#the zoya factor

[singinprincess]

The Zoya Factor (2019)

[mad-who-ra]

Dulquer is a cutie

[sampigehoovu]

everytime I watch Zoya Factor, I have to read the Zoya Factor to cleanse myself.

[daniel-munthe-agger]

Dulquer salman is so charming

[richdadpoor]

Dulquer Salmaan FINALLY Reacts To Rana Daggubati's Comment On Sonam Kapoor: 'Whatever He Chose To Say...'

Dulquer Salmaan finally comments on Rana Daggubati’s indirect dig at Sonam Kapoor. Dulquer Salmaan broke his silence over the fiasco caused by Rana Daggubati’s indirect statement about Sonam Kapoor. Rana Daggubati recently made a statement regarding a leading actress who wasted Dulquer Salman’s time on sets. He did not take anyone’s name but fans were quick enough to guess that he was referring…

[taragreenfield]

Aleksander Morozova aka the worst manipulator that (n)ever manipulated

I have no idea why this fandom insists on Aleksander being a great manipulator, because he absolutely sucks at manipulations. Bardugo wrote a character who doesn't even try to manipulate and then was like, "Hey, by the way, he is sooo manipulative!!"

First of all, he doesn't manipulate the public perception of him. He has a dark reputation; people literally believe that he was born without a soul and sews prisoners' mouths shut. Nobody is charmed by him, and nobody trusts him (apart from his Grisha, who have known him personally for quite a while).

Secondly, with Alina, during her stay in the little palace, he didn't employ any manipulative techniques.

He doesn't love-bomb her, he's actually quite detached and aloof most of the time. When they kiss, he looks confused and quickly retreats. Some seducer-manipulator.

He doesn't try to make himself vulnerable or play on Alina's feelings (when Alina tells him that she thought he was going to torture her, he could pretend that he is deeply hurt by this assumption to make her feel guilty, but he stays unemotional and changes the topic), he doesn't share personal stories to make her feel sorry for him.

He doesn't play on her insecurities (like Baghra did - by pointing out her orphanage upbringing and telling her how much she sucks at sun summoning).

He doesn't isolate her - she has a full palace of peers, mentors, and servants to talk to. If he did truly want to isolate her from Mal, he could have forged a letter from him saying that Mal doesn't want to see her anymore since she is Grisha, so she knew she had nobody to rely on outside the palace.

He doesn't really try to get close to her - Alina herself mentions he is rarely in the palace, and even when he is, he mostly minds his own business. A good manipulator would use any opportunity to be alone with their victim to influence their thoughts, to steer their mindset, to develop trust and to create the illusion of intimacy. How do you manipulate someone if you talk to them once a month for five minutes?

He doesn't try to indoctrinate Alina - he could easily show her how hard it is to be a Grisha. A shift in a war hospital, to see people who suffered from anti Grisha brutality, a meeting with survivors, a history lecture at least? To cause a strong emotional response, to radicalize her. Nope, he lets her swan around the palace, gossip with Genya, and have pissing matches with Zoya.

After Alina runs away and he captures her, he could easily continue manipulating her. Baghra didn't provide any evidence; it was just her word against his. A good manipulator would easily spin a story about Baghra being an old, demented hag whose brain was destroyed by wasting sickness, and now she's paranoid and embittered to the whole world. He could have also added some sad stories about Baghra being abusive to him as a kid to make Alina feel sorry for him and guilty for believing his abusive, senile mother over him.

Moreover, Alina's behavior itself suggests there was no manipulation. Baghra tells her Aleksander is evil (with no proof, mind you), and Alina immediately believes her and runs away. There is no hesitation, no suspicion towards Baghra, no attempts to uncover the truth herself or confront Aleksander, no attempts to find a justification for him or convince herself it's just a big misunderstanding (like a victim of manipulation would do).

Judging by what we see, Aleksander seems like a person who is out of touch with his feelings (and the feelings of others) as he deems them distracting. He's not attuned to the emotional factor and misses every single opportunity to influence Alina's feelings. The worst he does is lie about the Black Heretic Descendant and not tell Alina about his actual plan for the Fold. But he is a war general, and she is a rookie soldier with pre-existing bias toward Grisha and himself. Telling her that and risking her running away or, worse, snitching to the King, would be criminal negligence and practically a death sentence not only for himself but for all Grisha under his care. He doesn't tell her not because he's set on gaslighting her personally; he doesn't tell her because it's strategic suicide. He's not her farmer boyfriend lying to her about where he spent last night; he's a general responsible for the fate of the entire country and a persecuted minority under his care.

If you want me to believe that Aleksander is a manipulative character, you've got to give me anything to work with.

