Lanita’s Girl.

Putting on my music while I’m watching the boys.

[punlovsin]

[stars-and-darkness]

you know, i went into the demon in the wood expecting aleksander to be the demon, but it turned out the demon was all along the centuries-long systematic oppression of the grisha that leads them to become so desperate children are willing to kill other children just to make their chances of survival better, and i am very glad that's the case

[geonovac]

I honestly want an extended version of Demon in the Wood. I want a whole book dedicated to the Darkling and his past. Carried the whole S&B trilogy (along with Nikolai, of course)

[geonovac]

The Darkling.

Disclaimer before I begin: I’m aware some might disagree with me on this, and that is 100% okay. This is all just my personal opinion. And no, I do not ship Leigh Bardugo’s version of Darklina.

I’ve seen more and more people tell Darkling fans they shouldn’t like the Darkling because of his behavior. First of all, he’s a fictional character, and his actions are not condoned by the people who like him. He’s not real. I like the Darkling for lots of reasons. He’s a very complex character with a tragic backstory and everything he does is explained, not excused or justified. The man has lived for hundreds of years, acquired many names, and never truly had a home. I genuinely grew to like him more when I read his childhood story, “The Demon in the Wood.” Just when he finally thought he could trust someone. When he thought he finally, at last, had a friend, betrayal came for him once more.

What he sees in Alina is nothing but hope. Hope that he would be alone no longer. He was so desperate to win Alina, so anxious, that he went to extreme and irrational lengths to gain her trust. I personally don’t ship Darklina, seeing as how toxic it eventually became, but I honestly understand the Darkling and I felt his emotions and motives. There had never been anyone like him, except for Alina. Do people really expect a man who has lived life for so long and experienced countless tragedies to remain sane? To be cool and collected when a girl is his final and only hope to escape his pit of loneliness and despair? He went about everything the wrong way, but I understood his story. More than I understood any other villain.

[geonovac]

I recently finished the Shadow and Bone trilogy and started Six of Crows a few days ago, here’s my analysis so far.

One thing I’ve for sure established is the fact that I find the Corporalki order (especially Heartrenders) so incredibly fascinating for some odd reason. Physical manipulation of the body is such a unique idea of a power, so props to miss Leigh Bardugo for the awesome idea. Also in the first chapter of Six of Crows, the way Anya (the Healer) executed mind control on a guard was mind blowing. I’m proud to be a Corporalki stan. They are the highest order for a reason!

Changes, and Alina’s ethnicity.

I love how the right things were changed from the show. In the books, Alina Starkov (Sun Summoner) is actually hinted to already have been Shu, since It’s revealed in the story that her and Mal’s parents were originally from the area. It was never actually confirmed that Alina was Shu in the books, as opposed to the show. This change was necessary in my opinion, as it helped build Alina’s story in an even more fascinating way. Not to mention Mal’s much needed personality change, I was shocked to find out how different show and book Mal are. I came to understand why the fandom disliked him in the books. He was a bit of a snob at times, probably why Zoya liked him (Queen).

That one comment Zoya made. We all know.

I feel like this caused a lot of controversy, and with good reason. I’ll explain in the following why I think Zoya’s ‘half-breed’ comment was very unnecessary and insensitive, coming from her. First of all, Zoya is a person of color as well, half Suli, to be specific. Of course racism exists among people of color as well, but making Zoya say something racist when she was never racist or prone to racism in the books, especially when she is half Suli, was, um, strange to say the least. At least in my opinion. She was essentially saying a racist comment that would affect her as well. It didn’t make much sense. Not only this, but Zoya Nazyalensky is actually a key character and a very important one in the books, especially the recent ones (King of Scars, Rule of Wolves). People will begin to perceive the wrong image of who Zoya is. She is arrogant and a pain to be around, but she is also loyal and has a good heart. I’ve grown to fall in love with Zoya, she is my favorite Grishaverse character, and I know she would never say something racist. I hope the second season does her some justice.

The brownface stunt double.

This was very disappointing to find out, seeing as how the show took pride in Its diversity. I am not brown, so I cannot speak for those who are, but the fact that the directors allowed this and the incredible actress Amita had to endure this, is sickening. I know people are like ‘Well, they apologized, move on!’ But let’s be honest. They apologized because the fans found out. I do not blame the actors at all because I know the situation was out of their hands. However, I am glad that this mistake will not occur again in the series (At least, I hope not).

<3