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theweeklydiscourse · 9 months

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I can’t help but find it funny whenever certain Shadow and Bone fans discuss the Darkling’s character and dramatically ponder over his motivations while lamenting what could have been. Like, I agree that he’s a complicated character…just not complicated I’m the way they’re thinking of.

For them it’s like:

“Ah you see the Darkling is such a well-written character because of his nefarious hunger for power cloaked by sympathetic motives. He seeks a noble goal but alas! If only he wasn’t so corrupted by power and just approached the issue of Grisha liberation with diplomacy and talked some sense into the Tsar! Such a simple thing…and yet his greed won out.”

I have found that many criticisms of the Darkling’s larger goals are based on the assumption that his goal is based in a personal desire for power and not a collective one. The idea that his goals of freeing Grisha from exploitation and servitude are not genuine, but rather something that obscures his hidden greed and selfishness. My biggest gripe is that this sort of commentary on the Darkling’s character always reads as a bit self-congratulatory for what is (in my opinion) a misreading of his character.

Also, I heavily dislike the idea that all it would take for him to achieve liberation would be tactics like working within the system, diplomatically appealing to the Tsar or just generally appealing to the humanity of the ruling monarchs. I have to wonder: do these people honestly believe that oppressed groups of people obtain human rights by politely appealing to the ruling class? In Shadow and Bone, the Tsar is not only incompetent but also a serial rapist with unchecked power who benefits immensely from the servitude of Grisha. So why on earth would he just give them rights when he gains so much by keeping them under his thumb? Relying on the mercy and meagre charity of a corrupt ruler is a futile game that will end in failure.

“Oh but his hunger for power-!” His hunger for power that would enable him to do what? At the end of the day, Aleksander needs power to achieve liberation for the Grisha and to protect them from the existential threats they face on nearly every side of the conflict. Tell me, how is he going to accomplish anything from a position of servitude and powerlessness? Would it be more noble of him to just sit quietly and wait for the Lantsovs to come to their senses and realize that Grisha are deserving of equal treatment? How much do the Grisha stand to lose by prioritizing civility and diplomacy when their lives are at stake?

In this situation, power was not a want, but a need. The fact that the narrative consistently frames his quest for power as a bad and greedy goal is so naive and backwards because realistically there is no way for him to accomplish it otherwise! This is echoed in Alina’s efforts to save the country through the Morozova amplifiers and being chided for her greed as a result. Either way, this story has some strange priorities when it comes to discussing oppression and liberation.

#lb critical #shadow and bone #alina starkov #the darkling #s&b critical #s&b salt #s&b netflix #aleksander morovoza #anti leigh bardugo #darklina #anti baghra #shadow and bone meta #s&b fandom #fandom meta

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ragingstillness · 1 year

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Reading Ben’s new analysis of the Darkling’s character and it’s like deja vu for Tom Hiddleston’s analysis of Loki.

Two actors who understand their characters better than anyone, horrendously underutilized, and having to provide depth to the characters through every microexpression they can fit in because the writers, directors, producers, everyone else certainly isn’t doing it.

Also, that analysis of the Darkling was so accurate it took my breath away. What I feel the show sometimes and the books all the time forget is that the Darkling didn’t start off evil. He didn’t start off violent, diametrically opposed to Alina’s point of view. He started off as her. He became this.

“School her in cynicism?” “Watch the people you love die over and over?” This is literally what made him this way. This is how he got from where she is to where he is.

There’s a section I believe in the books but it may also be in the show where Alina essentially scolds the Darkling about his violent and extreme tendencies and suggests he try diplomacy and his reaction is an exhausted “how many times do you think I’ve tried that?”

He’s exhausted other options. He’s lived so long he thinks every manner of person is going to act exactly the same. He’s not truly seeing individuals anymore, only archetypes, i.e. the lecherous king, the bigoted nobles, the superstitious commoners. And why shouldn’t he think of them this way? History has shown him to be right with few anomalies.

And once he lost hope why would he risk it all on the idea that maybe just maybe some people might be different? He has too much to lose to take that chance. He doesn’t have the ability to get that hope back because he’s too frightened of the possible consequences and rightfully so.

So Ben is absolutely correct, the Darkling sees Alina as someone he used to be. And he’s trying to teach her the lessons he feels he’s learned so that she won’t make the same mistakes and have to go through the same pain to figure out what he already knows. It’s much more tragic and complicated than, he’s evil, she’s not.

But that’s what you get when your shitty source material creates a vibrant political landscape and uses it as a background for a cheesy romcom.

#i’m bitter #sab #shadow and bone season 2 #shadow and bone #aleksander morovoza #the darkling #s&b #s&b meta #shadow and bone meta #ben barnes

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aleksanderscult · 3 months

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Was the Darkling that much of a liar as the fandom makes him to be?

Because it's literally one thing for a character to truly lie every other page and another for the reader to have been tricked by the narrative that he's a compulsive liar.

If we thoroughly search and find his lying moments in the Grisha trilogy then it would be these:

“I don’t want to answer you.”

“Oh.”

Then he sighed and said, “One hundred and twenty. Give or take.”

After a moment, the Darkling said, “My great-great-great-grandfather was the Black Heretic, the Darkling who created the Shadow Fold.”

“How?” I pleaded. “How am I supposed to do that?”

“By helping me destroy the Shadow Fold.”

“What’s Baghra’s power, anyway?”

“I’m not sure,” he said. “I think she was a Tidemaker.”

