#darklina end game

[idaoftheburningmind]

Dawn Greeting Dusk Falling

A reimagining of the events after ‘Siege and Storm’ and a coping mechanism for the SaB S2 ending we would rather not have…

She had kept a little of his shadow, he enough of her light. This is what made it possible, this meeting at the roiling edge of the Fold where Alina knew she would one day find herself.

Fifty years did he say? She knew it had been more, and still it surprised her as the seasons dragged on that love had endured — the love of so many, and the love of one above all. Even if she had to watch each one shrouded and laid in the ground. Each and every one.

What she means to do here now is neither a reckoning, nor a reconciliation. The moment is simply right. She looks into the shadows, and lifts her hand. The globe of light is muted, as though in a fog; but she knows he will not fail to see it.

“Alina.”

There is no rage in the way he says her name, not even a question. They are past that, she supposes.

One who was too young, and one who lived too long; they were here now, nearly unchanged but for her white hair worn unbound. He did not expect her to come sooner, he knew time well enough. He might have thought he knew her as well.

She did not destroy the Fold.

Thought dead after the collapse of the Chapel, legend had it that her spirit guided skiffs as they made each journey. For not a soul has been lost to the Fold since.

That was how she knew that he wasn’t lost. And the knowledge, when she realized it, caused her that day to weep with joy.

The two of them lived because they could not let the other die; when his humanity was burning away, she held on blindly to what remained and he … she could not name what he did, but in the end she knew he had kept her from falling into darkness.

He had kept — some essence, some hope? Light either way.

And a resolve not to lose her to the void.

What was left of him that day was drawn to the Fold, the only place where he could still exist.

A shadow among shadows.

“You might have left me with a fresh set of clothes. An eternity disheveled is its own unique torture.”

She startles with laughter, the unexpected joy at the even more unexpected attempt at humor freeing the tension in her shoulders. She lets herself smile at him, and his smile is genuine as he smiles back.

“Are you angry?” she asks.

“What is anger for?” is his reply.

Flame sputtering to life in sunlight has more purpose.

A silence heavy as the weight of loss they now share settles between them.

“I could not bear it if you turned from me now.”

He spoke the truth. It was the same truth she would always understand, no matter the centuries left to them, no matter their choices that will always hang in the balance.

She reaches for him with a tendril of shadow.

He holds out his hand in welcome.

————-

A/N: For my AU sister @becauseicantthinkwritings who has been putting up with my not-fun era for longer than she should 😅

#darklina #darklina end game #i am never writing fic again #i don’t know how you guys do this #also I’m already inconsolable #aleksander morozova x alina starkov #aleksander morovoza #alina starkov #darklina fanfiction #darklina fanfic #darklina fic #aleksander x alina #alina starkov x the darkling #alarkling #the darkling #shadow king #starless saint #the darkling x alina #general kirigan #darkling shadow and bone #netflix shadow and bone #shadow and bone season two #shadow and bone season 2 #shadow and bone #shadow and bone fanfiction #shadow and bone fanfic

[aleksanderscult]

33. Something guaranteed to make them cry

32

37

33) Something guaranteed to make them cry

The death of a person that is like him. Immortal and powerful. Someone that will stay with him. Forever.

He cried when Baghra died, I'm sure of it. Because she was his mother and the only goddamn person that stayed with him through all those years. Everybody else died. And she was the only person he could come back to that wasn't dead. They also shared the same experiences and knowledge.

If Alina died, he would cry then too. When she lost her powers he was devastated and it was the first time Alina herself saw him so much upset and distressed. There was no act, no theater. He broke down emotionally. If she had died, the tears would come too.

He fears and hates loneliness. So the death of a person that could cast away that, would make him cry and mourn.

32) Something guaranteed to make them smile/laugh

Alina.

No, I'm not kidding this time.

Alina made him laugh three times in S&B. Her spontaneous nature, witty comments and natural way of expression were something entertaining for him. He also made him smile many times. One of them in the name reveal scene. Alina could "bring to the surface" that innocent, carefree boy he used to be. She could bring him joy when others couldn't. Even at times of war against each other.

Apart from that, a really good joke could make him smile. Or the presence of a fluffy animal that rubs against him would draw out an unintentional smile from him.🥹

37) What they really think about themselves

THAT'S THE EASIEST ONE.

He thinks he's powerful. More so than other Grisha. Wise and with much experience. The years that he has lived made sure of that. Also, the only man capable to bring the Grisha to a new, bright age. He is confident with himself, that's for sure and I also think he feels responsible for his people. Especially for the ones that fight on his side. He wants to protect them and provide for them. He thinks no one else cares enough.

He knows he has become cruel but he doesn't mind because how else is he going to survive if he doesn't toughen up?

So, generally, he thinks himself as the hero of this story. The only man capable for the job and the only one that does the right thing. He considers himself strong, intelligent, wise, experienced, powerful but still knows that he desires company and love.

#how the Darkling is in a nutshell: #on the outside: 😠😒😈🔪 #what he needs on the inside: 🥰😭🥹🫶 #the Darkling is living proof that at the end of the day we all want and need love and company #ask game #anon asks #the darkling #pro darkling #aleksander morozova #pro aleksander morozova #darklina #pro darklina #alina starkov #alarkling #pro alarkling #grishaverse #grishaverse trilogy #shadow and bone

[folklauerate]

20 questions for fic writers

thanks for the tag @bad-surprise and @ladykettlechips

1. How many works do you have on AO3?

71 under my name and a few on anon!

2. What’s your total AO3 word count?

796,982 which is kind of insane to think about. I started writing creatively for the first time in years in January of 2022. To have published this much is kind of crazy to think about. I'm likely going to hit 800k this year which is... Just wild. Lol.

3. What fandoms do you write for?

The vast majority of my fic Bridgerton! I've written a two for The Rings of Power (Haladriel), one for Shadow and Bone (Darklina), and one for The Hunger Games (Everlark). I have plans for a few more Haladriel and Darklina :)

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

(NOTE: I actually have never looked at my fics by kudos, I only know the set up is the most kudos'd one because well it's over 1k and none of my other fics are. So going through this was interesting!)

The Set Up — My Kathony royals au where Anthony is the King of England and Kate is a world famous actress. This is my most popular fic by far, I'm not sure how it ended up that way! It's a mind boggling amount of kudos (1,769 as of right now) and I know a lot of folks have much larger kudos counts, and it's hardly the most kudos'd in the fandom lol, but it's pretty big for me and I'm not sure if I'll write something else that'll get more lol. I do love this fic a lot, it feels like they're my own characters and that's likely because I've taken plenty of liberties and whatnot. Anyway. I could do talk about it for ages so I'll move on!

