I know I'll probably be ignored about this but I think people need to hear that...

•Genya is not her full name. Her full name would be Evgeniya (eh-v-g-EH-n-ih-ah) Safin. Soft form is 'Genechka'. And actually, in right russian Safin would be Safina, because it is feminine form of the last name.

•Nikolai's short form would be 'Kolya'.

•'Lina', 'Alya' or 'Nina' is short for Alina. If you want her nickname to sound softly it should be 'Alinochka'. Starkov is masculin form, feminine form of this last name is Starkova.

•Tolya is short for Anatoliy.

•Tamar (in russian more commonly pronounced as Tamara) can be called 'Toma' or 'Tomochka' as a form of endearment.

•Nadia is short for Nadejda (naa-DYEHZH-daa). Nadia, a girl, is Zhabina, Adrik, her brother, a boy, is Zhabin.

•Aleksander's nickname is Sasha, english fanbase already grasped this. His last name in right russian would be Morozov, while Baghra and Ulla remain with 'Morozova'.

“the darkling turned on grisha, how can u support him”

he turned on grisha that betrayed him? that’s pretty OK punishing those, who betrayed you when you were only trying to make grishas life easier.

“he was more cruel in the books, how can u support him🥺”

everyone and everything were crueler in the books, alina too by the way

I’m here to remind that alina cvt that skiff and people that were on it (she wasn’t wrong tho lol)

be fucking for real, how do you expect a 500 years old person, who watched his people executed, experimented on, living in hiding, punished for their only existence, being attacked by king’s soldiers, by fjerdans, by shu literally by everyone, watched his mother abandoning his sister ulla when he himself was a child.

he was not wrong and everything he did was for grisha, if not him, they would’ve went extinct. aleksander gave them a home in ravka

Hey :3 Any thoughts on Ulla?

One word: Her. 🛐

My first thoughts about her after I read her story was how much alike with her brother is and how much alike their lives were.

I already have two drafts about her: an appreciation post and similarities between her and Aleksander (which I don't know when will I post them).

Her life was a tragedy ever since she was conceived and I don't understand why Baghra wanted a child that she knew would have to abandon (unless she didn't care or her birth wasn't planned at all). She was a pariah in her own world and found a place within a person. But then she was abandoned and betrayed by Signy and Ulla became darker and more powerful. It's like every time a Morozova gets burnt down, he/she returns stronger.

The thing about Ulla that is also interesting is that she discovered at her lowest that there was strength in her and she started relying on herself instead on other people. Betrayal hurt but also taught her a lesson and like a true Morozova, she never forgot.

I wish we had more scenes of her and Aleksander together and I wish the latter could see her again. But of course finding a sea creature at the bottom of the sea is kinda difficult. Their dynamic was immensely intriguing and they could have been a powerful duo.

Ulla remains one of the best, most interesting and most well-written characters in the Grishaverse and she's one of my favourites in this universe. And I hope Leigh never writes anything about her again out of fear that she will destroy her character.

(that author has given me phobias)

It was never elaborated on in the show so i must mention it here. Aleksander has siblings. I think most of the people in this fandom know this anyway but this is for those who don’t.

Baghra didn’t just happen to have one child who inherited her powers off the bat. She had been trying to have a child for one, maybe two, reasons, and they were that she was 1. bored 2. wanted a child with her powers so she could basically control them too.

She had many kids who didn’t have her powers, and abandoned them, until she had Aleksander, who she kept (and very obviously abused.)

I see posts saying how she’s such a girlboss and a good mother for some reason, but a woman who abandons all the children who aren’t useful to her, and manipulates and abuses the one that is, is neither of those things.

Reading The Language of Thorns always makes me wonder about what how a world were Ulla and Aleksander had grown together would be like.

Beautiful, clever, prideful, loyal to the point of coming undone and resentful much more after. Same height, same black hair, sharp edges and dark eyes. Same sly smiles and alluring voices.

If you look back at their stories (The Demon In The Wood and When Water Sang Fire), you'll be able to notice how their biggest issue was how deeply lonely they were. Discriminated for being different, looking strange, being too powerful or being especial. Ulla and Aleksander never had a friend before Signy and Annika. They were used to being isolated, hearing whispers and gossip. They became cold and serious to drive away the longing they felt. Maybe if they were together, if they had another soul mirroring their sorrows and their desire... But could it be truly different?

I think it's interesting to notice how both Ulla and Aleksander were betrayed by their first friends, how it happened because them both let their guards down in order to save their friends lives (or protect something dear to them). I don't blame Signy and Annika. It's just like Baghra said, they were desperate children trying to survive a cruel world. With Aleksander's bones as an amplifier, Annika could have helped his family and find a steady place for them. By helping Rolfe to betray Ulla, Signy won a position no one could deny her, made a family of her own, became a queen.

The only difference in the end was that Baghra had trained her son to survive despite his heart and Ulla remember Aleksander's warning too little too late.

I don't know if Aleksander and Ulla would be satisfied with each other as their only company. Baghra was not kind, nor gentle. She abandoned most of her children, turned Aleksander into a living weapon meant to never be stopped by his own heart. Their lives wouldn't have been easier or prettier. Aleksander would have still sought war and he would have been dragged to all that mess.

Yet, maybe their loyalty would be to each other and not other desperate girls, looking to survive. Maybe it'd be worst, the Fold would be bigger, because their magic together would be terrible and beautiful. Maybe it'd be better, because its their extreme loneliness what took them too far.

