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#i have nothing against darklina shippers
agir1ukn0w · 1 year
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watch me skip thru all the malina scenes so I can get to all the darkling simping over alina scenes😎
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ineffeblygay · 1 year
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The following message is directed to darklina shippers, primarily those of which who have not read the books, those who excuse the actions of The Darkling in the books, and/or those who see the actions and simply accept/ignore them because “he’s morally grey tehe 🤭” or “he’s the same as Kaz Brekker” or “Ben Barnes is sooo hot”.
Let’s start this off strong: The Darkling is ABSOLUTELY, POSITIVELY, BEYOND A SHADOW (ha) OF A DOUBT nothing like Kaz ‘Dirtyhands’ Brekker, and here’s why.
Kaz is a criminal, there is no denying it, and we love him for it. Why, you may ask? That’s because Kaz has two things the Darkling doesn’t.
#1 lines he won’t cross. Kaz Brekker, a man who wants vengeance more than he wants oxygen, still has a hard limit. He’d never do *insert unspeakable things the darkling has done “for the greater good” (they were in fact NOT for the greater good but we’ll get into that later)*. And the reason for that is he actually cares about his friends, his crows. He CARES about their lives more than he cares about his vengeance. Even if he doesn’t show it, he’d never trade one of them for Pekka’s head. Instead, he’d work with them to kill him.
#2 he has an actual reason (now I know, I know: Kaz Brekker didn’t need a reason- but he has one). We all know his traumatic history and how it affects him to this day. We know what happened to Jordie and how Kaz vowed to avenge his big brother. We’ve all read the same chapters, the same Kaz POVs. He was wronged and ofc, it’s a YA fantasy novel so he’s gonna kill the bastard, duh. He’s getting his pound of flesh, and some for Jordie too, and he’ll build his empire off of Pekka.
Now I know what you may be thinking: “THIS SOUNDS JUST LIKE THE DARKLING!!” but does it really? Think about it here. Point #1, lines that won’t be crossed. Kaz has proven to have mercy even when it would have served his plan better to not (that part in CK when he threatened to kill a kid); but has the Darkling?
Let’s start a list:
the fold (and everyone inside). Sounds like genocide and world destruction to me.
Novo Kribirsk - again with that genocide.
Alina. Everything Alina. This includes, but is not limited to: grooming her, putting a collar around her neck to steal her powers and enslave her, torturing her and her partner, kidnapping her, sexually assaulting her, attacking her (x a bajillion times), threatening her, etc.
Genya - put a (I believe) 9 year old in the hands of a KNOWN pedophile to retrieve information, separated her from other grisha so she felt alone, manipulated and groomed her, mutilated her, etc.
Killed Botokin and Anna Kunya, and held orphans hostage.
These are specifics I know off the top of my head and I could get more if I did some research, but just rapid fire here: deaths of countless grisha who stood against him, what he did to Zoya, Fedyor, Sergi, Nikolai (not a grisha but he counts), etc.
All of these actions were supposedly to get to his goal of “a safe place for grisha” (We’ll talk about how that wasn’t what he actually cared about later) and he didn’t stop at anything. Never hesitated, nothing.
The real reason this was all for was because he has a MASSIVE savior complex. He may have wanted (past tense) a safe place for grisha but now, what matters more to him is being the hero. He wants more to be the one who saves everyone than to have everyone be safe. It really reinforces the whole “make me your villain” line bc he doesn’t believe he’s the villain, he wants to be the hero so bad- but he’s not. And he never will be, because somewhere along the line, he lost sight of the goal and started making bad decisions and now we’re here.
Another thing I’d like to add, you can like Ben Barnes and not like the Darkling. You have to remember that it’s a ROLE. I love Ben and hate the darkling. Simply bc they’re NOT THE SAME PERSON. It’s actually quite genius that he was casted bc a big part of his gig was seducing people to his side with his insane looks and charisma so clearly it worked a little too well.
Now to get to #2. He didn’t have an actual valid reason- not that any reason could warrant his behavior but he didn’t even have a fucking reason. He SAID he was doing it all “so grisha could be safe” but it’s a lie. It may have been his reason a few centuries ago but I guarantee it’s not his reason now. If that was his reasoning for ALL THIS, he would not HARM grisha to get what he wants. He wouldn’t KILL grisha for his goals.
In short, the Darkling does what he does because he has a MASSIVE savior complex. He wants more so to be the one who saves everyone, than to have everyone be safe.
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belle-keys · 1 year
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my thoughts on shadow & bone season 2
okay, i finished late last night and had a blast watching this. we'll see if it gets canceled or not (it might). but oh my god i had so much fun even though i was like hmm at some things. here's some of my thoughts and impressions in case you would like to feel #seen.
don't @ me about dark!alina. i like it. i love it. i've always wanted a corrupt alina. i've been a darklina shipper for a hot minute and while that wouldn't have made sense to do in the show, a dark!alina does make sense and it deepens her character imo. the use of the merzost had major consequences for her and i love that. aleksander and baghra did warn her, and she didn't listen. and now we get payoff. this is how you write powerful characters!!!
paddy gibson was a great nikolai like come @ me and i will defend this man. alina’s interactions with him, tolya, and tamar were awesome like it felt very natural.
the spirit of cillian murphy possessed my man freddy carter in episode 4 like idk mans was giving me the kaz i had expected from season 1 ong he was not playing in that pekka rollins scene, like he stole so much of the show for me i loved it and i just got chills seeing the kaz we know and tolerate clearly living deep down under freddy's skin.
matthias spent the whole season in jail to simply remain in jail for the whole season and not end the season out of jail despite spending a whole season in jail despite jail being all he did for the season despite-
when aleksander was choking alina and telling her how much he wanted to destroy her and had her pressed up against that table and was muttering evil nothings into her ear? i felt that.
ben was excellent as well in this season as we expected, but as i previously noted, this entire season was identical in both fundamental and superficial ways to billy russo’s season 2 in the punisher like i can’t make this shit up. as soon as daddie darkie opened his mouth to speak, i immediately knew via osmosis what the speech’s delivery would sound like. it's just hilarious i'm sorry i'm not mad but it's just so unserious.