Hold Onto You -- A oneshot of Anthony holding babies--his own and his siblings. It was one of the first things I ever wrote for the fandom! Looking back it's a bit of foreshadowing for how I started to write lol--it was a pretty long oneshot written in less than a day which I've done multiple times since then. I haven't revisited this one in a while and don't even know if I can--writing regency is not my strong suit and my earlier writing is still hard for me to read these days lol.

leave the light on — A twoshot where Kate and Anthony are roommates and fall in love. It's set in NYC and is very rom-com-y! It has some of my favorite things to write; domesticity, people growing with one another and around one another, descriptions of the sky, descriptions of the subway, descriptions of NYC, a big wedding, a love confession. I recently finished it lol! I'm actually surprised this is up there!

Office Hours — I wrote this in September of last year in an attempt to get better at writing smut! I actually posted this on anon first because it felt too revealing to post this lol. I was actually really uncomfortable writing smut back then and I think I've improved a lot since then. The response was wild, I really was just so in the weeds with this fic that I couldn't even tell if it was hot or not lol.

lost in your current like a priceless wine— this is my prof au! And an age gap au :) writing this was wild and special. It was a lot of texting Kara and being so very thoroughly enveloped and possessed with this idea that was taking shape. I wrote this over countries and continents and on planes. I wrote all 40k of it in far less than a month and just! I dunno! It was so immersive. It's one of my favorite things I've written. It's crazy it was just this year.

5. Do you respond to comments? Why or why not?

I do! Lol that being said--I have quite a backlog right now. Responding to comments takes a lot of energy and time from me and I usually figure that people want me to write fic as opposed to responding to comments. I do want to say that I honestly sincerely appreciate every comment. I think all fic writers do. We love hearing what you loved and love hearing your thoughts! I'm sure my not responding to them is likely not encouraging so I'm sorry. Know that I want to respond to them and I am quite literally in the process of doing so right now lol. If you commented on Bridgerton, Actually (my Love, Actually AU from last year) then I've been responding to you lol!

6. What’s the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending?

This fic isn't finished but my daddy warned me about men like you lol!

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending?

I'm a sucker for a happy ending! I'm not sure what my happiest ending is, but the vast majority of fics have a happy ending :) Feel free to lmk what you think the happiest ending is.

8. Do you get hate on fics?

Yes. I've gotten some really inane hate comments that are just... dumb and easy to brush off. I've also gotten really intense hate comments that are so long they've required multiple comments, with people reposting exactly what they wrote after I deleted it. It's been really tough to deal with and I think I have some mild anxiety around comments in general as a result. Anyway, it's tough! I think hate comments tend to stick around the most in my brain and so I do appreciate all the nice comments because the gut clench from negative ones never really goes away :,)

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I do indeed write smut! I'm not really sure if I can describe what "kind" or how you can tell what your kind of smut is? I write plenty of dirty talk and smut with and without feelings. In general, I think that smut does need to do something for the story if it's in a fic with plot--if it's a fic that's just smut then it doesn't really matter. If it's a fic with plot, I like to make sure the smut actually helps the plot along and works to carry the reader through what the characters are feeling and their journeys.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written?

I haven't but I will enjoy adding celebs or pop culture things in fics!

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Yeah.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated?

Nope but if anyone ever wants to, lmk! Translation is an art form and tricky and time consuming and I'm happy to work with anyone who wants to :)

13. Have you ever cowritten a fic before?

I have and I have LOVED doing it!!!!! I was so thrilled to write the West Wing AU with Rama, whose Tumblr @ I simply cannot find, and @grantairesbottle and I wrote in our perfect park together! Both AUs will be getting follow-up fics :) I truly adore both of their work and getting to write with two dear friends and incredible writers was just so lovely. Even more fun than that was just getting to freak out over this shared idea together! It was just such a lovely joint venture.

14. What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I could not pick one! I love James/Lily from Harry Potter, Katniss/Peeta from The Hunger Games, and Kate/Anthony from Bridgerton. I'd honestly say they're my OTPs! I love them so, so much. I've read so many Everlark and Jily fics growing up, too, those I've had for so long. It's kind of hilarious how those three have so much in common, like it's not like I went around looking for ships like that but it just happens. You like what you like, I suppose :)

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish, but doubt you ever will?

I honestly do want to finish all of them but I don't think I'll finish my Gilmore Girls AU, simply because the characterization is so far off from what I think or how I understand those characters now.

16. What are your writing strengths?

Creating really immersive worlds through specific details. Doing research to make worlds lived in. I write a LOT of modern AUs for a book/show that takes place in regency England so I think world-building is one of my biggest strengths. Being able to transport characters into new worlds and understanding how they'd respond to that specific world and situation of the fic is another strength. I think my banter is pretty good? I also like to think I have a pretty good pulse on what my audience will like and what seems to be the thing du jour in the fandom. I usually don't end up writing to it lol but this is a strength as a reader, I'd say, not as a writer.

17. What are your writing weaknesses?

PATIENCE lol! If I spent more time perfecting, editing, and letting things percolate, I think my works would all be better for it. Instead, I largely write and write and write and then hit publish the moment I'm done. With a few fics (specifically the royals au) I will have someone beta for me and then I at least have another level of editing and another pair of eyes for a vibe/gut check before I publish. I do think, however, that if I was brave enough to actually face my work and sit and edit, it would all be better in general. I'd also then be able to finish a fic before posting, which I've simply never done.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language for a fic?

I do plenty of this for Bridgerton fic because I usually try and include Marathi or Hindi for Kate and her family. Idk if i'd count it as another language but it is another language in the sense that it's not English!

19. First fandom you wrote for?

Harry Potter lol! I wish I still had my old HPFF fics :,,) that website sadly went down and I don't know how to use the wayback machine to find that. But yeah!

20. Favorite fic you’ve ever written?

Oh, I couldn't pick just one! The Set Up is def one. I've done a lot of work with world building and research for that one. Sweet Like Honey is another favorite fic. I wouldn't even say that it's really a great example of those characters because I did a lot of work to bend things to make stuff work for this particular situation. I maintain that it's true to the characters for this specific situation which is a p bonkers one. I mean, I wanted a step-father fic so I wrote one! It turned into something a bit more involved. lost in your current like a priceless wine is another fav. This one is just... it's special to me. It was really different from the other fics being written at the time and I hadn't seen or read an age gap like that for these two or a fic where they don't have that initial bickering/fighting vibes, which was a result ofc of Anthony being a bit older and the characterization I gave him for the AU, so it felt really scary putting it up for people to read. The response was really overwhelming and wonderful and so kind. That fic also marks a sort of turning point in my own writing, for me at least. I think I got braver after that one.

Thanks for the tag! I hope this is fun or interesting to read :) tagging @grantairesbottle @amalinwrites @somethingclearandtrue @tinacentury and Rama whose @ is not coming up !! Also tagging anyone who would like to do this :)

#fanfic #writing #ask a fic writer #some questions and thoughts on my own fic

[esssteee]

WIP Tag Game

Thank youuuuuuuu @goatsandgangsters for the tag!! Took me a while, but here goes!

