agitate you-”

“Well, you’re doing a pretty shit job at that.”

“I don't want to irritate you, but I just can't watch the two of you act like little lovesick children whenever you’re around each other any longer.” he insisted, making you roll your eyes in dismay, “Just…go ask her out or something! I can’t take it anymore. The flirting and constant eye fucking is getting way too much!”

“Nikolai!”

“You can’t tell me that I’m wrong! Everyone else can see it, just not you!”

“Saints, just leave me alone with that! I am quite capable of deciding whether I want to ask someone out, or not. Thank you very much.” you retorted, turning on your heels to resume your walk, “And I’m pretty sure that Genya is very much capable of doing that too!”

“I didn’t even say her name! How do you know that I meant her.” he called after you smugly, deciding to not risk his head by following you this time.

“Go fuck yourself, Lantsov.”

“Zoya, do you mind leaving me alone? I do have other things to tend to.”

“Like what? Or should I say who?” the young queen inquired sheepishly.

“I have no idea what you are insinuating.” Genya replied coolly, only slightly flustered by her friend’s constant bombardment with questions.

“You know exactly who I’m referring to.” she cooed, leaning forward to stare at her.

“No, how would I?”

“Oh come on, Genya, it’s so depressingly obvious that you have a thing for Y/N. And so does she! Please just talk to her. We can’t take it anymore.” Zoya groaned, already knowing that the red-haired Tailor wouldn’t budge.

“We? Is Nikolai in on this…mission too? Can I expect that he is simultaneously pestering Y/N, whilst you are focused on annoying me?” Genya laughed incredulously, shaking her head in mocked disbelief.

“No, of course not! How low do you think of us?”

“Very.”

With that, Genya picked up the stack of paper that was laying in front of her and quickly walked toward the door. Zoya let out an exasperated breath, falling back into her chair, as she watched her friend leave.

“You can’t deny it forever, Genya! It’s better to acknowledge it now!” she called after her as a last effort.

“Love you too, Z!”

“How long do you think they’ll need until they realize it?” you asked your girlfriend, as you plopped down next to her in bed.

Genya laughed, putting a bookmark into the book she had currently sitting on her lap.

“I mean, it is getting kind of obvious now. They must’ve noticed that I haven’t slept in my own room for ages.” you added, letting your head drop on her shoulder, as she placed a quick peck on your cheek.

“I suppose Nikolai tried to convince you to ask me out too?” she mused, her fingers running through your hair gently.

“Of course he did. You had to deal with Zoya?”

“Yes, but I didn’t tell her anything.”

“You know, it’s quite entertaining watching them grasp on to every interaction we have. I’ll miss that once they figure it out.” you giggled, suddenly feeling very tired.

“If they figure it out. By the way they’re acting, it’ll take them at least another millennia.” she chuckled.

“We could probably get married right in front of their eyes, and they wouldn’t be able to put the puzzle pieces together.”

“I’m also quite surprised that David hasn’t managed to let it slip, yet. He can be quite easily fooled into talking about things he shouldn’t.” Genya confessed, wrapping her arms around your torso.

“He probably only shuts up about it, because he’s still traumatized by accidentally walking in on us making out in the workshops.” you recalled, vividly imagining David’s shocked face as he opened the door to his workspace to actually get some work done, instead he saw you make out on a table.

“Saints, that poor man." she laughed, also remembering that little accident.

The preparations for the upcoming winter fête had been in progress for weeks now. Of course, you and Genya were also keen on helping your friends with planning every little detail, hoping that nothing would be able to go wrong.

But hope is dangerous. It clouds your judgement.

"Who was in charge of the invitations?" Zoya questioned as she looked over the files in front of her.

Nikolai's eyebrows cocked up, a look on his face that betrayed his panic.

"I thought you wanted to take care of that?" he said meekly, knowing that he fucked up.

Zoya didn't dare to say a word. Her fiery blue eyes were trained on his. If looks could kill, Nikolai would've already died an awfully painful death.

"You can't be serious?" her words sounded more like a statement, rather than a question, "How does one forget about the invitations?"

"I was so sure that-"

"Nikolai, I really don't care what you were so sure of. We need to find a way to get them out as soon as possible, or everything can be rescheduled! We can't possibly allow that." she rambled worriedly, "Who could possibly manage to do that? Everyone else is already busy, and so are we, I might remind you."

"I may a certain couple that could manage that." Nikolai smirked, his usual smugness was back in an instant.

"Oh?"

"You want us to do what?" Genya exclaimed, visibly confused by Nikolai's request.

"There were some…errors in our planning. So we completely missed taking care of the invitation part." he explained, as he handed you a long list of names.

"That's why we want you two to write and address them. You're the only two people that have the time and abilities to finish them in time. And since the library is free today…" Zoya chimed in, a knowing smile painted on her lips.

"Of course, we are the only two people that you could've asked…" you mumbled, already catching on to what they were trying to do.

"We'll do it." Genya answered for the both of you.

"Will we now? Do I get to have a say in that too?"

"Great, so it's decided!" Nikolai beamed, clasping his hands together with a sonorous clap.

"Why did you agree to that again?" you groaned, as you finished another letter, neatly putting it into an envelope and sealing it.

Almost an hour into writing, stamping and sorting letters, you felt your fingers cramp. Your girlfriend, however, seemed to quite enjoy herself. She could always make the most benign tasks appear at least mildly fun.

"Do you think they're spying on us?" she asked leaning forward, not answering your question.

"I have absolutely no clue. Wouldn't put it past them though." you chuckled, "I think they're trying to give us some alone time."

"If they would only know." Genya chuckled, her delicate hands straightened out the letter she was currently working on.

"I think we should tell them at the winter fête. If they haven't figured it out by then. Because I'm definitely taking you out, whether they know or not." you began again, earning a small smile from her.

