#zoya nazyalensky

[bookns]

Why the fuck is repsentation so damn important: I had cut my hair in a complete different style, and had multiple people say that they didn't like it. It broke me. In my mind, I had to look good to be good. It wasn't until I looked in the mirror, did I realize I had Zoya's bangs. Zoya is the modern day equivalent of Indian (yes I am aware she is half) and so am I. I used to despite anything to do with culture, but I never realized how rich it is. How beautiful to have wavy hair that curls around my ears the way they do for Zoya. My entire confidence ever since I was a kid was based off the people I read about whether that be physical appearance or personality wise. Zoya and Inej were the first two girls that made me so confident in being Indian. I'm right now listening to Bollywood music that give or take a few years ago I wouldn't have been dead caught listening to. I related to Zoya so much because she doesn't know Suli. It sounds broken whenever she speaks it and to me, the same girl who couldn't even say the words she wished to say to her great grandmother because my Punjabi sounded broken, it is beyond representation at that point. It is apart of my beautiful language that is going to die with me.

[stromuprisahat]

siriuslyobsessedwithfiction:

I read KoS several years ago lying under the scorching summer sun. I blamed not remembering details from the book on the heat that gave me headaches. Turns out I just erased this utter stupidity from my memory because it was easier to gaslight myself into believing that Zoyalai was as amazing as Booktok claimed. I was a sheltered 10 y.o. city girl and I still knew that from feeding homeless cats in the streets. "I don't know why, but the male tiger went straight to the cubs"? Girl...

lightfornight:

#exactly this #many wild animals especially those who are hunted will react terribly to new scent #many males kill cubs becayse they have unknown scent to them #human scent? especially for a hunted tiger? at best she would leave them to die

You wouldn't want Zoya to think about others, who don't look weaker than her at first sight, would you?!

Zoya didn't save the tiger cubs, she killed them

and took away three amplifiers from other Grisha in the process without ever realizing what she's done

“I was thirteen. I had been at the Little Palace for almost five years. ... They were so little,” she said with the smallest smile. “They couldn’t really run, only roll a bit, stumble, right themselves. ..."

Unless Zoya's a sheltered 10 y/o city girl, who never left her house, she should know the mother won't accept the cubs and they'll die. There's no heartwarming reunion awaiting them. It works this way with ordinary farm animals, but I guess the only thing Zoya knows are chicken, and their sense of smell isn't the best.

“A male. I don’t know why, but he went straight for the cubs. ..."

Even as an adult she doesn't know why?! Even ordinary tomcats kill unprotected kittens. Gods, how am I to believe Zoya isn't either incredibly inattentive or straight up dumb?! Given the setting, there should be cats everywhere! From stables and farms to town houses... anywhere, where's food, there will be mice and do I need to explain the easiest way to get rid of those?!

‘So, Zoya, you freed the tiger cubs. You did the selfless thing. ..."

... and likely doomed them to death of starvation, or they'll serve as easily-obtained meal for any small predator. If that isn't the "Heroes'" philosophy in a nutshell, I don't know what is.

In LB's world "the selfless thing" is to idly stand by and watch the inevitable results of your actions you failed to think through, while bravery is performative suicide.

[evellynssocbrainrot]

When you think about it, Kaz is currently the most powerful person in the whole Grishaverse.

Why?

Well. Two of his best friends (Jesper and Wylan) literally run the merchant council of Ketterdam, one of his best friends (Nina) is the literal queen of Fjerda, he's acquaintances with the king and queen of Ravka (Zoya and Nikolai) who sometimes rely on him for missions, and his girlfriend (Inej) is an awesome, ass-kicking, and well-feared pirate empress.