I've hit a mean writer's block these past months that I hope will lift away some fateful day, but that does not mean several of these listed wips aren't marinating in my head day and night soooooo ONE DAY I'LL BE BACK!! but anyway, these are all GV fics (and i realise that i have NO folder for my wips so it's just a pure hazard opening my main doc folder each time, should def work on that)

RULES: post the names of all the files in your WIP folder, regardless of how non-descriptive or ridiculous. Let people send you an ask with the title that most intrigues them, and then post a little snippet or tell them something about it! and then tag as many people as you have WIPs.

the cabin au (where alina and aleksander must hole in during a fjerdan blizzard that interrupts the first book stag hunt and where aleksander is injured and alina is just done with the shit hand life continues to throw her way. lots of spite and hurt/comfort and mutual frustration in that one, which is a killer combo imo)

we are the wild youth chasing visions of our future (that epic AU darklina fic that i will one day finish!! i swear on my life!!!!)

the darkolai priest/demon modern AU that @darkolaism and i fantasise about (so hannigram-konstantin/medved mashup i guess)

PORTFOLIO M (darkolai modern AU photographer/muse)

the three body problem (darkolina follow-up of my of monsters and men series. yuuuuuup, i loved alina too much in that series to not include her more in this no longer only daydreamt epilogue)

as of now the unnamed jurisander second part where aleksander joins juris in his travel to sankt feliks' grave and where he ends up learning more about his own roots and history

And that's it! not a ton of fics, but still too many for my current much too low energy. I've realised I put way too much info related to each title, but fuck it. Anyway, one day, my man will come back from the war (my man = writing mojo, the war = fuckin life)

Tagging: @for-want-of-a-nail, @aloveforjaneausten, @storm-elf, @yletylyf, @iamstartraveller776, @aquitainequeen and anyone else who wanna play!

#tag game

[greensaplinggrace]

for the ship game: malina and darklina :P

Malina

I love how mal and alina always represent home for each other. they are always each other's safe harbors and they always always come back to each other in the end. their relationship is built on a foundation of friendship and tenderness, on loyalty and dedication and family. they can always find each other no matter where they are, and I think the concept of them being true north to each other is a really lovely one full of so much meaning.

I love their physical connection, the matching marks on their hands, the way they are always holding each other, always reaching for each other, how they can almost feel each other's bodies even when they're separate. I love how grounding the relationship is, how solid and steady mal can be for alina, how he always tries to bring her back to earth. how they hug and touch and hold hands and cuddle at every opportunity. how every scene with them is bright and sunny and you can almost feel the wind in your hair and the grass on your skin.

I love the childhood friends to lovers aspect of their relationship. I love how they have shared memories and histories, how everything they are is tied around them both, how they know almost everything about each other. I love how they're codependent and reliant on one another and always looking for the other right beside them. how mal knows alina's favorite flower and recognizes the stag from her drawings. how they get so excited to see each other again after such a long time apart. I love how intertwined their lives are, how they can finish each other's sentences and know intimately how to comfort each other or how to make each other laugh.

Darklina

I really like the potential of darklina, especially when it comes to alina's growth. I like the many directions their relationship could have gone and the many directions alina's character could have developed with the darkling. I've always valued alina's arc of self actualization, of coming into herself and finding herself, of accepting herself for who she is. with the darkling, she is able to come to love parts of herself she was never able to love before, parts of herself that have always seen her ostracized from her peers. the darkling acting as a foil to alina that is crucial to her development will always be something I love about their relationship. and one of the potential stories for them in that regard is for alina to take back her power and forge a new relationship with the darkling on equal ground, which is one of the character dynamics I value most in storytelling.

I love the way the darkling and alina are always reaching for each other. they do this in a different way from malina - a way that is always trying to fill up empty, lonely spaces in an aching, incomprehensible void. I love how they are constantly opening themselves up to each other because of this, then closing off from the other when it gets too much, always grasping at each other and pulling away in equal measures. how without each other there will always be an aching loneliness within them and a lack of understanding on a fundamental level from those around them. how to describe who she is to mal would be like describing color to a blind person, but with the darkling she never has to, because he instinctively understands those parts of her and accepts them. but they are such polarized people that the understanding is almost too much on it's own. they are too much.

I really like the dynamic of the darkling being an older immortal and alina being a younger one. I find alina's complete and utter incapability of understanding how immortality works fascinating. because everything the darkling tells her she knows is true, she can feel that it's true, but she cannot comprehend it, and so she denies it to herself and to him. alina around the darkling is in a constant state of denial, because to accept what he says is to realize the true horrors of not only the world, but also eternal life. and I just find that particular dynamic between them interesting, because it is such a good look into the internal logic of the characters, and the disparity between them when it comes to true experience and to the extent of not only their trauma, but their understanding of the universe, of people, and of time.

three things I like about this ship (x) - I already answered the darklina one here

#shadow and bone #grishaverse #sab #me trying not to mention malarklina in a post with two of it's primary ships alskdjflskdjs #malyen oretsev #mal oretsev #alina starkov #malina #darklina #aleksander morozova #the darkling #asks and answers #ask games #myramblings #anon

[bywayofmemory]

20 Questions for Fic Writers

Tagged by @iamstartraveller776, thanks!

1. How many works do you have on AO3? 313. 113 of them are 3SF fics so they only sort of count? I haven't even posted 2024's batch yet.

2. What's your total AO3 word count? 452,247

3. What fandoms do you write for? My fandoms list on AO3 is...long. Like 80+ fandoms long. This is once again due to 3SF; fandoms I am or have been actually active in are Firefly, Chronicles of Narnia, Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, Grisha Trilogy/Shadow and Bone, and Greek Mythology.

4. What are your top 5 fics by kudos?

Drunk on the Dying Light [Grisha Trilogy, Darklina] A blood-soaked amplifier gives Alina the ability to control him, but the Darkling still haunts her; all the more so once she becomes his wife.

Maybe It Will All Come Back to Me [A Song of Ice and Fire, Jon/Arya] The wars are over, Daenerys is on the Iron Throne, and Arya finds Jon at last, though neither of them are who they were before.

Hold My Heart in Two [A Song of Ice and Fire, Jon/Arya/Sansa] The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives, in whatever form.

The World That's on the Other Side [Firefly, Mal/River] When River Tam is fourteen, she meets a man who tells her her future. She doesn't want it, but he's a different matter altogether.

The Ladies Love Wash, and Wash Loves the Ladies [Firefly, Wash & all the women of Firefly] Wash is popular with the womenfolk; it's just a fact of life.

5. Do you respond to comments? I always try to! Usually I am successful.

6. What is the fic you wrote with the angstiest ending? I don't write unhappy endings too often, but two stand out - Always, we strive to get closer, one of my Narnia Fic Exchange fics from last year in which a post-canon Edmund battles through memories to find Susan, only to find she's not ready to give up living even for him, and A Rush of Blood Is Not Enough, a Folk of the Air sex-pollen fic where Jude unknowingly dubcons Cardan and he's very angry once it wears off.

