#Malini

[doodlesnoff]

Remember the five minutes in Oleander Sword where everything was fine, and then nothing devastating ever happened to these characters 🙃

#the burning kingdoms #tbk #the oleander sword #tasha suri #the jasmine throne #priya #malini #malini and priya #bhumika #illustration #character design #character illustration #my doodles #my art #art #procreate #south asian fantasy #tbk fanart

[agueforts]

and, finally, my absolute beloved for fucking ever. nikhil & malini battle for beyond <3

#aspen tag #aspen snapshots #battle for beyond #b4b #bfb #nikhil #malini

[rebiesque]

#malini #the burning kingdoms #the jasmine throne #the oleander sword #tasha suri

[visndcaitswhore]

priya: we can't manipulate, manwhore, or mansplain our way out of this one

Bhumika, down on her last nerve: manslaughter it is then

#the jasmine throne #priya #bhumika #malini #vikram #oleander sword #tasha suri #this works with malini too but the scene where bhumika is done with her fucking husband deserved it

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Character, author, and book names under the cut

Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor- Red, White, and Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Malini- The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

#Henry Fox-Mountchristen-Windsor- Red #red white and royal blue #rwrb #McQuistonverse #Casey McQuiston #Malini #The Jasmine Throne #The Oleander Sword #the burning kingdoms #tbk #malini tbk #Tasha Suri #polls #lgbt books #queer book character tournament 2.0

[anaugust]

Anyway I'm waiting for my copy of The Oleander Sword by to arrive. I can't wait cry 💔 I don't remember the last time I was so excited to read a sequel

#the jasmine throne #the oleander sword #tasha suri #fan art #book #wlw #sapphic #priya x malini #priya #malini

[bachelor4choice]

I love the romantic and/or agonizing passages like all of you. But can we talk about the funny parts? Like:

“I think the Parijatdvipans may believe it is, even if the empress doesn’t,” Bhumika said steadily. “I can imagine that has some... implications.”

The pause between her words was heavy with meaning.

“You’re going to have to tell me what all the implications are.”

A sigh. “Priya.”

Or:

“I threw a river,” Priya laughed. “Threw it—and you think I’m going to fall over?”

“Yes.”

Priya froze, limbs trembling.

She bit off a curse as she fell.

AND THIS ONE:

“I’ve considered my options,” said Malini. “And this is the best path. We can perhaps—perhaps—take Harsinghar and the throne. But I cannot keep it if the priests of the mothers refuse to serve me. Kartik is the key, Priya, and this is the price he demands of me.”

“You should negotiate with him then. Get a more reasonable price... It’s so clear you’ve never haggled at a market,” Priya added in a mutter.

AND ALSO:

“I can’t believe we’re having this kind of conversation like this,” Priya said eventually.

“Like what?”

“With you clinging to me.”

“I’m not clinging,” Malini said.

“Really?”

“‘Clinging’ doesn’t sound very dignified.” Malini’s voice was faintly disgruntled.

#the jasmine throne #the oleander sword #the lotus empire #Priya #Malini

[driluth]

priya and malini by nimali

#obsessed #the burning kingdoms #the oleander sword #SFF tag #tasha suri #priya #malini #this art is so gorgeous i think everyone should see it and also read the books #books

[n0live0rganism]

*self aware of my own delusion i start to scream into the void* and when they make a movie adaptation of the jasmine throne and the oleander sword and they cast Avantika as Malini??? then what????? HELLO???????

#the jasmine throne #the oleander sword #the burning kingdoms #priya x malini #avantika #malini

[halcyon-hyacinth]

Read both books in The Burning Kingdoms series and IDK why Malini wants to keep her relationship with Priya under wraps, like, she's in the business of overthrowing the status quo anyway, she could always change the law and make it so that same-sex relationships are no longer illegal once she secures her throne???

Legalizing something doesn't take away the discrimination or existing bias traditional Parijatis (and even people of the city-states that aren't Ahiranya) will hold towards the idea.

Malini and Priya are at odds because Malini wants to unite the empire under her rule. Priya wants Ahiranya freed from the empire.

As it stands, there is no way to free Ahiranya from the empire because of the yaksa. The rest of the empire is terrified of them, and a free Ahiranya is always going to be a bigger threat than one brought to heel by the empire.

At the same time, it is also difficult for Ahiranya to survive on its own with zero support from the empire since being conquered their power has greatly diminished. Most of its population is impoverished and struggling to make ends meet. It relies on trade from other city-states, and rich nobleman visiting the city and spending like crazy to keep its local economy going.

As it stands, Malini being in a same-sex relationship would be bad image wise on a political and religious level. And she needs to raise her image and keep it as impeccable as possible in order to retain her title as empress - she needs the support of the priests and of the highborn politicians.

Even if Malini was able to legalize same-sex marriage again, it would take years to repair all the damage done by it being made socially unacceptable to begin with.

And again, it's only part of the problem. Malini is not just a girl. She is now the ruler of an empire. And she has to do whatever it takes to keep control. Especially if that means adjusting to socially outdated norms in a bid to keep the highborn political elites on her side, along with the priests.

Personally, I think Malini and Priya will find a way to work together in book 3 and take down the yaksa once and for all with help from Bhumika. And I hope, one day, Malini can marry Priya in Ahiyanya.

But for now, it's a dream that cannot be fulfilled.

#the burning kingdoms #priya #malini #empress malini #temple elder priya #the jasmine throne #the oleander sword #the lotus empire

[msandss]

The ending of The Oleander Sword is my Roman Empire

#the oleander sword #the jasmine throne #priya #malini #priya x malini

[itmightrain]

"I thought you of all people would understand my need to be free of such things. You were the most spiritual of the three of us as a girl. Do you remember that? No devotee of the Nameless certainly, but you used to make me take you to the Mothers' shrine so you could lay jasmine blossoms and kiss their feet."

