#and don't even get me started about kanej at the end

[lunarthecorvus]

Six Of Crows College/University Modern AU fanfiction recommendations part of Lunar's soc fanfiction rec series

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Birds of a Feather by @sc11vb

Wordcount: 8.8k Chapters: 6/? (It's still being updated:)

Characters: Nina Zenik, Inej Ghafa, Kaz Brekker, Matthias Helvar, Jesper Fahey, Wylan Van Eck, Zoya Nazyalensky, Nikolai Lanstov, Tolya Yul-Bataar, Leoni Hilli, Alina Starkov, Maleyn Oretsev, Background & Cameo Characters

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - College/University, Friendship/Love, Plot What Plot, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Fluff without Plot

Author's summary/notes: “You know what they say, ‘trouble is my middle name’.” “Your middle name is Deirdre,” Inej said. “Don’t remind me,” Nina groaned. My summary/notes: In this fic we have a years worth of Kanej pining and currently there is some drama between those two, let's just say the angst is angsting. We have some other grishaverse characters featuring in the fic as well, there's established helnik and established wesper. I love Nina so much and in typical modern!au Nina fashion she comes up with a plan to stop the Kanej pining and it certainly is a plan... Nina and Inej's friendship very important in this fic (as it should be) and its written so well.

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I Like You a Latte by sevenofcrows

Wordcount: 45k Chapters: 28/? (Hasn't been updated since Janurary but the last chapter works well and doesn't end on a cliffhanger)

Characters: Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Jesper Fahey, Wylan Van Eck, Nina Zenik

Tags: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shop & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - College/University, Kaz Brekker Needs a Hug, Kaz Brekker is Bad At Feelings, Texting, Fluff, Tooth-Rooting Fluff, rated explicit but the chapters are marked + not related to the plot, so the explicit parts can be ignored

Author's summary/notes: "Kaz Brekker was not your usual college student. He didn't leave assignments until the last day, he didn't stress over finals, he never left the house in sweatpants and a t-shirt. He was always put together, dressed in jeans and a properly ironed shirt, the answer keys to his next three exams hidden away in his computer and essays already written even before they were assigned. He didn't leave things to chance. If you asked any of his friends, they would call him a control freak. He liked to say he was born to be in charge. So, seeing him rush into a coffee shop with his hair messed up and shirt wrinkled was a once in a lifetime event." What happens when Kaz Brekker meets Inej Ghafa, a bright eyed barista who seems to read his mind when it comes to his drink orders? They fall in love, of course. This is the story of what happens in between. My summary/notes: You ever get that fic that you don't entirely remember whats it about because you haven't read it in a while but when you read the title the flush of serotonin and you just start to smile because you just remember that it was SO GOOD, this is one of those fics for me. Honestly the author's summary is just perfect, but heres some notes. The recipe thing is so cute, the kanej here is so adorable, Inej with the doodles is again so cute. The last thing I will say is they're both down so bad, especially Kaz.

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honey, honey by halfahint

Wordcount: 21k Chapters: 3/3

Characters: Inej Ghafa, Kaz Brekker, Nina Zenik, Matthias Helvar, Wylan Van Eck, Jesper Fahey

Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - College/University, POV Inej Ghafa, Friends With Benefits (sort of), To explain the Friends With Benefits tag it basically means that they agree to work on healing their respective touch phobia together, Intimacy, (but also emotional intimacy, feelings are hard

Author's summary/notes: “Look,” Nina says. Inej has startled her badly enough that she’s made a mess of her eyeliner – the wing on her right eye careens wildly to one side. “I’m all for reclaiming your sexuality. Seriously. Two thumbs up from me. But, honestly, Inej, does it have to be with the most emotionally unavailable man you know?” “Well, who would you suggest?” Nina’s eyes bulge. “Oh, I don’t know, literally anyone with a pulse and a conscience?” “Kaz has – “We don’t know that,” Nina says sternly. My summary/notes: A story of healing as Kaz and Inej work on their touch phobia and while doing that they fall harder for eachother (they already knew eachother 2 years before the events of the fic). They have some cute moments. The crows dynamics in this fic are showed so perfect, it defintely reminds me of book!crows.

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You'll Be With Me Wherever I Go by @rupturedhaven

Wordcount: 35k Chapters: 18/? (It's still being updated:)

Characters: Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Jesper Fahey, Wylan Van Eck, Nina Zenik, Matthias Helvar, Genya Safin, Maleyn Orestev, Nikolai Lanstov, Zoya Nazyalensky

Tags: Six Of Crows AU, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - College/University, Grishaverse, Texting, Drunk Texting, Chatting & Messaging, Fluff, Background Relationships, Background Characters Freeform, Slowburn, minimal angst

Author's summary/notes: It's their last year of university, and Jesper has insisted on starting a new group chat. There's chaos. There's bickering. There's friendship. There's love. Six of Crows texting fic. My summary/notes: Ok, ok, I love Rupturedhaven's fics, they write brilliantly so recommending this fic was a must. In this fic you get to see more of the Wylan and Matthias friendship dynamic. There is of course some Kanej pining after eachother and the latest chapter-. A TON of Wesper flirting and you get to see them go from friendship to lov- as well as going into some of Jesper's troubles. The Nina and Kaz dynamic in this fic is definitely siblingly and I adore it. Helnik also develops in this fic and we get to see them be as amazing as ever but also go through a couple problems but nothing can ever stop Helnik those two are so adorable in this fic. I was about to write about the amazing Nina and Inej friendship in this fic but I'm going to finish off by saying that all the friendships in this fic are just beautiful.

[hourglass-full-of-stars]

the reason why the whole pekka Rollins burying son scene didn’t quite work because of 1. lack of buildup, 2. change of audience, 3. change of plot/lack of outsider factors

*disclaimer: while i am writing out this whole thing, freddy carter killed it with this scene, and yet here i am

1. lack of buildup

In the books, it’s literally doesn’t even seem like the climax because you don’t see it coming. according to what the crows knew, it wasn’t the plan. it was the whole fake auction where they would auction up kuwei and trick everyone. and I see where they got the whole thing of pretending Kaz was caught, they replaced him with kuwei in that way because it was a similar thing. but it doesn’t work as well because while we’ve seen Pekka in the show before, and now Kaz’s backstory, I think we don’t quite see the whole “brick by brick” thing as much as the book emphasizes. Kaz legit lets Pekka out of the ice court because his death belongs to him (side note is this why they put him in hellgate?), and he even goes to him at the end of the first book to make a deal with him to get inej back. it’s also less powerful for the other crows because by that point in the book, pekka had clearly aligned himself with Van Eck— a common enemy. and the whole thing was to be able to get their money back. inej hasn't been kidnapped, the crows haven't made the deal with pekka, and they missed the part where kaz started a whole plague. all of that happens before the son scene, and it all builds and builds. it's really the scene you think it's almost over, but then this happens. and that leads me to my next point

2. change of audience

in the books, it was just pekka, a couple of his men, inej and kaz. there were no other crows, and there was no audience. because kaz didn't need to humiliate rollins in front of everyone, he needed him destroyed, and for that destruction to be able to ruin his reputation and force him out of town. and, as per usual, i will make everything about kanej, but this is a key kanej scene towards the end. first of all, kaz only trusts inej to bring her with him when he's talking about what happened in his past because no way would he say that stuff in front of everyone. he's got a reputation to keep. he only brought inej, nina and jesper were not there. he trusts her, but it also shows that despite the whole two books, he would still do something "she would not forgive him [for]" inej gets to see how he has changed, but also how he still needed this vengeance- still needed to bring rollins down in his own way. inej gets to hear what happened, and how it goes out. it was so....intimate between these few people, and it had to be this way to hit. even the first part of six of crows is called "shadow business" and that's more or less how it ended with this scene

3. lack of outside factors/change of plot

this goes along with the lack of buildup, but this is what's going on at the same time. every other member of the crows has something else going on as and before this was happening. we don't get jesper's whole thing with the grisha on parem, we don't have kuwei seemingly "died." the chaos of the auction isn't there, it's not as much stuff. also not only immediate outside factor, but we're also missing a key point that they took out of the "bathroom scene" and put into this scene. kaz tells inej he's paid off her indenture in the bathroom scene, but in the show, he has pekka fix it because of the weird thing they did with inej's whole plot. it's weird, and it's out of character for him. especially by now, kaz has learnt and relearnt that you know she's his tell. it got her kidnapped at the end of six of crows, and it would have gone badly if he had done that in front of everyone instead of just them. the scene just falls flat. we also don't get to see how it parallels the very first scene with kaz when he threatens geels (i think that's his name?) with the whole killing his mistress thing, but it was a bluff. just like this.

tl;dr: you can't put a scene that's at the end of two books without even having done the plot of the first one.

