#shadow and bone critical

[elivenya]

So it's maybe just me but....i really don't like the trope where a young puritan protagonist goes into some sort of battle against an ancient (antagonist) character. A character who tries to fix something very serious and knows, because of his long lifetime, how the damn fucking world works. And then our young puritan hero comes and saves the word from this ancient beeing to save the status quo. And for some reason also outsmarts the ancient character....like seriously...this is the epidome of modern western brainrot...

[greensaplinggrace]

aklsdjf imagine hating your own characters and the people who like those characters so much that you wont even speak to a fan of your work about them. girl this is embarrassing for you

[thereisnolumos]

darklina thoughts: I wanted to get into the shadow and bone Fandom(books and show) because of the amazing gif set of the darklina kiss I saw

Like who are these two that are sharing such a beautiful kiss. And look so aesthically pleasing together with the darkness and light vibes. I was so excited to find out who these two were because these kind of ships are my everything. Than I find out and 😨😱😤😠🤬!!!!! It was like running full steam a head with tons of excitement and crashing face first into a wall when I find out everything about this Fandom. Both about the books and show. The author and this beautiful ship. And I'm like God why do authors do this ship. Tease us with everything we want and the full potential. But than do a completely one 80 and waste are time on things we don't care about, or find insulting or toxic, and tells us are tastes are dumb and toxic. So now I just read fics and look at beautiful art of Darklina and the potential they could have been. It's just so annoying because this stuff happens all the time!!! And don't get me started on what I heard about the author. I don't know if their true. And wish I could find out real stuff about her. But if it is. God she is so messed up for doing this to us.

I only got in the fandom bcs I randomly saw a teaser for the first season and Ben Barnes was there in all his dark glory. I knew nothing about the books, but the way that show was promoted I was expecting the epic dark romance, villain who’s not really a villain gets the girl all the vibe. Plus cool world build and complicated detailed story overall.

I got none of that.

That show was interesting and hopeful for the first 5 episodes (we will always have 1x05🖤). It wasn’t as detailed and complex as I expected, but it had potential and the main pair - the one they based THE ENTIRE promotion on by the way - was having one of the most fiery and spark inducing chemistry I’ve ever seen on the screen, so I kept my hopes up for the overall plot and focused on them. And then… then they backpedaled SO HARD on everything that made that show interesting for the broad audience, I wonder how they didn’t give themselves a whiplash… though considering the horrible quality of s2 they probably did

Though I didn’t like the way s1 ended, I still thought there is hope, and “we need a conflict for our main pair, I guess”. I truly, wholeheartedly believed that creators and writers of the show are not complete idiots and know how to read the room and what the most of their audience is there for, so that’s what they’ll deliver. But oh my, how wrong I was.

The second season is downright unwatchable with how horrifyingly terrible it is. I only suffered through the entire thing for Ben, who, bless his heart, tried his hardest to deliver the complexity and depth of his character, who he only agreed to play if they “won’t make him a cardboard villain”. And they did exactly that in s2, or tried to, bcs Ben Barnes and his talent didn’t let them, despite all their efforts. The rest of the cast I guess didn’t have enough experience to fix the worst writing imaginable with their acting, so most of the characters became absolutely bland and uninteresting and SO IDIOTICALLY STUPUD, I yelled at them constantly, scaring my cat the entire time.

Also, as much as I understand it from exploring the fandom, the creators and writers of the show are die hard fans of the Crows, and they don’t actually like Alina’s trilogy at all. So… why didn’t they just do the books they wanted I’ll never know. Instead, they forced the Crows in the plot they were never a part of (making all of them okay with selling a girl to slavery in the process. Despite one of them being the former slave and the other one being the one who got her out of it… make it make sense, I beg of you), in the second season they wasted SO MUCH time on their plot lines that 1)didn’t matter one bit for the overall story, 2)were absolutely uninteresting to everyone who isn’t the Crows fan beforehand. In the end we got half-assed Alina and Aleksander’s story with half-assed Crows’ story. They should’ve just made the Crows show, without touching Alina and Aleksander