[reggieslocket]

[fantastic-nonsense]

Things Kaz canonically does in the two years between Crooked Kingdom and Rule of Wolves:

(presumably) massively expands the Dregs' territory

buys Pekka's old club (the Emerald Palace) and completely renovates it, turning it into The Silver Six

massively expands the Crow Club to the point where it's "three times the size of every other establishment on the block"

builds an underground tunnel that goes from the Crow Club to the Geldstraat, where the Van Eck Mansion is

takes Jesper out on jobs with him often enough that Wylan has jokingly banned Jesper from answering the door when he knocks

learns about Ketterdam's Suli laborers and picks up additional knowledge of Suli culture

keeps up with Inej's whereabouts and helps her take out slavers

expands his information network to the Kerch colonies

is on friendly enough terms with the King of Ravka that he taught Nikolai how to pick locks and Nikolai feels comfortable personally writing him a letter when he needs to steal the titanium from Kerch

disguises himself just to follow people around on the streets

was planning to steal the titanium from the military base anyway just for fun

And that's just the stuff we see from Nikolai's and Zoya's incredibly limited perspectives during their Ketterdam sidequest

I 100% agree with Zoya when she thinks that "maybe Kaz was like Nikolai, a boy with an unquiet mind, a man in perpetual need of challenge" because ROW makes it so obvious that Kaz is bored and incredibly restless in his success. Someone get our boy a new life's purpose and a subscription to a long-running unsolved mystery podcast stat

[elainiisms]

you ppl love villains/morally grey characters UNTIL they're a woman, then all of a sudden they are annoying, evil and irredeemable

[dragonqueenstormwitch]

to be loved is to be seen

and it’s kaz choosing a ship for inej that he thinks suits her

it’s mal knowing alina loves the blue irises, not the white ones

it’s jesper memorizing wylan’s face and telling genya how to tailor him back

it’s david keeping a list of all the ways genya likes to be complimented

it’s nikolai designing a structure to protect zoya’s garden and promising to always make it summer for her

[exyzedd]

cannot stop making textposts😔👍🏼

(pics used aren't mine)

[grishaverse-only]

Malina this, Kanej that. WHAT ABOUT THEM???

Not my art******

All credits go to @kolarpem

[starwarsrebels]

ZOYA NAZYALENSKY SHADOW AND BONE SEASON TWO

[downn-in-flames]

random grishaverse as text posts because i love making these

[adalindofcabinsix]

“zoya will live a very long life,” the darkling said. “despite the demon, you may not do the same.”

“then i will love her from my grave.”

[stromuprisahat]

pookaseraph:

@is-today-tomorrow-in-nz There’s a great phrase ‘Born on third and thinks she hit a triple’, sums up Zoya

Zoya is clearly set to parallel Darkling though. They even spell it out.

How?

She's an ordinary powerful Squaller, who's given power beyond measure. Her adolescenece is spent in comfort of Little Palace, so she takes that possibility away from other children. She's rash, cruel and arrogant, yet people are lining to kiss her shoes. She never shows a single quality a leader should possess, yet somehow she's VOTED a Queen in hereditary monarchy...

While the Darkling was born a Shadow Summoner- unique, immortal Grisha. Huge chunk of his life, especially youth was spent on the run, with no security, not even a roof over his head or food in his belly guaranteed. No reprieve, because laws didn't protect Grisha in any way. He's immensely patient, determined, completely disregarding his own well-being as long as it serves his goal. He shows empathy even towards those, who harm him. He doesn't care about who or what people are, only if they're capable and reliable. If he can't prevent it, he makes sure their suffering counts. After centuries of servitude and setbacks, he decides to take matters in his own hands, prepares a Coup, and eventually gets on the Throne. All we know about his reign, is that he listened to his subjects' concerns. Despite all of the above, he's constantly viewed as unnatural, suspicious, bloodthirsty and/or straight up evil.

Zoya didn't end up repeatedly maritally raped as a child bride thanks to the Darkling's law. She got education and opportunity to work on herself in relative prosperity thanks to the place he built from nothing, a privilage he earned through his service. She stole more power from others without thinking half a step ahead, while on a journey he arranged. Her beef with him stemmed from too little attention she somehow felt entitled to, and the fact HER people died due to their own actions in aftermath of his military move. She has him tortured and he hands her the crown.

Remind me again, where are the parallels?

[kaetor]

wanted to draw my take on some of my favorite grishaverse characters

[fedzzzart]

shadow and bone girlies + alina and genya by the end of the trilogy✨

[questioning-pisces]

nothing is stronger than the bond between an aroace and their favorite fictional character