[blues-valentine]

S&B SEASON 2: THOUGHTS *a long ride*

I have conflicting emotions about that ending and overall how the whole season was handled for both SOC/S&B respectivelly.

First, I knew that I was going to be disappointed because they would mix S&S and R&R but this was a lot messier than I gave them the credit for. It left little room to develop Alina’s story line beyond the superficial. It felt to me like they were just trying to develop Nikolai for the KOS spin off and this seems unfair for Alina. She deserved her own time and it felt like they were just rushing to get her plot done.

I get TGT is not the most interesting and that the other books have been superior but it’s the start of the grishaverse and it sustains a lot of important things they just skipped over. Alina and her crew (Mal, Genya, Zoya, David, etc) deserved the time to breathe and their own exploration. Alina’s need/greed for power, the political aspect and her religious influence was glossed over and not developed further. Season 2 should’ve ended with Alina’s failed attempt to fully take down Darkling and being taken by the Apparat and therefore forced to become a religious pawn because this was an interesting aspect to Alina but also Tolya and Tamar, who ultimately were just there to fill the space in Nikolai’s story line and didn't get to explore that side.

Another thing about this season is that everything happened in such an anticlimatic way. Mal's amplifier reveal, Genya's backstory about the royal family and just so much that was more impactful in the books. David was killed off too soon. He didn't even get to marry Genya. Zoya deserved so much more and i'll hate it if I don't ever see her get to rule Ravka. Tolya and Tamar weren't given the level of depth I was expecting with their devotion to Alina. It was just too messy for me. I do think the season managed to improve some stuff. I think she Shu Han aspect was an interesting thing to add.

Don't even get me started with SOC because I feel like they have included basically everything so when the spin off does end up happening (we need good numbers for season 2 first) so many plots are not even going to happen. They took so many CK moments but without the right context so that didn't make it feel as impactful as it should've been. The actors truly did everything with those scenes especially with the Kanej scenes but it would've been so much better to have the full implications of what it means for their development. I wasn't too happy with how Inej's plot was handled. Literally we had CK before we even got SOC. And can we speak about the ableism with Kaz and his cane? Please.

Now, with that ending. I get what they had to change it. If they were to go with the R&R ending then there won't be actual story line for Alina and Mal. I’m still trying to understand why they couldn’t just use 3 seasons for the 3 books and wait to do the spins off, but I get that business is a whole different thing. So, that ending, like the whole season, it was rushed. You couldn't even feel sad because everything was happening so fast. The fact that Tolya and Tamar weren't the ones trying to bring Mal back to life was a shame because the friendship between Mal and Tolya was everything in the books. Alina clearly took part of Darkling's merzost powers to bring Mal back to life and this will cause her power corruption. But, the whole poison thing was so weird? This is a way to link the SOC characters and the KOS plot together but it's just so weird. About Malina’s ending, they did this to extend their arc in the show (x). I don't dislike the idea of them parting for a while until they get back to each other I just hated the way it felt too strange for both of them. I would have taken Mal asking Alina for time to be on it's own but not that weird excuse about his powers. And then, Alina had a whole struggle on R&R because she did not want to be a queen, because she wanted to be married for love and not for alliance. That Alina felt like a fanfic, not the real one. I have my own thoughts on where her story line will go for Season 3 (if there's one) and it could be interesting if executed right but I'm not too sure about that.

The season was far from perfect. It was messy and rushed. From both sides they skipped vital moments and interactions that could've made so many of the scenes have more sense and feel impactful. But I still would want a Season 3 and for those spin offs to be green lighted because those actors are too talented to lose for this.

[eggsaladstain]

I just love the way you write, so gonna pick your brain here: why do you think people are so drawn to Darklina? Is it the tragedy of it? The gothic aspect to it? The darkness (funnily enough) of it? Or is it just the chemistry between the actors? Thoughts?

hi anon, thanks for reading and thanks for the ask! i've been sitting on this for a bit because i don't really ship darklina and thus don't have many thoughts about them but then once i started thinking about them i couldn't stop so here we are.

i can't speak for anyone else but for me personally what i love about this pairing is the tension and symbolism and the epic two-halves-of-a-whole vibe they've got going on and there are also some interesting parallels between darklina and kanej, so despite not actively shipping it, i genuinely think it's one of the most interesting ships in the entire grishaverse and certainly the most complex and complicated relationship alina has.

i'll talk about both the books and the show because i think they each do a good job showing different aspects of their relationship, and i actually kind of think you need to take the books and show together to get the complete picture of this compelling if ultimately doomed ship.

please know, anon, that when i opened this ask, i had planned on a pretty short answer and then i ended up writing 2k words about this because yes, apparently i do have thoughts and yes, that is a threat.

let's dive in.

at its core, darklina is about the attraction and balance between opposites. he summons shadows, she summons light, they're two sides of the same coin, they're made for each other! but then we find out that the darkling is actually manipulating alina, that he's the one who created the fold, that he's her enemy, and instead of sinking the ship, it actually makes it even better because you get that added tension and forbidden attraction between good and evil, between the hero and villain.

in the books, their relationship goes from romantic to adversarial to the mutual understanding that they have a connection to each other that they will never have with anyone else. for all its faults (and there are many), the original trilogy does a fantastic job fleshing out alina's relationship with the darkling and showing the love, the animosity, and above all else, the undeniable pull between them. we really get a sense of alina's acute loneliness and desire to belong somewhere, not just before she discovers her powers, but even after she comes into her power and learns that despite her new tribe with the grisha, she's still different, she's still ultimately alone. it's no wonder then that she would be so drawn to the darkling, who understands her loneliness, who gives her the attention she craves, who looks at her like she is something special. even after she finds out the truth about him, she continues to reach for him through their tether because despite the manipulation and lies, he is still the only one who truly understands the weight that she carries, he is still the only one who truly sees and embraces the darkness within her. he's her mirror image, reflecting not only her capacity for good and her desire to save ravka, but also showing her her darkest desires and instincts.

their relationship doesn't have nearly as much nuance in the show, and i get it, they only had a limited number of episodes, but the decision to turn darklina into a one-sided obsession on the darkling's part in season 2 was a big misstep in my opinion. in the books, their relationship is built on a mutual longing between both of them and even when alina finally kills him, she still grieves for him, says his name, and sees him through his final moments so he's not alone at the end. i've written before how much i love the subversive ending of ruin and rising and i especially love the closure we get in the relationship between alina and the darkling. it's a pyrrhic victory, not a triumphant one, and the darkling's death is very much a loss for alina. she does not kill him because of vengeance or to save the world, she kills him as a mercy, to put an end to his relentless suffering. the final book also acknowledges, crucially, that while the evil is ultimately defeated, this evil was not some monster or demon but a flesh and blood man, a boy.

in the books, alina is in her late teens and while the darkling is centuries old, he looks to be only a few years older than her. i understand why they chose to age up the characters on the show and ben barnes is fantastic as the darkling, but the fact that they were visibly closer in age in the original trilogy means there was less of an overt power imbalance between them because while the darkling was still the leader of the second army, he was also a bit more approachable due to his appearance of youth. not only that, their relationship in the books has an innocence that it doesn't really have in the show because a 17 year old girl being friendly and flirting with a 20 year old boy is fundamentally different from a 25 year old woman pursuing a relationship with a 39 year old man.

a younger darkling is also SO much more tragic, especially since his entire character can be summed up in this absolute banger of a quote from ruin and rising: in this moment he was just a boy - brilliant, blessed with too much power, burdened by eternity. the tragedy of the darkling is that he was forced to bear the burden of his power and persecution when he was just a boy and he had to continue bearing that burden for centuries, and it's so much more tragic to see a life cut short at 20 vs 40 because of that innocence that we associate with youth, even if that youth is an illusion and even (and especially) if that innocence is a lie. the tragedy of the darkling is that he had so much power but at his core, he was just a lost, lonely boy, and it makes him a much better foil for alina because, had she not lost her power in the books, she may have gone down the same path and that quote could have just as easily applied to her.

now, having said all this, the show, for all it faults (and there are also many), does a much better job (more so in season 1) of humanizing the darkling. part of that is just due to the books being written in alina's POV, meaning we never really know how the darkling actually feels, so being able to see the darkling's actions and motivations through a more objective perspective in the show goes a long way in fleshing out his character. the other part is, of course, ben barnes and the way he highlighted the tragedy in the darkling's story and tried his best to elevate the character above a typical villain, despite the season 2 script doing him no favors. in the books, we only see the darkling through alina's lens so we don't ever truly know how he actually feels about her, but the show makes it very clear that the darkling's feelings for alina are real. maybe it starts out as manipulation, but the power imbalance between them very quickly turns in her favor as it becomes clear that he needs her, desperately, in a way that she doesn't really need him. alina may have felt lonely for 20-some years of her life, but for the darkling, it's been centuries. it's centuries of loss and persecution that have made him who he is, and it's no wonder then that he would be drawn to alina, a literal light in the darkness, and see her as his salvation.

