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kru-sader · 2 days

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Finished Rule of Wolves a few ago - essentially completing the Grishaverse series more than an year after I had completed the first five books. I was avoiding starting King Of Scars for the sole reason that I found out Zoya- whom admit I disliked greatly- was going to be more of a main character and Nikolai's love interest in this duology.

Although the duology did do a good job in redeeming her for me, I still have several complaints about her character arc.

Firstly, the sad backstory was definitely- sad; however it in no way logically explains Zoya's vile behaviour towards Alina in SAB. The only way Leigh Bardugo could have clarified all of that, her superiority complex and her mean gurl persona in general was to let her be the arrogant and self-centered girl she was painted out to be initially. She could have owned that and I personally would have loved her still. Does she go around treating Otkazat'sya with hostility? Yes. Would she still put her life on the line to save theirs? Also yes. Does she look down on pretty much anyone and everyone she meets? Yes. Does that affect how she does her duties as the General? No. Does she grumble and complain about something all the time? Yes. But does she also work incomparably hard to somehow put life into a dying nation? Yes.

I have no qualms about her backstory. It was fine. It gave us a peek into where Zoya came from, what she's suffered and all that she risks losing if she fails. But I cannot for the life of me find the link between all that and her actions in SAB. The author could have just let her be a snarky little shit while showcasing all that she does for her country and people rather than force her into the super annoying mold of the soft and sensitive saintly girl who's so traumatised she's adopted this tough girl persona who cares about no one. It feels ingenuine, like even in her own monologues Zoya is acting to get the readers to sympathise with her.

Another thing that infuriated me to no end about her character was how inconsistent it was :|

In chapter 5 Zoya clearly says to Count Kirigan ,

"You will invite me to a fine dinner. We'll both drink too much wine. You'll get me to talk about myself, the pressures of my position, the sadness of my past. Perhaps I'll shed a tear or two. You'll listen sensitively and astutely and somehow discover my secret self.....

...There is no secret self. I'm not going to reveal another me to you. I'm not going to be tamed by you. I am the king's general. I am the commander of the Second Army...."

It was so nice reading that and thenn thennnnnnn?!!?? You know what happened in chapter 23??!!!

Behold my angry notes I added at 2 AM because this scene made me want to scream.( please ignore the ton of spelling mistakes- it's really difficult to type on a Kindle and I was also shaking because I was a sleep deprived ball of rage)-

[Without all the spelling mistakes- the note basically says-

I hate what they are doing with Zoya's character here.Once she'd established with Kirigan that she was not some rough outside soft inside cliche fantasy, that he was not going to peek inside of her and see a hurt, broken and just a sensitive girl- it should've stayed like that. Just because it's Nikolai does not mean it's not an injustice to her arc to just come out as a soft hurt girl. I don't mean to insult every female character that does fit that stereotype. There's nothing wrong with it. But with the way Zoya's storyline progressed even her background I know Zoya was meant to be a tough outside tough inside girlie. She had made it clear herself and that monologue to Kirigan about how true love wasn't going to soften her edges should have been her truth. It was her truth.

Zoya didn't even need to be a sociopath or a psychopathic character for this. The author could've portrayed her weak and vulnerable moments in solitude. Hell- there was Juris the dragon inside of her. He could have been used as a plot device to show Zoya grappling with her past her mistakes, loss, grief, self-doubt, (bad) mental health, psychological pain etc.

I feel like wve the Nikolai and Zoya ship would've been better this way. There was no need to make him the knight in shining armour that breaks down the walls of the outwardly harsh but actually soft and small and weak girl. She's the General of Ravka for God's sake.]

Overall though I liked the books and fairly enjoyed them. I think on the whole the author did a stellar job - especially in terms of plot development and the charcter development of most other characters.

TL;DR- Ways I think Zoya's character was ruined for me personally.

#rule of wolves #grishaverse #king of scars #leigh bargudo #zoya nazyalensky #nikolai lantsov #zoyalai #reading challenge #books & libraries #reading #currently reading #sankt juris

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jancys-blue-bayou · 5 years

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Come on now, how am I supposed to not want every single number on that list for jancy??? Except for the appearance one I guess unless we're talking uh 👀👀👀 things that are less... apparent. (Sorry I'm terrible)

Holiday headcanon

Answered!

