#if the Darkling is just gonna be a boring basic villain now

[aleksanderscult]

I think i remember leigh writing something along the lines of that 'wanted best for his people and he was a tyrant' etc, basically a nuanced view. Do you have it? I don't remember where it was.

I think you mean this, right?

It's from her acknowledgements on "Demon in the Wood" (graphic novel). If this is not what you mean, tell me.

She always gives a very nuanced characterization about him which makes me mad because I don't understand her point of view for him at all. It only confuses me more.

"I want the readers to make their assumptions about him. I don't want to affect their view of him". Look. If you give your own opinion of him which will consist of ten pages then it's going to be the reader's problem if they want to "adopt" your view or not. Also, your readers are not stupid. They can distinguish their own assumptions FROM your own opinion. And if they can't, then they're not fit to read books and complicated characters. It's called critical thinking. You take an opinion, read it, see if it makes sense with the canon we have from him and make your judgement. Easy peasy.

Now about that note. I agree that Aleksander isn't purely a hero or a villain. He sees himself as the hero while Alina and the others see him as the villain. We, the readers, mostly see him as something in-between and, at the same time, something entirely different. A human that has lived for too long and as a result of his immortality and tragic events he has reached a point of desperation that make him act relentlessly against the corrupt monarchy and in favor of a persecuted group of people and a country that he has lived and loved for almost all of his life.

Therefore, his characterization is (I believe) something more than the archetype of "good hero" and "bad villain".

Is he a survivor? Yup. In all the meaning of the word.

Does he want safety for his people? Isn't that why he didn't give up on life already? It was the ambition that drove him the most and kept his heart beating.

Is he a tyrant? I think that term needs to be studied. Back in Ancient Greece this word had different meanings.

1) A ruler who has usurped a legitimate ruler's sovereignty. The Darkling did that (good for him).

2) A person who rules without law, using extreme and cruel methods against both his own people and others. If Leigh means that then I'll have to disagree. First of all, we didn't see enough of the Darkling's rule to know if he was that cruel (unless she knows something we don't). And even from what we saw, it seems the word doesn't apply to him. He was sitting on the throne and listening to reports, signing paperwork, making an alliance with his enemy to feed his army. So where it the "cruel methods against both his own people and others" came from? He didn't have a beef with otkazat'sya that lived in Ravka and he certainly didn't want to hurt his own Grisha (unless they committed treason). So Leigh just threw that word in like it was nothing.

And, lastly, he brutalizes and exploits those who trust him most.

Brutalizes. Hmm....

Genya: she committed treason so he punished her.

Sergei: he committed treason so he punished him.

Baghra: committed treason so he punished her (and very lightly actually).

Yeah.. right...umm. Look. If he had attacked them or killed them for literally no reason then I would say "Yes, he brutalized them". But there was always a reason for his actions against them. He didn't see Genya on board and said "I'm bored. Gonna ruin your face 'cause I've got nothing else to do".

And he exploits them.

To exploit someone is this:

If my memory serves me correct, his soldiers (his Grisha) knew what they were serving him for. And he didn't use them for something completely selfish like "gaining power for myself because I like it" but he needed power to make Ravka better. So he didn't do it for selfish reasons.

The one instance where the term "exploit" may apply is when he gave Genya to the Grand Palace knowing what a pervert the King was. But then again, wasn't the Queen's responsibility to keep her safe?

#god I've missed analyzing #I need to finish my “Demon in the Wood” meta as well #also it's kinda funny how I have literally every piece of the Darkling's mention from Leigh's interviews etc. #the amount of search I've done for him is crazy lmao #anon asks #the darkling #pro darkling #aleksander morozova #pro aleksander morozova #leigh bardugo #grishaverse #shadow and bone #grishaverse trilogy #genya safin #baghra morozova #sergei beznikov

[thewillowbends]

Logging in briefly to drop thoughts on Shadow & Bone:

1.) The word building is pretty good. The Fold is a nice, big, scary problem driving the main conflict.