Having Baghra hoot "he manipulated so many young girls!" after he was shown not possessing a single manipulative bone in his body is not nearly enough. It's just the laziest telling not showing, blatant narrative gaslighting, and overall incompetent writing.

[naushtheaspiringauthor]

~Child Of The Storm~

Nikolai Lantsov x OC

Image by - @brokendreamtale2

Warnings- slight ptsd and mentions of scars

A/N- CHILD OF THE STORM IS BACK YALL. I am SO sorry for disappearing for like, three months life's been A LOT. There's only two three more chapters left until the fic's over. I cannot believe it's been more than a year. BUT there is something new coming up very soon (tho it would be a lot sooner IF I JUST FIGURE OUT HOW TO FIX THE DAMNED PLOT HOLE). Anyways, this chapter's a bit long so buckle in. And let me know if you'd like to be added or removed from the taglist!

Taglist- @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @sirisuorionblack @evelyndane @marauders-wife @el-de-phi

Ch-65 ~and it was either going to make her stronger than ever~

Anaya stopped at the doorway. She took a deep breath before entering the ballroom.

The place was a massive hall with shiny golden walls and chandeliers that covered almost the entire ceiling. It was where all of the royal events were hosted.

And tonight, for Nikolai’s coronation, Genya had done a great job of making even the hideous Grand Palace appear endearing. 

Even though Nikolai was supposed to be the centre of attention tonight, every head turned as Anaya went in. 

Even Nikolai himself had turned to look at her.

“Great” she thought, not quite fond of the gesture. She’d already been late because she’d spent the afternoon working when she should've been preparing for the event.

She walked forward, her gown brushing against the laces of her shoes, a smile on her face.

She saw Genya and Zoya standing in a far corner, gesturing to her to come to them.

“Councillor Nasrazeen,” A man spoke up, blocking her path. “It’s an honour to finally meet you” he smiled. Though his narrowed eyes and raised eyebrow expressed how he was much more irritated to meet her.

 “Duke Verensky” he introduced himself.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you as well, Duke Verensky” Anaya said, a smile plastered across her face.

“I have to say,” he began. “Ravka truly is changing its ways of working” He raised his brows. “Given how the Council is now being led by a Grisha woman”.

There it was.

When the news of Anaya’s position had reached the nobles, some had been intrigued as to why she’d become the Councillor. Others had simply refused to accept it. 

“Surely you’re aware of all the events that have happened in our country since last year,” Anaya said, her voice unwavering. “Ravka is certainly seeing changes it hadn’t ever seen before.” She tilted her head. “And perhaps it’s for the best.” 

But the Duke only narrowed his eyes further, “That we shall see” he gave a nod, walking away.

The coronation began shortly afterwards and lasted for a while. 

Anaya glanced at the clock. It’d only been an hour since she’d arrived, and yet it had felt like an eternity.

The prying eyes of the guests and their never ending questions made her want to walk out the door, but she had no other choice but to stay.

“Why exactly did King Nikolai choose you for a position that holds such great importance?” One of the guests asked.

“I believe you would have to ask his majesty himself about his decision” She offered as pleasantly as she could. 

“Still, if you had to think of a possible reason, what would you choose?” She pressed.

It’s probably because I don’t ask useless questions.

“It could be, as I’ve worked by his side during the civil war and because of my experience on foreign lands” She said. 

“Surely you would need more factors than that to be worthy of running a country” the woman said, smiling.

Why don’t you run it instead.

Anaya forced her lips into a smile, “Duchess, I-”

“I deeply apologise for interrupting you,” Genya appeared by her side. “But I’m afraid I’ll have to borrow Miss Nasrazeen for a moment” she smiled and dragged Anaya away by her arm.

“How do I thank you for this favour Genya” Anaya let out an exasperated sigh as she went to the corner where Zoya was.

“By actually dressing up on time” Genya grinned as she rolled a single amber eye.

“That woman is a menace,” Zoya added, handing Anaya a glass of champagne.

“That I figured out” Anaya rolled her eyes, taking the glass.

“I have to say,” Genya glimpsed at her dress. “You do look good in blue”.

“‘Immensely endearing’ is the term I’d use” Anaya flashed a grin. 

She lowered her voice“ I'm surprised how you managed to turn this hideous palace appealing ”

“What can I say” Genya straightened her shoulders. “I'm very talented”.

“Where is David by the way?” She asked

Genya rolled her eye, “He left as soon as the Coronation was over. He's very repulsive to social gatherings”.

“However do you deal with him” Zoya said, shaking her head.

There was a brief silence, filled by their similar thoughts.

“It's so hard,” Zoya sighed. “Pretending to be thrilled about all this, as if nothing happened”.