when zoya said "that one's a mess. i can fix him"??? i felt that shit so hard like meee finally a female character to represent meee
we did not need reminders that tolya loves poems 100 times we get it like cmon do more with your side characters if you're gonna make them quip every two seconds.
i will not lie, i’m so happy with how they incorporated the crows into the main story like it really felt like a fun epic fantasy series with different levels you gotta beat until you fight the boss (daddy darkie), like there’s so many interwoven plots and arcs and every time a scene switched i’d be like the leondardo dicaprio pointing at his tv meme i got chills watching everything come together the way it did, i think they really succeeded in making you (me) ooh and ahh this season.
the fight scenes gave me chills like the grisha powers being brought to life like that? slayed. the musical score and the special effects and the cinematography? popped off. the crows bringing guns to a grisha fight? never before seen. inej slicing up daddy darkie monsters? extraordinary. shit had me breaking out in chills.
i think besides kaz's face-off with pekka rollins in ep4, aleksander's death scene and his death monologue was the high point of the season for me. the whole "you need my darkness to balance your light thing"? the whole "let me be your monster so you don't have to" thing? literally took my breath away. he encapsulated every thing i loved about the darkling's character so well and his relationship with alina. he did warn her that she needed him for balance within herself and she just couldn't accept that. now she'll get what he was on to the whole time. it's amazing. it shows the darkling isn't just a character in alina's life.
i feel like splitting mal and alina up at the end wasn't... right? idk, the whole point of malina was supposed to be childhood friends-to-lovers-to-soulmates and her making this huge sacrifice for mal and then have him go away while she stays to... rule ravka??? that fell flat for me as an ending like what was the reason for that change cus i have no idea??? it makes sense from an irl perspective but idk what the showrunners were going for with that.
jessie mei li cannot act. i am not some tv and film expert. but this girl just cannot act. i dare you to change my mind.
oh I absolutely hate how they changed wylan and jesper's relationship. idk what was the reason for the whole "we once hooked up and forgot about each other" thing like WHAT WAS THAT HOW DID THEY MISS THE PLOT OF THE MOVIE SO BADLY IDC I CAN'T VIBE WITH IT NO-
i'm sorry on-screen kanej is still just as dry as book kanej for me like i felt nothing at all during their interactions this season, even the hallucination ones. as individuals they're great, but they made me feel absolutely nothing. not a single tingle.
if i had to cut something from the show, i'd probably either cut matthias' entire presence since he did nothing this season, or, i would cut genya and david's relationship because i do not and never did care about that pairing (or either of them as individuals tbh)
alina doing the darkling's shadow cut at the end??? i was cackling in joy like a maniac. yeah. that was a moment in time.
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greensaplinggrace · 3 years
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“how could you ship Darklina knowing she based it off of her abusive relationship?”
By educating myself about the origins of this rumor and learning that it’s false! By scouring the internet for a time wherein she explicitly stated it was based off her abusive relationship and coming up with nothing. By finding only the most obscure posts and references in interviews that talk about how her relationship at the time of creating Shadow and Bone caused her depression. 
So no, Darklina actually wasn’t based on Leigh Bardugo’s abusive relationship. That’s a rumor.
It is also in incredibly bad taste to use a real person’s history with trauma as a way to harass fans of her novel. I honestly can’t believe the amount of times I’ve seen her history dredged up for an anti’s chance to “get one over” on a shipper. And I’m honestly appalled by the amount of times this argument has been raised against other, real life, actual abuse survivors who ship Darklina. 
“how could you ship Darklina knowing she based it off of her abusive relationship?”
By acknowledging also that fiction is a work meant for thousands. By remembering that any personal experiences an author puts into a novel are not universal. That every fan is different and will have lived extremely different lives from her. That expecting them all to read the same message in her story is impossible, especially since it’s one very specific to Leigh Bardugo’s own private life. 
By exposing myself to the entirety of the fandom and not just one echo chamber, by seeing posts about how some people are triggered by Darklina and other people are triggered by Malina. By realizing that the world isn’t black and white, that everybody is going to be coming into this with their own baggage and traumatic experiences, that Leigh Bardugo, in putting this book out there for the entire world to see, gave every reader the chance to see something different and unique and personal in her words. By remembering that fiction is not reality, and that reality is the people behind the pages and behind the screens.
“how could you ship Darklina knowing she based it off of her abusive relationship?”
By remembering that Leigh Bardugo actually championed the Darklina ship! That she actively supported it and its fans for years. That she baited a vast majority of this fandom into believing certain things were going to play out in her stories that never did.
By remembering that the Darkling is given his own backstory. That we see him as a child. That we have a chance to connect with his own traumas on an intimate level. 
By remembering that Leigh Bardugo made some missteps in how she framed the plight of the Grisha. By acknowledging that some people will see themselves in the Darkling, that they can’t not, that his character goes beyond Alina and his relationship with her. That thousands of fans look at this man fighting for the rights of his people, living with centuries of generational trauma, persecuted by outsiders and ostracized even within his own community, completely alone, and feel agony over the way he’s treated by the story. By acknowledging that the story Bardugo told was a damaging one to some who read it.
By remembering that the people in this fandom have lives and traumas of their own that they’re seeing in this book, in these characters, in this world, and they’re all taking away something different. By remembering that Leigh Bardugo is now not the only one involved in this story. That this goes beyond her. 
“how could you ship Darklina knowing she based it off of her abusive relationship?”
By realizing that many antis parrot buzzwords without any real idea what they actually mean as a means to scare off potential Darklina fans and actively shame the people who ship it, and that this rumor in particular got circulated by antis for much the same reasons.
Anti Darklinas grossly misuse terms like abuse, grooming, and pedophilia on a regular basis, and it’s actually kind of disconcerting. The way they overblow the negative aspects of the relationship and then twist or outright lie about canonical facts in the series is something people should be on more of a lookout for. Especially when it pertains to them creating content that could be damaging to a lot of people in the community and especially when they go out of their way to stalk and harass fans, purposefully triggering them.
Leigh Bardugo has recently misused the word grooming as well. It’s hurt a lot of fans and downplayed the reality of an actual, serious issue that many people face in real life. And because apparently none of these people are capable of research, the antis are now the parrots repeating what she’s said without any thought to the gravity of the situation.