2.) I can see why they combined the two series because, uh, Mal and Alina are pretty boring, aren’t they? Lol. The Darkling is definitely the stand out character from the trilogy, and if Kaz and crew weren’t there, you can see how boring it would be once he goes ~over the line.~

Which is like...why? Why not have the obvious — and actually meaningful for once — love triangle? Why not a redemption plot line, especially after showing us a fifteen minute backstory of how completely fucked up Aleksander’s backstory is? (Notice how he had to be flattened and dumbed down shortly after.) It would certainly have made Alina a far more interesting character. Completely unsurprising Darklina dominates the fanfiction. Kind of a shame Netflix wasn’t willing to diverge from the primary material a little more because it probably would have made the story stronger and more nuanced.

Literally guys, if you could just switch the villain/heroine storyline dynamic for S&B and the Star Wars sequels, it would vastly improve both stories, right?

3.) Goddamn Ben Barnes is so hot. The rest of the cast is more in the cute territory to me, but Inej’s actress is also bangin’.

4.) Mal and Alina are kind of terrible friends. I guess it’s supposed to be romantic that they’re each other’s “true north,” but they racked up quite a body count getting back to each other with their dumfuckery, didn’t they? Those poor cartographers.

5.) I find it bizarre how many writers want to write characters like Danaerys and the Darkling being driven to extremism or madness by the horror of their experiences but don’t want to explore the nuances of what it says about generational trauma or the world they inhabit. We can’t just keep writing villains and heroes who use violence to solve problems and only creating a nebulous moral reasoning as to why the latter is to be celebrated for it while the former is not.

Like...how do you watch that backstory in episode 7 and think it flattens Aleksander as a character? He represents a people who have been on the wrong side of genocide for literally centuries, both from internal and external enemies. He’s already tried serving the crown to get respite and lost everything for it. Their enemies to the north want to wipe them out, too. The only reason they have any protection now is because Aleksander carved out a space and weaponized them. He’s literally the only one doing anything! His own mother wanted him to leave the rest of the Grisha to die! He’s not wrong to think he and the rest of the Grisha are in danger if they aren’t in power.

It’s just...vaguely uncomfortable to continually see traumatized, nuanced characters turned into villains and then not letting any of the moral complexity that turned into extremists touch the heroes, too. The big obvious elephant in the room is that The Fold is being carted around as the way he could have brought the world to respect Grisha by using his power alongside Alina. Fine, but the story doesn’t examine two huge issues there: 1.) He had to create The Fold in the first place to make something big enough to make the statement of Grisha power, so essentially making the world embrace Grisha requires them to fear their power (“Make me your villain”) first before they can be amazed by it, 2.) you just showed us in ep. 7 that he had no reason to believe that destroying the Fold would ensure Grisha safety! The king’s already betrayed them once! (For that matter, character complaint here: why doesn’t he bring up Alina’s Shu heritage as an appeal to knowing being different makes you a target for danger?? Why doesn’t she make that connection??)

Just so bizarre to me how you can miss the real core of what’s interesting in the story.

6.) This is of course me telling you I’m total Darklina trash. Aesthetics, baby.

#shadow and bone #shadow and bone spoilers #ngl guys not sure how much longer it’ll hold my attention #if the Darkling is just gonna be a boring basic villain now #I’m relying on you Kaz and gang #mal and Alina are cute but #cute isn’t really a story #and I don’t like that it wants to say power changes Aleksander #but that it wouldn’t change Alina #I mean come on #how could it not?

[black-rose-writings]

I read Ruin and Rising because I’m bored

And I also hate myself

Like with the last book, I have a vague idea of the plot and stuff from tumblr and fanfics. I will also be refering to Darkling as Sasha for most of this.

I am still Darklina trash and don’t particularly like Mal.

On a different note, I’ve finally moved for college, but the internet here is trash, so I’ll probably have a lot more reading time now, since most games I play are online and will crash without internet.

Before

Cool story. Let’s hope Alina stays a badass.

Who am I joking, I know how this ends.

