#not just yet inej

[veerbles]

we do not talk nearly enough about how, during the ice court heist (before kaz's epiphany while drowning in the spring, before inej was kidnapped, before the bathroom scene, before kaz had really come to terms with it) kaz tried to tell inej that if they didn't make it out, he wanted her to know his feelings for her.

he didn't actually manage to say that, and it understandably wasn't enough for inej, but it's just so incredible to me that he tried. even when repressed, the depth of his love for her is so deep that it managed to almost override his normal reservations and let itself known.

[clarissaweasley-10]

i have officially started reading Six of Crows!!!

@jkriordanverse @randomfandom-3 @isthataraccoon !!

[thelibraryofalexandriastillburns]

do you ever read so much fanfic that you forget reality? like it just struck me that canonically Kaz and Inej are not together right now, like physically, and i completely forgot like isn’t that so wild?

[shit-people-probably-didnt-say]

Wesper kid: Do you have a girlfriend?

Kaz: No

Wesper kid: A boyfriend?

Kaz: No

Wesper kid: Any friend at all?

Kaz:

[eerna]

*gently taps my hands on the table* okay let's do this one more time. "I will have you without armor" isn't Inej telling Kaz she will leave him if he doesn't solve his intimacy issues. it's her saying that he has been avoiding investing anything into their relationship for years and yet he still expects her to put her dreams on hold for him without ever trying to help her with the emotional labor of caring, and that she will not stand for it. she's not asking him to get over it, she is asking him to prove he wants to get better, hand in hand with her. we always forget Inej is also too traumatized for a typical romantic relationship huh

[anabetel35]

If you like Kuwei, whatever you do, just don’t think about how he probably grew up isolated from his peers because of his father’s status. How he probably took to reading because no one around him could spare a single second for him. How, when he and his father had to flee the country and were captured by the Fjerdans, he probably realized that what happened to him was a perfect backstory for a main character of some epic story. How, when he had to watch his father try to create a drug that could enslave and kill nearly all Grisha in the world, people just like the two of them, his biggest comfort came from the silly belief that at the end of his story, he too would have everything that he wanted — a family, a lover, a friend, just anyone who would finally care about him. Recognition. Joy. Love.

How, when his father died and he was left alone, a small, delusional, cruel part of him was almost sure that it was necessary for him to then be loved. How, when the Crows came for him, deep down, he fully expected them to be his new family. How, even when everyone was cold to him on the ship, he still tired to convince himself that it was because one of theirs was on the brink of death. How he dumbly tried to tell himself that they won’t actually turn him over to the merchant that wants him because they’re reasonable people. How he spent his days and nights in a cold tomb, pushing down the memories of his now dead father and his grim future, all alone, curled up in a corner.

How he had developed a crush on Jesper, bright, kind, warm Jesper, as if he could do anything else, and then had to watch helplessly as that ray of sunshine ignored him, as he got closer to the boy that had his face. How his skills and efforts were ignored just because what he might know seemed far more important to the people around him. How, not more than two days before the auction where his death would be faked, he got kissed by the man he began to adore and then was disliked for it by the only member of the team that actually tried to befriend him for a while.

How he had to stand tall in front of all the people, all those merchants, the royalty, the warriors, the guards, the farmers, the children, everyone, all the people who came to the Church of barter just to see who he’d be sold to. How he had to trust the six teens who only had qualms about killing him because he was worth a whole lot of money, with his life as different governments called out numbers that could feed the whole world for an entire lifetime. How the last thing that he could’ve seen before he died if the bullet that hit his chest missed his button even by a single hair, was the chaos ‘Brekker and his Crows’ started.

How, when he woke up, he barely had any time to calm down because one of the teens, the Drüskelle, was dead. How he now had to mourn him now, too, along with all that he lost. How, when he was laying down on the ship to pretend he’s dead, he realized that the people he saw as his saviors less than two months ago, and as the thing that he wanted more than life, didn’t care for him at all anymore. That they might even be happier if he died. How, as he neared the sea, he couldn’t help but feel like he’d let his one chance at happiness higher along the canal and that he was now destined for a life of despair.

How, when he arrived to the Little Palace, he wasn’t met with kindness or friendly faces. How he had to hide the fact that the thing he worked on day and night was the cure to a drug that his father had created, a drug that could’ve destroyed Grisha all around the world. How he was their only hope in the war against Fjerda. How he spent his nights awake dreaming of being a part of the family that the Crows clearly were. How he couldn’t seem to fit in anywhere he went.

Most importantly of all, don’t think about the fact that he’d been alone all his life.

[wingsofhcpe]

sab s2 really looked at the canon aroace guy and the girl who's canonically a sexual abuse/human trafficking survivor who struggles with physical touch even by close friends and went "yknow what would be a great idea".

