#just think about it kaz brekker already lives his life in such a trans way

[moonlight-overthrow]

i just think that trans ftm kaz brekker and gender nonconforming inej ghafa are cool and they consume my every waking thought

[booknerdateen]

The Grishaverse Series

A mini dramaticness before we begin

Also note: there are spoilers so beware

It all started with Six of Crows. I read the book either last year or a few years ago. The news came when Shadow and Bone was being adapted into a show. So, I decided to go down the rabbit hole and read the trilogy before I watched the show so I can get a more depth of the world and all that. I finished the books with eight days to spare. A few days after I finished the season, I went to Barnes to get the other books. I already had Six Of Crows, but y’all can never have too many copies. Soon, I reentered the world of the Crows. Finally at last, I was able to read Crooked Kingdom (one of my best friends been dying for me to read CK). After the catastrophe of CK’s ending, I delved into King of Scars. I didn’t really know much about Nikolai’s duology besides it being about him, Zoya, and Nina. With the annoying ending of Scars, I started Rule of Wolves the next day. I started this journey from Alina and the Darkling to the Crows and their hiesting to seeing Nina’s happiness and Nikolai and Zoya dealing with their demons-figuratively and literally. So, here we are reaching and end of an era for me. I am glad I got to read an amazing series of this world.

The Grisha Trilogy

Aright yall!

I went into the trilogy not knowing much, besides the teaser trailer knowledge

I went in trying to not be biased about the Darkling cuz Ben Barnes

Did it affect me, yes yes it did

Although I don’t like Darkling

Some of y’all hate me for this but I ship Darklina

Yes yes, they toxic, but man you can’t convince me Darkling and Alina had that amazing chemistry in the first book

Not counting when Alina found out bout his true intentions and all that

I didn’t understand why we hated Mal until half way through Siege and Storm

I’m not Malina, but I can understand why we ship them

My amazing love of my life, Nikolai/Stormhund!

Him revealing himself as the prince, omg

Nikolai planting a kiss on Alina and her hitting him afterwards, love it

Tamar and Toyla are amazing!

I actually didn’t realize they were Shu until King Of Scars

Do I see why they betrayed Alina and used her for the Apparat (who needs to freakin die!), yes

Should they’ve, no but I see why though

Harshaw is me half the time

I love him teaming up with a random cat and called him Oncat pure wholesome

Alina going back to the Palace to start the Second Army and understandably putting a whole in the cafeteria ceiling, yes bruh

It’s not the cafeteria but I can’t remember what it’s called so hush

I thought she was gonna murder someone with that cut

Zoya declaring her alliance to Alina

Alina being sus about Zoya….I get that

Genya’s iconic “I am not ruined, I am ruination” I freakin love that!

Nikolai putting his father in his place and potentially exposing the king to r*pe

I freakin lived for that!

I did suspect that what happened between him and Genya, but it was more implied until R&R

Deaths=man, we lost some amazing peeps

Founding out Mal is the third amplifier, blew my mind

Mal dying=was not having that

Mal resurected=didn’t think it had worked, but it did

Darkling being stabbed and killed by his own knife by Alina…..wow

I didn’t like that

Sorry not sorry

I thought it felt a little rushed when that happened

I’m still confused on how he died

Overall: 9/10 I loved it

Six of Crows Duology

I don’t remember what happened in this book when I first read it

I longing to live to be part of the Crows

I love their friendship

Reminds me of my friends

“Compromise. I’m sorry does the trick and uses fewer bullets”

I’ll probably do a post about my favorite lines of the books

Oh yes, so I read SoC after watching S&B

Reading Nina and Matthias’ parts with the shipwreck and all that and it being the same as their scenes in the show

I loved that

Well vice versa it should be….show being line for line like the book with them

“Please, my darling Inej, treasure of my heart, won’t you do me the honor of acquiring me a new hat”

I actually texted my mom that but reworded it as a way of asking her to get Taco Bell breakfast after her PT

