#but if you want to make out with the darkling? literally before we even get into all his disgusting actions

[shootwithintenttokill]

Can we talk about Jesper Fahey unintentionally being one of the most powerful Grisha in the Grishaverse? (Bear with me)

Okay, agreed, Jesper struggles with doing basically anything intentionally. Makes sense - he was never trained.

But if we consider what he can do; controlling the path of bullets. Taking tiny chunks of metal moving at ~120-370 m/s, and directing them. And not just a little bit. He literally managed to make his bullet curve 90° around a right-angle corner. This is a skill we see no other Fabrikator able to do, and you would have thought, if it was a common ability, or even ever seen before, the Darkling or the Triumvirate would have utilised it in the Second Army. They have not. The only people known to use it are Jesper and his mother.

(And let's just give an honourable mention to Aditi Hilli, who could extract poison from the bloodstream of another person. You remember how the tidemakers in the Ice Court needed to be on Parem to mess with a person's blood? But Aditi Hilli? ...I don't want to say no problem, because she did die, but she saved Leoni too, so... half-marks? I'm just saying Jesper has some serious badass genes.)

Actually, talking about the tidemakers on parem, Jesper, with no training and having all the blood in his body sucked out of him, still managed to kill them with dust. A rather dark trick, but one we've never seen David Kostyk, or Leoni Hilli, considered the two most powerful Fabrikators alive during canon, replicate.

But the real reason Jesper is so powerful has very little to do with that, so much as HOW he does it. Every grisha alive used their arms to direct their abilities. After being captured by the Darkling in S&S, Alina has her hands bound, and says something about how she can summon, but not direct light without her hands, so she's basically powerless. It's obviously a common tactic, because the Druskelle do the same thing with Nina and the other Grisha they captured, and only after they get their hands freed on the sharp edge of a broken cup can they use their abilities again.

The only people we see not using their hands for the small science, in fact, are Adrik, who has to relearn his technique after he loses an arm, and, of course, Jesper Fahey, who can direct bullets with his mind - no hand movements required.

If anything, it's probably this ability that makes him so good at directing bullets. After all, at the speed a bullet is going, you don't have time to be waving your hands around to control it. What's especially funny to me is that before Wylan pointed it out, he had no idea he was even doing it. He was using an ability no other Grisha can, and Didn't Know. Can you imagine him mentioning that to Nina... or basically any Second Army Grisha.

("You can control bullets?"

"...you can't?"

"...how?"

"I'm not sure. I mean, my mother sort of taught me, but also I didn't really realise I was doing it until my boyfriend pointed it out, you know?"

"...YOU WERE ACCIDENTLY CONTROLLING BULLETS?!!!")

This is, of course, all book canon, but somehow the show takes it even further. It hasn't been officially revealed Jesper's Grisha in the show, but there are enough clues - Jesper repairing Kaz's cane, Ivan's cut-off comment after their fight, not to mention the fight itself - that I'm taking it as canon. In this, it is accepted NO ONE can use their grisha abilities, except merzost, without first touching their hands together. Not The Darkling, not Alina, no one. Except, of course, Jesper Fahey, who can shoot his bullets and direct them to the exact same point on a kefta, after deflecting them off random objects first.

Tl;dr: Jesper Fahey is amazing and crazily powerful and should be appreciated.

#jesper fahey #six of crows #shadow and bone #siege and storm #jesper fahey appreciation post #jesper is wierdly powerful? #and it's just never talked about? #I'm talking about it now #the darkling #alina starvok #wylan van eck #grishaverse #grisha #the grisha trilogy #crooked kingdom #fabrikators #durast #aditi hilli #leoni hilli #adrik zhabin

[aleksanderscult]

Since we have officially entered the Aries' season I thought I should honor the fact that it's the Darkling's birthday! 🎉🎊

(No, we don't know his exact birthdate but we know he's an Aries. Anyways)

To celebrate it let's remember some facts about him.

Even though he was a Shadow Summoner, he loved bright colors. Blue, red, purple but most of all the color of sunlight.

Since we mentioned that he was a Shadow Summoner, isn't it endearing and ironic how he feared the dark when he was a child?

Once he didn't sleep for two nights because his mother had left him in a tent without a lantern.

He loved sweets! Cakes, pies etc. but his two favorites were a cake with cherries and sweet cream from Kerch and candies coated in sesame from Shu.

He had trouble mastering his powers as a child. He felt embarrassed for the fact that he couldn't make the Cut at the age of 13.

He could play the violin. 🎻

He was really intelligent from a very young age. Until the age of 13 he could speak three languages fluently and could read people and their behavior like an open book.

He was awkward and felt uneasy around children his own age since Baghra always kept them on the move and insisted not to let anyone touch him or for him to get close to someone.

He never met his father although he kept asking about him to his mother and wanted to meet him. The only thing he (possibly) ever knew was that he was a Heartrender.

He loooved nature. The trees and forests. The smell of them. Especially the evergreen trees. He even decorated his room in the Little Palace with carvings of trees.

Oh and he loves animals too! In the "Demon in the Wood" he got excited in the thought that he would see white tigers for the first time and Leigh once mentioned that he's kind to animals (we even saw that in "The Tailor" when he took time out of his duties to visit his horses, pat them and whisper to them soothingly).

And he actually saw those white tigers eventually.

Apparently he has great good looks to the point that he attracts others (and especially girls) like magnet since forever.

And his life was full of sex so he was experienced with it (Alina, your opportunity to fuck around and find out was literally right there).

The author confirmed (in 2014-2015, years before even the show came out) that he indeed harbored strong feelings for Alina and believed that they were destined for a future together (my man was ready to buy IKEA furnitures for their future house😭😭).

He had many, many half-siblings (one of them was a mermaid) and throughout the centuries he sought them out, out of a need for kinship, companionship and a desire to not be alone (🥲🔫)

This one is especially sad. He wasn't conceived out of love.

On another note though, his smell has been described as the smell of winter, forests and of the night.

In a solar eclipse his powers wouldn't be affected.

He's the Grisha with the most aliases in the Grishaverse (that's what living in a persecuted environment as a child does to you).

It's confirmed by the author that he was created after fantastical villains that she used to love, so please let that rumor that he was inspired after her abusive ex finally rest for good.

He had indeed fallen in love many times in the past but he kept witnessing the people he loved die from their mortality. At some point he just gave up on love and became more and more closed off. (Let's talk about the break he never had💀)

We might not know which person was the first he ever fell in love with, but we know which was the last one: Alina.

Do you remember those countless letters Alina was sending to Mal in "Shadow and Bone"? Well, the Darkling not only kept them secretly but read ALL off them.

He has a throat-neck fetish. And it's probably canon. The way he kissed Alina's throat every chance he got, the way he once nipped it, the collar and how he was always touching it.

According to Leigh, he didn't start wanting to be King. But this ambition came eventually after deeming it the only way to change things.

Kaz has been described as more selfish than Aleksander.

Well most of them turned out to be sad and tragic but that's because he had a tragic life and he himself was a tragic character.

Happy birthday to one of the best and most iconic book characters ever created. 🎉🎊

#and today we have a solar eclipse 👀 #HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THAT LITTLE MEOW MEOW #I miss that fucker 🥹 #the darkling #pro darkling #aleksander morozova #pro aleksander morozova #darklina #pro darklina #alarkling #pro alarkling #grishaverse #shadow and bone #alina starkov #grishaverse trilogy

[black-rose-writings]

I've had this idea about how the show would have been massively improved by making one little change.

The show, especially it's second season, feels boring, pointless. The only driving point of the whole season 2 is to yell "Darkling Bad". They obviously don't care about established characters, the worldbuilding or lore. Definitelly not about Grisha oppression.

So, what small change would give even the slightest hint of a point and theme to it all, a theme that transcends the creators' need to shit on their most popular character?

Make Alina Aleksander's daughter.

Narratives about cycles of abuse and generational trauma are really popular these days, so instead of making it a story about shitting on the Darkling, make it a story about how Ilya being a shitty father and a mad scientist literally fucked over the rest of the world. Instead of making the show a story about destruction of Morozova's legacy, make it a story about it's redemption.

(Again, my ideal version of the story would be one that works with the themes, characters and plots of the original books and expands on them in a way LB was too much of an american lib to do, but this is "how to make the show better with as few changes as possible")

First, some tweaks to Alina's backstory to account for this change (well, giving her a backstory pre-Keramzin):

There was a more open conflict with Shu Han like 25 years ago, that required Aleksander's presence. During his stay, he spent a few nights with a local woman (possibly anonymously initially, but she did end up finding out who he was, this is important) of Shu descent (though she considered herself Ravkan). The conflict ends and much of the Dva Stolba valley falls under Shu control, giving more explanation for the tension and racism Alina experiences later. Alina's mother stays in Ravkan territory, because, again, despite her ethnicity, she considers herself to be Ravkan, and a few months after the end of that conflict, she gives birth to Alina. She does attempt to contact Aleksander, wanting him to claim the child, but he initially doesn't, both because it's impractical and because he doesn't really believe he is her father, though he does arrange for her to recieve some money.

A few years pass and Alina starts showing signs of Grisha powers, and her mother attempts to contact Aleksander again, telling him of this. She is unable to explain Alina's powers, because she knows relatively little about Grisha and has no idea how Sun Summoning would present. Aleksander does respond this time and urges Alina's mother to take her to be tested and that it would be safest for Alina to keep her parentage a secret (he still doesn't fully believe Alina is his daughter). Before Alina can be tested, however, the family gets caught in the middle of a Shu raid and Alina's mother (and maybe stepfather) are killed, and she ends up in Keramzin, now having an extra trauma reason to hide her powers (taking some inspiration from Alina's cut pre-Keramzin backstory from season 1).

Now, for the changes in season 1, those would be largely in the form of Aleksander's flashbacks and slow realisation of who Alina is. You can still keep the make-out scene/"romance" bits if you really want, because GSI (genetic sexual attraction, a syndrome/phenomenon where closely related people who have been separated for the vast majority of their life, like through adoption, deadbeat/cheating parents etc. upon meeting as adults develop an attraction to each other) is a real thing, incest in media is also unfortunately popular, of course this fucking family would do it, and antis will enjoy getting even more reason to hate Aleksander.

If we go the non-ew route, there would be some changes to the tent scene (to account for Alina being a living amplifier) and perhaps expanding/adding scenes to the journey to Os Alta, giving room to vocalize some of these differences (like explaining the living amplifier thing earlier). Maybe having Alina saying something that prompts Aleksander to be reminded of her mother, and being confused as to why at first.