“Because every day we don’t find the sea whip, I’ll peel away a piece of her skin. Slowly. Then Ivan will heal her, and the next day, we’ll do it all over again.”

“Where are they? ” I screamed.

“They are safe. For now. They will be on my skiff when I enter the Fold again.”

“As hostages,” I said dully.

He nodded.

So in the whole trilogy the Darkling lied six times. Four if you count the scenes before he was revealed as the "evil guy".

His first real conversation with Alina is considered both by the protagonist and the fandom as manipulative and shady. He lied about his identity, age and true goal. Now let's take it from the beginning.

The fact that he lied about his age and identity wasn't something personal against Alina. This is the exact same lie he had been telling the world for four hundred years as a means of survival and staying as head of the Grisha. Also, did we really expect him to say "Yeah, I was the one who created the Fold. Hehe what can you do?☺️". We would be lying too if we were in his place.

Another thing that needs to be understood here is that the Darkling was testing her. He was trying to see what her personality is like, how does she feel about her newfound powers and, most importantly, what has she heard and how does she feel about him. I'm pretty sure that he was kinda sure that Alina would have been influenced by the people's views about him. And he was right. Alina was afraid of him thanks to the rumors and superstitions that surround him. If she also knew who he truly was then she would run from that barn ASAP.

Now let's see the next lie that the Darkling spat out. The one where he told her that he needs her to destroy the Fold. This was another test. Trying to see how she would react if she knew her true purpose as the Sun Summoner that everybody expected.

Apparently she failed that test as well:

Alina panicked when she heard that the realm's future lies on her shoulders, when she understood that she would be the one to destroy the Shadow Fold. Imagine how she would react if the Darkling said "Okay look. I need you so I can use the Fold against some nations, not destroy it". Yup, she would scream and run.

There's no way the Darkling would say the truth to her, especially since he saw how frightened and prejudiced she was about him and how clueless she was about the whole economical and political situation Ravka was at this point.

He was waiting for the Sun Summoner to be born and emerge for centuries. He would never risk losing her now because of her narrow views and some brutal truths. It was a matter of life and death for him in order to protect his country. And this girl was too young, too naive to understand.

So no. He didn't do it because he had something personal against her or to seduce her. He did it for the good of his country so this girl would stay no matter what.

Sadly, it's evident that in the end the Darkling's suspicions proved to be right. She run away. And when he found her he chastised her about her selfishness and her inability to see the bigger picture.

“Did you deserve my trust? Baghra whispers a few accusations in your ear, and off you go. Did you ever stop to think of what it would mean for me, for all of Ravka, if you just disappeared?”

“You didn’t give me much choice.”

“Of course you had a choice. And you chose to turn your back on your country, on everything that you are.”

“That isn’t fair.”

“Fairness!” he laughed. “Still she talks of fairness. What does fairness have to do with any of this? The people curse my name and pray for you, but you’re the one who was ready to abandon them. I’m the one who will give them power over their enemies. I’m the one who will free them from the tyranny of the King.”

The Darkling was right, she did have a choice. I once heard a line from a show that said "In life we always have a choice. But sometimes it's easier to think that you don't" and it applies to Alina here perfectly. She had a choice but she said to herself that she didn't. And by doing so, she only proved Aleksander right. She can't handle the truth.

Now the next lie is when he lied about his mother's powers. Don't have to dwell here because it's the same thing as before. It's the same lie he tells everyone "I don't know. I'm not sure". The Darkling (publicly) has distanced himself from his mother and keeps that relationship a secret. It's just part of his persona (just like his age, his identity etc.). Again nothing personal against Alina.

The next one is just some clever emotional manipulation. When he made clear to Mal that he would curve Alina's skin he knew that the threat was just enough. He has seen them act all cutie-cutie and being sacrificial for the sake of each other to a disgusting point so he took advantage of that (I say good for him).

And the last one is just my personal favourite if you ask me. That strategy he displayed there was my most favourite that he ever showed. Since he knew again how the threat would be enough for Alina to come to him like fish on a bait. He embraced his villainous persona and pretended that he would hurt those children if she didn't surrender to him. But he knew better. Mindless heroism would just bring her right into his net and again he was proved right until everything fucked up and died.

In his own words:

“I know what you thought, what you’ve always thought of me. It’s so much easier that way, isn’t it? To puff yourself up with your own righteousness.”

Just some delicious shit actually.

So, in conclusion, no. He wasn't a compulsive liar. But when he needed to lie he did and only for (as he saw it) selfless reasons. In fact, he mostly either evaded the truth or spoke truth. So misinformation just spilled that man's reputation lmao.

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crimeronan · 1 year

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youtube

these shadow and bone cast interviews (which dropped less than a day ago) are more serious about season 2's themes and storytelling than silly promotional content AND THEY'RE SO FUCKING GOOD I'M SO EXCITED I'M GONNA THROW UPPPP

HIGHLY recommend watching if you like narrative meta and want some info about the emotional arcs coming up. here are some key highlights:

ben barnes talking about how the darkling is a scorned incel with nothing left but rage (and also not knowing what reddit is)

daisy head talking about genya's chronic pain arc and how she manages pain and trauma and suffering

jack wolfe talking about how you see more dynamic arcs and character choices in wylan because of how he interacts with plot points and people he never meets in the books

danielle galligan talking about nina feeling unmoored from her purpose and never having had a home and having put her home into matthias and needing to reckon with that

amita suman alluding to negative character development for inej (🥵)

freddy carter alluding to EXTRA negative character development for kaz (🥵🥵🥵)

KAZ/JESPER/INEJ DIVORCE ARC

i repeat

KAZ/JESPER/INEJ DIVORCE ARC!!!!!

