THE STARLESS ONE

Private && Independent Aleksander Morozova of the grisha trilogy. Book based && headcanon divergent. est. 2019

[korolteney]

                                      𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐑𝐋𝐄𝐒𝐒 𝐎𝐍𝐄: 𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎 & 𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐄𝐒.

This is a highly selective and private writing blog for Aleksander Morozova / The Darkling from leigh bardugo’s grishaverse. Entirely book based but heavily headcanon divergent:

First of all I portray this muse as half-shu. Major canon divergent plot points are: the ending of S&B with Aleksander choosing to pretend to show mercy for ma.l, not inflicting physical torture to both gen.ya & his mother, staging his death at the end of R&R and the existence of a spiritual weapon (a dizi) which was his first attempt at creating an amplifier and created the Fold.

Shipping in this blog comes with chemistry and after plotting between the muns. I am ship exclusive with volteney‘s Nikolai.

Aesthetic sideblog (morczov.)

[morczov]

" When I first met him... he was the most gallant of lovers. He knew so many things. He delighted in sharing his knowledge. He had a castle full of treasures, and he took such pleasure in showing them, giving them to me. He was so gentle, and his skin felt like white silk against my skin. And I gave what I could give to one such as he. When we made love, it was like a flame: I felt utterly engulfed, utterly loved. Treasured. I have been with many poets, many dreamers... but his love alone was ice and fire. His eyes were stars. "

[korolteney]

    “ No. ”     His response was simple yet his sharp voice still held command, a glimpse of the person he used to be. Countless of times had he slipped on the same pattern. Shed a past identity for a new one. A new name, a new history, a new place. This was the life we was born to. The life he had been trained to survive time and again. He did expect to meet Alina again. He could feel her presence clinging on the world, the light inside her rendered to only a dying lingering flame. It was only natural they would meet again, yet he did not expect it to happen in this century ( at least ). Yet here they were now. In a cabin in the farthest part of tsibeya, a place too far away to be bothered by crowns or saints.

      Aleksander placed down the tin that served as Alina’s plate (the cat, of course), giving the feline’s head a gentle scratch. “ Someone like you or me are not that easily killed, little saint. Unless we choose to take our own lives.” And indeed this was the way the most powerful grisha ended their existence, all the saints depicted in prayer books. Nothing more but lonely people. Extraordinary people. Not being able to bore this eternity any longer. When will his turn come?

    “   What is a century to creatures of our affinity, Alina? A blink for us is a lifetime for those people.    ”   Finally he turned his quartz gaze upon her, upon the frail looking girl that was still stubborn enough to seek him out despite Aleksander being so careful about leaving any traces. He barely summoned unless there was a dire need of it. Yet perhaps a part of him wanted to be found by her.   “   How amusing it is that despite everything you still believe so ardently that I wanted the worst for my country. For our people.    ”    He watched her eyes travel upon his skin, alas she would discover no dark circles underneath his eyes. His cheeks were more hollow, the lines of his face more defined, yet despite the consequences of their dance in the fold Aleksander knew his could not be visible. His skin still held that unnatural grisha glow, despite the fact he had not summoned in weeks. No, he was not rendered to a little mouse, like she had been before. The divinity and power staining his very bones kept him healthy and rigorous, feeding his ability in a never ending cycle. No normal grisha indeed.

[rpcmasterlist]

reblog this post to be added to the SHADOW AND BONE MASTERLIST with your muse’s name, whether they’re canon or original character, or if they’ve got a Shadow and Bone verse.

[leneemusing]

PROMPTS FOR FRENEMIES,  ENEMIES TO LOVERS  AND  REFORMED VILLAINS

❝  so is that a ‘no’ to solving this with murder…?  ❞

❝  look i said i’d help you let’s not make a big thing out of it.  ❞

❝  i’m only helping you to make sure you don’t fuck it up.  ❞

❝  okay,  i’m just gonna nod and pretend to get this whole moral high ground speech you’re giving me so we can move on.  ❞

❝  i know you can be so much more than this.  ❞

❝  would you just stop treating me like something you’re trying to fix?  ❞

❝  don’t get any weird ass ideas,  i’m just here cause we want the same thing.  ❞

❝  why do you do that?  every time i think we’re getting somewhere you shut down and do something stupid to try push me away again. ❞

❝  see the thing about your plan is,  it’s not gonna fucking work.  let me do this my way.  ❞

❝  i’m only saying this once so don’t ever bring it up again,  but i actually like having you around.  you challenge me.  i like that.  ❞