as i mentioned earlier, the show makes their relationship much more one-sided with the darkling refusing to let alina go, even after she hurts him, even as she hates him. in their final confrontation after the fold, he knows she is there to kill him, but when his nichevo'ya has her by the throat, he tries frantically to stop it because in spite of everything he's done, all the atrocities he's committed, the one thing he will never do is kill her. he certainly doesn't deserve a pat on the back for this and his behavior towards her is objectively bad and creepy, but it also shows just how all-consuming his desperation is. after centuries of searching, he has finally found someone who is like him, and he cannot bring himself to give her up, no matter the cost to himself, no matter the cost to her. it's incredibly selfish, but it's also achingly human.

in the books, we don't really see this desperation until the end of ruin and rising when alina loses her power and the darkling realizes that he is now truly alone, that he has no longer has an equal, and alina herself realizes that his pain will be endless. in the show, we see this theme - his desire and his need for her - woven throughout his interactions with alina from the very beginning, culminating with her death at his hands, albeit under very different circumstances than the book.

this is why i say that the books and show complement each other when it comes to darklina - with the books, you see how alina was drawn to the darkling and how she genuinely cared for him in spite of everything, and in the show, you see how the darkling was drawn to alina and how desperate he was to save her from following in his footsteps.

there's even a set of complementary quotes that perfectly encapsulate why this ship is so compelling and why it's so doomed.

in ruin and rising, you have the darkling saying you might make me a better man and alina answering and you might make me a monster.

and in 2x08, you have the darkling saying let me be your monster. let me carry the hatred of this world. who will be there to save you? and alina answering, i will save myself.

the allure of darklina is that it's about finding the one person who makes you feel less alone, the one person who can save you and destroy you in equal measure, the one person who sees and accepts you as you are, even the worst parts of you.

the tragedy of darklina lies with the darkling, because he is driven by pain and loss and the desire to escape both of those things. this is a man who will never allow himself to love someone more than he fears the pain of losing them, and he only allows himself to love alina because he believes he will never lose her to the ravages of time, he only allows himself to love her because he thinks he will be safe from pain with her. now compare him to sankta neyar, another character who has also lived and lost for centuries. as i previously wrote about here, the darkling views love as a weakness while neyar views it as a strength, and it is because of this (and, you know, the atrocities) that he ultimately loses alina. and despite how much alina resists him, the darkling is unable to let her go, unable to stop himself from trying to save her, even when she makes it clear that she does not want or need him to do so. the tragedy of darklina is that this is the only way he knows how to love her.

now, let's look at kanej, which has more than a few similarities with darklina. much like the darkling and alina, kaz and inej also have twin traumas, they also understand each other in a way that no one else does, they have also seen and accepted the worst parts of each other. like calls to like applies to them just as much, and even the r&r quote fits them perfectly as inej does make kaz a better man and kaz does make inej a monster. in six of crows, kaz tells oomen, who stabbed inej, my wraith would counsel mercy but thanks to you, she’s not here to plead your case and in 2x08, we see kaz offering to buy out kesh and any other indentures after inej asked him to consider it in 1x01 (gifset here). and it's kaz who teaches inej to kill, who gives her the tools she needs to survive in the barrel, culminating in her vicious threat to pekka rollins at the end of crooked kingdom and her declaration that they destroy him in 2x03 when she finds out pekka killed kaz's brother.

kanej is such a great foil for darklina because where darklina said you might make me a better man and you might make me a monster, kanej said we will make each other better, and we will be monsters together. kaz and inej each put in the effort to overcome their respective traumas in order to be together and they each do violent, unsavory things in order to protect the other, and despite the fact that both crooked kingdom and 2x08 end with inej leaving, it's clear that the two of them will find their way back to each other in time.

alina doesn't end up making the darkling a better man, though on the show, she does become a monster, for mal by using merzost to bring him back, and for ravka, by using the shadow cut to kill the fjerdan spy. it's a really fitting evolution of her character on the show and the natural progression of her relationship with the darkling, that she would defeat him only to become him in the end.

as i said at the top of this, i don't actively ship darklina, but i am fascinated by the tension and complexity of their relationship and i love how the book canon and show canon build on each other to give us a complete picture of these two individuals who are so similar yet so different at the same time. they're parallel lines who will never cross. they're the sun and moon who can never share the same sky. they're the perfect tragedy.

[shesnake]

sab season 2 thoughts

sooooo. overall in itself as its own story, i think the show is good. alina's story is in an excellent place. nikolai's story is now presumably bearable because he and alina are sharing this now. it's good if you don't care about the books but can also only be understood with the books so idk what that really means.

crooked kingdom was butchered to hell. the crows duology is so meticulously structured and they threw that out the window. it's all out of order. it's all too fast. the groundwork for all the characters development and their epiphanies was Not there in this season. seeing the same end result is so jarring and just not as satisfying. the actors are so good I could enjoy the individual scenes but the speed-run to get to those points was awful. it's nowhere near as bad but for some reason I felt what I felt watching the cowboy bebop remake like seeing all my favourite scenes repurposed/appropriated for totally different contexts god I can't believe just frankensteined them like that.

I also just have no idea how good the ice court heist could possibly be without the stakes, which have all been resolved this season far too conveniently. I'm especially upset about how they nuked everything between kaz and jesper. jesper knowing about pekka in season 1, the fact that kaz should've already known jesper was zowa because he was the Only one who knew. that's all gone now. can't imagine the "ask me why, jesper" and "what does my forgiveness look like jordie?!" scenes making any sense now. can't imagine the "stop thinking of your pain as something you imagined" scene hitting either. jesper's sudden "you know what I'm gonna start loving myself and embracing who I am" 180 is great but that only came from dreaming about his mum, in a very "okay I'm gonna be normal now" way which just sucks because he and alina's (also abandoned) arcs of self-repression were so good..

and then there's the fact that we have no idea if the show is even going to come back for season 3 and/or crows spin-off... there's so many moments in this season that feel like the writers going "we're going to give the fans this in case we don't get to come back" including the kanej hallucination (which I ate up regardless). god i don't know!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[meyhew]

you haven't watched sab2 yet have you? im dying to read what you think about it all cause you're one of the apparently very few people I share the same opinion about the books with and SIGH aint it tough out there for people w good taste these days 😩

well. um. i watched 6 episodes before the season was released and then i put off watching the last two bc i simply didn't want to. i enjoyed like the first... three? i had my qualms about them but i could put those aside for the most part and enjoy the stuff that i did like. then the further i got into it the more i just Deeply Hated everything that was happening. wesper arc? weird and unsettling for Me personally. helnik? basically nonexistent except for in matthias' fantasies. kanej? nothing happens but the vibes slayed. i was annoyed with how they used baghra in s1 and downright pissed about what they did to her in s2. and don't even get me started on darkles... i just know book darkling would kill show darkling out of spite and i'd cheer him on. book darkling is so cold and conniving and it's so annoying to see how much they've watered him down and humanized him to appeal to a certain demographic. malina tho... im so so so so so deeply angry about malina.

the entire thematic core of the grisha trilogy is that unrestrained power is Bad and that alina has never really wanted it for herself—she gets lost in her head for a while when she's overwhelmed by the euphoria of having multiple amplifiers but when she realizes that the cost of having unchecked power is sacrificing mal... well then she doesn't want to pay it. she literally brings him back from the dead because she can't cope with the grief of spending her life without him. her power literally explodes out of her because her body cannot contain all of it. she goes to live off the grid because she doesn't care for a life of power and politics anymore, never truly did. and the show erases ALL of that. this season shits all over the thesis statement of tgt and does such an unbelievable disservice to mal and alina's individual characters as well as their dynamic together. the two of them parting ways is tragic because it throws away the most crucial takeaway from the story: love, however ordinary, is all that matters. if love can ever be ordinary. taking that away from alina in favor of a political marriage and a crown is so disheartening because she has never wanted that.

"They wanted a Grisha queen. Mal wanted a commoner queen. And what did I want? Peace for Ravka. A chance to sleep easy in my bed without fear. An end to the guilt and dread that I woke to every morning. There were old wants too, to be loved for who I was, not what I could do, to lie in a meadow with a boy’s arms around me and watch the wind move the clouds."

