——— —- - #KOSTUZNYET : independent and selective DEVID K.OSTYK of the g.rishaverse series, primarily novel based but canon divergent and headcanon driven - definitely not SPOILER FREE, forged by cain ( 25, they/them ). established late '18, low activity.
a study in slavic folklore, POWER : the abuse of and the refusal of it, pacifism in a time of war, loyalty and resolve, THE ACT OF CREATION and all its many perils, and the ENDLESS pursuit of knowledge.
lmao can my lift stop fucking me about please? i’d like to have some ability to do hobbies and be consistent, but atm life is just literally dragging me under the wheels.
YOU LIAR ( YOU DON’T LOVE ME TOO ) ━━━ my heart is massive , but it’s empty . a permanent part of me , that innocent artery . ━ [ indie + private multimuse , containing original characters and canon muses from tv + literature + theatre reworked . changed by vic , 21+ ]
*A WHISPER : evgeniya smothers the birthday boy with kisses <3 [ @aercana ]
——— —- - HER LIPS PRESS PRISMS INTO HIS DREAMS. he rises through chromatica, lifting from the dewy haze of thought — guided by petals of polychrome. he won’t recall the tangents he drifted when he tries, later : HE CANNOT SAY HE MINDS. even in sleep he knows his north star. even as his brow furrows in wakefulness, fingers find hers on his cheek, and as he breaks the surface of somnum it is with a smile unfurling amid her affection. ALL IS WARMTH, a lazy kind he doesn’t oft experience : this morning, he wakes within her arms within their bed with n o w e i g h t upon his mind. blearily he blinks, butterfly kisses blown across her skin when her kisses rain over his. devid hums, lax and content to be so, curling into the caress of the woman he loves.
his words are quiet things, laced with sleep and serenity. ❛❛ . . . good morning, zhenya. ❜❜
as i pop in to reply to all the wonderful little birthday messages for devid in my inbox, i’d like to remind all of you that according to canon, devid isn’t meant to have another birthday : )
*DASH : CHARACTER ASSOCIATIONS, STOLEN FROM [ @svyatoiy ]
animal: hare, serpent, stag.
colour(s): grey and silver, rich browns, purple, snow white.
month: november.
song: piano concerto no. 2 in f major, op. 102 : II. andante / dmitri s.hostakovich
number: 6.
day or night: night dawn.
plant: crocus, thyme, foxglove / alpine blossom.
smell: ash and carbon, crocus blooms, metal, sage and spilled ink.
gemstone: obsidian.
season: the height of winter, and the thaw.
place: the workshop and all its nooks and crannies, the bay window of the room he shares with g.enya, by a glowing embers in the grate talking well into the night. a mountain cave, the bend of a willow in spring.
food: shortbread, rye, asparagus, vegetable soup.
astrological sign: virgo.
element: metal.
drink: tea.
*CAIN : updates coming soon!! updated rules, slightly reworked aesthetic (lmao i’m lazy) and actual replies (holy shit - no, seriously - ). i’m gonna keep this real private, so hopefully that’ll be easier!
*META : HAIR, A COMPREHENSIVE ANALYSIS - PART ONE (4k)
——— —- - VERY LITTLE IS DONE IN BOOK CANON to give you an idea of what devid looks like, particularly when put against other characters of note ---- except, for vague sentiments about his hair. let’s take a walk through that, and how our perceptions of his character and his interactions with others are influenced and tracked by his hair. trust me it makes sense. oh, and i’ll throw in some headcanons and character history while i’m at it.
now this got very long so i ended up cutting it in half. the rest of this literal essay will follow sometime soon but for now, have s&b through to just post r&r, of what i call hair meta.
*CHAPTER ONE : INCONSPICUOUS INTRODUCTIONS
❛❛ g.enya led me past all of them to where a f.abrikator was hunched over a set of tiny glass discs . . . he was reed thin and in dire need of a haircut. ❜❜ / S.HADOW AND BONE, PAGE 102.
these words are our first glimpse of devid k.ostyk, the first m.aterialki we meet by name. following a rather detailed depiction of the f.abrikator labs, we get these two lines that introduce us to one of the pivotal characters in this story. in the short, clipped lines of dialogue that follow we learn that devid k.ostyk is a QUIET, UNSOCIABLE but INCREDIBLY TALENTED f.abrikator. the scene is wrapped up with the following :
❛❛ i looked back through the windows to where i could still see d.avid’s bony shoulders and messy hair. i smiled. if a creature as gorgeous as g.enya could fall for a skinny, studious f.abrikator, there might be hope for me yet. ❜❜ / S.HADOW AND BONE, PAGE 103.