"That sound like a plan."

"And? Did you enjoy your date yesterday?" Nikolai cooed, as he leaned against your desk in the workshop.

His voice almost made you drop the thin piece of metal you had previously worked on. This man had a talent for just appearing out of the blue if he wanted to.

"Saints, Nikolai! What are you doing here? Is constantly following me not enough? Did you resort to breaking and entering now?" you hissed, putting your project down to save it from getting dented.

"Oh sweetheart, this is my palace, after all. I can go wherever I want."

"Debatable."

"Go on, answer the question. How did you enjoy your little date yesterday? We would've loved to help, but we didn't want to disturb your…togetherness." he interrogated mockingly.

You sighed, giving him a death glare, that was more than telling.

"I swear to the Saints if you don't start dropping this forsaken topic, I'll genuinely kill you. Maybe I should build you a faulty battle armour for the next war."

"I'm pretty sure that's considered treason."

"Only if I'm caught."

"Come on now, didn't you at least feel the tension between the two of you?" he asked silly, leaning down on the table on his elbows to bring himself down to your eye level.

"The only tension I felt was the one in my hands after writing hundreds of letters."

"You could still ask her to be your date for the winter fête…" he murmured, shooting you a foxy grin.

"Nikolai, please just leave it alone. I can assure you we are both not in need of your matchmaking."

"If you say so."

"I still need to choose a fitting dress!" Genya thought out loud, as she rummaged through her wardrobe, effectively hiding your clothes from Zoya's sight.

"What's your date wearing? I heard she has already decided on one." Zoya smirked, sitting in one of the armchairs as she watched her friend look for a suitable outfit.

She turned around slightly, a disapproving look on her face.

"Don't start this again." she warned, her voice laced with annoyance.

"Oh come on, you didn't ask her out? Not even after the date we arranged for you?"

"We're just friends."

"And that is the problem. You both want more, don't even think of denying that! One of you just has to make the first move." she complained, earning a cocked eyebrow from Genya.

"And that's why you just decided to do that for us? Listen, I really appreciate all your interest in our relationship - your efforts not so much - but if you want it to happen, let it happen freely. With no pressure, or whatever you're doing."

"Fine. But don't wait too long. I want to still be alive when you get married!"

“Y/N! There you are!” Zoya’s voice came up from behind you, as you stood next to a table with other Grisha.

“Z! You look amazing!” you replied with a smile, watching your friend and her boyfriend approach you.

“And where did you leave-” Nikolai began, his question being interrupted by Zoya giving him a sharp jab to the ribs.

“Where did I leave Genya? She’s getting us a drink.” you answered, a self-satisfied smile on your face, as you watched them interpret the situation.

“Us? That’s so domestic of you.” he commented, hoping to get the answer he’d been waiting for.

“Zoya, Nikolai! We’ve been looking for you!” your girlfriend’s voice called.

She came up to you, two champagne glasses in her hands. One of them was handed over to you, as she stood next to you. You gave her a thankful smile, but she was already one step ahead. The next moment, a pair of lips was pressed against yours, as Genya had apparently decided to finally reveal the great secret you had been keeping from your friends.

When she pulled away, your eyes immediately landed on the couple standing across from you. Both of them looked like they had just been hit by a brick.

“What?” was the first thing coming out of their mouths while they stared back at you in disbelief.

“Wait, what did we miss?” Nikolai questioned absolutely baffled.

“Saints, am I dreaming? You’re finally dating?” Zoya added, a wide smile forming on her face.

“Well yes, we’ve been dating for almost over a year now.” Genya started.

“We just enjoyed watching you try to figure it out.” you finished.

“WHAT?”

[lilisouless]

I really like the scene of Ruin and Rising where the girls are taking a break and talking about the things they miss before the war , even if they seem shallow it´s still little things in their life that were mundane and may never see again. It´s probably my favorite scene from the book.

The only thing that stops me from loving it completely is that, this is a moment of friendship but ,with the exception of Tamar ,...they were all AWFUL to each other in the first book.

FOLLOWING THERE IS A LOT OF SAB RANT. Beware if you love the first book. While not anti Genyalina or Zoyalina , i am definitely not saying good things about either (as relationships and not ships themselves) some Alina critical and NOT book!Nadia friendly. If you are not in the mood for all this maybe you should keep scrolling OR give me your best counterpoint, you know i am flexible.

However, if you like the show version of Zoyalina/Genyalina/Nadia, then you may like/want to see the last points

-Nadia hated Zoya yet pretended to be her friend ,only hung out with Alina because she was the sun sumoner and look down on Genya because she was a servant

-Zoya phisically attaked Alina and insulted her for coming from an orphanage ,out of jelaousy

-Alina , as much as i hate her inner monologue, is probably the least bad since she only complains about how much she despises Nadia and Zoya in her thoughts and not out loud. The thing that irritates me is that she talks back to a guard for yelling at her YET (inconsistency is Sab!Alina´s middle name) she doesn't do shit in order to defend Genya from Nadia and Marie . Honestly, they may be friends in the second and third book but they are definitely not in the first one.

-Genya, look: i don't hold it against her, i get her position and i know she didn't mean to harm Alina. But cutting her comunication with Mal and helping her boss to do what he did to Alina is probably the worst any of the girls have done to each other (again, she undid this by helping Alina at a crucial moment, becoming a real friend and definitely didn't deserved to being desfigured). Also i still don't get why getting into Zoya´s room to mock her, like why was that necesary?