Their interractions in season 1 would need to be reframed through the father-daughter lens, but it wouldn't be all that dificult, because it already has mentor-mentee undertones. Ideally, there would be a point somewhere before the Winter Fete, possibly as a catalyst for Alina's breakthrough with her powers, when he tells her who she is. It would give Alina a personal stake in the story, because she clearly doesn't give a fuck about her duties/responsibilities as a Sun Summoner in either version. She doesn't have to destroy the Fold because she's a Sun Summoner, but because she's the descendant of the Black Heretic. She's not just the savior of a country she doesn't give two shits about, but the redemption of her family.

If we want to go the "shit on Aleksander" route, nothing about his interractions with Alina would change all that much and the reveal of her parentage, at least to Alina, would come through Baghra, giving Alina more obvious emotional reason to run away and feel betrayed (especially if the almost-sex-on-the-big-map still happens, because "ew, I almost fucked my dad, who know we're related" would be infinitely more understandable of a reason to run away than what Baghra actually tells her).

Either way, the information that she isn't just a distant descendant of the Black Heretic, but his actual child, that she has a grandmother he didn't bother telling her about, that he told her they were going to redeem their family, when he only planned on continuing his work and using her for it, hits Alina like a truck. Alina going though StuffTM emotionally makes her decision to run away make a lot more sense.

Anyway, there would be very little change plotwise, just some dialogue adjustments, maybe mentioning how the Stag is her legacy, her heritage.

It would reframe Alina's fear of becoming like Aleksander, that permeates the second season, have some basis. It would give a reason for the "fuck Ilya and everything he touched and made" narrative Baghra is spinning. Baghra telling both Mal and Alina the story of her family, of why she believes now that it all much be destroyed, how her father's greed drove him to create abominations, to twist the world in unnatural ways, and she looks pointedly at the two as she says it.

Make Alina's stand against Aleksander her way of saying "the cycle of abuse in this family ends with me. I will make our family better.". Make her and Nikolai's political marriage a symbol of a new begining for Ravka in more ways than one - redemption of the Morozov(a) and Lantsov families. And bonding over "I can't tell anyone who my real dad is because it would cause trouble."

But of course, at the end, it fails, because both of them misunderstood the fundamental reason why things became as bad as they did.

IDK, I just think that changing Alina to Aleksander's daughter would improve their dynamic and a lot of the surrounding narratives massively. Even in variations other than the show.

#grishaverse #shadow and bone #shadow and bone au

[blurblurdeactivated]

▬❝ yeehaw. ❞

kinktober; day 5, costumes ⟶ [dean winchester x fem!reader] // kinktober taglist

warnings: 18+ MINORS DNI, p in v sex, making out, coming inside, girl on top, swearing,

day 4, daddy kink, ft. soldier boy - kinktober masterlist - day 6, corruption kink , ft. the darkling

“I thought the store would have a hat, okay, Sam?” you explained, huffing, “it’s not my fault they’d run out before I got there.”

“Okay, but you can see why I was confused. The hat is what makes the outfit,” he countered.

“Whatever.”

The familiar rumble of the Impala made you turn. “Finally,” Sam said. As the car pulled up to the curb, your jaw dropped at the sight within. Turning off the engine, Dean hopped out with an ear-to-ear grin. 

“Howdy y’all,” he said with a terrible thick southern accent. Red bandana around his neck, stupidly tight jeans with the assless chaps over top, dicky little vest over his blue button up, and the godamned pièce de résistance atop his head.

“You stole my fucking hat.”

Instantly his face fell and he just looked confused. “Not the reaction I was hoping for, but I mean… wait, what? I- I’m a cowboy.” He did a lil jazz hands action in the hopes of getting some enthusiasm.

“We can tell,” you said angrily.

“Well, what are you two supposed to be?” he said, defensively, “Farm girl and college dropout?”

“Dude,” Sam said, “you know I don’t dress up.”

Dean gave him a half-smile. “It was kinda funny though.”

“I’m a cowgirl,” you corrected bitterly. He frowned, looking you up and down again.

“Where’s your hat?”

“You stole it.”

“What?” he said after a long blink, his hands on his hips.

“You don’t own a cowboy hat, Dean, which means you bought one at the only store in town that sells them, which had run out by the time I got there. You stole my hat.”

He scoffed, “Naw, darlin’, it just sounds like you were too slow.” 

“I want that hat, Dean,” you said, holding out your hand. He looked extremely hot in his get up but you also looked hot in yours and you figured the house full of frat boys would appreciate that more; not to mention you'd been the most thrilled about the whole costume thing in the beginning. 

"Can we go stop the spirit of that vengeful Administration's Officer now, please?" Sam said, deeply unimpressed with the both of you.

"He thought I was a farm girl, Sam! That is unacceptable."

"Isn't that the same thing as a cowgirl?" 

"No," both you and Dean said.

"Two very separate concepts, Sammy," Dean explained, "one's hot, yknow, any man's wet dream, and the other, well, the other gets up at five in the morning to feed the cows."

"Which is why I need the hat. You'll still look like a cowboy without it so I think I'm more in need of it," you half-begged.

He shook his head. "Nuh-uh. Ain't my problem your costume is incomplete, darlin'."

"It will be when I'm unable to distract the frat bros from the two of you snooping around the place with your lil EMF thingy-ma-bob."

"Oh please, you could distract them in a nun's getup," Dean said.

"Shame I forgot mine." 

“Well then, sweetheart, I see we have only one alternative left," he said solemnly, "come and take it.”

-

“Oh god, Dean.” You held the hat on your head as you rolled your hips down into his, bouncing yourself on his cock. He was so thick and every time you sank down you had to really concentrate on not literally drooling. 

"Sheezus, darlin'," he groaned, one hand helping you up and down and the other holding onto one of your tits. Looking down at him like this was giving heaven. His face was flushed and his eyes were half-hooded even as he stared up at you. "And here I was thinking cowgirl's rode horses," he teased.

"Haven't you heard the phrase," you said, biting your lip to quiet a moan, "tame a horse, ride a cowboy."

"I don't see your horse. I think you missed a step," he said through a cheesy grin. 

Gripping the headboard tighter as you got closer to coming, you screwed your eyes shut. "Stop talking," you begged him, grinding your hips down harder. He was hilt-deep in you and you could feel every hard inch and oh, God you were so close. 

"That's it, sweetheart," he cooed, dropping his hand from your tit to press his thumb against your clit. Your head fell back, hat about to fall off as you cried out his name, the added pressure .

"Dean! Oh my God, I-" One last quick circle of this thumb and you were gasping for air, sinking down on him as far as you could, knees hugging his hips tightly, your pussy muscles clenching around his dick. He didn't stop rubbing your clit and as you were brought to that high, you couldn't believe the fact that you were still ascending. 

You squirmed in his hold, grinding down more and moaning like a woman possessed. He stopped his ministrations and you sat there for a moment, letting the feeling wash over you. 

"You're so goddamn cute when you cum, baby," he praised, sitting up a little to kiss your cheek. Big hands smoothing your hair behind your ears. "You alright to keep going, or you all tuckered out?"

"Keep going," you said, the thought of how cute he looked when he came was more than enough reason to start moving again - although much slower because you might cave in on yourself if you did too much too soon. Lifting your hips up again, hands on his shoulders this time you were stopped by his on your hips.

"Woah, easy there sweetheart," he said, "you really think that's how we're gonna play this? No, no, no. I think I deserve the hat back, I did pay for it after all." 

It didn't take much for him to twist his hips and flip the two of you. Your back hit the bed with an "oof" and the hat was removed from your head almost instantaneously. Dean winking down at you, thoroughly enjoying his new acquisition. The shadow from the wide brim partially obscuring his features somehow only made him hotter. The aura of authority it gave him made your cunt clench around his still fully sheathed length. The soft groan he let out was quite possibly the sexiest thing yet that evening.

He slid his arms under your back, pulling you to him as he bent down to kiss you, knocking the hat up slightly. Licking your bottom lip to start, he was quick to slip his way past your lips and turn the kiss into a hot, sloppy mess. A wee bit of teeth and a decent bit of tongue and you were sucking air in through your nose like crazy, hands on each side of his face.

Gently, he started to buck his hips into you, making you moan into his mouth at the same time. He was still rock hard and although you were still coming down from your high, you desperately wanted him to go a little harder and a little faster.

Surely he heard you because it didn't take long for him to be thrusting into you with long, snapping strokes. The obscene sound of skin slapping against skin made you feel pleasantly dizzy.

He must've been pretty close when you came because his hips were losing their rhythm to something much more desperate very fast. 

"Where do you want me?" he slurred, pulling away only far enough to speak.

"Inside," you breathed, "I'm on the pill."

"Okay," he said breathlessly. He kissed you again, hips stuttering into yours, fingers digging into your sides. His final few thrusts were hard and sharp and deep and when he finally stopped moving you swore you could feel him in your fucking womb.

"Ugh." The noise reverberated up from somewhere deep in his chest and it was the pinnacle of sex, you were certain of it. He sucked a spot on your neck as he came inside you, groaning into your skin. His hips stuttered and he trembled a little above you. The thought of his cum dripping out if you later made you feel lightheaded; in a good way.

"Oh, Dean," you mumbled as he bit down on your flesh softly, "you're so fucking hot."

"So fucking lucky too," he murmured without thinking, licking the place he'd just left a prominent hickey that'd be visible for a few days.

"Damn right," you teased as he pulled his now softened dick out of you, his seed indeed dribbling out you as predicted.

He got up slowly, with laboured breathing and went to procure a cloth to clean you up. Your skin started to cool off and your own breathing evened out.

Once he'd returned you smiled at the hat still on his head. Getting cleaned up by a cowboy hadn't been on your bucket list but it should've been.

"Next Halloween you should be a slutty nurse," he suggested, "perform a physical so to speak." 

"Only if you're an equally slutty patient."