So please, please, remember to fact check this stuff, and don’t believe every little thing the antis say. Not liking a ship is valid, respectful criticisms of a ship are valid, but the continued and exaggerated use of this rumor is just plain fucking offensive. Have some goddamn respect.
SO! How could I ship Darklina knowing it’s based it off of an abusive relationship? It’s easy. I just mind my own business and engage with the media/literature in a way that’s actually healthy. I don’t take the Word of God from an author who’s already finished the series. In fact I don’t take her word on much of anything, because why should I? I draw my own conclusions. I open myself up to new ideas. I remain confident in my ability to engage with the literature critically and comprehensively. I HAVE FUN.
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serpenteve · 3 years
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funny how haters keep saying darklinas are old white women and throw race accusations but i and all my darklina friends are non-white (and non-american) and most of those screaming at us about how darklinas are freaks ARE white lol
Okay, so I have a lot of thoughts about this.
Sometimes certain demographics will gravitate towards particular stories because some part of it resonates with their own experiences. People from marginalized groups have a history of being demonized in fiction from banned books to the Hays Code. It's how Guillermo del Toro basically took Creature from the Black Lagoon and subverted all the tropes to create Shape of Water. Lindsay Ellis did a great video essay on the appeal of the monster boyfriend that tracks the evolution of the monster being recast as a sympathetic hero whose struggle for acceptance can be mapped to real-world marginalization.
In a lot of these stories, you have a conventional white hero saving an infantalized white woman who gets cast as the damsel in distress with little to no agency. Does she even like this hero? Who knows or cares because the fact that he saves her means he's entitled to her. The monster "corrupting" her can often be read as a societal fear that since women clearly have less moral fibre to resist temptations, they will be the conduit that brings the evils of communism, interracial marriages, the gay agenda, pagan religions, and anything else that will doom polite WASP society and bring the end of civilization as we know it!!!!1111 😱😱😱
The ironic thing is that the original source material tracks very closely to this historical idea of the white hero having to save his white love interest from the "evil" monster, who can be read as being part of some marginalized group (*cough usually a stand-in for a MOC cough*). I've already written a lot about why book!Mal really grinds my gears, but one of the most irritating and sinister things about his character is his unwillingness to accept Alina's Grisha status. He hates it because he feels entitled to have her and can't stand that this means there will always be a part of her that doesn't exclusively revolve around him. Now, maybe if he had a character arc that was paced similarly to Matthias' bigotry towards Nina, I'd feel differently about it. But Mal getting rewarded for his hostility towards Alina and her relationship to her powers was one of the grossest parts of the original trilogy. Meanwhile, the person who accepts her powers becomes the villain and every step Alina takes towards embracing her powers and that part of herself gets demonized and painted as "oh noes corruption!11" 😱😱
Accusing Darklina shippers of being racist is entirely a new thing that only popped up because of the Netflix adaptation racelifting Alina and Mal. Importing real-world prejudices and racism into a fantasy world with existing fantasy prejudices is incredibly awkward considering the direction the source material takes.
On the one hand, we have the Grisha as a marginalized group whose only sanctuary is the Second Army. Because this is fantasy and nothing is explicitly coded, lots of readers mapped their own experiences as a POC, as a queer person, as a Jewish person, as a member of any group that gets unjustly demonized and institutionally discriminated against. The metaphor was very flexible that way. On the other hand, we have anti-Shu racism and inconsistently written anti-Suli racism that doesn't go challenged. So as POC, we are told to map our experiences in how Alina navigates this mostly-white world because the prejudice she faces has been made explicit as racism (specifically anti-Asian racism). But then we're told we can't map our experiences in the way Grisha are treated, nor are we meant to root for them trying to improve their rights as a persecuted class because the Darkling is the villain. It's just messy and confusing and a complete headache to navigate.
Two kinds of bigotry exist in this fantasy world (one made explicit and imported from the real world, the other left implicit and completely fictional) but the way the story frames and treats them completely contradicts one another.
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generalstarkov · 3 years
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My thoughts on 'consensual darklina'
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tw abuse
I'm assuming Jessie is referring to what happened in the winter fête, saying that this time it would be Alina's choice, many people are upset over it and some others are over the moon because, for some reason, for some very questionable reasons, they think they'll get the s*x scene they want so badly, but that's a whole different conversation.
Personally, it doesn't bother me that what happened between them is defined as consensual, actually, I think it makes a lot of sense, and before you scroll past this post this isn't a pro darklina rant, allow me to elaborate.
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You need to remember that the Darkling is very cunning and that he knows how to pull the strings in order to get what he wants, he's very observant and knows how to read people, that's why it’s so easy for him to manipulate those around him, he has been doing this for centuries.
The Darkling knew that Genya felt excluded and humiliated, that she resented the moment she drifted away from the other Grisha and her position as a servant, her having to be a mere servant while other Grisha were out there doing important stuff, so he made her believe that by letting the king abuse her she would be of great help for him, 'his greatest soldier' he told her, and she believed him.
The Darkling knew that Zoya wanted to be great, that she wanted power to make up for something else, and that she was drawn to it,he knew that because she wanted power and worshipped him she would do anything he asked her, ' you and I are going to change the world' he told her too, and she believed him.
From Alina's POV The Darkling was the first man who didn't overlooked her (because she still doesn't know Mal has romantic feelings for her), he told her that she was special and cherished and that she would change the world, so again, think about the way Alina saw herself up till that moment, she had never known what it was like to have someone to see her as more than a friend, or a soldier, and she desperately wanted to feel that she belonged somewhere, so it's only fair that she welcomes the first person to offer her all of that, it's only fair that she would consent to be close him.
He told the Grisha that he would protect them and they all believed him, and he did, until they turned against him, and then he had no problem with making them kill each other.
Now back to Alina, you need to see this from her pov, Alina is an orphan, and this alone has a lot of weight on how Alina views herself and the world around her, orphan children tend to be more vulnerable and are predisposed to physicological risks as a result of the trauma of their parents dying plus other effects of neglect, she has never been good at anything, she has been overlooked and felt unspecial her whole life, she lives day by day forced to fight in a war she didn't ask to take part in.
