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Entry tags:
INFO + PERMISSIONS.
DRAGON QUEEN
canon Grishaverse (Books)
home Ravka (Fantasy Russia)
age 23
gender Female; she/her
powers A shit load
Player.
time zone AEDT/AEST
contact PM
off-limits topics Animal cruelty and domestic violence
Who is Zoya?
Zoya Nazyalensky is one of the most intimidating people you'll ever meet. She tells it like it is and doesn't take fools lightly. She's a typical mean girl until you learn that she's mean to protect herself. Zoya has several walls that she erects to keep herself from being hurt by those around her.
She is a caring and compassionate individual, although she doesn't soften herself to show it. She's incredibly loyal and pigheaded; it takes a lot to sway her against those she wishes to protect. Zoya is a ride or die friend.
She is a flirt, although she doesn't go for anything serious in relationships. Zoya is a strong, bitter drink.
Wiki
She is a caring and compassionate individual, although she doesn't soften herself to show it. She's incredibly loyal and pigheaded; it takes a lot to sway her against those she wishes to protect. Zoya is a ride or die friend.
She is a flirt, although she doesn't go for anything serious in relationships. Zoya is a strong, bitter drink.
Wiki
background.
Zoya grew up in the poor village of Pachina with her mother, Sabine Garin. She took care of her mother, going as far as to steal peaches from a wealthy man's tree, and rationing her food to feed her mother. At the age of nine, her mother sold her to a wealthy man to be wedded. Zoya's aunt, Liliyana Garin, tried to stop the wedding; it wasn't until her aunt was almost beaten to death that Zoya unlocked her Squaller abilities and protected her aunt. Liliyana took Zoya to the Grand Palace in Ravka, where she was trained as a Grisha and enlisted in the Second Army.
At the age of thirteen, Zoya earned her first amplifier. She joined the hunt for a white tiger rumoured to be an amplifier; when the older Grisha she accompanied used tiger cubs to lure the tiger out, Zoya freed them and ended up battling the tiger, earning eight claw marks along her back. She killed the creature, earning its teeth in her wrist to amplify her powers.
She grew up within the Grand Palace in Ravka as a soldier of the Second Army, and worked closely along side the Darkling before defecting to the Sun Summoner's side. Zoya works closely with Ravka's King, Nikolai Lantsov, as his Commander and one of his members of the Triumvirate.
After spending some time in a purgatory-esque realm, Zoya unlocked the true potential of her powers under the tutelage of the dead Saint Juris. (Juris was a dragon. We love Juris; he calls Zoya out on her shit.) He destroyed her tiger amplifier and trained her to be worthy of her dragon scale amplifier, which is embedded into her wrists. She wasn't just a simple Squaller, capable of controlling the wind, storms, and lightning; she became one with the world, and unlocked other abilities she was suppressing. She can turn into a dragon at will, and has full control over herself in this form.
Later, Zoya becomes the Queen of Ravka, the country's first Grisha queen.
Her aliases include Stormwitch, Rebe Dva Urga (Daughter of the Wind), Sankta Zoya of the Storm, Sënje Zoya daja Kerkenning (Saint Zoya of the Lightning)
At the age of thirteen, Zoya earned her first amplifier. She joined the hunt for a white tiger rumoured to be an amplifier; when the older Grisha she accompanied used tiger cubs to lure the tiger out, Zoya freed them and ended up battling the tiger, earning eight claw marks along her back. She killed the creature, earning its teeth in her wrist to amplify her powers.
She grew up within the Grand Palace in Ravka as a soldier of the Second Army, and worked closely along side the Darkling before defecting to the Sun Summoner's side. Zoya works closely with Ravka's King, Nikolai Lantsov, as his Commander and one of his members of the Triumvirate.
After spending some time in a purgatory-esque realm, Zoya unlocked the true potential of her powers under the tutelage of the dead Saint Juris. (Juris was a dragon. We love Juris; he calls Zoya out on her shit.) He destroyed her tiger amplifier and trained her to be worthy of her dragon scale amplifier, which is embedded into her wrists. She wasn't just a simple Squaller, capable of controlling the wind, storms, and lightning; she became one with the world, and unlocked other abilities she was suppressing. She can turn into a dragon at will, and has full control over herself in this form.
