#anti mal

[stromuprisahat]

"I didn’t know whether to laugh or scream."

Siege and Storm- Chapter 15

Oh nein! Mal has issues! With consequences of his actions he should be grateful for, and his girl not sharing every waking thought with him, when her worst worries spring from his most hated topics- the Darkling and her role in politics.

And Alina once again feels responsible for his feelings.

Yeah, this would have a bit more weight, if Alina didn't do it only for appearances' sake. Or if she granted the position due to merit, not random pick of what she views as the lowest low. Or if she didn't continue speaking as if she were a narrator of wildlife documentary, describing a new species of animal that just appeared.

Not necessarily, but it's one of Alina's less far-fetched deductions.

Aleksander could've been aware of David's fascination with Morozova's work. He could've picked the most skilled in bonework or the one most experienced in forging amplifiers- they're supposed to be rare, so not many Fabricators will have that.

*mumbles* And somehow we're to believe this pragmatic man chose to follow Alina, because... ? She's the good one, or whatever?!

*chants* Double agent Kaminsky, double agent Kaminsky!

Alina: Why would you want to kill this man! How horrible! At least question him first!

She would make a delightful morally flexible character, if she were acknowledged as such, and embracing that quality.

Says who? Zoya?

He KeEpS mE So BuSy!

Saints, Alina, you can't believe everything people say about themselves!

Alina: I'm not sure my three months of training are enough, but I can do like two things with my powers, so let's focus on increasing them further AND on the mythical forbidden art that created my goal no. 1 in the first place. I bet nothing can go wrong...

Only signing? Not reading to get into picture? And who prepares them?!

Bureaucracy, baby!

Welcome to responsibility!

I would sympathize with Alina much more, if she showed genuine interest in those she doesn't know. If her motivation weren't merely "Do the opposite of (what I think) the Darkling did". I she truly believed in her own philosophy.

Shocking!

People forced to sit next to half-strangers they're not used to interact with, create unpleasant atmosphere!

My work experience considered- you're lucky there's no visible enmity- you could've made the wrong people sit next to each other and tableware could've ended up in wrong bodyparts.

Also: How is Nadia sitting next to Marie? I thought breaking up already existing friend groups was a point of this whole exercise.

They're not gifts, Nikolai. They're just your father's property, but let's remember the Darkling didn't wait for the Queen to request a specific one's service, and turned it into a gesture of his own thoughtfulness. Fuck his strategems!

Alina's misplaced sensibilities are incredibly frustrating.

She wants to lead Second Army, but not order them, not assign them tasks directly, because that would somehow make her a bad person, instead of efficient leader.

What if no one will volunteer? What if weak, incompetent Squallers will? You don't look at special assignment and think- Yeah, whoever wants to do it... You PICK the most capable person with both sufficient skills AND suitable personality.

Awwww!

Poor granny deserves an Oscar!

#Grishaverse #S&S Chapter 15 #Alina Starkov #Second pseudoArmy #grishanalyticritical #Malyen Oretsev #Fedyor Kaminsky #Nikolai Lantsov #Baghra Morozova #self centred and paranoid #Siege and Storm #Grisha trilogy #V #books #quotes #Leigh Bardugo #anti Mal #anti Malina #anti Baghra

[aleksanderscult]

Alina: *has a good time in the Little Palace*

Mal:

#well that wasn't a heartwarming reunion was it? #anti malina #anti mal oretsev #anti mal #alina starkov #grishaverse trilogy #shadow and bone #grishaverse #darklina #pro darklina #alarkling #pro alarkling

[dani-luminae]

I wanna have something clever to say about these pics (mostly the way he's staring in the first one because oh wow,) but that just made me realize this is really genuinely the last moment that he actually has any clarity or agency as a character, allowed to make his own decisions.