And The Darkling knew all of that of course, not only did he knew but he also wanted to make sure she felt completely alone, by having Genya burning her letters to Mal, y'all know that.
So for the people who are upset, the fact that this is going to label as consensual on the show doesn't mean that it is actually right or justified, the only reason why Alina wanted to be close to the Darkling was that she believed him, she thought he really cared about her, that she belonged with him, but as soon as she learns the truth what she thought she had felt for him vanishes.
I consider this being portrayed as consensual as a great opportunity to represent women who have gotten into abusive relationships without even knowing it, no, it's not because they're stupid or blind or because the signs were there how come you did not see them, it shows that consenting to have a relationship with someone doesn't mean that you consented to all the possible negative outcomes, it shows that when you're in a bad place, mentally, you can consent to many things that seem fine but aren't actually fine, and that no one should invalidate the trauma that it can leave.
And for the darklina shippers who are excited because they think they'll a s*x scene, nothing screams self-insertion as loud as that.
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malyen0retsev · 3 years
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this malina/anti-darklina agenda is so rare on this website at times ugh i love to see it, THANK YOU but the one thing i don't get about darklina shippers is the fact that they really seem to romanticize the fact that alina would be the one to keep the darkling from becoming too powerful or humanizing him (like the quote "you might be the only one to keep my powers in check" or something along those lines, which i feel is used a lot to show their 'love/chemistry' whatever) but will then read soc and praise inej for deciding against trying to heal kaz? like baby, didn't alina make the same decision yet you go get mad at the decision to have a malina endgame aka her being with a man who asked for almost nothing from her, followed her through everything, DIED FOR HER. why should alina be the one to try fix the darkling, why should she be the one to keep him from becoming too powerful, why shouldn't he be the one to save himself? she shouldn't have to make him a "better man", she's already been manipulated by him once why should she now forgive and try heal him, as if he's not 100s of years old and grown enough to do it for himself
honestly, i don't engage in ship-wars or care what people ship that much but honestly...sometimes it's just brainrot, they genuinely confuse me at times lmaoo
sorry i just had to rant👁👄👁
Nah anon, I completely agree with you. And that’s another reason why Kaz and Inej are the most popular Grishaverse ship (AS THEY SHOULD BE). Inej refuses to ‘heal’ him, she isn’t a cure for Kaz. And in response, Kaz is determined to pull HIMSELF together FOR HER. It’s healthy as fuck, Kaz’s love for Inej makes him a better person, but that’s on him to do so, it isn’t her responsibility to ‘heal’ him. It’s his responsibility - and he does it. i love kanej so fucking much
This is the thing, I’m not actually obsessed about ship wars, ship and let ship, idgaf, but like you said, it’s the hypocrisy and (in this particular ‘ship war’ case) the ridiculous level of just... saying verifiably false shite from the darklinas that makes me get my knives out. If you don’t ship Alina with Mal, you do you, idgaf! But don’t tear it down using literal false information and out of context quotes, bc you look like an idiot, and I’m well within my rights to call it out lol. And like you said anon, it’s further confusing when people applause Inej for saying it isn’t her job to heal Kaz (which it isn’t!) yet get upset when Alina won’t do the same thing for the crusty shadow man? She chose the man she actually loves, like Inej did, who actually loves her back - once again, like Inej did. But for Alina it’s inexcusable somehow? Make it make sense lol
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This Needs To Stop.
Trigger warning: Sensitive topics, p*dopilia, grooming, mental health and r*cism. 
Ok so this is a bit of a rant so apologies for that, I usually try to stay away from sensitive or controversial topics but this is something that I am passionate about and that I think is important. Also I just want to say that I am in no way directing this to the entirety of the M*lina fandom, I know most are just enjoying their ship, but there are those few who are deliberately seeking out darklina posts or are cross tagging and coming into darklina’s asks and just generally harassing the fandom which sadly I am seeing happen more and more often. Also I do feel like this can apply to all fandoms not just exclusively shadow and bone/ grishaverse, its just this is the one I am experiencing it in right now.   
I’ve seen antis call darkling/darklina fans many problematic things, delusional, mentally ill, ab*se apologists. They also like throwing around words like grooming and p*dophile. The thing that makes me angry about this is that they are taking sensitive topics, topics that many users have been effected by and they are using them to attack shippers merely for liking a character or ship that they don’t. What is even more frustrating is they seem to be throwing these words around without evening fully understanding what they even mean. For example the claim that the Darkling is a p*dophile because Alina is only 17 in the books. Well p*dophilia is a psychiatric disorder where adults are attracted to children and in order for it to be classed as p*dophilia the child involved has to be 13 or younger. A 16 year old can be diagnosed as a p*dophile if they become attracted to a child that is five years or more younger than them. So the relationship between the Darkling and Alina does not meet the criteria to be categorised this way as Alina is over the age of 13. As for it being a case of Alina is underaged, well, for one that depends on where in the world you are. This is based on imperial russia, in russia the age of consent is 16. This means that a 16 year old can have a sexual relationship with a 30 year old, a 70 year old or a 500 year old immortal and in a court of law it is still legal, whatever your own moral issues around age gaps might be. Even then it can be argued that it is irrelevant because, as with most historical literature where young girls marry older men, you cannot put modern day concepts onto them. Like I said this story is based on Imperial Russia, the life expectancy of a person in that time was around 30 years old. That means a 15 year old girl is already half way through her life, she is literally middle aged. It is at this point usually that girls started to prepare to get married and have children and yes sometimes it was to an older man because men were expected to provide for their wife and family which means having a house and job and means to support a family which an older man was more likely to have. My point is a 15-17 year old in say Imperial Russia is not the same as a 15-17 year old in modern day therefore you can’t take modern day laws and morals and place them onto that situation, it doesn’t work, they lived completely different lives. In Alina’s world, she is at the age where girls might get married and her being courted by a man of the general’s status would have been a normal occurrence, for her to have caught the attention of someone with his standing would have been considered very advantageous for her. I mean she literally gets two marriage proposals in book 2, where I believe she is still 17, and Nikolai is talking about how if she marries him it’ll be in name only and they can make Mal her guard so she can do the horizontal tango with him whenever she feels like it, so clearly the characters themselves feel like Alina is at an age where she can, one get married, and two be engaging in a sexual relationship. 