7. What’s the fic you wrote with the happiest ending? Most of mine have happy or at least bittersweet endings, so this is hard - but it might well be The World That's on the Other Side, where Mal and River manage to fix everything bad that happened in canon before any of it technically happens at all.

8. Do you get hate on fics? Rarely, since I'm a NNF. I used to get a bit back in the day when I was actively writing Mal/River due to the age gap and mental stability issues inherent in that pairing, and now I get a comment or two on the Darklina fics from time to time. They just get deleted.

9. Do you write smut? If so, what kind? Yes! I write pretty vanilla M/F and F/F smut; haven't gotten further than the mildest of kinks so far.

10. Do you write crossovers? What’s the craziest one you’ve written? All the time. The craziest are probably the Where's Waldo/LotR or Narnia/Sports Mascot RPF [sort of??? how do you even classify fic in which Gritty appears?], both from 3SF. For non 3SF, it's almost all Narnia/ASoIaF. Probably the most unusual of those is The Truth Without Lying, since that's partly a 1940/50s England AU of ASoIaF as well as a crossover.

11. Have you ever had a fic stolen? Not that I know of, but I don't look for it.

12. Have you ever had a fic translated? Yep. There's three of them on AO3, and I've been asked other times, though if those were done they didn't get linked back to my originals.

13. Have you ever co-written a fic before? Only in 3SF, where you can 'cowrite' in terms of leaving a series of prompts or fills with a specific partner or two. That I do almost every year. In the traditional sense, no.

14. What’s your all time favorite ship? I don't really work in Firefly anymore for the obvious reasons (dead fandom, the Whedon of it all), but rereading any of my Mal/River work still feels like meeting up with old friends. I love them.

15. What’s a WIP you want to finish but doubt you ever will? I had a third and fourth part of my Mal/River series Love Keeps Her in the Air planned out, and a good 1/3 of part three written. It's literally the only unfinished fic I have. It never got finished because I moved across the country during the middle of it and my ambition never quite recovered.

16. What are your writing strengths? Dialogue and characterization. I'm very good at getting character voices down (and typically just avoid writing characters I can't get a handle on, honestly).

17. What are your writing weaknesses? Plot. Beginnings. The absolute worst. This is why I have no WIPs; if I manage to actually get something started, the hard part is out of the way for me.

18. Thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in fic? I used to do this all the time in Firefly, using Mandarin phrases they'd used in the show. Everyone did at the time. Now I wouldn't; I'd go the "swore at length in Mandarin" route, or just use dialogue tags and description to indicate the characters are speaking another language, like I do with Valyrian in my HotD fics.

19. First fandom you wrote for? LotR, a very long time ago. Firefly is the first one I published anything for that's still on the internet.

20. Favorite fic you’ve written? I have so many favorites! I couldn't possibly choose one, except I could and it's The World That's on the Other Side. The ones written during ~the flow are always my faves, and that one stands out the most in that regard.

Tagging @thatgirlnevershutsup, @wingedflight, @siterlas, @starsuncounted and @oakashandwillow if you want!!

#tag games #about me #my fic

[shawoluvs]

I was tagged by the lovely @fourseascns to do this tag game thing~ I usually try to stick to a kpop theme on this blog but I'm gonna just scratch that 'cause they're not relevant~

☆ three ships ㅡ Three ships I am very much in love with atm are Nikolai/Zoya (the Grisha verse), Chandler/Monica (FRIENDS) & Alina/The Darkling (the Grisha verse)~ Like I've not even watched Shadow & Bone yet but every time I see something about it it takes me right back to the books and the energy that DarkLina have is just so so so so so so good, it's so perfect, little scared the show is gonna fail to capture it as it has failed to capture some other things...

☆ last song ㅡ The last song I listened to was F U Anthem by Leah Kate~ I'm seeing Hayley Kiyoko in literally like two weeks and I'm pretty sure she's the opener for her and I'm very excited about it all because her songs are kinda all edgy heartbreak songs and going to bring such a good energy to the show before Hayley comes on~

☆ last movie ㅡ The last movie I watched in full was Carol but the last movie I caught on TV, that I absolutely adore, was Legally Blonde~

☆ currently reading ㅡ King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

☆ currently watching ㅡ I'm kinda really slow with watching stuff at a moment, partly because I tend to watch random youtube stuff instead and other stuff I save to watch with my sister but the shows I'm currently watching very slowly are Love (it's on Netflix, it's kinda alright, I'm only a few eps in so we'll see) and Twenty Five, Twenty One (I'm liking it but I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the main couple yet with their sort of age difference and how this guy kinda only hangs out with high school kids... idk it's a bit of an odd one but it's got great people in it)

☆ currently consuming ㅡ Mentally ejbgjre lots of Sims 4 youtube videos... I have this weird thing where I watch a lot of Sims 4 youtubers but I actually refuse to play the Sims 4 partly because I'm a Sims 3 loyalist and partly because without so many of the ridiculously priced packs it doesn't seem worth it??? So I like to watch youtubers with all the packs play it and live vicariously through them, y'know, like a normal person.

☆ craving ㅡ Something sweet and/or water right now, I just had bacon and cheese pita sandwiches which were very delicious but that's a lot of savoury/salt and I tend to eat in extremes like that????

I'm gonna tag a few of my lovely mutuals as usual, if you fancy taking part then here ya go and if not I hope you're having a lovely day~ Also I'm sorry I always end up tagging the same people ejgberjge I cannot remember urls for the life of me~

@seuiqi, @kseulgiz, @joshriku, @solaarflaree, @eternallys, @ohmuqueen, @justdoityo, @mizugucci, @mykindofkpop

#[ tagged ] #literalllyyyy don't know how to answer a simple question without rambling so apologies for that #also I know my sims 4 thing is weird ejgbrhbgejg #the weirdest thing about is I do in fact own the sims 4... and have several packs... #but I just like but one pack every time there's a big sale because I don't wanna pay full price #and there are so many features in the game that seem essential but come in packs ejbgerbgjege #and also sims 3 issssssssssssss the best sims game~ I will die on this hill~ thanking you~

[where-theres-smoak-2]

(Sorry, a piece was missing in the message I sent)

I don't understand those who say that Mal is Alina's great love...

People... in a few months she imagined herself building a future with the Darkling / Alexander. If wrong was supposedly his great unwavering love, it wouldn't have crossed his mind after just a few months. She says so. She literally says that she and Alexander could have been together, had it all, and been equals. It doesn't sound like a band-aid relationship at all to just forget about Mal. She was truly moved on and ready to build a life with another man. She also expresses that Alexander was the first to show / prove to her that she was made for more.