The thing is not that i wished they were nicer to each other (although it would have helped) i wish there was develoment to make the prev scene being more powerfull:

-Alina actually hating Genya for what she did , even if she also wants to save her form the king and the general. So when Genya helps her THEN forgives her and feel guilt for what happened to her because of that. But in canon she just goes , "oh Genya stole the letters? It´s cool i´m sure she had her reasons?" which would work if Alina was forgiving but the next three books she completely despises Zoya for sleeping with Mal, which is honestly way less bad.

-If you want to keep Alina not standing up to Genya to M&N then exploit it, have Genya saying "i hate doing this to her...but she clearly doesn't care about me and just sees me as a servant like everyone else here" then after Alina helps her standing up to the king and confort her about the scars realizing that Alina does care.

-Nadia was completely retconed, none of her hypocritical and haughty personality shown in SaB are reconigzed in the next books , they are just gone like "hey, remember she was a jerk in the first book? well forget it now, i need you to like her now" . Alina barely seems to remember she didn't like her and her fake friendship with Zoya is never adressed again and unlike the other three; she doesn't have an arc nor a disernible personality. With the other three, flawed as their relationship can be, at least you can get the nature of their interactions. What is the nature of all this girl´s interactions with Nadia?: Well, she and Tamar are into each other...and thats it, you can't really tell the bassis of her interactions with either of the three beyond what happens in the first book , which again: were not good. So with Nadia you either have her with no personality (S&S ,R&R) OR an awful one (Sab) and i can't tell which one is worse. In adition, does she ever brings up Marie? I don't remember. They were supposed to be best friends,they were the exact same character with the sole diference that one is gay and the other is dead. The scene would have been good if Nadia recalled a moment she had with her. In short: a sudden change of personality does not equal character develoment. Alina went from self absorved in SaB to actually compasionate and tolerable in R&R and while still had annoying moments ,the change was more gradual and easier to apreciate. Nadia just stopped being mean and no one ever remembers and this actitude ended up being useless , so she was awful for absolutely nothing.

-Zoya/Alina may be the only relationship with some develoment, i wouldn't expect Alina to inmediately being friends with Zoya. The problem here is the extreme opposite: that in the scene ,even after all they´ve been trought : ALINA STILL HATES ZOYA. One would think that after Zoya was the first one to offer her help , when Marie,Sergei and Nadia still doubt her, Alina would at least reconigze she is not as bad as she thought.

So i really like that chapter but hell, it could had been so much better. Maybe i got this wrong, i don't like the first book so it´s possible i have skipped something important.

The good thing is that , the show is 98% likely to do the scene with the power it deserves.

-Alina actually called Genya out about the letters. The audiende and she can see Genya´s face, trying to justify herself yet clearly in remorse and thats why Alina chooses to give her another chance.

- Nadia and Marie are not mean towards Genya here , so there is no need to question why Alina wouldn't defend her

- Not to say Alina actually dragged Genya out of the palace for some fun, have them actually acting like friends.

-Alina offers Genya a chance for forgiveness BUT so does with Zoya. The problem i had with the double standard is completely gone here because Alina´s moral compass has actual consistency.

-Nadia is not a fake friend with Zoya anymore, so there would be no issues to adress. In fact, remember the scene where Zoya attacked Alina: there, talking bad about Zoya is completely justified because she could have hurt Alina badly. Marie actually says "i can't believe she did that": they are surprised Zoya would act like that,meaning they think better of her and clarify she is just jealous (which was completely true) Nadia even takes the time to admire her (calm down Nadia i actually like, your wife is already cast and she is pretty). True, she doesn't have a lot going on with her here either and has less of a presence than in the books but she and Marie are actually pleasant to hang out with, you would understand Alina missing those two. There is absolutely no need for retcon here.

-So when we get the scene we will have Alina with: a friend who she enjoyed to hang out with (Nadia) a friend who protects her like a sister (Tamar) a rival turned friend (Zoya) and her best friend whom she had serious ups and downs with her but stayed together at the end (Genya). It may be a little too much to ask but i would love a little mention of Marie.

[cheekygreenty]

Little Witch- Part 11

The Darkling x Reader

I’m backkkkkkkkk besties 🥰🥰

The rest of the day was spent doused in the work the Darkling had given you earlier, so the time you would have spent otherwise mulling over his plans for the stag had to be pushed out of the way.

You had plenty of time left until the evening's dinner, where you would be formally announced as Deputy General to the Grisha of the Little Palace. You had already signed off on official letters to the camp commanders and First-Army leaders stating your position, but you doubted there would be any fuss from them.

Your own Grisha is who you had to be worried about. They didn't do well with change. Especially not when it came to a mysterious all-powerful Grisha coming and taking control of an army they'd never seen them be a part of before.

Nonetheless, this was happening whether they wanted it or not. Ravka needed to present a united front and adding another person to strengthen said front was essential. All you hoped for was a peaceful transition, no blood-baths. To hell if they whispered or rumored, you could handle that, you've been handling it.

You had a list of ever-changing priorities in your head, and on top of it was always Alina. You cared for your Grisha, no matter how much they hated you or how much you disliked them, and Alina wasn't any exception. You felt a pang of guilt flow through you at the thought of Aleksander using her against her better conscience but you shoved it away quickly. There was nothing you could do but talk to him and question him about the plan.

The plan. The stupid plan. You called it stupid because you didn't know anything about it and against your better judgment, it made you doubt his trust. Was it so bad, so cruel, that he couldn't tell me? Before you came to the Little Palace, you told yourself you wouldn't blindly trust anybody anymore. Aleksander had to be held to that standard too.

Your door was left slightly ajar, you were sick of the knocking at this point so when you heard a feminine voice call out your name you looked up instantly, ready to be hit with more reports.

'Ms.Y/L/N? I have been sent by the General to see if you wish to use any of my help' The red-haired Grisha looked at you with her bright blue eyes. Her white kefta pressed to perfection.

'You must be Genya' You stood up and welcomed her in.

