#DEMON POX OH DEMON POX

[sheisntyouspam]

“Demon pox, oh demon pox Just how is it acquired? One must go down to the bad part of town Until one is very tired. Demon pox, oh demon pox, I had it all along— Not the pox, you foolish blocks, I mean this very song— For I was right, and you were wrong!"

my favourite song yk (i have this memorised)

[julianblackthornspancakes]

What was more culturally significant? The Renaissance or the Demon Pox song?

[fairdale]

to william herondale, with love

you have two options when it comes about will.

you can choose to stay in the surface, to think of him as a sassy, sarcastic, superficial and selfish man who doesn't give a shit about anything nor anyone except for jem, who makes insensitive jokes and doesn't care if he hurts people.

or you can choose to know him. the little parts of him that make him wonderful, sweet, delicate and caring. and, oh, how much love will fill your heart when you realise how much he deserves to be loved.

and how much he craves it.

will is sarcastic, yes. he's funny, he pulls off jokes like it's nothing, he makes people laugh, he sings the demon pox song and makes everyone think he's a little crazy.

but he's also the kid who left his family too young because he thought he was cursed and he loved them too much.

he's also the kid who thought no one could ever love him anymore.

he's also the kid who felt terribly lonely after leaving his family.

he's also the kid who wanted jem to be his parabatai so badly he didn't care he was sick and that he would leave him too soon.

he's also the kid who didn't want people too close to him because he loved them and didn't want anything bad to happen to them. jem was different. it wasn't just because he was sick, it's because he was jem. because jem saw who he truly was when no one else did. his heart beat because jem's did as well.

he's also the man who loved to read. the man whose name will still be dancing in the walls of the library centuries later. the man who found a safe place between books.

he's also the man who was so in love with tessa he tried to break the curse after years of living like that, because his love was so pure, so deep, so real, he had to do something.

he's also the man who put his hands into the fire to save jem's yin fen, because he couldn't imagine a life without him. because he didn't want a life without him.

he's also the man who was desperately in love with tessa, but made himself scarce because he couldn't put his own happiness over tessa and jem's. because he saw how good they were to each other.

he's also the man who held jessamine in his arms when she died too young.

he's also the man who let jem go when he told him he didn't want to live like that anymore even though it would forever break him and he would take a part of his soul with him.

he's also the man who went to save tessa even when he felt his heart getting carved out of his chest when jem died.

he's also the man who learned how to have his sister next to him again, the man who went back to his parents even if he were terrified.

he's also the man who made sure tessa never doubted for a second that he was devoted to her.

he's also the man who travelled the world with her and wrote her letters to show his love.

he's also the man who made sure to love his children loudly, to tell them he was proud of them and that they weren't monsters.

he's also the man who fought against injustices in the clave.

he was also the man who died surrounded by his loved ones (because he was, in fact, so loved).

he was also the man watching jem and tessa's wedding dream since the other side of the river, being happy for them.

will was the man with a heart so big he didn't know what to do with all the love he held in it.

when someone asks me, but why do you love him so much? well, how can you not? how, when he tried to love so quietly but he was screaming, when he was trying not to care but he cared more than anyone.

will herondale was, is and forever will be the character i hold closest to my heart, the character who made me laugh, cry and love the most.

"he lies consistently. he always invents the story that will make him look the worst."

"but it was there, in the touch of his hand on her cheek, in the softness of his voice, in his eyes when he looked at her. it was the way she had always dreamed a boy would look at her. but she never dreamed up someone as beautiful as will, not in all her imaginings."

"all my life, since i came to the institute, you were the mirror of my soul. i saw the good in me in you. in your eyes alone i found grace. when you are gone from me, who will see me like that?"

"against his own will, almost, will felt himself understanding; he would have done anything, he thought, told any lie, taken any risk, to make tessa love him. he would have done— almost anything. he would not betray jem for it. that was the one thing he would not do."