Chapter 1

So far so good. I hate the Apparat, per usual. Alina’s there basically dying and that bitch can’t wait to see her do so.

Cult leader to the core this one. He probably hates that his figurehead is alive and also not brainwashed.

Cult leader doesn’t like swearing. How surprising.

My boy David is completely right. What kind of irresponsible dingus keeps centuries old books in a fucking wet-ass cave? (Or a tree for that matter *cough cough* The Last Jedi *cough, cough*).

Genya is fun to be around.

Oh, shit, let’s go.

Chapter 2

Jesus Christ, Alina, Zoya isn’t that bad.

This is one hell of a shitshow.

I live for this version of Alina. Badass. Scary. I want more of this Alina.

Chapter 3

Out of all the random little details from crappy smut fics, I did not expect Oncat to be from the books, lol.

Mal actually has a supernatural tracking ability. Like, literally, they put a bug into the pouch with gunpowder so he could make the shot. I guess this was kinda said before, but never this directly, right?

Alina’s merzost-skyping Sasha now, yay.

Alina is horny for Sasha boy. Yay.

Alina canonically has a praise kink. Nice.

I hate LB with all of my heart at this very moment. How dare she bait us Darklina people like this? How DARE she? (Shipbaiting is the worst, seriously.)

Yes, yes, yes. These two lines. That’s what their relationship is all about. They’re each others foils, the yin to the other’s yang and... ugh. I am Darklina trash to the core and this hurts.

Darklina: You have a terrible taste in men.

Alina: I liked you once.

My boy Sasha walked into that one.

Chapter 4

Alina is a Queen. And we love her.

David, my beloved, my spirit animal.

It’s surprising they can read it at all, given it’s been centuries. Have you ever tried reading medieval manuscripts?

Honestly, with a father that crazy, it’s no wonder Baghra’s a bitch. And I’ve seen it said somewhere that the books imply Ilya’s experiments are what caused Baghra to be a shadow summoner and you know what? I can see how you’d make that connection.

Why is there so few Tidemakers in the books? Waterbenders are useful. I want more waterbenders.

Alina picking up some habits from Baghra I see.

Ah, yes, we love an educated giant.

I’m starting to think Harshaw is a bit nuts.

Shut up, Hershey. Or at least share the weed with the class. I’m not here for this “He’s mean to you because he likes you”. I might believe that in like, elementary school, but yall are (more or less) adults. Jesus.

Well, that was a bombshell of a twist.

Chapter 5

Oh boy, we’ve got some trauma bonding for out merry band of misfits. Yay.

Adrik has a crush on Zoya. And she hates it, lol. Cut the kid some slack, he’s like 15 or something.

That reminds me, I have a four-leaf clover pressed in books from close to year and a half ago. Time flies.

They’re really diving into the Mal has supernatural powers, huh?

Ghosts, let’s go.

Alina “I’m so happy to be outside I start to shine like a fucking fairy” Starkov and Mal is entranced. He’s definitelly nicer now. I’m not forgiving him for all the shit he’s pulled before and for using the silent treatment way too much, but hey, at least he’s improving.

I am not a Zoyalina person, but like... gay? Please? Rivals to grudging allies to friends to lovers, 300k slowburn? Sounds more fun than whatever Mala dn Alina have going on, lol.

(I’m starting to realize I’m not as much a Darklina person as I am anti-Malina person, lol. Like, literally everyone has a more interesting dynamic with Alina than tracker boy over there. Malina is at best boring AF and at worst toxic, codependent and emotionally abusive, while also being boring AF at the same time. It has literally nothing going for it except God herself liking it).

I can see why Nadia is gay in the show. The book version of her definitelly has a crush on Tamar. Homegirl likes a woman, who can murder her with the flick of her wrist and honestly? Same.

Alina has some big “coming out of lockdown after a year” energy atm.

The cat is one of the most realistic characters in this thing, lol.

And since Tamar is also heavily queercoded, our lovely ladies make off into the night, flirting. Or maybe not. Let me dream, though.