[backgroundagent3]

for the grishverse asks…just all of them, if you’re okay with that ofc!

Thanks for the ask! This was so much fun to think about. 💙

There's some that I'd already answered, so I tried to give new responses. It got quite long, and there's a lot of spoilers, so keep reading under the cut.

Shadow: rank all the Grishaverse books you’ve read.

Six of Crows. Almost tied with Crooked Kingdom. This is one of my favourite books ever. The characters are some of my favourite characters ever, and the ships are perfect. I love how detailed their backstories and personalities are, it makes them so believable and nuanced. I'm a sucker for heists and plot twists I can barely comprehend, so this is the perfect book for me.

Crooked Kingdom. More of the characters, ships and storylines I've already fallen in love with? Yes please. I ate up all the Kanej content, and I was so sad when it ended, it's such a great duology.

King of Scars. Another great book. Maybe the plot wasn't as good, and it felt a little slow, but Zoyalai? The Grisha Triumvirate? Genya and David? Perfection. Honestly a book can have the most boring plot ever, but as long as I get interesting characters with great dynamics I won't care, I'm here for them and them only.

Ruin and Rising. I remember the original trilogy very vaguely, but I thought this was the best book out of all of them. It definitely wasn't perfect, I found the storyline of the tunnels so suffocating, and every time someone mentioned the Apparat I wanted to throw the book across the room, but overall it was a nice conclusion to the trilogy.

Shadow and Bone. It's not perfect, but clearly good enough to get me hooked. I was instantly amazed at the worldbuilding, and I liked the way we're introduced to the different elements of the Grishaverse. Sometimes it's too much information at once, or you get confused because something hasn't been properly introduced, but Leigh Bardugo did a great job of that, and paces it well.

Rule of Wolves. I liked most of the book and I absolutely loved the moments focused on Zoya, but it completely ruined Nina for me. I loved her so much before, but here I got bored on every chapter that was about her. I think a lot of her character development was ruined on this book, and her ending was so bad.

Siege and Storm. The only reason this book is ranked last is I can barely remember anything. I liked Nikolai, but Mal and Alina were so annoying.

Bone: have you seen the show? What’s the best part of it?

I have seen it, and even though it's far from perfect, it's one of my favourite shows ever. Even though it's hard, I do have to separate it from the books to be able to enjoy it properly though, because let's be honest, it's not a very good adaptation. So considering that, I loved the cast and the times the crows were on screen. I think my favourite part overall was during season 2, when the crows and Zoya went on their little side quest to Shu-Han. I also loved Genya and David, they were adorable, but I'm gonna have to go on to the next question before I start thinking about them too much.

Siege: if you got to kill off one character, who would it be?

I don't know, the Darkling? I couldn't believe he was still alive in King of Scars, and it felt a little forced to be honest. Or Tante Heleen.

Storm: share and tag your favorite fan art.

My favorite fanarts these Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom papercrafts by @rosiethorns88. The level of details is insane, I could look at it for hours. I also really love @kayadraws and @chemdoodles artworks. I couldn't choose a specific one because they're all so cute and fun, and I love the styles in which they draw the characters.

Ruin: favorite character?

Like I said, Leigh Bardugo writes amazing characters, so this is a really tough choice, but overall I have to go with Inej Ghafa. Honorable mentions to Zoya, Kaz, Nina, Genya and Nikolai.

Rising: what’s the best ship? Canon or otherwise.

Again, a lot of amazing ships, but Kanej will always be my favourite, closely followed by Zoyalai.

Six: favorite Grishaverse quote?

I've answered this one here, but another quote I love is this one from the King of Scars duology:

Zoya of the lost city. Zoya of the garden. Zoya bleeding in the snow. You are strong enough to survive the fall.

Both quotes hit really hard as I read them, cause they were such defining moments for Inej and Zoya, where they realise their potential and who they really are, so they were very special to me.

Crow: which crows do you most and least like?

I answered this here, so I'm gonna do my second most and least favourites. My second favourite is Kaz. I think it's really cool how he's such a complex character but in a way that doesn't redeem him, if that makes any sense. Like he might be willing to change and improve himself, but he's still very much a ruthless criminal. I also love how he is completely aware of that, especially when it comes to Inej. As for my second lest favourite, I guess Wylan? Don't get me wrong, I still love him, but the other crows are just perfect to me.

Crooked: if you got to rewrite the first chapter of Six of Crows, how would you do it?

I don't think I'd rewrite it, I'd just have another chapter before that one, with at least one of the crows and an introduction to the plot of Joost's chapter. I remember reading it and being so confused, because it jumps straight into what's a pretty complicated story. If I did have to rewrite it, I would write it from one of the crows' perspective, because it was really confusing not seeing Joost at all during the rest of the book, and I don't think it would have been very hard to have maybe Inej sneak into the Van Eck mansion to spy.

Kingdom: pick a character and give them a theme song.

I've answered this one here, but recently I've been thinking of Jesper whenever I listen to Little Lion Man by Mumford & Sons.

King: what’s your favorite idea for a new series in the Grishaverse?

Maybe not for a new series, but I like the idea of continuing Rule of Wolves where they left it, so we could have another heist with the crows looking for Sankt Feliks's heart, which would tie in the Six of Crows and the King of Scars duologies together. I think it would be such a great story for so many reasons. For starters, it gives a reason for the crows and the King of Scars gang to interact more, which I'd love to see. Genya would be able to heal from losing David and maybe get a cool storyline focusing more on her. We'd get to see more of Zoya as the queen, and her relationship with Nikolai. Heist shenanigans. Wesper being dragged into a new mission. Kaz trying to trick the Ravkans. Zoya not having any of his nonsense. Kanej. Inej as Captain Ghafa. Kanej. Tolya and Tamar meeting the crows. KANEJ. And above all else, a chance to fix Nina's ending. So. Much. Potential.

Scars: which character deserved better?

Well on that note, I'm gonna go with Nina. Also Genya and David!!

Rule: favorite book cover?

Six of Crows. I love how the crow's feathers also act as the silhouette of Ketterdam.

Wolves: sort all the characters you can into Hogwarts houses, (or choose to give them zodiacs, mbtis, alignments, etc—).

I'm gonna go with Hogwarts houses because I know nothing about zodiacs or any of those things.

Kaz Brekker: Slytherin.

Inej Ghafa: Ravenclaw.

Jesper Fahey: Gryffindor.

Nina Zenik: Gryffindor.

Wylan Van Eck: Ravenclaw.

Matthias Helvar: Hufflepuff.

Kuwei Yul-Bo: Ravenclaw.

Alina Starkov: Hufflepuff.

Malyen Oretsev: Gryffindor.

Nikolai Lanstov: Slytherin.

Zoya Nazyalensky: Slytherin.

Genya Safin: Hufflepuff.

David Kostyk: Ravenclaw.

Tolya Yul-Bataar: Ravenclaw.

Tamar Kir-Bataar: Gryffindor.

The Darkling: Slytherin.

Ketterdam: change the ending of one of the books.

I think I'd just have something at the end of Rule of Wolves that indicated that there was definitely going to be another book about that heist I was talking about. I also said about how much I hated Nina's ending, but honestly, I don't think that could be fixed by just changing the ending, especially after spending two whole books undermining her character development.

Os Alta: when did you get into the Grishaverse? Tell us all about it.

It was in July 2021, and I went camping with my friends and family. Every night my friend read me and my other friend a bit of Six of Crows, which she had recently discovered and was obsessed with. We got really into it, and she convinced me to read the books. As soon as we got back home I started reading Alina's trilogy, then the duologies. Because my friend had only read the Six of Crows duology, I convinced her to read the rest, so full circle moment.

Djerholm: what pair of characters would you kill to see interact with each other?

Inej and Zoya above all, but also Kaz and The Darkling, cause I just think it would be hilarious. Picture the most powerful man in the world, who's been around for centuries, practically rules over a country and all the magical people in it, and is responsible for the most dangerous and horrific creation to ever exist. Now picture an emo teenager who's into magic and calls the love of his life an investment. The Darkling would not stand a chance.

The Unsea: what type of Grisha powers would you want to have? Or what crow’s skills would you want to steal?

If I was Grisha I would love to be a Tidemaker. As for the crows I think Inej's skills would be fun to have.

The True Sea: rant about whatever Grishaverse thing you want to (a hot take, something that bothers you, something you love, etc).

I think I've ranted enough for one post, and I'm too tired to think right now, but I would love to talk more about any of these things, just pop back in my ask box whenever you want.