"don’t you see, will? you’re a person like me. you are like me. you say the things i think but never say out loud. you read the books i read. you love the poetry i love. you make me laugh with your ridiculous songs and the way you see the truth of everything. "

"when she tilted her head up and brushed his lips with hers, he cupped her face in his hands. so many years, he thought, and each kiss was new as the break of day."

"wo men shi sheng si ji jiao," said will, and he saw jem’s eyes widen, fractionally, and the spark of amusement inside them. "go in peace, james carstairs."

"and in the shadows they’d whispered, reminding each other of the stories only they knew. of the girl who had hit over the head with a water jug the boy who had come to rescue her, and how he had fallen in love with her in that instant."

"she remembered when will had died, her agony, the long nights alone, reaching across the bed every morning when she woke up, for years expecting to find him there, and only slowly growing accustomed to the fact that side of the bed would always be empty."

"i don’t know how to live in the world as a shadowhunter without will. i don’t think I even want to. i am still a parabatai, but my other half is gone. if I were to go to some Institute and ask them to take me in, i would never forget that. i would never feel whole."

"i miss you. we miss you. someday, we'll all be together. not too soon, my angel tessa. i can wait."

...

"my name is herondale," the boy said cheerfully. "william herondale, but everyone calls me will."

[formerheroeswhoquittoolate]

as we all probably know at this point I am extremely normal both about siblings and about the summers family and this post will be no exception! and I wanna talk about the x-men. (and also death. sorry in advance.)

so. at the 2022 hellfire gala, krakoa voted to put alex summers on the x-men. actually, technically, forge said he would only join if alex joined too, presumably to piss scott off. scott doesn't want alex on the x-men! which. is fair.

because the last time alex got put on a krakoan team, it was the hellions. and it went. badly. he -- or the demons in his head (which, by the way, no one has revisited and it's driving me crazy) -- literally blew up an entire building and completely tanked kwannon's chances of ever seeing her daughter again. he had become friends with kwannon. and he lost control and it all went to shit.

and I was so excited to see him on the x-men? because. he's got demons in his head. he's definitely pretty fucked up. and his relationship with scott isn't much better. especially because scott is an overprotective big brother and alex is pissed at basically all of krakoa for not resurrecting madelyne pryor, but especially scott, because he feels like scott didn't push for madelyne's resurrection because he didn't want it. also, alex is less sure about krakoa than scott is. he doesn't have that same faith. and he wasn't included in the grey/summers family Kick The Shit Out Of Stryfe fest that happened earlier. and, perhaps most importantly: they don't trust each other. scott doesn't trust that alex is stable and can handle himself. and alex doesn't trust that scott can be objective when it comes to the people he cares about.

but also. the last time alex and scott were on a team together? yeah. alex sacrificed himself to save scott. he pushed his powers past their limits and just... faded from existence. no wonder scott doesn't want alex on the x-men again. you can't protect your brother if he's going to dissolve from existence trying to protect you, now can you?

and alex is all too aware of how human scott is. for a really long time, he and emma were the only ones who knew the truth about how scott had died in death of x -- not killed in a fight by black bolt, but succumbing to m-pox quietly on muir island days earlier. and even when young scott tells the others about emma's deception, he only knows what magneto did. that scott was dead, and emma was pretending to be him. havok is the only one who emma is honest with about how scott died. not fighting, not as a hero, but sick and suffocating.

of course they can't handle being on an x-men team together. not now. every time they've reunited since avx has ended with one of them dead and the other one being forced to bear witness to it. what are they going to do, talk about it? the last time they had a real conversation was before scott died. they're incapable of actually talking about it. the closest they get is just a plot device to punch through the system containing the children of the vault, anyway.

they're brothers. they'll always be brothers. alex protected emma from medusa. for scott. and scott put psylocke on the hellions. for alex. but it's also hard for them to coexist like this. krakoa is security, safety, everything scott has ever dreamed of. and alex sees it as something else entirely -- after all, one of the first things krakoa did was tell him he was fucked up and put him under the supervision of the man who had experimented on him and scott and eventually separated them. scott and alex haven't agreed on much, but something like this is big. it's what scott has always wanted, and it's hostile to alex. and oh, doesn't that hurt. one brother's paradise is another brother's hell.

at least before krakoa, they were in hell together.