⭑ ⟵ ★ ⟶ ⭑

follow @viridiesa for more <3

a/n: only a couple of days late oop, i love dean sm onmg, only like 3 seasons into spn but i am LIVING (not edited)

if you liked this please comment, reblog, or follow for more! my inbox is always open for suggestions, your thoughts, or if you just wanna talk :)) can’t wait for you to read more in future

tags; @raajali3

#dean winchester x reader #dean winchester smut #dean winchester #supernatural #supernatural smut #kinktober 2022 #kinktober

[mama-qwerty]

New Beginnings

For @doomfox

Happy (belated) birthday! &lt;3

This follows An Evening Yule Remember. Not officially 'canon', as I have a different way for them to come together in my verse, but I love the moments leading up to that first hint of romance so any excuse to write Callie x Wade!

~~~~~

The night was quiet. The Christmas tree lights twinkled in the corner, as a light snow fell outside. New Year’s Eve had rolled around once again, and this year was a special one for the head librarian of Green Hills public library.

Because this year, Callie MacPherson wasn’t spending it all alone, as she had for so many years past. This year, she had two sons and a best friend to ring in the new year with.

At least, that was the plan.

“You people celebrate your planet completing a full rotation around your sun?” Eclipse had said when she had told him and Silver about New Year’s Eve. The darkling lifted an eyebrow ridge, his muzzle twisted in confusion. “That’s dumb. Why do you do that? What’s the big deal? It’s dumb.”

“I think it sounds like fun!” Silver said, bringing his fists to his chest to give an excited shake. “Is there special food? Presents? Oh, are we gonna decorate??”

Callie shook her head. “No special food, no presents, and no decorating necessary, really.”

Eclipse scoffed. “Then what do you do on this holiday?”

“Stay up until midnight and make loud noise to ring in the new year.”

“I’m in.”

That had been a few days ago. All day today the boys had both been so excited, planning to stay up as late as they wanted and blow their little noisemakers Callie had (regretfully) bought them. They had blown them constantly until she made a rule that they could only do it once an hour. She’d never seen Eclipse so focused on the time before.

Wade had arrived a little after six. They shared an easy supper, and played a few card games as the last few hours of the year ticked away.

Now it was a little after eleven, a movie on the TV as Callie and Wade sat on the couch. Both boys were passed out in their laps—Silver in hers, Eclipse in his.

“So much for staying up all night,” she said with a smile. Her hands moved through Silver’s quills in slow strokes. “Best laid plans and all that.”

“They lasted longer than I thought they would,” Wade said, readjusting Eclipse against him. “They were so excited. I thought the adrenaline would carry them longer.”

She gave a little laugh. “Kids are just like that. Silver once fell asleep in the middle of a story he was telling me on the way home from the grocery store.”

“Wow.”

“They play hard, they crash hard.” She sighed, leaning her head back against the couch. “Couldn’t handle the absolute whirlwind of a party I throw here at the ol’ MacPherson house.”

Wade snickered. “The neighbors probably called the station about the noise when Eclipse won that round of Exploding Kittens.”

Callie snorted out a laugh, before clapping a hand over her mouth. She didn’t want to wake her boys. “God, that kid’s got a set of lungs on him.”

“Silver was so mad.”

“He got him back in Uno.”

Wade nodded, a smile on his lips. “He did.” He quieted for a moment. “You’ve got some good kids, Cal.”

Callie nodded, reaching over to run her knuckle over Eclipse’s muzzle. “Yeah. I do.” She smirked. “At least they give me a reason to stay up for New Year’s. Usually I’m in bed by now.”

“You never went out or anything?”

“Nah,” she said, shaking her head. “Was never close to anyone. Never wanted to be. Fine on my own and all that.”

He watched her, his brow furrowing slightly. “Sounds kinda lonely.”

She shrugged. She never really thought about it. It was just the way things were for her. Every day was like the last, and the next would be just the same. She was alone, but that’s what she wanted. Because she was scared of letting people get close.

And then Silver had literally crash landed in her life, which brought Wade in. Eclipse came a few months later, and now she had a family. Now she wasn’t alone.

But that didn’t mean she didn’t sometimes still feel like she was. Late at night, when both boys were in bed and the house was quiet, it was too easy to imagine herself all alone again. It was better when Wade was here, and she tried so hard to tell herself it was because he was distracting her from the quiet. Giving her another adult to chat with while the boys were off doing their kid thing.

Because she really didn’t want to think about the fact that there may be something more at play than simple companionship. That was a road she was terrified to go down.

Wade was her friend. Friendship was easy.

She didn’t want to complicate matters.

“What about you?” she asked, in a not so casual attempt to change the subject. “Any exciting stories from New Year’s Eves past?”

He gave a little laugh that was more sad than jovial. “Nah. I was usually in bed too, unless I was working.” He paused, sitting back to avert his gaze from hers. “Tom and Maddie would invite me over, but . . .” He shrugged. “Sometimes I felt really third wheelish.” He pulled his lips tight. “And no one wants to date the town idiot.”

“You’re not an idiot.” It came out immediately, no hesitation. “You’re not.”

Wade shrugged. “I know what people see when they look at me.”

“That’s not what I see when I look at you.”

A silent beat, and when Wade spoke next his voice was soft. “What do you see?”

Callie chewed her cheek. She didn’t want to say things that would sound overly generic as a kind of ‘cheer up, you’re great!’ kind of pick-me-up. He didn’t need cheering up, he needed honesty. He needed a boost to his confidence and to know that he wasn’t the village idiot that so many people—himself included—seemed to see him as.

“I see,” she started, and turned to look at him with narrowed eyes, as though she were truly examining him. “A man who tries his hardest, even though he feels anxious sometimes. I see a man who just wants to help others. Someone who wants to see the good in people, regardless of how they treat him. You are kind, and sweet, and honest, and would give a stranger the shirt off your back if they asked for it.”

She paused, locking eyes with him.

“No, you may not know everything. You may be confused about what’s going on sometimes. But if people look at you and just see that, then they’re the ones who are idiots. Because you, Wade Whipple, are so much more.”

A heavy silence descended over the two then, and they sat on the couch, gaze locked. Callie’s heart pounded in her chest, worrying she’d said too much, or made things really awkward between them now. Was that over the top? Had she gotten too serious? Broken the light mood they usually shared?

She was about to say something snarky to break this awkward silence when he spoke.

“Know what I see when I look at you?”

Her heart raced faster. “What?”

“I see someone who’s braver than she thinks. Someone who claimed she was fine by herself and didn’t need anyone, but took in two lost alien kids and love them like they were her own. Someone who’s kind, and smart, and caring, but takes no bull. You stand up for what’s right, you defend those who are in trouble, and would put yourself in harm’s way to keep others safe.”

He swallowed hard, pulling his lips tight as though wondering if he should continue.

“I see someone who tries to pretend she’s fine. That she doesn’t need help. But she does. I see how she struggles sometimes. I see the hair pulling and how she sometimes just stares off into space when she’s stressed. And I want to help. All she has to do is ask. Because she is so amazing, and she could do anything. And I want her to see that, too.”

Callie’s brain stopped functioning. His words were so heartfelt, his tone so genuine, she couldn’t come up with any kind of response that seemed appropriate. Her knee-jerk reaction was to make a joke, likely a self-depreciating one, or throw out some snark to shift the mood. But she resisted. It didn’t seem right to respond to what he’d said with humor.

But oh how her heart pounded.

They sat there, eyes locked, for a long moment, before an odd look passed over Wade’s face.

“Eclipse is drooling on me.”

It took a moment for the words to sink into Callie’s brain, and when they finally did she blinked, giving him a shocked look.

“Oh! Oh, okay. Let’s get these boogers to bed, huh?”

The two shifted to lift their respective child and headed upstairs to the bedrooms. Callie heaved a tension-relieving sigh. Leave it to Eclipse to break up an awkward moment, even while asleep.

~X~X~X~

Wade followed behind as Callie tucked her boys in, one by one. She settled them into their beds—or hammock, for Eclipse—and kissed their foreheads before tiptoeing out.

Once the boys were snuggled in, the two went back downstairs, and fetched a few drinks from the fridge. Callie kept his favorite beer on hand, and handed him a bottle as she pulled a wine cooler out for herself.

Wade had to admit, he was a little disappointed their conversation had been interrupted. It felt . . . important somehow. Like they were being real with each other. Not that they ever weren’t, but tonight just felt . . . different.

The atmosphere from their previous conversation broken, they chatted about this and that as they settled back on the couch. The TV was turned low, tuned to one of those “Rockin’ New Year’s Eve” countdowns that showed a huge crowed of people in Times Square.

“Now that,” Callie said, pointing with the top of her bottle, “is my idea of hell. All those people, all that noise? No thanks.”

Wade chuckled with a nod. “That’s a lot of people in one place. What if you’re in the middle of that crowd and have to go to the bathroom?”

“Right? No one thinks of those things,” she said, taking a sip. “Not that I understand the desire to go and be in a crowd like that. Just not my thing.”

“Me neither. I like smaller groups better. I don’t think there are that many people even living in Green Hills. I couldn’t imagine being responsible for that many people.”

Callie turned to him, her eyes narrowed slightly. “Did you always want to be a cop?” she asked, her voice light. “Little Wade Whipple, running around with his little Cracker Jack badge and writing parking tickets for the neighborhood?”

He laughed, shaking his head. “No, nothing like that. I . . .” He shrugged. “I didn’t know what I wanted to do when I was a kid. I just knew I wanted to help people. When Tom said he was going to become a police officer, I just kinda followed.”

“Is there anything else you would want to do now? If you were gonna start all over?”

Wade gave that some thought. In all honesty, he couldn’t imagine himself doing anything else. At least right now. He shook his head.

“Nope. I like where I am. I like helping people. And putting on the uniform helps me feel like I’m not just Wade. I’m Deputy Wade. And it makes me feel good.”

“You look damn good in uniform too, if I’m being honest.”

Wade looked over at her with wide eyes, and found her frozen, her eyes just as wide. She had apparently not realized what she said was out loud. A blush burned her cheeks, and she flicked her eyes from his to the drink in her hand.

“Hoo boy,” she said, a little nervous laugh in her voice. “I’m such a lightweight! Half a wine cooler in and it’s already gone to my head!” She laughed slightly, before clearing her throat into her fist. “You hungry? I’m hungry. I’m gonna grab some food.”

She was up before he responded, heading for the kitchen where he heard her pour some chips in a bowl. Her comment rang in his ears. Was that . . . ? Did she . . . ?

Wade wasn’t good with subtlety. It seemed like maybe there was something more in what she’d said, but it could have also been his imagination. People sometimes just blurted things out without thinking. Inappropriate things, snarky comebacks that are meant as jokes, that kinda stuff. And Callie was pretty snarky normally, so . . .

He tried to just ignore it.

“So what about you?” he asked as she came back in with the bowl. He snagged a few chips when she sat back down. “Did you always want to be a librarian?”

