#vasalisa

[serpentinequeen]

Василиса Прекрасная - Vasalisa the Beautiful (1977)

#Vasalisa the Beautiful #vasalisa #1977 #animation #Vladimir Pekar #soviet animation #Василиса Прекрасная #russian animation

[sparx1075]

I feel like I'm suddenly obsessed with these 2 😭

Istg I've never even heard of them before and now I'm crying like a babyyy

#vasalisa #ice skating #tik tok #tiktok #love #dont tell me they arent in love #😭 #follow my tumblr #follow me #pls share

[sharksandsquirrelsandsnakes-ohmy]

So Vampire Academy premiered today on Peacock and, as someone who loves the books and recently reread them for this day, I'm pissed.

Spoiler warning here: books and tv series

They really threw the books out the window and it was a very bad decision.

1st, what is with the wannabe classic vampire style? Why do the royals dress like 19th century vampires when the girls literally talk about their clothes being for Target, Forever 21, and GAP. I think the movie did better with balancing the gothic building and modern clothes.

Saint Vladimir's is a damn castle. Full send, castle

Lissa and Rose start the series as seniors! As in, Lissa is a senior when her family dies.

Who TF is the 1st queen? Well, actually I know. The series starts with the queen before Tatiana.

On the topic of Tatiana, she is is her 20s and has ssx with Andre the night he dies!

Oh, and Andre is openly dating and planning to marry Mia...

Lissa has a coronation as head of the Dragomir family too

Before which, she has to learn to recite something in "old moroi" which is when she meets and starts getting along with Christian

Victor Dashkov doesn't look sick at all. He's literally supposed to be dying, which is why he kidnaps Lissa in the 1st book

Natalie, Victor Dashkov's daughter, doesn't exist!

But don't worry, Victor has 2 daughters now: Sonya Karp and Mia Ranaldi who is apparently a Karp now but still non-royal as the daughter of a royal moroi????

Lissa apparently doesn't know about her and Rose's psychic bond?

Lissa burns in sunlight (don't even get me started on this) instead of cutting

Lissa and Rose NEVER RUN AWAY

Meaning Lissa never feeds off Rose

Meaning the Psy Hounds don't attack them

Meaning Lissa still doesn't use her compulsion to live life

Meaning Dimitri never hunted them down! He just randomly appeared after Lissa's family died

Rose has an accent meaning she can't make fun of Dimitri by calling him "cheap foriegn labor" like she does in the book

Also, Demitri is Irish? So wtf is gonna happen when he gets turned strigoi and runs off? Will he not be a Russian Strigoi mob boss? What about his family is the dhampir village?

And Dimitri isn't even that attractive. Or tall. Or have a ponytail. Or wear his signature cowboy duster, which is the worst of it.

AND THEIR FUCKING DORMS Lissa and Rose live together in the Moroi dorms????

Then, Rose gets moved to the dhampir dorms that look like the barracks from Divergent. No walls. No dividers between beds. Nothing!

And the moroi dorms are huge and the windows aren't tinted which is ridiculous considering they decided the moroi can't be in the sunlight.

Mia and Lissa share a room, which sets it up for Mia to be planting the dead animals even though Sonya will definitely be the one turning strigoi to help Victor.

If they're roommate and Mia's dad ks Victor, there's no way they get the severe rivalry of the books.

And wtf is with the Dhampir rankings thing? Is Meridith going to be important now? She was mentioned, like, once in the books.

Holy fuck! I almost forgot the weird feeder thing! The feeders aren't in private cubicles by the dining hall, they're in the basement in one big room with red velvet couches and, once again, no dividers between people. And the feeding scenes are fucking weird.

Y'all, I haven't even finished the pilot. It's so much different from the books that it could almost be it's own thing.

#vampire Academy #rose hathaway #Vasalisa Dragomir #christian ozera #victor dashkov #natalie dashkov #mia rinaldi #sonya karp #dimitri belikov #the vampire Academy spoilers

[mortau]

"Damn, babe, you look spicier than a cajun sausage."

#vasalisa || ic #q #open #verse || main verse

[loveyazy]

Hi! So I haven't read acotar (well a little bit but it didn't hook me) but I've been reading your posts about the upcoming book and I'm so curious, I don't know these characters but the second hand gossip is fun and I'm rooting for them lol when does the book come out? when will it be announced who the protagonists are?

