you are real for me.

I'm probably someone's "not this guy again" on Tumblr

the show does such a great job of showing mal’s side of things. in the books alina thinks that mal only sees her as a friend and nothing more but the show lets you see that’s not the case. mal’s crush on alina is painfully obvious, even if he isn’t yet aware of it. time and time again you see that undercurrent of romance in their relationship without disrupting their best friends dynamic. you see mal sticking up for alina, staying by alina’s side, making alina laugh, looking out for alina, fighting for alina—alina alina alina. for mal, it all comes back to alina. you see him with his friends, you see him tracking, you see him fighting, you see him hurting, you see him protecting. you see him standing his ground against people who can kill him time and time again because he’s trying to help alina. you see mal as leigh wrote him: a boy with flaws who is loyal until the very end.

im about to defend mal oretsev like my fucking life depends on it 

when mal and alina are joking about the life lessons they learned at the orphanage and mal says “dont cry in public” so alina says “hide ur emotional breakdown for when ur alone. obviously” and then mal says “always carry a weapon on you” and then an episode later we see alina breaking down in her new room and crying for the first time—alone—after she’s been separated from mal and then immediately looks for a weapon to keep under her pillow... how am i supposed to go on