[brothersnackariahsbitch]

In case you missed the full story of the story of Silas Pangborn and Eloisa Ravenscar, here it is: In the Bane Chronicles, Magnus briefly meets Silas and Eloisa. Magnus notes that Silas introduces Eloisa as his parabatai but it reminds him of someone introducing their wife. In The Infernal Devices, Gabriel and Gideon recount a story that their father told them. Silas Pangborn was their uncle on their mother’s side of the family. Silas and Granville Fairchild (Charlotte’s father) were close friends, however Grandville snitched to the Clave that Silas and Eloisa were in love. Because of the events that followed this, Silas killed himself. Benedict Lightwood, manipulated this story though to claim that his wife died of grief from losing her brother to divert from the fact that he killed her from infecting her with demon pox (🎶demon pox oh demon pox🎶). This story comes back in during The Dark Artifices when Silas and Eloisa are mentioned because of Emma and Julian’s situation. They’re basically referred to as a cautionary tale about the consequences of parabatai falling in love.

I definitely missed putting those pieces together on my first read. It wasn’t until my chronological reread that it all clicked. It’s not really anything that consequential to the plots, but it is interesting that this story comes up throughout the series.

[spraypaintstainonawhitewall]

DEMON POX OH DEMON POX

just how is it aquired?

one must go to the bad part of town

til one is very tired

DEMON POX OH DEMON POX

i've had it all along

no not the pox

you foolish blocks

i meant this very song

FOR I WAS RIGHT AND YOU WERE WRONG!

[misc-obeyme]

In fact, there are so many things that could happen to Simeon now that he's become human. His immune system, for example, is probably not as good as an angel's, and there are probably a lot of human diseases he's never caught. He'll probably spend the first few months getting sick and catching every virus around.He'll probably end up with weaker bones too and he'll inevitably end up hurting himself more easily, after all, I've already sprained my ankle because I slipped on wet ground. 1/3 -^^

Ahh, it's so true, there's a ton of potential!

I hadn't considered the state of his immune system, but it could definitely be compromised as a new human. I would like to think he'd have some resistance but really where would he have gotten anything like that? Can you imagine MC taking care of Simeon after he's caught something like the chicken pox? Oh man or the flu?? MC just doting on him and him being like what no I'm fine this is nothing but then it totally wipes him out lol. Poor guy.

And yeah he better be careful with those human bones. I tripped in a parking lot once and sprained my ankle, so it's not difficult to do.

I also think MC is a special circumstance. They've had all the brothers protecting them from the very beginning.

But if we consider that Simeon has been human since the start of OG season three, he was spending all that time in the human world trying to figure all this stuff out. And he had Luke, but Luke didn't even know about it, right? Now I can't remember for sure, but I don't think he did. I mean if Simeon can't even tell MC the truth I doubt he could tell Luke.

I like to think that Solomon was keeping an eye on him during that time. Certainly there isn't as much he would need to worry about in the human world as compared to the Devildom. And we saw in season four how both Solomon and Lucifer went out of their way to protect Simeon.

I like to think that Simeon wouldn't be dumb and would try to keep himself out of danger, but he also can't just quarantine himself forever or anything. He doesn't have a bunch of demons to protect him and he's also not technically a part of the exchange program anymore. I think both of those things matter in the case of MC's safety. Simeon also isn't a sorcerer, which MC is. So really he's at a huge disadvantage compared to MC, I think.

Personally I really love the idea of Simeon coming to terms with his new reality only because MC is there to help him through it. Solomon can help, too. Who better to help Simeon understand how to be a human than two humans who love him??