2. Cooking headcanon

Jonathan “Breakfast Boy” Byers is the better cook, having cooked for his family for years. I go a little bit back and forth on Nancy, I don’t think cooking would be something she’s particularly into, her mom is always in the kitchen and maybe she might’ve had a phase when she was little where she liked to help out in the kitchen but think she outgrew that and so isn’t used to cook much at home, though she’s not an idiot of course and knows her way around a kitchen she’s not a spectacular cook. She might like baking more? Since that’s a bit more precise and exact “science”, you can follow a recipe exactly while cooking you generally wing it more, and I can see Nancy liking to do things like that, exact and precise. I think Jonathan likes cooking more than Nancy does and therefore is the one to cook more often, but also Nancy enjoys cooking with Jonathan more than on her own.

3. Sleeping headcanon

Jonathan Byers is the comfiest pillow in the world. That’s what Nancy firmly believes, I believe. We see in s1 Jonathan turn onto his side/tummy when sleeping. My hc for their sleeping position together is not set in stone, I lean towards Jonathan sleeping on his back but kind of turned towards his side and Nancy sleeping with her head tucked into the crook of his neck or on his chest, her arm slung across him holding him and his wrapped around her, I like them nestled close like that, at least in times of comfort. Can also see them both like sleeping on their side, heads turned to each other and like as close together as they can be without actually being on top of one another, and limbs all entangled. Can also see them spooning.

4. Driving headcanon

Jury’s still out on whether Nancy has her license or not. I hc that she does but that she prefers letting Jonathan drive, she feels completely safe with him at the wheel and he’s had more driving experience while she’s a bit unsure perhaps. Kind of feel like driver’s ed could’ve been a thing Nancy struggled with, which I kind of like? Like with her straight A’s in school and studious smart mind can kind of see her having a weak spot like that, and her problem not being to learn traffic rules or anything like that but rather speeding and being to antsy a driver. I hc like with cooking that this is a thing where it’s something they both can do but Jonathan is a bit better at it and also likes to do it more than Nancy does and so she’s happy to let him take the wheel.

5. Bathing/showering headcanon

Answered!

6. Hugging headcanon

Answered! (Mostly for Nancy but Jonathan is just the same, they’re huggy huggy huggy).

7. Kissing headcanon

Headcanon: They’re really really good at it okay? For real though that amazing passionate hungry kiss/makeout/pinnacle of human achievement aside it’s uh…. real nice. They kiss a lot. A lot a lot a lot. Jonathan just finds it really hard not to kiss those lips I mean look at them. And Nancy finds that Jonathan is a natural and is just shook by him kissing her like that I mean jesus christ. Kiss time they see each other in the morning and Nancy will just keep leaving him with little kisses throughout the day. Quick pecks and cheek kisses at school as they’re not super big on serious PDA. Oh and darkroom kisses! You better believe they make out in there all the time. And to Nancy’s pleasure it’s often Jonathan initiating it then.

8. Sex headcanon

Answered!

9. General physical contact headcanon

They’re ALWAYS touching okay. If not kissing or hugging just holding hands or arms around the other or cuddled together on a couch or Nancy plopping herself down in his lap. Look at how even before they got together they always stood like needlessly close together for no real reason at times lmao like all that was missing was the final step of physically touching. Also just feeling Nancy’s hand on him is huge for Jonathan. Her caressing his hand after wrapping his palm in s1. And even more so her comforting, strengthening hand on his shoulder as he’s apologizing to Will’s unconscious body in s2, it’s monumental okay. She can always strengthen him just by putting her hand on him.

10. Physical appearance headcanon

Ahem. He’s got large hands okay. Make of that what you will. That’s all I’ll say about that.