❝  stop posturing and just let me help you.  ❞

❝  we do work well together,  but i don’t belong here any more than you belong where i do.   ❞

❝  okay,  i’m sick of you acting like i’ve somehow had it easier than you.  ‘cause i haven’t.  i just choose not to be a dick about my shit.  ❞

❝  you make me want to be better.  sometimes that feels good,  but a lot of the time…i feel like it’ll never be enough.  ❞

❝  i never asked you to change,  why can’t you just accept how i am too?  ❞

❝  i know you can be better—i’ve seen you be better than this!  ❞

❝  why does it matter so much to you what i choose to be?  ❞

❝  actually,  i think we rub off on each other quite well.  ❞

❝  okay if you smile at me like that one more time i’m going home you smug little shit.  ❞

❝  no— don’t start.  i’m here,  i’m making an effort.  ❞

❝  you’ve got quite the mean streak in you,  haven’t you?  i’m impressed.  ❞

❝  wow,  i didn’t think you knew how to be selfish.  ❞

❝  well,  i didn’t think you knew how to be selfless.  ❞

❝  i have a lot of regrets.  and if i’m honest,  i envy you.  you alway seem so sure of what is or isn’t right.  ❞

❝  if you would just let me speak for a moment you’d see we’re on the same side here.  ❞

❝  if you tell anyone about last night,  i’ll cut your tongue off.  ❞

❝  alright,  so we kissed.  don’t get so bent out of shape about it.  ❞

❝  are you ashamed?  about being with me?  ❞

❝  it’s not that i don’t want anyone to know about us,  i just don’t think they’d understand.  ❞

❝  i think you like being around me ‘cause you don’t quite have to be so uptight as you do with all your little friends.  ❞

❝  i can’t seem to stay away from you.  ❞

❝  alright,  okay—we’ll do this your way.  but i can’t promise there won’t be mild complaining.  ❞

❝  i said i’m fine.  go find someone who actually likes your fussing.  ❞

❝  careful there,  someone might think you’re actually starting to care.  ❞

❝  it’s fine,  you wouldn’t be—well,  you,  if you could do something like this.  that’s why i’m here isn’t it?  ❞

❝  you brought me along because i can do things you can’t handle.  so just let me do my part then,  yeah?  ❞

❝  no, lets find another way.  ❞

❝  someday,  you’re gonna have to learn there isn’t always another way.  there isn’t always a right answer.  ❞

❝  before i met you,  i used to understand where i stood on everything.  now it’s all…mixed up.  ❞

❝  the world has never been black and white,  you’re just starting to see the grey for the first time.  ❞

❝  you don’t have to do this,  let me do it for you.  ❞

❝  no,  we’ll do this together.  ❞

❝  i’m not heartless,  you know.  i just don’t see the point in wearing it on my sleeve all the time.  ❞

❝  i don’t think you’re weak,  by the way.  in fact,  in some ways you have strengths i’d never be able to possess.  ❞

❝  just because i don’t do things the way you do doesn’t mean i’m wrong.  ❞

❝  i do trust you.  you’ve earned that.  ❞

❝  oh god,  don’t look at me like that.  i’d rather you just be angry than do the whole disappointed face.  ❞

❝  i didn’t let you down,  i don’t answer to you!  ❞

❝  why can’t you just try to have a little hope?  ❞

❝  i may live to regret saying this,  but i agree with you actually.  ❞

[korolteney]

At the head of the table was an ornately carved, high-backed chair of blackest ebony, and upon it lounged a figure in a black kefta, his chin resting on one pale hand. Only one Grisha wore black, was permitted to wear black.

I stared, torn between fear and fascination. He's too young, I thought. This Darkling had been commanding the Grisha before I was born, but the man seated above me on the dais didn't look much older than I did. He had a sharp, beautiful face, a shock of thick black hair, and clear gray eyes that glimmered like quartz. I knew that the more powerful Grisha were said to live long lives, and Darklings were the most powerful of them all. But I felt the wrongness of it and I remembered Eva's words: He's not natural. None of them are.

[korolteney]

So what if all shadow summoners were supposed to be sun summoners but the nature of their power changed because of ilya fucking up with merzost and corrupting his bloodline?

[abrabloodycadabra]

✨HIM✨ in The Witch 2

[userprompt]

𝐄𝐍𝐄𝐌𝐈𝐄𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑𝐒 ; a collection of enemies to lovers sentence starters . change the pronouns if needed .

i know that you are my enemy , but you have intoxicated me into falling in love with you .

you're the first person who is vulnerable enough to make me impossibly weak .

will i ever regret my own choice for loving you instead of killing you ?

forget who we are , let's make our new life together .

at first you were the hell that you gave me , until you become my heaven .