[imminentinertia]

How to get me to nope the fuck out of a fic part 172: Doing Profanity Wrong

Please don't. I'm begging here. I'll do it Ray style if it helps.

First, let's talk a bit about types of profanity. Just so you know, there will be a bit of vulgar language here (in case that first "fuck" in the title of the post didn't turn you off already).

I'm not going into the functions of profanity, the why we use it and how we use it to achieve our goals for using it, Steven Pinker's The Stuff of Thought is a good starting point for functions if you're interested. What I'm most interested in right now is the what.

The what is often a taboo of some sort, like mocking something sacred, referring to body parts that are considered filthy, fears of invoking dangerous situations like illness or natural disasters. The words used can be grouped into these categories*:

Sex

Religion

Bodily functions

Disease

(Derogatory terms may be considered a function, the why is to cause harm, but it tends to contain terms that don't always belong in the four other categories, and those four tend to bleed into this. I consider it a fifth category of types of words)

Languages and cultures don't use these categories in the same ways. For instance, there's very little left of disease swearing in English ("a pox on you" sounds just a tiny bit outdated, wouldn't you say) but it's alive and kicking in Danish (all word constructions with the word "kraft" refers to cancer, and there are a lot of those constructions). The British Isles and Denmark are pretty close geographically and not enormously different culturally, but the swearing takes different routes.

English uses a hell of a lot of religious profanity. East and South East Asian languages, not so much. There are examples, like mara (まら), a quite rude Japanese word for dick that has its root in the demon Mara (I don't know the precise etymology, but it's possible it has to do with temptation), but it's not anywhere near as prevalent as in Christianity-heavy cultures.

Which means that "for Buddha's sake" does not, I repeat NOT, work as local colour swearing. At. All.

It really is not a problem if you write an English profanity in an English sentence, in your English fic set in a culture that isn't in the Anglosphere. Don't worry about it - the point is that the story needs to flow well, and trying to fit in unfamiliar swearing is likely to end up stiff and awkward.

What you might want to think about is the categories. It's not that E/SE Asians never say "oh my God" or "fuck" in English, we who have other mother tongues often like a bit of English profanity mixed in with our native language, but the patterns for when to swear in English may be different.

So if you pay a bit of attention to how the shows are translated and what swearing choices are made (disregard the bowdlerised translations on fudging IQIYI entirely) and what category the characters seem to use the most, it becomes easier to make the story flow well without anglofying it too much (brimming with "oh my God") or stumbling in asiafying your own language ("oh my Buddha").

Sex and bodily functions tend to be safe bets because there are a number of taboos regarding both in so many cultures they're probably near-universal and only differs in exactly how they're used, but trying to make that super authentic for the source language and culture doesn't necessarily fit well into the language you're writing.

In other words, "shit" and "fuck" and such are likely to work fine for anything.

Also, there are a number of ways to be rude as fuck without uttering a single vulgar word. You can be rude while speaking and acting very politely, even. That's not something that's easy to show in a fic, it's easier to tell it ("he's speaking very politely yet it's the rudest thing she's ever heard"). Not to mention that it's easy to get it wrong when it's a culture you don't know extremely well, so a little vague telling is likely to make your story smoother than a detailed description of a rudeness situation.

The point is that one of the characters is rude to another, and that can be communicated well to the readers in several ways.

*Sources what sources. Actually there are lots of sources, but they tend to leave out disease. This is how I categorise and I'm sure there are researchers who agree with me, somewhere.

[marrr444]

Nobody:

Me: What? No, I don't know Will's demon pox song by heart what are you talking about?

Nobody:

Literally nobody:

...

Me: Demon pox oh demon pox

Just how it is acquired?

One must go to the bad parts of town

Until one is very tired

Demon pox oh demon pox

I've had it all along.

No, not the pox you foolish blocks

I mean this very song

For I was right and you were wrong!