in total, devid’s introductory scene totals 236 WORDS from the moment he is in line of sight of a.lina, with 62 words of dialogue. for comparison, the description of the entirety of the m.aterialki labs is 215 WORDS, which does NOT feature any dialogue. l.eigh spends more time explaining and giving the reader a comprehension of the f.abrikators spaces and what they can do than she does introducing us to devid : and even when she DOES tell us about devid, it is prefaced by what he can do and wrapped up in the bow of g.enya’s feelings for him. devid k.ostyk does not get another line of in-scene dialogue** nor does he actively appear again until PAGE 201/242, where suddenly his presence is A Big Deal.
[ **NOTE : there is a flashback scene of dialogue on PAGE 147, eleven words that help us understand the imagery for and how the mirror scene is meant to work, but this is his only other dialogue. ]
other than his ability as a d.urast, the primary characteristic that l.eigh has us focus on is his HAIR, and his importance in relation to g.enya. ‘ needs a haircut . . . messy ’, that is intentional. in fact, we are expressly not really given any emotional extrapolation to sink our teeth into : he is linked to g.enya and to a.lina’s gloves, but other than that we get . . . ultimately nothing to tell us what he thinks or feels. devid is not a character you are meant to notice, he is meant to viewed as UNASSUMING, HARMLESS, and while incredibly intelligent and ingenious, SEEMINGLY UNIMPORTANT. one of the reasons it is a surprise when he walks out of the woods in t.sibeya is because we have been predisposed to an expectation of proximity to g.enya ( we primarily hear about him through her exposition ), and she is NOT in those woods. it flips the narrative of harmless f.abrikator on its head, and ----- at least for me, when he appeared in that clearing i couldn’t help but think back to that first scene when this withdrawn, seemingly inconsequential character description that focused on his messy hair was so innocently expanded on with ‘ he can fold a blade so sharp it will cut through flesh like water. ’
while i don’t think it was entirely intentional ( given l.eigh’s future treatment of d.avid, you know - but h ey narratively ), if you think about it, l.eigh set that up - and not just because he is the only f.abrikator we know by name until mid book two ( which is a whole different meta ), but she had set us up to link devid to expansions and displays of a.lina’s power twice before this.
the gloves : he works on and eventually provides her with a means and method of controlling her power, giving her the step she needs to start using it more effectively. if she did not have these gloves, it would have severely hindered her escape from os alta, let alone the setbacks it would have given to her training ( although i think she could have adapted, the gloves are her primary weapon that help her wield her power ).
remember that note from earlier? it’s a small thing - but the mirrors he took great care to work on for the winter fete : this may seem like a small thing, but it is an evolution from the gloves with their mirrored glass, just on a larger scale. it is the next step to what eventually will become the mirrored dishes in s&s, again ANOTHER evolution to her arsenal at the time - but again, that comes later.
which leads us into - THE COLLAR. good things come in threes, and his third increase to her power : yes, for the d.arkling’s use, but she has the power of the stag which technically is connected to both of them. funnily enough - these three moments also corelate to the three main mentions of devid in the series by g.enya. the INTRODUCTION ( gloves ), the FETE DISCUSSION ( mirrors ), and the GUILTY AFTERMATH ( collar ), when g.enya expresses that devid feels that he has ‘ doomed all of ravka ’, and if we had been smart readers we might have clued in then that things were going to be Way Worse Than Anticipated On The Fold. but, most didn’t - because we were predisposed to underestimate devid k.ostyk. this should be a mistake we do not make again, but alas.
*CHAPTER TWO : SECONDARY SELF-REPROACH AND SUSPICIONS
❛❛ i was surprise to see d.avid slouching in his seat at the m.aterialki table. i knew he had qualms about the darkling, but that hadn’t stopped him from sealing the stag’s collar around my neck. maybe that was why he wouldn’t look at me. or maybe he was just eager to get back to his workshop. ❜❜ / S.IEGE AND STORM, PAGE 207.
ah yes, book two. from the moment we see devid he is laid in a slightly suspicious and understandably negative light, given that he was directly involved in the collaring AND is the only g.risha who was who has left the d.arkling’s service. two reasons for this.