[neptune-scythe]

Thinking about Inej Ghafa again

[atalana]

me watching sab season 2, just mentally repeating to myself: it's not an adaptation it's high budget fanfiction, it's not an adaptation it's high budget fanfiction

[winnie-the-monster]

First the Wesper deleted scene and now this 😭😭❤️❤️ my heart can’t take it

[fangirlwithasweettooth]

Me? Going absolutely insane over every single Kanej moment in both the books and the series? It’s more likely than you think

[kazscrows]

Six of Crows Reread🪶

Chapter 45: Kaz

The deal is the deal

Unfortunately everyone is a bloody liar

Why had he believed Van Eck had the blessing of the Merchant Council? Because he was a rich, upstanding mercher? Because he’d dressed his own servants and soldiers in the purple uniforms of the stadwatch? Kaz had met with Van Eck in a quarantined mercher’s house, not a government building, but he’d been taken in by a little set dressing. It was Hertzoon and his coffeehouse all over again, only now Kaz was old enough to know better.

Ouch

“Chaos will come, and I will be its master. Its very wealthy master.”

Could’ve been a banger of a line if it wasn’t from Van Eck

The little freak

Oh look we finally get to learn just how horrible a father he is

Van Eck began to laugh – a warm, almost jovial chuckle, but its edges were jagged and bitter.

“Let me tell you about my son.” He spat the word as if it were poison on his lips. “He was meant to be heir to one of the greatest fortunes in all of Kerch, an empire with shipping lines that reach all over the globe, one built by my father, and my father’s father. But my son, the boy meant to rule this grand empire, cannot do what a child of seven years can. He can solve an equation. He can paint and play the flute most prettily. What my son cannot do, Mister Brekker, is read. He cannot write. I have hired the best tutors from every corner of the world. I’ve tried specialists, tonics, beatings, hypnotism. But he refused to be taught. I finally had to accept that Ghezen saw fit to curse me with a moron for a child. Wylan is a boy who will never grow to be a man. He is a disgrace to my house.”

“The letters …” said Jesper, and Kaz could see the anger in his face. “You weren’t pleading with him to come back. You were mocking him.”

I volunteer to punch Jan Van Eck in the face!!

After Jesper and Wylan get the first swings in of course

Leverage number one doesn’t work out quite like Kaz had imagined

But of course he has a backup plan

If you’re reading this, then you know how much I wish to have you home. Every letter had been a slap in the face to Wylan, a kind of cruel joke.

“He’s your son,” Jesper said.

“No, he is a mistake. One soon to be corrected.”

So so cruel

Doesn’t he have any love inside of him?

“You’re the fool,” Jesper snarled. “He’s smarter than most of us put together, and he deserves a better father than you.”

YEAH YOU TELL HIM JESPER!!

The Tidemakers didn’t hesitate. Before anyone could draw breath to protest, two huge walls of water rose and shot towards the Ferolind. They crushed the ship between them with a resonant boom, sending debris flying.

Jesper screamed in rage and raised his guns.

“Jesper!” Kaz commanded. “Stand down!”

“He killed them,” Jesper said, face contorted. “He killed Wylan and Nina!”

Poor Jesper…

This scene will be so intense in the spin-off

Please

I need it—

Jesper looked back at the rocking waves, at the broken bits of mast and torn sail where a ship had been only seconds before. “I don’t … I don’t understand.”

“I confess to being a bit shocked, too, Mister Brekker,” said Van Eck. “No tears? No righteous protests for your lost crew? They raise you cold in the Barrel.”

“Cold and cautious,” said Kaz.

Even more cautious than you realize

I can’t remember my initial reaction to this part exactly but I’m pretty sure I figured Kaz would have tricks up his sleeve

Like there was no way Nina and “Wylan” were killed off after everything and with only a chapter to go

Plus I knew there was a second book

“I don’t need to take him from you. You never had him. That’s not Kuwei Yul-Bo.”

“A sorry bluff at best.”

“I’m not big on bluffing, am I, Inej?”

“Not as a rule.”

Van Eck’s lip curled. “And why is that?”

“Because he’d rather cheat,” said the boy who was not Kuwei Yul-Bo in perfect, unaccented Kerch.

Van Eck startled at the sound of his voice, and Jesper flinched.

The Shu boy held out a hand. “Pay up, Kaz.”

Kaz sighed. “I do hate to lose a wager. You see, Van Eck, Wylan bet me that you would have no qualms about ending his life. Call me sentimental, but I didn’t believe a father could be so callous.”

Please I forget they literally bet on this 😂😭😭

Also the fact that Kaz asked Inej and the fact that she knows he actually is big on bluffing

He trusts her so much!

