#also nikolai has too much supporting character energy to be elevated to a major one

[cto10121]

just read your post about why darklina has more tension than malina, how about nikolina over malina?

Nikolina, yes, a bit more, but in an essentially comic way, the classic funny-guy/straight-guy set up (come to think of it, that was probably how the word “straight” eventually came to be slang for heterosexual. There are also shades of the fool/lady set up of Shakespeare’s plays). Also, Alina never takes Nikolai seriously as a potential love interest save for one or two fleeting moments. I’ve always found fanfics where she is attracted to him and does have a relationship with him as an AU in and of itself, ha. But as it is better than the absolute deadend that is Malina, with more possibility, and it’s less “problematic” than Darklina, it’s a default ship for many people. For me, though, it’s be like shipping Feste with Olivia. It’s just…off.

#i come anon #ask #shadow and bone #darklina #not sure if i should tag this nikolina since it’s a little critical #eh this will do #also nikolai has too much supporting character energy to be elevated to a major one #malina #also they’re not different enough to be foils