Later, Zoya becomes the Queen of Ravka, the country's first Grisha queen.
Her aliases include Stormwitch, Rebe Dva Urga (Daughter of the Wind), Sankta Zoya of the Storm, Sënje Zoya daja Kerkenning (Saint Zoya of the Lightning)
powers.
Squaller: Zoya's original Grisha Order. She's known to be one of the most powerful Squallers in canon.
She can manipulate the wind, storms, summon lightning, and manipulate air. She can also crush people's lungs and windpipes using air, and can suffocate people by removing the air from their lungs. She's one of the few who can summon lightning, and uses this to burn her enemies in water and also as CPR.
She and the other Squallers she attended school with created an acoustic anomaly with their powers and could eavesdrop on people using the air around them. Zoya was able to adapt this to silence sound.
She can also levitate and fly, but she doesn't have the best control over this.
Initially, she was taught that to be a Grisha was to be a conduit, a summoner of the element that she showed aptitude. Since gaining her amplifier from Sankt Juris, and undergoing his tutelage of what Grisha power was in the old days, she's learned Grisha power is actually about connecting with the making at the heart of the world. She is the power. She's capable of more than being a Squaller. She's also a creator, not merely a conduit or summoner of a pre-existing power source.
Since Juris' teachings, Zoya's grasp on her Squaller powers has intensified, and she can create and summon. This has expanded her abilities, and now she can fit inside other Grisha Orders and access different abilities.
Inferni: The ability to manipulate fire. Zoya can create it from nothing. She notes that she must work on this skill as she burns herself.
Tidemaker: The ability to manipulate water. She can control and summon water and moisture from the air or a nearby source. Zoya combines this with her ability to manipulate air.
Durast: She can manipulate metal, glass, textiles and chemicals, although this is her weakest ability thus far. She created her amplifier from Sankt Juris' dragon scales and seared it to her flesh.
Handless/gestureless summoning: Zoya is also one of the few Grisha who can summon her power without using her hands. She taught herself this at a young age.
Zoya can transform into a dragon at will.
As a dragon, she can:
• Fly.
• Breathe fire and lightning.
• Maintain her consciousness as Zoya.
• Talk telepathically to those closest to her.
• Hear far distances, smell the softest of scents, and has a sharp sense of sight.
• Identify Grisha power.
• Empathy, where she can feel the feelings of those around her.
On Zoya's wrist are bracelets made of black scales. It is infused into her skin. This is her amplifier.
As a dragon, Zoya is connected to the heart of the making of the world, meaning that she has an intuitive sense of all things. While it's blatantly stated that she is not telepathic as a dragon, the way this interaction works is easier to describe as telepathy. She can speak to someone in the same way telepathy works. It's confusing!
As a dragon, Zoya has black scales that crackle with blue. Eventually, she will be able to talk as the dragon (like… open her mouth and her voice comes out), but Zoya has a long way to go before being able to achieve such communication.
Sankt Juris of the Sword and the dragon: Juris was one of the old Saints who could turn into a dragon, who lived a very long life as a man-slash-dragon. Before he became one with his dragon, he was a mere Grisha. Because he slew the dragon and bonded with it, giving it a piece of himself as it gave itself to him, Juris connected to the dragon and became one with it, sharing memories, abilities and knowledge.
When Zoya killed Juris (and he, in turn, "killed" her), she bonded with Juris and the dragon. She now has the memories, strength, and knowledge that Juris and the dragon he possessed.
This isn't a case of two beings existing in one body. Juris' consciousness lives on in Zoya, and so does the dragon's. The way I play it is that Zoya possesses Juris' vast knowledge and memories, and has a good sense as to how he would behave in a situation given he was old as balls. (Writing it closely to the book implies he's still alive within her, and that's not how I want to handle things.)
Dragon details:
• She is smaller/petite in size. (Not sure which dragon size to go for yet, but [ ref ].)
• Her accents of blue are complimentary to a clear light blue sky.
• Her dragon silhouette is sharp and crisp.
• Her eyes sometimes flash silver. These are her dragon's eyes.
• She has four legs.
