#yes this is about kuwei

[heartrender6]

everyone loves a traumatized unhinged witty character until they're not white

[six-of-crows-again]

Guys I wanna reread the books even though I read them a couple months ago :( my brain is so dead rn I forgot how the characters act pls help me. ALSO I'M GOING AS WYLAN TO COMICON. Yeah. Gonna kms a little. So. Ew.

Just remembered that Jesper kissed the wrong boy lmao

[sprnklersplashes]

I hate when your least favourite character in a piece of media is objectively not the worst but they annoy you. because then everyone's like "oh so you hate X more than Y even though Y has done A B and C" and I'm like yes because they committed the high crime of irritating me personally

[dcvina-claires]

i think the six of crows fandom has a real problem with acknowledging complexity in the characters which is ironic because it’s literally a book about morally grey characters. like yes kaz is a cold blooded murderer who cares more about money than being a good person but he’s also a dumb teen boy with a crush and a bad haircut. inej is a knife-wielding spy as well as a deeply religious girl who never stopped believing in kindness. jesper is a confident, reckless sharpshooter but he’s also incredibly scared and angry. wylan is an empathetic and kind artist along with being a dangerously intelligent explosives expert. nina is a fun, food-loving girl but she also stands up for the oppressed and struggles to recover from an addiction. matthias is an angry druskelle but he’s also the boy who learned to love grisha unconditionally. even kuwei has more depth than we give him credit for. he’s the flirty troublemaker as well as a grieving kid who’s had too much pressure put on him. they all have nuance, please don’t take that away because it’s such an important theme in the books

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

A few interesting parallels in the SoC duology that I don’t think I’ve seen anyone talk about yet

(Analysis/discussion of these parallels/quotes may come later if anyone's interested)

“These creatures were made to be weapons” - Jarl Brum on Grisha, Six of Crows chapter 35

“He looked like what he truly was: a weapon” - Jesper Fahey on the Khergud, Crooked Kingdom chapter 36

“Welcome to the Hellshow” - Kaz to Nina, Six of Crows chapter 6

“Welcome to the Ice Court, Nina Zenik” - Matthias to Nina, Six of Crows chapter 34

“Is this a play?” - Alys Van Eck “Yes love, and you’re the star” - Jesper Fahey, Crooked Kingdom chapter 8 when Alys is taken captive

“What was this but a play Kaz had staged, with that poor sucker Kuwei as the star?” - Jesper Fahey on the auction plan, Crooked Kingdom chapter 36

“he looked like a priest come to preach to group of circus performers” - Inej on Kaz’s appearance in comparison to the rest of the Barrel, Six of Crows chapter 2

“started to preach” - Inej on Kaz leading a coup against Per Haskell, Crooked Kingdom chapter 27

“Whoever he had become, Matthias was not going to shoot someone unarmed. He'd not yet sunk so far” - Matthias Helvar, Six of Crows chapter 29

“I am unarmed” - Matthias Helvar, Crooked Kingdom chapter 38

"I didn't even know the rules of Makker's Wheel" - Jesper Fahey on his first night gambling in the Barrel, Six of Crows chapter ()

"He knew his guns better than he knew the rules of Makker's Wheel" - Jesper Fahey on the concept of aim and its relationship to his life and his zowa/Grisha abilities, Crooked Kingdom chapter 36

“a tiny voice inside him said he should offer to take the drug as well […] maybe he could have helped to draw the parem out of Nina’s system and set her free. But that was a hero’s voice and Jesper had long since stopped thinking he had the makings of a hero” - Jesper Fahey, Six of Crows chapter 44

“Matthias gave you the remaining parem, didn’t he?” “So?” “[…] I can’t let my father down again. I need the parem as a security measure” “No” “Why the hell not?” - Jesper and Kaz in discussion about the auction plan, Crooked Kingdom chapter 30

I'll probably be back to add more, feel free to add your own as well

[drieddpetals]

do y'all ever think about the fact that Wylan literally bet Kaz money that Jan wouldn't care if he died, and then went, "Pay up, Kaz." after Jan blew up the ship?? i love him so much he's such a smartass.

also i think about Wylan saying "Maybe you can pray to Ghezen for understanding, Father," when Jan was confused about the whole Kuwei situation about fifteen times a day. it's genuinely one of my favorite Wylan quotes like yes get his ass‼️‼️

[lilisouless]

Nikolai pushing Zoya and Genya out of the palace

Nikolai: have fun on girl’s night!

Genya : are you sure you don’t want-

Nikolai slams the door

Zoya: he is always so eager to make us leave early in girls night. I think he and the guys are too enthusiastic about doing whatever they do when we are not with them

Genya: well it´s good they have their own thing, surely they need their boys time without their girlfriends

(twenty minutes later)

All the boys sitting in a circle while crying.