Anaya gave a single nod of her head. “That's what this all is” she lifted a shoulder. “Pretending to move on, getting used to the changes, acting along in the play”.

“Atleast Nikolai’s doing it a lot better than us,” Genya said, her gaze drifting over to where he was standing.

Anaya nodded in agreement. 

Even after all he'd endured, he'd managed to keep the act going, playing the parts he was expected to.

She had no idea how he did it all, when she could do nothing to shake the feeling of her scars creeping over her, reminding her of how they came to be.

Slithering like thorned vines over her arms, her back.

The evening stretched on and the nobles continued to pester Anaya with their inane questions.

And she had no choice but to offer them and answer.

…………………………………..

Anaya stood near one of the tables at a corner, a glass of champagne in her hand. It was getting immensely difficult to get through the event without it.

She then noticed two of the grisha students silently creeping out with a bottle of champagne hidden behind their backs.

“And where exactly do you two plan to be going?” Anaya said, appearing behind them.

The Fabrikator and the Heartrender turned around hastily, trembling in fear upon the sight of her.

“Nowhere…ma’am” The Boy began, refusing to meet her gaze

But the Heartrender cut him off, “I actually needed some fresh air so I told him to go outside” She offered.

Despite being shorter, Anaya seemed to be the one looking down at them.

“And I suppose you also need the champagne to enjoy the fresh air” She raised an eyebrow.

“We-” The girl began, but Anaya's sceptical gaze stopped her from further speaking.

Anaya looked at them for a moment, “What are your names?” She said, finally speaking.

“I- Nestor Verakov”, ma’am” The boy looked at his feet.

Anaya's gaze shifted to the girl.

“Nina Zenik” she said, managing to look up.

Anaya sighed, “Fine go, just don't let the General see you” she glanced at Zoya who was surrounded by a group of First Army officials.

They barely nodded before rushing out the door.

Anaya sighed and went back to her corner before another noble could drag her off.

She looked around, taking a sip from her second glass.

“Going very fast on the champagne are we?” She turned to see Nikolai with a smile on his face. “I will need my Councillor to be able to work tomorrow you know” He walked to her side.

Anaya sighed, “Yeah yeah”.

“You know,” He stood beside her. “Even though it’s supposed to be my day, you’re the one gathering all the attention” He flashed a grin.

Anaya rolled her eyes, “These people ask the most inane questions” She shook her head. “I get people asking how I plan on bringing developments to the country,” She waved her hand. “But how am I supposed to know what kind of woman the new king would be willing to marry?” She turned her hand.

He shook his head in disdain but he was smiling, “Ah, the nobles” He tilted his head briefly. “They tend to do that quite a lot, you’ll get used to it”.

“Perhaps you should tell them that the King’s looking for a seamstress who plays the eighteen string Khatur”.

Anaya turned to him, “Why specifically the eighteen string?” She raised a brow. “Why not the twelve?”.

“I” He began. “am a cultured man Anaya” He spoke as dramatically as he could manage with the guests watching them. “The eight string is for uncultured fools, don’t you think?”

“I don’t know,” Anaya put her glass down. “I don’t have much interest in string instruments”.

He paused briefly then spoke, “I’d have to thank you for your advice” His voice was much lower and serious.  “Really helped me get through all this”.

Anaya looked at him and gave the barest shake of his head, “Well I’m not one to offer advice,” She met his gaze. “But I’m glad I could help” Her lips formed a small smile.

……………………………………………

The topic had come up the previous morning. Anaya had been in her study, working, when Zoya and Genya had shown up to have tea with her.

“Nikolai doesn’t seem very thrilled about it,” Zoya had pointed out.

Genya nodded, “He appears distressed” She lowered her voice. “After all he’s endured, I’m not sure if he wishes to be King all the same.”

“But he has to,” Zoya said.

Genya gave a distant nod, pondering upon something. “Anaya” She turned to her.

“Hmm?” Anaya looked away from her papers. 

“You should speak with him”.

Anaya furrowed her brows, “What why?”.

Genya picked up her teacup, “He needs someone to tell him that he doesn’t need to fret about being the King”.

Anaya looked at her with an utterly confused look, “Why me? Why can’t either of you speak with him?”. 

She glanced at Zoya. “Well not her, but why can’t you do it”

Zoya rolled her eyes.

“I don’t…really speak with him” Genya said, hesitation lingering in her voice. “Given all that has happened”.

Genya had been pardoned only because of Alina Starkov. So there still was some hesitation between her and Nikolai. And Anaya had the feeling he didn’t fully trust her yet.

“Plus, he does seem to listen to you,” Zoya added.

Anaya raised her brows.

“He does, actually,” Genya agreed.

So Anaya had spoken with him. 