JSHDKAKJSD I had written so much on my phone but then I closed all the apps and I lost it so hopefully I can remember most of it still.

The thing is it's OBVIOUS it's going to be Elain. She has even said in this interview x at 25:00. I don't know why people genuinely think GWYN is going to be the next book 🫠. Her purpose was to help Nesta. Outside of that, there is not much left to tell of her story. It's done. TBH, I completely forgot she even existed after I finished reading ACOSF. Like I kept seeing posts about her on my insta discover, and I was like who tf is Gwyn? 💀

Also just... ELAIN IS THE THIRD ARCHERON SISTER. How can it NOT be about her when Feyre had the first three and then Nesta had the fourth? Like it's so painfully obvious. Anyone who thinks otherwise is just delusional.

Even if it's not Elain and it happens to be Mor, it's NOT going to be Gwyn before Elain LMFAO.

But this is why I think it's going to be Elriel and not Elucien.

Firstly, Koschei the Deathless. The story follows Ivan marries his THREE SISTERS to THREE WIZARDS.

Ivan saw his three sisters wed to the first suitors who came across them—wizards in the form of birds.

Hmmm THREE SISTERS. BIRDS >>>> BATS. 👀

Eventually Ivan goes on to defeat Koschei with the help of his sisters and their husbands.

And then we have another Koschei retelling. The FOX and the FIREBIRD. Listen Sarah was not subtle with the names. Vasalisa >> Vassa. Lucien had a fox mask in ACOTAR, making him the obvious fox. You can read more on it here but I'm going to do a quick summary.

A king has a garden that produces one gold apple a day, but it was stolen every night. He promised half his kingdom to whichever son could catch the thief. He has three sons, and they all tried to catch it. The third son saw the firebird and shot at it, and hit the bird in the wing, but it escaped and left behind a golden feather. The king wants the fire bird and promises whoever brings the fire bird alive would get half the kingdom and be the heir. So they all go out to find the Fire Bird, and they all encounter a Red Fox.

The fox approaches each prince, and asks for something to eat, but the first two shoot at it. The third prince shares his food. So the Red Fox takes him to the palace where the fire bird is and tells him how to grab the fire bird by putting it in the wooden cage, not the golden. Well, the prince says how can a lovely bird be in a wooden cage and proceeds to put it back in the golden, but then basically sounds an alarm and he gets arrested. The King tells him to bring him back a golden man.

The fox says he'll help the prince, but of course the prince is a dumbass and goes I'm gonna choose the pretty one instead of the one the fox told me to choose and he gets arrested and this king says bring back Princess Goldilocks from the Golden Palace in the Black Sea.

Anyways it goes on and the third brother is betrayed by his other two, and the fox brings him back to life. In the end he gets the kingdom, the firebird, Goldilocks, etc. The fox is very instrumental in this story.

SPOILERS AHEAD IF YOU HAVEN'T READ ALL OF ACOTAR

We have hints that Lucien and Vassa are very close. They talk to each other. Plus they live together along with Jurian.

Plus if it was going to be Elucien there would be hints that Elain even had romantic feelings for him. Even a little attraction. She doesn't. She literally stares at a boiling tea kettle until he leaves because she doesn't want to spend any time with him.

She wants nothing to do with him. And yes sure she says she doesn't want a male, but remember that she is still dealing with the traumatic events of being forced into the cauldron and being changed.

This though, happens a year later with Azriel...

Imagine seeing this in the most recent book, and thinking they're like siblings. Sounds like the antis have some sort of incesty weird freaky ass sibling relationships. 😬

This also happens in the book, which I believe is during the same time? But Az's was a bonus chapter and this was available to everyone.

Elain is not herself around Lucien. I don't understand how anyone can see their relationship and think that's going to be endgame. This was the most recent book.

Even before ACOSF, Nesta and Cassian had this in the previous book that alluded to their romance.

But there is absolutely nothing to allude to any sort of Elucien romance. Elain wants NOTHING to do with Lucien. And honestly, I don't blame her. Who would? He was a part of the most traumatic thing that ever happened to her.

I'll never understand Elucien shippers. If you like Lucien, why would you ship him with someone who wants nothing to do with him? If you like Elain why would you ship her with someone she wants nothing to do with?

I'm 10000000% convinced the Elucien shippers are just Gwynriels who ship them so they can have their ship justified, but most of their evidence is just their headcanons, and them not being able to read between the lines and interpreting things very wrong.