GUILT : the very first emotional response we see from devid other than indifference is guilt, picked up in that clearing ‘ d.avid glaced at me and hurriedly looked away ’ ( S&B, PAGE 201 ). this is a theme that consistently appears as he will not meet a.lina’s eye, dodges her presence and goes out of his way not to speak with her if he can help it at first. he is wracked by the guilt over putting the collar around her neck and in his eyes facilitating the d.arkling’s expansion of the fold singlehandedly. it isn’t just a.lina’s pain he blames himself for, but the death and suffering of half of n.ovokribirsk. he was the first of what would eventually become the g.risha triumvirate to doubt - and he was the first to turn away from the darkling. z.oya, after the discover of n.ovokribirsk followed nearly immediately after - leaving g.enya the last of the three to leave his side ( and even then it was . . . oof ).
ENMITY TO VIOLENCE : devid throughout the series will show a developed sense of pacifism that only expands as we go, but early on we do see the strings of his inner turmoil regarding violence, from his awkwardness around weapons ( only willing to use them to defend as a final resort ), to the murder of the stag ( another meta i have to write wow ), to his hesitancy talking about the use of the mirrored dishes for the cut, and much more. through devid’s hesitation in the clearing and the d.arkling’s reaction - the threat and push on devid’s loyalty that drove him into action to make the collar, the d.arkling was AWARE of devid’s predilections of passivity. this section isn’t so much relevant right now, but it will be later, it all connects trust me i know this is long.
now, i know what you’re saying. ‘ cain, you said this was a meta about his hair, ’ and you know what - YOU’RE RIGHT, and i haven’t forgotten. hold onto your hats, this next quote is long.
❛❛ d.avid picked up a bottle of ink and began twirling it between his fingers. he looked miserable. not just miserable, i thought. guilty. he had forged the connection, placed this chain around my neck for eternity.
gently, i took the ink bottle from his hands ‘ if you hadn’t done it, the d.arkling would have found someone else. ’
he twitched, something between a nod and a shrug. i set the ink down at the far edge of the table where his jittery fingers couldn’t reach it and turned to go.
‘ a.lina . . . ? ’
i stopped and looked back at him. his cheeks had gone bright red. the warm breeze lifted the edges off his shaggy hair. at least that awful haircut was growing out.
‘ i heard . . . i heard g.enya was on the ship. with the d.arkling. ’
i felt a pang of sorrow for g.enya. so d.avid hadn’t been completely oblivious. ❜❜ / S.IEGE AND STORM, PAGE 300.
that’s a lot to unpack. but, besides a.lina’s acknowledgement in that first quote that he may be guilty, this is the first time she acknowledges his feelings rather than casting suspicion on him, his presence and his motives - that side of her that is slightly vindictive and unhappy to forgive him for facilitating this situation. but here, she sees his guilt and this is when we start to get REAL EMOTIONAL OBSERVATIONS from a.lina, not just physical ones about his twitchiness or his awkward fidgeting ( also, note she always watches his hands, the only thing she could feel or vaguely see of him during the collaring, out of the corner of her eye. ). so, we get acknowledgement of his feelings and mental state in a scene by the way where he is ON THE ROOF preparing his mirrored dishes ( for HER ), and we again connect a.lina’s power to devid, his ability to support her and finally, the first time he mentions g.enya personally or engages in conversation about her since their conversation before the fold.
and when he makes eye contact with alina, she doesn’t notice his eyes, she takes note of his flush. and his HAIR. which is growing. guess what folks, we can track devid’s emotional, mental and philosophical development and character progression with the length of his hair, i shit you not. a.lina makes a note of the length of his hair, growing out - he’s opening up to others, he’s working in open collaboration with z.oya and paja, and he’s actively seeking to do more than he was, to fight a person who meant everything to him - who had his loyalty like the d.arkling. this is a far departure from the first book, because now we’ve SEEN what he can do, and this time he’s adding another knotch to a.lina’s arsenal, we aren’t underestimating him truly anymore, in fact we have anticipation throughout the chapters as we get mentions of devid working on these dishes, and when it comes and a.lina levels the treetops with amplified light it’s a TRIUMPH. and devid, with his shock only says -
❛❛ ‘ it worked, ’ d.avid said in a dazed voice. ‘ it actually worked. ’ ❜❜ / S.IEGE AND STORM, PAGE 312.
