The Fact That Zoya, Nina, Jesper And Tolya Were Able To Walk Around Shu Han Without Fearing Capture Is

After they make decently-working state out of Ravka:

Nikolai: “We could wrap it all up here, you’ll leave Ivan in charge for few weeks… When was the last time you went on vacation?”

Aleksander: “Generals of the Second Army don’t do vacations.”

Nikolai: “I miss the sea… We could travel from port to port. Just a couple of ordinary sailors, although sinfully good-looking. I can teach you how to sail. Show you the world…”

Aleksander: “I’ve travelled the world as a young man.”

Nikolai: “See! Ancient history!”

Oh fuck it's just occurred to me that like

1) The Little Palace was designed by a very old, very paranoid Grisha who's spent his entire life being hunted and persecuted for existing

2) The Little Palace was built with at least one secret passageway Alina didn't know about, which brings her out into the grounds somewhere. There are most likely dozens of these hidden tunnels - they're escape routes for when the otkazat'sya inevitably turn on the Grisha and Kirigan finds himself with a school full of kids to evacuate.

3) In S2 at the Spinning Wheel, Nadia says that the First Army raided the Little Palace, and Nikolai is sheltering the survivors. There's a decent number of them, by the looks of it. More than a handful. Probably all those who were close enough to an exit passageway.

4) Kirigan wasn't there to open up the tunnels and lead everyone out, and neither was Baghra. So the tunnels can't be truly secret. Enough Grisha knew about them to vanish under the First Army's noses and escape. I'm picturing that one scene from Ye Olde X-Men 2: most of them got out through tunnels that weren't on any of our schematics.

5) This means it's likely that the Little Palace has its own version of those fucked-up shooter drills they have to do in America. The procedure for something like that would have to be drummed into these kids from as early as possible, just like they train you to respond to the fire bell, because otherwise in the rush and the noise and the confusion, they'd just panic, and that would cause chaos. They all need to know where their closest emergency exit is, how to open it, where it leads, how to check for nearby soldiers before emerging, where to go next. So that when they need that knowledge, it's become second nature. Instinct. Like young prey animals - just as Baghra taught him.

And this is the kind of fear and constant hypervigilance Kirigan and Baghra have been living with their entire lives, without even the benefit of a relatively secure, long-term home literally built to protect them. It's no wonder the pre-Little Palace Grisha are so messed up.

And he's probably had older Little Palace Grisha over the years, people like Fedyor, questioning whether it's really necessary to still be making these kids think they're at risk like that. The Grisha have been at peace with the crown for over a century! This is a relic from a crueller time, surely. And he brushes it off every time, because at some point in his history, he learned better. He's learned from his failures.

6) After Anastas put a bounty on his ambitious General's head and named him heretic, the guards say, "Thought you [and Luda] could quietly train witches under our noses, did you?"

So he's already helping teach other Grisha, even then, and we know from Luda that the king is now having said Grisha rounded up. And there's nothing he can do. If he goes back, the king will have his head. So when he next aligns himself with the crown as his own descendant, he's learned that unless he puts safeguards in place, it will be the Grisha he's protecting who will suffer whenever he butts heads with the monarchy.

And he turns out to be right. Pyotr and Vasily have neither the balls nor the strength to meet him on the battlefield, so instead they target whatever Grisha they can get hold of - the half-trained students, the researchers, servants like Genya - and blame them for whatever treason they're accusing him of this time. The escape routes were still necessary. They've always been necessary.

It just? Really hit home how fucked up this world is for them, like. Even within the 'safety' of the Little Palace, the Grisha kids would never truly be able to avoid or forget the fear and hatred the world at large has for their kind, or the danger being Grisha might place them in if their protector falls out of favour with the royals. Ravka might not experiment on them or burn them alive, but they're not safe. They never really were. They've only ever been used.

Convenient weapons, or convenient scapegoats, and with no say in any of it.

Ben and Jessie are Nikolai's fans now

I can definitely understand them.