After this scene, for the rest of this movie and even D3, he's Never Allowed to Disagree With Mal Ever (but expected to take the blame for her actions, somehow) and like. I just wonder if he knows that's how it's going to turn out. He disagreed with her once, she ran off, and all her friends think he's the bad guy. He's still compassionate and it's framed as a bad thing ("The Isle are my people too" vs. "Ben, Uma captured you".) And he tells Mal, "do what you need to do."

The choice is squarely on her. If she wants to leave, fine. If she wants to stay, fine. She already told him they were done on the Isle of the Lost.

Cotillion comes, and hurray! Mal stayed! But Ben's under a spell and everyone acts like he's to blame, like he betrayed Mal somehow. Carlos even implying he would rather have left Ben for dead on the island.

I just wonder, if maybe Ben took a look at all the circumstances and everything, and Mal's mastery of manipulation, and understood what his future was going to be: Agree With Mal, Always, or he would be hated.

Unless Mal made the choice to leave again, but she doesn't.

#dani overthinks stuff once again #ben descendants #anti mal #anti-mal #anti mal bertha #descendants #descendants 2 #descendants 3 #idk man i just saw the look in his eyes in that first pic and it got me thinking #and his posture. he's not even fully facing her like he's distancing himself from her without directly pulling away

[descendants-brat]

The Villain was Mal: The century long Did I mention debate.

To this day Audrey and Ben are being pitted against each other in the Did I mention scene when neither of them were at fault.

Ben was the direct victim, he was unable to control his actions and did something he wouldn't even had done had he not been drugged and NOBODY out of all the people who knew him for years found this out of character or stood up for him. They didn't pull him aside afterwards to ask what the hell he was doing or if he was okay, knowing he was pretty much completely unprotected from magic and the VK girly is walking around with a spell book.

Audrey was the indirect victim, she was publicly humiliated by her boyfriend and watched people she was friends with cheer him on and the girl he's doing this with is the daughter of your family's enemy. You were visibly destressed and the same thing with Ben, nobody cares, nobody asks. So you do the only thing you can do to try and save face and find another date. She's got her heartbroken, she'd probably feel more humiliated even trying to ask Ben about it and it doesn't help all of her friends are cheering them on. She at this point doesn't even know what was really going on.

Ben ends up in this borderline abusive relationship where he's afraid to say no to his girlfriend/fiance and everyone including his parents holds her opinion of more value than his as king. Whenever he's being abused by magic, which happens in all three movies nobody (D1-D2) Sticks up for him they either don't care or blame him for actions he had no control over.

Audrey is shunned from Auardon and is blamed by her family for failing to secure the king as if they didn't have a genuine relationship and she doesn't have feelings. She falls into a depression and has fallen behind in school and questions her self worth because all of the people who were her friends or looked at her in awe were now asking "What is she doing here?" for showing up to a birthday party that in any other circumstances she would've been invited. How was she not supposed to tie her self worth in dating Ben when people started treating her like a waste of space when she wasn't with him?

In conclusion, after years we need to realize that this situation was neither of their faults, they had been used and manipulated in a plan that was barely undone because nothing was every clarified between the two. The ending of their relationship was forced onto them and consequently the destruction of any friendship they could've had. I don't want to be like "blame it all on Mal" but if we're going back and forth between blaming Ben and Audrey, then yes we need to blame Mal. She created the direct situation for it to happen, benefited from it entirely, lied about what actually happened (saying she spelled Ben for love) and she herself never tried to make amends or actually explain the situation. Mal spelled him taking away his right of action and she clearly wasn't sorry about what happened to Audrey because she insults her right after the did I mention scene when at this point she doesn't know anything about her. She further in my opinions shows a lack of actual remorse when she continues to try and spell Ben later on and when she gives up on magic gaslights him into doing what she wants (she doesn't take no for an answer.) (That's a whole different conversation but okay Mal, Audrey is the shallow one and Evie is better even though everybody knew Evie was only interested in Chad because he was a prince.)