A little amused smile curled her lips, but he noted that the blush was still there. “While I’ve always loved books and learning and such, being a librarian wasn’t what I dreamt about when I was a little girl. This just kinda fell in my lap. It plays to my highly organized mind, and lets me help people in a more casual way than some official position.”

“So what did you dream about as a little girl?”

The blush on her cheeks burned hotter. “You’ll laugh.”

He smiled. “Promise I won’t.”

She flicked her eyes to his, before uttering a soft sigh. “I always wanted to be a dancer.”

Wade’s smile softened. “A dancer?”

She nodded, and when she spoke next her voice was soft. “I would see women on TV dancing, and always thought they looked so graceful. Ballet, jazz, tap, whatever. They moved their bodies so smoothly and beautifully. I always wanted to learn to do that, too.”

“Why didn’t you?”

A smirk pulled Callie’s lips and she gave a little laugh. “The unfortunate affliction known as ‘two left feet’. I don’t know what it is but I can’t dance to save my life. I trip and stagger and just make a fool of myself.”

He smiled and shrugged. “I can teach you.”

She gave him a look. “Doubtful. I am unteachable.”

“Nah, I don’t believe that.” Wade pulled out his phone and pulled up a slow tempo song, before placing it on the table and pushing himself to his feet. He held his hand out to her. “C’mon. It’s not that hard.”

“You’re serious.”

He nodded. “I’m serious. C’mon. Dance with me.”

Her blush flared hotter. Flicking her eyes between his offered hand and his face, Callie slowly reached up and placed her hand in his. Wade pulled her to her feet, pulling her gently in to lay a hand on her back.

A blush rushed to his face at the proximity, the closeness and feel of her against him. He cleared his throat, his voice soft. “Just listen to the music, and follow my lead.”

She nodded, and that blush never left her cheeks. It made her eyes look especially pretty, and Wade stumbled for a step or two before finding the right rhythm as he led her in a slow waltz.

He had to admit, she was right. She couldn’t dance. She tripped over her own feet, stepped on his, and nearly made them both topple over when she stepped the wrong way in a turn.

But they were both laughing.

They played through the song three times, and each time she seemed to get worse.

“Are you being this bad on purpose?” he laughed after the third try. “You only have two feet, you know. It’s not that hard to keep track of them!”

Callie responded with a laugh and little slap to his shoulder. “I told you! Woefully uncoordinated, that’s me. Hopeless lost cause. Quit while you still have feeling in your toes.”

Feeling confident, Wade pulled her back to him, a little smirk on his lips. “Never! I will teach you to dance, or die trying!”

She snorted out a laugh, bringing a hand to her forehead in a dramatic flare. “Oh, poor Wade Whipple! Done in by his own stubborn insistence to teach the waltz to someone with the grace of a drunken ostrich. Oh, he will be missed.”

Wade laughed with her, but tightened his arm around her. “Seriously, you’re overthinking this.”

She gave him a look. “I’m sorry, have you met me? Overthinking is practically my middle name.”

He shook his head, still smiling. “Well, tell your brain to take the night off. Listen to the music. Feel the rhythm. And for crying out loud, let me lead! You’re fighting me and making things worse.”

“Ugh! Fine.” She gave herself a little shake and blew out a sigh. “Okay. One more time.”

~X~X~X~

They quieted, letting the music fill the living room, flowing over them in smooth tones. Wade pulled her close again, his hand resting on the middle of her back. His hand around hers was so warm and soft.

She closed her eyes, focusing on the music. On the rhythm. As she did, something seemed to slip into place in her mind. They were no longer separate notes, they merged together to form a line. A path. She stepped on his toes twice, but then found her footing so to speak, and moved and swayed with him as he guided them along.

This was nice. Feeling his arm around her. His breath on her neck. The heat of his body as they danced. Although she received plenty of hugs from her boys, this was different. This made her feel . . . safe. Comfortable.

Callie opened her eyes and looked up at him. He caught her gaze, the two were frozen in time, in this moment. The hand on her back slipped lower, coming to rest above her waist. A little pressure and she was pulled closer to him, their bodies touching.

A blush ran up his neck, warming his face and ears. He opened his mouth, but nothing came out.

Behind them on the TV, the crowd in Times Square were counting down.

10!

Their feet slowed.

9!

Wade turned them, so that the light from the Christmas tree caught in her eyes.

8!

She swallowed. Hard.

7!

The hand holding hers tightened slightly.

6!

Her free hand slid from his arm to his waist.

5!

He licked his lips.

4!

Her lips parted.

3!

He leaned forward.

2!

She tilted her head to the side.

1!

Happy New Year!

Their eyes closed.

Their lips met.

They were both trembling. Callie’s heart beat a manic pace in her chest, and she felt as though it were trying to burst through her rib cage and escape. Wade pulled her closer, and she felt his pounding just as hard.

But they did not pull away.

The world welcomed the new year in around them, and Wade and Callie stayed locked in their embrace. In their kiss. Their first kiss.

It was awkward and wonderful and terrifying and so, so gentle.

When they pulled back, they held each other to combat the tremble that still shook them both. Their eyes locked, and Callie opened her mouth to say something.

And that’s when an ear-piercing sound split the air.

“Happy New Year!” Eclipse called as he and Silver bounded down the stairs. Each held their noise makers and blew them as they rushed toward the couple.

Wade and Callie quickly released each other, stepping back just as each was hit with one alien child.

“You almost let us sleep through it!” Silver said, giving Callie a hug around the neck. “We almost missed it!”

“Yeah,” she said, her mind still not fully functioning. “S-sorry. You guys fell asleep.”

“Good thing I woke up!” Eclipse laughed, blowing his noisemaker again. “Nice job going around the sun, Earth!”

“Yeah, nice job!” Silver echoed.

“I wonder what will happen this year,” Eclipse said, hanging off of Wade’s shoulders. “Something exciting, I hope!”

Silver shrugged. “Last year I came to Earth and found a new family. Maybe this year will be even better!”

Callie and Wade exchanged a glance over the boys’ heads. The ghost of their blushes still warmed their cheeks, and they shared a small smile.

“Yeah,” Callie said, her blush warming again. “Maybe it will be.”

#writing gift #sonic fanfiction #sonic the hedgehog fanfiction #callie x wade #callie macpherson #wade whipple #silver the hedgehog #eclipse the darkling

[justanotherfanaccount]

here we gooooo

shadow and bone s2e2 reaction

ok I know some people didn't like that they changed sturmhond's character but I kinda like it...it makes him more of a "privateer" *cough pirate cough*

also it makes sense that he didn't know the darkling and alina were working together since literally everybody else does...especially since they changed it to have the darkling not be on the ship

darklina scenes are very well done...the desire and the way the darkling is describing his past and his way of thinking

I love the genya darkling sceneeee...it shows that what the darkling is doing is affecting him physically

it almost seems like the darkling doesn't like his nichevo'ya which is a whole different side of the darkling we haven't seen

not the darkling saying thank you and then being creepy as hell

OMG PER HASKELL it's all coming together now...kind of

WYLAN TRYING TO LOOK TOUGH I LOVE HIM

omg not nina knowing everything

Matthias it'll be ok babe 🥺

I love sturmhond only learning mals name after he became valuable 🤭

Tolya and Tamar understanding how Alina felt on the outside of both Shu and Ravkan 🥺🥺

they definitely make Alina more of the "hero" type as well with her originally being the one to want to find the amplifier to tear down the fold

"there is a cost, always, to making difficult choices. The key is making sure that cost is not regret."

"trust is the other side of secrecy kaz, remember that" love them...and their secrets

Pekka never took kaz seriously until crooked kingdom so having him take him serious now is gonna change some things...I just wonder how

aww now we get sentimental sturmhond

Paddy is such a good sturmhond honestly they just casted extremely well because tolya, Tamar and wylan are all extraordinary 😭

ope...he still doesn't know mals name 🤭

"when people say impossible they mean improbable" love

morozovas journal?

confirmed

BAGHRA...well she's not blind...YET...but we'll see

I love this sea whip hunt...the music is so good

I think it's cool that they made it on an island and they were on their feet not on a boat

ahh the helnik flashbacks are so well placed

WYLANNN

his facial expressions 😭🥰

"have we met before?" this man 🙄

wylan looked SO DONE when jesper called him a total stranger 🤭🤭

jack understands wylan SO WELL like he's PERFECT

also wylan and jesper have such good chemistry even though it's still the stage where jesper "doesn't like" wylan...it's great!

no FUCK THAT if that creep ass bitch thinks he can't put inej back in the menagerie

how tf is he getting stabbed and fine with it???

there's that upped rating again (aka watching the madman pull the knives out of inej)

NOT JESPER REMEMBERING WYLAN ONCE HE'S LITERALLY ON TOP OF HIM STFU I LOVE HIM HE'S SUCH AN IDIOT

THE CHEMISTRY

God I love jesper he's so cool

(also don't mind me rewatching all the wylan scenes like 3 times)

I need scenes where kaz had all the shit planned the while time...cuz that was always the best parts in the book

(because when Nina showed up I thought that was gonna be Kaz's whole thing like "everything went to plan")

not jespers thumbs up while wylan was getting choked 🙄🤭

YES WYLAN

omgggg durast jesper GET IT

don't mess with nina she's a bad bitch

ope! here comes the black veil!

did jesper just slap wylans ass? 🧐

OPE THE MAL AMPLIFIER HINT

also him helping her stop summoning 🥺

"my alina" that's some bad bitch energy

#this is way longer than i intended it to be #its so good though #rusalye #shadow and bone s2e2 #s&b s2e2 #shadow and bone reaction #shadow and bone spoilers #shadow and bone #s&b reaction #siz of crows #soc #wylan #wylan van eck #wesper #young kaz #mal oretsev #alina starkov #justanothersbreaction

[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.

#this may have been more on zoya and the darkling than anyone ever really wanted #but here we are #zoya nazyalensky #aleksander morozova #the darkling #grishaverse #an ask #anonymous

[where-theres-smoak-2]

I want to scream when I see this kind of stupidity...

https://www.tumblr.com/goblins-riddles-or-frocks/741136181017837568/you-said-this-the-ice-cold-fakeout-of-giving?source=share

I forgot to add that frankly, this obsession of people with trying to make Aleksander a potential rapist so seriously annoys me. The king is literally there for that. If Aleksander had really wanted to rape Alina like these people claimed, he could have done it, you have to stop the bullshit after a while. Especially since they don't even take into consideration that this scene where the Darkling comes to see Alina with Mal's face is ambiguous at best, completely stupid at best. Because in reality, all we know is that he appeared because she called him unconsciously and we don't even know if he really took the appearance of Mal or if Alina was asleep at a bad view... The Darkling doesn't confirm anything at all on this subject in volume 3. And if the Darkling really took Mal's apprenticeship, it's so stupid, because damn, how could he have do that ?! Exasperating. Honestly their messages make me sick, with the fact that they literally make everything sexual between Darklina in the wrong sense of the word to degrade this relationship.

TW: SA and R*pe.

Yeah I've made a few posts about that scene where the Darkling disguises himself as M*l and kisses Alina whilst she's half asleep and the scene itself is just a mess because it was too confusing for a number of reasons. The main one being it was very unclear on whether Alina had just imagined M*l's face, whether she was dreaming or whether the Darkling had actually disguised himself as M*l. It's only cleared up in the third book when Alina outright asks Aleksander why he disguised himself as M*l and that scene only added to the confusion and raised more questions as it didn't follow the previous lore set up in that Aleksander can only appear to Alina through the tether if she wants to see him and also if he can disguise himself as another person why hasn't he used it before and why doesn't he ever use it again? Seems like a very useful skill that would come in handy for more useful things than just kissing Alina.