So why does all of this matter? Well it matters because people reading these posts, asks and comments left on posts, may be victims of p*dophilia and grooming. A lot of these comments don’t have trigger warnings and when you are talking about sensitive and triggering topics like this you need to be careful and when you are talking about them without even really understanding them, and where they can’t apply to the characters you are talking about anyway, then you are potentially triggering someone needlessly because you didn’t need to be talking about it in the first place, I hope I am making sense there. I am not saying don’t talk about these subjects if you do think they are relevant, I am saying make sure you do the research, that you understand the subject you are addressing and when you do talk about it do it in a respectful manner, don’t throw it out there in an angry spew accompanied by alot of other derogatory words because that won’t help anyone.     
Another subject I want to talk about is I am also seeing a lot of posts about how darklinas must be delusional or mentally unwell. This, again, is hurtful and harmful. Mental illness for a very long time has had a stigma around it, one that makes the person suffering from it feel weak and ashamed. There was always the attitude of if you are mentally ill then there is something wrong with you, or the attitude of oh just get over it, cheer up, think a different way. But mental illness isn’t just a state of emotion its often caused by hormonal imbalances and chemicals. Genetics can also play a part. There is nothing wrong with someone who is mentally ill their brain is just wired a different way. I also find it problematic when people throw around the word delusional. Maybe its nothing to you, just a word, but alot of mental illnesses have actual delusions as one of their symptoms. These can be scary and upsetting and are outside the control of the person experiencing them. Making the suggestion that liking a particular ships means you are delusional is potentially very triggering to those who do battle delusions and have fought to overcome them. The stigma around mental illness has prevented alot of people suffering from mental illness from seeking help out of shame or embarrassment or even out of fear of being judged and although I do feel like as a society we’ve become alot more open about mental health and alot more accepting there is still a long way to go. When antis start saying things like ‘I can’t believe people ship this, they must be mentally ill,’ or ‘they must be sick in the head’, or ‘if you like this ship than you must be delusional’ not only are they being incredibly prejudice against people who have mental illnesses but it is also so harmful because if there is someone reading that post who is struggling with their mental health and are considering seeking help then you’ve just made them feel more ashamed, more like there is something wrong with them which will make them even less likely to seek out help and as I said before there isn’t anything wrong with a person who has a mental health condition they are just different from you. That doesn’t give you the right to make them feel like they are less capable of deciding what they do or do not like or even what they should or should not like to be classified as a ‘normal’ person. 
The most latest problematic statements I’ve seen have been those accusing Darklina’s of being r*cist. This one I found a bit funny in a it’s not funny kind of way. I just don’t think there is much logic behind this view point. I’m not sure I understand the antis reasoning here. Mostly because I’m pretty sure the majority of the Darklina fandom comes from the books where Mal is described as being a white, brown haired, blue eyed guy. Funnily enough the Darkling is described as being able to pass for Shu, though to be clear it isn’t confirmed that he is a POC, but out of the two in the books the Darkling is more likely to be a POC than Mal. On top of that whilst many darklina fans have made it clear they are not a fan of Mal in the books many have said they like the show version of Mal who, as we all know, the actor Archie is a POC. So by anti logic darklinas are all r*cist because they don’t like book Mal who is depicted as white but we do like show Mal who is a POC. It just doesn’t make sense to me. I do understand that there were some ‘fans’ who made inappropriate and r*cist comments to some cast members including Archie and I would never ever condone that no matter who I ship. But you also can’t condemn an entire fandom just because of the actions of a select few. I don’t judge all M*linas for that one fan who accused Ben of being a pr*dator and p*dophile because of his friendship with Jessie. Once again my point is r*cism is a serious topic and not something someone should use as a retort or comeback to someone not shipping your ship. When we use these words casually it makes it less likely that they’ll be taking seriously when they really do need to be taken seriously, when they really are relevant to what is happening. If we keep using them so casually then when we really do need to talk about them, when it really matters, people will just shrug and go ‘its just antis being antis.’ 
I think it is possible for people to like different things, to debate and analyse different relationships and characters and talk about what flaws they may have in a respectful manner. I wouldn’t say I am anti m*lina but at the same time there are things about them that I find problematic but when I talk about those things I hope I do so in a way that doesn’t demean those who do like the ship. I understand that people will have a different interpretation than me and whilst I might not understand where their thinking comes from or why they have a particular opinion I would never make the assumption that they are mentally unwell or make judgements on their character or morals. I try to think about the words I am writing. I know how easy it can be to just throw a word out there without thinking about it. I used to use the word delusional to describe fans of certain ships, but when I recognised how damaging and problematic that was I stopped and I changed my behaviour because it was never my intention to hurt others. I guess the main message I am trying to convey here is we need to be careful with our words they’re not as insignificant as we might think.                
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darklingswhxore · 3 years
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This is a rant against anti-Darklina and anti-crap in general.
I am so frustrated of dealing with fandom crap. Ok, yes, in real life, the Darkling’s behavior would be seen as more than slightly predatory, yes, I am aware of that. But this is not real life, it is a book/tv show for gods sake, let people like what they want to like. If you can’t separate what you are reading on fiction from what is completely appropriate/inappropriate in reality, that is your problem, people need to stop ragging on Darklina fans for liking that ship just because of the not so insignificant age difference.
Like, I get it. In real life the flowers thing given his age versus her age and not telling her about Mal would be very bad. But this is fiction, where asking about her favorite flower, is really sweet, and shows that he has actual affection for her.
So can people please just stop arguing over it? Fiction versus reality are two completely separate things and 99% of people can realize that, and acknowledge that hey, we like this ship, that in real life, might be the kind of relationship that needs police involvement in. Just because a few people can’t recognize that difference doesn’t mean that everyone supporting it needs to be attacked.
You are so right bestie and that's on stupid people who can't seperate reality from fiction.....the way antis make their post sound like they are concerened about the pro shippers legit shut up no one wants to hear just cuz you are dumb enough not being able to seperate reality from fiction doesn't gives you the right to attack others who can..... for all the talk of us seeing a therapist it's you who should see one cuz your obsession with being a morality police and attacking people you have got nothing to do is another level of pathetic
Just say you don't like the ship and move on it's not that hard😑
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chuusfw · 3 years
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As a new reader...