#video #shadow and bone #shadow and bone cast #shadow and bone spoilers #shadow and bone cast interviews #sab cast #shadow and bone meta #sab meta #grishaverse #DIVORCE DIVORCE DIVORCE DIVORCE DIVORCE #soc #six of crows #Youtube

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amphorographia · 1 year

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I know we all wish they'd gone more into Inej's trauma but, from a holistic point of view, I can see why they wouldn't. The main plotline deals heavily with Genya's experiences of sexual abuse and child prostitution so trying to also address Inej's history would dilute the significance of both of their stories by implying that this is something 'common' in their world (and also undermines how monstrous the Darkling and Heleen truly are). Plus, given how stories of sexual assault and violence against women are constantly fetishized/romanticised in media, often including (unnecessarily) explicit depictions of the acts themselves to play into the 'male fantasy,' I think it's more powerful to imply these parallels between Inej and Genya in the narrative – "he was 12 and I was 14" / "along with everything else the Menagerie owns" / "my wraith" / "he plans to take me alive" – and give Amita and Daisy the freedom to portray the effects of those experiences on their characters' lives.

I don't know, maybe it's a matter of personal taste and there are ways the writers could have appropriately handled both but, given Netflix's track record, I think it's probably for the better that they didn't spend more time on Inej's past. And the fact that she's already given Kaz her ultimatum – "I will have you without your armour, or I will not have you at all" – means that we could see how both of them handle their respective traumas as they try to heal and build a real relationship in the future.

#inej ghafa #amita suman #genya safin #shadow and bone meta #shadow and bone #six of crows #daisy head #kanej #kanej meta #kaz x inej #kaz brekker #freddy carter

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starlessmistake · 1 year

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The problem with S&B S2's magic system

(And why it weakens one of the best moments of the series)

Before I start, I just want to preface with the fact that I am talking about the show only here as it's own entity. I know that some of my complaints can be said of the books as well. However from S1, the show substantially altered the concept of amplifiers, so clearly they're not above making changes to the way the magic system when it suits them.

Diving right in to my analysis...

S1 for all its faults does a solid job of setting up the magic system within Ravka. The grisha orders are presented as being very strictly defined with no suggestion that there is any choice involved in a grisha’s sub-order.

(This is in contrast to the books where it is established as early as Alina’s carriage ride with Fedyor and Ivan that a grisha’s sub-order is more of a specialisation that they have some choice over.)

This strict delineation has consequences for the plot of S1.

In S1E3 we meet Genya and are given a fairly comprehensive overview of her powers. As a tailor, her main power is in modifying an individual’s appearance. This includes being able to mend surface level injuries.

In S1E5 when Marie is attacked, Genya is unable to heal Marie’s wound and Marie subsequently dies. This in many ways is the trigger point for the whole second act of the first season. Marie’s death is what causes Aleksander to leave Alina alone in his War Room, and therefore what gives Baghra the opportunity to convince Alina to flee.

(The show then goes on to never mention Marie’s death again, but that’s a separate rant of mine.)

Genya not being a Healer (or at the very least, not knowing that she can heal) is important to the story of S1 and established concretely to the audience.

And then we have S2…

S2 makes the decision to expand on the magic system by blurring the line between the various orders. This is not necessarily a bad decision in its own right – many stories successfully add nuance to their magic systems as the audience grows familiar with how it works. However I would argue that the show does not manage to do this successfully.

We are first introduced to this change through Alina’s travels to Novyi Zem and aboard Nikolai’s ship. Characters like the librarian and Tamar tell us that other countries do not distinguish between grisha in the way that Ravka does. Which is fine in theory, except this is one of the many, many things that we are told and not shown.

None of the non-Ravkan grisha actually demonstrate any powers outside of their one specific sub-order. With the possible exception of Sankta Neyar who uses a form of blood-bending. However we are explicitly told that this is because there is iron in blood and not because she can control blood itself. Therefore her powers still fall neatly into what we might expect of Durasts.

So who doesn’t fit into a neat box…? You guessed it - Genya.

Genya gains all kind of powers this season. First of all is healing. In S2E4 Genya is able to easily heal Baghra’s broken wrist - something that goes well beyond Genya’s established powers in S1. The show could have possibly explained this by having Baghra amplify Genya, but that’s not what happens as Baghra doesn’t touch Genya while she’s working.

The fact that Genya has the capability to heal is not in itself a problem – given what the show clumsily tried to establish earlier in S2. However, the problem is that Genya should not know that she has these capabilities. Because she explicitly didn’t know about them in S1, and nothing has changed between the seasons to give her this information.

Now that we have all that established, let’s talk about the scene I referred to back at the start of this rant.

In S2E5 Genya and Baghra find Alina’s underground hideout. In one of the best scenes of the series David asks Genya how she managed to find them, to which Genya replies that she was able to follow David’s heartbeat with the help of Baghra’s amplification.

This is such a powerful moment due to Daisy and Luke’s fantastic acting, but it’s undermined by the writing. This reveal about Genya’s Heartrending should have been a great shock – to the audience and to Genya – a discovery of an unknown power that she was only able to tap into in her most desperate moment to find the love of her life.

But because we have already seen Genya’s unexplained ability to heal, this reveal instead comes across (at least to me) like Heartrending is a power that Genya has always known about, she merely forgot to mention it earlier in the show.