I'll try my best to deserve you .

i seek for peace , until i found you .

tell me , why does my own enemy could make feel safe ?

though you are dangerous , you are also capable of love .

my hands have stained with bloods and violence , yet you choose to hold them like a precious thing .

i've hurt you , why would you seek love and warmth in me ?

i'd rather die in your arms than being stabbed by you .

curse me with your love , darling .

what did you do to me to make me fall in love with you ?

you're so pure and innocent , and i am scared to hold you and break you into pieces .

losing you is my worst nightmare .

i'm sorry for hurting you .

be in my dreams to replace the nightmares you have given me .

why do you want me of all people ?

i can't help myself from falling in love with you .

let's have a peaceful life , shall we ?

i shouldn't have given you the scar , i hate it so much .

be happy with me .

i've always hated your smile , but as i keep seeing you smile , i begin to admire them .

god really gives me a soulmate in a possible way , doesn't he ?

i'm grateful to have you as my enemy .

i feel calm when i am with you .

teach me how to love , so i won't hurt you .

all i knew in my life: love is a weakness . then you came into my life , making me stronger not to lose you .

every second i have spent with you , i'll treasure them to remember you .

you don't have any idea how much i love you .

there are many reasons why i hate about you , but those reasons turn into something why i love you .

we were destined to be enemies , so we could fight against each other until we tire ourselves and find many reasons why we should stop and forgive each other .

i forgive you , despite the hell you have put me through .

let us move forward into something new .

i should've let you die , but i chose to protect you .

sit , and let me tell you the reasons why am i falling in with you .

it's impossible , isn't it ? how two enemies can have feelings for each other ?

let me protect you instead of fighting against you .

each day i am always worried something dangerous might happen to you , but i am the danger , aren't i ?

[korolteney]

wrrnth​:

to not appease the novelty of honesty in front of the the monk means to meet the ire of the mountains     -     such indulgence the bare minimum asked of anyone staying afloat their hospitality   .    many tales have been spun about them   ,    most of them of their aid in dire and cold moments and most of them true   ,    but the occasional twist in the narrative is not a mere superstition alone   .    they could cut down a tree from where it stands though they never would   ,    but they have far less qualms over such an act when it comes to those proving themselves very much equipped with two legs and an unkind hostility instead of even a sliver of gratitude for the land surrounding them    ,     the land keeping them all alive   .

“   oh   ,    you have been called dense before   …    or delusional?   both seems to become you on the most mundane day   ,    ”     they retort as they put the staff under their elbow    ,     remaining seated across from him like a pillar cut from dark glass and swashing fabric   (    the sky and mountain meet at once    )    .    his pulse is like a metronome    ,     undeniability of his being filling the space to them at least as they are attuned to any living echo persisting on the mountain top in a radius of several miles     -    and he is a rather obvious guest   .    glaring back at him   ,     they do not move a muscle beyond their eyes turned to him    ,    but it seems to be enough to tell him of their understanding of manners   .

they can tell when he moves into less relaxed territory   ,    agitation sitting in his voice and the thumb of his pulse   ,    and they now move only to reach a hand and drop the pressure in his blood and theirs   .     “    calm yourself    ,    will you   .    i am not studying for anything   .     your powers grant no use to me  and i do not aspire to dress myself in someone’s else’s face    .   ”    as they let go of the room   ,    they affix their features to an earnest  ,   open expression   .   “    i am studying you because you arrived on this mountain and have made room where i live  .   i think it would be my right to at least know the black cat i have taken in   .    ”

      Many a rumours he had heard about this strange monk making the mountains his home. Rumours that were almost as old as himself. And now that he finally laid eyes upon the object of such folk tales he could recognize the burden of eternity on them, a weight not too dissimilar to the one he carried as well. Two eternals meeting, pretending to be human. What a song this would make.

      “  I have simply been told that I am indeed my own self’ s greatest hazard.   ”    A faint smile played on his lips at the easy words that fell from the monk’s lips. Almost playful, he’d dare admit. Long pale fingers ruffled the dark strands of his hair where the wooden stick had struck before, as if to tame the wilderness that were his hair, yet he only managed to turn them all the more unruly. The intense glare he received forced him to chuckle ever so lightly. He was an entity designed to withstand the cruelty of time and he had survived aeons on this journey. Yet despite his age, the monk across from him made him feel like an undisciplined child once more to the point he unconsciously straightened his back and lowered his head at their silent reprimand.

