Things I wanna see less in fantasy~
Female protagonists having the best character arcs and personal growth only to lose their powers for the "greater good". Like? Let them be happy WITH POWERS?? ALINA'S LIGHT??? AELIN'S FIRE???? NESTA'S DEATH MAGIC??? TESSA'S SHAPE-SHIFTING??
NOTHING TRUER WAS SAID
Darklina is such a beautiful relationship, such an arresting one. The chemistry, the spiritual connection, the love and passion and power and understanding. The darkness to the light. The king to the queen. An eclipse representative of self actualization and equal and opposite principles, two people made powerless by the world coming into their own. Two lonely souls finding strength and a home in each other. A bond of mind and soul and heart, a breathtaking union.
It’s a compelling relationship and a stunning one. When I think of Darklina I think of a starry night sky. A boy afraid of the dark discovering sunlight. A girl ostracized by the world discovering acceptance. I think of the yin and yang. The concept yǒu yuán wú fèn. Soulmates destined for each other in every universe and every world, and yet tragically unable to connect in this one because they met too late. I think of harmony and I think of the chance for true understanding. I think of finding safety in the only other person in the world who will truly know you, an eternity with the one you love. I think of something transcendental and always.
I think Darklina is an amazing ship, and I think it’s worth examining and engaging with and loving, because it means so much more than people give it credit, and it’s fans love it for so many complex and inspiring reasons.
Malina is such a soft relationship, such a charming one. The history, the longing, the care and consideration and dedication and loyalty and love and sacrifice. The foundation of friendship and tenderness, of reaching for each other, meeting in the middle. Always holding hands, cradling pieces of each other’s souls, each other’s memories. Always inviting, never taking. Always searching, never hunting. The pining and adoration and want.
It’s a captivating relationship and a kind one. When I think of Malina I don’t think of a meadow, I don’t think of their scars. I think of the stag - Alina’s stag - who’s song Mal could hear. I think of how quickly he volunteered to go find it, how easily he recognized her drawing and knew the story behind her dreams. I think of them running together, side by side. I think of the warmth in their smiles, their joy at first seeing each other after time apart. I think of the sacrifices they’ve made to keep each other alive, always willing to give everything. I think of summer and a cool breeze. Of two children shunned by society finding solace and safety in each other. I think of something solid and supportive.
I think Malina is an amazing ship, and I think it’s worth exploring and finding comfort in and loving, because it has so many beautiful meanings and it’s fans love it for such dynamic and moving reasons.
~Nina Zenik, King Of Scars.
“It’s you I love,” he says. “I spent much of my life guarding my heart. I guarded it so well that I could behave as though I didn’t have one at all. Even now, it is a shabby, worm-eaten, and scabrous thing. But it is yours.” He walks to the door to the royal chambers, as though to end the conversation. “You probably guessed as much,” he says. “But just in case you didn’t.”
~Cardan Greenbriar, The Queen of Nothing
SOMEONE ON TWITTER SAID THE PARALLELS BETWEEN PERCABETH AND KANEJ~ two guys who can always sense when their invisible gf is nearby :')
“We say like calls to like, girl. But if the science is small enough, then we are like all things. The light lives in the spaces between. It is there in the soil of that mountain, in the rock and in the snow. The Cut is already made.”
~ Leigh Bardugo, Ruin and Rising
“Kaltain,” her uncle rumbled, a demand and a threat and a promise.
The silent young woman—the one who never spoke, who never looked at anything, who had such marks on her. Elide had seen her only a few times. Had seen how little she responded. Or fought back.
And then Elide was walking up the stairs.
Up and up, making sure her chains clanked as loudly as possible. Her uncle fell silent.
CAN WE TALK ABOUT HOW BRAVE ELIDE WAS EVEN WHEN SHE WAS POWERLESS SHE STILL USED HER WITS TO STAND UP FOR PEOPLE I LOVE HER OMG.
“Crows remember human faces. They remember the people who feed them, who are kind to them. And the people who wrong them too.”
“Really?”
He nodded slowly. “They don’t forget. They tell each other who to look after and who to watch out for."
~ Kaz Brekker, The Crooked Kingdom.
Book quotes that made me believe in love again~ part 2, because these are all so adorable I just couldn't fit them into one post<3
•He pushed, simply because he damn well couldn’t stop himself,
“And what do you deserve?” A slow smile, indeed a plains-cat readying for the kill. Then, “Certainly more than a bastard-born nobody.”
~Nesta my queen letting her romantic side show for a second :') so vulnerable. Huh? What? Unresolved trauma? No- this is 100/10 romance bb
•"You don’t even know what you’re saying,” Kenji tells him. “You’re acting crazy—”
“I was happier,” Adam says, “when I thought she was dead.”
“You, of all people,” Adam says to me. He looks so disgusted. “I trusted you—told you things I never should’ve told you— I can’t believe you’d do this to me. That you’d fall for him. What the hell is wrong with you?” he demands, his voice rising in pitch. “How sick in the head do you have to be?”