[im-out-of-it]

PSA: JUST AN ANTI WILL RANT SO IF YOU LIKE HIM YOU PROBABLY SHOULD EXIT AND ALSO COMMENTS ABOUT GABRIEL DESERVING BETTER

“why would Gabriel Lightwood hate you, Will?” Tessa asked as they went. “what did you do to him?”

excellent question Tessa. now would be a good idea to I don’t know, maybe make your own judgment on this little interaction?????

“It wasn’t anything I did to him,” Will said, stalking along at a rapid place. “It was something I did to his sister.”

now that we have this little piece of evidence, we see that Will instigated their beef first. Gabriel didn’t come after Will, Will hurt Gabriel’s sister and now you’ve got me defending Tatiana FUCKING HELL

and yes we learn later that Tatiana had a crush but what Will did was cruel and yet gabriel gets blamed when he has enough of Will’s actions

“Did you? Compromise her virtue, I mean”- Tessa

it’s funny that Will doesn��t answer this question, he does start to talking about Benedict

“and as for Gabriel’s father, let’s say that he has something of a reputation for liking demons and downworlders more than he should. I would be surprised if some of the elder lightwood’s nocturnal visits to certain houses in shadwell haven’t left him with a nasty case of demon pox.”

see, this is one of the main problems of Will. he’s literally telling Tessa basically that it’s a problem to like downworlders more than they should. Tessa, in case you aren’t aware but you are a downworlder. basically saying that they don’t deserve to be treated with respect- I may be grasping at straws but he could’ve left out downworlders and said demons and nothing much of it would have been thought badly on his part

also let’s just make shit up about some of the elder lightwoods or whatever. Will isn’t clarifying it’s only Benedict and maybe this is on the writing but some of the elder LIGHTWOOD’s meaning plural. will acts as if the whole Lightwood family murdered his own like for fucks sake I get Gabriel can be vexing in his dark moods but if you had someone hurting your sister and then constantly coming for ya, yeah I could see why that would make you more upset

but let’s analyze- Will won’t say what he did to Gabriel’s sister and now he’s outed himself as showing disgust for someone who prefers downworlders

so much for the accords when you have young shadowhunters thinking downworlders lives are nothing. and he may not say it the way I do but he could’ve let them out but he felt inclined to include them. I wouldn’t be surprised if none of the shadowhunters had romantic ties with the downworlders with the way they speak about them. Charlotte goes on and on how de Quincey has betrayed them but has she actually been kind and respectful and treated him as a person????

I’m sorry but I don’t think the downworlders are getting treated with any respect. “oh we stopped hunting you but y’all still won’t have any rights and we can still find a way to execute you”. there’s not any equality when it comes to downworlders lives and the rights they supposedly have

and oh “Gabriel is so awful” (Tessa- “so awful”) yet she hears Jem talk about compromising virtue and HE SAYS NOTHING ABOUT IT. wouldn’t that be concerning?

like this girl is getting so many red flags 🚩 thrown at her and she’s like what a fun parade we’re at!!!!!

I don’t get how anyone can like Will. I don’t care if he has a fake curse. I don’t care if he had to run from home. I’m so tired and fed up with people using trauma as an excuse to be a shitty person. and CC has made a pattern and habit of doing this whole showing zero improvement. he doesn’t treat mostly anyone with any respect. he’s lucky he has Jem because Jem is the only fucking thing likable about him

Gabriel doesn’t deserve this reputation of getting shit on when Will is the one that came after his family first. he could’ve let Tatiana down gently but he decided to be cruel. like no wonder Gabriel (and possibly Gideon) can’t stand Will’s ass

[sheisntyouspam]

"Bloodthirsty little beasts. Never trust a duck.”

“Ah,” said a voice from the doorway, “having your annual ‘everyone thinks Will is a lunatic’ meeting, are you?

“Demon pox, oh demon pox Just how is it acquired? One must go down to the bad part of town Until one is very tired. Demon pox, oh demon pox, I had it all along— Not the pox, you foolish blocks, I mean this very song— For I was right, and you were wrong!"

