#lb critical

Every time I come across a post praising Nikolai for his cleverness, I think about his brilliant plans in S&S.

His first bright idea was to influence the army. He thought he did something spectacular by joining the army that people will remember him forever- even after many years. Let's not forget that he f-ed off after a couple of years of service, leaving the rest to rot. He was not within the country trying to form alliances or doing something tangiable for the betterment of the said army and yet he expected them to be waiting for him with their ears perked up and tails wagging. It is not the 21st century british monarchy. His title wasn't some decoration. He had powers that came with it. He was literally a Duke and did jacksquat with his given power and yet he was expecting a hero's welcome from them. How much self absorbed one has to be to think, just his coming back to Ravka is enough to create ripple in the army.

His next brilliant strategy was essentially to wait for Vasily to grow tired of his responsibilities and toss over the crown to Nikolai. Such brilliant idea! Vasily maybe a drunk but he is not a fool. He knew since birth what sort of power comes with the crown and he knows enough to not to toss it over to his bastard brother like a play toy he got bored off. Let us assume Nikolai really was powerless based on the sob story he gave to Alina about second prince not able to do much. So what was he planning to accomplish while waiting for Vasiliy?? The country was starving, Aleksander was at large but boy wonder had no care about it. His amazing plans was to wait and see if someone would notice him and give him the crown.

Such a brilliantly gifted clever fox👏👏👏

i kind of dont like the fact that the suli are a mishmash of roma, indian and middle-eastern cultures. like there are 2 fully fleshed out european countries but only a mish mash of asia which is Shu Han and a weird fusion of different cultures which is Suli. so despite loving inej im just a lil disappointed

Oh yes I quite agree with this. I think someone made a post about it too. I guess it's classical American ignorance again—to look at Asia as one monolith. People tend to think it's limited to Japan, Korea and China when Asia is literally the largest continent in the world :///

Inej is a strong female lead but she isn't good representation because she is a mashup of Romani, South Asian and Middle Eastern cultures. Romani and South Asian aesthetics and middle eastern name. No wonder artists can't decide if she's desi or MENA or Romani :///

Her quiet strength has also sparked off this woke stereotype of making brown girls all quiet and kind—and taking it to another level is sexualizing them and making them therapists for all other characters which neglects their arcs. Laila of TGW and Cordelia from TSC are prime examples (yes, I'm still not over those disgusting fanarts). Funny because we are already therapists for our traumatized parents who believe mental health is a hoax :)

White people tout it as great representation, but for me the bar is down to the earth's core because we're either kind and quiet or sexy comodities in YA books and people just gobble it up without any sort of critical thinking :/

The only good thing I liked in the rep was how hard she fought to keep remembering her religion and culture. Even Indian-American authors don't give us that bare minimum decency

It’s all a consequence of the underlying conservatism and misogyny of the series. This is best illustrated through the fact that even in Alina’s “happily ever after” she is still regarded as a weird outsider while Mal is beloved by their new community. It isolates Alina in a way that the Darkling never could, it’s representative of Alina’s permanent dependence on Mal as a consequence of their marriage. Mal is allowed to have a life outside of his marriage, while Alina has to depend on him for emotional connection. She can only find fulfillment in her husband while Mal is afforded the freedom (and means) to seek fulfillment from other places.

What I imagine Bardugo thought, was that it would be heartwarming and pleasant for the “boy and the girl” to return to simplicity and live happily ever after. Hence the line: “They had an ordinary life, full of ordinary things—if love can ever be called that.” In isolation, it’s certainly a sweet sentiment that one might smile at in a different story. However, in this story, it’s a clear attempt to romanticize the dire (and downright depressing) circumstances of Alina’s so-called “happily ever after”. It looks like a happily ever after, but readers with a critical eye can see it for what it truly is. They are able to see the way Alina is disempowered at nearly every level, that she had been relegated to this role because she dared to want more out of life.

This gestures towards the fundamental reason why Malina is far more disturbing than the likes of Darklina. It’s disturbing because it reflects the ways women are pushed to settle down and sacrifice themselves for their man and glorifies that sacrifice as the healthy alternative to “greed”. Sure, the Darkling is villainous, but his actions are so beyond the normal scope of everyday relationships that they fail to land the same impact as Mal’s mundane assholery. Alina is considered greedy for wanting to excercise her power and influence for a noble cause, but somehow Mal isn’t greedy for wanting Alina’s full undivided attention despite her many other responsibilities? The narrative validates his unreasonable requests by presenting the ending as something wholesome and heartwarming. Mal’s selfishness and greed is validated by the text because it is societally acceptable and encouraged men to have those traits. He has to be the more powerful one in the relationship for this traditional happy ending to work.

The fandom really overstates how much manipulation he actually engages in. Not only that, they also overstate how successful he was when it came to manipulating Alina. It took her exactly five minutes to turn on him when Baghra revealed his true identity to her (without much evidence mind you).

I just think that if the Darkling’s manipulation was as powerful as people say, then he would at least be able to influence a naive and insecure young woman who has no familial support system. We’re told that he’s a master manipulator, but we’re shown that he’s making decisions that don’t completely align with the goal of grooming Alina. For example, letting Baghra teach Alina is a huge risk because not only does she spend more time with Alina, she also openly disagrees with his strategies and is the only person who knows about his true identity. If he was the great manipulator people say he is, wouldn’t he just train Alina himself? So he could keep her close and control what information she absorbs?