She knows all his secrets

And she’ll never betray him

I mean he uses this trick at least three times in this series

Bluffing/lying/cheating to scare someone is Kaz’s favorite tactic

Oh… oh but this makes Jesper flinching at the reveal super painful

Kaz trusted Inej to know about Wylan and Kuwei swapping places, but he didn’t trust Jesper….

He probably did it to get a genuine reaction from Jesper as well but the trust issue thing is definitely there too

Kaz could see the fear and hurt in his golden eyes – Wylan’s surprising courage, too.

After the battle in the Djerholm harbour, the merchling had come to Kaz to warn him that he couldn’t be used as leverage against his father. Wylan had been red-faced, barely able to speak the words of his supposed ‘affliction’. Kaz had only shrugged. Some men were poets. Some were farmers. Some were rich merchers. Wylan could draw a perfect elevation. He’d made a drill that could cut through Grisha glass from parts of a gate and scavenged bits of jewellery. So what if he couldn’t read?”

It’s been said before but I’ll say it again

It’s really beautiful how Kaz doesn’t judge others on their flaws

“There could be no judgment from a boy known as Dirtyhands” -chapter 20

He looks for the best part of every individual and makes that part of them shine

Or he finds some way for them to be useful at least

Kaz shrugged. “Kill us, and you’ll never find Kuwei.”

Van Eck appeared to consider this. Then he stepped back. “Guards to me!” he shouted. “Kill everyone but Brekker!”

Kaz knew the instant he made his mistake. They’d all known it might come to this. He should have trusted his crew. His eyes should have stayed trained on Van Eck. Instead, in that moment of threat, when he should have thought only of the fight, he looked at Inej.

This line oh my gosh—

KaNej—

And Van Eck saw it. He blew on his whistle. “Leave the others! Get the money and the girl.”

Do you hear that?

No?

Well it’s me screaming

He tries to run to protect her!!

Please I am SOBBING 😭

“The Tidemakers reached her first, vanishing into mist, then reappearing at her side. But only a fool would to try to take Inej in close combat. The Tidemakers were fast – vanishing and reappearing, grabbing at her. But she was the Wraith, and her knives found heart, throat, spleen. Blood spilled over the sand as the Tidemakers collapsed in two very solid heaps.

She’s so cool

Oh my gosh

they had to face the sun to shoot and not even Jesper could aim blind.

Hmm.. this is interesting

I don’t think the show follows this statement

Jesper has literally shot without looking several times

The Squaller barrelled into Inej and sped upwards with her into the sky.

Stay still, Kaz urged her silently, his pistol drawn.

Something about Kaz with a gun just make me so…

So…. Hnnnnnnngh

It’s hot, okay?

AND THEN SHE’S FALLING

AND HE TRIES TO RUN TO HER AGAIN!!

Ashjfssfhjvsadh—

A third Squaller swooped down, snatching her up seconds before impact and dealing her a vicious blow to the skull. Kaz saw Inej’s body go limp.

“Bring him down!” roared Matthias.

“No!” shouted Kaz. “Shoot him and she falls, too!”

He can’t watch her fall…

It terrifies him

…. “Why the net, Kaz?”

Some hints for later I see??

But now she’s gone-

There was nothing they could do but stand there like fools and watch her shape get smaller in the sky – a distant moon, a fading star, then gone.

There and then gone…

Just like the magic trick

Just like Jordie..

But he can get her back!

Vengeance for Jordie, all Kaz had worked for, was slipping away. He didn’t care…

…“Kaz, I can make the shot,” said Jesper, rifle to his shoulder. “Van Eck is still in range.”

And all would be lost – Inej, the money, everything.

“No,” Kaz said. “Let them go.”

Inej is his first thought

He values her more than his revenge

He felt as he had looking into the darkened windows of the house on Zelverstraat. Helpless once more. He’d prayed to the wrong god.

It hurts 😭

Kaz marvelled at his own stupidity. Dumber than a pigeon fresh off the boat and looking to make a fortune on East Stave. His greatest vulnerability had been right beside him. And now she was gone.

Poor Kaz

He’s so hard on himself

Love isn’t a weakness!!

😭😭😭

The idea of “there and then gone” keeps coming up though and I love and hate it!

“That’s why you disappeared during the journey,” said Jesper. “You weren’t helping Matthias care for Nina. You were hiding.”

“I didn’t hide.”

“You … how many times was it you standing beside me on the deck at night when I thought it was Kuwei?”

“Every time.”

“Nina might not be able to put you back, you know. Not without another dose of parem. You could be stuck like this.”

“Why does it matter?”

“I don’t know!” Jesper said angrily. “Maybe I liked your stupid face.”

See I told you it was Wylan

I say this like I haven’t read these books like five times already

I’m actually here for angry Jesper??

I want more strong emotions from him in the show

He turned to Matthias. “You knew. Wylan knew. Inej knew. Everyone but me.”