#ben descendants #king benjamin #king ben #ben deserves better #ben and audrey #audrey descendants #disney descendants #descendants #anti mal #anti mal bertha

[theweeklydiscourse]

Alina has always been hungry for more than what was offered to her in Keramzin

There’s a line in Chapter 17 of Shadow and Bone that if often discussed in Relationship to Malina. A scene that is sometimes interpreted as Mal shaming Alina for her perceived gluttony (or fat shaming) but I like to see it more as a metaphor.

I imagine this line is meant to come off as a lighthearted comment on Alina’s ravenous appetite during their search for the Stag, but it reveals something deeper about Mal’s feelings. The hunger Alina feels is symbolic of her desire for something more, perhaps the community she found at the little palace or the notion of ascending to a level of influence and status. After living her entire life in a state of repression, Alina is finally exposed to everything she had missed for her entire life. She never knew she was starving until she saw the great banquet that lay before her.

Mal understands this, which is why he makes this comment and in a sense he is right. Alina would be easier to satisfy if she was never exposed to the splendor of the Little Palace and Grisha life. Alina had subsisted on scraps of emotional validation for YEARS and suddenly she has friends, a community and a potential lover who encouraged her to embrace her true self so OF COURSE she can no longer be satiated by Mal alone.

Alina’s newfound appetite requires that she remains fed. She is more confident and sure of herself now that she has been able to bloom in an environment that does not ostracize her. Going back to a tenuous dependence on her friend is not something that she could easily bear as she once did.

Mal reacts so aggressively to seeing Alina’s happiness in the Little Palace because he knows it can offer her so much more than he can. He feels inadequate and powerless to stop his oldest friend from walking away from their relationship to join her true flock. The two of them tied their identities to one another and are so afraid of loneliness that they would rather resort to sabotage and repression than taking the leap of faith that might allow them to individualize.

So when Alina takes the first step in that direction, Mal reacts by mocking her and accusing her of being a sellout because he genuinely sees her happiness as a betrayal. He is furious that Alina dares to seek more because he has not yet found himself outside of their codependent relationship.

#shadow and bone #lb critical #s&b critical #alina starkov #the darkling #s&b salt #darklina #aleksander morovoza #anti leigh bardugo #malyen oretsev #anti malina #anti mal

[olithetalker]

It's not so much a dislike of Uma but a dislike of how two-faced the fandom is. If Mal had done half of what Uma had done in the last two movies, she'd have been ripped to shreds by the fandom.

Because we both know if the positions had been reversed, and it'd been Mal holding the ember hostage and Uma begging for it back, the fandom would have been eviscerating Mal to this day just like they do with the damn cookie that was only done in a last-ditch attempt anyway.

Or if Mal had abandoned her gang on the Isle for an undisclosed period of time, the fandom would be crying about how easily Evie, Jay, and Carlos forgave her yet with Uma, if you point that out, you're treated with 'she was looking for a way to break the barrier'. Really? It really looked like she was looking to break the barrier when she was dancing with the King she spelled (who not even 15 minutes later was agreeing to a list of kids to bring off the Isle even though he'd been love spelled twice in six months).

But no, we have to sit and bite our tongues and watch our favorite character get ripped to shreds if she dares sneezes wrong but a 'fan favorite' can literally hold the item needed to protect Auradon hostage and all the fandom can say is 'go queen'.

I think we might just have to agree to disagree here my friend. I do think Mal is awful while Uma is ok, and you think they are more even.

But saying Uma abandoned her crew on the isle... I mean the whole reason she was going out *is* to set them free? That is literally just what happened? She even uses the ember to ensure Mal will set *every* child free, not just her and her crew.

Her dancing with Ben is kinda a part of being his date to the cotillion? The whole plan comes as a package.

I used to like Mal a lot and had issues with Uma. I found her love spelling of Ben more troubling than Mal's, but the Mal critics weren't wrong when they say that's because Uma's is rightfully presented with the seriousness it should be, while Mal's is portrayed as Ben being drugged being a funny and silly joke. Which also means Audrey's boyfriend cheating on her against his will and her having no idea that he wasn't meaning to do it is presented as hilarious while when Mal was led to think Ben had simply moved on over her is presented as something tragic. If there are double standards, it certainly isn't in Uma's favour.