Nikolai: why do they even need a "girls night" are we now enought?

Adrik: don't they know we don't have a life without them?

David: i just solved my colored cube, it´s got all the faces now (sobs) but what´s the point if none of this faces are Genya´s

Mal crying: i don't know why i came, i don't even like you

Nikolai: i don't like you either

Both hug each other in tears

Jesper sobbing: oh the loneliness is killing me so badly

Wylan: Jesper, i am right here

Jesper holding Wylan: Shh! do you want to fit with the cool kids or not?

Wylan: not really, there are like five empty rooms in this palace and we are here with them

Jesper: i...good point

"both run away"

Kuwei: yes! go away! leave me here alone with this needy "cool kids"! (dries tears out of his clothing) last time i come

Kaz: look at them, crying over their sweetiepies, pathetic...

Kuwei: i am not even going to ask why you have been stroking your face with a blade since we got here

Tolya taking the knife away: you can get hurt, let´s just

Kaz makes striking strangled sounds while he tries to reach back for the knife

Tolya quickly gives it to him: for the saints, it´s like a baby with a pacifier

[catdoingblep]

today I am obsessed with thoughts about Wylan, Marya and Jesper destroying Jan's stuff

Jesper proposed to destroy something that reminds Wylan about his father, and he was thinking that it would be like 3-4 things that they would ruin together to release tension, and then they would do some declutter like normal people do: sell something, throw something out

And then they destroyed a few things of Jan, and Wylan looked so happy after it, all smiling and flushing, and he said that it was really helpful, so Jesper was just glad that he proposed something that actually helped Wylan, who still sometimes moved around the house like he is expecting Jan to enter the room every second

he totally thought about this as about one-time thing, but the next day he woke up to see Wylan sitting on the bed with a scheming face. Then Wylan understood that Jesper was awake and asked: "What do you think about drowning something in the canal tonight?"

"Are we talking about a person? Because I'm pretty sure that Kuwei is in Ravka", joked Jesper, and Wylan hit him with a pillow. "I am talking about those awful figurines from my father’s cabinet"

So they drowned those absolutely tasteless and ridiculously expensive porcelain figurines

And then Wylan asked next week in the middle of the breakfast: "What about some skeet shooting?" and this is how they got rid of the favourite dinner service of Jan

And then, one day, Jesper found himself helping Wylan to take out to the garden table from Jan’s cabinet, and Marya, who is sitting in the garden and having her afternoon tea, just calmly watching her son and his boyfriend setting the table on fire (this is one of the good days when she almost sure that she is remembering everything)

And Wylan came to her and kissed her on the cheek with: "Mom, is everything fine?"

And she smiled into the cup and said: "Yes, fire is very cosy, Wylan. Actually, what do you think about bringing Jan's formal portrait here?"

[pink-orange-tea]

honestly i feel like one of the most underrated moments of the kaz & nina friendship is when nina is pretending to be johannus rietveld's heartrender assistant for the auction job and they meet with van eck in the geldrenner.

basically after van eck told colm he'd confirm the "investment" of the jurda fields with the merchant council for kuwei's auction, van eck addresses nina and asks her about her involvement with the dregs. nina then asks van eck about wylan's "kidnapping" and then proceeds to throw the shadiest insult at van eck (that is very iconic of her btw):

like, even though nina finds kaz infuriating and inmoral and has threatened him a couple times, we also see that she cares for him and also respects him a lot, even if she doesn't give a flying fuck about his opinion.

nina literally (though subtlely) calls van eck an idiot and shades him for having crossed kaz and i really love moments like this that show the mutual respect nina & kaz hold for each other in spite of their rocky relationship.

(take also as a supporting point when, in the sweet reef job when nina is cornered by the dime lions, she begins negotiating with them to buy inej time, and she tells them that if they wanted her to go with them they had to go find a way where kaz wouldn't go after her; yes she was bluffing but she's absolutely right: one does not cross kaz brekker and people who do it (insert van eck) are complete idiots)

[ethanscrocs]

jesper watched pokémon indigo league as a child but never played any of the actual games (he gets too restless for most video games unless it's PVP-style shooting games, wylan likes to sit with him and play animal crossing or minecraft on his nintendo switch while jesper goes into a gamer rage trying to get people to listen in overwatch)

they suck so badly (affectionate)

baby jesper would see this guy and go Fuck Yes...

wylan plays as jigglypuff in super smash bros and it's his favorite pokémon. he has actually played a couple of the pokémon games but he has proudly stuck by his choice of a fave for years.