#pro elriel #anti gwynriel #anti elucien #elriel #pro elain archeron #pro azriel #i tagged these as antis so if you come for me I'm going to ask why the fuck you're here?

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

Deathless Thoughts:

I only read this book in full once in 2017 and have only really paged through it a lot since. I definitely found it much more deliberate and thematically coherent this time around. I remember initially feeling like the surrealism and constant jumps ahead were disjointed but it reads very cohesively to me now. I’m very curious if that will continue past the latter 50% which I haven’t reread yet. I remember starkly disliking that portion and I have no idea if I’ll feel similarly this time around— because I already enjoyed the second act much more on reread and acknowledged its purpose, when up until now I did not lol

My initial thoughts were that the fantasy elements were too surreal to care about and that the relationship was too much of a nothing, with too little not unpleasant screen time to justify its centrality to the plot. But having read more classic surrealist Russian lit has familiarized me to the former and makes me actually understand what it’s going for. And for the latter I think I’m just more onboard with unpleasantness and abuse being the point. So currently, my perspective is almost wholly positive.

I enjoy the book’s use of its subject material— fairytales set in actual history— as many many metaphors. First folktales and fantasy specifically in the Soviet era, so rife with censorship, as a vehicle for allegory, their use and importance in literature itself being a motif. Then the metaphor for inexorable class hierarchies and unchangeable power structures before and after the revolution, the way only the branding changed, but the power structures remained. And also, most pervasively, as a way to examine gender roles and gendered loss of agency; the politics of a marriage.

I really liked the way the novel built up Koschei and how everything is about Marya’s relationship with Koschei (her relationship with agency and the lack thereof) even when he’s fairly infrequently on screen. From her sister’s bird husbands in the opening, and child Marya’s musing on the potential transformative nature of marriage— but also the inherently unequal power dynamic and resolving that she will do/be better because she knows more than they did. To the metaphor of her thinking that a secret will treat her well and then later the line where the personified secret is then likened to a husband who will be her ruin. Even that when Koschei finally shows up to take her away it’s compared to being taken away by the revolutionary government/the police.

Marya is herself highlighted for her knowledge and her desire for it. Specifically the ability to see discrepancies in the stories she is told whether that is the magical or ideological and political. The sisters in the opening marry into seemingly static unmoving snapshots of history. Meanwhile Marya’s singled out in her precociousness and open admittance of there being anything completely beyond the ideologies presented by each suitor in his human form [the power structure of the Tsarist state, and the Soviet Union]. She’s defined by wanting to see beyond dichotomies and limited scopes of propaganda. She sees it as a skill, and it is, but it’s also something that singles her out for misery, both by her peers (the scarf incident) and by the likes of Koschei who is specifically drawn to willfulness and a lack of adherence to a particular role with the intent of breaking that will.

The entire seduction segment that is turning all the food and her illness into an erotic power exchange is also just explicitly about breaking her will, and fostering perfect obedience and dependence on him. It’s also really interesting that, in going with him, she does somewhat lucidly give up and trade away her agency/ability to dictate a story/her own perspective in exchange for being physically well cared for. (But then even that is very thorny and with many strings attached)

So by part two, she is stuck in the dichotomy of “who is to rule” and either she can be a Yelena/Vasalisa or a soon-to-be Baba Yaga. Yet, either way, she is never good enough and it is still inevitably an exploitative and draining situation.

Marya being successful in her willingness to do degrading and cruel things to earn Baba Yaga’s blessing and Koschei’s favor being punctuated by all her friends— who without which she would never have succeeded at all— dying horribly illustrates that so well. In her success she is only further isolated. She will never repay their help, because being Tsaritsa of Buyan, and having any sort of power, is inherently antithetical to that.

The emphasis on Lebedeva’s girlboss magic makeup and the passage about Marya being told that girls must care only for vapid, pretty things, among other moments, might feel extremely dated. But I do think they’re intended to be employed in a way where traditional femininity presents a sort of deliberate and acknowledged safety? And it goes hand in hand with Marya, while never choosing to be a “Yelena” in traditional soft femininity, does end up choosing to try to leverage soft power and soft manipulation within deliberately gendered terms fairly often. But again it’s just presented from a very dated and particular context.

So far, the sheer dedication of the book to being an explicit Bluebeard tale and a story about abuse, and how there is no winning in that sort of relationship has been very fun for me.