Mal and Alina sound like family, then growing up, Alina developed a crush on him. After that, there was Alexander, the betrayal, and then it went back to Mal. There, that sounds like a bandage relationship.

Even more with the fact that she brings up her romantic love for Mal for the first time in front of Alexander, as if to make him jealous. Then afterwards, she literally sinks into this delirium that Mal is her great love.

To me, this is clearly the equivalent of a band-aid relationship to move on from Alexander. She refuses the idea that she might have wanted to share her life with him.

Mal and Alina, in the show may be kind of a cute romantic relationship, but to say that Mal is his great love / true love, while Alexander is literally coded as his soulmate... And who he's said to be with unambiguously she wanted a future with him... No, sorry, I don't buy into that idea.

" I will never feel such love again " I think Alina said something like that to Mal in episode 6... The joke. Girl, you're just in denial at this point.

There's also this insinuating that this true north between them, this unshakeable sense of family that they had been maybe just because Mal was the fucking firebird !? Mal literally told Alina that he no longer felt that " true north " between them ?!

Not to mention the fact that Alina also seems disturbed by Nikolai at the end of the season. You can see it from the way she looked at him when he talked about kissing. It wasn't just the look of someone general. Again, if Mal was supposedly her one big love / true love... I find that she allows herself to almost develop a new crush very quickly.

Brief. All that to say that it makes me laugh when people say that Mal is Alina's great love / true love, with all those things to consider.

Also, I don't understand those who argue that Mal is the same from the book to the series, when he's a completely different character ! I want to hit the one from the book and give a hug to the one from the series. On the other hand, in both cases he remains the least interesting character. But at least the actor has a presence and charisma.

There is a real interest that the Darklina story is not finished and continues in the series. I want at least one more kiss and a touching conclusion between them. It's not that hard to give anyway.

I mean when its comes to shipping etc everything is subjective and everyone is attracted to different things, that being said I too don't really understand or agree with this take that M*l is her great love. For me I see M*lina's relationship as a combination of trauma bonding and the effects of the amplifier. Their relationship actually reminds me alot of katniss and gale in hunger games where they both share this traumatic experience, their dads both dying in a cave in at the mine, and then become co-dependent on each other in order to survive, they need each other to survive, its very easy when going through something like that to mistake it for love, after winning the games and no longer needing gale to survive Katniss begins to realise that other than that trauma bonding them they didn't really have a whole lot in common, that they didn't really fit together and without that trauma they likely never even would have been friends let alone lovers. I think it is similar with M*l and Alina it was them both being orphans that bonded them, both being outcasts at the orphanage, they needed each other to survive, then there is the added effect of the amplifier which would have made them feel even more bonded and again I think it would be easy to think that you are in love. But the question to ask is, take away that need for survival, take away the amplifier and what it left? I think that was what the show was asking to when they had M*l admit that he didn't feel that true north feeling anymore and wonder if the only reason they 'fell in love' was because of the amplifier.

Also with Alina's 'I'm never going to feel a love like this again' line, I do think alot of this is saying things in the moment that don't always stand up to the test of time. The truth is Alina is immortal and M*l is not, so right now she may believe that but there is no telling if she would gone on after M*l's death and fall in love again. I mean like you pointed out a few months after being separated from M*l in season 1 and she was planning a future with Aleksander. It is obvious that she has some attraction to Nikolai though how deep that runs we'll have to see in season 3. So whilst I'm sure in that moment Alina believed that was the case, and whilst I'm sure some part of M*l will stay with her, I don't think it is necessarily true. I am sure at the time Aleks believed he wouldn't love another the same way he loved Luda but then he lost her, time went on and he eventually fell for others including Alina. But Alina is a young immortal and hasn't quite grasped this possibility, as Aleks said right now she is living in a single moment and in this moment she has convinced herself that she couldn't ever feel this way again.

I do think it is interesting that the first time Alina uses love in relation to M*l is when she is with Aleks and I do think she was trying to make him jealous. I think alot of her draw to m*l this season was because, as you said, she is trying to forget Aleks. Before she met Aleks, M*l was the one that she had a crush on and the one she planned a future with, even if that future wasn't really one that she was thrilled at the prospect of, she doesn't like farms after all. It makes sense that when things fall apart with Aleks that she would go back to what she knows, what is safe. I think her trying really hard to believe she has a future with M*l is part of that defence mechanism she's constructed around herself.

I also agree with you that I don't get when people say that book and show m*l are the same, they are very clearly not, from book to screen M*l's character got the biggest change.

And I agree with you that when it comes to darklina I want at least one more kiss and some kind of emotional conclusion to their story, whatever that conclusion may be, I want it to be clear that these two characters do have love and care for each other.

#darklina #anti malina #s&b season 2 spoilers #shadow and bone #answered

[jomiddlemarch]

Hey, if you're still taking requests : The Reality is finally better than my dreams + Darklina, from Aleksander's pov

And I love your writing💞

“The reality is finally better than my dreams,” Aleksander said, a hand raised to shield his eyes from the late summer sun. A shriek rang out, the tone clearly one of surprise and indignation rather than any actual harm, but he couldn’t make out what the latest trespass was. The glimpse of scarlet might be a poppy’s petal just easily as a ribbon’s furled end. There were no espaliered trees in the garden, no carefully marked beds and borders, just a riot of color and leaves, of hummingbirds and dragonflies and bees, any paths ones that were discovered in the moment, a maze without walls.

“Ekaterin, they needn’t hear you all the way in Os Alta—” Alina called out. Her own hands were both free as her face was shaded by the broad brim of her straw hat. One rested on the gentle curve of her belly, the ring he’d given her catching the light. She was showing earlier this time, her Summoner’s immortality evidently having little impact on the changes wrought in her by her previous pregnancies; she was apt to remark upon this with some exasperated dismay, but Aleksander loved it and made no secret of it. There was another shout, gleeful this time, and then its answer No fair, Timur! in Kosima’s aggrieved treble.

“Let them have their squabbles, milaya,” Aleksander said. He could never have dreamed such details, the scent of the blossoms mixed with the lemon that sat quartered in its dish on the tray, the argument of the children as they ran though the long grass, the heat of the fading sun on his bare forearms. He could never had allowed the garden to grow so wild, the trees to be so thickly hung with fruit, the stone terrace so broad with its wide windows open to the afternoon, unbarred, the perimeter of the property unsecured by staff out of uniform. 

“It doesn’t sound like anyone’s been stung by a bee, anyway,” Alina said, idly tracing the silver handle of her podstakannik. “Or I should say, not yet.”

“I spoke with the hives,” Aleksander said. He’d gone out while Alina and the children still slept, dawn just broken, the light spilling so fair across the horizon the moon had seemed untroubled by its necessary retreat. He spoke and he sang and there was an accord between them, as incorruptible as casked honey. 

“I still don’t understand how that works,” Alina said.