All I know is that Aleksander cared for her. He was there when she was born. He went every summer to Sondermane to wait and see if she'd appear. He answered the questions she had, even answered the ones she couldn't ask. He warned her about princes, about how power could not buy love, he never pressured her, always spoke clear and true. He must have heard about her feat, her power, but he didn't seek her out after that. Even in the end, he didn't forced her, involved her in his plans.

Ulla found in herself the strength to survive what Rolfe and Signy did to her, but it was Aleksander's words what sparked that instinct:

We are not made to please princes.

Aleksander wanted someone as immortal as him by his side and Ulla wanted company, protection. Could have that work? I don't know, but that does not keep me from thinking about it.

Siege and Storm- Chapter 15 (Leigh Bardugo)

This gets so much better in the show's context. Let's pretend...

*mumbles* If the show writers weren't anti-Darklina cowards, we could have had some lovely vivid memories in inappropriate moments, or even Tether TBC...

... the mermaids that swam at the edges of the seas.

Aleksander describing a map: "... and this is a portrait of my sister..."

thinking of baghra being raised by an otakzat'sya mother who rejected her for because of her powers and openly preferred her "normal" sister. and then baghra grows up and has a bunch of children of her own whom she abandons and only keeps the son who is shadow summoner like herself. and ulla the daughter that she gave away is raised in the sea by a mother who is also not very fond of her because she looks different. it just keep happening, like a family curse..

So...Baghra fuck3d a fish

‘morozovas the soap opera’ would be like ilya on his death bed summoning his family to split the inheritance, you have baghra the matriarch who will go literally over dead bodies for the money, her younger sister who is about to fight everyone, aleks who is just whoring his way to the top and is miranda priestly of the world, ulla the wine aunt, and mal who is coming from america, the black sheep who changed his name and wants to have nothing to do with his family. unfortunately, he seems to be ilya’s favorite and baghra is planning his murder. in episode 2-

“There have been sightings of the sea whip in these waters for years,” said the Darkling.

“Along with mermaids and white selkies. It’s a myth.”

"Siege and Storm", chapter 3

Darkling whose sister is a sildroher: lol

Morozova love is just so cursed and so strong. Ilya resurrected his daughter back from the dead and got chained and thrown into a river because of it. Baghra loved her son so much she took no remorse in slaughtering innocents and burning villages to protect him. Aleksander loved Luda and she died simply because of that and he cares for the Grisha so much he’ll do anything for them, no matter what. Ulla loved Signy very much that she was willing to do forbidden magic to get her what she wanted and then was betrayed terribly because of it. Mal walked perhaps for days till he found the orphanage Alina was in and was always able to find her. He loved her so much he was ready for her to kill him to help her accomplish her goal

Ok so assuming Ulla is still alive (not very knowlage able on her, so correct me if anything is like bad)

But do we agree if somehow on strumhonds ship they ran into sirens and as aleksander was ignoring whatever they were singing about- do you think he stopped when one called him by name? Do you think he would look over and see a face he thought dead, instead still alive in the water? Do you think at that moment he’d have to be held back from the edge, as to not tip as he ran over?

do you think he’d cry while hugging his sister? Do you think he’d be happy to see her again?

Ulla and Nikolai have the potential to be a comedy duo because they absolutely not trust each other and Ulla has enough traumas with princes, Nikolai has enough trauma with sea creatures, but they're Aleksander's most trusted people so...

The banter, the sarcasm, the conversations about the sea and what it means to them, the talk about ex lovers and lost opportunities, about being the little siblings, etc. They'd also keep Aleksander in check, 'cause if they agree at something, then it must be it, you know?

Aleksander is so happy with them. He dreamed of just that, having company, being with his sister, having a friend or lover to share his love for Ravka.

He knows Ulla get it, the heartbreak of betrayal, of being used as a tool, of only being valuable for your powers, of being discriminated and hated and isolated and hunted and— how it feels to not being quiet mortal, of seeing cruel tragedy slide with the years in an endless march. She knows of the darkness, of being ruined, scarred, afraid and powerless. They hold onto each other 'cause in the end, that's all they'll always have. Each other. The world will crumble around them, turn to dust, all their mortal friends will slowly die, all kingdoms will go back to the dirt, wars will be fought, peace will return and they will still live for another day or week or month or many years. They don't even look old yet. They could break the world, mend it and still live centuries. Their only consolation is that they won't have to be alone all that time.

And he knows Nikolai can't understand or known many things about him, but he knows a thing or two about being willing to sacrifice oneself for Ravka, for a chance to make a better world, to protect ones home. The pressure of leadership and who you have to be to maintain order, the fact you have to make those decisions, shoulder the blame once it comes, let go of the glory they will not attribute to you. You can't expect them to be grateful, you can't expect them to see you as a man, not a monster or a martyr, not a saint or a witch. Complete devotion, the type that destroys from the inside out, and yet— and yet they find kindness in each other, comprehension, they find someone to lean on, someone who can look at you and you think you worth more than what they made of you. Someone to love, despite it all.

Nikolai and Ulla would probably become closer than they thought, in the end. Maybe Nikolai can show Ulla that not all princes are traitorous men waiting to take advantage of powerful strange girls in love. Maybe Ulla can show Nikolai the wonders of the sea that he'd never got to see to himself, what hides beyond his piece of the world. Maybe together they could mend Aleksander's aching darkened heart, fight his shadows to allow him to see the light. Give him a place where he doesn't have to be a general or a tool, he can be just a man and live and feel like just a man.