'Sorry about the room, as you can see I don't have a proper desk yet' you laughed and watched her closely as she studied you. 'What do you do exactly? It's been years since I heard of a tailor and I've never had the pleasure to meet one.'

You noticed a look of surprise at your black kefta. If she had any questions, she most certainly didn't feel comfortable asking, he probably told her not to ask.

'I do all sorts of things, change the color of your hair, get rid of pesky scars, anything you don't like about yourself really..... well except your character, there's nothing anyone can do about that' She waved off and sat you down at your vanity, carefully pushing papers to one side.

'So? How about it?' She looked at you through the mirror and you pondered.

'Maybe the eye bags need to go?'

She nodded deeply, 'Definitely' you couldn't help but feel a little offended, but mostly amused.

'What do you propose then, Genya?'

'Hmmm, the eyebags for sure, put some color on your cheeks,-' She combed her hands through your hair and bit the inside of her cheek '-the hair needs something too, perhaps some shine?'

'Perhaps' You mused.

'I shall get to work then' she smiled.

****

After your pampering session with Genya and prying her open (more like soothing her) to talking about life at the Palaces and her life, you came to the conclusion that you would die for her. She was so kind and strong, no wonder she and Alina were always seen together, they were two peas in a pod. Her humor and wittiness, like yours, was refreshing, a breath of fresh air in the stiff and formal palace.

You didn't bother changing. The truth was you were tired already and a full day hadn't even passed of your new job. How did I do this for so many years? But still, you managed to put on your bravest smile and walk in the domed hall with your head held high and your black kefta on a show like a trophy.

Unlike the other time you and Aleksander dined together here, he was already sitting in his chair. Ivan was standing, ready to announce any war news and casualties. You could see Alina looking at you with a confused look on her face, but she still gave you a welcoming smile.

You sat down and cleared your throat in the deafening silence. Ivan began to speak but you heard none of it. Your head too full with thoughts on how this situation could go. You felt Aleksander move his hand to your thigh in a calming manner. You looked over to him and shot him a tight smile, before looking back to Ivan who was sitting down. Here goes nothing.

You stood up with Aleksander. The Grisha in the room couldn't understand what was going on, who was that person, wearing black nonetheless, sitting at the right side of the Darkling, on her own custom chair. The list of anomalies was never-ending.

He spoke first 'Today is a monumental day for the Second-Army, for all Grisha, for Ravka. Y/N Y/L/N has returned to the Little Palace and will be reprising her role of Deputy General, Second in Command of the Second Army.'

Nobody spoke but if looks could kill, I would be halfway into my grave by now.

'Ms. Y/L/N will play an essential part in our fight for freedom and justice. She is an outstanding leader, sometimes even better than I am, for she leads with compassion and understanding for all. She deserves nothing but the utmost respect and loyalty. If you for one second doubt her abilities, you might as well put cuffs around your own wrists, for disrespecting her is disrespect for me. I put my full faith in her.'

He turns to you and sits down, giving you all the attention.

'None of you will remember my reign as Deputy General, but I assure you I know what I am doing. The Little Palace and your lives are of most importance to me. I am here to protect and care for you, yes I will be giving commands, but rest be assured they are in your best interest.'

'I don't represent one order of Grisha, I represent and unite all of you-' You look towards the Etherialki '-I can summon the strongest of gales and light the Palace's fires-'

You turn your head toward the Materialki '-I can bend any metal, bleed fabric of its color-'

Your eyes meet Fedyor's '-I can soothe a heart and crush every bone in a body-'

You stand straighter '- and I can summon the shadows, call the darkness. With me at your side, I will make the Grisha kind loved once again, we will not be hunted or enslaved. Ravka's borders will be peaceful. I am putting my trust into each and every single one of you to help me achieve our utopia'

You sit back down and only then do you notice your shaking hands. You don't dare look up out of fear but a calming hand on your back almost forces you to. And you're glad because almost every Grisha in the room is looking, no, worshipping you. Their eyes glazed over and their mouths open in shock. Even Zoya looked astounded.

He leans in to whisper in your ear 'I'm so proud of you'

*****

You ate amongst the other Grisha that night, feeling a sense of belonging and confidence pulsing through you. It went down way better than you'd expected. Nobody threw a fit or tried your life. And you were happy. The sleep you had that night was the best you'd had in years.

The next morning, and the morning after that, was taken up entirely by work. Aleksander went away and so you were left with the runt of the jobs. But you had made yourself extremely comfortable in his quarters. At first, you only came to make use of the war room, then you sat at his desk to drink your tea and concentrate on work, and ultimately fell asleep in his bed, enclosed by his scent and those forgiving black sheets.

There was so much work to do and only so many hours in the day, and Aleksander decided to make life that much harder by renewing the search for Morozova's stag. You couldn't keep up.

You were waiting on a certain somebody. You had instructed the oprichniki to bring her here right after she was done with Baghra, no later. And so you stood there, inspecting the war table when a gentle knock echoed throughout the room.

'Come in'

'Deputy General' She addressed you with a curt nod.

'Please Alina, call me Y/N' you looked at her from your place at the table, hands resting on the map. She looked slightly uncomfortable but way less scrawny than when you'd first seen her. Her hair was filler and her skin glowed. She looked healthy now. Aleksander must see this too.

'I can see using your powers has affected you in more ways than one.'

'Oh-yes umm.. my appetite's grown so much since I got here it's rather funny' She was growing more comfortable.

'That's completely normal if you're using your powers more often' You smiled and walked around to her. 'I thought we could have a cup of tea or two, and you could tell me all about yourself Alina, and the things that are troubling you. I don't want you to feel like you're all alone in this place.'

'Dep- Y/N I assure you I am most certainly fine. There’s no need t-’

'I was once like you… and I can sense a troubled soul with my eyes closed.'