"That was before the first time that Chandra hurt me," Malini said crisply. "That ended my childhood fantasies abruptly."

He stared at her uncomprehending. "When," he said, "did he hurt you as a child?"

She sucked in a breath. He didn't remember.

She wanted to lift her hair and bare her neck. She wanted to show him how she had been hurt. To show him not simply the physical scar, but the way Chandra's cruelties large and small had flayed her sense of self until she was raw, a furious tangle of nerves, until she was forced to build herself armor, jagged and cruel, to be able to survive. But he would not understand. He had never understood. Her hurts and her terrors, which had consumed her all her life, had always been small to him. He had either never truly seen them or simply easily forgotten them.

- The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

#transcribed from the audiobook #the jasmine throne #tasha suri #princess malini #malini #Aditya #i wanna shake aditya until changes falls out

[agueforts]

"a long golden lance that, in a whole visage of a dude that is constantly projecting how little he cares, is the one thing he clearly cares about."

"i always look at it, right before i'm about to fight. it's like a little... i don't know that i would've called it this before today. but. it is like a prayer, every time i look at it. but not to... not to a god. it's a prayer to you. 'cause you're the only thing that's been looking over me for a long, long time."

feeling normal about this one. nikhil and malini........... <33

#aspen tag #b4b #battle for beyond #bfb #nikhil #malini #i wrote this post like three weeks ago and promptly lost it in my drafts #but it's been in my head this whole time. i need it in other people's heads also #this and the “she's the only person i'm close to.”...........

[opheliaweeps]

so I just finished reading ‘the oleander sword’ by tasha suri. I’m at work, so I finished the book, stared at my laptop for a minute, then came to the bathroom to cry and write this post (yeah, I’m in the bathroom right now. I’ve been crying for five minutes).

I’m crying because reading this book (which is book #2 of suri’s trilogy ‘the burning kingdoms’) has been… cathartic almost. the plot is high fantasy and political unrest, but the setting, the worldbuilding and careful nuances of the story are based on historical india, the country and myths and history I grew up with. somewhere inside me, the young girl who never saw a book that had a character that looked like her is sobbing in grief and gratitude and vindication, because an author like her decided to write this story. and it’s everything.

I’m crying because the relationships in this series are complicated and heartbreaking and human. siblings, friends, lovers, and the tangled webs in between - they’re so beautiful to read about. the pain of betrayal and bittersweetness of love, in a time when nations are at war and the characters are torn between their duty and their heart (an age-old story, the original tragedy). the delicate details that show the madness of corruption, the humanity in even the most twisted of villains, and the pain in hurting those you love so that they can live.

I’m crying because not only does this book speak to my desi heritage, it’s a queer story, setting a princess rebelling against her dictator-emperor of a brother and a temple-elder of a conquered nation of flowers and eldritch worship on a tumultuous path. their bond is fraught because of what they must do to serve their own countries, honour warring with the desire and love for each other in their hearts. a sapphic desi-high fantasy series - that’s something I never thought I would see.

I’m crying because the side m/m romance is pure tragedy and yet, it’s so beautiful it hurts to read. while the main heroines are separated by treachery and prophecy and gods of old, coming back to wage war for their glory, these two boys are separated by something much simpler: death. one dies (for his honour, for the men he leads, for his sister), and the other lives. the other lives to grieve and push forward, and isn’t this the oldest story? someone must always leave first, but we are never prepared, and I was not prepared for this death. because the one who lived had already lost so much, bled out for an empress he is bound to and her brother whom he loved. and he was taken away from him.

I’m crying because I love the world that has been built here, the stories woven and characters that suri has breathed life into. I’m crying because of the story, the pain, and the representation I never thought I’d see. but most of all, I’m crying for the love that this story holds, and the hurt that always follows bliss, because no good thing can ever be felt without unwanted anguish to sweeten these brief, tender moments.

#the burning kingdoms #tasha suri #jyot writes #my writing #my thoughts #my stuff #rant #the jasmine throne #the oleander sword #malini #priya #priya x malini #rao #aditya #aditya x rao #bhumika x jeevan #queer characters #indian mythology #book review #(kind of I’m mostly just sad) #lgbtqia #desi queer #local desi queer is not doing too well #long post sorry

[wheeloftimeofficial]

“…a yaksa offered you a blade of sacred wood. It told you to cut your heart out for it, and you did.”

“She needed it because her brother’s blade had found her and cut the goodness from her long before she’d ever learned the shape of a gentle, encompassing love.”

Girls when parallels between growing up a temple child without love to hollow yourself for the yaksa and an imperial princess

#the oleander sword #the burning kingdoms #malini #priya #priya x malini

[queer-book-character-tournament]

Character, book, and author names under the cut

Evander (Andy) Mills- Lavender House by Lev Ac Rosen

Catherine St. Day- The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics by Olivia Waite

Sideways Pike- The Spacegracers by HA Clarke

Malini- The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

#Evander Mills #Andy Mills #Lavender House #The bell in the fog #Lev Ac Rosen #Catherine St. Day #The Lady's Guide to Celestial Mechanics #feminine pursuits series #Olivia Waite #Sideways Pike #spacegracers #scratch daughters #The Spacegracers #HA Clarke #Malini #The Jasmine Throne #The Oleander Sword #the burning kingdoms #tbk #malini tbk #Tasha Suri #polls #lgbt books #queer book character tournament 2.0