“But it does. I still don’t understand how merzost works, to find myself here and not in some nightmare, but an interrogation isn’t any use,” he said. 

“I don’t think merzost is the same as telling the bees not to mind our badly behaved children,” Alina said but she smiled as she said it, something he heard instead of seeing. 

“They’re not badly behaved,” he said. “They know they are safe. Loved. They know they can shout and Madraya will not scold all that much—”

“I have to scold them a little, Sasha. They’ll be rude little beasts if we never correct them. Rude little beasts who can control the elements and time,” Alina said. “What Kosima did with the clocks the other day—"

“I know. Scolding them a little is what makes this better than a dream,” he said. “Makes it real.”

“You might have dreamed of an empire, a tower overlooking the sea, glory, perfection,” Alina said. 

“But I wanted a garden, milaya. I wanted my own hives and a wife who tastes of lemon, who makes Ivan do something with his face that is very nearly a smile,” Aleksander said. “I wanted to lose a half-dozen games of shatranj to someone who ate all my favorite tea-cakes.”

“If you would stop opening with the Nagendra gambit, you might win for a change,” Alina remarked. 

“I don’t mind losing,” he said. “I’ve won enough.”

#darklina #prompt fill #romance #fluff #extra domestic #so many children #chess and tea-cakes and a big garden #nashadragneel #canon au

[ncarnesir]

Season of Kink 2023

Now that the Season of Kink challenge has ended here is a resume of my participation. You can find the whole collection here Season of Kink 2023 - NessaC

This was my bingo card and I did the last horizontal line:

Rituals : Litha Eclipse Darklina, 1/1, E, 16.4k Alternate Universe with a Fantasy setting that is not the Grishaverse. Totally simping Aleksander and Alina having ritual sex for a religious celebration. Kink: Ritual Sex, Loss of Virginity, Oral Sex, Vaginal Sex, Orgy, Lactation Kink, Breeding Kink, Restraints, Daddy Kink. Inspiration pic

Dressup/costumes: A Game of Pretend Darklina, 1/1, E, 1.9k Alternate Universe with Modern Setting. Just sweet passionate sex between Alina and her Husband Aleksander, with some plot twists. Funny light-read with vanilla smut. Kink: Costume Kink, Vaginal Sex, Pretend play.

Emotion play/jealousy: His Hidden Project Darklina, 1/1, E, 7.7k Alternate Universe with Modern Setting. Alina being dumbly jealous of the potential affair of her boyfriend and deciding to take things in her hands by going a little domme on him, also with a plot twist (whoo). Kink: Jealousy, Vaginal Sex, Blow Jobs, Dom/sub dynamics, Face-Sitting, Riding Crops, Restraints, Orgasm Delay.

Power play: Brat Darklina, 1/2, M (E with Chapter 2), 1.9k for now Canon Divergence with Tsar Aleksander and Sankta Alina. I rushed the end so this one is actually not completed. It's a clear Dom/sub Alina and Aleksander fic, with Mommy/Little Boy dynamics. Chapter 1 doesn't have any smut, though the power play is already there. Chapter 2 will be out shortly, full of explicit smut including pegging and use of amplifiers as sex toys. Kink: Power Play, Dom/sub dynamics, Mommy Kink, Collar, Corset Kink. And coming: Oral Sex, Pegging, Amplifier sex toys, Orgasm Delay... not sure the rest since it's not finished. Will update once it's finished!

Object penetration: Purification Ritual Darklina, 1/1, M, 2.7k Canon Divergence with Apparat Aleksander and Sun Summoner Alina discovering her powers. Alina going through a defloration ritual prior to her mariage with Alexei. There is not a lot of smut in this one, it's really barely there. Kink: Object penetration, Amplifier sex toy, Loss of Virginity, Dubious consent.

#shadow and bone #darklina #the darkling #alina starkov #writing challenge #season of kink 2023 #my bingo #fic I wrote #seasonofkink

[a-skirmish-of-wit-and-lit]

This question was inspired by a gwynriel reblog (although I do know you reblog elriel stuff too so I’m assuming you like both) but what are some book ships that you have that you wished were canon/wish will be canon for ongoing series?

Hi there, nonnie! Thanks for the ask. :D

I do like both Gwynriel and Elriel. And Elucien, too. (I even shipped Mor and Azriel back in the day, when the series was still in its infancy.) I'm a walking contradiction, what can I say? I think you'll find that I'm pretty open and flexible when it comes to ships/shipping. I am an unapologetic multi-shipper, so all that I really require is intriguing characters and imagination. 🙃

As for your question, I think one of the ships I most want to be canon is Jaime and Brienne from ASOIAF. If GRRM ever finishes and publishes TWOW (I've been waiting impatiently for YEARS!!!), I am hoping that comes to fruition. 🤞🏻I would love for some canon Gendry/Arya as well.

I was also hoping for a Grayson/Avery endgame in The Inheritance Games trilogy by Jennifer Lynn Barnes. I mean, I did enjoy Avery/Jameson as well - they had a playfulness that was pleasing - but Avery/Grayson had a convoluted intensity that I thought was entrancing and deserved more development. (There is a book 4 coming, though. So who knows what'll happen.)

There's also The Ballad of Never After trilogy by Stephanie Garber. Evangeline and Jacks have such a heady dynamic, and given the cliffhanger at the end of book two, I'm so curious to see if/how they'll end up together.

In the Grisha trilogy, I was and am an Alarkling/Darklina girlie. I loved how they were opposite sides of the same coin and I'll never not be disappointed by how that series ended. It's that light/darkness trope. I'm a sucker for opposites attract, too. And their chemistry was *chef's kiss* I never warmed to Mal and Alina for various reasons, even though I typically eat up friends to lovers dynamics. I did enjoy Nikolai and Alina, though!

In If We Were Villians, which is a standalone, I was genuinely torn between Oliver/Meredith and James/Oliver. I still can't decide.

Oooh, another one is the HP series. I get on board with canon Romione, but I always liked the idea of Harry and Hermione more. They had a really healthy and supportive dynamic and I think that would have parlayed well into romance. Also, I totally crack ship the hell out of Dramione.

I'm sure there are others I'm forgetting but these are the ones that jumped to the forefront of my mind.

#anonymous #replies #lovely people #ashlee bree talks book ships

[stagbled]

#STAGBLED     :         the    BLACK HERETIC,        general kirigan,        the    starless saint.     make me your villain.   an    independent,        private,     head-canon   based,   low   activity     &      mutuals        only      ❛❛     ALEKSANDER MOROZOVA, AKA THE DARKLING       ❜❜    of    shadow & bone:        a    study    in    dark versus light,        loneliness,    power & the temptation in the dark,  martyr & sacrifice,        redemption,      koschei the deathless,        and    the byronic hero.    18+    and triggering themes.      affiliated with stagflood.     dissected   by   syl.  BLOG IS A WIP. CARRD COMING SOON. INTEREST TRACKER.

other requestable muses include: will graham from nbc's hannibal, bunny corcoran from the secret history, glenn rhee from twd & more below.

rules (carrd tba) 01. just don't be a dick. if you don't like the nuance of a villain that showcases both morally grey actions plus the exploration of humanity within that, then don't follow! this goes without saying but muse does not equate mun. the darkling is a villain and all his relationships will be affected by that. his beliefs and trauma do not justify his actions - he is interesting because he thinks they do.