To be honest though when it comes to the subject of consent LB made a bit of a mess of things full stop in her books. I see arguments where people claim any romantic interaction between Darklina is SA but they'll gloss over the fact that Nikolai also kissed her without her consent, very publicly and her response was to then physically assault him by kicking him (which I don't blame her to be honest) and its all played off as one big haha moment. Also, going back to the fake M*l scene, they get so caught up in the whole, but the Darkling is kissing her without consent, but ignore the context of the scene in that she and M*l have just argued because she caught him cheating, he proceeded to blame her for it and that she is only allowing him to kiss her in that scene because she hopes it'll mean he'll forgive her, not because she wants to kiss him but because she feels like she has to in order to fix things between them, that's just as messed up and honestly I was outraged by that scene because of that well before it was revealed that it was actually the darkling and not M*l. Honestly the whole scene is just a dumpster fire and needs to be chucked out but hey that's just my opinion.

As for the opinion that all the romantic interactions and kisses between darklina are SA, I've never interpreted it that way and definitely don't agree with that view. To me the kisses were there to show that connection that exists between the two of them. That despite being on opposite sides and having very different world views they still feel that attraction and that pull towards each other. It's something that they both fight against but that they still feel anyway. Its like Aleks' 'wanting makes us weak' line, Alina fights it because she thinks the darkling's tactics are wrong and she doesn't agree with his way of protecting the grisha and because she feels betrayed by him, the darkling fights it because his feelings for her are a distraction, for thousands of years his sole goal has been saving the grisha and he believes the sun summoner is the key to that goal, but his feelings, his wanting and longing for Alina distract him from that goal and starts to take precedence over it, which is why he comes to see that wanting as a weakness. But again despite fighting it and seeing it as a weakness they both still occasionally give in to that pull and connection and that's when they end up sharing these intimate and romantic moments throughout all three books, its why Alina despite everything still cries for him and grieves his death.

But you know antis are going to anti, them throwing trigger words around in an attempt to degrade darklina's relationship and the darkling himself is nothing new.

#darklina #answered #anti malina #anti leigh bardugo #anti antis

[stromuprisahat]

First, he’s the only person fighting for Grisha and Ravka both. Later the only one with viable plan and willingness to literally tear out parts of himself to defend them:

He understood then. The Grisha lived as shadows did, passing over the surface of the world, touching nothing, forced to change their shapes and hide in corners, driven by fear as shadows were driven by the sun. No safe place. No haven. There will be, he promised in the darkness, new words written upon his heart. I will make one.

The Demon in the Wood

“I think you understand me now. There are no Ravkans, no Fjerdans, no Kerch, no Shu Han. There are no more borders, and there will be no more wars. From now on, there is only the land inside the Fold and outside of it, and there will be peace.”

Shadow and Bone- Chapter 22

“You mourn the people killed in Novokribirsk,” the Darkling continued, “the people lost to the Fold. But what of the thousands that came before them, given over to endless wars? What of the others dying now on distant shores? Together, we can put an end to all of it.”

Siege and Storm- Chapter 23

“My name is Aleksander Morozova, but I have had a hundred names and I have committed a thousand crimes. I am not sorry. I do not repent! All I did, I did for Ravka, and now, I do this too. For Ravka!”

Rule of Wolves- Chapter 48 (shortened), when he volunteers to suffer for the rest of eternity in order to keep his world whole- a deed usually performed by heroes of the story

He’s realistic. He’s seen so much shit, he lacks “heroes’” naive ideals:

“Why do you have such disdain for otkazat’sya?”

“Not disdain. Understanding.”

“They’re not all fools and weaklings.”

“What they are is predictable,” he said. “The people would love you for a time. But what would they think when their good king aged and died, while his witch of a wife remained young? When all those who remember your sacrifices are dust in the ground, how long do you think it will take for their children or their grandchildren to turn on you?”

His words sent a chill through me. I still couldn’t get my head around the idea of the long life that lay ahead of me, that yawning abyss of eternity.

“You never considered it, did you?” said the Darkling. “You live in a single moment. I live in a thousand.” Are we not all things?

Ruin and Rising- Chapter 9

He loves his people. Grisha and otkazat’sya alike:

“Where are the students?” I gritted out.

“They aren’t here.”

“What did you do to them?”

“They’re safe and sound back in Kribirsk. Probably having their lunch.” His nichevo’ya circled around us, forming a perfect, protective dome that shifted and writhed—wings, talons, hands. “I knew the threat would be enough. Did you really believe I would endanger Grisha children when we’ve lost so many?”

Ruin and Rising- Chapter 17

Aleksander should be glad of that faith, that all it had taken was a bit of shadow play to get these people to march into a war with him. So why was he left uneasy?

Will you protect them?

He could. He would if need be. His powers had returned to him. He could form nichevo’ya to fight on his behalf. His pilgrims could enter the field with picks and shovels and they would still emerge victorious.

And yet, his mind was troubled.

Rule of Wolves- Chapter 33

I’m sure you’re no hypocrite and you fight as ardently against other mortal/immortal ships as you do against the Darkling stans... but in case you’re truly interested, the appeal of Darklina isn’t about wanting to fuck each other (the lust is canonically mutual), but the potential of “two sides ot the same coin” ship.

Even as the enemy, the Darkling wants Alina to become her true self, reach her full potential. Even when she’s against him, he admires her.

“Back to pretending to be less than you are, I see. The sham doesn’t suit you.”

Siege and Storm- Chapter 1

“I’ve seen what you truly are,” said the Darkling, “and I’ve never turned away. I never will. Can he say the same?”

Siege and Storm- Chapter 23

“There are two thrones on that dais. You could see me anytime you liked.”

“You’re offering me a crown? After I tried to kill you?”

He shrugged again. “I might have done the same.”

“I doubt it.”

“Not to save that motley of traitors and fanatics, no. But I understand the desire to remain free.”

Ruin and Rising- Chapter 3

As you can see, @royal-jester​ , his sex-appeal plays no part in our affections, though it’s a lovely bonus.

In case you’re not interested in both-sided constructive discussion, or you’re happy to buy what the narrative’s selling- simplified pseudoromance, where fictional genocide is treated like background noise...

Please, tag your anti posts properly.

It’s called basic human decency.

#Grishaverse #grishanalyticritical #The Darkling #meme #Alina Starkov #Ravka #Grisha #Darklina #V #books #quotes #Leigh Bardugo #Demon in the Wood #Shadow and Bone (book) #S&B Chapter 22 #Siege and Storm #S&S Chapter 23 #Rule of Wolves #RoW Chapter 48 #Ruin and Rising #R&R Chapter 9 #R&R Chapter 17 #RoW Chapter 33 #S&S Chapter 1 #R&R Chapter 3 #Though Alina's technically also immortal. #Or at least used to...

[belle-keys]

my thoughts on shadow & bone season 2

okay, i finished late last night and had a blast watching this. we'll see if it gets canceled or not (it might). but oh my god i had so much fun even though i was like hmm at some things. here's some of my thoughts and impressions in case you would like to feel #seen.

don't @ me about dark!alina. i like it. i love it. i've always wanted a corrupt alina. i've been a darklina shipper for a hot minute and while that wouldn't have made sense to do in the show, a dark!alina does make sense and it deepens her character imo. the use of the merzost had major consequences for her and i love that. aleksander and baghra did warn her, and she didn't listen. and now we get payoff. this is how you write powerful characters!!!

paddy gibson was a great nikolai like come @ me and i will defend this man. alina’s interactions with him, tolya, and tamar were awesome like it felt very natural.

the spirit of cillian murphy possessed my man freddy carter in episode 4 like idk mans was giving me the kaz i had expected from season 1 ong he was not playing in that pekka rollins scene, like he stole so much of the show for me i loved it and i just got chills seeing the kaz we know and tolerate clearly living deep down under freddy's skin.

matthias spent the whole season in jail to simply remain in jail for the whole season and not end the season out of jail despite spending a whole season in jail despite jail being all he did for the season despite-

when aleksander was choking alina and telling her how much he wanted to destroy her and had her pressed up against that table and was muttering evil nothings into her ear? i felt that.

ben was excellent as well in this season as we expected, but as i previously noted, this entire season was identical in both fundamental and superficial ways to billy russo’s season 2 in the punisher like i can’t make this shit up. as soon as daddie darkie opened his mouth to speak, i immediately knew via osmosis what the speech’s delivery would sound like. it's just hilarious i'm sorry i'm not mad but it's just so unserious.

when zoya said "that one's a mess. i can fix him"??? i felt that shit so hard like meee finally a female character to represent meee

we did not need reminders that tolya loves poems 100 times we get it like cmon do more with your side characters if you're gonna make them quip every two seconds.

i will not lie, i’m so happy with how they incorporated the crows into the main story like it really felt like a fun epic fantasy series with different levels you gotta beat until you fight the boss (daddy darkie), like there’s so many interwoven plots and arcs and every time a scene switched i’d be like the leondardo dicaprio pointing at his tv meme i got chills watching everything come together the way it did, i think they really succeeded in making you (me) ooh and ahh this season.

the fight scenes gave me chills like the grisha powers being brought to life like that? slayed. the musical score and the special effects and the cinematography? popped off. the crows bringing guns to a grisha fight? never before seen. inej slicing up daddy darkie monsters? extraordinary. shit had me breaking out in chills.

i think besides kaz's face-off with pekka rollins in ep4, aleksander's death scene and his death monologue was the high point of the season for me. the whole "you need my darkness to balance your light thing"? the whole "let me be your monster so you don't have to" thing? literally took my breath away. he encapsulated every thing i loved about the darkling's character so well and his relationship with alina. he did warn her that she needed him for balance within herself and she just couldn't accept that. now she'll get what he was on to the whole time. it's amazing. it shows the darkling isn't just a character in alina's life.

i feel like splitting mal and alina up at the end wasn't... right? idk, the whole point of malina was supposed to be childhood friends-to-lovers-to-soulmates and her making this huge sacrifice for mal and then have him go away while she stays to... rule ravka??? that fell flat for me as an ending like what was the reason for that change cus i have no idea??? it makes sense from an irl perspective but idk what the showrunners were going for with that.