        As the dark grip of voiceless panic began to wrap around his throat, Aleksander felt his pulse lowering and his heart easing to a slower tempo. A heartrender. He recognised the ability at once, and yet that did not soothe his worries. His quartz grey eyes were cool as glass as they fixated upon the monk, ready to pass judgement on the truth or lies behind their speech. And despite the feeling of sincerity, the words still stung, a dull aching in his heart. Others feigned friendship before, swore they did not desire what he was born with, only to hold a knife to his throat the moment his defences were lowered.  ( Never let them touch you ) 

      After a deep inhale, he reclaimed the composure of the general he once was. Silent and calculating.   “  It is your right indeed. And I thank you for your hospitality.   ”    He wasn’t planning on staying long anyway, just enough to lay the foundation of his next plan, to decide on a new place to live and a new name to take.     “   Black cat? I believe I am a little too big to be one.  ”

[morczov]

" When I first met him... he was the most gallant of lovers. He knew so many things. He delighted in sharing his knowledge. He had a castle full of treasures, and he took such pleasure in showing them, giving them to me. He was so gentle, and his skin felt like white silk against my skin. And I gave what I could give to one such as he. When we made love, it was like a flame: I felt utterly engulfed, utterly loved. Treasured. I have been with many poets, many dreamers... but his love alone was ice and fire. His eyes were stars. "

[korolteney]

wrrnth​:

where the mountain air cools any expectations down to the chill marrow of bone    ,      they have found that little douses the walking contradiction that is the man who has crossed the northern border of the sikurzoi and somehow has set roots here alongside them after they met    .      while the monk is prone to take in anyone who seems more in mortal peril than minuscule trouble to give them shelter and save them from the wilderness that exists so ruthlessly so far away from villages and cities      ,       their current guest certainly not need them to look after him and restore him back to vitality and safety    .     his power radiates through him like starshine    ,     so easily sensed by them but they have no doubt it wouldn’t take someone as seasoned in the reading of this world to figure out the black-clad man is a little more than a mere traveller  .   most travellers don’t seem to be chiselled from the making of this world like he is   .

as they turn their face back to the tatami    ,      they do not feel any sense of shame or embarrassment at having studied him   .      while he introduced himself with a perfectly simple and ordinary ravkan name     ,      they have withheld theirs in return as they usually do to instead hand him the title of the folklore tales spoken about them   .     if he has heard of them before    ,    he makes no sign of showing it        -      but they have the inkling he has    ,    just how they have heard of a shadow summoner so apparently singular it is hard to miss when someone fitting the stories arrives all of sudden   .

ENTRY     :     @korolteney​ said    ,     “ why are you looking at me? am i good-looking? ”

this time   ,     there is a staff lying in front of them and they lift it in one swift movement to tap the wooden rod on top of his head    .       “     not only a fool    ,    but also delusional    .     for all the dangers assigned to you    ,    you are your own worst hazard    ,    ”     they reply with the dry crackle of air flowing across the mountain   .    he sees himself as the pinnacle of his kind and they wonder how much he understands he is still lacking      -      that he could not be taken from this world because he has hardly inserted himself into it yet    .    they wonder if he understands that he is far more than a tyrannical tirade brushing through his history like hurricanes crossing coasts   .      “    if i were to tell you that you are good-looking    ,    i wouldn’t do it like that   .    i am studying you    ,     not just looking at you   .    ”

          Only a dense fool wouldn’t feel the stranger’s gaze, sharp as the edge of the sword, as it brushed against him from head to toe. By now Aleksander was rather familiar with being the sole object of attention and receiver of either secret glances or long stares. Yet this being unnerved him in a way he hadn’t felt for aeons, when he was just a boy, cursed with powers he could not bare to control.

      “     Yah---     ”      A soft yelp escaped the grisha at the sudden hit on his head, and his abrupt agitation caused the lights next to them to flicker.  (none but an unconscious reaction the male didn’t even notice it took place)     “   I have heard of that before...    ”     He grumbled in response alike to a spoiled kid that had just been scolded, a feeling that was undoubtedly interlinked with the presence of his mother who was now long gone. And it was partially true. For the most part, he had been his own undoing. What’s infinite? The universe and the greed of men.

       “   Studying me for what exactly? Is my presence such a mystery to you?    ”       This time Aleksander almost snorted as he retorted, a childlike behaviour nonetheless. He averted his grey gaze back to the tatami floor as a frown creased the perfectly smooth lines of his moon-kissed skin. It was curious that these words could still instill some dosage of fear in his weary heart, betrayed by the brief acceleration of his heartbeat. He had always been warned to be cautious. To never show the full extent of what he could do. For there were only two responses to the power he possessed: fear or greed. And he couldn’t help but wonder which one it would be this time--- if they had seen. If they knew what he was.