and after everything, during the attack where his dishes are instrumental in helping them hold the nichevo’ya at bay ( devid with a rifle and his whistle, but that’s a whole ‘nother meta - we’re getting a few!! ) - and one of them crushes and kills paja - we get the reunion with g.enya. devid is the one who, without hesitation when she is in pain and needing something - steps forward and accepts her, with gentle hands and concern for her pain. and that is the final straw in his resolve, seeing the types of things people can be capable of when they are CORRUPTED BY THEIR OWN POWER ( and it will only get worse from there but he remains strong ). devid, facilitating power to a.lina - it ends in pain and violence even if it was not something that could be helped, seeing power and what happens when it is abused, and hating it - and g.enya rounds out the triple threat.
*CHAPTER THREE : FINAL FORTIFICATION
following the attack on os alta, when they’re in the underground - devid is the one who configures another makeshift mirror dish from salvaged glass to give a.lina the illusion of power with the help of inferni. making the best of a bad situation, even in the most limited circumstances he is able to make a passable visage of light with mirrored fire - again, for a.lina. perhaps not giving her power, but helping her maintain her saintly visage where she cannot call the light. he abhors the situation they are in, but he will always assist her in any way he can - ESPECIALLY AFTER G.ENYA. we don’t truly see devid in this first scene, but quite immediately after we get this -
❛❛ we caught d.avid on his way into the archives. as usual, he was a mess - hair going in every direction, sleeves blotted with ink. he has a glass of hot tea in one hand and a piece of toast tucked into his pocket. ❜❜ / R.UIN AND RISING, PAGES 27-28.
even in the underground, when provided with ilya morozov(a)’s journals, his priority is decoding them - in an attempt to discover secrets about the firebird, yes. but there is an element of ‘ OBSESSION ’ that will continually be proposed, because devid understands the weight of the potential knowledge here, the knowledge this man has. after all, by this time he had already decoded a version of lumiya from descriptions of legend, something which will come back to bite him. obsession is a theme of r.uin and rising, but it has been something this struggle for power has been building to the entire time. POWER, and those who use it - why they do, and how they abuse it.
so, what does devid’s hair tell me. through their months in the tunnels, his hair grew longer and more unruly, as did his resolve against violence. devid goes through a lot down there in the tunnels, relied upon by all quarters and meeting their expectations every time - the dishes, g.enya’s salve ( although she never asked for it, but he still provided ), analyzing the journals and finally : the BLAST POWDERS, and their escape. and he is angry most about g.enya’s treatment, about being kept from her, about being ( in his view ) helpless and angry, even when he is doing ALL OF THAT ( another meta, folks - haha ). he bites his lip until it bleeds and fidgets in a way far more insidious than his awkward fumblings in s&s.
it is already established by now that devid is NOT A FIGHTER. he builds things, creates things, helps the fight in what ways he can but he isn’t really a ‘ warrior ’, not like m.al or z.oya or t.amar and t.olya. but he DOES have knowledge, and he uses it. he tells them about the gas in the tunnels, he helps m.al with mapping - he holds and continues to work on the journals and he GOT THEM OUT of the UNDERGROUND. and when they get to n.ikolai again finally, and he is able to really start helping the cause in earnest, with resources again.
and then, we get the scene with g.enya and the king. i’m going to leave that - yes, another meta imminent because i need to break that scene down, but rest assured . . . his confidence and strength is a far cry from the intial. we no longer underestimate him, we trust him and we know that he cares for g.enya truly - and if we didn’t, we sure know after.
i said that we trusted devid. and we do, we trust him because by now we have seen everything he has done for a.lina, he has g.enya who is so harmed, who loves and is calmed by him - and he has been used himself for the d.arkling’s ends. but we still get -
❛❛ ‘ . . . ask d.avid what secrets he left for me to discover at the palace.’
i stilled. ❜❜ / R.UIN AND RISING, PAGE 182.