It worked

Wesper, Kanej, Helnik=yesssss

My cinnamon roll Wylan

Jesper, Inej, and Wylan hijacking a fjierdan tank=high speed chase but with teenagers

The 180* that Van Eck and Kaz kept doing in the end, omg

Van Eck being a total evilness, man I wanted to smack him

Inej almost giving up on escaping

Kaz pushed Wylan against the wall about to kill him

Jesper’s father being afraid of Little Jesper being killed cuz Jes being grisha

Speaking of that, I did not see that coming

Kaz and Jesper getting into a fight and Wylan and Kuweii being the only ones concerned

Jesper Llewellyn Fahey

Jesper kissing Kuweii thinking he was Wylan

Wylan being broken-hearted

Them making up ahhhhh

The auction….that’s it that’s the only thing

Matthias being shot

Him going to Nina to say he loves her

Chapter 40= I tossed the book and dramatic screamed (not actually screaming)

Omg, Wylan finding out his mother aint dead but in a rehab place bruhhhhh

Kaz reuniting Inej with her parents

Kaz’s small steps of touching people again

Overall: 10/10 I’m biased about this duology

Nikolai Duology

Nikolai transforming into darkling creature at night is the equivalent of a werewolf turning at night (depending if we do every full moon and all that)

Nina burying Matthias’ body 😭

He found peace

Nina being the best necromancer grisha

Nina wanting to choke the ever living death out of Brun

Genya and David being married

Nadia and Tomar being married

David threating the monk

The monk 🤦🏾‍♀️

Wait no, the “Starless Saint” Cult 🤦🏾‍♀️

Nina mentioning about the Crows, mentally not verbally

Kuweii setting a tree on fire

The fold universe is very confusing

Sankta Eve…whats her name betraying them all to bring Darkling to life

Zoya being amazing as always

The Apparat really needs to die

I cannot stand that dude

The attenpted assination on Nikolai and Princess Shu (I forgot her name)

Isaak willingly to take Nikolai’s place while he in the fold

Isaak falling in love with Princess Shu

Or should i say “Princess Shu”

Isaak deserved better

Darkling ressurected 🙄

Nina and Hanne 💜

Freakin Brum I swear

Ramus deserved to die

Alina, Mal, Misha, and Oncat cameo

The Crows cameo!

Inej cameo in the end!

“Captain Ghafa”

Darking decided to give a redemption

Why….just why

Zoya turning into a dragon, that’s my zoya!

Nikolai turning into darkling creature to risk Ravka’s future

Brum being exile

Mwhahah

Hanne tailored as Ramus bruhhhh

I feel like Hanne is a trans coded character, I’ll go depth in another post

Freakin fjeirda in general

Fjeirda soldiers bowing down to “Sankta Zoya”

Nikolai stepping down the throne

Giving the throne to Zoya!

Queen Zoya

David’s death….I was not prepared for that 😭

Inej suspecting Alina to be actually Alina to Nikolai

Nikolai brushing her off as an old friend from the country

“I need Stormund to send a message to Kaz Brekker. I have a job for him”

Not word for word but ya know

Six of Crows 3??!?!?!! Ahhh

Overall: 8/10 loved it!

[xiexiecaptain]

As a non-binary fan of SoC, I like to think about the implications of this scene a lot:

“Is Inej Ghafa your real name?”

A strange sound escaped Inej’s throat, part sob, part laugh. A weak, embarrassing sound. But it had been months since she’d heard her own name, her family name.

“Yes,” she managed.

“Is that what you prefer to be called?”

“Of course,” she said, then added, “Is Kaz Brekker your real name?”

“Real enough.”

Because it shows that Kaz understands the weight and importance of being called a name you want and being regarded/addressed in the way you need to be. (Inej is heavily connected to her birth name and so hearing and going by it means so much after having been called a false, objectifying one. And Kaz’s original last name is one he has a complicated relationship with and so goes by another.)