At least Blade Boy is aware that his tattoo is stupid. To quote someone ranting about him on tumblr: He’s embracing his identity as a tool.

Oh, boy, this will be fun.

Evil soldier is horny for Mal. Saints, is there a woman in this book who isn’t horny for Blade Boy?

And here comes Niki to save the day.

Chapter 6

Niki saved the day.

Fiberglass? And David being David. Genya being in love with her nerd of a boyfriend.

Jesus Christ, this one crazy kid has moved the technology in this universe a whole century on his own. So, when is David going to propose to him?

Baghra hasn’t changed much I see.

Baghra’s about to drop some truthbombs, but no, we have to be rudely interupted because Genya’s rapist is throwing a fit.

Chapter 7

How does Mal sound? Is she gonna say the Blade boy sounds like her dad? I mean, I know voices are partially genetic, but it has been tens of generations between them, probably.

So, we’re finally taking Genya’s trauma seriously after all this time? Good. Better late than never, I guess.

I wish that regicide was already finished and I’m pretty sure that Genya does, too. Stop defending the fucking king, narrative.

David’s a nerd in all things I see.

Someone please just kill the king already. And the queen, too, for good measure.

Now that’s a romance.

Infodumping and listening to said infodumps is a legitimate love language, Alina. Let them nerd out over poisons.

Wait, has Alina never directly killed anyone before? I thought she did... hmmm.

And just like that, it should have been over. Ugh.

Somehow, Baghra is a better teacher now than she was before. She half feels like a completely different character.

Nevermind, she’s back at it.

Chapter 8

Holy shit, Nadia and Tamar are canon. They have canon gays here.

So, which one of them is gonna die?

Chapter 9

We arrive at that scene. The one, where they should have fucked.

Jeez, girl, get a hold of yourself. Life is short, fuck a villain.

In other news, Genya and David definitelly fucked.

Chapter 10

Poor David. He just wanted to know.

Damn... I never realized just how young Baghra was, when she killed her sister.

I’ve already made a post about this, but it really does strike me like Baghra has already decided to end her life at this point in the book.

Why is that whole “but what if we’re related” thing even in there?

Chapter 11

We love a suprise attack.

When did Sasha boy learn that trick?

Baghra really just did that. Oh boy.

Chapter 12

No, don’t kill the kid... ugh.

Emotiona support cat. She should be friends with Milo.

Porrige for brains. Oof.

So Nadia was the one, who got bees set on her in the book. Cool.

That’s a good question. Why was it never brought up to Alina, that other Grisha get blocks, too?

David already thinking of steampunk prosthetic for Adrik is honestly kinda sweet.

Chapter 13

Back home... kinda.

Is that really... you really care about Mal bonking the Grisha school mean girl over a year ago? Okay.

Chapter 14

Angst! Yay!

And more angst.

Chapter 15

Sasha really went “My mom killed herself to save you? Well, I’ll kill the closest thing to parents you have.”

Chapter 16

Nikolai’s alive. Kinda.

And these two have such a sibling energy, I can’t.

And then they fuck. Ew.

Chapter 17

Wait, wait wait... so Alina isn’t even the one to destroy the Fold?

Okay. That’s... weird.

Holy shit. That was...

So, Aleksander is dead. Mal isn’t. Someone else destroyed the Fold for Alina and now she has no powers.

Okay.

That’s a weird-ass ending.

Chapter 18

The gays survived, so that’s nice.

Genya made good on her promise of making Alina a ginger, lol.

After

What emotion is this supposed to give me? Cause all I feel is kinda sad.

#shadow and bone #grishaverse #ruin and rising #book review #alina starkov #darkling #darklina

[algumaideia]

Some thoughts about Siege and Storm- Part 1

And here we go again. Yay!

This is gonna be a very annoyed and kind of mean thoughts, because I don't like basically every character and it seems it is gonna be as bad written as the last one so...

(I am reading the books in Portuguese so I cannot really quote the books here and put exactly what the characters said.)

We already started bad.