• When she de-transforms the first time, she's wearing some cool armour and pants. For the sake of avoiding her having 4893504 pairs of armour, Zoya's de-transformation will leave her naked. Her de-transformation is painless.
She can manipulate the wind, storms, summon lightning, and manipulate air. She can also crush people's lungs and windpipes using air, and can suffocate people by removing the air from their lungs. She's one of the few who can summon lightning, and uses this to burn her enemies in water and also as CPR.
She and the other Squallers she attended school with created an acoustic anomaly with their powers and could eavesdrop on people using the air around them. Zoya was able to adapt this to silence sound.
She can also levitate and fly, but she doesn't have the best control over this.
Initially, she was taught that to be a Grisha was to be a conduit, a summoner of the element that she showed aptitude. Since gaining her amplifier from Sankt Juris, and undergoing his tutelage of what Grisha power was in the old days, she's learned Grisha power is actually about connecting with the making at the heart of the world. She is the power. She's capable of more than being a Squaller. She's also a creator, not merely a conduit or summoner of a pre-existing power source.
Since Juris' teachings, Zoya's grasp on her Squaller powers has intensified, and she can create and summon. This has expanded her abilities, and now she can fit inside other Grisha Orders and access different abilities.
Inferni: The ability to manipulate fire. Zoya can create it from nothing. She notes that she must work on this skill as she burns herself.
Tidemaker: The ability to manipulate water. She can control and summon water and moisture from the air or a nearby source. Zoya combines this with her ability to manipulate air.
Durast: She can manipulate metal, glass, textiles and chemicals, although this is her weakest ability thus far. She created her amplifier from Sankt Juris' dragon scales and seared it to her flesh.
Handless/gestureless summoning: Zoya is also one of the few Grisha who can summon her power without using her hands. She taught herself this at a young age.
Zoya can transform into a dragon at will.
As a dragon, she can:
• Fly.
• Breathe fire and lightning.
• Maintain her consciousness as Zoya.
• Talk telepathically to those closest to her.
• Hear far distances, smell the softest of scents, and has a sharp sense of sight.
• Identify Grisha power.
• Empathy, where she can feel the feelings of those around her.
On Zoya's wrist are bracelets made of black scales. It is infused into her skin. This is her amplifier.
As a dragon, Zoya is connected to the heart of the making of the world, meaning that she has an intuitive sense of all things. While it's blatantly stated that she is not telepathic as a dragon, the way this interaction works is easier to describe as telepathy. She can speak to someone in the same way telepathy works. It's confusing!
As a dragon, Zoya has black scales that crackle with blue. Eventually, she will be able to talk as the dragon (like… open her mouth and her voice comes out), but Zoya has a long way to go before being able to achieve such communication.
Sankt Juris of the Sword and the dragon: Juris was one of the old Saints who could turn into a dragon, who lived a very long life as a man-slash-dragon. Before he became one with his dragon, he was a mere Grisha. Because he slew the dragon and bonded with it, giving it a piece of himself as it gave itself to him, Juris connected to the dragon and became one with it, sharing memories, abilities and knowledge.
When Zoya killed Juris (and he, in turn, "killed" her), she bonded with Juris and the dragon. She now has the memories, strength, and knowledge that Juris and the dragon he possessed.
This isn't a case of two beings existing in one body. Juris' consciousness lives on in Zoya, and so does the dragon's. The way I play it is that Zoya possesses Juris' vast knowledge and memories, and has a good sense as to how he would behave in a situation given he was old as balls. (Writing it closely to the book implies he's still alive within her, and that's not how I want to handle things.)
Dragon details:
• She is smaller/petite in size. (Not sure which dragon size to go for yet, but [ ref ].)
• Her accents of blue are complimentary to a clear light blue sky.
• Her dragon silhouette is sharp and crisp.
• Her eyes sometimes flash silver. These are her dragon's eyes.
• She has four legs.