This has been so much fun to write, so thanks again for the ask! 💙

[owlbeers]

Shadow and Bone season two thoughts

I tweeted a little as I watched, but I realised I wanted to put together my thoughts more longform, so here we go. In general: I liked it still but not as much as S1, I had Thoughts.

Spoilers for all of the season after the read more.

Idk maybe its the fact that they started referencing events from Crooked Kingdom - a source I care about a lot and um more than some of the other books - that I started to get pickier but I did.

To quickly get the Mal, Alina, Darkling, Nikolai plot of it all. I liked all the new casting (Nikolai took a little to grow on me, but Tolya and Tamar were great the whole way through). Generally I was fairly unmoved by it all, but this plot really isn't why I am watching the show. Genya gave me some feelings. Zoe Wannamaker is great. I preferred Ben Barnes' villain moments more in S1 but the end in the desert did make me feel a little bit.

I'll deal with the !!! end separately.

So, the Crows. I wasn't sure what I expected them to do - knowing that they wouldn't do The Ice Court - but idk I was a little surprised they mined Crooked Kingdom the way they did because in my mind it so clearly needs the events of SOC for emotional reasons for CK events to work, but I think they ... sort of pulled it off. Sort of.

I mean, they rushed the fuck out of it. I know they wanted to reunite the plots but I wanted more out of Kaz's revenge and yes we got a lot of investigation of Kaz's trauma but I wanted a bit more set-up for all the Crows. The cane fight was very good though. Freddy was great in the confrontation scene - so good - but I admit I missed the quiet of the book church scene and that only Inej saw it. Inej not being there, it being surrounded by lots of people ... it felt different.

The Kanej: they hinted at book stuff but it all just felt a little watered down. Yes we got the bandages scene but only nods to it because they're not really there yet emotionally, and yes he tried to get her out and got her freedom but I didn't really see the point in having that weird fight in the middle. Yes, he is pushing her away but it just seemed odd. The hallucination scene was feelings-y but kinda confusing in why they had that for Inej, but the recovery form it was nicely done with the softness in Kaz's eyes before the !!! sets in. However the final ep "I will have you without armour" scene was pretty great. And his looks when he saw her walk back with Alina and the sword! I love them.

Wesper: I liked Jack's Wylan from the get go and I thought him and Kit had good chemistry. Even with the plot changes I found them very cute and charming.

Also the bit where Jesper lists off how Kaz couldn't imagine doing this without him, and Kaz said yes all of that - but not the unlimited tab. I love me some Kaz and Jesper friendship.

Nina with the Crows was great. She doesn't take Kaz's bullshit and I loved the "there is five of us" moment at the end.

Matthias: welp sorry Calahan you had shit all to do. I did assume they were gonna get him out this season but uh guess that is for the Ice Court spinoff.

The end: haha they sure changed a lot there. A lot. Are they setting up something for S&B S3 and also SOC?? Now with Dark Alina in charge of Ravka and King of Scars Nikolai stuff?? Mal going away with Tolya, Tamar and Inej?? I liked that Inej is getting a pirate slave hunter moment (but I still need that Kanej boat scene. I need it). I guess they'll find a way to get her back? Will she get caught?? So many questions. So random.

I don't care about Mal x Alina really but uh if I did and that ending happened and I was expecting the R&R ending. Well.

Are they going to do a Tolya and Inej moment? I have mixed feelings.

Anyway in conclusion: I love the Crows! Some things were good! The actors were all great! But eh some choices I'm not sure about it. I need the Ice Court story though. Please Netflix.

Yes I have read book scenes and I might go hunt down some of my Kanej fic faves ...

[grishaverse-chaos]

as promised, here is:

grishaverse ships as taylor swift songs!!

malina - im only me when im with you

THE childhood friends to lovers song!!

just a small town boy and girl! living in a crazy world! trying to figure out what is and isn't true!!

and I'm only me when I'm with you!!!

don't wanna fly if you're still on the ground!!

it's SO malina

darkl!na - dear john (censoring the ship name so it doesn't show up in tags!)

sksadgshdh I had to

on a serious note it does fit very very well

don't you think I was too young to be played by your dark twisted games!! regret how I ignored when they said run as fast as you can!!

you'll add my name to your long list of traitors!!!! the darkl!ng literally DID add her name to a list of traitors sjdhshdgjdhd

genyadavid - paper rings <3

it's just..... so cute and soft, I love it sm

and you know something? david DOES like shiny things and he WOULD marry her with paper rings!!

nikolina - getaway car

taylor literally wrote this song for nikolina, I take no criticism

you were driving the getaway car!! we were flying but we'd never get far!! should've known I'd be the first to leave!!

no but they LITERALLY met in a getaway car. they were LITERALLY flying. but they didn't get far.

I'm sorry I will never shut up about this ever

ANYWAY!!

kanej - renegade

that one scene in soc where inej goes "I will have you without armour or I will not have you at all"

it's literally just GET YOUR SHIT TOGETHER SO I CAN LOVE YOU!

there was nowhere for me to stay but I stayed anyway!! you wouldn't be the first renegade to need somebody!!!

GOD the accuracy of this is killing me.

I can't lie I could write a whole essay on every line of this song and how perfectly it fits kanej.....

you fire off missiles cause you hate yourself but don't you know you're demolishing me!! let all your damage damage me!!

wesper - enchanted

idk how to explain this one it's just the Vibes

walls of insincerity.... playful conversation starts, counter all your quick remarks

just the whole thing where they first meet reminds me SO MUCH of enchanted I can't even

helnik - miss americana and the heartbreak prince

.....yet another that I could write a whole fucking essay on

nina IS miss americana!!

my team is losing! battered and bruising!

boys will be boys then, where are the wise men!

IT'S YOU AND ME THAT'S MY WHOLE WORLD, THEY WHISPER IN THE HALLWAY SHE'S A BAD BAD GIRL

and I'll never let you go!! cause I know this is a fight! that someday were gonna win!!!

zoyalai - peace

tbh I considered ciwyw as well but in the end I think this is ALSO such a zoyalai song I couldn't not pick it

honestly I can see this being from either perspective.... neither of them can give the other peace! and that's what they love about each other!!

I can't even choose any lyrics to highlight, just the whole song

actually wait that was a lie.

okay so think about zoya believing nikolai is too good for her. now think about "your integrity makes me seem small, you paint dreamscapes on the wall... it's like I'm wasting your honour....."

SIT WITH YOU IN THE TRENCHES!!!

the chorus.... I can't imagine it any other way than nikolai singing it to zoya tbh. I'll keep your brittle heart warm?? I would die for you in secret??

but you got a friend in me = as my general. as my friend. as my bride.

this is probably incoherent but OH WELL

tamadia - invisible string

again I cannot explain it's just the Vibes

isn't it just so pretty to think all along there was some invisible string tying you to me?

it's so CUTE and I love it

also "cold was the steel of my axe"

because tamar and axes.

anyway! that's it!! this definitely got super incoherent and rambling towards the end but I hope y'all enjoyed it :D

[wraithblogging]

Overall thoughts on Shadow and Bone season two:

- They tried SO HARD to make everyone hate the Darkling. It was ridiculous tbh

- Meanwhile, they made everyone else way more likeable, especially Mal, Baghra, and Zoya.

- They did Kanej dirty by taking Inej out of formative scenes like the police wagon scene and the scene where Kaz threatens Pekka and instead made them more physical. They robbed them of their intimacy and that kiss scene... don't get me started

- It was very annoying to me how good Jesper and Nina were with their powers. I guess with Nina it was more established for the show, since she was pretty good in season one already. But Jesper?

- I did like that Matthias did get more of a plotline and we got to see him in Hellgate a bit

- I am DYING over Inej traveling the seas on the Volkvolny. Her being the lookout made everything this season didn't do well completely irrelevant!

- I'm glad they picked up on Inej's brother again, even though it was briefly. I think it served as a good bonding moment for Kaz and Inej without the same magnitude that him finding her parents has (cause that would have been way too early)

- I wish there would have been more Nina and Inej friendship and more bonding between Inej and Zoya. I missed that a lot tbh. Although there were moments.

- I was interestingly not annoyed by Malina in the show this time. It made sense kinda and their communication was better written, making them way nice than in the books. Also at so many parts their lovestory felt so much less fragile than in the books, especially with their split up (but not break up) in the end. It made them more their own characters even though the show was heavily relying in them as a pair

- I'm not quite a fan of the way Nikolai's demon was handled. It's very clear here that it's a setup for the Six of Crows Spin-Off but still, it didn't really vibe with me

- the pacing was kinda weird and there was a bit too much going on storywise imo.