jessie mei li cannot act. i am not some tv and film expert. but this girl just cannot act. i dare you to change my mind.

oh I absolutely hate how they changed wylan and jesper's relationship. idk what was the reason for the whole "we once hooked up and forgot about each other" thing like WHAT WAS THAT HOW DID THEY MISS THE PLOT OF THE MOVIE SO BADLY IDC I CAN'T VIBE WITH IT NO-

i'm sorry on-screen kanej is still just as dry as book kanej for me like i felt nothing at all during their interactions this season, even the hallucination ones. as individuals they're great, but they made me feel absolutely nothing. not a single tingle.

if i had to cut something from the show, i'd probably either cut matthias' entire presence since he did nothing this season, or, i would cut genya and david's relationship because i do not and never did care about that pairing (or either of them as individuals tbh)

alina doing the darkling's shadow cut at the end??? i was cackling in joy like a maniac. yeah. that was a moment in time.

#barely experienced even a fraction of this emotion reading the books no cap #shadow and bone netflix #shadow & bone netflix #shadow and bone #shadow & bone #shadow and bone s2 #shadow and bone season 2 #s&b #leigh bardugo #darklina #malina #alina starkov #aleksander kirigan #the darkling #six of crows #the crows #wesper #the grishaverse #ruin and rising #kanej #nikolai lantsov

[aleksanderscult]

Today I will rant about Malina

Because this ship tried to be passed on as an ideal relationship to have.

*spoiler: it wasn't*

Malina is a ship that was shoved down our throats throughout the trilogy. Whether you shipped it or not you were bound to read about it in literally every other page.

And what are the negative aspects of this ship?

Literally EVERYTHING.

Let's start with Mal. The number 1 asshole in this trilogy.

And yes he is the number 1 and not Aleksander since Aleksander was a character with a goal. He had a grand plan that exceeded selfishness and pure evil and he used any means necessary to fulfill it. But Mal? Remind me, what was his plan?

Well, at the start of the trilogy to fuck around girls and then, when Alina began to feel something for someone else, to undermine her, latch on her and chastise her. There you have his role.

The minute Alina started having a life of her own outside his influence, the little jerk felt overlooked and his pride got hurt.

It's evident that Alina felt quite unseen from Mal in the beginning. He flirted and fucked girls right in front of her face (since she very clearly knew) and he even stopped hanging around with her as much as he did in the past.

Quite a start.

And then when Alina found her strength, happiness and place in the Little Palace he got offended. Why isn't she tortured as the rumors had said? What are these clothes that she's wearing? Why is she happy? And, most importantly, WHY IS SHE HAPPY WITH ANOTHER MAN??

Alina at that moment felt like she was walking on eggshells around him. She didn't know what to say without provoking him further. And when she found her voice, the little prick got all puffed up and left without even apologizing for ruining her nice evening.

Then we have Mal not talking to her as if it wasn't his own decision to abandon the army and follow her and again made her feel bad for even mentioning the Darkling.

It appears that Mal had no problem when his best friend bullied Alina but went actual feral when a (powerful) guy showed interest in her. Insecure, aren't we Mal?

In the following books we have Mal being okay that Alina doesn't use her powers and therefore being weak.

We have Mal being more concerned if Alina fucked the Darkling than being tortured by him. Apparently he wanted her virginity for him, I don't know.

We have Mal acting like crazy because Alina decided to return to Ravka to lead the remaining Grisha. But what about him?? What about his needs?? And what if he decides not to follow her? What will she do then?

(people call the Darkling manipulative but let me show you another person that you overlook as manipulative, my friends)

He gets angry when she hesitates to kiss him and again makes her feel bad about it. And how does he respond with that?

Revenge!!✨✨

Kisses Zoya, a woman he fucked before, and then threw the blame to Alina ("at least she doesn't flinch when I kiss her" "why do you care? You don't care about me anyway") Gaslighting at its finest form, my friends! 👌 Knew that she would be hurt, knew that she had feelings for him and still did it.

Oh and let's forget how he wanted the good, old Alina back! The sickly one that always depended on him for company and strength. He basically asked her to tear out a piece of her soul! 🥰🥰

And then, of course, jeopardized both her image and her safety by getting drunk and getting into fights (*whispering* we, the readers, are supposed to find this very romantic, okay? A man that drinks, sulks and makes the heroine feel bad. Just so you know).

Then the author made a 360° and presented Mal in R&R as changed and a very good person. Willing to die heroically for his love. How did she do that?

💕💕With zero development!!💕💕

One minute he's up there in the chapel being a jerk and the next minute he's underground and changed. I think it must have been the change of air, what do you think?

I have a huge problem with Leigh Bardugo about this. She presents Darklina as toxic. And it is. She presents Nikolina as little to zero toxic. And it is. But when she presents Malina, it's a really good, cute ship!! Not toxic at all with lots of possibilities! Leigh has constantly defended it saying "Oh but Mal was a teenager".

Ma'am? I was a teenager once and I never made my best friends feel like shit.

And as have everyone said before, Mal hits veeery close at home. He's every jerk that you have met in your life and you will meet again.

With Darklina you have nothing to fear. Because no one will put the collar of a magical stag around your throat, no one will have a nichevo'ya bite your shoulder, no one will ask you to abandon your friends so you can save some Grisha from the persecution. But plenty of men will slut-shame you for what you're wearing, plenty will feel insecure for being stronger and more famous than them, plenty will make you feel like shit for finding happiness and plenty will sabotage you by taking revenge kissing someone else.

Malina is a ship that is REAL.

While Darklina is your typical, fantastical ship.

Her hard efforts to pass it on to the readers as something healthy and inspiring is disgusting and makes me hate it even more.

Now from Alina's perspective things are even more tragic, since Alina never grows as a character because of him.

She always thinks "What about Mal? Will Mal follow me? What if he doesn't? It's my fault. It's all my fault. Where is Mal?".

This is it. This is the trilogy in a summary.

A heroine that seems more concerned about Mal than the country and people that expect from her to save them.

"Alina doesn't want a crown. That's why she left"

Girl, I don't want to go to work every day either.

Kids don't want to wake up to go to school.

People don't want to pay taxes every year.

But we do them because we MUST.

Just like Alina should stay, lead and rule because that's what she should do as the protagonist. Not pass on her own duties to others and say "gotta go lolz". Malina could be used as a plotline for Alina to gain strength from by casting aside Mal's influence and finding her own power inside herself. Instead Leigh did the opposite: stripped her powers (her own self) to fit in Mal's world.

And this excuse that the author had given ("some women don't want to wear crowns") is pathetic and idiotic.

Frodo didn't want to carry the Ring but chose to do the right thing. Harry didn't want to fight a war with a psychopath but did because it was the right thing. The Pevensie siblings didn't want to fight the White Witch and rule a country but did both because it was the right thing. Every hero in a proper story does the right thing. He or she becomes selfless and sacrifices his own happiness and well being to stand up against the evil and corruption.

In the trilogy instead we have Alina who had a responsibility and duty but unfortunately for Ravka and the Grisha she was not a responsible person but a girl that wanted to depend on a man. She didn't want to use her influence to protect her people but hide.

Apparently the "evil villain" understood the assignment better than the author ever did.

Alina never grew as a person or as a character. It was only Mal and Mal. If only he had stayed dead in R&R then the world would shine brighter. But no! The author brought him back and gave us an explanation with how that happened that I still don't understand because it doesn't make a goddamn sense.

I guess the easy explanation is: "I brought Mal back because Alina had to end up with him somehow. Deal with it."

And we just have to accept this (just as Alina did) whether we like it or not.

Well I don't.

Because I've met people like Mal and they're assholes. They want to be the strongest one in the relationship, they want their girl to look up to them and depend on them and when they make mistakes it's none of their fault.

Because I've met people like Alina that try hard to please their man while in the meantime they "crumble down" emotionally and feel insecure. They never shine with their own light but seek only the one that their toxic partner can give to them. Without it they're lost.

Because I've met couples like Malina. And it's never a happy relationship or has a happy ending.

And when you try to pass on this relationship in fiction as something healthy, then you really need to reconsider.

#this was bullshit. the way Leigh defended it and how she presented it. it makes me sick #darklina #the darkling #pro darklina #anti mal oretsev #anti malina #alina starkov #pro alarkling #leigh bardugo #shadow and bone #grishaverse #grishaverse trilogy

[boombrothersasks]

Alright gang, what's the plan? Try and get Shadow back to adult?

"Well...things are...CRAZY!" Eclipse stated, looking at baby Shadow (who had a strange plush toy that looked a lot like the Darkling,) and a now for some reason very tiny Rouge fawning over a random shiny gem, with Omega standing over them. ALL OUTSIDE THE CAVE! IN THE SNOW! WHERE SHADOW COULD GET COLD! HE WASN'T EVEN BUNDLED UP!!

Eclipse ran over to pick up his brother, bringing him inside the cave and bundling him up in one of the blankets they had.

"DAM FOURF EMERALD!!"

"...Huh?"

"EMERALD!! WANT!!"

"You mean the shiny gem thing? Hmm..." Eclipse looked back. "STICKS! GRAB THAT GEM OVER THERE! I NEED IT!"

"WHAT'S IN IT FOR ME!?"

"I'LL TELL YOU MORE ALIEN SECRETS, OR SOMETHING!! YOU DON'T EVEN HAVE TO KIDNAP ME FOR THEM!!"

"I WILL KNOW EVERYTHING!!" The badger let out a battle cry before crashing towards Rouge and Omega, running away on all fours with the gem in her mouth.

"That's...one way to do it. Thanks! Just needs kind of a clean, not giving that to Shadow, but that's fine!" Eclipse grabbed the back of his cape once he took the gem from Sticks, cleaning it off a bit before handing it to Shadow. "See? I'm so good at this..."

"SERIOUSLY?! A WHOLE SPARKLY, SHINY, PRECIOUS GEM FOR A BABY?!" Rouge shouted in a bit of disbelief.

"My baby brother gets what he wants, when he wants," Eclipse looked proud of himself, sitting beside the young Shadow. "Because I'M the best big brother there ever was. My arm spikes are not for chewing, Shadow. They're like armor, and they'll break your bitty fangs."

Rouge crossed her arms, pouting.

"QUERY RESTATEMENT : WHAT WILL WE DO WITH THE HOGLET? HOW WILL WE RETURN HIM TO NORMAL?" Omega questioned.

"And how do we get ME back to normal size?!" Rouge added.

"When can we talk about the alien secrets...?" Sticks had grabbed out a notebook and pen, glaring at the Darkling.

"HUNGRY!!" Shadow shouted.

"WAS I NOT HEARD? RESTATEMENT OF QUERY RESTATEMENT-"

"WE HEARD YOU!! WHAT ABOUT ME?! I'M THE SAME SIZE AS EVERY BUG IN THIS HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE PLACE AND I DO NOT LIKE IT!!"

"Are the aliens and the sky people workin' together? Do ya got a pact with them to control the weather?"

"HUNGRYYYYYYYYY!!"