• When she de-transforms the first time, she's wearing some cool armour and pants. For the sake of avoiding her having 4893504 pairs of armour, Zoya's de-transformation will leave her naked. Her de-transformation is painless.
impressions.
visual. Lean, hourglass, muscled. Zoya is one of the most attractive people you will ever meet. Her beauty is described as ethereal. She has thick, dark raven black hair and blue eyes. She can wear any colour and any type of clothing and make it look good. She's Big Dick Energy in a woman. She wears two dragon scale bracelets infused into her skin—this is her amplifier. Eight furrowed claw marks marr her back; these scars are ten years old.
attire. Favouring blouses and trousers, Zoya prefers cuts that are sensual and chic while being practical to move about in. She wears boots and heels. She often wears lingerie (for herself!). Zoya favours blue. When dressed up in formal wear, she often goes for something sensual that attracts the eye; she's not afraid to show off her body.
demeanour. In the words of Nikolai: Zoya’s company was like strong drink. Bracing—and best to abstain if you couldn’t handle the kick. Big Dick Energy. Intimidating, incredibly confident. She's quite direct and blunt and can be mean. She's often cynical. Zoya is generous and compassionate, and has a big heart, but she isn't a woman who is hiding some soft, gooey centre beneath her sharpness. She's overly protective of those she cares about, and she will fight you.
aural. Fantasy Russia. She has a British accent. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ She speaks confidently and sometimes impatiently.
olfactory. She smells of wildflowers and ozone.
attire. Favouring blouses and trousers, Zoya prefers cuts that are sensual and chic while being practical to move about in. She wears boots and heels. She often wears lingerie (for herself!). Zoya favours blue. When dressed up in formal wear, she often goes for something sensual that attracts the eye; she's not afraid to show off her body.
demeanour. In the words of Nikolai: Zoya’s company was like strong drink. Bracing—and best to abstain if you couldn’t handle the kick. Big Dick Energy. Intimidating, incredibly confident. She's quite direct and blunt and can be mean. She's often cynical. Zoya is generous and compassionate, and has a big heart, but she isn't a woman who is hiding some soft, gooey centre beneath her sharpness. She's overly protective of those she cares about, and she will fight you.
aural. Fantasy Russia. She has a British accent. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ She speaks confidently and sometimes impatiently.
olfactory. She smells of wildflowers and ozone.
height
5'9
build
Lean
eyes
Blue
hair
Black, thick, long
permissions.
backtags
✓
4th-walling
✗
thread jacks
?
assumed cr
✓
injuries
✓
death
?
physical affection. She'll most likely dropkick you with some wind. If she knows you, go for it.
physical violence. Zoya is a very, very powerful Grisha who originally had the gift of being a Squaller before learning the art of what being a witch truly is. She's also a part of the Second Army, a third of the Grisha Triumvirate, and an incredibly skilled fighter (although, hand-to-hand requires some brushing up since she got lazy and relied on her powers).
shipping. M/F and F/F.
✓✓✓ Nikolai.
✓✓ Genya, Alina, Mal, Darkling.
✓✓ Crosscanon. Whoever she has chemistry with.
That said, I always tag into threads with the expectation things will be gen.
smut. Check out some kinks here. I love writing out smut and am happy to do so if my partner is. I'm down to write anything that isn't animal abuse, gore, mutilation, scat and vore. I'd like to discuss any potential kinks with my thread partner first as character history will greatly impact the best kinks to go for!
psychic information. I'm all good with telepathy, but please take it from the tags. Zoya won't like her mind being read without her permission.
ic offensive subjects. Any Grisha slander, any Ravka slander, any Alina slander (post-Grisha trilogy), any Suli slander, any Nikolai slander, any Genya slander, and any slander that's against people
backtagging. Y! I am a medium-paced tagger and am not always available to tag, so I don't expect my thread partner to be available 24/7, either. I love to boomerang when the opportunity arises. I only really drop threads if they've dwindled into small talk/feel complete or if it's progressing too slowly with a tag once a month.
fourthwalling. No to her being a fictional character. Zoya is well-known in canon as being a powerful Grisha, being a third of the Grisha Triumvirate and being King Nikolai's Commander. I'm more than happy for that legend to be known.
preferences.
• Action spam or prose. For prose, I can do present or past tense.
• I strongly prefer assumed CR as I'm not a fan of writing two characters meeting for the first time unless that's something we agree we want to thread.