- Jesper's plotline was a bit too fast for me. It was kinda handled on the by instead of showing what a deep issue this is for him. I guess they tried. But meh

- I kinda had some issues with how characters traveled from one place to another in seemingly no time? Especially at first it seemed like Nikolai was in Ketterdam and Weddle at the same time?!? Like mate, that's quite some way

- I did like what they did with Alina as a character. It felt like the showrunners listened to the complaints fans had with her being too passive and how many didn't like her ending, so they turned that around.

- I feel like the Crows got way too much screen time. Especially Kaz and his backstory sometimes made me forget I was watching a show about Alina

- I was kinda missing the whole 'exploring Alina's shu heritage' thing that they teased in some interviews? Like they mentioned it like twice. That wasn't necessarily exploring for me.

- I kinda feel robbed of Nikolina. Like, I did love how their friendship was portrayed but my Nikolina heart did want a kiss at least 🥲

- I'm glad they cut that whole sun summoner cult plotline! That was really annoying in the books imo

- can't believe they killed off Hellen off screen. David too. Like what? Also where were Ivan and Fedyor? Boyfriend grisha were exchanged for girlfriend grisha Tamar and Nadia lol

I might add more when I sorted my thoughts more.

[caspianxth]

Hi, more thoughts, sorry<3

like yeah i agree that kaz absolutely has a heart, but i think those acts of kindness are mostly reserved for the people he loves, even if wylan is new, you can tell he's already warmed up to him, and i really dont think he'd do something kind just because for someone he feels indifferent to at best, much less someone like a king, and wait omg i just remembered he's friends with sturmhund i take it all back, he would indeed give it up for his friend. and yeah youre right about wesper it was adorable, but i dont know i needed the slow burnnnnn, but yeah given netflix penchant for with gay shit, it was necessary.

And about everything else, yeah it made sense but it was really rushed, especially in s2, and like i get that they have to make everything as fast as they can in case it gets cancelled but im sad about it, but i just really hope malina does meet in the meadow in the end, cause at this point, this show is uncharted territory and completely new and i am so excited for it, and i think that was just setting up for nikolai i bet they will make him all scary later, or at least i hope. But like MERZOST!!!!! ALINA WTF!!! i loved the shadow cut it, like alina i love that youre very powerful but pls try not to turn evil, and like shes heading exactly in the direction the darkling said she would go which is so scary and obvious in a good way i love it. And omg the darkling, like in the books its neither easy to not root for him except maybe when he dies, but here omg, you're telling me he actually felt something for alina and it was not just manipulation!!!

Also Ben Barnes makes it really hard to not be on his side, Alina is waay stronger than me, "Make me your villain", for you? anything, also very simp i loved it, so its okay they omitted a lot of his character and relationship with alina, as they basically made a new one which i like. and about the white hair thing, it was iconic!!! i needed it!! but its okay, also i think the darkling probably experienced some shit associated with his power, but probably never like that cause the only amplifier he used was his mother, and it wasnt until he used merzost he became unstoppable, and it was slowly taking its toll on him, so slowy at first that it might have even been a plot hole, cause later it starts eating him from the inside.

Anyways Ice Court Heist is coming omgomgomgomg im so excited, i cant wait to see something really serious happening with nikolai and alina, and the crows just, just, yeah. i love them. i love jesper and wylan (the characters not their relationship in this instance) so much i could die just thinking about them.

And i think that's all my thoughts until now, I apologize in advance because I WILL think about it more and I WILL bother you about it<3

sturmhond my beloved <3 best of the grishaverse men truly!! also re wesper I love them I'd die for them plus with a tv show I need smth to be happy about and kanej: glacial pace, helnik: slow burn bc of the whole hellgate sitch. like I need smth to be diggin!!! re nikolai, a nichevo'ya is not how he should look and tbh I don't like how they're doing it in the show if that's the angle they take but hopefully I'm wrong. I do think paddy gibson did kill as nikolai like when they let book nikolai pop out? slayed!!! also yeah alina like don't be doin that (merzost) baghra made u promise!! but it is a way better end than her losing all her power and I'm excited to see where they take that, I saw on twitter somewhere that leigh has lots of ideas where to take it if given more so we shall see <3 also w the darkling, like, ok so 1 he is ben barnes so that's a thing bc I've been crushing on him since prince caspian but also!! like the thing is like, he really did love her for a bit there! he had peace when she surprise kissed him!! that's the moment he went right back to in his defeat right before alina mcstabbed him (which he did deserve btw). like the heartbreaking part w darklina is they really could've had it if he'd trusted her!!! but he didn't!!! and that was his greatest weakness!!!!! I do like malina but like, for me it's nikolina >>>>>>>>>> malina sorry. book or show nikolai is just *chef's kiss*. but also re nikolai, zoyalai >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>nikolina. so like, the setup there is also *chef's kiss*.

[no-1-rosalind-lang-apologist]

Ok so I keep thinking about this and what always struck me as really, really weird about Kaz and Jesper's relationship specifically is that the books will tell you that their relationship is really important, but you have to reach really hard to find anything that really cements that that goes beyond the book just,,, telling the reader that it's important if that makes sense? I used to get annoyed when people forgot that they had a friendlier relationship prior to the start of Six of Crows because much of their dynamic in Six of Crows is affected by Kaz holding a grudge because he blames Jesper for what happened the night they left for Fjerda toward the start of soc. But then I realized that people don't remember because it barely comes up. The only mention of their relationship before the start of soc that I can remember is Jesper talking about how Kaz recruited him and wondering if Kaz intentionally manipulated him into joining the Dregs. So yeah. Obviously people forget because it's hardly touched on even though you would think that would maybe be an important thing to bring up since it should arguably matter if their relationship is important?? Then it is also baffling to me that the possibility that Kaz manipulated Jesper into joining the Dregs isn't ever confirmed or denied on page. Because if Kaz did and expressed regret about it, that would be really interesting characterization, and if he didn't it would be a really interesting miscommunication in their relationship since Jesper isn't really convinced that Kaz actually cares about him.

But also. Even though it is clear that Kaz does genuinely care about Jesper by the end of the series, there is pretty much zero significant internal monologue that touches on their relationship from either of them as far as I can remember. How. Maybe it's just the aroace in me, but do YA authors realize that you can think about your friends and care about people without it being romantic. Like I love kanej. But. If we can have all of this beautiful flowery prose about how pretty Inej's laugh is then like. Why can't there be a page. Or like. Three paragraphs maybe. Where Kaz or Jesper (or literally any character in this series honestly) has actual emotions or like. some kind of an actual relationship with someone that they're not attracted to that isn't just haha comedic relief my ghost won't associate with your ghost. Because especially from Kaz's perspective, his relationship with Jesper arguably could have been just as important with his relationship with Inej. And I get that friendships usually don't get that kind of attention in books, but if you take a couple seconds and think about how hard you have to reach and how much speculation you have to do to get anything from their relationship it's honestly kind of mindboggling how little there is in the actual book???

Like yeah. Great. Kaz calls Jesper Jordie. Which was his dead brother's name. So from that, we can infer that Kaz sees Jesper like a brother and/or Jesper reminds him of Jordie. For the life of me. I cannot think of a single moment that actually builds up to that. Like yeah. He's probably projecting a lot of his unresolved issues with Jordie onto Jesper. But. There. Is. Literally. No. Actual. Lead. Up. And it's so fucking baffling to me because it feels like the kind of thing where you read the book for the first time and get caught off guard by it, but then you reread and you start to see what built up to it maybe???? But it's just,,, not there. And it's almost like the book is telling you to just accept that it's there, but it's not??? And this isn't even resolved with Jesper. They do not resolve shit on page. The most resolution this gets is Inej asking Jesper who Jordie is. And obviously Kaz isn't great at expressing emotions or communicating with people, but it is wild to me that Kaz, who is arguably the main character, just drops a bombshell like that and it's never resolved. I remember he tells Jesper that Jordie was someone he didn't want to lose maybe or maybe that's just what he says to Inej I don't remember. But like. There isn't nearly enough thought about this from Kaz or Jesper's pov. There's no realization that Kaz cares about him from Jesper's end. There's no mixed feelings because Kaz hurt him and because he's being told by Kaz that he cares about him when he clearly wanted some acknowledgement of that from Kaz for a while???? There's not nearly enough actual reflection on this from Kaz? There's really just,, a whole lot of nothing. Because it just wasn't worth taking the time of day to actually flesh out I guess.