And Uma gave the ember back to Mal later on. She just didn't trust her that she would do as promised, and I mean... She was right? Mal was planning on locking the isle kids on the isle with their abusive parents for the rest of their lives.

#uma descendants #descendants uma #anti mal bertha #anti mal #anti mal descendants #uma daughter of ursula

[wiwiuraikawa]

me before watching the s&b: it's imposible to make Alina more stupid, selfish and obsesed abaut Mal then she already is.

me after 10minuts in ep1: ... never mind

#anti Alina #anti Mal #anti shadow and bone #who thaught that burning the important maps would make Alina story better? #she just look worse #that were important maps of a place that was preparing revolution #if she was conspirating with zlatan #but she just didn't want to be without Mal #and for what? #she belived to be otkazat'sya #If Mal was atacked she woudn't be able to safe him anyway #she (unintentionally but still) sentenced most people on the skif to death( or at least the other cartograthers since they woudn't be thare #I hate Alina in every univers #grishaverse

[starlite-sin]

Everyone suddenly forgiving Mal at the end of D3 is the result of her spelling them send tweet

#descendants 3 #anti mal #anti mal bertha

[tirkdi]

Would you want to change anything about Alina's arc or ending?

Other than getting rid of Mal? :p (And since I feel like I always have to note it – I'm discussing book!Alina here)

One of the things I thought was really interesting in canon was Alina's power-hungriness – it's a bit of an atypical storyline for that type of character in that genre, and I really liked it. What I didn't like about it was that it was pretty clear to me that it was the amplifier driving her hunger for power – we see it only once she has the first amplifier, and there's a whole 'I need to complete the set' feeling that does seem to be unrelated to who she as a person is ... except that the narrative punishes her for it anyway. I would have loved to see more of a genuine struggle with herself around her heretofore unrealized desire for power and what she was willing to sacrifice to get it, vs it being this external thing that was forced upon her. I went on a rant a bit ago about how there was a big missed opportunity for this with the stag, given the whole 'mercy' setup, and yeah. While I love her internal conflict, I wanted it to be around things that were more inherent to her, or things I cared more about (I did not care about Mal). More agency, and more consequences for the things she does. That's what I want for my girl!!

For the ending ... I mean. The ending felt to me like everything came out of nowhere. If there had been more about Alina not actually wanting power (the power she was punished for!!) and just wanting a quiet life, or if there had been some reasonable way that a heartrender could have brought Mal back to life, or even a way that she could have gotten Mal's power without his bones welded around her body, I would feel differently about it. These are common complaints though, so I don't want to belabor it. I think a tragedy would have been a fine ending – Mal dead, Aleks dead, Alina's powers gone – with a hint of starting to rebuild.

#i reread this and realized probably none of this is a surprise to anyone who had read either of my long fics #but here it is again! #alina starkov #anti mal #it's a brief mention but sorrrrrryyyyy #grishaverse #the grisha trilogy #an ask #anonymous

[gritsandbrits]

#disney descendants #anti mal bertha #anti mal #bevie #pro bevie #anti bal #anti ben x mal #meme #anti mal x ben

[stromuprisahat]

I love your salty comments about Malware,and how out of place he's for the supposed time period the story takes place in. However,his bullshit would still get him in hot water even in a modern/modern analogue setting. Mouthing off to an authority figure like he did with Nikolai wouldn't be a risk of execution/corporal punishment,but it might make a huge stain in his professional record. His deserting the army would get him in trouble even if it was missing workdays with no reason in the most lax modern job ever - aka,fired and with a bad reputation. You made the high school jock comparison,but even they have to have a modicum of responsibility - training, performance,all the works.

Therefore, Malcontent isn't only a modern teenager. He's a privileged modern teenager.

Absolutely.