[julianblackthornspancakes]

[fairdale]

no one:

literally no one:

will: demon pox, oh, demon pox-

[edwinspaynes]

Ask game but Men Who Suck edition: Benedict Lightwood, Nathaniel Gray, and Mortmain

Oh GOD.

Mortmain for the elevator. He won't turn into a pox-ridden demon and, while rapey and terrible, has a specific target he's looking to fuck up for specific reasons. He wouldn't bother me and maybe I could call the cops on him.

Nate Gray for the McDonald's because I don't want Benedict's pox-ridden ass anywhere near the food.

I guess that leaves Benedict as a lab partner. Sucks, but maybe he knows some stuff about rare diseases because... well.

[enjomo-arch]

𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗚𝗦  𝗧𝗛𝗔𝗧  𝗥𝗘𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗗  𝗬𝗢𝗨  𝗢𝗙  𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥  𝗠𝗨𝗦𝗘  :

♠️  mean  ass  drunk  -  watsky  

Gotta say, i'll be skippin' what you got for the day  //  Maybe you'll be thinking that i'm hot in the head  //  Or I'm sick of picking on my chicken pox in the bed  //  You can think what you like  //  I think i'll take a hike  //  Has anybody told you you're a mean ass drunk? //

♠️  blood  //  water  -  grandson

Look me in my eyes  //  Tell me everything's not fine  //  Oh, the people ain't happy  //  And the river has run dry  //  We'll never get free Lamb to the slaughter  //  What you gon' do when there's blood in the water?

♠️  burn  it  to  the  ground  -  nickelback

We're screaming like demons  //  Swinging from the ceiling  //  I got a fist full of fifties  //  Tequila just hit me  //  Oh, we got no class, no taste  //  No shirt, and shit faced  //  We got it lined up, shot down  //  We're going till the world stops turning  //  While we burn it to the ground tonight

♠️  dancing  with  the  dead  -  one  hope

I'm dancing with the dead again  //  I don't think you'll forgive my sin  //  So I'll cross my heart and hope to live  //  'Cause I'm desperate for the touch of life  //  Fight these thoughts I'll never fly  //  I know I'm worth more than I try  //  I'm dancing again  //  Come dance with my friends

♠️  play  with  fire  -  sam  tinnesz

Rite of passage, classic havoc  //  Match in the gas tank, ooh, that's wretched  //  Unstoppable, legendary animal  //  Digital justice, now you're gonna know us  //  I've always liked to play with fire

♠️  you  know  what  they  do  to  guys  like  us  in  prison  -  MCR

In the middle of a gunfight  //  In the center of a restaurant  //  They say, "Come with your arms raised high"  //  Well, they're never gonna get me  //  Like a bullet through a flock of doves  //  Pain in my heart for your dying wish  //  I'll kiss your lips again

♠️  and  to  those  i  love  thanks  for  sticking  around  -  $B

Never really felt like I belonged  //  So I'll be on my way  //  And I won't be long  //  I'll be dead by dawn  //  What the fuck do I do, when sabotage is all I know?  //  Oh, I done dug myself my own grave in this hole, oh no, whoa, whoa

♠️  cannonball  -  8  graves

You're right, I'm good for nothing  //  I make the same mistakes a thousand times  //  Can't say you're wrong to judge me I burst into flames and run in blind  //  Wildfire, light it up and burn it all  //  Dead and I know it, set on exploding

tagged ; @feufist �� ♡ tagging ; you steal it !

[anthony-sharma]

Six of Crows Reread - Ch. 12

Now another Inej chapter!

_

Chapter 12: Inej

“The view from above was disturbing. The Dregs were outnumbered, and there were men working their way around their left and right flanks. Kaz had been right to keep their real point of departure a secret from the others. Someone had talked. Inej had tried to keep tabs on the team, but someone else in the gang could have been snooping. Kaz had said it himself: Everything in Ketterdam leaked, including the Slat and the Crow Club.”