In the CK epilogue, I think Kaz tells Inej to tell Jesper that he's still welcome around the Slat, so that implies that their friendship is going to mend, and they're clearly friends in the KoS books but like. So what. It is just so. so baffling to me that these books try to tell you that their relationship is significant and important enough that Kaz accidentally calls Jesper Jordie, but it's also somehow simultaneously not important enough for any of it to be given any actual fucking page time. And I get that not everything necessarily needs to be directly on page for it to be important, and part of the fun of fandom for me is thinking about the parts of a book that aren't quite as explored in canon. But like. It honestly really kind of pisses me off how underwritten this, and literally every other platonic relationship in soc, is. Because Six of Crows gets touted as this amazing found family duology when it's really just. Three couples that talk to each other sometimes, usually about their romantic subplots or for comedic relief.

Admittedly I have not reread it in a bit and I don’t think I’m going to anytime soon but the absolute lack of actual significant page time that any of the platonic relationships in Six of Crows get is so wild to me

[welllpthisishappening]

i am SO SAD about Matthias! I wanted to warn you when i saw you getting attached to Helnik, but I didn't want to ruin it... I too cried over Matthias Helvar. I still cry about Matthias Helvar. I will never be over Matthias Helvar. Welcome to the club (we meet on Thursdays and eat waffles and cry).

I AM SO SO SAD I CANNOT POSSIBLY TELL YOU. I CRIED! REAL TEARS! FOR A PROLONGED PERIOD OF TIME! Like, ok—I knew it was a possibility that stuff would go south and they’d all already dodged catastrophe so many times, but (as I ranted to my husband yesterday) NINA AND MATTHIAS HAD BOTH ALREADY BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH THEY DIDN’T DESERVE THAT! THEY SHOULD HAVE KISSED MORE!

And the thing is! I saw all those gif set tags and responses that were like can’t think about them without crying and my DUMB brain was like—oh, that’s just because she betrayed him and everyone was so angst-ridden in Six of Crows. Ha! Not even close. And then! And t h e n. I got GUT PUNCHED. Air knocked out of my lungs sucker punched. To the very core of my feelings.

HE JUST WANTED TO SEE HER AGAIN

I ask you seriously, what the fuck am I supposed to do with that sweeping romance??? Probably cry about it some more, quite honestly. I just—aghhhhh. They might not perfectly fit into “the one that got away” trope, but that is, like, my ULTIMATE trope and they were just so GOOD. NINA AND MATTHIAS HAD BOTH ALREADY BEEN THROUGH SO MUCH THEY DIDN’T DESERVE THAT! THEY SHOULD HAVE KISSED MORE! HE LIFTED HER OFF HER FEET WHEN HE KISSED HER. I went back and reread the™ chapter, too. Because I’m a masochist, apparently. Also, I will gladly join the club. Do we get matching jackets?

(also, uh, if i write that super fluffy baseball au! idea for nina and matthias tomorrow to distract me from my sadness, that’s neither here nor there)

[southslates]

Dee, DEE, Oh My God, I started following you for your excellent Kanej content like what, one year ago ?? and only now are you hinting at watching Miraculous ????? I'm going to loose my freaking mind oh my God TELL ME ALL YOUR THOUGHTS ON MIRACULOUS PLEASE AND ALSO MARICHAT you might just convince me it's the best side of the lovesquare, I don't even watch ATLA and I'm sold to Zutara PLEASE

omg omg. i wrote a few miraculous fics back in 2016 and i watched the first season/part of the second when i was in middle school, and had a phase for a month or two where i read a ton of fic, but then i dropped off the miraculous fandom entirely and i haven't watched anything at all after the second season. it's been six years, which is so crazy haha but recently i've definitely been reading a bit of mlb fic. the fandom is to some extent more lighthearted than what i'm used to, and i'm not invested enough in watching the next few seasons/keeping up with everything, but i look at the art sometimes <3

and on MARICHAT. oh my god i love chat noir so much and i love marinette, i don't really have a particular reason for it i guess, but they were always my favorite because their interactions felt so much more genuine and un-romanticized than the rest

i honestly can't bear ladrien and stay away from a lot of adrinette because the way mari acts around adrien just gives me so much secondhand embarassment. and like, i know she supposedly sees beyond rich kid adrien and truly loves him for who he is, but it seems like chat is truly who he is? idk like adrien minus chat feels just like Perfect Model Boy (tm) to me, nothing about him feels like a character, but then again it's been so long since i watched the show. and because of how she interacts with him i feel like she's too far into her romanticization to ever like him more so for him. i love marichat and ladynoir for that, because mari is her true self, so sassy and fun around chat in those forms, and good for her lol. i think ladybug is more like mari than chat is like adrien. the two just seem so... not similar.

& also man, do i hate when girls are messy and stumbling and awkward around their crushes, these guys they put on a pedestal. like adrien is this perfect character right, but in real life that usually ends really badly with them getting taken advantage of, and ugh i just dislike it. also i dislike adrien getting to speak chinese, marinette having little connection with that side of her culture and she gets i... idk idk man. no adrien hate because he's a nice boy and clearly he's dealing with a lot of issues, but a combination of his naivete and perfection just rankles me with him. i feel like i only ever like him when he's revealed to be chat and is more comfortable acting like chat. but marinette is so much like ladybug when she's marinette when she isn't around adrien.

god i said i had no reasoning and then just ended up ranting i'm so sorry!! but thank you for sticking with me so long and i'm so glad i've recruited you over to the zutara dark side as well ;)

[sasakisniko]

For the ask game: malex & kanej

i'm dying of laughter because I literally just answered both of these. But I will try to give slightly different answers.

Also, this is going to be incredibly long, so

Malex

What made you ship it?

I don't know exactly what started it (other than that I was shouting at the TV for them to kiss before the end of the first episode), but I stuck around because they are my ship type. These two characters are both dealing with a shit ton of trauma. Alex has an abusive father who caught him and Michael together when they were teens and attacked Michael (and Alex blames himself for all the bad things that happened to Michael after, because he was missing a lot of context). Michael has a shit-ton of abandonment issues and Alex keeps leaving (because some part of him thinks Michael will be hurt because of him again). Basically, these are two damaged people who see the best in each other and who struggle with accepting the good in themselves.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

Okay, I'm gonna lift this from the previous answer I gave, but with more context. And I have two answers.

First, these two idiots will sacrifice themselves for each other and face their worst fears for each other without blinking. So, back in s1, we all assumed explosions were incredibly triggering for Alex for obvious war-vet related reasons. And, when he was dealing with a building that was about to explode and Michael wouldn't leave, it wasn't even a question. He was going to stay until Michael left with him.

In s2, when Alex was missing, Michael confronted both Alex's father and brother (who he knew were basically trying to kill all aliens) using his alien powers because Alex was in danger. He proceeded to build a bomb that would kill all aliens (himself, his siblings, and his then-girlfriend) because that was what he had to do to save Alex.

Second, they both see each other as the best the universe has to offer.

Again, in s2, when dealing with Alex's dad, Michael goes off about how he used to think humanity was so cruel and awful and he was so superior to humans. And then he met Alex and fell in love. And he talks about how, even after all Alex has been through, he still has the capacity to love, that he's even able to love his father. And he says, essentially, that Alex is beyond him.

Alex literally says Michael is the best of him at the end of s2, so...

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I'm dying because you know me, Liddy! Of course there is.

I'm gonna explain this in C@ryl terms.

Basically, there's a large, very vocal, 'one true way' segment of the fandom that is all 'Alex is a badass' and they reduce him to that. You survived the Carol fandom with me, so I'm sure you can guess what I think of that.

Anyway, my boy is incredibly strong and capable, but he also has cptsd and some serious self-loathing (again, I have a type) and I just need both him and Michael to be there for each other and support each other. Alex shouldn't have to be constantly strong and badass and to suggest such... To me it shows a lack of understanding of the complexities of humans in general. And that's me being nice about it.

Oh, also, friends don't pursue relationships with their friend's ex, especially when said friend is still in love with said ex and hopeful about their future. I have a lot of other unpopular opinions about this particular situation, but... I'm gonna try to keep myself from getting into things that will send me spiraling.

***

Kanej

What made you ship it?

I don't know what started me with shipping it. I know I fell completely in love with Inej as a character. But, also, they are very much my type. They're both struggling with trauma (let's not look at that too close) and they see the best in each other. And they have each other's backs.

What are your favorite things about the ship?

I mean, the thing that will always destroy me the most is how they end the series. How Kaz has given up everything he thought he wanted to give Inej her freedom. How, when they get their big win at the end, he still doesn't really focus on revenge. Instead, his money goes towards giving Inej her freedom, her dream, and her family. And how he's trying to pull himself together for her. Because it's what she deserves.

And I love the way Inej thinks about her own future and any future relationships. And how she wants someone who knows her and understands her. How, yeah, she could try to be "normal", but she isn't who she was before her trauma and she doesn't want to act like she is.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship?