I haven’t read the books, but from what I gathered in the fandom, though still committing the same sin of putting all the promotion and marketing into the Dark romance trope without actually delivering on it, and force feeding the fans one of the worst and most toxic pairings ever with Malina, at least Alina and Aleksander’s characters weren’t made so cardboard and stupid, and there was tragedy in their story, not the shit that they gave us in s2. Though I absolutely DESPISE the fact that Alina looses her powers in the end and goes on to live Mal’s dream life… Like WHAT THE FUCK?? What levels of internalized misogyny do you need to have as a woman, to write this plot line for your female protagonist???? I can’t.

On Mal’s toxicity: at least that made him a fleshed out character in the books. Absolutely horrible one, how could the author make him “get the girl” is beyond me. But at least he had a personality, however terrible one. In the show, I guess understanding, that no one would root for that asshole, they removed his toxicity almost completely, but that made him as bland as stale porridge. There wasn’t ANYTHING left on his character. At all. How anyone could’ve rooted for him I absolutely refuse to understand. Any woman deserved better than Blade😈

I don’t know anything about Leigh Bardugo, except for the fact that she butcher my native language and makes me furious. If you don’t know the language at least on a medium level, perhaps don’t use it in your books. Or at least hire someone who does. The way she butchered it, I’m not sure she even used Google translate…

So yeah, I’m with you on only reading Darklina fanfics and admiring fan art. I’m not at all sad that they cancelled the show, and I’m even giddy that those creators and writers didn’t get their wet dream of the Crows spin off. They didn’t deserve it after the shit they pulled in the second season. I do hope that they won’t ruin any other shows in the future. I am sad for the actors, who deserved much better and who were actually good at their parts, while the writing was okay. Poor Archie Renaux suffered the most, his character didn’t have good writing at all, not for a single scene. I hope we’ll see more of all of them.

And we need Ben and Jessie to do a film together. Preferably a rom com, but I’m not picky. Just that their characters are together. Such chemistry can’t be wasted

[starlessmistake]

The problem with S&B S2's magic system

(And why it weakens one of the best moments of the series)

Before I start, I just want to preface with the fact that I am talking about the show only here as it's own entity. I know that some of my complaints can be said of the books as well. However from S1, the show substantially altered the concept of amplifiers, so clearly they're not above making changes to the way the magic system when it suits them.

Diving right in to my analysis...

S1 for all its faults does a solid job of setting up the magic system within Ravka. The grisha orders are presented as being very strictly defined with no suggestion that there is any choice involved in a grisha’s sub-order.

(This is in contrast to the books where it is established as early as Alina’s carriage ride with Fedyor and Ivan that a grisha’s sub-order is more of a specialisation that they have some choice over.)

This strict delineation has consequences for the plot of S1.

In S1E3 we meet Genya and are given a fairly comprehensive overview of her powers. As a tailor, her main power is in modifying an individual’s appearance. This includes being able to mend surface level injuries.

In S1E5 when Marie is attacked, Genya is unable to heal Marie’s wound and Marie subsequently dies. This in many ways is the trigger point for the whole second act of the first season. Marie’s death is what causes Aleksander to leave Alina alone in his War Room, and therefore what gives Baghra the opportunity to convince Alina to flee.

(The show then goes on to never mention Marie’s death again, but that’s a separate rant of mine.)

Genya not being a Healer (or at the very least, not knowing that she can heal) is important to the story of S1 and established concretely to the audience.

And then we have S2…

S2 makes the decision to expand on the magic system by blurring the line between the various orders. This is not necessarily a bad decision in its own right – many stories successfully add nuance to their magic systems as the audience grows familiar with how it works. However I would argue that the show does not manage to do this successfully.

We are first introduced to this change through Alina’s travels to Novyi Zem and aboard Nikolai’s ship. Characters like the librarian and Tamar tell us that other countries do not distinguish between grisha in the way that Ravka does. Which is fine in theory, except this is one of the many, many things that we are told and not shown.