• I love being tagged by original characters! If you have info in your journal, it'll make it easier for me to figure out how to write Zoya against them in terms of hooks, character opinions, etc.
timeline. I prefer to mix and match the books and show, while relying heavily on the books for Zoya. She's up to date with the show. I'd prefer to take her from theNikolai Zoya series.
I've read:
✓ Shadow and Bone.
✓ Siege and Storm.
✓ Ruin and Rising.
✓ Six of Crows
✓ Crooked Kingdom.
✓ King of Scars.
✓ Rule of Wolves.
✓ The Lives of Saints.
TBR:
• Demon in the Wood
• The Language of Thorns
interested in. ✓ PSLs. ✓ Slowburn shipping. ✓ Continuity across memes.
I'm more than happy to play against bookverse or showverse versions of characters.
You can hit up her open post or pm me any time if you'd like to psl with me! (I'm open to cold pms and love them!) I love long-term psls.
content warnings. Child bride, child abuse, animal cruelty, grooming, gaslighting, child soldier, sexual assault, war.
physical violence. Zoya is a very, very powerful Grisha who originally had the gift of being a Squaller before learning the art of what being a witch truly is. She's also a part of the Second Army, a third of the Grisha Triumvirate, and an incredibly skilled fighter (although, hand-to-hand requires some brushing up since she got lazy and relied on her powers).
shipping. M/F and F/F.
✓✓✓ Nikolai.
✓✓ Genya, Alina, Mal, Darkling.
✓✓ Crosscanon. Whoever she has chemistry with.
That said, I always tag into threads with the expectation things will be gen.
smut. Check out some kinks here. I love writing out smut and am happy to do so if my partner is. I'm down to write anything that isn't animal abuse, gore, mutilation, scat and vore. I'd like to discuss any potential kinks with my thread partner first as character history will greatly impact the best kinks to go for!
psychic information. I'm all good with telepathy, but please take it from the tags. Zoya won't like her mind being read without her permission.
ic offensive subjects. Any Grisha slander, any Ravka slander, any Alina slander (post-Grisha trilogy), any Suli slander, any Nikolai slander, any Genya slander, and any slander that's against people
backtagging. Y! I am a medium-paced tagger and am not always available to tag, so I don't expect my thread partner to be available 24/7, either. I love to boomerang when the opportunity arises. I only really drop threads if they've dwindled into small talk/feel complete or if it's progressing too slowly with a tag once a month.
fourthwalling. No to her being a fictional character. Zoya is well-known in canon as being a powerful Grisha, being a third of the Grisha Triumvirate and being King Nikolai's Commander. I'm more than happy for that legend to be known.
preferences.
• Action spam or prose. For prose, I can do present or past tense.
• I strongly prefer assumed CR as I'm not a fan of writing two characters meeting for the first time unless that's something we agree we want to thread.
• I love being tagged by original characters! If you have info in your journal, it'll make it easier for me to figure out how to write Zoya against them in terms of hooks, character opinions, etc.
timeline. I prefer to mix and match the books and show, while relying heavily on the books for Zoya. She's up to date with the show. I'd prefer to take her from the
I've read:
✓ Shadow and Bone.
✓ Siege and Storm.
✓ Ruin and Rising.
✓ Six of Crows
✓ Crooked Kingdom.
✓ King of Scars.
✓ Rule of Wolves.
✓ The Lives of Saints.
TBR:
• Demon in the Wood
• The Language of Thorns
interested in. ✓ PSLs. ✓ Slowburn shipping. ✓ Continuity across memes.
I'm more than happy to play against bookverse or showverse versions of characters.
You can hit up her open post or pm me any time if you'd like to psl with me! (I'm open to cold pms and love them!) I love long-term psls.
content warnings. Child bride, child abuse, animal cruelty, grooming, gaslighting, child soldier, sexual assault, war.
WISHLIST.
• I really like conflict brought about by character decisions and baggage. Even with established relationships, I really like it when there's still something to resolve. It makes the writing more worthwhile and juicy. (That said, I kind of don't want to put a bandaid on trauma because it can be fun to explore.)
• Mutual hurt/comfort (I'm okay with one character being more hurt than the other, but I'm not interested in playing 100% comfort nor making anyone else do the same).