“Ask me why, Jesper,” Kaz said, his patience at an end.

Here comes pain

It hurts because it was an accident

Jesper would never willfully betray the other crows

This echos the opening scene of the book with Big Bolliger a little

Just this time the betrayal wasn’t on purpose

“You told one of the Dime Lions you were leaving Kerch, but that you’d be coming into big money, didn’t you?”

Jesper swallowed. “I had to. They were leaning on me hard. My father’s farm—”

“I told you not to tell anyone you were leaving the country. I warned you to keep your mouth shut.”

“I didn’t have a choice! You had me locked up in the Crow Club before we left. If you’d let me—”

Kaz turned on him. “Let you what? Play a few hands of Three Man Bramble? Dig yourself deeper in with every boss in the Barrel stupid enough to extend you credit? You told a member of Pekka’s gang you were about to be flush.”

“I didn’t know he’d go to Pekka. Or that Pekka knew about parem. I was just trying to buy myself some time.”

“Saints, Jesper, you really haven’t learned anything in the Dregs, have you? You’re still the same dumb farm boy who stepped off the boat.”

Is he talking about Jesper here or himself…

Hmmmmmmmm…?

“Kaz would always remember that moment, when he’d seen greed take hold of his brother, an invisible hand guiding him onward, the lever at work.”

Remember that quote from chapter 18?

Yeah.

Kaz is definitely thinking about Jordie when he looks at Jesper and his gambling problem

Jesper lunged for him, and Kaz felt a surge of giddy violence. Finally, a fight he could win. But Matthias stepped between them, holding them each back with a massive hand. “Stop. Stop this.”Kaz didn’t want to stop. He wanted to beat them all bloody and then brawl his way through the Barrel.

This man does have a tendency to get into fights a lot

He’s always coming back bloody during their heists and schemes

Anyways-

They’re so brothers

Kaz wants to see Jesper as his big brother but he keeps letting him down…

Just like Jordie did—

For now, there was nothing but the flat grey of the sky and the dead rock of this miserable excuse for an island. And Inej’s absence. Kaz wanted to hit someone. He wanted someone to hit him.

I’m sure Jesper would happily deck you if you let him

If Kaz was their leader, then Inej had been their lodestone, pulling them together when they seemed most likely to drift apart.

I love this comparison

Inej holds them all together!!

According to that deleted scene we got today she’s their heart!! 💕

Nina had disguised Kaz’s crow-and-cup tattoo before they’d entered the Ice Court, but he hadn’t let her near the R on his bicep. Now he touched his gloved fingers to where the sleeve of his coat covered that mark. Without meaning to, he’d let Kaz Rietveld return.

He didn’t know if it had begun with Inej’s injury or that hideous ride in the prison wagon, but somehow he’d let it happen and it had cost him dearly.

I think he started coming back even sooner than that…

I want him to let Rietveld free but at least he’s making a plan

Also give us Kaz’s tattoos netflix!!!!

“Scheming face,” murmured Jesper.

“Definitely,” agreed Wylan.

Matthias folded his arms. “Digging in your bag of tricks, demjin?”

I love it

Kaz wants to go after Inej alone!

But he knows he’ll need help

“I’ll need the right crew.”

“Wylan got to his feet. “For the Wraith.”

Jesper followed, still not meeting Kaz’s eyes. “For Inej,” he said quietly.

Matthias gave a single sharp nod.

They all love Inej so much 🥹

Inej had wanted Kaz to become someone else, a better person, a gentler thief. But that boy had no place here. That boy ended up starving in an alley. He ended up dead. That boy couldn’t get her back.

No!

He can survive now!!

He has friends! A family!!!

Though… I guess he does need Dirtyhands Brekker for what comes next..

I’m going to get my money, Kaz vowed. And I’m going to get my girl.

YEAH YOU ARE

THAT’S MY MAN!!!

WRECK HIS PLANS—

Inej could never be his, not really, but he would find a way to give her the freedom he’d promised her so long ago.

He really loves her

Enough to let her go 🥹

It’s heartbreaking

Dirtyhands had come to see the rough work done.

Aaaannnd that wraps it for the Crows! Just Pekka’s chapter left!!

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[error404vnotfound]

if I had a nickel for every time a ship of mine wasn't able to be together because one of them had dreams of going out at sea and find themselves and achieve their dreams while the other one stayed to rule I'd have two nickels which isn't much but it's weird that it happened twice

[writingatdusk]

Physically I’m in the bathtub, carefully eating a left over enchilada.

Mentally I’m in Ketterdam, scheming and building my own gang and causing mischief just to get Kaz Brekker’s attention so I can be his next investment.

[constellama]

Reading King of Scars after having finished the Six of Crows duology and I’m lowkey losing my mind cuz

Sound familiar??

[fireflaked]

what the fuck. what the actual fuck