there is a moment, just one moment when a.lina thinks that maybe JUST MAYBE devid has betrayed them, and immediately upon waking from her dream she seeks him out. what follows is a horrid little exposition from a man who thought ' what if ? ' thinking about the impossible, who then made it a reality. devid once again creating something that gives another immense power, and feeling immense guilt over it. but, as a.lina said :
❛❛ . . . but d.avid was there, his head bent over a pile of drafting paper as he tried to re-create the plans for the glass skiff and the formula for lumiya from memory. for better or worse, i didn't believe he'd aided the d.arkling intentionally. d.avid's crime was a hunger for knowledge, not power. ❜❜ / R.UIN AND RISING, PAGE 189.
and this is the crux of his character. when put next to all of the other characters in this series, d.evid has the unique advantage of not ever SEEKING power for himself. he never tries to gain more or be more than he is, he only strives to create. in a perfect world he could create without fear and nothing he would make would ever harm another : devid doesn't set out to make WEAPONS, he sets out with the intention of ' what if ? ' and his goal is the pursuit of the answer. conversely to ilya morozov(a), his quest for knowledge is not at the expense and dismissal of all other things. he will not sacrifice those he loves or let them suffer for what he wants to know, or do - and that sets him apart from the obsessors of this series ( even if that suffering caused is unintentional : he attempts, as things go on, for his damage to be as minimal as possible ).
and by the end of r&r, we know his hair is long and unruly - after over a year and a half of basically no maintenance. SO : let's explore and break this down and really look at it.
*CHAPTER FOUR : TO BLOOM AND GROW
at the beginning of the series, devid has relatively short but shaggy hair : he is incredibly awkward, has great difficulty communicating and expressing his feelings or reciprocity toward g.enya and he has a thirst for knowledge and an incredible ability as a f.abrikator. he is tasked with giving a.lina assistance, giving her mirrored gloves that will help her refract light : and later he will help to give her more power, but it will not be for her benefit. as his resolve is tested by the d.arkling and he is ultimately HORRIFIED by the actions and lengths the person he has devoted his life and loyalty to will go ( and will ask others to go to, to do for him ) in order to achieve his ends and gain more power, devid begins to show doubts, then hesitation and then outright rejection of the d.arkling’s cause. protect ravka ( protect G.RISHA ), yes : but not at the expense of ravkans. when we catch up with him after months with the g.risha deserters at the little palace, he is stronger, beginning to show more confidence - but ultimately he is wracked by the guilt of his contributions to the expansion of the fold into n.ovokribirksk, and the collar. as his hair grows longer and he begins to open up to people, particularly a.lina and n.ikolai, he begins to gain confidence : his personality begins to shine through and he continues to build and create for the cause. and then, the attack on the little palace - watching paja be crushed by one of his mirrors. seeing his creations be used for WAR, truly. and the seeing g.enya, the woman he has loved and has never been able to tell that - scared and scarred, and being able to reach for her but not to reach her . . .
by the time we get to r&r his fear and guilt are shaded with anger and grief, over the lives of so many and the chaos that the d.arkling has brought, and by how he wishes he could do more but every time he does - it results in lost lives and people in pain. but he FIGHTS ON ANYWAY : tries his best with limited materials and pressure on his shoulders and he succeeds - gets them out of the underground with morozov(a)’s journals, assists n.ikolai, facilitates a.lina’s refraction invisibility. he reminds g.enya of the strength he has always known she had when she had forgotten - he has the guts to confess to her, to brazenly step forward and kiss her despite his own fears that he will not be accepted ( which is, OF COURSE her right ). but it pays off. he protects her, and everyone he can with a gun from the nichev’oya, managing to remain consistently calm in the face of danger despite NOT BEING A FIGHTER. even through the resurgence of his guilt over the lumiya, he presses on, and his respect for life and understanding of power and how easily it can corrupt no matter who it may be, his bravery and his intelligence and his heart are rewarded with his place among the triumvirate. he is the best choice, and he . . . understands that now.
by the end of the series devid’s hair is long, past his shoulders in waves and tangles. usually, he has no qualms about cutting his hair but he simply never found the time, through everything. after all is said and done, and the war is over and sankta a.lina is laid to rest ( even if the collar does not burn with ruby’s body as a.lina thinks it does ), and a.lina herself goes forth the way she wishes to, leaving the g.risha in the hands of he, z.oya and g.enya - when he decides it is time to move forward, when he is cemented in his new ideal of pacifism and feels just about settled in his own skin for the first time since before ( if he ever did ), when he is grounded : DEVID K.OSTYK FINALLY CUTS HIS HAIR.