I also enjoyed Koschei outright lying about the Yelenas and Vasalisas— and then later about the location of his death. I think that’s a character type you usually expect to deceive via omission but, no, he just outright lies a lot.

Another example is that Widow Likho’s book makes it clear that humans best enter into Buyan when ill, and meanwhile everything Koschei does is of course explicitly a repetition of previous stories. So it’s practically confirmed that he had taken every Yelena etc on that same long trip and made them ill on purpose. Even though in the moment he claims to be surprised by it, and spontaneous in caring for her through her illness.

Or the suggestion that he found a reason to put all the other girls in the stable when they got to Buyan as punishment for disobeying him. That the point is the punishment and breaking of the will rather than there being any sort of standard the bride could realistically meet where he would be happy with her and welcome her to her new home without that initial humiliation and fear.

It’s also incredibly funny and refreshing that this book buys into Koschei’s nonsense way less than any of its subsequent imitators. (The Grisha trilogy included!) I enjoyed Baba Yaga being like “Why is everything black, stop being dramatic 🙄”

He’s barely present in the book at all. His page count is truly negligible! And it’s great!

Like I mention earlier, that was actually something I was annoyed by on my first read, the relationship just seemed fairly thin, even though the snapshots of it that we get are fascinating. But after being inundated with so many books worshipping the ground love interests like him stand on, I love how much he doesn’t fucking matter and how little page time he has. How that itself allows Marya’s emotions and conflicted feelings to remain central. The narrative doesn’t care about him, it’s only what impact he has on her that’s relevant.

Anyway somewhat superficial but I really enjoy the goth love interest being the Tsar of Life, because authors typically go a more obvious and melodramatic route. Despite all of the goth mystique, him not being associated with death, darkness, night, etc was refreshing. But also I do generally just find the concept of life being equated with the lurid and demanding, the parasitical, something that is always in a personal sense at war with death— aka the mention of him always looking sickly or feeling skeletal initially when he kisses Marya— a compelling one. It’s death and the maiden wrapped up in a single person essentially.

Anyway I also appreciated the parallel of the Yelenas being trapped in eternity weaving soldiers while Marya’s first thought upon seeing Koschei is that if she had knitted herself a perfect lover he would look like that. There is the constant underpinning of Marya being wholly separate from them, the question of whether she is greater or more horrible than them, but at the heart of it she’s really not. She’s just another victim in a long string of them.

#cautiously hopeful that I’ll like the second half just as much despite my opinions on first read #deathless #koschei the deathless #marya morevna #book talk #i ramble sometimes #*writer’s cap*

[ketzarts]

Vasalisa, a sabida. Livro: Mulheres que correm com os lobos de Clarissa P. Estés

Parte I

#digitalart #character design #illustration #drawing #art #illustrator #desenho

[olmoonlight]

Смотрите "POLESQUE ROCK PARTY 2022 | Vasalisa" на YouTube

#Youtube

[romeoandjulietyouwish]

Campfire for the Percy and Kiki childhood friends AU? - ghost

There are a good many traditions in Keyleth's family, ones that for as long as she can remember, the de Rolos have taken part in. Without fail, her favorite is every October when her parents build a massive campfire to burn all the sticks and leaves from around the farm.

They always make a celebration of it, inviting friends over and cooking food over the fire. But Keyleth's favorite part is once everyone but the de Rolos have gone home.

She and Percy sit squished together with a flannel blanket wrapped around their shoulders, their fingers sticky from s'mores. The others are sitting in a circle around the fire with them, their faces illuminated by the slowly burning out fire.

Cassandra is fast asleep in her mother's arms, but that's for the best, Keyleth thinks, she's probably too young to hear this story.

Korrin stands and looks at all the kids with a glimmer in his eye. "Are you ready?" He is immediately met with cries of agreement, Korrin chuckles. "Alright then, this is the story of a little girl called Vasalisa."

As Korrin launches into the tale of a little girl being eaten by a witch, Percy and Keyleth cling to each other's hands, neither truly scared, but excited by the story. Korrin wanders around, weaving in and out of the children as he talks, leaning down to whisper in a tense moment before shouting loudly, causing all of them to jump and then start laughing.

It's the same story every year, though sometimes the details change. But the story changes after the death of the de Rolos, when it's just Keyleth and Cassandra and Percy and all their friends. The story becomes one of family, of wanderers banded together to defeat a great evil. Though it's still scary at moments, there are no witches to be found.