I don't understand the bickering over darklina and malina. Admittedly, I've only read shadow and bone so far to prep for watching the show but I don't understand why there's strong animosity either way.
For anti-malina people: maybe he gets worse in the future novels but i thought their relationship and how it developed from alina feeling this one-sided dependent love and then growing into a stronger and bolder person of her own was great. And when they are reunited (after the argument part) they both have grown as people but still deeply care about each other. And the relationship was shifted to more even footing, than it was in the beginning.
For the anti-darklina people: I get it. There are discussions of age, power dynamics and toxicity being had. But in a fictional world of magical people who can live half a millennium i take off my real world implications hat off at the door. I loved the chemistry between darkling and alina. Especially since i had no idea what to expect. I thought this was going to be an enemies to lovers dynamic when in reality it was quite the opposite which HURT! As the reader you like them together and once you learn of his plans you are as hurt as Alina is. Reading the first book, especially the last half at no point was i like "omg they should totally still be together as he controls her body! romantic!" and i highly doubt anyone who ships darklina thinks that way either. His actions are wrong and are portrayed as such. Which is why i don't understand why anti-darklina people bother arguing against it. Darklina shippers can empathize with darking and love their relationship dynamic and find it more interesting than malina. There's nothing wrong with that, especially when it's a fictional ship in a morally grey fantasy world. It's a preference. It's more important that the book itself doesn't romanticize his actions and paint their relationship as bad. (again i've only read book one)
In conclusion, ship either one. Malina isn't some terrible boring romance, it's a childhood friends to lovers story that allowed the characters to grow apart to grow together. And darklina isn't the most toxic ship in existence. It's a pretty common trope of the enemy and the hero being 'two sides of the same coin', but with a romantic element and because the book is highlighting the relationship as bad, it doesn't bother me.
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mermaidsirennikita · 3 years
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Glad I'm not the only one getting odd vibes from the production. I mean idk a lot about tv shows but isn't the showrunner the one in charge? So him saying that he fought for a malina kiss and was stopped, despite that happening in the book...Like baby girl who is stopping you!? Who is that darklina stan on the production that vetoed you? I kid but the show is definitely putting a lot of emphasis on darklina being a romantic relationship and less the Darkling doing a big manipulation.
I know this, based on what has been said and what I know (which isn’t a lot) about production: 
a) they almost definitely blew a good bit of money on getting ben.  he’s way more experienced than most of the cast (the guy playing Matthias had only been in a short before this, so he probably got paid next to nothing) he’d well-known, he’s had significant roles in major shows and movies before.  he’s not like this massive A-lister but he’s a known entity and while I’m sure he “argued for the part” with the the tumblr manips of him as the darkling, he was reached out to first, he did not reach out about the show first, and I would bet that the role was his without him auditioning.  like, if ben barnes wanted the role, his age was not a big issue for them.  he was a priority, and therefore the darkling was a priority.
b) in contrast, and this is NO SHADE to archie, who seems super nice (no comment on his acting skills because I haven’t seen him in much; he was fine as Mal, I just don’t think anyone save like..... someone high caliber could’ve saved that role) but I’m fairly certain that archie got the role in part because he and Ben had played antagonistically against one another in Gold Digger.  he might’ve even had a good word put in for him?  (he played a guy who was mad bc ben barnes was absolutely destroying his mom’s pussy, by the way.). they seem to really get along well.  but if that’s the case, that tells you the level of thought put into casting mal.  like they say it just took them foreeeeever to find their mal like he was some kind of scarlett o’hara, but i just.  don’t.  buy.  it.  especially not when he already had ties to ben.
c) the comments the showrunner made about “fighting for a kiss” are bullshit lmao i’m sorry.  like eric seems like a nice dude, but it’s his show, the kiss was in the books.  the only reason why i can think that they didn’t want to put in a kiss is that if she kissed mal before she kissed the darkling it would look like she was cheating on mal and mal was getting cucked; and if she kissed mal soon after she kissed the darkling everyone would be comparing the malina kiss to the darklina kiss and like..... we know what the darklina kiss came off as.
d) it’s entirely possible that they were surprised by exactly hoooooow intense jessie and ben’s chemistry ended up being while filming?  as well?  
e) i do think they want to please leigh because life is just easier if the original creator likes what you do and isn’t shit-talking it.  and leigh doesn’t like darklina.  which is fine, that’s her prerogative... but as she herself has said, the show is not the books.  the showrunner has to have the freedom to do what he wants and both he and netflix have to have the ability to please their audience and attract and retain viewers.
f) the latter of which, I PROMISE, was a part of why ben was cast.  tons of people are more intrigued by this show because he’s in it, not just because he’s Generational Crush Bin Bons, but because he’s like a Legit Actor and has a vibe that steers the show away from simple YA.
g) so eric (the showrunner) is probably walking a tightrope of not looking like he’s going tooooo off-book and pleasing leigh while at the same time building his own creation and entity.  it’s obvious that production is into darklina based off the soft edit the show gave the darkling and the discussion of it in promo, but they also feel like the best way to fix The Mal Problem is to make mal more likable versus changing canon, because then everyone will be happy.  except mal is a very fucking hard character to make likable, and attempting to do it by beating us over the head with him and meadow scenes didn’t work.
h) they’re between a rock and a hard place.  because they’re selling this series as so solid because it’s based on a very successful book series, but that book series......... had a FAMOUSLY disliked ending.  i wasn’t even into it and i couldn’t get through my dash without running into discussion about how much everyone hated that ending after the final book came out.  darklina shippers were made, nikolina shippers were made, alina independent stans were mad--very few people liked mal. so how do you deal with an ending that so many people liked without insulting the original author or showing a lack of confidence in your original material?
FASCINATING.
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serpenteve · 3 years
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Hii, I didn't know with whom to share this and then I thought of you!
This antis are giving me these 18th-19th century vibes when expressing independent opinions that clashed against the status quo was deemed a near crime. Ex- Anne with an E when the female teacher Miss Stacey is condemned for her unique knowledge and wearing pants and many more period dramas where a certain group of people are like - "Dishoner on your family!", "Disgrace to our society!", "Think of lil children!", "You learn what we teach you, must not impure your image with sinful opinion!", "You know nothing!", infantalization women, misogyny etc. and that has always enraged me. Just like how old tropes are subverted and then re-subverted bringing the former back, I feel like those 'traditions' are making their back here. And That is terrifying.