Not the entire day. The only time she’d seen him was when she’d been walking down the hall with the Finance Minister. 

When she’d been walking back to the Little Palace at night, then she’d seen him. Standing near the lake, almost irrecognizable.

"Nervous about the big day?" Anaya asked as she walked towards him. 

He turned to her in utter curiosity. His gaze softened upon the sight of her, "Well yeah" he sighed. "It's quite weird".

 He looked up at the night sky, the gleaming stars. "Even though I've been preparing for this my entire life, it still seems very daunting". 

She stood next to him.

 "It is understandable" she met his gaze. "I mean it's not everyday you get to be the King" she tilted her head. "It can be quite strange, when the moment you've been waiting, preparing for so long, finally comes". Her voice was low, the breeze on a summer night, making the trees waver gently. 

"For a long while, it almost seems impossible".

 "Improbable, actually" Nikolai lifted a finger, a corner of his mouth turned up.

 "What?" She said, utterly perplexed.

 "Nothing is truly impossible, it's only ever improbable".

 She nodded briefly in amusement, "Well, alright".

The silence lingered in the air, gentle, comforting, a hand held in another.

“Is this what you wanted to do?” Nikolai spoke, turning towards her.

She furrowed her brows in confusion.

“To be the council leader,  run the country?” He amended.

She looked at him, startled by the question but soon, her gaze softened. “Well, I’ve been certain for a long while” she looked at her hands. “That I wish to help the people, work for their betterment”. 

“And if being the Councillor is my way to do it, then I’m content with this job.” She lifted a shoulder.

She turned to the sky, admiring the gleaming stars, the moon at the centre of it all, shining the brightest.

She could feel his gaze on her, lingering in the silence. She didn’t look at him, she didn’t believe she could.

“It’s not easy,” he finally spoke. “Pretending to be your best version, when you’re still picking up the pieces”.

“Isn’t that what we’re all doing?,” she said, finally turning towards him. “Pretending to be okay when we’re not?”.

He nodded, looking at the sky, appearing as if he’s reminiscing.

“You’ll make a great King,” Anaya’s voice wavered in the air. 

He met her gaze, his eyes gleaming in the moonlight. 

“Especially because you’ll have an immensely talented Councillor by your side” She lifted her grinning, a small grin playing on her lips.

He smiled, “That, I will”.

[aleksanderscult]

Hello, I started following your blog pretty recently and I agree with most of what you think. I felt so confused when I finished the books and came on tumblr to see everyone hailing malina as the perfect relationship and I was glad to know that I wasn't the only one who disliked him.

I wanted to ask you something, im not sure if I saw this on this blog, but someone said that zoya is an example of toxic feminism in YA fantasy. Which checked out to me, but it also felt that bardugo added misogyny, feminism and toxic feminism in the SaB series.

Misogyny since alina had to face sloot-shaming in every book (almost entirely by Malyen ugh 😒). I felt that she really tried and suceeded to be feminist with genya, since she actually stood up for herself and had many facets to her personality. She also wasn't an important character just because of her beauty or anything super superficial. Genya IS a strong female character, and she wasn't 'broken' by the king, despite the foul things he did.

But zoya.. my god, I really wanted to like her, but I just couldn't. She is mean and hot headed to the point where I really don't see any redeeming factors to her. I always liked 'mean girl character who isnt as shallow as she seems' in fantasy novels, but she didnt exactly have a redemption arc either. If the darkling had warned her about expanding the fold in the first book, she would have fought for him. I think she isnt a strong female character, but just a girl who is a bully and decided to help mc since the antagonist hurt her specifically. She doesnt even think of the other casualties of novokribirsk. I think the 'break nikolais heart, I'll comfort him and make a magnificent queen' part was a joke, but still....

Please excuse my yapping. I haven't read crooked kingdom and nikolais duology, so I don't know if the characters had any developement since then, so please ignore any innacuracies of this text pertaining to that. Do you have any thoughts on this?

(Do you allow emoji annons? If so, can I be 🎀 annon?)

(Of course I do! You can use any emoji you want and ribbons remind me of coquettish things 😍)

Genya in S&B was my favorite version of her. She was traumatised by the King's abuse, that's true. But she wasn't solely that.

(Here's a meta about that version of her that I once did)

She was very brave, vengeful, intelligent, politically aware, had a sense of humor and was kind. There were different aspects to her personality and wasn't solely "the victim" as many fans of the Grishaverse like to portray her. But in Nikolai's duology Bardugo either forgot how to write complex situations within a court or just doesn't know how to (or it doesn't suit her 🙃).