02. low activity. mutuals only. plot-heavy. duplicate friendly. multi and oc friendly as well. canon-divergent.

03. i will explore the ship darklina - including all the abusive and toxic elements that shroud it. it's important to the darkling and an interesting relationship to explore, as alina is his foil and obsession. i do not expect anyone to reciprocate shipping or desire it - just that i am simply open to exploration of a complicated relationship, wherever it may go. otherwise, chemistry is the must for anything. will tag '/darklina' and '/nsfw' in any posts that contain it. i am open to shipping with other charactres/ocs/the like as long as there is something there worth exploring.

04. that being said: dark topics will be explored. i do not support the idea of censorship of any form of art. however, i do ask that you tag anything that has to do heavily with grooming/csa/domestic abuse. if something i write needs a tag, just hop in my ims. i'm pretty easy to talk to and willing to accommodate those that ask.

05. still getting through the books so please be patient with me! that being said, alot of what i write will be headcanon, canon-divergent, and influenced by personal interpretation. some influences that will incorporate will be general gothic tropes of the byronic hero and being enticed by the dark. the tale of koschei the deathless may also be present and a reoccurring motif.

06. i reject the ending given to aleksander. while i am fine with his death (though, consider that null here) i do not follow the events of him being resurrected at all unless redeveloped via plotting. i will instead be following a canon-divergent path to be fleshed out soon. though the general idea is that aleksander lives and chooses to do so, facing his loneliness, wherever that leads him.

mun: hi, i'm syl! i'm a twenty-six year old literature and classics (greek focus) major. i adore tragedies, gothic horror and fantasy. i collect moth taxidermy and i love morbid things.

this is a tentative list of muses that will also make occasional appearance on this blog. feel free to request any of them: allison argent from teen wolf. adrian ivashkov from vampire academy. *bunny corcoran from the secret history. daemon targaryen from house of dragon/asoiaf. dorian gray from the picture of dorian gray. *glenn rhee from the walking dead. hannibal lecter from nbc's hannibal. jem carstairs from the infernal devices. love quinn from you. *maggie greene from the walking dead. patroclus from mythology + a song of achilles. *theon greyjoy from game of thrones. *will graham from nbc's hannibal. * = high muse. verses to come for aleksander: tlou, modern, canon divergences, twd, asoiaf, shadowhunters, vampire.

#july 23. #dni.

[faeriebabee]

does not, can not, will not

a/n: in honor of the fact i am getting wine drunk and forcing myself to rage finish shadow & bone s2 i’m posting the oneshot i wrote when i was  a 14 year old darklina shipper. i recently moved it from ff.net to ao3 because i figured it held up remarkably well against the passage of time compared to the rest of my other teenage writing, but never posted it here. until now! but heavy disclaimer i didn’t edit or revise this at all beyond running it through grammarly so it is still very written-by-a-14-year-old

summary:  Whatever she and the Darkling have, it’s certainly not love.

ao3

Alina Starkov does not love the Darkling.

There are moments when she hates him less. Moments when she sees the lonely boy with too much power in his quartz gray eyes and is begrudgingly reminded of herself. There are moments when she forgets she hates him. Moments when her hands are tangled in his hair and his hands are gripping her hips, trying to pull her closer even though there is already no space between them and she can barely remember her name- much less that she’s supposed to hate him- because the press of his mouth on her- her mouth, her jaw, her neck- is far too intoxicating. Moments when the only real thing is him and the waves of desire clouding her judgment and weakening her resolve, however temporarily.

Then in a flash of clarity, she regains her senses, pushes him away, and goes back to hating him.

Alina Starkov does not love the Darkling because love is not a never-ending cycle of cat-and-mouse games and cruel taunting and the angry clash of lips on lips.

Love is being curled up beside Mal, her head on his shoulder and his arm loosely curled around her waist. Love is the way she and Mal instinctively reach for each other's hand at the same time and the way her gaze automatically seeks out his when they're in the same room. Love is the tender, slow kisses that reassure her that he is there. Love is sweet and gentle and clear sunshine accompanied with cloudless skies.

Whatever she and the Darkling have, it’s certainly not love.

Alina Starkov can not love the Darkling, because if she does it's proof that she does not love Mal as much as she once did.

It's proof that she is not oblivious to the way Mal dislikes her being in a room with another man for even a handful of seconds, even if he should know damn well that her relationship with said man is either platonic or nonexistent. It’s proof that she notices the way a normally casual arm around her waist quickly becomes possessive, to the point of making her feel like an object to be claimed. It’s proof that she remembers the way Mal told her he wanted the old Alina back and he sometimes mistook her for a stranger. It’s proof that she hasn't entirely been turning a blind eye to the way Mal drowns himself in kvas and other women after a particularly bitter argument.

It was admitting that she needed to let go of Mal, that she was losing him anyway.

Alina Starkov will not love the Darkling, because if she does she’s scared she’ll lose a part of herself.

She’s scared of her hunger for power. She’s scared of what she’s willing to do for more. She’s scared of the violent urges she sometimes gets. She’s scared of Mal leaving her. She’s scared of being alone. She’s scared of letting more people past her barriers. She’s scared that someone she trusts will turn and lodge a dagger in her back. She’s scared of hurting Mal, Nikolai, Genya, Tamar, Tolya, and even Nadia and Zoya. She’s scared of everyone turning against her. She’s scared of descending to point that she needs to be killed. She’s scared that no one will be able to kill her once she reaches that point. She’s scared that in a couple of centuries, she’ll be more like him than herself. She’s scared she’s already no better than him. She’s so, so scared- and mostly of herself and how dark she’s becoming.

He’s always appealed to the darker side of her.

She does not love him. She can not love him. She will not love him.

She will not let that change. She will not let her powerful attraction to him grow into anything more.

As long as she can keep convincing the darkest parts of her soul of this, she’s at least one step out of his reach. She’s at least one step away of becoming what she fears. She’s at least one step away from being consumed by the darkest parts of herself.

She’s always been a terrible liar.

#alina starkov #the darkling #darklina #the grisha trilogy #my writing

[greensaplinggrace]

Choose violence ask game: 23 for Grishaverse

23. ship you've unwillingly come around to

The original version of this for me is Darklina, which I was hellbent on actually not liking when I first watched the show because I saw so many posts hating on it in the fandom tags. I eventually grew to really like it, partly out of spite after getting radicalized by the antis, and partly because I actually re-watched the show with fresh eyes and read the books with my own analyses and ended up realizing how interesting and fun it was as a ship.