She stared at you with her defensive walls up, not letting any emotion slip though the cracks behind her eyes.

‘Alina… I mean you no harm. I’m just worried. Isn’t it nice to have someone worry for Alina and not the sun-summoner for a change?’ You cracked a sad smile and walked over to the tea the servants had brought.

‘Sugar?’

Part 12

Taglist (tell me if u want to be added!!)

@theonelittleone @searching-for-gallifrey @0-artemis @lostysworld @xceafh @fire-in-her-veinz @patdsinner33 @cleverzonkwombatsludge @wizardwheezes @aleksanderwh0r3 @tomhollandisabae @hotleaf-juice @justmesadgirl @exo-1204 @houseofdupree @oberonpascal @eireduchess

[marisandini-chu-blog]

How Shadow and Bones Differentiate Villain and Anti-Hero

Alright, first I need to claim the fact that I love dark, edgy, but misunderstood bad boy in stories with the potential of epic redemption. Loki from Marvel. Jason Todd from DC. Captain Hook from Once Upon a Time. Zuko from AtLA. You name them, I simp them.

So when I watched this new show on Netflix and shown a tall, handsome man in dark clothing, both respected and feared for his power. I feel... nothing. 

WHICH IS WEIRD! Like... he’s obviously my type. Complete with the sad backstory and vicious streak. So I kept wondering why I wasn’t enamored by the Darkling, Alexander Kirigan. I wasn’t surprised he was the main villain, I even expected it. But I usually at least have a bit of sympathy for them. This OOC behavior of mine made me introspect myself and the show, trying to find out which part gave me the red flags before Mother Darkling decides to pop the chosen one out halfway in the season. 

That’s when it hit me; there were red flags! The show had been subtly trying to tell us Kirigan is a manipulative boyfriend not just by great acting and good directing, but by comparing him with the actual anti-hero of the story who I actually love; Kaz Brekker. 

Here’s the list of signs you might not notice of why Kirigan is meant to be a Villain instead of an Anti-Hero. 

1. The Eyes

"The eyes are the window to the soul" is a common saying and and the key to good acting for any good show. Eyes tell us a lot about what a person’s character is like and SaB showed us the difference of a sincere man and a man with a hidden agenda.

Look at him! Look at that little smirk. Look at the gaze. That's the look you find when someone's evil little plan is finally coming together. Not one awed by the power or by Alina. A blatant sus move is what I'm saying. Congrat, first flag planted.

Sure he could still fall in love with Alina, but that doesn't stop his agenda either. All it does is potentially create conflict for him to pick either his plan for revenge or life with Alina.

In comparison, look at Kaz when he said this to Inej; "She isn't like you, no one is." Straightforward eyes. Serious grim. No nonsense tone. Inej is one of the most talented and terrifying rogue-assassin and Kaz just blatantly said that he kept her from 'slavery' because of who she is, not what she's capable of. Like... the man has no shame being known to love her while still trying to be professional (or as professional a thief can be). I can respect that.

This is the eye of a man who would abandon everything to make sure she comes out alright in the end. Do not argue with me on this!

2. Leverage and Status

The moment Alina steps into the Little Palace she was treated like a princess. A palace, by the way, that’s managed by the Darkling. She gets favorable treatment; from the food, Zoya displaced when she fought Alina, a horseback ride just the two of them, asking her to call by his name to make them familiar, a black uniform that might as well be claiming???

Dude is desperate is what I’m saying. 

Sure, this could all be romantic gestures. There’s the problem that Kirigan is superior in status and name, powerful Grisha, and has a vested interest in her power. Pursuing romance while Kirigan has the ability to make her life heaven or hell with a snap of his finger made every single decision be seen with wariness. 

"Beware of powerful men," Genya couldn't put it any better.

Had they pursued romance after they destroy the fold, cementing Alina’s position as a saint more. Then I might have let go of that wariness. 

I’m only proven correct when the moment Alina turned away from him, Kirigan made another leverage by (spoiler!) putting an antler to her collarbone... eeeewwww much?! 

That’s how desperate the Darkling is to be in control of a person and a situation. 

And when no letter came for Alina? That a big red flag because who else in this castle can control the coming of going of letter with the Savior. HMMMMMMMMMMM.....

Then there’s Kaz. My man. There’s no competition. This guy held no leverage on my dear Inej. When she almost decided to leave, Kaz didn't force or convince her to stay but he ask her. Doesn't remind her of her debt whether monetary or life debt to him. In fact, this guy needs money for revenge but instead mortgage his main source of income for her freedom.

HE POSTPONED HIS LIFE GOAL TO FREE HER FROM DEBT ASJHAKFSDJGLDFJ!!!  

What more do I need to say? 

3. Sympathy Card

This is the type of point you want to watch out from your partners, ladies, gents, and others. The sympathy card is the way to go when anyone wants to reach out to you so you can take care of them before they abuse or gaslight you. 

While it’s good to share trauma and eased the burden, sometimes it's healthy to ask yourself whether the person can take advantage of you and to verify whether they lie to you or not.

When Kirigan shared about his past as a sympathetic boy with his secluded fountain and coin. Everything about that scene rang warning bells for me... the part he had requested her to use his color... requesting to horse ride with just them two... sharing sob story that may encourage Alina to help him...

Kudos to Alina to see through the fact she's seen as a means to an end.

It was only when Kirigan showed righteous anger and frustration of a war that's killing his people did Alina finally opened her heart to him.

Kaz however doesn't use the sympathy card. Heck, the man likes to believe he shed away any weakness and threw it in the harbor where it belongs. Kaz hates weaknesses. And garnering sympathy is an admission of weakness for him.