• Tropes such as trapped together (in a small room, in a prison cell, in an icy cabin, somewhere hot, etc.), sharing body heat, fake dating, there's only one bed, and soulmates/soulbonds/soulmarks.
• Fake dating/married would be great, especially since Zoya already does fake-sleeping-together.
CANON-SPECIFIC
• I really love Queen Zoya and would love to dabble in her trying to find her feet as a monarch. She has a military background who isn't as charismatic and charming as many of her friends, so seeing her struggle with politics would be fun to play with.
I also love Commander Zoya, and having her as Queen of Ravka and struggling to find a balance between what she's used to being (a soldier) and what she now needs to be (a monarch) would be delicious.
• I'd love to do more dragon stuff and flesh out her relationship with Juris since he's the best Saint ever to live!
The dragon lore in Gregverse isn't very fleshed out, so I want to stick my fingers into it and tear it apart, including exploring Zoya's connection with her powers and even seeing if perhaps she can be like the Avatar kiddos with how they manipulate the elements with their breath, feet, etc.
I also think it would be fun to add body horror to her transformation as well.
• Zoya's a character who easily takes on the comforting role in hurt/comfort scenarios, so I'd love to be able to write out a scene where she's receiving comfort and continues to learn that being vulnerable with those she cares about is a strength and not a weakness.
WITH CASTMATES
• With Nikolais (who are familiar with the books!), I'd also really love to play her as Commander Zoya without her becoming Queen (or her becoming Queen through marriage), or her becoming Queen of Ravka and still leaning heavily on Nikolai to be charming, charismatic, and basically be the King of Ravka without the wedding rings. The two of them make a great team, and Zoya's not one to refuse to acknowledge that.
• With Darklings, I really love the idea of exploring their history together. For those who know the books, I find the Rule of Wolves era to be rich with potential that we ended up not seeing explored outright. These two understand what it's like to want power to protect those they care about, although one goes down a self-destruction path while the other learns from the other's self-destruction.
(I feel it's worth saying I never tag into Darklings intending to have Zoya be aggressive for no reason. There's respect there, even if it's grudging.)
SPECIFIC AUS
• The Hunger Games AU, where she's either a Career or from one of the non-Career districts.
• ASOIAF/GOT AU. Gregverse's worldbuilding has a lot of potential but is nowhere near as detailed as ASOIAF. I'd love to merge the two worlds, add more flavour and complications to Gregverse's politics (it's there, it's just… not as deep) and develop Gregverse's dragon lore with some inspiration from ASOIAF's. It'd be easy to say Ravka is one of the countries outside of Westeros, and with Zoya as Ravka's queen, it'd be easy to say it could be a rebirth of Valyria given she can transform into a dragon (and perhaps have dragons of her own!).
• Lexmas AU. If you've ever seen Smallville, I love the episode where Lex is unconscious and experiences an alternate life where he's happy with Lana. I'd love to do this and shift it into the Gregverse, perhaps even tie it to the Fold in the Zoya books and have it transport her into a different universe where she's happy and married and perhaps not even Commander Zoya. (It could even have some psychological horror in it if that's also your jam.)
• Adventure AU. I'm a huge fan of Jumanji, The Mummy, and Indiana Jones, and I think Zoya would be a lot of fun in a jungle terrain having to hunt down something for the betterment of Ravka. I love the survival elements, and would love someone who's game to throw random things in the form of obstacles into it.
• Yellowjackets AU. I love wilderness survival and even love the creepy supernatural undertone of the Wilderness.
• Challengers AU. Zoya fits Tashi Duncan's character archetype so perfectly, with Ravka being tennis for her. My brainrot loves the toxic dysfunction of Art/Tashi/Patrick, especially the relationship between Tashi/Art where it's so clear she loves tennis and he's so desperately wanting her approval for him to stop living for the two of them. And Patrick is all that love and rage that she feels deep down. Fitting this in with Zoya: her love for Ravka overriding her love for her partner is something that I know will never be explored in Gregverse but I think exploring it as a shield she uses to hide her own wants/desires is delicious. I just love her living vicariously through someone else to get her dream. The brainrot is deep, the idea is paper thin, but whatever, I roll on the vibes of this post.
KINKS
• Scar worship please.
• Breathplay using her powers.