What is this book thing with comparing girls???

Bruh, she is the only girl in the ship but still the book says how if she was talkative and smiled and told jokes people would like her...

ALINA I GOT IT YOU'RE PLAIN AND BORING AND NO ONE THINKS YOU ARE SPECIAL. I GOT IT.

Then later there is this scene when the girl's look to Alina like: HOW CAN MAL, WHO IS SUCH A HOT GUY, LIKE SOMEONE LIKE HER??? EWWW (Calling someone hot is so weird)

It is the first chapter and it already happened twice.

Like, really????

Also why The Darkling and his squad destroyed Malina's room?? Leigh, is he a hundread years old and a cold hearted villain that wants to overthrone the King and "conquer the entire world" or a jealous teenager?

Because he is giving me jealous teen vibes.

If Mal is like the best tracker ever, why didn't he realize they were leaving a trail with the gold things???

Also the prologue really puts the series ending in perspective. I mean Alina losing her powers was definetly the right thing considering how now in the begining of the Siege and Storm she was wanting to have nightmares with the Darkiling because it was the only time she could use her powers.

"How do you know he is not dead?" "Because I know you" No, you don't. Girl, you barely talked to him in the first books. Whenever you were talking you completely misread the situation. LIke, he just wanted to talk and charm you and you were thinking that he wanted to kill you or something like that. Just because you kissed him twice it doesn't mean you know him. *Sigh*

He is right. They do have the habit of doing dumb things and then saying it is heroic. I don't rememeb any one being rational in the last book. Except Genya. She was okay.

Am I the only person who wants to hit the head at a wall whenever the Darkling and Alina talk??? Just why the Darkling can't be rational???

"Of course Alina, I'm not cruel. Just cautios" At least this is not as bad as that pity conversation in the last book. It is not that the Darkling is evil, is just that he doesn't seem to be real. Like he is more a caricature than a character, you know???

"I want to see him everyday" Alina, why do you think you have say about anything in thsi situation??? Like, you were kidnapped, you are chained, outnumbered. I'm not understanding your logic.

HA- Nikolai calling Alina predictable.

Also it is funny how she is incredible obvious about what stupid thing she is gonna do even for strangers.

And the story would be way more interisting if it had a talking dog. He is right.

Wow, Alina I totally believe that you feel guilty about all that people you let to die. (I know I'm being mean)

When will Mal and Alina stop pretending like they won't or will do something if it means one of them gets hurt??? It doesn't matter if thw world is gonna end, people are going to die, if any of them will get hurt, put apart they will just do the thing. Like, why do they even pretend like they care more about the greater good then they care about each other???

Why those books act like Baghra is a saint. She threw bees at a student!!!! Bees. And considering that most of the Grisha go to the palace when they are 10 years old and she did that to teach the person how to use their power. She was throwing bees at 10 year old childre. Like. I... I really dislike her.

"If I didn't know him too well" Alina can you please stop

Why everything Alina thinks/says seems stupid?

I'm gonna try to be less horrible with the book. It was just the first two chapters. And since I really don't feel like reading one more chapter, that is it.

Best regards,

Me.

Ps. Don't take it as serious criticism, because most of it isn't serious criticism. I'm just annoyed by this book.

#anti shadow and bone #anti sab #anti siege and storm #shadow and bone critical #siege and storm critical #darkling critical #alina critical #anti mal #anti malina

[if-th3n-else]

Ok... some Shadow and Bone thoughts....

I really loved that the chore of the Dregs personality stayed true even with a different plotline than in the books. All 5 of them are just themselves, so it's cool. They get to have romantic storyline but also thank god, friendships. It's one of the reasons why I loved SOC. They are not all powerful, they are not good characters or villains, they are more than just one characters trope. But they are the most important of them all: found family. I'd kill for that trope. Jesper X Inej was so cute. I really can't wait to have Nina join them and to have Helnik angst (or maybe not ouch) and please let them have the wonderful 'how to steal a man wallet' exchange. It is the fucking best. And of course I absolutely cannot wait for Wylan. The lack of him... I know they can't have everything at the same time but I'm yearning for him. Also I can't wait for Kaz background story and the upcoming endless hours of tears. Bye. And Nina bonding with Inej... Yeah basically I'm just here for the Dregs, as you can see.