We still know there's a tragic backstory as any decent anti-hero would have... but by not sharing that, this implies that Inej and Jesper stayed because of who he is, and not because of who he was or how he came to be. They don't need a sob story to stay together and that showed a stronger bond between them.

4. Friends

To be frank, I find this the most hilarious because this point is the one that convinced me that Kirigan was secretly an evil bastard.

He doesn’t have any friends!!!

Like... dude had a literal witch army, a wife once, a fuck buddy, and a girlfriend but there wasn’t a single moment in the show where someone, outside of Alina and superior, to speak casually to him. 

You’re telling me this person... the most powerful and influential Grisha in the East Ravka, charming as hell, handsome as fuck, and yet he doesn’t have friends?! 

“I’ve buried good soldiers... friends...” Get the fuck out of here! WHAT FRIENDS?!?! Maybe if you get off your little power trip from your self-made pedestal, you can actually be less of an asshole and make one. 

Sure he excused himself by blaming his ‘ancestor’ for being a shadow summoner. I can see how the fear makes it hard for him to get close to anybody. But all the other characters who are part of his army only ever shown to speak with him respectfully, and the royalty even commend him. No one disrespected him even openly and you’re telling me he doesn’t have one friend amidst all these people?!

In comparison, look at Kaz. He’s brash, crude, and unapologetic. He held true to his moniker ‘Bastard of the Barrel’ and yet this ass has friends. They show Jesper joking with Kaz, and Kaz has shown to banter with him back as well as tolerating his gambling addiction when it could have jeopardized the Job. Inej was shown to actually argue and have disagreement with Kaz when he’s technically her boss. Can you imagine the Darkling doing that? CAN YOU?!

No. Because he's a pretentious ass. That's why.

This is a great example of the use “show not tell” of how Kaz despite his obvious edges has a soft spot shown through his relationship with Inej and Jesper, who have a friendly dynamic. I can attest that while Kaz didn’t create a good first impression, I love Jesper and Inej (they are precious!) so much that I project it to Kaz in extension.

On the other hand, Kirigan’s goodwill had only ever been told by outsiders or himself. None from his inner circle (which he doesn’t have!) other than his mother, who ended up outing him instead. 

So I applaud the writers and showrunners of SaB to actually have subtext signs of a manipulative bastard. The Duckling is a good villain character that's complex but unredeemable. Sometimes, you just have a good ol' charming villain you can't redeem and that's okay.

[blues-valentine]

Just wanted to say that your point about the Darkling’s storyline about the death of his lover being a manipulative way of generating sympathy for a manipulator and groomer made my jaw drop because I hadn’t even thought about it like that. It’s so true and such a great catch! I’ve never seen anyone point out the way the deaths of women are commodified to ~complexify~ toxic men.

All I can think about now is how problematic it is that some folks similarly use the Darklings “love” and faith in Alina as redeeming points to his borderline misogynistic tendencies. What he did to Genya, his willingness to override consent, etc. It bothers me that his affinity towards one woman (Alina) is also being used to somehow reframe his characters fundamental flaws and inherently violent motivations.

That’s all! Thank you for your long text posts on S&B! I’ve read them all because I find your takes so thoughtful and well worded. xx

Darkling is a text book abuser.

He perpetuates every single red flag from an abusive man there is - and they wasted a big opportunity in making Darkling exactly what he is in the books. This is why Darkling ended up being so forgettable and uninteresting on the show for me – they were clearly afraid of making him just like the books for popularity.

The moment that episode rolled in and I saw what they did with his "background" I had to roll my eyes at the unoriginality of it all. I'm really tired of the narrative of "man becomes villain because they lost the love of their life (a woman)" so are we supposed to feel bad for him and excuse him abusing other women because of some man pain? Like - people acting as that background was neccesary in the show are deluded, that doesn't even exist on the original source it was just bait for the audiences to feel sympathy for a manipulator.

Don't even get me started on the "consent" scene and how ridiculous it was when we know exactly who Darkling is and what he is done. It brings me back to a conversation I saw here on tumblr, because consent is more than just being able to say "yes" – it means having all the information needed for that yes to actually mean something. Alina was being manipulated into it, so that consent just seems like the writers attempt at giving Alina more agency, but it downplays a lot on how their relationship actually is (and let's remember how Alina was sexually assaulted by him on the second book). The conversation is here if you want to read it. (x). I think those that still think Darkling is "so pro-female power" missed the fact that Darkling never wanted or intented Alina to master her powers in the first place, he wanted her dependant on his power, to make her feel like she needs him in order to be powerful and all of those "reafirming" statements were to give her a false idea on how well was she actually mastering her powers but to be fair, that was pretty much stated in the show, that he was trying to make her weak and dependent.

And you are right. I feel like so many of the choices made for Darkling were to reframe his character and hide his violent tendencies - this man is not morally gray, he is downright evil. He sold Genya to the king and queen knowing she’ll be abused when she was 11 years old (and later disfigured her face) - he groomed Zoya when he knew her since she was 9. He blinded his own mother for telling Alina the truth.

I'm still holding up hope that this is going to be explored more in season 2, that they will finally address in the correct way that he is a violent depredador that has hurted countless people, specially vulnerable teenage girls. So, let's see.

[tricewithaz]

THOTS ON SHADOW AND BONE

Hello everyone! it is I, Trice, and i come with my thoughts on the Shadow and Bone show cause ive got many

I'm gonna divide this in what i liked, what i disliked, and what i think could have been better but didn't really bother me. Feel free to send your opinions too!

As a whole, I really liked the show and I think it's a great adaptation that both fans and newcomers will enjoy. It's super well done! and every episode had me glued to the tv even though I knew what was going to happen.