Morozova’s journals

Look, I understand Alina needed to learn about Morozova’s work in the name of The Plot™, but how likely is that someone as old and paranoid as the Darkling would just leave his journals lying around? Originals?

The show “fixed it” by making him give the journals to David to study. Which doesn’t change the fact they’re somehow easy to read.

If ~I~ were hundreds of y/o immortal with unique records of secret research, I’d destroy them after making a copy myself using:

cipher

foreign language

rare dialect

dead language

combiantion of everything above

But hey, it’s not like language doesn’t shift in some 500+ years… yet the greatest challenge was understanding Morozova’s train of thought… not the words alone…

imagine killing your handsome dark would kill the world for you soulmate and then bringing your dishrag bf back to life only for him to break up with you

Aleksander would totally kiss Nikolai’s scarred fingertips. Both as an act of devotion and possession.

AU: The Darkling got the throne and captured Nikolai. After a while they realize their goals are the same and start to co-operate. To avoid attempts to overthrow Aleksander and install Nikolai, they fake Kolya's death and reclaim his rogue identity...

courtier: "Moi tsarevich?"

Nikolai: "Oh no, I'm Sturmhond, the famous privateer."

courtier: "Apologies, but you look just like late tsarevich Nikolai."

Nikolai: "Yeah, I get that a lot, but I'm ginger and much better looking, if we believe the Black Tsar himself."

courtier: "Well, certainly, I can see that now. Sturmhond, you said?"

Nikolai: "Please, call me Kolya."

courtier: "!!!"

~

courtier: "The likness, even your name... It's certainly curious, isn't it?"

Nikolai: "Oh please... half of the sailors is named after Saint Nikolai... Makes for riotous meetings and quite a challenge to command a crew."

~

courtier, sneakily: "Some might even want you to become the King..."

Nikolai: "Well, that can be arranged..."

Nikolai: *chatches Aleksander's eye across whole room*

Nikolai: *licks his lips seductively*

Nikolai: *winks*

room: *suddenly darkens a little*

ВОТ ИМЕННО

и при всём при этом практически общеизвестно, что все святые когда-то были реальными людьми (религия предполагает веру в сверхъестественные силы, но в мире, где есть гриши уже мало чему можно удивиться). То есть не совсем понятно, кто и за что наградил их святостью, а не, скажем, орденом героя?

И плюс у меня возникло ощущение, что абсолютно ВСЕ святые при жизни были гришами, за что многие оказались убиты. Опять же смысл поклоняться тем, к кому в лучшем случае народ относится с пренебрежением?

И отсутствие бога. Кто главный в этом пантеоне? Есть последователи святые, но нет того, за кем вообще нужно следовать.

Как в таком случае относятся к друг другу последователи разных святых? Уважают друг друга, верят и в того, и в другого или крутят пальцем у виска при каждой встрече, пытаясь доказать, что его святой самый святой из святых?

чем больше размышляю над религией в гришаверсе, тем больше хочется стучаться головой об стенку, потому что ЭТО ЧТО ВООБЩЕ

Adorable lil puppy 💞

this pic of paddy looking at ben is hilarious, but also. yes, that's how nikolai looks at sasha 99.9 % of time.

Another one for that AU, where Darkolai had a light affair before Nikolai left for "Ketterdam".

The Darkling: *meets Sturmhond to hire him to go after the Sea Whip*

The Darkling: "Captain. Can we talk in private?"

Sturmhond: "Sure. Follow me."

both: *enter captain's cabin*

The Darkling: "Hello Kolya..."

Sturmhond, sputtering: "What?! I...."

The Darkling: "Don't try to deny it. You might change your face, badly as my Tailor pointed out, ..."

The Darkling: *leans in*

Aleksander: "...but under all that sea, you still smell the same."

Nikolai: *visibly fighting his teen crush rushing back*

Aleksander: *smirks*

Alelsander: "And Ivan recognized your heart pattern. Smitten sobachka, he calls it."

Nikolai: *absolutely undignifoed noise*

Nikolai: "I am NOT SMITTEN!"

Aleksander: *smirk widening*

Nikolai, resigned: "Hello, Sasha."