Now for the TGT part, considering I haven't read the books I can't say how it is faithful to characters or not. But I do have some thoughts... Honestly even though Alina and the Darkling are interesting characters... It just is basic YA storyline (in my opinion ofc) plus with a boring love triangle. Idk what level of controversial it is, but idc, to me both ships are not working. Like sure I love Alina x Darkling dynamic on many points, equal and opposite at the same time (I'm basic too and I love darkness and light) and the alchemy of both actors is great. But it's more for the aesthetic than anything else lmao. And personally I don't like the childhood friends to lovers because I tend to see people who grow up together as... Siblings??? Idk, everyone I knew for a long time seem like family and I couldn't imagine a romantic relationship that way??? I mean for now they technically haven't said or done anything directly romantic but I know it's gonna happen. Even though truth to be told I thought there was a third guy, Nikolai?, But I'm biased by the people I follow. And I'm not sure want one more drama like this lmao. Also, I really hope Mal is gonna have another plotline than just being centered around Alina for the whole time cause that's not giving him enough recognition, he could have more than just being the bff love interest. I mean, we all are annoyed when the girl is the love interest of the hero, but that's equally annoying the other way. Let characters having other stories to tell ffs. Also stop with the all the guys yearning for the chosen one girl. It's ultra annoying and boring. But of course as usual the side characters seems more interesting and less black or white than the main characters... I mean Genya and Zoya seems to have more to offer. But of course it's me always falling for the side characters that get no screen view lmao. Now even though in term of character Alina is not the most original one, I think it's the actress she added something I'm not sure it is in the book. Also I kinda hope she's too is gonna feel some magical corruption or anything that doesn't make her just the pure innocent heroine. Basically I just hope next season is gonna be more grey for the good characters, less full of stereotypes.

Now everything else was very great. All actors were spot on. Amita Suman and Kit Young are my favourites. They are so on character. The music is great, the set and costume and all very good. I'm just annoyed about the epic fight scene being shot in the dark, oh convenient (they never think about gif makers don't they lmao).

#Shadow and bone #shadow and bone spoilers

[bondsmagii]

☕️ Alina Starkov, ☕️ the Falconer, ☕️ Dostoyevsky, ☕️ the Big Chungus song, ☕️ Athos & Astrid Dane

OH BOY.

☕️ Alina Starkov

my bitch is so dumb but I love her 😩 like a lot of the time I kind of want to shake her but what can you do!! I really do think she put up with far too much shit lmao but at the same time over the course of the three books she does get much better at asserting herself and she stops being so directionless, and I was super psyched to see her punch Nikolai and tell people to suck her long and hard through her jorts and stuff. I see a lot of people complain that she’s boring and whiny but like... I don’t see it? she definitely has her whiny moments but then you remember she’s a seventeen-year-old girl stuck in what was perhaps the World’s Suckiest Situation so I can hardly blame her.

overall I think her defining feature is bravery. time and time again she has to face the worst possible scenario and she still does what she believes is right, when many other people would have flinched away from it. she has a very strong moral code (perhaps the strongest in the series, if I’m honest -- Alina alone does things because it’s the right thing to do, and not because of any ulterior/personal motive) and she’s pretty fucking badass. she’s also funny as hell. like, why don’t more people talk about how funny she is? my girl is a comedic genius. 

my main criticism of her is that she didn’t say fuck it and go ape shit and rule Ravka forever on the shadow throne she shares with her hot evil boyfriend the Darkling but like whatever, it would be unrealistic if a character didn’t have flaws.