Recently, I have unwillingly come around to Nikolina. I'm pretty neutral on Nikolai, but I love the content the fandom has for the ship, and I really began to appreciate their scenes together a lot more as I reread them. As always with me, I truly grew to adore the ship after considering what it means for Alina and how it impacts her character. I now find their relationship fun and quite fascinating, and it's one of my favorites to analyze now.

choose violence ask game (x)

#asks and answers #ask games #shadow and bone #sab #grishaverse #darklina #nikolina #alina starkov #myramblings #for-want-of-a-nail #ahh thanks for the ask! 💕

[noirshadow]

I posted 1,017 times in 2022

That's 833 more posts than 2021!

105 posts created (10%)

912 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@slightlyrebelliouswriter23

@moodymelanist

@santababysteve

@cassianandfenrysaremyboyos

@sydneymack

I tagged 806 of my posts in 2022

Only 21% of my posts had no tags

#aftg - 216 posts

#all for the game - 187 posts

#andreil - 93 posts

#kdrama - 61 posts

#shadow and bone - 47 posts

#acotar - 46 posts

#darklina - 41 posts

#the foxhole court - 39 posts

#neil josten - 37 posts

#ao3 - 34 posts

Longest Tag: 62 characters

#double agent but can’t do it without magic help from the enemy

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

Got my friend to finally read aftg and her first words after first book are: ‘Andrew seems interesting.’ YES GIRL WE KNOW. STRAP IN.

77 notes - Posted October 14, 2022

#4

Thinking about the monsters’ personalities and their Exy positions and it’s just so fitting. Andrew plays goalie because he’s an island. He does care about his team and is the last line of defense but he prefers to go it alone, staying in goal where he fights alone and the whole team’s ultimate result rests with him. He carries that burden alone, where his actions can make or break the others.

Aaron and Nicky are backliners. They let Andrew shout commands and they act as they’re told. Equally, off the court, Andrew dictates their actions and they’re almost scared of him, letting him call the shots even with important personal decisions.

Neil is a striker but he started as a backliner, and it’s still what he knows first and foremost. He’s been on the defense his whole life with the threat of Riko and his dad always looming. With the Foxes, people he comes to care about end up getting involved and he’s forced to go on the attack. No more running, no more defending but to strike first and fight for what he loves.

Kevin is a striker but not the way Neil is. He does it as an island out front, almost in opposite of Andrew, acting completely independently of the others. He is a strategic striker, completely calculating, and Neil can’t play the same way as him. Even off court, Kevin’s attack is more subtle: what he did was to escape the Ravens and keep fighting them quietly, on the court, as a Fox.

Both strikers are incredibly focused and disciplined. However, Kevin yearns to play the perfect game and Neil’s drive is pure fiery passion. He’ll do the risky moves, the down and dirty ugly but necessary plays to win. Kevin wants to win without sacrificing the aesthetic and in a way, that hinders him.

All the Foxes are running from something. It takes Neil’s arrival to shake things up. He is constantly pushing them to all work together, both on and off the court, which worked; ultimately it was the only way they could all overcome everything.

93 notes - Posted November 3, 2022

#3

346 notes - Posted January 10, 2022

#2

So we know Andrew loves and protects his car because it’s his baby, the constant in his life that has never failed him. He fully owns it and it’s not something he has to share with siblings or owe back to a foster parent. It’s portable so it’s also his exit, in case he needs to leave.

When it gets ruined by the Ravens, he is utterly bereft, like a piece of him is missing. But when Neil gets him the new Maserati, Andrew doesn’t know what to do with himself because he now owes a guy he’s trying desperately not to open up to. And somehow, without Andrew saying anything, Neil knew that this was important to him, enough to blow his own exit fund/life savings. And just that willingness on Neil’s part to do it showed Andrew that he didn’t need the car anymore, not really, because Neil was his new safety net. Inadvertently, letting Neil buy him a new version of this most important possession and sharing his keys is the first real step that Andrew is opening up and sharing his heart.

350 notes - Posted October 22, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

At what point does the preliminary obsession with aftg finally slow down? Asking for a friend.

508 notes - Posted September 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #Defo had my aftg glow up #I like what I like

[bywayofmemory]

Get to Know Me

Tagged by @iamstartraveller776, thank you!

Part One

Are you named after anyone: First name no, middle name yes. I have a very trendy-at-the-time name instead.

When was the last time you cried: Earlier today when I got frustrated with a game. I figured it out and was happy ten minutes later, as per usual. I cry very easily.

Do you have kids: Nope. Children are at their best when they belong to other people.

Do you use sarcasm a lot: Literally all the time. I grew up in the 90s and it stuck, what can I say.

What's the first thing you notice about people: Their hair. I love a good head of hair!

What's your eye colour: Grey-blue. Pretty standard.

Scary movies or happy endings: Happy endings! I am a big baby and don’t like horror stories unless they’re about ghosts.

Any special talents: I write pretty well and I love baking. Not cooking, mind. Baking.

Where were you born: Wisconsin, USA

What are your hobbies: Reading, writing, gaming, listening to music

Have any pets: Not exactly, but my bf owns a black cat who adores me (the feeling is mutual). She’s the best kitty.

What sports do you play/have you played: lol

How tall are you: 5′0″. Too lazy to convert to metric but it’s real short.

Favourite subject in school: History, because I love stories.

Dream job: The dream is to not have to have a job tbh. I just want to be independently wealthy. But if forced to pick a real job - lorekeeper for a big game franchise (yes, that’s a real thing). It suits my creativity and obsessive brain that remembers details that no one else cares about.

Part Two

First ship: Mary/Colin from The Secret Garden, probably. I was into shipping basically from the time I could first read so who knows.

Three ships: Only three? Tragic! I’ll take my old standby Susan/Edmund (Chronicles of Narnia), my abiding, deep love Darklina (Shadow and Bone), and my hot new thing, Daemon/Rhaenyra (House of the Dragon).

Last (current) song: Previously Don’t Panic, by Ellie Goulding. Currently Calgary by Bon Iver.

Last movie: John Wick 4, in which that universe completely gave up on the already tenuous relationship it had with the laws of physics and what forces do to human bodies. It could have used trimming from the fight scenes, but it was decent.

Currently reading: The Great Mistake by Mary Roberts Rinehart, because I needed a comfort read and for some reason my go-to for those are mid-century mysteries in which loads of people die because someone was trying to cover up an illegitimate child and/or a divorce. Scandal!

Currently watching: The Mandalorian, when I manage to remember. I am not great at keeping up with shows!

Currently consuming: Nothing but water, though I’m thinking about dinner.

Currently craving: A Mexican Coke. That’s the good shit.

Tagging anyone who would like to participate!

#about me #ask meme