I'm sure I have a ton. I'm not really involved in the fandom though. So idk. Maybe the extent to which I adore Inej. I'm there for her first (and I think a large majority of the fans are there for Kaz first and, to be clear, no judgment, this is just a difference and not an argument). I love her heart. Her morality. She is so good and the fact that she struggles so much with what she has to do is just... Beautiful and heartbreaking.

[manikas-whims]

Turmeric Milk

A sequel to my other Kanej fic Holi

[Read on AO3]

Ship: Kaz Brekker X Inej Ghafa

Summary:

Modern AU

Kaz had told his neighbour Inej that he'd call up his doctor friend to get his wounds treated but she stills decides to check up on him.

And with a weird drink at that..

Note:

I've decided to turn this Modern AU into a series.

Hope you enjoy this one as well ♥

Kaz rouses from his slumber due to the noise of the cellphone buzzing and sits up, accidentally hurting the wound on his chest. He represses a hiss and looks around, finding himself on his living room’s couch. The wall clock that his eyes land on, make him realize its past seven at night. Great, sleeping at odd hours. Pushing off the duvet, he scrambles to his feet, a jolt of ache shooting through his bad leg. Immediately, he seeks purchase in the arm of the couch, taking deep breaths to help himself endure the ache.

His phone buzzes again and he picks it up in annoyance. ‘W. Van Eck’, the screen reads and Kaz sighs, receiving the call.

“What happened?” He grunts out.

He can hear a loud huff from the other end. “You know Kaz, those shouldn't be your words to initiate a phone conversation.”

He rubs his eyes, trying to bite back the string of colorful words at the tip of his cursed tongue. “What do you want, Wylan?”

There’s a long pause. “Jes and I wanted to check up on you.”

“I’m doing quite alright.” He grits out as calmly as possible.

“Listen Kaz, if you need–”

“I’m not a child Wylan. I can take care of myself.” Kaz reminds him. He likes his crew because they do their jobs perfectly well but thats all he expects of them. His health and personal lifestyle is none of their concern.

“..kay, I understand. Rest well.” Wylan mumbles and disconnects the call.

With that, Kaz tosses his cellphone to the couch and limps towards his bedroom. Its about time he takes a much needed bath and orders his dinner.

By the time he’s done, he changes into another pair of trousers and lets his towel dangle around his neck. There's several drawers in the side rail of his bed. He crouches down to open the middle one and rummages out a first aid kit from within.

Grabbing his cane from the mattress, he walks out to the living room. Immediately his eyes take note of the duvet falling off his couch and the half-filled bottle of brandy but he chooses to ignore them. He’s not in the mood for tidying up. He simply picks up his cellphone and places an order for hutspot from the Kooperom, a diner nearby. It should take around twenty minutes to arrive and as such, he decides to address his injuries.

He sits heavily onto the couch, placing his cane in his lap and pulls out a roll of gauze and a flask of liquid disinfectant. Dousing a cotton pad in the disinfectant, he starts swiping the cut that trails diagonally from the right side of his chest down to his navel, just like he'd done earlier in the morning. That punch to his face had blinded him for a moment and another Razorgull took advantage of that. The teeth of that man’s knife tore so callously through his skin that Kaz winces several times during the whole cleansing. Finally as his hand reaches for the gauze roll, the dinging sound of the doorbell interrupts him.

The food delivery guy can’t make it this quick. A single father and his son run the whole diner by themselves. The thought makes Kaz gaze uncertainly at the door.

The bell rings again and this time Kaz stands up with his cane. He takes slow steps, snaking out a revolver from behind a painting next to the door and then turns the knob.

“Ohh God!” a feminine voice shrieks, making Kaz flinch.

His deep, coffee irises clash with a pair of dark brown ones and he scowls. Its none other than his next-door neighbour— Inej Ghafa. She’s forgone her shimmering traditional garbs and is sporting a set of faded blue silk pajamas. Her long, flowing hair has been pulled together in a single braid. And she has a small jar full of something yellow in her hands.

“The hell!?” He grits out.

She flushes at the sight of his bare torso as she speaks, “I just came by to check up on you.”

Really? Kaz lets out an exasperated sigh and glares at the jar of the unknown yellow. His lips curl in memory of that excessively-sugary Indian sweet that she had shoved in his mouth this morning. He’s not falling for her words again.

Her own eyes follow his and she smiles, lifting the jar higher. “Ah yes! I brought turmeric for you.”

He scrunches his nose in suspicion. “I don’t think I need it.”

She rolls her eyes. “Says the man with a gun.”

Exactly! And she must be scared of this sight. Not strike jokes about it. But he has to admit he’s quite pleased that she’s mentioning the gun instead of commenting on the cane in his other hand. She doesn't even flash a single pitiful glance like the others who come across him do.

“Anyways, may I come in?” She waits patiently.

“For what?” He asks.

“To make you a glass of turmeric milk.” She states, as if its the most normal thing to do for a neighbour.

“Again, I don't need that.” It feels like arguing with a saleswoman.

“But its good for health.” She informs wisely and her eyes stray towards his chest. “And it'll help you heal faster.”

He quirks a brow incredulously. “Fantastic! Just what I needed. Give me the jar and I'll make it myself.”

“Just like you said you'll call you doctor friend?” Her eyes rove pointedly over the injured state of his chest and she shakes her head. “I think I should do this myself.”

Kaz gulps. He knows he will regret this later. Yet something tells him that rejecting her hospitality will only make her more persistent. And its not like his significant belongings just lie around the house. She won’t be able to figure-out anything about him. Yeah but what kind of a sane guy greets a neighbor with a gun? He dismisses the thought instantly. Maybe she’ll just make her energy drink and leave. Maybe she won't consider him a sociopath at all.

“Come in.” He slides the gun in his pocket and opens the door wider.

Inej neatly puts her slippers in the shoe-rack before following Kaz into the living room. While he resumes his task of bandaging his wound, she watches quietly, making him feel self-conscious for the first time since he was fourteen. Now that he isn’t focused on interrogating her, he is unable to be as nonchalant as he had been minutes ago.

“Your job sure keeps you entertained.” She remarks. “I thought your line of work didn’t allow action to this..severity.”

Kaz regards her curiously. He isn’t sure he’s aware of what she’s talking about. Is she a spy from another rising gang? Is she vaguely suggesting she knows about his position in the Dregs? His hands twitch as they tie the gauze.

“You are a Private Investigator, afterall.” She adds.

Oh. Kaz nods in relief. Of course she's talking about his cover job. She probably learnt this as well from the building management.

“Ye-Yeah..things do get messy sometimes.” He confesses imprecisely and starts returning the disinfectant, cotton pads and the remaining gauze into the kit. He needs a shirt. He's never felt so nervous in a woman's presence.

Thankfully, she ends the awkward moment for the both of them. “I..I should start on that milk. If your apartment has the same layout as mine, the kitchen should be the next room from the gallery?”

He nods once and picks up his cane, heading ahead of her in the direction of his bedroom.

Upon his return, and with a shirt on, he notices the absence of his brandy from the table. A package with Kooperom's logo sits in its place. His duvet has been folded neatly, resting on one end of the couch. And his neighbor is standing in the center of the living room, a glass of yellowish, creamy liquid in her hand. He’s assuming its the “turmeric milk”.

“So uh..a delivery man came by just as you left.” She gestures to the package and continues, “I’ve put the turmeric jar on your kitchen counter. Just add a spoonful to your milk daily and you'll be back in shape in no time.”

She strides towards him and pushes the glass into his free hand. “Goodnight, Mr. Brekker.”

And just like that..she’s gone. What’s with her swinging by and departing so abruptly?

Kaz locks the door and sits by his folded duvet. Its interesting how she managed to clean this room within the few minutes he was gone.

He unpacks the food, picks up a fork and takes a bite of the meat from the hutspot. Fulfilling as ever. He takes another bite and looks at the glass in his hand. Reluctantly, he brings it to his lips and takes a sip, bracing himself for another weird experience. To his surprise, it tastes alright. And strangely enough, his muscles do ease a bit. Maybe having neighbors isn't all that bad.

Hutspot: a traditional Dutch dish of potatoes, carrots and onions. Sometimes meat is served as a side dish with it.

Turmeric: a spice regularly used by Indians in their cuisine. Its said to be a natural antiseptic.

Turmeric Milk: drinking milk with turmeric is good for health. even gargling with turmeric water (hot) is good for throat.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed reading this..:3

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Read more Soc Fanfics, Headcanons & AUs here

(divider by @firefly-graphics)