She threw all the blame to the Darkling (as if he was entirely at fault for her sexually abuse), forgot that Grisha were serfs meant to please and serve the royal family (hence why the Darkling gave her to the Queen) and also forgot how it was the Queen who withdrew her protection and allowed her husband to abuse her. Also, a slight amnesia to how Genya herself decided to stay and take revenge. Essentially, the character became Leigh's mouthpiece to remind the reader that the Darkling is a heartless motherfucker that is undeserving of redemption. How banal.

Now about Zoya. Zoya is the typical female character that we encounter in media nowadays. A girlboss that kicks ass, is rude, has no sensitivity and threatens everyone. Again, cliché. But Leigh broke her own in-universe laws when she gave Zoya the protagonist's role.

Meaning:

The narrative with Alina as a protagonist: "You can't have feelings for your enemy!! You can't be independent! You need to depend on your toxic, childhood friend and...what is this? Power?? You took three amplifiers?? WELL SAY GOODBYE TO YOUR POWERS THAT KEEP YOU HEALTHY AND STRONG!!"

The narrative with Zoya as a protagonist: "Take the amplifiers, take the power to turn into a dragon, let's also have a Saint in your head giving you advice and guess?!? You just got promoted into a Queen and soon enough you will marry the love of your life!! Kudos!!"

That's basically what happened.

It would be an amazing end if only:

- Otkazat'sya didn't hate the Grisha's guts.

- Zoya had the qualities of a leader and a Queen instead of being handed the throne on a silver plate from an illegitimate son who failed in his job.

- The author didn't break her own rules just to prove and show how "awesome" her protagonists are.

- The same author didn't copy paste the storyline of Daenerys Targaryen into Zoya's (somehow she needed to appear cool and sympathetic)

- Half of the fandom didn't hate the primary protagonists now than they ever did before.

So basically Leigh infuriated the fandom even more about Alina's fate when she gave Zoya everything.

And about your question if the characters had any development in the later books after the trilogy. I've got some bad news, my friend. 🥲

[ignitesthestxrs]

Do you mind sharing what stuff added later by the author did you hate?

oh sure LOL like i have written before on the magical yellowface and how poorly the worldbuilding failed with shu han before and i think that is one of the most Egregious issues. kuwei like,,,does not even get to be a character, he's just a prop for this mlm romance that he is never given a reason to actually be involved in, and he is not allowed to become a part of the crew like the rest of the characters. he's just kind of the sentient plot point they carry around until the time comes to literally sell him to the highest bidder lmfaaaao

uuuh i do not like the depiction of parem as an addictive substance, i realise this is quibbling and it's magic etc etc, but i think that if you're going to use 'extremely addictive drug' as a metaphor in your magic world, you should put more effort into the way your characters interact with that drug and addiction. like the idea of 'drug that you take once and either it kills you or you're ruined for life' is silly and also not very emotionally evocative. also 'extremely addictive drug developed by the science monsters in the East that then becomes a significant factor in impending war' sure is a nasty trope to engage in without really subverting or interrogating it.

re: the darkling i just have narrative issues with that, i think that bringing him back is a dumb decision. it undercuts the narrative choices made in the original trilogy, and results in alina as a protagonist being relegated to kind of second tier status. like the darkling coming back in a story that does not have anything to do with alina is essentially a narrative claim that the darkling is more significant than alina, in a series that was originally about alina.

it's also just the way he's bought back that is so, so silly. it's so silly. why is this bee lady here. what is she doing. like again, the narrative fulcrum of the first trilogy is this relationship between alina and the darklig and this significant connection, and now this bee lady who we've never met before is bringing the darkling back to life? why do i care about her? why does she care about the darkling??? is the villain of this book really 'crazy lady who is obsessed with the darkling and bringing him back to life'? it is a narrative decision that somehow manages to pander to a particular subset of eager darkling fans, while also parodying them.

i think ultimately as someone who spent a lot of my fandom time and effort like exploring the narrative impetus for killing this character and why it worked as a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, it's not that i would have not wanted him to come back ever for any reason at all, but rather that aws a reader i needed a really good reason for it? and i think the seeds of that really good reason were there in nikolai LOL like we didn't need a whole lot of New Worldbuilding Lore That We've Never Seen Before And Also This Bee Lady. nikolai with his own internal monster darkling seeds was right there, and in a book that was supposed to be about nikolai trying to be king, the focal point should have been...you know, that. if the darkling was going to come back, it should have been because of what actions nikolai (the protagonist!!! the titular king of scars!!) was taking in his efforts to rule while containing and/or using his monstrous self.