None of the non-Ravkan grisha actually demonstrate any powers outside of their one specific sub-order. With the possible exception of Sankta Neyar who uses a form of blood-bending. However we are explicitly told that this is because there is iron in blood and not because she can control blood itself. Therefore her powers still fall neatly into what we might expect of Durasts.

So who doesn’t fit into a neat box…? You guessed it - Genya.

Genya gains all kind of powers this season. First of all is healing. In S2E4 Genya is able to easily heal Baghra’s broken wrist -  something that goes well beyond Genya’s established powers in S1. The show could have possibly explained this by having Baghra amplify Genya, but that’s not what happens as Baghra doesn’t touch Genya while she’s working.

The fact that Genya has the capability to heal is not in itself a problem – given what the show clumsily tried to establish earlier in S2. However, the problem is that Genya should not know that she has these capabilities. Because she explicitly didn’t know about them in S1, and nothing has changed between the seasons to give her this information.

Now that we have all that established, let’s talk about the scene I referred to back at the start of this rant.

In S2E5 Genya and Baghra find Alina’s underground hideout. In one of the best scenes of the series David asks Genya how she managed to find them, to which Genya replies that she was able to follow David’s heartbeat with the help of Baghra’s amplification.

This is such a powerful moment due to Daisy and Luke’s fantastic acting, but it’s undermined by the writing. This reveal about Genya’s Heartrending should have been a great shock – to the audience and to Genya – a discovery of an unknown power that she was only able to tap into in her most desperate moment to find the love of her life.

But because we have already seen Genya’s unexplained ability to heal, this reveal instead comes across (at least to me) like Heartrending is a power that Genya has always known about, she merely forgot to mention it earlier in the show.

And so a fantastic acting performance is hampered by weak writing. It’s far from the only such moment (believe me, I could rant for hours about S2’s writing). But this one particularly frustrates me, because it would be so easy to fix! All the writers would have to do would have Genya not heal Baghra’s wrist, or have Genya only be able to heal Baghra’s wrist with the help of amplification.

(rant over. thanks for reading)

[obi-wanswhore3791]

So you know how the writers said that Alina using shadow powers at the end was a sign of her corruption, right, and if they are a corruption then doesn’t that mean Aleksander never stood a chance since he’d be corrupted since birth?

[taragreenfield]

The grisha and Ravka in general would probably fare better in the end

Imagine Mal doesn’t see the Darkling’s coach in time and Alina gets run over before anything happens

[chaoticace22]

do you know that thing when you open up tumblr and feel deep confusion?

ps. it's just a meme pls don't come after me

[strawbeb]

“i hope you die” lame, overused, unoriginal

“i hope your favourite book series gets a netflix adaptation which is actually good and popular only for netflix to cancel it after 2 seasons” horrifying, upsetting, stabbing me would hurt less

[theweeklydiscourse]

We’re going through this phase of fandom right now where people willfully ignore the sexist implications of female characters being shafted into housewife/mother roles or disempowered by the end of their stories. If you dare to criticize such writing decisions, you will be accused of sexism and be hounded for not “respecting their choices” as though these characters are actual people and not tools of storytelling. As if the cliche of female characters “sacrificing” their powers or having them stripped away exists in a vacuum and isn’t influenced by any larger cultural factors.

They’ll say: “Not every character has to be a girlboss!!” Or “Let women be soft and traditional!!” As if that’s some revolutionary way of thinking and not the norm. It’s an extension of choice feminism, dismissing any dissent about the quality of the narrative to make it make sense and avoid the uncomfortable truth. Diminishing the agency of female characters and cramming them into traditional roles is a common occurrence in many stories, and we should be allowed to criticize them without being silenced.

[dimalry]

I am once again asking you to donate to this family, as they have been trying to evacuate from Gaza and pay for the surgery of sami‘s father for nearly a year. I‘m begging you- please help this go viral so that we can save their lives.