[leedongwook]

“If you betray me, you’ll go in there.”

Lee Jong Suk as Park Chang Ho // Big Mouth // Episode 6

[leedongwook]

Lee Jong Suk as Park Chang Ho // Big Mouth (2022) // Episode 9  

[korolteney]

Wouldn’t it make sense for all living grisha amplifiers (who are rare anyway) to be able to be traced in the morozova blood line?

[korolteney]

listmny​:

what flows within the fox’s blood is the mirror image of what he is carrying alongside him      ,       who he has adapted to walk beside    .    while there is a certainty to the uncertainty he’d possibly always feel about the other’s presence    ,     he could put aside his own personal questions to aid the bigger image        -      for while the country they both have come from has chewed through him with vicious teeth and spat him out mangled and distorted    ,     he is a survivor by nature and he would spare anyone else the fate he went through  .   the reasoning may be more selfish at second glance than it appears selfless    ,     but if the end results are the very same and no one would question the origin or depths of his motives    ,    who is he not to employ all he could to do what no one else would do anyway?    well    ,    no one besides himself and the man next to him   .

“    if i were to call you      …     dense    ,     would you smite me?    or would that smite you as well?    ”     he asks as he makes sure the shadow summoner would not succumb to the fatal consequences of a gunshot wound   .   while no doubt not the potential to merely kill a being as powerful as the darkling    ,    nikolai has also seen people be felled by less        -      sometimes the entire power lies in the simplicity of the thing    .     hauling the other away from continuing to strain his leg    ,     he moves his companion until one of them is sitting and the other is leaning over the injured leg    .      “    i used to be a major    ,    you know   .    i won’t let any soldier under my eye suffer under a wound like that   ,     less so for his own stupid pride   .    ”

and maybe it was something else too      -     maybe the fox is nothing more than extension of the claws made of shadows that originated from the very man he is aiding now   .    maybe the strain aleksander felt is one that echoes inside of nikolai     ,     one he could not ignore no matter how much he tried to shake it off and move along   .    they are intrinsically connected now    ,    two halves of one moon     ,     and all nikolai could do is ensure their mutual survival before he’d go digging for answers on this journey   .    pushing his coat off his shoulders    ,     nikolai makes work of the sleeve of his shirt to create a tourniquet to pull around the other’s thigh above the wound  .     “    i have to clean this and patch it up    ,     but i am no healer   .    but you will have a good chance of not bleeding on your very fashionable attire   .     ”

       “   Had I not known any better I would assume you were worried, your highness.   ”      Aleksander responded with an arched brow. Endearing one would call it were it not a complete folly. Beings like himself, grisha of such skill and power, were all too difficult to kill. And most of them chose to do the deed themselves when they grew tired of these eternal lands. Only their own powers could put an end to their existence. Such was their curse. Not even the dignity of death was allowed to them. Without not even a grunt of pain, the darkling followed Nikolai’s lead till he eventually claimed a seat nearby. A hint of a smile tugged his lips upwards as he watched him tend to him, evoking memories he had put to rest long ago. His first soldiers were long gone now, yet he could still remember every name and every face. And despite the numbness eternity brings his heart gave a pang of aching at their absence.

          Many retorts came to mind, most of them revolving around the fact he was not a soldier and certainly not his, or for the fact Aleksander had been more than a major himself. Yet in the end he opted to say nothing at all out of his petty arguments. Only a slight frown of his brows indicated the male’s discomfort as the fabric tightened around his wound, watching in mild curiosity at the way the younger fussed over him.     “   Oh how gracious of you, moi tsar, to think of my attire. You have my eternal gratitude.   ”     He responded with a tilt of his head and waited till Nikolai had averted his attention else where before he simply waved a hand over his thigh. Silent and invisible, his shadows crept between the space of wound and skin, closely knitted together as they created a barricade of sorts and thus preventing any further blood loss. Nikolai needed not know, of course. Despite their long animosity and their temporary truce, Aleksander was not entirely as heartless as they conceived him to be.

  “  Well, there is no one else left to defend you from. Let’s get the intel we came here for and retreat.    ”

[hecstia]

tgt moodboards → the darkling

“I have lived a long life, rich in grief. My tears are long since spent. If I still felt as you do, if I ached as you do, I could not have borne this eternity.”