And so a fantastic acting performance is hampered by weak writing. It’s far from the only such moment (believe me, I could rant for hours about S2’s writing). But this one particularly frustrates me, because it would be so easy to fix! All the writers would have to do would have Genya not heal Baghra’s wrist, or have Genya only be able to heal Baghra’s wrist with the help of amplification.

(rant over. thanks for reading)

#shadow and bone meta #shadow and bone critical #grishaverse meta #genya safin #david kostyk #genya x david #anti sab #my meta #i have a lot of thoughts about s2 #and very few of them are positive

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eggsaladstain · 1 year

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I just love the way you write, so gonna pick your brain here: why do you think people are so drawn to Darklina? Is it the tragedy of it? The gothic aspect to it? The darkness (funnily enough) of it? Or is it just the chemistry between the actors? Thoughts?

hi anon, thanks for reading and thanks for the ask! i've been sitting on this for a bit because i don't really ship darklina and thus don't have many thoughts about them but then once i started thinking about them i couldn't stop so here we are.

i can't speak for anyone else but for me personally what i love about this pairing is the tension and symbolism and the epic two-halves-of-a-whole vibe they've got going on and there are also some interesting parallels between darklina and kanej, so despite not actively shipping it, i genuinely think it's one of the most interesting ships in the entire grishaverse and certainly the most complex and complicated relationship alina has.

i'll talk about both the books and the show because i think they each do a good job showing different aspects of their relationship, and i actually kind of think you need to take the books and show together to get the complete picture of this compelling if ultimately doomed ship.

please know, anon, that when i opened this ask, i had planned on a pretty short answer and then i ended up writing 2k words about this because yes, apparently i do have thoughts and yes, that is a threat.

let's dive in.

at its core, darklina is about the attraction and balance between opposites. he summons shadows, she summons light, they're two sides of the same coin, they're made for each other! but then we find out that the darkling is actually manipulating alina, that he's the one who created the fold, that he's her enemy, and instead of sinking the ship, it actually makes it even better because you get that added tension and forbidden attraction between good and evil, between the hero and villain.

in the books, their relationship goes from romantic to adversarial to the mutual understanding that they have a connection to each other that they will never have with anyone else. for all its faults (and there are many), the original trilogy does a fantastic job fleshing out alina's relationship with the darkling and showing the love, the animosity, and above all else, the undeniable pull between them. we really get a sense of alina's acute loneliness and desire to belong somewhere, not just before she discovers her powers, but even after she comes into her power and learns that despite her new tribe with the grisha, she's still different, she's still ultimately alone. it's no wonder then that she would be so drawn to the darkling, who understands her loneliness, who gives her the attention she craves, who looks at her like she is something special. even after she finds out the truth about him, she continues to reach for him through their tether because despite the manipulation and lies, he is still the only one who truly understands the weight that she carries, he is still the only one who truly sees and embraces the darkness within her. he's her mirror image, reflecting not only her capacity for good and her desire to save ravka, but also showing her her darkest desires and instincts.

their relationship doesn't have nearly as much nuance in the show, and i get it, they only had a limited number of episodes, but the decision to turn darklina into a one-sided obsession on the darkling's part in season 2 was a big misstep in my opinion. in the books, their relationship is built on a mutual longing between both of them and even when alina finally kills him, she still grieves for him, says his name, and sees him through his final moments so he's not alone at the end. i've written before how much i love the subversive ending of ruin and rising and i especially love the closure we get in the relationship between alina and the darkling. it's a pyrrhic victory, not a triumphant one, and the darkling's death is very much a loss for alina. she does not kill him because of vengeance or to save the world, she kills him as a mercy, to put an end to his relentless suffering. the final book also acknowledges, crucially, that while the evil is ultimately defeated, this evil was not some monster or demon but a flesh and blood man, a boy.

in the books, alina is in her late teens and while the darkling is centuries old, he looks to be only a few years older than her. i understand why they chose to age up the characters on the show and ben barnes is fantastic as the darkling, but the fact that they were visibly closer in age in the original trilogy means there was less of an overt power imbalance between them because while the darkling was still the leader of the second army, he was also a bit more approachable due to his appearance of youth. not only that, their relationship in the books has an innocence that it doesn't really have in the show because a 17 year old girl being friendly and flirting with a 20 year old boy is fundamentally different from a 25 year old woman pursuing a relationship with a 39 year old man.

a younger darkling is also SO much more tragic, especially since his entire character can be summed up in this absolute banger of a quote from ruin and rising: in this moment he was just a boy - brilliant, blessed with too much power, burdened by eternity. the tragedy of the darkling is that he was forced to bear the burden of his power and persecution when he was just a boy and he had to continue bearing that burden for centuries, and it's so much more tragic to see a life cut short at 20 vs 40 because of that innocence that we associate with youth, even if that youth is an illusion and even (and especially) if that innocence is a lie. the tragedy of the darkling is that he had so much power but at his core, he was just a lost, lonely boy, and it makes him a much better foil for alina because, had she not lost her power in the books, she may have gone down the same path and that quote could have just as easily applied to her.