also the zoya dragon thing was dumb. it was just dumb and i didn't like it. i didn't like the defanging of zoya's character in general - the backfilling of her history to explain how she got her amplifier because of trying and failing to save an animal rather than just straight up murdering it is Weak. zoya was a cunt when we first met her! she was ruthless and power hungry and she wanted to impress the darkling! you undercut the character growth she had in turning against him when you fill in her history to make her Secretly Compassionate From The Start. she broke alina's bones because she was jealous of her, let her kill a fucking tiger for power and then realise what the desire for power does to a person over the course of her character arc.

in general so many of the choices the author made as the series got more and more popular felt like she was retroactively changing things based on various discourses that had cropped up over the years and felt more grounded in a conversation with the fandom than in a conversation with the books she had already written. it was a sad, slow process of falling out of love with these books for me sdhgkdsfg obviously i still have a lot of residual feeling and knowledge and opinions about them, but that is kind of the heartbreak of growing out of caring about something. you're left with all this Stuff and nowhere to put it.

[k-niji25]

Self Aware Path To Nowhere idea(s)

Or my attempt to do some world-building

I would like to imagine that not everyone gains self-awareness and that only the sinners that the chief successful capture (pull in gacha) would be able to know that their world is fake and, most importantly, know about you.

But there are some exceptions, Suspect R and Parma

Before we go into details, here are the definitions of Black Ring and Honkai Eruption

Black Ring:

[ Black Rings cause Mania to spread widely and unpredictably, turning into Corruptors any human beings near or inside them. It's extremely dangerous to get trapped inside a Black Ring, because Mania contamination inside is highly concentrated and can turn a human being into a Corruptor almost instantly ]

- Path To Nowhere Wiki

Honkai Eruption:

[ The Houkai releases a kind of energy that has never been seen in the past technology, it's called "Houkai Energy", an energy that can be used in infinite methods, including in the creation of technology such as robots, ships, super-weapons and vehicles. The efficiency of Houkai can far exceed any energy available in the world, but if a living being is exposed to this kind of energy they will become zombies or Houkai monsters. ]

- Birth of a Herrscher

While the first Black Ring, the Primary Black Ring, appeared without fusing with any sinner, after the second black ring, a powerful (S-class) sinner would always go manic (Hamel, Zoya)

[ The appearance of a secondary Black Ring—that is, any Black Ring that comes after the BR-000, is accompanied by a powerful Sinner going manic. The Sinner is said to be Ground Zero for that particular Black Ring, and seems capable of CONTROLLING it.]

- Path To Nowhere Wiki

Which is kind of similar to a herrscher, a powerful being that accompanied every eruption and controlled the energy.

[ A Herrscher (German: lord, ruler) is a human that has merged with Houkai energy and has given into the will of the Houkai to destroy the current era of human civilization. They are exceptionally powerful, and wield otherworldly abilities - in such that S-Rank Valkyrja rarely stand a chance of winning a fight against one. Since a human body is needed to host them, they are proved to be as strong as normal human if there is no special factor and can be killed if their physical form is destroyed or if their gems are extracted / destroyed from their bodies. ]

- Herrscher Wiki

So with every honkai eruption, we would get closer to the final herrscher (the god that controls the energy that literally controls the world).

I like to think that in Self-Aware Path To Nowhere AU, the Parma creates those black rings in order to summon you, the god that technically controls the world (the game)

While suspect R is an interesting case as we don't really know anything about her but whatever

Suspect R stopped the program that recovered the chief and made the chief lose the memories, or is that all she did? Create trouble and stop the program only?

What if she also did that so that you, the god, could have a good vessel? After all, a person with no memories or background would be the best person to become, as you can act however you want and people won't suspect it

There are probably many plot holes, but my brain isn't working right now. That's all I have.

[unabashedmoonlight]

I think a lot about Alina wanting to let the Darkling be tortured for an eternity. At the end of the trilogy, when she cried for him, it was because of, as Leigh said, her ability to even see her enemies as human.

I don't doubt that the tether, the shared loneliness, the confusion he created in her mind via the manipulation and the abuse (even though she mostly conquered it by then), their unique powers, bond and him basically being the one to encourage her to bring out her powers were all factors in that too.

Then in ROW, initially she cried and somewhere still wanted to believe that he did all of this for Ravka and wanted to coax it out of him that he regrets some of his actions. When he very clearly said no, she was disappointed, disgusted.

Was that the final straw? Or would she not have cared even if he had said yes? Did she not care because he made that decision for himself so he can deal with it on his own? Or would she still not have cared if it had been forced upon him? He had done enough things to deserve a rather harsh punishment after all and even if eternity is too extreme, he chose it for himself. Was this enough for her or did she still inwardly feel a bit of pity? Would she, like Zoya, be more desperate to save him had she tasted what his punishment felt like? Did she simply not comprehend what eternity would mean and at the back of her mind thought he would get out of there eventually anyway even without their efforts?

