malsdarkling

[malsdarkling]

Alina: What did you two do? Nikolai: Mal: Alina: You’re not in trouble, I just need to know if I have to lie to the police again or not.

#shadow and bone #malkolina #incorrect quotes #alina starkov #nikolai lantsov #mal oretsev

[malsdarkling]

Mal: Hi, sorry I’m late. I was doing a couple of things and got distracted. Alina: I’m “a couple of things”. Nikolai: I’m “got distracted”.

#shadow and bone #malkolina #incorrect quotes #malyen oretsev #alina starvok #nikolai lantsov

[malsdarkling]

Alina, reading a recipe: Beat three eggs?  Zoya: It means like in hand-to-hand combat.  Alina: Ohhhh-  Nikolai: Both of you get out of this kitchen.

#Shadow and Bone #Incorrect Quotes #Alina Starkov #zoya nazyalensky #nikolai lantsov

[malsdarkling]

               - Michelle Hodkin, The Retribution of Mara Dyer

#malkolai #Malyen Oretsev #Nikolai Lantsov

[malsdarkling]

Do you prefer Malarklina or Malkolina?

that's so hard to say, anon, they both have malina in the middle but they are very different ships

malkolina is pining, it’s soft looks across the room, learning how to dance in the stables, almost touching fingers while walking next to each other, running away from the guards, giggles under covers, stolen kisses and p.i.n.i.g.

malarklina is angst, descent to madness, gaslighting, emotional breakdowns, yelling at each other while walking away, traumas, angry kisses with bites, desperate sex and attempts for murder

very different vibes for different moods, i enjoy both

#shadow and bone #Malarklina #malkolina

[malsdarkling]

Alina Starkov and Malyen Oretsev

“The Sun Summoner and Her Warrior”

#shadow and bone #malina #malyen oretsev #alina starkov #malina edit

[malsdarkling]

PROMPT — March 30th, Pining

Summary: Mal and Alina work up the nerve to tell Nikolai about their feelings for him, and ask him out.

— — —

“We had to talk.” Alina said softly, moving to Mal’s side so the trio were practically in a triangle. She glanced at him—he was the only one in on what the talk was about.

“Oh… well, I hope everything’s alright. No more Darkling visits, right?” Nikolai swallowed, “Saints, do you think he could be powerful enough to do it in death?”

Alina chuckled, shaking her head. “No. Nothing like that.” She turned to Mal to initiate the conversation.

“We were actually… talking about you?” Mal smiled sheepishly, eyes cast on the grass below them, hands buried deep in his pockets.

“About me? All good, I hope.” Nikolai joked, though Mal and Alina could both see his nerves in the way his eyes flittered between the two, as if searching for a hint. He put on a front they knew too well. “Were you discussing my devilishly handsome looks?”

#Multiamory March #multiamorymarch2023 #Shadow and Bone #Malkolina #Malina #Malkolai #Nikoalina #Nikalina #Polyamory

[malsdarkling]

The "I wanted more for you..." scene between Mal and Alina was way more superior in the books and it deserved the full speech:

Mal leaned against the stone rim of the pool. “Do you ever wonder what it might have been like if the Grisha Examiners had discovered your power back at Keramzin?”

“Sometimes.”

“Ravka would be different.”

“Maybe not. My power was useless before we found the stag. Without you, we might never have located any of Morozova’s amplifiers.”

“You’d be different,”

(...)

“I can tell you what would have happened,” I said.

“Go on.”

(..) “I would have gone to the Little Palace and been spoiled and pampered. I would have dined off of golden plates, and I never would have struggled to use my power. It would have been like breathing, the way it always should have been. And in time, I would have forgotten Keramzin.”

“And me.”

“Never you.” He raised a brow.

“Possibly you,” I admitted. He laughed. “The Darkling would have sought Morozova’s amplifiers, fruitlessly, hopelessly, until one day a tracker, a no one, an otkazat’sya orphan, traveled into the ice of Tsibeya. He would be the first to spot the stag after centuries of searching. So of course the Darkling and I would have to travel to Tsibeya in his great black coach.”

(...)

He smiled. “I would have noticed you.”

“Of course you would. I’m the Sun Summoner, after all.”

“You know what I mean.”

(...)

“Well,” I said, taking another swipe at the petals, “it wouldn’t matter if you noticed me, because I would have noticed you.”

