#tditw

1. baby aleksander being afraid of the dark when he’s a shadow summoner will never not make me cry

2. baghra is a literal hot queen and this is one of my favorite grishaverse quotes

3. the cute lil joy on his face when he’s summoning is my new favorite thing

4. i couldnt not include this because look at him

5. aleksander’s favorite color being sunlight is the purest thing and i always wish he had told alina that rip

6. crying part 1

7. crying part 2

8. this page is so gorgeous and heart wrenching at the same time

9. like calls to motherfucking like is such a good quote also and i’ll never get over it

Sylvi: So what's your favorite color?

Alexander Morozova, the Darkling, the Shadow Summoner, the Black Heretic, creator of the Fold:

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WOW just finished reading Demon in the Wood, and my only complaint is that it’s so short!! I checked it out as an ebook and it said there was like a hundred pages; turns out more than half of that was because it includes a sample of Six of Crows… which ok but I was sitting there like this can’t be the end of the book! idk why I thought this was a legit Darkling prequel not just a short story 🥲

Would have loved to have some time skips to read about additional key events that lead up to who he becomes when he makes the fold.. or even events leading up to him serving royalty and/or right before the events of Shadow and Bone.

*sigh* I’m such a sucker for villains with tragic backstories (and Leigh Bardugo’s writing) LOL

In The Demon in the Woods, a 13 year old Aleksander Morozova gets himself into trouble just to save 2 sisters from bullies. Like he puts himself in danger to save them.

Ultimately, his instinct was always to protect others. The ones who needed protection.