now, having said all this, the show, for all it faults (and there are also many), does a much better job (more so in season 1) of humanizing the darkling. part of that is just due to the books being written in alina's POV, meaning we never really know how the darkling actually feels, so being able to see the darkling's actions and motivations through a more objective perspective in the show goes a long way in fleshing out his character. the other part is, of course, ben barnes and the way he highlighted the tragedy in the darkling's story and tried his best to elevate the character above a typical villain, despite the season 2 script doing him no favors. in the books, we only see the darkling through alina's lens so we don't ever truly know how he actually feels about her, but the show makes it very clear that the darkling's feelings for alina are real. maybe it starts out as manipulation, but the power imbalance between them very quickly turns in her favor as it becomes clear that he needs her, desperately, in a way that she doesn't really need him. alina may have felt lonely for 20-some years of her life, but for the darkling, it's been centuries. it's centuries of loss and persecution that have made him who he is, and it's no wonder then that he would be drawn to alina, a literal light in the darkness, and see her as his salvation.

as i mentioned earlier, the show makes their relationship much more one-sided with the darkling refusing to let alina go, even after she hurts him, even as she hates him. in their final confrontation after the fold, he knows she is there to kill him, but when his nichevo'ya has her by the throat, he tries frantically to stop it because in spite of everything he's done, all the atrocities he's committed, the one thing he will never do is kill her. he certainly doesn't deserve a pat on the back for this and his behavior towards her is objectively bad and creepy, but it also shows just how all-consuming his desperation is. after centuries of searching, he has finally found someone who is like him, and he cannot bring himself to give her up, no matter the cost to himself, no matter the cost to her. it's incredibly selfish, but it's also achingly human.

in the books, we don't really see this desperation until the end of ruin and rising when alina loses her power and the darkling realizes that he is now truly alone, that he has no longer has an equal, and alina herself realizes that his pain will be endless. in the show, we see this theme - his desire and his need for her - woven throughout his interactions with alina from the very beginning, culminating with her death at his hands, albeit under very different circumstances than the book.

this is why i say that the books and show complement each other when it comes to darklina - with the books, you see how alina was drawn to the darkling and how she genuinely cared for him in spite of everything, and in the show, you see how the darkling was drawn to alina and how desperate he was to save her from following in his footsteps.

there's even a set of complementary quotes that perfectly encapsulate why this ship is so compelling and why it's so doomed.

in ruin and rising, you have the darkling saying you might make me a better man and alina answering and you might make me a monster.

and in 2x08, you have the darkling saying let me be your monster. let me carry the hatred of this world. who will be there to save you? and alina answering, i will save myself.

the allure of darklina is that it's about finding the one person who makes you feel less alone, the one person who can save you and destroy you in equal measure, the one person who sees and accepts you as you are, even the worst parts of you.

the tragedy of darklina lies with the darkling, because he is driven by pain and loss and the desire to escape both of those things. this is a man who will never allow himself to love someone more than he fears the pain of losing them, and he only allows himself to love alina because he believes he will never lose her to the ravages of time, he only allows himself to love her because he thinks he will be safe from pain with her. now compare him to sankta neyar, another character who has also lived and lost for centuries. as i previously wrote about here, the darkling views love as a weakness while neyar views it as a strength, and it is because of this (and, you know, the atrocities) that he ultimately loses alina. and despite how much alina resists him, the darkling is unable to let her go, unable to stop himself from trying to save her, even when she makes it clear that she does not want or need him to do so. the tragedy of darklina is that this is the only way he knows how to love her.

now, let's look at kanej, which has more than a few similarities with darklina. much like the darkling and alina, kaz and inej also have twin traumas, they also understand each other in a way that no one else does, they have also seen and accepted the worst parts of each other. like calls to like applies to them just as much, and even the r&r quote fits them perfectly as inej does make kaz a better man and kaz does make inej a monster. in six of crows, kaz tells oomen, who stabbed inej, my wraith would counsel mercy but thanks to you, she’s not here to plead your case and in 2x08, we see kaz offering to buy out kesh and any other indentures after inej asked him to consider it in 1x01 (gifset here). and it's kaz who teaches inej to kill, who gives her the tools she needs to survive in the barrel, culminating in her vicious threat to pekka rollins at the end of crooked kingdom and her declaration that they destroy him in 2x03 when she finds out pekka killed kaz's brother.

kanej is such a great foil for darklina because where darklina said you might make me a better man and you might make me a monster, kanej said we will make each other better, and we will be monsters together. kaz and inej each put in the effort to overcome their respective traumas in order to be together and they each do violent, unsavory things in order to protect the other, and despite the fact that both crooked kingdom and 2x08 end with inej leaving, it's clear that the two of them will find their way back to each other in time.

alina doesn't end up making the darkling a better man, though on the show, she does become a monster, for mal by using merzost to bring him back, and for ravka, by using the shadow cut to kill the fjerdan spy. it's a really fitting evolution of her character on the show and the natural progression of her relationship with the darkling, that she would defeat him only to become him in the end.

as i said at the top of this, i don't actively ship darklina, but i am fascinated by the tension and complexity of their relationship and i love how the book canon and show canon build on each other to give us a complete picture of these two individuals who are so similar yet so different at the same time. they're parallel lines who will never cross. they're the sun and moon who can never share the same sky. they're the perfect tragedy.