“A lowly otkazat’sya?”

“That’s right,” I said quietly. I didn’t feel like teasing him anymore.

“And what would you have seen?”

“A soldier—cocky, scarred, extraordinary. And that would have been our beginning.”

He rose and closed the distance between us. “And this still would have been our end.” He was right. Even in dreams, we had no future. If we somehow both survived tomorrow, I would have to seek an alliance and a crown. Mal would have to find a way to keep his heritage a secret. Gently, he took my face in his hands. “I would have been different too, without you. Weaker, reckless.” He smiled slightly. “Afraid of the dark.” He brushed the tears from my cheeks. I wasn’t sure when they’d started. “But no matter who or what I was, I would have been yours.”

I kissed him then—with grief and need and years of longing, with the desperate hope that I could keep him here in my arms, with the damning knowledge that I could not. I leaned into him, the press of his chest, the breadth of his shoulders.

Then he drew back, searching my eyes. “I wanted more for you,” he said. “A white veil in your hair. Vows we could keep.”

“A proper wedding night? Just tell me this isn’t goodbye. That’s the only vow I need.”

“I love you, Alina.”

He kissed me again. He hadn’t answered, but I didn’t care, because his mouth was on mine, and in this moment, I could pretend I wasn’t a savior or a Saint, that I could simply choose him, have a life, be in love. That we wouldn’t have one night, we would have thousands.

— Ruin and Rising (Chapter 16).

#shadow and bone #malina #if anyone needs me #don’t I’m busy sobbing

[malsdarkling]

PROMPT — March 29th, Mark 

Summary: Mal and Alina notice Nikolai has the same soulmate mark on his wrist.

— — —

“Your soulmate tattoo.” Mal repeated. He saw Alina looking at him, and he nodded towards the captain to bring her attention to it.

Alina prodded, “is that… a crown?”

The mention of a crown was all it took for him to sit up straight again, hiding his wrist behind the long sleeves of his cloak. “No. It’s not.”

Alina and Mal glanced at one another again, rolling up their sleeves as they presented their soulmate tattoos to him. “Really? Because it kind of resembles these.”

#Multiamory March #multiamorymarch2023 #Shadow and Bone #Malkolina #Malina #Malkolai #Nikoalina #Polyamory

[malsdarkling]

I’m sorry how did we completely glossed over this???

#Shadow and Bone #Malkolina #they’re so #ot3

[malsdarkling]

PROMPT — March 28th, Teasing

Summary: Nikolai absolutely adores teasing his lovers. But Nikolai and Alina take it upon themselves when they realize that Mal doesn’t feel worthy of being showered with affection in comparison to Nikolai and Alina.

— — —

“Alina’s the living saint, not me.”

“Did I say only she was beautiful?” Nikolai turned to Alina. “Did I not imply both of you?”

“You did, but Mal’s too much of a pleaser to recognize that, he, too, is hot.” Alina nodded. “He’d much rather focus that love and affection for his lovers, instead.”

Nikolai hummed. “I do love a challenge.”

#Multiamory March #multiamorymarch2023 #Shadow and Bone #Malkolina #Malina #Malkolai #Nikolina #Polyamory

[malsdarkling]

PROMPT — March 27th, Shadow

Summary: Darkling gives Mal a little mental visit to taunt him, but mostly he’s just waiting for Alina and their new lover Nikolai to join in for the actual fun.

— — —

“Because she thinks she can fool me.” He said wistfully, like he knew her better than she knew herself, like he was sad that she thought she had any agency over her own sense of self. “She wanted me to hurt over what we could’ve had by dangling it over my head, but all she really did was tell on herself.”

“What you could’ve had,” Mal scoffed, “you had nothing, Darkling. You had manipulation, whereas I have actual love. Something you clearly know nothing about. And here I thought wisdom came with age.”

“You don’t know what love is, Malyen.” Aleksander told him, shaking his head like he actually felt bad for him. “What you have isn’t love, it’s obligation—your obligation. To protect Alina, to become the hero she grew up wanting to save her. The difference between you and I is that, for you, it is nothing but a fantasy. I, however, can actually save her. But you’ve corrupted her to make me her villain.”