There does seem to be a resurgence of purity culture rhetoric and policing in fandom spaces and I also don't think that's coincidental considering all the terfy bullshit going around on this platform as well.
I was initially annoyed with people calling this "purity culture" because this is a term that usually refers to evangelical pearl-clutching about women's hymens but the attitude, arguments, and even policing about what is and isn't acceptable to ship in fandom is very similar to what I experienced growing up.
The problem is that culturally we are still very uncomfortable with women's sexualities. In church, women must not even have sex drive lest they get shamed for it. In fandom, women can only be attracted to whatever the fandom police deem "pure enough" or "acceptable". The fact that people can ship something toxic like Darklina or dare to have alternative character interpretations or wanted the narrative to allow Alina to be a little more evil or ruthless is too "problematic" to express. But the thing is, people's shipping preferences or fictional interests are just never going to be PC or good enough for polite society. That doesn't make them abuse apologists or evil people in real life. Are we going to go after BDSM community because they are "romanticizing abuse" next? Or harass actors because they like to play villainous characters? Because it's all made-up, it's a safe place for people to explore a toxic dynamic without the actual drama of one.
There's also this narrative that Darklina shippers are either (1) deluded little girls who need to be educated about the toxicity of their own ship or (2) old hags who are intruding on a fandom space that apparently has an age limit of 20 and need to get back in the kitchen. So we can already see the patriarchal assumptions in the narratives themselves: you are either a pure infantalized little girl who needs someone to tell you right from wrong or you're a grown woman who needs to do her womanly duty instead of participating in fandom. Gee, why does this sound so awfully familiar to me 🙄
Every other day, there's a new post in the #darklina tag from a "concerned" fan who feels compelled to talk down to shippers and say "Well, actually, the fact that you guys still ship Darklina after everything he did just proves Leigh's point that you're all stupid whores who would welcome abuse if it had a good jawline 😌". Or a "confused" fan who's compelled to say "How can people ship Darklina? Literally what is wrong with you? Are you fucked in the head to ship X with Y? I'm so glad I'm not like that uwu 😌"
Like, do these people have such little faith in women that they feel compelled to constantly cringe and post PSAs on the dangers of a sexy jawline? How little faith do they have in themselves that they are so obsessed with making sure a group of shippers (who have always acknowledged and always historically acknowledged the toxic aspects of their ship) are sent anonymous hate mail? That they think all this is okay because they can hide under the banner of "activism" and "concern for women's safety" or "think of the children!".
I've seen it all before in church. People who can't stand that others have a mind and body of their own or dare to have fun "the wrong way" and need to be reminded about their "true" social role in society. People who need to constantly slut-shame you because something about your actions reminds them of some part of themselves they are deeply ashamed of and can't acknowledge. People who are just looking for an excuse to be an asshole and are thrilled to hide behind "well im just helping silly little girls spot abusers" rhetoric.
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Siege and Storm Review
Ok so second book, done. I will say that I liked this one alot more than the first. I mean there were still some things that I wasn’t a huge fan of but overall I really enjoyed this book. Obviously there are spoilers coming up...NOW. 
1) Nikolai and his Heartrenders 
I saw this name being bounced around all over the place. So I was really looking forward to meeting the character and was keeping my fingers crossed that I wasn’t going to be disappointed because there seemed to be so much hype around him. When I read the first book one of the things that frustrated me was there wasn’t any character that I felt an instant ‘Omg I LOVE this character’ moment which was disappointing for me because I love getting those moments. But good news because OMG I LOVE THIS CHARACTER! He’s funny and charming but he’s also got a vulnerable side because of the rumours around his birth. It does also seems like he really cares about Ravka. He also has a bit of an edge to him and knows how to play the political game. Alina says a couple of times that he sometimes reminds her of the darkling and I can see that in the sense of like the darkling he has that charm and he is able to work a crowd and again the politics, also the never giving a real answer to any questions that he is asked. I would say he’s more like the show Darkling and I can imagine that Nikolai is how a younger darkling was, before he lost so much of his humanity. I do think his character is very interesting especially how he can change his personality to any situation and he seems to really understand people and what they want. He is definitely a character I am looking forward to learning more about. 
We were also introduced to Tolya and Tamar who are heartrenders who work for Nikolai, they are twins and not only are the skilled grisha but they have a whole arsenal of weapons that they use. Basically they are very badass. Again I liked these new characters and I thought they were interesting and again I am excited to see where their characters go in the next book. 
2) The Hummingbird and the Nichevo’ya 
Ok this was so cool. Another of Nikolai’s talents is that he designs things and one of the things he designs is a flying ship named The Hummingbird. I mean he does also crash it but then he builds another one. But again it is showing how the technologies of the world are changing and developing and Alina notes that it could be a game changer in the war effort to have a fleet of these ships. It would also require grisha to fly it making grisha useful to the crown. 
But another interesting addition to the book is the Darkling now has the power to create shadow soldiers called nichevo’ya which translates to ‘nothings’. I am assuming these were the creatures that followed the Darkling out of the fold at the end of episode 8. He uses merzost to conjure them so it does cost him but unlike the Volcra they can leave the fold and although Alina’s light can kill them they are not afraid of her light. It also seems like the darkling can control them unlike the Volcra.   
3) Alina 
Ok so I found Alina a little more interesting in this book more towards the second half. In the beginning I did still find that she was just being pushed around the plot by others and just didn’t seem to have any agency at all. If Mal wanted to do something then she did, if Nikolai wanted to do something then she did it. For example when Mal wanted her to get rid of the collar she tells him she will eventually even though she herself doesn’t want to. She just doesn’t want to upset him. Or when they are in the fold and Nikolai wants her to pull in the light so they can attack the Volcra again she is very much against it but just goes along with it. Again when Mal tracks the nest and well naturally it ends badly. 