I wouldn't dare to act in work the way he casually does, especially towards his "betters". You can think whatever you want, but as you wrote- unless you possess very, VERY unique and/or coveted skill (or deep pocket), you're disposable. Fired, fined, sued... depending on specifics of the situation and your contract.

Even when you're sick, you have to at least let your employer know. And there's no guarantee they will wait for you with their arms open.

Funnily enough- Mal's supposed to be the lowest low. No family, contacts, no coin in his pocket... He comes from nothing, his only marketable skill is his tracking mojo, and while he might be faring well in the army, there's no mention of some kind of official recognition. No rise through the ranks, no decorations, no special assignments (He volunteered for the Stag mission, he wasn't picked for it.)...

He's only "special" through his connection to Alina and her insistence to keep dragging him along.

In his case, I wouldn't even call the lack of suitable consequences of his actions plot ARMOUR anymore...

#reply #Grishaverse #grishanalyticritical #Malyen Oretsev #anti Mal #anti Leigh Bardugo

[aleksanderscult]

Mal after seeing Alina for the first time in 2-3 months happy, healthy, strong: "oH mY gOd WhaT ArE YoU WeArInG?? YoU BeLoNG tO HiM NoW?? I CaN SeE YoU'Re HavInG a GoOd TIme hERe!!"😑😠

The Darkling after Alina ditched him twice, tried to kill him twice, the second time by using merzost and throwing a chapel on his face: "Here take this throne beside me, be my Tsarina. You were so hot that night.😩🔥 Also *takes out engagement ring* will you marry me?"🥺🖤❤️

#the man almost proposed after she tried to kill him😭 #he's so infatuated he's lost😭 #he loves seeing her powerful #it doesn't frighten him in the long haul #mal at least you could say how happy and grateful you are that she is safe and happy #and show it too #the darkling #pro darkling #alina starkov #aleksander morozova #pro aleksander morozova #grishaverse trilogy #grishaverse #shadow and bone #ruin and rising #siege and storm #anti mal oretsev #anti malina #anti mal #darklina #pro darklina

[dani-luminae]

I never noticed before, but Ben looks like he's physically hurting after the stone spell is undone... maybe that's why he seems so physically closed-off and withdrawn for much of the following scene, worrying over Audrey?

And even in the scene with Hades, when he's not forced to be in the middle of it to guide the conversation, when he's allowed to back off, he's got this closed-off posture again:

Like whether he's actually, physically, hurting or if its just his posture reflecting some emotional turmoil (considering Mal's lie was just revealed, now he knows she's the daughter of Hades, all of that which she was hiding from him) it's just a detail I noticed.

Too bad we never actually get any kind of explanation on how he feels through almost this entire movie.

#disney descendants #descendants #descendants 3 #ben descendants #anti mal #anti-mal #anti mal bertha #only like. mildly anti her. mostly the fact that she's lied to his face and shut down his dream. y'know

[descendants-brat]

Realizing I would've liked Mal if they kept her as an evil shitty character and made it known that, that's what she's supposed to be. But instead I was attempted to be gaslit into thinking she had grown as a person and every time she continues to willingly do horrible and fucked up shit, she was either manipulated or made a mistake.

Example:

Mal attempting to commit genocide on the Isle as a gang leader: I would not care, she's a gang leader of course she's going to do fucked up shit, in fact I might have enjoyed seeing her rise with power.

Mal attempting to commit genocide as a non-queen/protector: complete self-serving bullshit that she's trying to mask as doing the right thing for Auradon when pushed for an answer she admits she was trying to protect herself and her friends and the lives that they had. Meaning her being queen and everyone loving her was more important than other kids getting the chance to not live in filth. She further proves that it is self serving because after making the decision to close it permanently she without hesitation opens it, to get the ember without security or anything and shocker Harry and Gil escape. But we're all supposed to agree and understand her decision and even after she takes it make we're supposed to realize she made a mistake.