11. Wardrobe headcanon

Kind of moot to answer given we’ve seen both their fall/winter wardrobes and in bts pics of s3 filming their summer wardrobes so not much headcanoning left to do here but I’ll say I am in love with it all okay. I rock a strong sweater game myself if I may say so, so much respect to the Sweater King and Queen of Hawkins. Also Nancy looks amazing in her summerdresses. And I’m glad the bts pics of s3 seem to confirm one headcanon I have: Jonathan Byers does not wear shorts.

12. Jewelry headcanon

Another kind of moot to answer (guess these are more aimed for literary characters) we know of Nancy’s ballet necklace and Jonathan not wearing any. Like I wrote into my Christmas fic I can see Nancy getting Jonathan some cool slightly unusual necklace that’s very much him, like something music related. And thinking he looks super cool in it (like Charlie who wears necklaces very well).

13. Nickname headcanon

Always always always the Thumper headcanon started by the eponymous @iamthethumperanon here and used by me in uh, many fics but for instance here. Otherwise there’s always Nance. I don’t like Jon, he doesn’t feel like a Jon he feels like a Jonathan. And lmao I’m still very pleased with the phone nicknames I gave them in the modern AU sexting fic I did, Nancypants and Jon-Jon aka Thumper. I like him calling her Nancypants sometimes lol and she always lightly smacking him on the arm when he does.

14. Dancing headcanon

Jonathan’s not a dancer. But he’s also not one to say no to Nancy Wheeler. Still mourn we didn’t get more than the iconic look at the Snow Ball come on Nancy could dance with Dustin for one or a few songs but then we needed Jonathan sliding up with “Mind if I cut in?”. Hell I hc that they danced on their own afterwards instead. If Nancy puts on some music in private and beckons for his hand he’s never one to turn her down

15. Singing headcanon

Answered!

16. Anger headcanon

At each other? No. Apart from the fight in the woods and getting huffy over their pent up feelings in the motel room they’re sweetie pies to each other all the time. They have playful banter but it’s not meanspirited in the slightest. I think what would infuriate Nancy the most about Jonathan would be if he kept putting himself and his own needs last, always prioritizing taking care of others above himself. But she wouldn’t get angry at him for it because it’s not something to have anger about, but she’d try to make him see it’s okay to think about himself too. Sure they’d have a fight eventually like all couples but they don’t walk around are meanspirited and angry at each other all the time. And on the other side of the coin, quickest way to poke Nancy or Jonathan’s berserk button is of course to endanger the ones they love. Jonathan beats the shit out of Steve in the alley because of what Steve spews out about Will and Joyce, but with where his and Nancy’s relationship is now, insulting Nancy like that would provoke the same reaction.

17. Soft spot headcanon

Not sure what this one means but uh… Jonathan has a soft spot for everything Nancy does and vice versa? Idk.

18. Favorite possession headcanon

Answered for Nancy here! For Jonathan it’s the camera Nancy gives him in s1.

19. Favorite photograph headcanon

Oh boy. Probably as of yet untaken in canon. Think Jonathan’s favorite photo would definitely be one he takes of Nancy sometime, or one of Nancy together with Will and Joyce.

20. Relationship with/thoughts on _____ headcanon

Music. They overlap more than some might think. We’ve gotten a lot in canon on Jonathan’s music taste (The Clash, Bowie, Joy Division, Television, Talking Heads, The Smiths) gives a pretty clear picture. For Nancy we have the Blondie thing on her wall and Africa by Toto playing in her room in s1 (as I recall it was diegetic music at least? Right?). I hc that Nancy listens to pop, would love Madonna for instance, but also likes new wave and stuff like it and I think Jonathan with his tastes would like new wave too so they’d meet there and I hc Nancy liking Bowie too. She broadens her tastes a little through Jonathan (what did they listen to in the car on the way to Murray?) and she likewise influences him, getting him to open up a bit more to some more poppier stuff (at first tolerating it in his car then discreetly bopping along and finally admitting he likes some of it). And ofc she loves to tease him like she did in the hallway scene and Sassy Boy Byers teases her right back.

#you asked for it lol #jancy #jancy headcanons #nancy wheeler #jonathan byers #stranger things headcanons #stranger things

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