She was also the one to pose the question that defined his ROW arc. AND said, "It's not too late for you." Did she believe he had the potential to be better still even if he was choosing not to?

[tirkdi]

Are you that opposed to Zoyander?

lol, I am. I don't think it fits in the original trilogy at all, and I really dislike what they did with it in the show.

In the trilogy, the relationship between Zoya and the Darkling is almost completely one-sided. While Zoya fawns over him and then flips a switch to wanting to kill him, it's not even clear to me that he thinks about Zoya beyond the fact that she's a powerful Grisha. And even then, using trilogy-only canon, there's no reason to think that Zoya is uniquely powerful — I would guess he's seen dozens of Grisha just as, if not more, powerful than she is.

And if he did hook up with Zoya, what would he be getting out of it? He doesn't date — can you imagine — and there is literally not a casual bone in his body so they're not just like occasionally banging and cool about everything else the rest of the time. And the headache of running your military while having affairs with your closest Grisha? Absolute chaos, he does not need the extra paperwork that would undoubtedly create.

I do think he is secretive enough about his personal stance on not banging his Grisha that it's something Zoya and others hope may happen (and Zoya by the time of the trilogy would one million percent have slept with him if he'd offered). Keeping that hope alive without ever acting on it is deliberate on his part, makes them easier to control.

And while the Darkling is never casual, the first thing we see about Zoya in the books and the show is her casually having/trying to have sex with Mal — sex is something that's casual for her, to the extent that in the show she even casually bangs other people while she casually bangs her general. While it doesn't make sense with the Darkling's characterization imo, it does a true disservice to Zoya: the motivating factors for her are no longer power and love for her aunt, there's now also a jealous ex-lover situation going on. I don't love that for her and I think it sells her really short.

All that said, if RoW had gone differently, I do think we could have seen some Zoya/Darkling action. Once she's a dragon, getting her on his side by whatever means necessary is clearly in his interest, and with Juris in her head I think she might see a part of the Darkling that she never had before. There was potential for them, for a minute, there.

And, finally, there is one fantastic fic that made me stop grumbling internally about Zoya & Aleks banging in the show for a bit, which is Let Yourself Relax by goatsandgangsters. If we have to keep the show canon for them, that is 1000% the backstory I'm going with.

[mad-who-ra]

WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME HE LOOKS SO CUTE IN THIS MOVIE??

[sampigehoovu]

I was hunting for a cute DQ movie to watch and ended up at Zoya Factor, which annoyed me to no end because that is not how I remember Zoya from the book at all.

Obviously, I wanted to re-read the book. Unfortunately, I have given my copy to a sports journalist I went on 4 dates with. Had to make do with the audio book, which btw is very well done with the proper delhi accents and all.

Turns out, there are moments in the book where Zoya does get on my nerves. I totally get the heady attention she was soaking in, I totally get the insecurity after NZ first kiss, I get it all. What I do not get is WHY DOES SHE NOT COMMUNICATE WITH (or, confront) KHODA WHEN THAT MAN IS LITERALLY ASKING HER WHAT IS WRONG. every. single. time.

The stakes were so high! This is my issue with Anuja Chauhan's heroines (along with the aura of classism that pervades all her books), they're smart af but it takes them so long untangle themselves from their own insecurities, which is also entirely okay cause we all do it everyday but its soo scary when all of this has to happen at the exact moment a mob of devotees are attacking her make-up van to get her blessings. Fully sympatised with Zoya's dad at this point, he was so right.

Nikhil was fairly open about his intentions all through - getting her the bracelet, being nice to her family, putting her picture as his screensaver, telling her not to take up the stupid ad endorsements, sexting at the breakfast table, the whole "curls on my pillow, sunlight streaming in" business which frankly had me weak in the knees. Though, I suppose he'd have been more patient and kind had it not been the literally world cup and his entire career on the line. Phew, what a well written rom-com hero, don't think I'm ever getting over my crush on that (very fictional) man. Between him and Dylan, I don't think I can ever hope to be realistic about romance.

(more as it marinates in my brain, again)

(read the book, the movie is just sad)

[lifewouldbebetteronmars]

NEW WIP??????