#darklina #darklina meta #kanej #kanej meta #shadow and bone meta #sab meta #shadow and bone #grishaverse #the darkling #alina starkov #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #sab season 2 #ruin and rising #six of crows #crooked kingdom #meta #answer

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grishaverse-chaos · 1 year

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oooh sab meta!! the colours of ravka are blue and gold, which are also the colours that alina initially wears as a sun summoner. however, the darkling insists that she wear HIS colour, which is black. even though he claims to want to serve ravka, and he claims he wants alina to do the same, he's actually acting in his own self-interest, and wants alina to serve HIM - the colours symbolise her allegiance on more than one level

#reason 368264737 why the darkling sucks #this might not have been intentional on leigh's part but i thought it added an extra dimension to the thing about alina's kefta #if blue + gold represents ravka as well as her position as the sun summoner!#shadow and bone meta #grishaverse #alina starkov #mayhem.txt #anti darkling #anti darklina #<- tagging for people who have those filtered #like obviously her wearing black is a way for him to have control over her -#but if blue + gold represents ravka then that makes the conflict more interesting #mayhem grishaverse originals

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snowblack-charcoalwhite · 1 year

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A few seconds before Jesper turns the coin into the key a.k.a. one of my favourite show!Wesper moments

Jesper smiles at Wylan after the 'and there`s no one better than me' line, and then the magic begins.

It`s like Jesper decides 'This is the moment' and concentrates, but HOW he does this! Looking very intently at Wylan`s face, like he`s trying to commit it to his memory forever - or rather to absorb what he sees with his entire soul and then create something out of it. And that`s what he does.

The key Jesper makes for Wylan is imperfect, weird, looking clumsily made with a trembling hand. But in its essence it`s absolutely beautiful, amazing, magical... Not perfect - beautiful. It`s made not with a trembling hand but with a trembling heart - unsure, troubled, probably afraid of commitment. But what this heart does know for sure is that it wants the man in front of him to be happy, safe, welcome and loved. And that`s what it does.

Some create magic with wands, and some - with keys looking like coat hooks.

#shadow and bone #sab #sab season two #wesper #jesper x wylan #wylan x jesper #jesper fahey #wylan van eck #sab deleted scenes #wesper deleted scene #shadow and bone meta #kind of

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loneswaggingranger · 1 year

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just thinking about when Nikolai says, "No, no kissing." That fond expression on his face. "Not unless you're thinking of me instead of trying to forget him."

Nikolai once again showing that he is not only a good king, but also a good man. The maturity and understanding this man has, to hold back his own feelings, knowing that Alina needs space to process what just happened, and how he is willing to give her that space.

Best man there ever was, hands down.

#shadow and bone tv #shadow and bone season 2 #shadow and bone netflix #shadow and bone meta #shadow and bone spoilers #nikolai lantsov #alina starkov #shadow and bone season two spoilers #shadow and bone #thank you to gif makers #grishaverse

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theweeklydiscourse · 10 months

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I’m re-reading Shadow and Bone right now and I’m suddenly reminded of why I could never take the Darkling seriously as a villain.

Baghra reveals the “horrifying truth” about the Darkling to Alina and she folds instantly. I’m not even exaggerating when I say that it takes Baghra only two tries to get Alina onboard with her plan. You mean to tell me that the Darkling is an ancient being who has had hundreds of years to practice his manipulation skills, yet he failed to sink his claws into the easiest possible target?

Really Alina should be extremely susceptible to the Darkling’s supposed brand of manipulation/seduction. I mean come on, she’s a lonely, insecure orphan who is still pining after a guy who has ignored her romantically for most of their relationship. This should be a walk in the park for the Darkling, and yet he fails so badly at manipulating her that it only takes ONE crotchety old woman (who had previous voiced her disdain for him ) to sway his target into knocking down his centuries long scheme like a house of cards.

Baghra: Alina, he is evil and has plans for world domination! He has manipulated your weak mind!

Alina: You are senile.

Baghra: Wait look at my shadow powers!

Alina: OH MY GOD HE’S GOING TO KILL EVERYONE!!! I HAVE TO RUN AWAY!!

The fact that Alina believes Baghra almost instantly when Baghra’s only piece of evidence is her shadow powers, is a testament to how lax Bardugo was when it came to actually writing the Darkling as an abuser. How am I supposed to buy into the idea that the Darkling is a scary and abusive man when the alleged pattern of abuse he displays throughout the book is nearly nonexistent? In fact, Alina’s realizations after this reveal are meant to recontextualize his past actions which she interpreted as benign but really just contradict what actually occurred in the text. She fully rewrites the narrative and retcons events that happened earlier in the book as a narrative shortcut. It is Bardugo pretending that she wrote an insidious process of manipulation into the narrative, when in reality it is lazy and condescending writing.

Honestly this scene would make more sense if the story Baghra told Alina was her trying to get rid of Alina. I mean the whole reason the Darkling keeps Baghra around (despite her terrible attitude and verbally abusive tendencies) is because she has been the only constant person in his life for centuries. They have a toxic and codependent relationship where Baghra can be as mean as she wants and the Darkling will never get rid of her for fear of being alone. It would make Alina a threat to that tenure since she is his equal and opposite half who could match his eternal lifespan, making Baghra’s position less secure. Thus, Baghra scares Alina into leaving the Little Palace and endangering herself once she leaves the safety bubble.

#shadow and bone #lb critical #s&b critical #alina starkov #s&b netflix #s&b salt #the darkling #darklina #anti leigh bardugo #anti baghra #aleksander morovoza #general kirigan #grishaverse meta #shadow and bone meta #baghra morozova

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the-starless-reader · 1 year

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Death by a Thousand... Stars?

I've been going through my notes on Siege and Storm, and one particular detail stood out. It's an excerpt from the prologue:

[...] they stood together on deck, picking out constellations from the vast spill of stars: the Hunter, the Scholar, the Three Foolish Sons, the bright spokes of the Spinning Wheel, the Southern Palace with its six crooked spires.

The note says: Double-check the constellations! Alina's bedchamber has a star-speckled dressing screen! The Darkling's bedchamber has constellations on the ceiling!