~Adam Kent to his girlfriend<3 fights can be so sexy. especially when a guy calls his girlfriend fucked in the head uwu. every girl's dream :))wishing she was dead aaahhh love is love okay.
•His growls of pleasure filled the tent, drowning out the distant cries of the injured and dying. Life and death—hovering so close, whispering in our ears.
And I hoped that this shard of life we offered up, this undimming light between us, would drive death a bit further away. At least for another day.
~feysand my fav power couple. getting down and dirty in a battlefield like the rulers they are. What? oh no not fighting for their homeland no no that's for basic bitches<33 romantics do seggsy time in battles ;) it's called feminism okay look it up
•“You care for me,” Will said. His voice was cool and sure. “And you know that I admire you, the way that all women know when a man admires them. Now you have come to tell me you will be here, available to me, for as long as I might wish it. I am offering you what I thought you wanted.”
“You cannot mean that.”
“And you cannot have imagined I meant anything more,” Will said. “There is no future for a Shadowhunter who dallies with warlocks. One might befriend them, employ them, but not …”
~will my bestie offering the girl he loves to be his whore<3 unusual but I don't kink shame here :) spread loveee,hashtag speaking from the heart
•"Hear my judgment,” Cardan says, authority ringing in his voice. “I hereafter exile Jude Duarte to the mortal world until such time as she is pardoned by the crown. Until then, let her not step one foot in Faerie or forfeit her life.”
I gasp. “But you can’t do that!”
He looks at me for a long moment, but his gaze is mild, as though he’s expecting me to be fine with exile. As though I am nothing at all. “Of course I can,” he replies.
“But I’m the Queen of Faerie,” I shout, and for a moment, there is silence.
Then everyone around me begins to laugh.
“Deny it then,” I yell. “Deny me!”
He cannot, of course, so he does not.
~cardan my fairie romeo sweeping Jude off her feet by exiling her<3 *I think I've seeeenn this film beforeeee* he really thought he showed some huge ass ravenclaw energy here :) who said long distance can't be steamy?
•“I lied,” he said. “Demons lie, Clary. You know, there are some kinds of wounds you can get when you’re a Shadowhunter—internal injuries from demon poison. You don’t even know what’s wrong with you, but you’re bleeding to death slowly inside. That’s what it’s like, just being your brother.”
“But Aline—”
“I had to try. And I did.” His voice was lifeless. “But God knows, I don’t want anyone but you. I don’t even want to want anyone but you.”
Clary’s voice had sunk to a whisper. “I don’t want anyone but you, either.”
~awww this is like the new "being your friend isn't enough",, brotherly love<3 okay friends to lovers enemies to lovers WHAT ABOUT SIBLINGS TO LOVERS HUHHH
•"You—Reid, you also made an oath to me. You’re my husband, and I’m your wife.”
His hands dropped to his sides. Defeated. A spark of hope flared in my chest. But then he closed his eyes—seeming to collapse in on himself—and when he opened them again, they were void of all emotion. Empty. Dead.
“You are not my wife.”
What was left of my heart shattered completely.
~Reid my new bff being loyal to his religion and telling Lou that she's not his wife :') so pure. true love 101. *so there you go-o can't make a wife outta a WITCH* his mentor is the hot priest from fleabag<3 "you love me? It'll pass<3"
•“Why don’t I give you the lashing you deserve?”
He looked so dead set on it that she blinked. “If you ever take a whip to me, I will skin you alive.” Rowan paused his stalking. “You’re worthless.”
“Tell me something I don’t know.”
He went on, “You would probably have been more useful to the world if you’d actually died ten years ago.”
She just looked him in the eye and said, “I’m leaving.”
~ughhh what is it with men's dirty talk being "I wish you were dead" it's so poetic :') again, bird love confessions are...unique, so cut rowan some slack. also threatening to whip her kinkyyyy<333
•Juliette supposed it was her turn to walk away. The lover and the liar, the liar and the lover. They switched those roles between themselves like it was a game.
“I tell the truth,” Juliette said again. Each word was a blade that sliced through her tongue, cutting her twice as deep as the harm she put out into the world. “Wake up. This entire dalliance between us has been an extraction of information.”
“Juliette, don’t say such—”
~Juliette and Roma spending the whole book pining over each other and confessing their feelings, to reach this end. because love<333
•“Don’t worry, tracker. You’ll know when our deal is up.” He shoved me belowdecks, but not before I heard his parting words to Mal—“I’ll be certain you hear it when I make her scream.”
~love triangles can be sooo beautiful especially when you've been kidnapped by one of the guys and the other has the personality of a wet towel<33 but love is love so-
Yess totallyyy. SylviexLoki as bffs would've been so crazy and awesome<33
"YOU LIKE HER, DOES SHE LIKE YOUUU???? BOTH OF ARE SWOONING OVER EACH OTHER -_- "
mobius my man you're making your feelings prettyyy obvious here ngl