Yeah, unfortunately for Inej, it was one person from their own team who leaked information...

“The cargo containers were stacked like a pyramid here. If she could make it up just one, she could hide herself on the first level. Just one. She could climb or she could stand there and die.

She willed her mind to clarity and hopped up, fingertips latching onto the top of the crate. Climb, Inej. She dragged herself over the edge onto the tin roof of the container.”

Damn, my girl’s willpower is certainly something! It would be so easy to just lie there and let herself die. Of course, Kaz wouldn’t let her just die, but you get the point. 

“Just one more. But she couldn’t. Couldn’t push to her knees, couldn’t reach, couldn’t even roll. It hurt too much. Climb, Inej.

“I can’t, Papa,” she whispered. Even now she hated to disappoint him.”

I love how present her parents are to her, even though she hasn’t seen them in quite a while. They’re still present in the decisions she makes and in how she decides to conduct herself in the books. I think it’s also part of the reason why she sticks to her ideals so strongly.

“The rasp of stone on stone. Her eyes flew open. Kaz.”

He bundled her into his arms and leaped down from the crates, landing roughly, his bad leg buckling.”

I’ve seen in fics and I think maybe in headcanons too that the “raspiness” of Kaz’s voice is a sideeffect from the pox that he and Jordie suffered as a child, but I don’t remember if that is ever confirmed in canon or if that’s just something the fans came up with. If any of you guys know, please, drop a comment about it. 

But also...OMG, he bundles her into his arms? Like, I know this is a life or death kind of situation but still? Inej being so tiny and being bundled into Kaz’s arms? I’m screaming!!?

“I don’t want to die.”

“I’ll do my best to make other arrangements for you.”

She closed her eyes.

“Keep talking, Wraith. Don’t slip away from me.”

“But it’s what I do best.”

He clutched her tighter. “Just make it to the schooner. Open your damn eyes, Inej.”

She tried. Her vision was blurring, but she could make out a pale, shiny scar on Kaz’s neck, right beneath his jaw. She remembered the first time she’d seen him at the Menagerie. He paid Tante Heleen for information – stock tips, political pillow talk, anything the Menagerie’s clients blabbed about when drunk or giddy on bliss. He never visited Heleen’s girls, though plenty would have been happy to take him up to their rooms. They claimed he gave them the shivers, that his hands were permanently stained with blood beneath those black gloves, but she’d recognised the eagerness in their voices and the way they tracked him with their eyes.”

Omg, I know we get his POV later in the book about how he felt in this moment, but I can just imagine him carrying Inej to the boat and being so freaking terrified that he’s gonna lose her because of Jesper that, although I do not condone how he treats Jesper later on, I definitely understand where he’s coming from. 

Also, can we just appreciate how people in the Menagerie (but I am sure not only them) have the hots for Kaz Brekker? Like, we get throughout the books remarks about his haircut from Nina and about how he’s a “demon” from Matthias, but really, he just seems to be a good-looking 17 year old who a lot of people have the hots for. 

“Talk to me, Wraith.”

“You came back for me.”

“I protect my investments.”

Investments. “I’m glad I’m bleeding all over your shirt.”

Oh Kaz, not the investment thing again! Of course, the poor guy is so emotionally constipated that he’s not capable to admit his feelings for her, but daaamn, that’s cold. But also, I appreciate how Inej is in the verge of dying and can still manage to be sassy with still sasses Kaz. 

On another note, there’s this tiny thing here that reinforces what the book mentions later, where it says that Inej is always trying to salvage little pieces of humanity from Kaz and making him seen decent. By saying “you came back for me”, it’s almost like a “you care enough about me to come back” and then he’s like “Nah, you’re an investment” and it’s like damn it, Kaz! You can stop being an asshole for a second. That’s allowed, you know?

Anyway, that’s it for chapter 12. Next up, we get into Kaz’s thoughts once more!