☕️ the Falconer

I fucking love this asshole. from the moment his pretentious arrogant ass appeared on the page talking like someone out of Shakespeare I knew I was gonna love him. I absolutely love arrogant characters who can back it up and he is the dictionary definition of this; likewise I love it when they get their ass handed to them and guess what! the Falconer provides this, too! everything about him is So Fucking Much and I just love it. I’m super excited after reading the end of The Republic of Thieves, and I’m really hoping that Scott Lynch is planning to bring him in as a Big Villain because that would just be so fucking sexy and definitely the best & most righteous thing to do.

he feels like such a solid character, too -- very often a character’s arrogance can be their only defining trait, but the Falconer has a whole history and personality that’s very solid even before it’s expanded on in the third book. everything about him is just very interesting and I absolutely adore how ruthless he is -- sometimes authors imply or tell but don’t show, but the Falconer is kind of scary, I’m not gonna lie. I would hate to have him pissed at me and I’m very thankful that I am a different Locke. this bitch is so dramatic and full of himself but he’s also smart enough to actually get what he wants and have people look at him and think “yeah he seems like someone to align myself with” and I’m not saying that he’s the kind of person who could lead a cult but I’m also not not saying it.

also the fact that his type of specialised magic is looked down upon in Karthain and seen as Not Desirable but he’s just like fuck you guys birds are neat and does it anyway? very sexy of him.

☕️ Dostoyevsky

bruh... I finally understand what people mean when they go off about Shakespeare or whatever like I’ve never really got Shakespeare and had no idea why people stan him so hard but then I read Dostoyevsky and like. I get it. I get it now. I understand how people feel. I understand the very emotion that Henry Winter felt when he asked Richard what he thought of Homer and Richard was like “I... like Homer?” and Henry fixed him with this death gaze and said “I love Homer.” like that’s me!! that’s me bitch that’s me with Dostoyevsky I get it!!

I can’t even articulate why I feel this way because this love sprung upon me very recently; I read The Brothers Karamazov a while back and adored it and it’s always stuck in my mind since, but then I just read The Idiot this week and holy shit I was just struck by... I don’t even know, Emotions™. I think it’s because The Idiot is clearly Dostoyevsky’s most personal work in terms of themes and opinions, and that combined with the fact that a) Dostoyevsky and I seem to be in agreement on many fundamental issues explored in the book and b) I was literally in the process of thinking about those issues in great detail when I picked the book up has resulted in me just being a full-blown Dostoyevsky Bitche™ now. I love him. I feel so Seen when I read his works but in a way that’s really not bad at all; it’s phenomenal, how he manages to articulate things where I thought I was the only one who thought that or felt that. of course, I know I’m not the only one -- that would be statistically impossible -- but everyone experiences things differently even if it’s the exact same thing, but Dostoyevsky manages to describe how it was for me, and not only that, but also at multiple different points in my life. how does he do it? we just don’t know, but I love him for it. 

I absolutely know this is going to be my literary niche and I am absolutely OK with that. it’s made me even more determined in my Russian studies because my goal is now to read all his works in the original Russian. if his work is this beautiful translated into English, I can only imagine what it would be like if I read it how it was intended to be read.

☕️ the Big Chungus song

the Big Chungus song haunts me because the very first time I heard it, I swore I’d heard it before. I had not, because it’s not the kind of song you can forget, but it reverberated deep in my soul and felt familiar on an existential level. I cannot explain this and nor do I want to; sometimes you’re just gifted these things, and it’s within your best interests to accept.

the only other thing I really have to say about it is that it slaps harder than pretty much anything I’ve ever heard before.

☕️ Athos & Astrid Dane

god these two were so great but I wish we’d known more about them! like on the one hand the lack of development is great because I get to go ham sandwich in my fics and basically write their lives for them which I love doing because my headcanons are sexy & righteous and born of only the hottest takes imaginable, but at the same time I have to write it all and I would also like to read it all. you can see my dilemma clearly.