#kiki and percy childhood friend au #critical role #vox machina

[ardn716scarletttetleyjones]

Research: Dolls in Myth/Folk stories

Research from Women Who Run With the Wolves by Clarissa Pinkola Estes*, a Jungian interpretation of folk tales. Looking at the significance of the doll using the Russian tale of Vasalisa the Wise as a case study.

Estes suggests the doll, which in the Vasalisa tale warns her of danger and gives advice, represents the homunculus ('the small being within'). The doll is a physical symbol of the "la vida cita/ the instinctual life force", which we need to listen to and nourish and should not ignore. I think this is an interesting idea, especially considering how often the doll appears in contemporary and historical contexts.

[1234567ttttttttttt]

POLESQUE ROCK PARTY 2022 | Vasalisa

#youtube

[pinklocksoflove]

"Hey Vasalisa. You ever think about how people hold onto pain, specially when it comes to loss? How it blocks them from instead feeling happiness they had the time they had? I prefer to remember the good, to build on it." She had a gentle hand on the vampire's arm. "I hope you will too. For every good memory, celebrate it happened. Not that it has passed."

"It's something I've felt often, in the past. Living as long as I have, shared many loves. I hold onto the memories to cherish."

Vasilisa cups Linkle's cheeks.

"It's a wonderful way to look at things."

#Vasilisa von Rosengart

[linklewinklewoman]

Linkle, are you aware that the Countess you consort with is a bloodsucking monster? Please for the love of Hylia be careful. She could be controlling your mind for all we know.

"Listen here! I've had enough I have fought monsters and those who choose to harm others! I have faced those who had no remorse for those around them and I have faced the power hungry sociopaths! Vasalisa is not a monster and would never hurt me! You are more a danger to others than she is! What's next?! Fear the Gorons who can break rock with their hands? The Rito who command the skies? The Zora who reign over water? Maybe the Gerudo and Sheikah cause they are darker skinned or have white hair?! Differences should not be feared, they should be celebrated! And Vasalisa is a kind and generous soul I'd trust a thousand times over more than you!"

[toccata-i-voir]

Then don't question wording.

You do sound like a Beethoven. We'll see if that's a good or bad thing.

Favourite fairytale? Don't be boring.

Easy - Vasalisa the Fair. Oldie, but goodie.

In general, the older versions of fairytales are much more compelling than the modern interpretations.

Good or bad, huh? I don't subscribe to that dichotomy, not when it comes to people. People always come in shades of grey. Separating those into black and white is simply reductive.

#mother loved that story as well #the only thing about her homeland she appreciated #besides the cuisine #mystery anon

[ao3feed-tolkien]

巫師Feanor與Beren

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/N1HvEdo

by Elwath

生日賀文。 改編自蘭格童話和俄羅斯童話＜Vasalisa＞。

Words: 955, Chapters: 1/?, Language: 中文-普通话 國語

Fandoms: The Silmarillion and other histories of Middle-Earth - J. R. R. Tolkien

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: Major Character Death

Categories: Other

Characters: Beren Son of Belemir, Maglor | Makalaurë

Relationships: Fëanor | Curufinwë & Sons of Fëanor, Beren Erchamion/Lúthien Tinúviel

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/N1HvEdo

#IFTTT #ao3feed #fanfic #Tolkien #JRR Tolkien #Tolkien works #ao3 #fan fiction

[goblins-riddles-or-frocks]

Sorry not sure if it's okay to ask this, but do you have any reccs for fantasy or sci-fi books, other than the ones with Alina and the Darkling I mean?

It’s absolutely okay! That being said, I’m rather terrible at giving out blanket recommendations because I like to tailor to taste/what someone might be in the mood for. But here are a few things I liked in no particular order!

Book of Night by Holly Black

This is* Holly Black’s most recent, very highly anticipated release, and also her adult debut. It’s very on the radar lol but there was some negative rap surrounding it, that I actually found pretty surprising.

It’s a fairly slow building, character driven urban fantasy with a noirish tone. The premise is that the general populace has only recently learned that people’s shadows can be used to perform magic. The protagonist is a former teen-con-artist turned notorious thief in the magic world (stealing grimoires, magical artifacts, etc) who’s trying desperately to get her life in order. But then she finds herself dragged into the center of a mystery.