"WHAT IF...!" Eclipse shouted over the four, making himself heard to silence them. "What if...we went over to Tails', and tried getting some help from him? He has a machine that turned me into a baby once, and I THINK it has some kind of reversal cure with it? I'm back to normal, aren't I? Rouge, maybe he also has some way to get you back to normal size! Omega, you were heard, loud and clear, don't worry. Sticks, I have literally no idea, I think father was scared of them. And Shadow? I'll just give him some coffee beans, he likes those! All problems solved, heheheh...! Noooooooooo problems here...! I can handle anything! Okay, gotta bundle him up in his winter scarf first...the best it'll fit him now, anyway..."

"Should you really be giving a baby coffee beans...?" Rouge seemed skeptical of that part of Eclipse's plan.

"Sure, why not? Like I said, he loves them!"

Sticks began to sniff the air (to which Rouge eyed her in an odd sort of way.) "I can smell it...there's trouble coming."

"Right, right, let's get to Tails'! And quickly, there's only a while my sweater with totally-on-purpose holes for my spikes will help in keeping me warm. Buuuuut...maybe we should take the long way anyway. I wanna be in charge for as long as possible, have as much fun as I can being the oldest!"

#sonic the hedgehog #sonic fandom #sth #boom!brothers au #sonic boom #sonic boom au #sonic au #boom!eclipse #boom!shadow #boom!omega #boom!rouge #sticks the badger

[oretsev]

hi helloo, i'd just written a novel in ur askbox about s&b and then tumblr crashed and it was all lost :') maybe for the better because it was a total mess of thoughts lmao so let me try to summarise my feelings a bit (im sorry this turned out REALLY long)

i HATE that they speedran s&s and r&r in the most bullshit way possible. the entire amplifier hunt was basically removed, at least journey-wise - they just. find the sea whip in that one cave and then they go to morozova's workshop and thats it?? wheres the shu han quest. where the fuck is the ACTUAL spinning wheel. and why is alina not hounding everyone to find the firebird??? she's supposed to be obsessively seeking it now, why does she barely seem to care? also where's the actual ending to siege and storm. WHERE is my darkling & alina fight. wheres her being saved by mal... where's her white hair !!!! idk that scene was my favourite and once i knew we were getting a tv show i really wanted to see this on screen :((

all the characters and relationships they cut... harshaw, misha, ONCAT, tamar&nadia (because lbr they basically weren't there), honestly i even missed sergei and stigg (who i'd barely even remembered before), nadia and adrik as siblings even. they just cut all these people and their journeys with alina for what, a fetch quest for a magic sword?

also, where's the apparat and the soldat sol? we hear people call alina 'sankta', sure, but the entire religious part of ruin and rising is just. completely sidelined. which is really weird because it's so important!! tolya and tamar's faith is basically nonexistent and i don't like it at all

the whole firebird reveal was soooo boring. like i'm sorry but that scene in the book? absolutely perfect. but in the show... it's just a story! baghra just tells mal and thats it! honestly this entire season was so much telling and not showing too, soooo much exposition and it just really didnt work

now then. ive put this off long enough but. the fucking ending. dude... i don't even know where to begin. how do you fuck up the rewrite of your book so badly that the entire moral of your book is just. completely lost?? literally the entire trilogy is built on the "what is infinite? the universe and the greed of men" quote. you CANNOT disregard that in this way. the point of the entire story is that alina's greed is punished! she loses her powers and she loses mal (sort of). the fold is destroyed by her power but not by her, because she never should have had that much power! now... she loses nothing. she has her power, she has three amplifiers, she brought mal back with merzost (which is still. insane to me like i legit laughed out loud when that happened) and now she's general of the second army and also soon probably queen of ravka??? she doesnt lose ANYTHING to her greed.

and with the ending too... where the hell are they going to take this next? because theyre sure as hell not following the kos duology storyline, what with alina now being nikolai's general instead of zoya (which im also. really pissed off about because zoya's story is SO important and theyve just. shoved her to the side)

i also have some thoughts about the crows and how theyve been handled of course i just don't feel as passionately about them (also because they shouldnt have been in this show in the first place but thats just my opinion <3) but i do wonder how theyre gonna start the soc spinoff when theyve basically done so much of the crooked kingdom plot already? and inej is literally already sailing and finding slavers like... i have no idea how theyre going to dothis spinoff and make everyone happy

very small last points but im so mad that they did the "an ordinary life full of ordinary things" line and then decided to. include nikolai? what the actual fuck? and then they didnt even GIVE malina their ordinary life... sorry im so so angry about this ending

i'm sure ive got more to say but this is already wayy too long and i don't wanna bother u anymore but ive just been mad for 3 days straight and really needed to get this off my chest <3 im really disappointed that theyve managed to screw up my favourite book series of all time so i'm just going to reread r&r and forget this season exists :D hope u have a nice day and thank u for reading this dump slfksdj

RIP but ty for venting!!! i totally get everything you’re saying. all of this comes down to the writers smashing basically all of the books into one season for NO reason. all of the things that make the trilogy & duology interesting & compelling & complex are gone bc there’s no time to show them. it’s constantly going GO GO GO with the plot, & for what?? nothing got added to these characters this season, i didn’t feel any impact during any of the big reveals, i didn’t get any emotional payoff from these characters’ journeys.

& why change the ending the way they do? eric’s already said that a season 3 would go back & touch on s&s things they didn’t address. so this ending is meant to draw out alina & mal’s stories, but why do it this way? why backtrack like that? you could certainly draw out the trilogy without speed-running the original ending like this, but that doesn’t fit whatever weird narrative he has for the crows ig.

#i’m tired!!!! let these characters breathe!! #he’s so determined to just tell his silly crows story that he flattened literally every character including them #answers #shadow and bone #genjasafin

[arillusionist]

shadow and bone season 1 episode 6 reactionnnnnn!! also i finished the first s&b book (it was so short compared to soc 💀💀), and i've started reading the next

nina is a spy for the darkling?? interesting..

ok but can they please show nina in this episode its been too long 😭😭

theyre gonna kill him right

yeah (god bless i never liked him anyways 🙏)

fuck if she gets out then kaz wont believe jesper about her being with them all along and he'll beat his ass

oh nvm

crows and alina meeting hell yeahhh 🔥🔥🔥

stop i so badly wanted for inej to say sankta alina or smth like that so they could be friends ☹️☹️

nina mention!!!

matthias mention!!!!

Yessss i am getting her in this episode!!!

yayy theres zoya screen time too!! they really gotta show more of her shes such an interesting character

oh my god wait... he probably made out with zoya and manipulated her too before alina came along..

hes such a hoe hes literally a pedophile too cuz isnt alina like 17??

nina looked so hot in that scene tell me im wrong (you cant)

ugh i think this was the scene in the book where mal came 🙄🙄 but then again after reading the book i've realized that show mal is SO much better i should appreciate him

yeah i was right

stop not nina saying that and literally gawking at his abs afterward 💀💀

everything ab this scene is so awkward i literally cant

aughh the crows finally its been 17903280 years

oh my god if kaz doesnt tell inej later this season or something what he gave up for her im gonna die but i also know its much more realistic if he doesnt 😭😭

them going from a kanej scene where theyre not communicating properly to a malina scene where they do comminute is so CRUEL ☹️☹️

isnt this the scene where the kiss

i dont even care for them but the tension is killing me wtf just do it already

helink are so funny when theyre tryna be enemies

hdhfhfkf i remember that line from the book!! nina is the best 🔥🔥

stop theyre so cute

i hope the darkling and kaz meet... emo boy battle who will win (we all know who)

inej fight scenes are literally the best hello

so are jespers even tho it wasnt really a "fight" scene

oh my god this really is like that one line "a suli girl who became a killer" once she did it for the first time shes js gonna keep doing it (as she should inej can do whatever she wants)

HELP EMO BOY BATTLE i was right

haha ik kaz would win 🔥🔥 stop the darkling must be so embarassing rn that literally some random ass criminal was able to escape him

do they have to show his wounds so close up ew

nina and matthias are actually so cuteauhdhf

stoppp i got so scared for a second there that he was gonna drop her

INEJ NOO ☹️☹️

that one shot of kaz you know what im talking about

wait hello isnt the book that guy threw at jesper shadow and bone??

malina angst is always like. 2 seconds long

i feel like every episode theres less and less of the crows and that makes me so sad 💔 i wish i could have more hope for the spinoff

#shadow and bone #grishaverse

[noirshadow]

Only in Dreams - Ch 10

AO3 - 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10

Aleksander POV

——

“What is it?” He called out annoyed. He had just gotten back from the War Room and just wanted a second of peace. A second to organize himself, collect his thoughts. Just a damned second to himself. A second where he wasn’t needed. Truth be told, he also just hated unscheduled interruptions of any kind. 

It was one of Baghra’s helper boys. He could never get the names straight, they changed over so often. This one was Levi maybe? Or was it Leo? “Sir, she’s asked for you,” Levi or Leo said timidly, the words barely spoken above a whisper. 

Aleksander sighed, easing himself out of the armchair he had only just literally sunk into, the seat barely warmed with his burdened body. The old woman had become daring now. She thought he had gone soft now, since Alina, and was at her beck and call. She was no longer terrified of him as she had been. He furrowed his brow. He supposed it wasn’t entirely a bad thing. Maybe it was a sign of repair. Of their relationship on the mend towards how it had been — in his youth. But still, she should know to remember her place. 

“I’m coming,” he replied, not bothering to hide the hint of disdain in his tone. “Run along and I’ll be right there.” 

The boy did not have to be told twice. Like a gust of wind, he was out of the room. Taking one sip of the bracing amber liquid he had poured himself only minutes before, Aleksander left it wistfully on the table and strode off toward the hut. He had seen Alina’s shut door on his way and had hesitated, wanting to knock but thought better of it. He’d check on her after. 

“Well, what is it?” He announced exasperatedly as he burst through the door without a knock. He leaned on the doorjamb, hoping to hint to Baghra that he wasn’t intending to stay long. 

The wizened old crone was in her usual armchair, completely unfazed by his dramatic entrance. The well-trained boy was already back, hard at work steeping some nettle infusion and was pouring a cup out for her. She raised her eyebrows at the tone. 

Without the girl here you’ve certainly returned to your old horrible self, my son.”

He waved his hand airily, the casual demeanor not reflecting his icy words in which each syllable cut like glass. “I don’t know what you mean but I’m merely stating I’m not just here to cater to your every whim. As you recall, I am in charge and you being here, living as you please is based on my continued generosity. That being said, there have been some developments and we are heading out tomorrow to meet the Apparat. As you can imagine, I have better things to do with my time. If you have something to say, spit it out.” 