And then I remembered my notes on Ruin and Rising. And guess what? The monastery of Sankt Demyan, otherwise known as the Spinning Wheel, was turned into an observatory 'a few hundred years ago'. Double-check the constellations!

[...] the bronze columns were constellations—the Hunter with his drawn bow, the Scholar bent in study, the Three Foolish Sons, huddled together, trying to share a single coat. The Bursar, the Bear, the Beggar. The Shorn Maiden wielding her bone needle. Twelve in all: the spokes of the Spinning Wheel.

It's been abandoned 'for over a century'. This version of the Darkling is approximately 120 years old. Coincidence? I think not. Sugar had been rationed in Ravka for the last hundred years, which can only mean that the current war had started around the same time he'd made himself known again.

But what about the monastery? I think that the Darkling was the one who'd turned it into an observatory. My only proof is a tale found in The Language of Thorns. It's a story about his half-sister Ulla, titled When Water Sang Fire. Our Youngling was the seer's apprentice in the lost city of Söndermane, a scholar cloistered in the Prophetic’s Tower. A stargazer!

At each level the apprentice named another subject: history, augury, geography, mathematics, alchemy. Ulla hoped they’d wind all the way to the top of the tower, where she knew they’d find the famous observatory.

However, stargazing wasn't his only preoccupation there. But we'll come back to that later. Double-check the constellations! Let's get back to the twelve spokes of the Spinning Wheel.

The Hunter with his drawn bow? That's Sankt Petyr, with his still-burning arrows. The Scholar bent in study must be Sankt Dimitri. The Bear is obviously Sankt Grigori. The Shorn Maiden wielding her bone needle is probably Sankta Vasilka, the first firebird.

What about the others? Thirteen Saints were shown on the massive triptych behind the altar in the original Lantsov chapel, where the first Ravkan kings were crowned. Thirteen Saints were featured in the original version of the Istorii Sankt’ya. But there are only twelve spokes, twelve constellations. Who's the odd one out?

Sankt Demyan is most certainly not, and here's why.

According to The Lives of Saints, the site of Sankt Demyan's death is the tallest mountain in the Elbjen. He was the nobleman who owned the land upon which a cemetery stood; and when the birches started to obscure the path, he had his servants cut a new one. When the rains came to disturb the cemetery, Demyan designed the aqueduct around the graveyard, diverting the water to irrigate the fields. But the people still complained.

He was desperate to please them. He asked the Saints to raise the cemetery up to the sun itself, so it would no longer be obscured by the shade of his previous creations.

He laid his hands upon the soil, and the earth began to shake. The ground rose higher and higher, until the highest mountain was made. The cemetery was intact, but his own family crypt was broken. The people accused Demyan of disrespecting his family name by using dark magic, and the angry mob stoned him to death. He became known as the patron saint of the newly dead.

Sankt Demyan's miracle was the creation of the highest mountain in the northern Sikurzoi.

But why is this important? Because the Sikurzoi mountains cover most of Ravka's eastern and southern border with Shu Han. And the Spinning Wheel is located in the Elbjen, which is the Fjerdan name for the northern range of Sikurzoi. More so, it's the place the first firebird came from. And that firebird is Ravka.

But what if I tell you that the first Taban queens also come from the highest mountains of the Sikurzoi range? The palace of the Taban dynasty has the Court of the Golden Wing. You know who else has golden wings? Sankta Vasilka, the first firebird.

It's said that the borders of Ravka were sketched by the firebird's flight. Its rivers run with the firebird's tears. And when one of her feathers fell to earth, the young warrior picked it up and carried it into battle. No one could defeat him, and so he became the first king of Ravka.

But where are the stars? The old Taban queen resides in the place called the Palace of Thousand Stars. Even before the first Taban queens have come to their rule, Sankta Neyar was already one of the Six Soldiers, the sacred protectors of the Shu Han.

Remember the constellations? The Southern Palace and its six crooked spires? The Spinning Wheel? It's all there, written in the stars.

And the Starless Saint knows that.

His bedchamber is built on a hexagonal plan, like the temples of Ahmrat Jen. His dark wood walls are carved into the illusion of a forest crowded with slender trees. The birch trees, like the ones growing around the cemetery. He almost died there, once.

Demon in the wood. Demyan in the wood.

The domed ceiling above his bed is spangled with chips of mother-of-pearl laid in constellations, to create the illusion of the Spinning Wheel. The ebony screen in Alina's bedchamber is speckled with mother-of-pearl stars, too. It was probably brought from his rooms, as only his chambers are furnished in ebony.

It's death by a thousand stars...

#shadow and bone #shadow and bone meta #grishaverse meta #shadow and bone worldbuilding #sankt demyan #sankt demyan of the rime #aleksander morozova #the darkling #the starless saint #grishaverse #the grisha trilogy #the lives of saints #leigh bardugo #parallels and references #a searing burst of thought

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aleksanderscult · 4 months

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Metas

Aleksander's jealousy moments:

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5 and the bonus content

Analyzing "Demon in the Wood" (book):

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

Analyzing "Demon in the Wood" (Graphic Novel):

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3

The Alarkling Winter fete make out:

Part 1 - Part 2

The Alarkling tether kiss scene:

Part 1 - Part 2

Analyzing the only Alarkling scene in RoW

What the Darkling thought/felt about Elizaveta:

Here and here

What Aleksander was expecting about the Sun Summoner. His over-the-years thoughts about him/her and his initial thoughts about Alina

The Darkling is NOT a groomer

Alina rejecting Aleksander's advances

Aleksander's and "Alina's" funeral in R&R

Analyzing the Darkling's "I will strip away all that you know..." line

Why does the fandom handles differently Oomen's punishment by Kaz Brekker and Baghra's punishment by the Darkling

How Aleksander is dealing with grief and how he's dealing with people that are grieving

Was the Darkling that much of a liar as the fandom makes him to be?