*was until literally two days ago, I forgot Stolen Heir exists

The Poppy War by R F Kuang

This series was probably my favorite read of 2021. It’s a sprawling fantasy drawing from Chinese history, with a protagonist loosely inspired by Mao Zedong. It’s notorious for being really dark and brutal, and it’s very well done but not a light read. That being said, I think there’s some uneven choices with the relationships development in the first book, and it has some debut clumsiness but overall it’s very good. And Kuang’s skill noticeably improves with every book.

Vassa in the Night by Sarah Porter

I read this over five years ago so I’m not entirely certain how it holds up. But I remember it as a really fun urban fairy tale, bordering on surrealism. It’s a modern retelling of Vasalisa the Beautiful where the protagonist is sent out by her stepsister to buy lightbulbs at Babs Yags’ convenience store in the middle of the night, gets accused of shoplifting, and must prove her innocence by completing three impossible tasks or get *beheaded.* It’s just really weird and really fun.

All Systems Red by Martha Wells

These are a fun set of novellas set in a cyberpunk dystopia. The protagonist “Murderbot” is a sentient android/cyborg owned by a bond company who sends it to protect contracted human research teams from potential threats. But Murderbot’s hacked itself so that it can do the bare minimum/spend the majority of its time watching television. The first book is really fast and imo the clumsiest of the bunch but it goes on to become a really interesting sci fi thriller as Murderbot embarks on a journey to unravel a corporate conspiracy and just figuring out personhood, who it is, and what it wants out of life, etc

She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan

Sweeping historical set in alternate china with some magical elements. It’s billed as Mulan meets the Song of Achilles and it fits that description really well! The protagonist is a peasant girl living in abject poverty who, upon her brother’s suicide, steals his identity and hopefully his fortune, because while he was foretold to be “great” her fate was to be “nothing.” And she goes from taking refuge in a monastery, becoming ordained, to eventually joining the rebel forces that end up destroying the place, all in a bid to survive and achieve this ephemeral idea of greatness.

There’s also a foil protagonist/antagonist in a eunuch military commander, who, as a child, chose castration over death when the emperor demanded the eradication of all the men in his bloodline. And then, iirc, kept him on as a ward? And his struggle with filial duty to avenge them at the cost of his own wants and personal loyalties is fascinating. Overall this book explores gender, social roles, queerness, and misogyny in really interesting ways.

Empress of Salt and Fortune by Ngi Vo

It’s been awhile since I read this one too but it’s the first in a series of novellas. It’s told through a framing device, as a story told to another character. It’s again a sort of fantasy imperial china, about a foreign empress in a very unhappy marriage, shunned by everyone at court, and her relationship with her handmaiden. And their eventual scheme to overthrow her husband. These books are very short, and told in a leisurely fable-esque way, but I enjoy them a lot.

Gideon the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

I know this is the internet darling right now, but unfortunately it is just as good as the hype. The first book is like a space opera spin on a country house murder mystery. The protagonist, a foundling on a desolate planet, wants nothing more than to escape and make her own life, and she’s given the chance to if she pretends to be her most despised childhood enemy/ruler’s personally sworn knight essentially— they call them cavalier’s in universe— and accompanies her on an unknown trial on another planet. And then things start going very wrong.

It’s billed as lesbian necromancers in space, and like, yeah that covers it! The subsequent two books get weirder with every installment and the fourth and last book’s not out yet, but overall this is a really solid series.

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson

This one’s a space opera I’ve seen people calling economicspunk. The protagonist is a ruthless machiavellian type, intent on getting revenge on the empire that colonized and destroyed her homeland by clawing up the ranks. And though she’s relegated to an accountant, she intends to use that position to achieve her ends. There’s a lot of twisty political intrigue in this, though a large part of the conflict comes from her trying to survive as a lesbian in a brutally homophobic society.

The Diabolic by S J Kincaid

This is the absolute silliest of the bunch. But it’s probably my favorite YA series. It’s like space opera hamlet if ophelia was a super soldier. The protagonist is a “diabolic” genetically engineered to protect her charge at all costs, down to pretending to be her when she’s demanded at the (space!) emperor’s court. It’s ridiculous but fun, the second book is the best in the series imo, and the third book is… fine if rather weird. It’s an entertaining brain off kind of read.

#okay but the thing is… I actually would not recommend the books with the darkling and alina shdhdgdd #book talk #fantasy #sci fi #bookblr #all the bendy punctuations #a mysterious stranger has appeared #i ramble sometimes