Beware this is long

To start,

What i liked

Mal and Alina

I never really liked Mal in the books, mainly cause he had like, nothing going on for him, and not having his pov made him no favors whatsoever. Alina's perception of him was everychanging, two factors that didn't make him unlikeable necessarily, but that made me not want to read about him. In the show he's way more likeable and even though he still doesn't have a lot going on for him, you can see that he's always trying to protect alina, and you also see a bit of his demeanor through Archie's acting. I think he made a great job at portraying him. And Alina! Alina who in the books was essentially a y/n sort of character (although she did get better over time), her character, likes, dislikes, her DRIVE was incredibly portrayed in the show. Also Jessie (loml, marry me) and Archie have incredible chemistry together and they sold their yearning SO WELL (and so did the kid actors portraying them as children oh my GOD)...yall...i cried when they held hands. My favourite scene was definitely when Alina took care of Mal's wounds (a favorite trope of mine). And the HURT in their eyes whenever they thought the other was in danger....i saw the show dubbed but I'm sure their voices made it beyond incredible as well, their face acting was just on. point. Overall the show rEALLY makes me root for them both individually and together which is something the books didn't manage to do.

The Darkling

AAAAA i really enjoyed the Darkling omg, incredible charisma, Ben does such a great job (and so did his voice actor in Spanish oh my GOD). His acting was just as I imagined it in the books and i loved how he could be as sweet and mysterious as he could be menacing. In fact! i liked him more than i did in the book, and i think it was a great choice to make him more human. I'm not sure if this was Ben or the writing, but i could really see his yearning for an equal, for Alina, his loneliness and his thirst for power and control too. Great love interest, even greater villain. And his wardrobe was phenomenal. I also really liked how they implied that The Darkling was a name given by other people, it was very believable that people would call someone who literally controls shade something akin to "son of the dark" or something of the sort, instead of it being a name he gives himself or his job title (both if which are incredibly pathetic and cringy to think about).

Jesper

No comments. He was just great. I love Kit.

Nina

Omg Danielle did SUCH a great job at portraying Nina, it's exactly how i imagined her in Six of Crows.

Helnik

THE. YEARNING. THE. CHEMISTRY. I didn't love their scenes at the boat but once that was over I was practically screaming at the screen to jUST KISS ALREADY. Calahan and Daniell have such good chemistry together and the few changes they made only served the story better. I did wish they had development over more time cause Matthias' change of mind felt too quick, but i get why they had to rush. Because of how good their chemistry was, their fallout also was incredibly painful.

Inej's fear of the Menagerie and her morals

Amita's portrayal of Inej's hurt, devotion and her refusal to kill (and later hurt cause she has killed) is incredibly subtle but so SO effective. She's so talented really and truly sold Inej's feelings throughout the show.

VFX

Man.....the fold, the volcra, the grisha powers.....kudos to the animators and overall artistic team cause they were incredible. Also seeing the different title animations in each episode was such a tiny detail that made me so excited and they all looked so good.

Ketterdam

Again, kudos to the artistic team, everything about Ketterdam felt so alive (and weirdly moist), truly sold a kind of aesthetic and life that is so characteristic if the Barrel, even when i didn't imagine it that way in the books.

David

He appeared like, twice, and both times were so cute and charming I can't wait to see more of him both on his own and with Genya.

The Wardrobe

So, at first i hated the keftas. I thought the looked tacky and costume, but when you see them on screen they're just perfect (although i have to say the patterns on some of the keftas were kind of...cheap looking? and the training keftas were just kinda boring. My favourite was the Darkling's. Aside from that, i really liked Kaz's and inej's clothes too. Very distinctive and recognizable (although it was kind of weird seeing Inej in teal instead of purple lmao).

And the queen's dresses. Chefs kiss.

It's...so cheesy (affectionate)

The whole show felt like the kind of movies I would watch as a kid like Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean. The writing was stylized enough to make it incredibly dramatic and overall there was just so much heart behind all of it. Definetely a show to watch again and again and feel all of it, cause that's what it being so cheesy managed, to make me actually feel for it. It feels like something to watch on a rainy afternoon after a bad day....it's great okay i really enjoyed it, even (specially) the most unbelievable parts of it. And here's the thing, it's something that i think a lot of newer tv and film have lost, so this is good.

What i didn't like

Zoya

Mostly cause of the writing. Originally, in the first book, i didn't like her, neither as a character (stereotypical mean girl with no other motivation than to bang the love interests....all three of them....what's new i still think it's an incredibly sexist trope) or a person (hey at least this was intentional), but over time i grew to LOVE her (mean girl turns out to have a good heart and actually respects the mc and decides to fight alongside her cause it's what's right, without necessarily liking her or giving up her character??? AND she has strong motivations??? now THAT'S new). In the show, i hoped they would keep her mean girl nature while foreshadowing her depth, but all they did was turn her into a petty seductress with barely any screentime, and that only makes her not even a bad antagonist but just a boring character to watch. Not only that but they took away a big part of her character that needed to be developed in the next books. I wanted to watch her rivalry with Alina, her unjustified venomous tongue too, I wanted to be entertained by her and I wasn't. This was also a problem cause when she finally changed teams, and when she hugged Alina, it was incredibly unsatisfying, it would have had a way stronger effect if we had seen her being Ruthless Zoya with a big ambition. I also didn't like how we were told that she didn't like alina, or that she had a family, instead of it being shown on screen. Just from the show, all i can tell you about her is that she likes to bang people and she has a good moral code i guess. Yall, I'm so petty about this.