[greensaplinggrace]

Do you not like Leigh? Did you enjoy the books?

overall, i found the books fun and enjoyable, in the way i find many pieces of literature and media that aren't masterfully crafted enjoyable. the writing grows weary at times, and the worldbuilding is messy. often, the books discard tone and consistency to force the reader in a certain direction or thought process. this happens many times, and in many ways - the least appealing of which to me is the obvious retconning later in the series, where other methods could have been employed to convey the desired messages without manipulating the reader.

i don't find leigh herself personally unpleasant (although i do have issues with a lot of her statements on certain things), and i think her later writing is passable. but shadow and bone suffers from being her first, and it shows. her lack of experience isn't the only thing to show, either, considering how bluntly she breaks apart her narrative to push her own biases through.

shadow and bone is largely appealing to me as a work of potential. there are some shining moments within it that captured my interest and elevated it in my eyes. leigh has a habit of striking real gold, and then selling it as fool's. i enjoyed the books in some aspects, and didn't like them in others. i also love the concept of them so much and adore the parts that i do like so severely that a lot of my criticism is done out of affection and out of a certain type of grief for what could have been.

i also have extremely heavy criticisms of the implications wrought throughout the story, and the ways leigh handled the characters and world-state she created. sometimes, my ability to separate my offense at many of her messages from my appreciation for her writing gets too weak. it's hard to appreciate a certain line, no matter how much it feels good, when one has spent so long considering the larger implications of that line and the terrible stereotypes and propaganda it's supporting.

so overall - sorry for the ramble lol - i do like the books when i'm just reading them for fun. because they are fun and they do often have good moments, plus a wealth of really interesting potential. but i do have issues with the messages as well as the writing, and honestly i think it's bizarre that people laud the series as something more than it is. it's middling fantasy with shoddy worldbuilding and characters that possess sparks of potential that carry them into success, written by someone who clearly doesn't understand the finer workings of a lot of the things she tries (and fails) to tackle.

that doesn't make it bad, certainly, nor unenjoyable. but i am also the type of person that finds enjoyment in deep literary analysis and heavy criticism. it's a love language to literature, really.

[ackermental]

I swear to God, if original SW trilogy came out today, Luke would make peace with the Emperor and surrender to the not so subtle allegory for nazis, because of "nobody wins in a war", "if you do this, the cycle of violence will never stop" bullshit.

[is-today-tomorrow-in-nz]

Antis and Leigh Bardugo herself keep forgetting that the grishaverse is set in old feudal-like Russia and grisha (ALL GRISHA) were seen as property of the king - "She is grisha. She is the property of the King and will go to school to train" - Liliyana King of Scars - "So a grisha is no better than a serf?" [asked alina]. "We all serve someone," he said, and I was surprised by the harsh edge in his voice. Even the leader of the grisha second army was just a serf, a pawn for the king to use or dispose/kill whenever it became convenient

Exactly! You spoke my mind anon. Either LB and antis don't know how absolute monarchy works or they're choosing to be willfully ignorant.

Aleksander is mocked for not doing more for the Grisha when Nikolai is never called out for his inaction. Aleksander is shamed for his failures while Nikolai, who is the actual king of Ravka, is never held to the same standards. If Aleksander is half as powerful as the antis claim him to be, he would have sat on the throne right after the Fold. But all he could do was reinvent himself over and over again, start from scratch, see it all fall apart and then do it all over again. Atleast the other Grisha had the luxury of death but he had to live with his mistakes.

After 500 years(or more), he finally succeeded in building a safe place for his Grisha and that came with a price which none of the antis seem to understand- he bartered their freedom for their right to live. If the antis had read history, they would know that in an absolute monarchy(and feudal-Russia) this is a pretty sweet deal. It is such a shame that the antis and LB herself doesn't seem to grasp how little rights people had back then.

Let me draw a comparison. In the 21st century where we have the right to vote, right to ownership, laws to offer protection, social media to call out injustices etc etc, people still have to watch silently as their rights get taken away. Governments cares so little about the health or livelihood of its citizens and tax every hard earned penny out of them. The laws that were meant to protect the innocent has let murders, rapists and criminals walk free and people everywhere are simply mute spectators. So at a time when human rights is celebrated everywhere, is anybody able to make a meaningful change? No. Then how do they expect one man in a country resembling Feudal Russia to act as if he has all the rights in the world?