And I think about this scene a lot because it really strongly supports the fact that were Kaz ever to hire or work with a trans or gender-variant person, he wouldn’t bat a fucking eye. 

I mean, if you think about how trans people have historically been pushed to the margins of society and work/live in poor areas and have a high rate of sex work, you can bet your ass it’s SUPER likely the Barrel has its fair share of trans residents. And as Kaz has declared himself on multiple occasions, he knows everything that goes on in Ketterdam. He’d be in the know about all of it.

When he was hiring Inej on he literally asked her if she preferred to be called her birth name or not! Like, talk about a trans-inclusive question.

I mean, Kaz is in a gang with someone people routinely call Teapot for god’s sake, you really think he’s gonna get hung up by a name that’s traditionally gendered one way or another? The knowledge of someone’s trans identity would be something Kaz would just file away like any other fact about someone, same as their favorite coffee house, the things they spend their income on, what languages they speak, etc. It all goes in a little folder in his devious head to pull if he needs it.

Like, obv I wouldn’t put it past Kaz to be shitty about gender occasionally because we’ve seen that, if anything, Kaz Brekker is not sensitive about personal shit. He pokes at and makes comments about Inej’s and Matthias’ closely held religious beliefs, Nina’s devotion to her problematic country, Jesper’s gambling problems. But not in the way of reducing them to it. He makes jibes at Inej’s Suli proverbs and beliefs but he’s never fucking racist about it. His insults and remarks always have a personal slant to them. They’re always about the person and their relationship to the identity, never the group of people at large. That’s the thing, it’d be just like any other factor about someone. He’s insensitive about aspects of identity but he’s never mercher-level shitty and cruel. Take how Kaz treats Wylan’s learning disability and illiteracy, for instance. He’s like “so what? that’s just how you are. You can still make explosives, why should I care?” Which is how he pretty much treats anyone and regards anything. 

Kaz would be more likely to have the attitude of: “Does being genderfluid throw off your shot? No. So I’m not gonna fucking worry about it.” and “You wanna be referred to by they/them pronouns? No problem. That’s good, actually. More ambiguous. Gives away less info when people overhear things about you.”

I mean he wouldn’t be a super great ally or anything, let’s be real here. Take for example how he addressed Inej’s situation when she first joined the Dregs and moved to the Slat, being a young girl and a person of color. He told her that he wouldn’t be around to defend her against the disrespect she’d face and she’d have to watch her own back. Yet he still in words and actions shows that disrespect toward her because of her gender or ethnicity is never validated or welcomed around him. He’d probably be that way about gender identity and pronouns too. Like, he wouldn’t go out of his way to correct people if they misgendered someone but he’d make super witty burns on the person being shitty, he’d used correct words, he’d generally gain the intellectual upper hand in that way he has. He’d make it known that shitty comments and attitudes aren’t welcome or appreciated.

And Kaz would almost NEVER misgender anyone. Think about it. Kaz prides himself on knowing everything about everyone, about seeming like he’s mastered everything, and having a mind like a steel trap. He’d see calling someone by the wrong name, gendered word, or pronoun as a sign that he was somehow not as on top of things, forgetting information and details. He’d see it as a sign of a personal failing and as broadcasting something slipping through the cracks of his iron hold on information and so he’d be the last person to slip and call people the wrong things. Kaz’s pride is a fucking force to be reckoned with and to have that on the side of him getting somebody’s pronouns right is a hell of a thing.

Like ??,? The fact that my favorite thief crew would be inclusive gives me so much life. I mean @lbardugo has already woven such a beautifully complex world that is so truly detailed when it comes to diversity and the way personal identity is held by the characters when it comes to race, ethnicity, religion, sexuality, and class. And so for me to fill in that final gap myself as a reader with so much canon evidence to support that my fictional faves would be super chill with someone like me is my everything. Honestly.

tl;dr: Canon supports the notion that Kaz Brekker–scariest, cruelest, most hardened criminal in Ketterdam–wouldn’t be a transphobic shitbag, what excuse do you have?