[flowerais-deactivated20211031]

it’s okay if your art isn’t impressive to your friends, it’s okay if you’re not very good at any of your hobbies, it’s okay if you don’t share your life on social media. you don’t have to be good and you don’t have to prove anything. your life isn’t a performance.

[ruby-white-rabbit]

You’re allowed to do things badly just because you enjoy them

[emo-communism]

is anyone else just like. constantly filled with rage about their position under late capitalism and how we are expected to just keep playing this game that we know will literally kill us, is already killing people all over the world, and yet everyone around us is somehow fine with going about business as usual, with pretending we are free by being able to choose between different ways of being exploited. there is nothing more dehumanising than being forced to partake in a system that is actively detrimental to our survival as human beings, that is so physically, psychologically and spiritually destructive, and i don’t know how to deal with this anger anymore

[fuckyeahchinesefashion]

©AirRabbitYan

[finalbarbiegirl]

I can not trust 99% of enemies to lover bitches cause most of the time it’s just abuse 😬

[tarvastries]

even though it’s a horrific scene to watch, I actually love the fact that the netflix s&b adaptation changes the stag’s antlers from a simple necklace to a literal collar that’s melted into alina’s skin and body. it is gruesome and heartbreaking and I think it truly shows the depth of the darkling’s hunger for power and utter lack of respect for alina at that point, which is something alina realizes as soon as the amplifier begins to sink into her skin and bind them together. It’s a horrifying visual and physical demonstration of an abusive and controlling relationship, but I think the impact it has on alina and viewers is so, so potent and important to alina’s story

[nazyalenskyy-archive]

Me: darklina is abusive

A darklina stan, crawling out of the depths of hell: how dAre you attack my lord and savior?! The Darkling meant well!! And he’s hot!! So Alina should want him!! Not Mal, he is the abusive one!

[redamancy-and-daisies]

You can think the darkling is an interesting, well written villian. I think the darkling is an interesting, well written villian. What we’re not gonna do in 2021 is imagine that shipping an abuser with his victim WITH YOUR WHOLE CHEST is without real world consequences/doesn’t matter since they’re fictional. There are real people who have been in real relationships with real abusers that mirror the pedophilla, racism, narcissism, manipulation and violence tied up in that shit ship. You can like the aesthetic, the vibes whatever, but the second you excuse the inexcusable, that shit is real and it is nasty and it’s wrong

[itsbrilliantjustlikeyou]

i cant believe we're still having the "pedophilia is okay as long as its fiction" conversation especially when the people saying it isnt ok are the same age as the younger characters in the ship itself,,,,make it make sense

[wonderlandmoonrose7]

(If you ship Darklina, this post is not for you)

It really struck me how when Mal is away from Alina he always calls her that-Alina. He refers to her by her own name. Meanwhile, when the Darkling is away from Alina he calls her “my sun summoner” which not only implies that he thinks of her as his possession but also only thinks of her as valuable in terms of her power. I think it was a nice touch by the show runners to emphasize the difference between the two

[flodaya]

enemies to lovers is not the same and should never include an abuser gaslighting and manipulating his victim

[comingoutofthecauldron]

this just in: twitter darklinas are talking about how mad they are that ben barnes looks so much older than jessie.........they're so close to self awareness guys this one's gonna be good

[virgil-dantes-deactivated202407]

Darkl*ng telling mal “you’re a child”, yea and so is alina maybe you shouldn’t be trying to fuck her??

[sunsummoner]

since when did the enemies to lovers trope turn from “gradual buildup of trust, respect, and care by two characters on dissenting sides of a conflict, where X pairing ultimately helps end or lessen Y event” to “minor (or maximum age 23) female protagonist is stalked by predatory 100+ year old (optional: serial killing)(optional: imperialist)(optional: overpowered) violent immortal man, and must become X pairing to redeem said 100+ year old man in order to prevent utter destruction and Y crisis caused by old man” because i hate it

[comingoutofthecauldron]

can't believe i need to clear this up but the darkling asking mal what alina's favourite flowers are and then giving them to her was not cute. it was not meant to be cute. it was a very deliberate display of how he was manipulating both alina and mal for his own benefit. if he truly cared about alina, he would've told her mal was there, or he would've asked her himself. he wouldn't be pursuing her in the first place. it's not romance, it's grooming.

[goawaygoaway-deactivated2024110]

Everyone who says Alina made the wrong choice when she picked Mal needs to learn basic reading comprehension.

It’s fine to say that you don’t ship Malina. To be honest, I didn’t really ship them at first. But to say that Alina would have been better off with Nikolai or the Darkling is just inaccurate.

From the beginning, we see Alina reject power for Mal. She refuses to be tested so she won’t have to leave Mal. And even when she’s taken to the little palace, she never forgets about her best friend.

And when she starts to gain power, it terrifies her. She hates what she becomes when she’s with the Darkling. Alina is a fairly straightforward person and so is Mal. She is completely out of her element with all these manipulative men. It’s only with Mal that she can be herself.

And now let’s see what each man offers her. The Darkling offers her unlimited power as the Sun Summoner. He offers her complete control over Ravka. Nikolai does pretty much the same.

But Alina never once shows interest in politics. All her life, she has only wanted one thing: A peaceful life with Mal. And when Mal offers her nothing but himself, of course she accepts. Because Alina has spent most of her life being manipulated by powerful people. And Mal, the most straightforward man in her life, does nothing but offer her unconditional love. He doesn’t give her anything that can be held against her. And he even gives her a way out, if she doesn’t feel the same way.

The fact that most people seem to completely disregard Alina’s character to use her as a self-insert for their fantasies is, unfortunately, not shocking. And even worse, they degrade her character.

Alina rejecting power to live a fulfilling life with the man she loves is not anti-feminist. If anything, Alina going against powerful men and a manipulative society to choose her own life was the most empowering decision she could have made.

[gwenpendragns]

i don’t want your sympathy, i just want myself back

[blues-valentine]

It’s wild how "feminists" reading tgt go like:

"Alina ending up without powers and living her happy life rebuilding her old orphanage, marrying the man she loves and taking care of children so they won’t grow up like she did is so BORING!” “How DARE a woman choose to live a simple and peaceful life away from the drama and extravagant lifestyle - this is not a feminist book! This is not the girl boss moment I wanted! This is misogyny!"

"Alina needed to be evil and embrace darkness with my king Aleksander who knows how to value and respect women. Alina should’ve ended up with her abuser ✨now that’s on feminism & female empowerment ✨ Free Alina from Leigh’s misogynist writing!"

I wonder if those that throw feminist takes on Alina's ending realize that being a feminist is not only rooting for the girl boss version of female empowerment most tv/movies have try (and failed) to show. It is also about supporting those that want to marry, that want to have a simple and "boring life" away with their lover. Because being a feminist is accepting all women's right to choose their own path.

And also let’s note that for this twisted narrative part of the fandom has made up that Alina gave up her powers when she never did - they were taken from her and redistributed because she took too many amplifiers (situation that was necessary because Darkling pushed her to it).

Alina deserves more respect than some people hiding behind a feminist agenda to make up fake narratives about her life while also tuning around and wishing she ended up with the man that abused and tortured her.