And even if antis claim it is simply a fantasy then why are they applying these real world rules to Aleksander alone?

[undercover-grisha]

Yeah I did NOT listen to y’all’s votes in the hair poll lmaoo 😭

[nikalaeva]

I'm so tired of "shadow daddies"

I'm not against this trope. Light and dark, the temptation of darkness/evil - it's a classic fantasy theme, and the contrast of "good girl" and "bad boy" in romance stories is attractive. It's my guilty pleasure. The problem is with authors who don't even try. Apparently, they all use same instruction:

Step 1 - dark hair, very pale or tanned, muscles and tattoos (to taste)

Step 2 - mysterious, gloomy, the most powerful and dangerous; shadows user

Step 3 - triple-digit age, but looks no older than 30

Step 4 - tragic past: scars/sexual abuse/slavery/all of it; family: an orphan/parents died early/brutally murdered

Step 5 - becomes a weakling because of the FMC, who was the only one in centuries to see his real personality.

Done. Gongratulations, you are mediocrity!

I swear if you put Rhysand, Azriel, Dorian, Xaden, Darkling, Casteel, Nyktos, Hades next to each other (these immediately come to mind, and there are others), you won't be able to tell them apart except by their looks, 'cause they are all handsome guys with shadow powers and, you know, "morally gray". Ugh 😮‍💨

You know what's most disappointing? Only these characters are written by six different authors. The lore in their books is DIFFERENT. But they all have the same magic. So in the world, where magic is more science than miracles, in worlds with fairies and dragons, and in worlds with gods and demons, they all use the same power?

You can say the darkness is the same throughout the universe. This is a fantasy, you know, another universe. The author knows that there are other characters with similar magic, but still does not use his brain to make his unique. Shadows always are scary, deadly and powerful, that's all. No flaws, no side effects, no specific weaknesses (to Leigh Bardugo's credit, the Darkling is the best shadow old fart). All aesthetics, no imagination (in fucking fantasy books).

Let the shadows feed on the soul, meaning their user will disappear after death. No afterlife, just emptiness.

Let the user get shadows from others, and when he take them, the people disappear. Not die - DISAPPEAR.

Let the user feed shadows on human flesh or virgins. Let them be parasites that reproduce like Alien - using humans as an incubator.

Let the shadows be jealous, not letting anyone near their master, and hurting even his woman 'cause she is the third wheel.

Let the shadows be at least a little UGLY, ABOMINABLE AND VICIOUS.

[rakan-gaza]

Rakan Abuijlan's family once lived beautiful days in the city of Khan Younis, Gaza. Their home was a safe haven, filled with love and hope. Mustafa (68 years old), the hardworking father despite his old age and chronic illness, worked in public affairs to provide for his family. Suad (66 years old), the caring mother, looked after every detail of their lives. Aisha (25 years old), the diligent daughter, was on the verge of fulfilling her dream of graduating from university with an outstanding GPA.

But the war changed everything.

Today, there is no home, no safety. All they have left is a tent that offers no protection from the cold or heat, living without water, electricity, food, or medicine. They are caught between the threat of bombings and the grip of hunger. Aisha’s dreams of a bright future were shattered along with the walls of their house.

This family, once living in peace, is now struggling just to survive. Mustafa’s health is deteriorating, and without medical care, he cannot endure much longer. Aisha’s education has come to a halt, and her dream of learning feels further away than ever.

We ask for your support and assistance for this family. Your donation could be the difference between life and death, between despair and hope. Let’s be the hope they desperately need in this critical moment. Help us restore the safety and dignity that the Rakan family has lost.

Donate now and be a part of saving the Rakan family's lives. Every contribution makes a difference.

Thank you from the bottom of my heart for considering my request. Your support means more than words can express. Together, we can turn a story of loss and fear into a journey of hope and reassurance.

With deepest gratitude,

Rakan & his