Kaz

So, I didn't hate him, in fact i think I would have enjoyed him if I hadn't read the books first, cause the two things that bother me about him were two essential characteristics of him in the books. FIrstly, he seems so strained, instead of the seemingly laid back, almost chill looking (even though we know he's not chill at all) Kaz we see in the books, the Kaz that always knows something that you don't. Show Kaz doesn't seem to always be in control, to always have the last word, the last laugh. Instead he seems strained, all the damn time. And I think this is mainly a writing and directing issue. And he also seems weak, something Book Kaz would never do. This is also an issue cause because he doesn't have the same presence he has in the books, the times where he is weak, don't seem as effective. Sure, Pekka Rollins has essentially reduced him and humiliated him, but I haven't seen enough of Kaz being actually dangerous for this to be shocking and for Pekka to seem even more hateable (and, i really liked Pekka, loved him as an antagonist more than i did in the books). Idk, Kaz was so charismatic and just fun and engaging to read in the books that his portrayal in the show felt lacking.

Alina's power's VFX

The little suns were cute and all but the light coming from within her was just ugly I'm sorry.

SFX

A lot of the sound design was just too stylized for the tone of the show i think. I particularly remember the sound of Mal's punches....what's that about.

What i think could have been better, but didn't particularly dislike

The Crows' storyline

And i think part of this is a consequence of Kaz not being as witty as he was in the books. Where's the incredibly complicated heist moves? the even more unbelievable C and D plans when something goes wrong? I didn't like that them getting Alina was essentially just luck, cause i didn't see enough of them being smart and quick on their feet. I also think it was unnecessary to have their storyline mixed with Alina's, i would have enjoyed watching a different heist, maybe in Ravka as well, and them incidentally crossing paths with Alina, more than i liked this storyline. ironically enough, the heist was the part i was least interested in

Genya and Alina

I just feel like her relationship with Alina wasn't strong enough, and i think it's because the show tried to make us believe they were much closer than they were without spending the necessary time in them.

Overall, I really really enjoyed the show, i will be watching it again (particularly cause i want to watch it in English) and i cannot wait for the second season omg (although i have to say, I'm scared for Nikolai)

I think that's all! I would also love to read yall's opinions and have a conversation.

[serpenteve]

i really wanna say "i never bothered with RoW rip to you guys but i'm different" but like..... i've read everything upto KoS so really i'll just be clowning myself.

that said, the reason i'm not planning on reading row is simply that i found KoS really bad and don't remember half of what happened and at this point i don't care lol (except other anon has made me really curious about who the wolves are lmfao).

also congrats on inadvertently becoming a darkling stan because i also, while i didn't hate him and def thought he was more fun to read than most other tgt characters, i didn't REALLY stan him till i saw a bunch of anti posts on tumblr and then i was like YOU KNOW WHAT?? IMMA STAN THE DARKLING JUST TO SPITE YOU GUYS. (this is happening more and more to me across fandoms lol)

also random sab thought: if we get more seasons of sab, while i think it's a given we're going to get the same ending as that of the books (mal and alina in the orphanage and dead darkling), i have higher hopes for a different way to get there and because a) show!darkling is much easier to empathise with than book!darkling and b) the book ending is kind of bad and they'd HAVE to make major changes to the plot. i'm hoping jessie gets her wish fulfilled and we get some time with dark!alina arc :D

lmao ☠️

Rule of Wolves was better than King of Scars in my opinion but it still isn't a great book overall. The fun thing about the Grisha trilogy was that it has magical plot but most of Rule of Wolves is just boring fucking politics and pointless muggle drama.

I only really liked Nina and Hanne's storyline. They have the most interesting and compelling storyline even though it's only supposed to be a subplot...which tells you all you need to know about how insufferable and annoying Nikolai and Zoya are. Also, there's another subplot involving Mayu but I skipped it all because I honestly had no idea why we're supposed to care about that character and I had a feeling it would have zero impact on the rest of the plot and I was right 😌

Also, despite having the Darkling be the main tease for this entire book (him coming back was basically the cliffhanger of King of Scars), he's not actually even in this book for a lot of it? I loved the chapters that are from his POV because I'm always a slut for Darkling crumbs but the book basically ends with another Aleksander bullying session where Nikolai, Genya, and Zoya all take turns slandering him while complete strangers are just standing in the background like "ummm okay can y'all wrap this up this chapter is supposed in end like 3 paragraphs oof embarrassing"

So thank you Leigh for making me simp for Darkles even harder than if she'd never even mentioned him lmao 😌

[llysaan]

Ilysaan, sweetie,I'm so sorry that anon had the audacity to make such a mean comment, they don't deserve your art.

I don't ship Darklina, for many reasons, but I always love seeing Darklina art, not only because the whole dark and light aesthetic is amazing but also because you guys are so freaking talented. Some artists draw this x ship and some others don't and so on, and I think that's amazing,to see that variety, we all can coexist without starting an argument everyday.

Personally, I'm just grateful I get to see all these artists beautiful work for free,you guys put your heart in what you, thank you sm for that. I started following you for you Darklina AU,I thought it was brilliant,and really interesting to see that 'What if'.

I love your art so so so much,don't you ever let those hateful comments get into your head.

pd: you already said you will,but if you draw Zoya and Alina,or Genya and Alina,I'll die a happy girl ♥️

Ya know that feeling you get when you’re touch starved and someone brushes their hand against yours or gives your shoulder a little squeeze and you just get all the warm and fuzzy feelings???? That’s my brain immediately upon reading “llysaan, sweetie”

Thank you so much for such a sweet ask! I’m really happy you enjoy the art I create! I wish more people in online communities were as respectful and understanding as you❤️ I don’t really know why people make nasty comments towards creators, but I know a ton of people have gotten it a lot worse than I have. It’s weird and sad to see people harassed on the grounds of morality (and the morality of a fictional ship at that...) But don’t you worry!! I do my best to not let stuff like that get to me. I can usually tell the difference between genuine criticism and thinly veiled, petty insults. And again, thank you for such a sweet message❤️❤️❤️