RILEY TELL ME EVERYTHING

Okay so I don’t know if you saw this ask that I sent to CK, but it’s basically the backstory and I suggest reading it before this

Because all of my WIPs are basically the same characters and stories that are recycled and evolved over time, I consider this WIP to be the Bix and Trix WIP, just elevated

The main characters are; Cleo Brisbane, Rose Tully, Casper Brisbane, & Zoya Amobi-Chapman/Zoya Saltykova

The four of them are the children of some of the most powerful members of a prominent magical cult that has since been disbanded. After the forcible disbandment and arrests of members of the cult, the children (only 10 & younger at the time) were sent to a magical detention center where they were subjected to interrogations and lots of group therapy (really more like a group interrogation). This lasted four years before they were sent to live on house arrest, in separate locations, for the last two years before being reunited

Now that they’re reunited, they’re planning a way to carry out the last plan Roland Brisbane planned before his death, as they feel it will honor him and possibly bring the hiding remaining members of the cult back out into the world

Cleo & Casper Brisbane are the twin children of Roland Brisbane, his only two surviving children. They’re half-selkie, though no one (even themselves) knows that and that factor affects everything to do with their powers

Like for example, Cleo is a powerful psychic who is haunted by dreams of water and death. She doesn’t trust her own mind most of the time, and can’t always tell if she’s looking at the present or the future

While Caz, he controls the air, he can manipulate it to his will if he wants to; but he usually doesn’t. He prefers not to manipulate the air, preferring to focus on his botany knowledge and potions work instead. He is the “healer” of the group after all

Rose Tully is the daughter of Claire Tully, the current de-facto leader of the cult following Roland’s death. She is probably my favorite to write, probably because I relate to her the most tbh

Her main trauma is that when she was a little girl, her mother told her “No one will love you if you aren’t perfect” and Rose took those words to heart, they still effect her everyday actions

She has the ability of levitation, both herself and objects she’s touching; if she isn’t touching it, it won’t float. She isn’t considered particularly powerful despite how hard she works at growing her power. Rose can levitate up to one other person, but she has to be touching them, just like any other object; though she can’t float them as far as something lighter

Zoya Amobi-Chapman (aka Zoya Saltykova) is the daughter of Ivan Saltykov, an inner circle member of the cult, who is also deceased. She is the only one of the core four who wasn’t raised in the cult from birth, as she was brought into it at the age of 4/5 when her father kidnapped her from her mother and stepfather. She doesn’t really remember most of her life prior to the cult. She’s half black and half Russian, though she identifies more with her Russian side due to being primarily raised by her Russian father

Zoya sees herself as two people, Zoya Amobi-Chapman and Zoya Saltykova. Zoya Amobi-Chapman is the fashion-forward daughter of Zara Amobi-Chapman and Michael Chapman, who doesn’t know a word of Russian, of cults, of magic; Zoya Saltykova is Ivan Saltykov’s daughter, through and through, a powerful shapeshifter and polyglot

She’s still learning how to balance the two

She’s a shapeshifter, as mentioned above, and can shift any feature into whatever she wants. She can change into people, animals, etc. Her favorite trick is to turn into an animal to spy on her friends to make sure they’re being safe with their non-magic partners. Zoya learned a trick where she would change her hair into whatever style she wanted in the blink of an eye and it’s a trick she takes advantage of often

Cleo’s love interest is named Max Locksley, a local non-magical boy; though they don’t consider themselves boyfriend and girlfriend for awhile. He’s very much not a believer in anything magical or supernatural, and very easily comes up with excuses as to why Cleo acts odd at times

Casper’s love interest is Max’s best friend, Rhydian Shields. He’s more inclined to believe in the supernatural and is a believer in all things to do with that. However, he knows that he’s most likely wrong and tends to ignore all the signs that Caz had magic

Zoya and Rose are each other’s love interests because I love childhood friends to lovers. And they’re both lesbians, but Rose is out and Zoya is not. Their relationship is complicated, especially since their separation

This is really long, but in my defense, Wagner, you did ask for everything

[pure-ablution]

Do you have any tips for how to make henna stain better?

This is what Zoya did for her wedding, and the designs came out so dark that they were practically black. She also used a percentage of jagua in her henna mix, but this works even if you’re just using pure henna.

The two most important factors in creating a dark stain are keeping the henna warm and not allowing it to dry out for as long as possible. After the henna is applied and has been allowed to settle for about 15 minutes, steam it, either with a proper steaming tool (make sure it’s a facial steamer and not something like a clothes steamer as this can burn!) or just by holding your hands over a pot of boiling water on the stove. Steam for as long as you can without risking the henna running or burning, and then let it dry a little again. When it seems as though it’s drying out, moisten it with a little bit of sugared lemon juice, and continue this whenever the henna seems as though it’s going to dry out. When you have to go to bed, let the henna finally dry and then cover up the designs with some medical tape to protect them from being knocked. If you like, you can then wrap the hands in cling film and put on warm gloves to intensify the heat. In the morning, remove the henna paste carefully with a scrub of olive oil and sugar, and then rub in some Vick’s VapoRub to keep it hot and seal it. The stain will develop properly over the next 2 days, so I recommend having your henna night 3 days before the big day!