#Multiamory March #multiamorymarch2023 #Shadow and Bone #Malkolina #Malkolai #Malina #Aleksander Morozova #Malyen Oretsev #Alina Starkov #Nikolai Lantsov #Polyamory

[malsdarkling]

the way Mal and Alina were destined to find each other *chefs kiss* they way the fought tooth and nail to stay together *chefs kiss* the way Mal found peace knowing he was put in the world to serve the woman he loved *chefs kiss* the way Alina knowingly and willingly doomed herself to save Mal because he was worth it even if he doesn’t believe it *chefs kiss* the way Mal struggled with his purpose now that his fate wasn’t set *chefs kiss* the way Alina respected his journey and loved him enough to let him go *SOBBING CHEFS KISS*

#Malina

[malsdarkling]

nikolai lantsov legalising polyamory in ravka by proposing to both alina and mal he’s just that iconic 

#Shadow and Bone #Nikolai said WHO’S GONNA STOP ME? #Malkolina

[malsdarkling]

PROMPT — March 25th, Unlikely

Summary: Mal and Alina talk about their attraction to Nikolai, unaware he’s been listening in.

— — —

“Telling Mal you clocked me checking him out was a bit cruel.”

“It’s only fair if you did it to me first.”

“So… you really were checking me out?” Mal swallowed, unable to believe his ears.

“So much for unlikely, huh?” Nikolai snickered.

#Multiamory March #multiamorymarch2023 #Shadow and Bone #Malkolina #Malina #Malkolai #Nikoalina #Alina Starkov #Malyen Oretsev #Nikolai Lantsov #Polyamory

[malsdarkling]

I’ve since found out its Malkolina 💜

HOW are there so few posts about the Malina + Nikolai polycule. I see the vision. The vibes are RIGHT THERE come on guys

#Malkolina

[malsdarkling]

What I loved about the cathartic Alina & Baghra conversation was Alina admitting that Aleks was the first person that ever made her feel seen and powerful. That means that despite being childhood friends, Mal never made her feel like she could be "More than just a wet stick from Keraminzan." It also got to the root of Alina's anger towards Aleks: He made her feel like someone special and then he put the Stag Collar on her and made her his puppet. Just to be clear, that's how SHE saw, and tbf, she was partly right. Jessie said given Alina's hard life, it was not surprising she'd reach for power/merzost. I think her big fear is being made to feel powerless, and it felt like the ultimate betrayal when the man who had been her main support took her power/independence away even for a little while. She also never got the chance to work through her hurt because everything happened so quickly from s1-s2.

I loved that convo too for the same reason. Honestly it does make sense why Alina is so angry at Aleks. He lifted her up, he made her feel special and he made her believe that she could be important that she could make a difference, which is a complete contrast to what she had been told everyday before she met him, that she was no one, that this was the way things were and it couldn't be changed so accept your lot, that she was expendable. And Mal never made her feel like she could be anything more because he was in the same boat as her, they both were made to believe they were nothing more than orphans or grunts in an army, useful for cannon fodder and not much else. They were nothing but they were nothing together and that's what bonded them, neither one of them ever thought to raise the other up and tell them they could be meant for more.

But then Alina meets Aleks and right from the start he was telling her how special she was, that she was someone, someone powerful. But not only that he tells her she's not alone, which I think was the first time she really did feel that way because whilst yes she did have Mal, I think despite that she still very much felt like an outsider, I think she could sense that she was different and when she met Aleks it was like she met a kindred spirit, from that first meeting in the tent it was like a connection opened between them. I also think having experienced this new status and power its understandable that her big fear now is that she'll end up going back to how it was before, that she would be powerless again. Which is why Aleks putting the collar on her felt like such a betrayal for her because she saw that as him rendering her powerless again, making her nothing more than a tool at his disposal.

As you said she hasn't really had time to properly process all her feelings of hurt and betrayal since the collar scene and I do think alot of Alina's anger this season is her defence mechanism, she needs to stay angry with him because she is afraid that he will make her feel special again and then that rug will be pulled out from under her again like it was when he put the collar on her and she will once again be left feeling powerless. Its easier for her to hide behind that anger and keep her defences up then leave herself open to potentially being hurt again. Essentially she has already done what both Aleks and Neyar did in the past, she has hardened her heart, she is guarding against pain.

#I mostly agree with this #except Darkling calling her special #was him manipulating her #so it’s tainted #and I don’t fully agree with the Mal stuff #but I do understand it