I loved what I did get, because I love it when nasty characters are truly nasty. Athos and Astrid are fucking reprehensible. there’s no redeeming features, there’s no excuse for what they did -- they’re just evil and sadistic, and that’s that. I also love how Astrid is just as evil as her brother, because often the woman is portrayed as Not As Bad in some way, or as the foil to the man, and especially so with twins, but no. they’re both just fucking awful and nasty and they love it and they encourage one another to be their worst-ass self and it’s just brilliant. it’s like the Evil Twin trope, but both of them are the evil twin. it’s really refreshing to see a book commit to the idea of truly sadistic characters who are sadistic for no other reason other than they enjoy it -- the Danes didn’t become this way because they wanted to rule; they rule because they are that way. 

the character development past this is kind of eh, but at the same time they’re definitely not just Sadists™ and nothing beyond that. there’s enough there for me to get my teeth into, anyway, and I just have so many questions about them that I can write lots of fic answering. also their aesthetic is brilliant. all pale and washed out and wearing white (naturally so the blood splatters can show up clearer)? veins going black with corruption so they look like walking marble terrors? Makt couture baby.

#[deep breath] #grishaverse #gentleman bastards #shades of magic #fyodor dostoyevsky #big chungus #about me #topic meme #vestriis #asks

[illyrian-bitch-queen]

Get to know me

@bestmelle tagged me for this, thank you😘 and someone else as well, but I can't remember who it was, so feel free to let me know if it was you! I typed it all up when I first got tagged in it, but didn't mark the original post so I can't find who it was. Also, the two things I was tagged in were slightly different so I just kind of combined them. Sorry it took so long, but here it goes 

 Name: Cassidy 

 Nicknames: I have so many. Basically nobody I know actually calls me by my name. Some are: Cassie, Cassandra, Cassius, Cass, Jade, Casper, Abigail(long story short, The Crucible happened and 11th grade boys are immature), Castiel, Castle, Cassafrass(the stupidest one ever, courtesy of my gym coach), plus about twenty more. 

 Gender: Female 

 Star sign: Taurus 

 Age: 17 

 Height: Five foot seven 

 Sexual orientation: straight 

 Favorite character: holy hell. Not a fair question. Abort mission. Just assume every character is one of my favorites, especially if they're a villain. (I'm looking at you, Darkling) 

 Hogwarts house: Slytherin

 Favorite color: red 

 Favorite animal: Horse 

Average hours of sleep: like five most nights I think?

Cat or dog person: Cat, although I've only had dogs since I was little. But I like cats so much better. They're so much more chill, honestly. 

 Number of blankets you sleep with: 4-6 depending on the night. (It gets freaking cold where I live, and I don’t have regular heating in my room because it was renovated from the attic and isn’t on the same circuit as the rest of the house, so I have to rely on a very unreliable space heater and blankets)

Favorite singer/band: Halestorm af 

 Dream Trip: Russia. One hundred percent. 

Dream Job: I mean, ideally-author. Realistically-lawyer. It sounds boring but all the mind work involved is so interesting and it's something I think I could be content with while I'm working on a writing career. 

 When was your blog created: Okay, so I've had this tumblr for a little over three years. I just got an email about my blog's birthday a few months ago. But it was honestly something I made, used to reblog random stuff for a few weeks, then never opened again. I got back on and redid it all and made it about books and renamed it Illyrian-bitch-queen and all around...June? Maybe? I know it was around then, but I'm not sure exactly. 

 Current number of followers: 1,075

What made you join tumblr: I originally got it because my friend made me get an account for random use. I was completely inactive though, as I said above. I happened to re-discover Tumblr after reading acotar for the second time and not knowing there was going to be a sequel. I'd gone looking for fan art and found two more books in the making instead. Then I stayed on to keep an eye on everything with acotar and it eventually inspired me to read a lot of other books, including Throne of Glass, and I decided to completely turn my blog around and create something I could use to connect with other people with my interests (cue Illyrian-bitch-queen URL change). And now, I post fics and reblog about books and it's honestly just been so amazing since then.

I’m not sure how many I’m supposed to tag, but I’m just gonna tag @feysand17, @greenfire2908art, and @embaileyart and whoever wants to do it!

#get to know me