If anyone is not understanding the genocide comment, Mal who had lived on the Isle her entire life, knew that to in order for the Isle to get the trash food they ate, Auradon had to open the barrier and dump it in there. If she makes the proclamation to close it for good they can't dump food in there, essentially slowly starving everybody on the isle to death.

#anti mal #anti mal bertha #disney descendants #descendants

[the-knight-of-the-stars]

Funny how Mal's propaganda poster is the one that says "Our Liberator" when she is the one character who has shown 0 empathy for the Isle Kids or any intention whatsoever to free them.

At least the posters from Evie, Carlos and Jay seem to be based on some truth about them and their morals, but this is just a straight up lie tbh.

If you ask me, this was made to distract the kids from the fact that Uma, who actively defied Auradon's status and power, was the actual person who wanted to free them.

This was made to convince them that Uma's actions don't benefact them, but somehow Mal's actions do.

Propaganda 101: "Anyone outside of the ideology is the enemy, anyone who defies the ideology is agains us. Everything they do is evil, and to cause us harm."

"Everything we and our people do is justified, is for the greater good and/or a divine purpose."

#yes im back with this because I'm finally making that collage investigation #descendants #disney descendants #descendants disney #descendants 3 #anti beast #anti mal #uma daughter of ursula

[theweeklydiscourse]

Maybe Mal was just an unlikable character with a terrible resolution to his character arc.

Sometimes…the writing was just bad.

I’ve always disliked these sorts of explanations of Mal’s behaviour in Shadow and Bone. I find that there’s something reductive about framing Mal as a little hapless teenage boy who only ever got angry about justified matters and only wanted to help. It flattens him and makes him very boring to engage with. I find that this argument removes his agency and attempts to obscure the legitimate issues Mal has seemingly by characterizing him as just a “boy” who’s actions are less severe as a result of that boyishness.

Additionally, I don’t like how the commenter intentionally revises their summary of the book’s events. Mal was never bullied at the Little Palace (quite the opposite actually) and implying that Alina made him feel worthless during that time unnecessarily vilifies Alina for putting more effort into saving Ravka than her sulking boyfriend. It uses Mal’s youth as a pass for his meanness and pettiness’s towards Alina in Shadow and Bone while masquerading as a defence of a character being unjustly criticized.

In the text, it seems clear that Mal acting out is an immature response to an unfamiliar situation. He acts childish, but the issue is not the childishness itself but is instead with the way the narrative addresses it. Mal’s bad attitude towards Alina’s powers and her connection to the Darkling are validated by an ending where Alina is stripped of both as a punishment for her greed. It validates Mal’s discomfort with Alina’s new identity and somewhat justifies his cruel words to her during their arguments in Shadow and Bone and Siege and Storm. This is in conflict with the actual arguments themselves because Mal’s points in those scenes are immature and flawed but aren’t confronted in a manner that shifts the status quo.

I’d also like to add that this appeal to Mal’s youth and inexperience approaches Mal as though he is not a fictional character. As a fictional creation, Mal’s actions and words influence the overarching themes of Shadow and Bone and thus, require a resolution that addresses them. It’s not surprising that readers had such an adverse reaction to Mal when he acted like an asshole for at least 2/3 of the trilogy.

I view Mal as a character with a botched arc. I believe that his character could have been something truly compelling if we had seen his journey from a petulant and selfish boy into a self-assured young man. Mal is challenged by the revelation of Alina’s Grisha identity because it confronts him with a version of the future that reveals a diverging path. Therefore, coming to terms with his codependency and becoming his own person would allow him and Alina to reconcile and find identities outside of one another. But because this never happens, I can’t really buy into Mal’s youth being a legitimate factor in his assholery because it isn’t supported in the text and is never fully understood.

So once again:

#shadow and bone #lb critical #my ramblings consume my waking thought and I can’t let this annoying ass discourse about Mal go #alina starkov #s&b critical #s&b netflix #s&b salt #anti leigh bardugo #malyen oretsev #anti malina #fandom meta #grishaverse meta #anti mal #leigh bardugo critical