However she does start to stand up for herself and come into her own when she agree with Nikolai to go back to the Palace with him. She even negotiates for what she wants, the second army. And again she shows that she can be a leader when the Grisha argue with her and aren’t all that keen on her being their new general and so she tears a new sunroof in the ceiling. I also liked that when she asked the Fabrikators to repair it she requested that they leave a ‘scar’ as a reminder. I actually think she does a good job as a general and in this second half of the book she did remind me of ep 5 Alina from the show. 
4) Genya and Baghra
I was so not ok with what happened to Baghra and Genya. But before we get to that there are some other scenes I want to talk about first. The first one is I really liked the scene where Genya call Alina out for abandoning the skiff and pointing out that she had killed people just like the darkling. I also really liked the scene where Alina goes to visit Baghra I just thought their interaction was interesting and again we get a glimpse of this darker side to Alina. But like I said I was not ok with what the darkling did to her and Genya. Though I did think Baghra and the Darkling’s reaction to what he had done was interesting. When Alina tells the darkling that Baghra had said she loved him and believed him to be redeemable, the darkling gets a look of pain showing that he does have some regrets and guilt about what he did to his mother, I think the reason why this is interesting is Baghra tells Alina that he is ‘further from human than he’s ever been. He’s long past any redemption.’ Yet the Darkling had a a very human reaction to hearing of his mother’s love.   
5) Yeah Still Not A M*lina shipper
Ok m*lina shippers if you are reading this skip this part because I am not overly kind to them. Here’s the thing in the show whilst I am not overwhelmed by the ship I don’t mind them, they have some really sweet moments. But in the books I find with each page I like them less and less. I think this book makes it very obvious that Mal and Alina no longer work together. They are just too different. She flourishes at the Little Palace but he was drowning there, She’s a powerful grisha and immortal who hungers for more power, he is afraid of her power. She wants to help save Ravka but he just wants to run away. I really do think that he wants her to go back to that little girl he used to know, he wants his little friend ‘Sticks’ not Sankt Alina the General or the Second Army. They try to make it work by making him captain of her guard and giving him a use but he just doesn’t belong there, he tries to be useful for her but it was obvious he was struggling to the point where he starts drinking and fighting and kissing Zoya, it even gets to the point where he fails to be at his post and ends up putting Alina in danger. They just really grated on me in this book. They spent the entire time just arguing or with Mal feeling jealous over Alina getting attention from other men and it was so obvious they both wanted very different things. I almost thought during that scene between Nikolai and Alina right after Mal says he’ll search for the firebird alone that they were finally going to do the right thing and have Alina let him go, for her to come to the understanding that they were doing more damage to each other than good, but come the end of the book they are still together. Whether they will still have him leave and go find the Firebird on his own in rise and ruin or have them pretend everything is just dandy between them I don’t know, I guess I’ll find out when I read that book. 
6) Darklina Bond and Alina’s Darkness.
So one thing that was interesting in this book was the bond that’s between Alina and the Darkling where they can visit each other. At first Alina thinks she is hallucinating and going a bit crazy when she keeps seeing him but come the end of the book we find out that he was actually there. What is really interesting is not only can they see and speak to each other they can actually touch. I’m not sure how this bond formed whether its because of the stag collar or whether its the bite from the nichevo’ya. The darkling says ‘You called to me and I answered.’ This suggests that on some level Alina wanted the Darkling there because she felt lonely and for whatever reason his was the company she sort. As the book goes on Alina does have more and more moments where she has some dark thoughts, like when she nearly kills Sergei with the cut. But the one I found most interesting is right after she kills the sea whip and is trying to decide what to do with them she considers forcing it onto Tolya so that she can control his power, just like the darkling did to her. In the end she doesn’t and puts the amplifier on herself but even so just the fact that she considered it especially after having it done to her. Throughout the book you see her grapple with her hunger for the amplifiers and for power and you can see how she is becoming more like the darkling in the end it all comes to a head in the chapel. 
7) The attack on the Little Palace.
So the big climax of the book is when the Darkling attacks the Little and Grande Palaces. There is alot of death and alot of nichevo’ya. What is, well I don’t know if ironic is the right term but lets gotwith it for now. But the darkling was the one that built the Little Palace as a place for grisha to be safe, it was a vow that he had made to himself that he would create a safe haven for all grisha. Now he is the one that is destroying that safe haven. 
We also learn that Tolya and Tamar are part of the sun soldiers and are worshippers of Sankt Alina and they show up with some help to save the day and lead the survivors to a tunnel that leads out from the chapel. This is where Alina decides to seal her fate with the Darklings. She realises that if he can control her power through their bond then she can control his. She kisses him and then takes control of his powers. Using merzost she summons nichevo’ya over and over hoping to overload them both. She has every intention of killing them both by bringing the chapel down on them both. Mal intervenes and gets Alina out but not before she commands the nichevo’ya to bring down the chapel. The use of the merzost turns Alina’s hair white but both her and the darkling survive.   
8) The Sea whip and The Firebird.
Another thing we find out about the amplifiers is that they were suppose to be used together. There are three in total. Whether to claim the amplifiers is something Alina does struggle with because normally its one amplifier per Grisha so its unheard of for any Grisha to have more than one let alone three. In this book they found the sea whip which is like this sea dragon and its so beautiful with white and gold scales. But sadly like the stag they don’t last long. But what’s interesting is that the third one the Firebird which they only talk about in this book seems to have some connection to the place where not just Alina but Mal is born so it looks like maybe we’ll get some more background on their childhoods and families. But there is this arch that is connected to the firebird which I think is interesting. I am also interested in the story behind Sankt Ilya/ Ilya Morozova. One of the stories said that he had brought someone back from the dead and in return they chained him up and threw him in the sea. What I find really interesting is his chains are depicted as a collar around his neck and two fetters at his wrists connected by chains. Now obviously the collar and the two fetters represent the three amplifiers. But I wonder why the chains connecting them are broken. Is this the whole symbolism of the stag, sea whip and firebird essentially being one amplifier split into three? Or does it mean something else? Or even nothing at all. I am very curious to know how its all connected. 
Ok well that's all I can think of for now. I am going to start on the third book and I will post that review once I have finished. I know alot of fans don’t like the ending so I am a bit worried about it but we’ll see maybe its not as bad as I am imagining?           
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