My opinion about Genya's s*xual ab*se from the King. Was it the Darkling's fault?

The Darkling was terrible at manipulating (and it was the author's fault)

Analyzing Darklina's first kiss in S&B

Analyzing Aleksander's reaction to Alina's loss of her power

Character analysis: Genya from S&B

What kind of "Alina" did Aleksander want?

Other

Some fun facts about the Darkling

More Darkling facts

Ivan appreciation post

My favorite Darkling fanarts

My favorite Alina Starkov fanarts

My favorite Darklina fanarts

My favorite Darkling quotes (no ranking)

Why do I hate Mal (for anyone who is wondering)

A masterpost where Leigh Bardugo talks about the Darkling

Fanmade Grishaverse videos

Book trailer for the Grishaverse trilogy

Ruin & Rising, chapter 15 (The burning of the orphanage scene)

#a guide for anyone who is interested in my page #this post will be regularly updated btw!#Enjoy! 💛#the darkling #alina starkov #darklina #alarkling #grishaverse #shadow and bone #grishaverse trilogy #metas #shadow and bone meta #grishaverse meta #the darkling meta #darklina meta #aleksander morozova

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little-cereal-draws · 1 year

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Major Shadow and Bone season two spoilers

OK BUT WHAT WAS THE REASON???? WHAT WAS THE REASON??? WHY DID DAVID DO THAT??????? IT WAS SO UNNECESSARY!! SOBBING

ok and now that i've got that out of my system, I actually do problems with how his death was treated.

It felt so... unnecessary. Putting aside my love for David, it felt so weird from an in-story point of view. I genuinely don't know why he did that. There was enough room for them both in the elevator and what on earth was he supposed to do against a being made of shadow? There was no tension of "what's going to happen to David" bc there was no way for him to win. I think he was supposed to be sacrificing himself so Genya could escape and be safe but honestly if he wanted to protect her, it would be better to live. He could seal doors to keep monsters out, he was studying how these creatures work at the beginning of the season so maybe he knew a secret weakness or smth, or at the very least they have a better chance of surviving if they stick together.

Locking her in an elevator is so stupid too bc he could have been dooming her. What if the elevator got stuck/broken and she couldn't get out? She would have suffocated or starved. What if a monster got in and she was boxed in? Literally no way for her to escape. Like it was such a stupid decision. Luckily neither of those happened but they very easily could have. (And then the fact that we don't see where the elevator goes or her getting out bothers me but that's not what this post is about.)

And this next thing may be a moot point bc the last two episodes were so busy and I'm not quite sure how to fit them in, but I wish we got to see at least a little bit of David fighting the monster. I know I said before there was no way for him to win but I at least want to see him try. I want to see David, a shy, introvert who has never been anywhere near the front lines, fight with everything he has to get back to Genya. He has no training, no idea what to do, nothing but the idea that he needs to get back to her. His death was already sad but this really would have pushed it to a new level. The way they had it, I already knew he was going to die bc the odds were so against him. But if they showed him trying to fight, it would have given the viewer a bit of hope and make it that much worse when he loses.

The last shot that we see of him is him standing in front of the elevator looking determinedly at the monster while Genya screams for him. I'll be honest, I actually did have a bit of hope for him here. We just saw this Durast saint in Shu Han kick everybody's asses; all these expert soldiers and criminals that we've seen win over and over, and she did it like it was nothing. And Jesper even had a very minor arc abt using his powers more and in more unconventional ways and I was hoping to see it reflected in David. We know he's an amazing Durast, one of the best ones in Ravka, and unlike Jesper he actually has training and knows how to use his powers. We last saw him standing in a workshop, surrounded by tools and materials that he knows how to use, and I was really hoping that he would figure out a way to use them in battle. Idk if he could actually hurt the monster but it would still be so cool and develop his character in a way we haven't seen before. Or at least he could make a flash bomb or smth like the ones Wylan uses and escape. But nope. I put too much faith in the writers to think they would do that.

Lastly, his death didn't advance the plot in anyway. If they wanted it to develop Genya, I really don't think it was the right choice. Over the course of this season, she's been mutilated, disabled, kept as a prisoner, thought she lost the love of her life, and confronted her abusers. She has already been so developed so much since season one, adding David's death doesn't really do anything. I think they did it just for shock value. And the way it was written didn't really make sense either? She's upset when she can't find him after the battle, she's upset when she finds the ruby in his coat, and then the next time we see her she's fine? She's laughing and smiling and hanging out with her friends. And I'm not saying that ppl who are grieving can't do those things, but it was just such an extreme 180 that happened so quickly, both in the episode's run time and the in-show timeline, that it felt jarring and like she didn't care anymore. And this is not hate on the actress ofc, she was amazing this season.

Idk I just think they handled David's death very poorly. But we didn't see his body so maybe he's still alive. I hope so, I love him so much.

#i didn't mean for this to get so long #i just love david and genya so fucking much #shadow and bone #shadow and bone spoilers #shadow and bone season 2 #david kostyk #genya safin #david x genya #genya x david #shadow and bone meta

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