Baghra remained unperturbed, her wrinkled face impassive as always. “Such hospitable behavior. Before you go tomorrow, I thought I’d give you some additional information. To help you. Out of the kindness of my heart. If you don’t want it, that’s fine by me,” spat Baghra, her words equally lethal, poisoned barbs sent pointedly toward him. The boy bowed himself out, clearly desperate to leave this soon boiling conflict. In his mind, Aleksander scoffed at the boy’s timidness. This was nothing. A friendly chat, even — standard for the two of them.

Aleksander forced himself not to roll his eyes as he sighed. In a way, her sharp volley back diffused the tension. It was always hard not to revert back to some semblance of a rebellious youth whenever he was talking to his mother. Let alone the years of stifling her when he ruled as the Darkling. The chair scraped against the rough-hewn floor as he pulled one out to sit down. His fingers steepled as his elbows rested on the chair arms, he gestured for her to continue with the most artificial look of grace and patience pasted across his face. As much of a concession as he could make. 

“Ukrast. If you are intending to use it, there is something you must know…” 

“Yes, yes, I know. It is dangerous and could turn me back into the power-hungry villain of before if I don’t be careful…” Aleksander interrupted, annoyed and impatient. If she had called him here to reiterate this, then it was a waste of both their time.  

“Not that,” Baghra interrupted right back. “I don’t care if you become soulless. I have already lived with that for hundreds of years. But one part of the Liber Pruina that I didn’t mention in front of the girl is that unchecked, ukrast can kill you.” 

Despite his best efforts to conceal it, Aleksander inhaled sharply but let the witch continue. 

“It is true that a Shadow Summoner’s shadows are where the core of their power lies, but there is a price for its usage. As it pulls the power from the other person, it also gets used up. There is balance in everything. As you pull someone’s power, you must give the same amount, as payment. It is not just like normal usage where your power is like a battery. In this case, when you over-exert, but it will never be replaced. If you were to use it and not be extremely cautious, the shadows could wholly drain from you and you will die. As you should be more than aware from merzost, this kind of dark magic always comes at a steep price.”

Aleksander let that sink in. Absorbed it. He should have known there would be a cost. There always was, wasn’t there. 

His instinct was to retort with some acidic comment but then he realized that Baghra had not only decided to share this important detail with him but had also purposely waited to speak to him alone. Without Alina. Because of that, he calmed down. He even felt a little something like gratitude toward his mother for sparing him that stress. Alina would undoubtedly reject the idea if his life was on the line and he knew he could never say no to her. He would always prefer anything else, even a danger to a plan, to any pain for his dear milaya.

Baghra was studying his face, no doubt already trying to read his thoughts. He had learned years ago to evade and conceal. Outwardly giving nothing away — face passive and unmoving — Aleksander replied. “Well, I’ll just have to be careful then. Without the Amplifier, the Apparat only has a tiny bit of power. I should hope it wouldn’t take much to steal that away.” 

“Many before you have underestimated dark magic. It is almost sentient. Once you activate it, it may not necessarily listen to you. Your shadows are obedient, yes, but under the influence of ukrast, it is hard to say what will occur. I found another mention of it later on in the Liber Pruina and how it is more uncontrollable and unwieldy since you are using it to take away. Even with the merzost, you were still building something. However perverse and unnatural, the Fold was your creation. Your power was building something. This is entirely different. It requires a true sacrifice of power.” 

Her black eyes shone almost pure black as Baghra warned, forcing through her point to him. Aleksander had only seen her like this a few times. It was real — it wasn’t a scare tactic. And maybe it was from his extended time on earth but he was no longer afraid for his life. No, he certainly didn’t want to die but the long years had hardened him, had drove out any childish fear of death. 

“I will keep that in mind, mother.” A pregnant pause. He had surmised it, but he needed to confirm. “And I am guessing from this covert meeting that you haven’t mentioned it to Alina? It is wise - it would only worry her. Perhaps, she would try to talk me out of it but this is our only plan at the moment.” 

Taking a sip of the hot tea, Baghra exhaled slowly — entirely relaxed and unfazed, her eyes having faded back to the stormy grey that he had inherited. “She is wiser than you give her credit for. She has somehow managed to change your previously immovable heart. She also has much more strength than you think. I’ve trained with her and our sessions on control have gone better than expected. She is quick study and determined. She learns easily from her mistakes. She is also humble and hungry to succeed. I don’t think I can necessarily say the same about you, except maybe when you were very young. You’d be wise to treat her like a real partner. She is not the same girl you brought back from Keramzin.”

Her words jolted Aleksander like a surge of electricity. Before, he had always treated Alina like the child he saw her as. He knew she was powerful — that was why he had identified and chosen her to begin with. But from the start, she had always been a means to an end. The end. The power he needed. Yet somehow now, it was a completely different situation. Alina had not only her own grand power but two amplifiers and had proven herself in a fight. And the new stakes she had created had taken him fully by surprise. Now, his protectiveness was for an entirely reason all together. She was still an asset, but a very different kind — a precious treasure. The nagging, incessant need to protect her was now a constant lingering being within himself with a mind of its own. 

He was so used to minding himself and himself alone. How long had it been since he took care of, let alone care for someone else? But Baghra was wrong. He couldn’t tell her. After everything that had happened, after Nikolai, there was no way that she would risk his life. And despite this shake-up to his life, he was still himself. The guy who would always put the mission first. Yes, there was the additional emotion of Alina in his life, but that’s precisely why he wouldn’t tell her. He would stoically bear this himself. Handle it himself unaffectedly with no emotion to color the decisions that had to be made. 

“I know that. But this is something else. It is a means to an end, Mother.” The emphasis on the last word was dripping with sarcasm. The rebellious teenage Aleksander bubbling to the surface replacing his normal calm exterior. “With everything that has happened, Alina would worry too much. We all know her emotion and compassion for others is a weakness that our enemies will not hesitate to exploit. The Apparat has been given too much leeway as is. We can afford this risk — I can. Not everyone who has tried has been as strong as me either.” 

“I guess your mind is made up. I brought you here to warn you. I’ve done my part. What happens next is your choice. You’re a grown man. You have never listened to me anyway so I didn’t expect you to listen to me now. But the warning is there. I’ve done what I can. You seem to be different — for the better at that — and I don’t want this thing to set you back.”

The chair scrapped as Aleksander pushed it out and approached the armchair by the fire. His mother flinched involuntarily, the scars of his old behaviors not yet faded from her memory. More softly than he had spoken to her in years, he started. “I can do this. I can do both. I can handle the ukrast and protect Alina at the same time.” 

His hand reached out as if to touch her. A muscle memory of old, but he resisted it. 

Baghra met his gaze. “Gone are the days where I can command you. And you have operated on your own for a long time. But just know that it can be a strength too. Compassion and people around you can strengthen you — can give you something to fight for. Don’t forget that.” 

Nodding, Aleksander turned to leave. Baghra inhaled as if about to say something else. His head shifted toward the side, back toward her. “On a related note, you cannot underestimate Lilit. She may seem to be the pawn of the Apparat but she, no doubt, has her own agenda. She is a Morozova, after all. The Apparat’s power is nothing compared to hers. In dealing with the Apparat, do not forget the true threat.”

The old woman turned back to the fire, stoking the flames as some herbal concoction boiled above it. He clearly was dismissed — she was done with him. Her warnings had been harsh but layered deep within them, there was a thin layer of love or something like it that hadn’t been seen in years. He expected it was because of Alina, and his recent “change” that she was doing this and he was grateful. He wanted to reply, to recognize it but he still couldn’t bring himself to verbalize something that. Instead, he left it like that.  

Wordlessly, he gave a nod of acknowledgement before heading out of the stuffy cottage. In the fresh air, Aleksander inhaled deeply, able to think clearly now with enough oxygen. The Apparat undermined everything he had been building and that he was continuing to build with Alina. He would not lose that now. He would do everything he could to preserve this life. Keep her safe. Even at his own expense. Some things were worth it. 

#darklina #shadow and bone #grishaverse #canon divergence #post siege and storm #darklina fic #alina starkov #the darkling #aleksander morozova #the darkling x alina #fic: only in dreams #noirshadow writes

[kurisus]

Yukine, Okabe, and uhhhhhhhhhhhhhh Mal ❤️

Triple threat. In the order you sent:

Yukine. My son. My boy. I could mark the "I'm mentally ill about them" box for pretty much every character in Noragami, but out of all of them, Yukine is the one I'm the MOST mentally ill about. Just literally everything about his character makes me cry if I think about it for too long.

He's so good I want to protect him from the torture Adachitoka puts him through every chapter [kicks my fics under the rug]. On top of that, he's just so interesting as a character because he was this huge mystery for so long, yet we inferred everything we needed to know from the chapters leading up to his past being explored, even before we got the facts. I could go on for hours about Yukine.

Adachitoka's writing is masterful, and I think it's clearest with Yukine when you reread after learning his past and everything clicks into place.

I love Okabe. He's not bad enough to mark him down as a horrible person, but neither is he the type where I'd say he's never done anything wrong in his life.

Not sure if he's really deeper than he seems if you've played the VN and get a full brain scan, but he's definitely a great and interesting character because he's just this everyday, a little goofy, a little immature college kid who fucks around and finds out. And he doesn't WANT to be the guy who stopped WWIII, he literally only does it because he thinks it'll help the people he loves. I love that because it's such a departure from a protagonist being such a nice good person they save the world just because.

The "why do they look like that" is mostly because of how creepy he looks when he's doing his mad scientist spiel, which I'm sure is intentional, but still.

I don't have much to say about Mal. Book Mal sucks, show Mal has rights, hence "nothing I like about them is technically canon."

I didn't know it was possible to do the childhood friends to lovers trope INCORRECTLY, but boy did this book series pull it off. He's mean, he's selfish, I cannot for the life of me figure out why he's the love interest we're supposed to root for (don't get me wrong, the Darkling and Nikolai both suck as love interests too. Alina's arc should have been about her realizing she doesn't need anyone for her powers to work WHICH IS WHAT SHE LEARNED IN BOOK 1 AND THEN FORGETS ABOUT??? SMH). I think it's pretty telling that the Netflix show said they were going to make Mal more "likeable" and proceeded him to take the opposite actions he did in the books, every single time.

I wonder how they're going to do Siege and Storm, since 80% of the "plot" of that book hinges on Mal and Alina constantly arguing about dumb things and they made him nice in the show.

#Noragami #Steins;Gate #Shadow and Bone #viinas #ask