inej doesn't know much about pokémon but she thinks gengar is cool, so that's her answer when asked about her fave.

if you ask kaz what his favorite pokémon is he WILL answer pikachu every time just to piss you off. and tbh nina and matthias don't really care much but nina will go like awww that one's cute every once in a while when shown a picture.

kuwei has actually played almost every pokémon game and the crows' picks for their favorite pokémon make him roll his eyes about how basic they are (lmfao)

his favorites are fuecoco & magmortar

[appolinyou]

Yes, Kuwei can be considered a crow, but the same black sheep in society that they tried to kill simply for the very fact of existing.And then society kidnapped this very black crow, tortured him, killed his father, and this very hated black crow had to do the impossible in order to stay alive one more day in prison.Until she was saved by a flock of noisy crows who had claims against each other, who until that moment still weakly trusted each other as a full-fledged unity,And only with the rescue of this white crow were ordinary crows able to become exactly those whom everyone loves so much:Those who respect other people's past, their own and other people's traumas, who understand that a person can make mistakes, has made and WILL make them.Who desperately feels this life, constantly being on the edge of a knife between life and death, genius and madness, who is on the path to either survive or live.Those who endured difficulties, those who learned to be bolder and angrier, more cunning and agile, louder and brighter despite their complexes. Who lived with a target on his back.

АNow think about it, did I only describe the Six of Crows? Wasn’t it the same with Kuwei? The answer is yes, he experienced the same thing, and he was experiencing it all at the moment. He deserves to be in the ranks To this newly formed flock of ravens, being part of it means doing or not doing the same things as them.

АAnd also regarding the ravens. I would like to remind you that these are precisely the birds that beat their chick that has fallen from the nest to death with the whole crowd. They are not as good as you idealized them. However, this also applies to the Ravens team, they are criminals. Heroes. Young and desperate teenagers who live and love as they want, and no one can stop them from feeling differently.

How can you scold for feelings? Then this is hypocrisy, if only because someone likes Wesper to humiliate and HATE another character for his feelings and initiative, attempt, experiment in this area.

Don't.Hurt.Mine..Boy.

[bestgrishaversequotes]

longer quotes under the cut!

Kuwei turned to Jesper. "You should visit me in Ravka. We could learn to use our powers together."

"How about I push you in the canal and we see if you know how to swim?" Wylan said with a very passable imitation of Kaz's glare.

Jesper shrugged. "I've heard he's one of the richest men in Ketterdam. I wouldn't cross him."

(Crooked Kingdom, chapter 42)

--------

"More money, more mayhem, more scores to settle. Was there never another dream?"

He said nothing. What had carved all the hope from his heart? She might never know.

Inej turned to go. Kaz seized her hand, keeping it on the railing. He didn't look at her. "Stay," he said, his voice rough stone. "Stay in Ketterdam. Stay with me."

She looked down at his gloved hand clutching hers. Everything in her wanted to say yes, but she would not settle for so little, not after all she'd been through. "What would be the point?"

He took a breath. "I want you to stay. I want you to... I want you."

(Six of Crows, chapter 42)

[anabetel35]

here, have a few paragraphs of one of my WIPs that I really like :D

Fandom: Six of Crow, Shadow and Bone Pairings: Wywei, Wesper, Kuwesper Main tag: Alternative universe - hanahaki disease

'Tomorrow,' he thinks, 'tomorrow I will try to get us out of here. Tomorrow, I will find a way to a new home.'  The words shouldn't carry as much weight and comfort as they do. One more empty promise, is all they are, a not so new addition to the ever-growing pile of lies and half-truths and delusional lunacies that Kuwei keeps, collects, even. And yet… And yet, lying on a cheap, ancient bed, in a cheap, ancient house, in a cheap, ancient part of a huge, boisterous city that carries legends older than perhaps even some of the saints, staring at the slow, hopeful sunrise from a small, dirty window, lends them some sort of a deep truth. 'Tomorrow,' the essence of Ketterdam, the concept of a new beginning, whispers back. 'Of course, tomorrow, I will guide you.'

here's the link, if anyone's interested :)

(or, if the link doesn't work, it's called the worst thing about burnt fower petals (is that, darling they are yours))

[smolandweirdwriter]

Castle on the hill is so SoC coded like

“One friend left to sell clothes” = Wylan, became a merchant and went home. Jesper who left to discover himself and who he wants to be and decided to stay with wylan in the end. Also Kuwei who left to find the cure to parem!

“one works down by the coast” = inej

“one had two kids but lives alone” = Kaz, who started the gang/crew but is now the loneliest of them, his purpose scattered now that he has what he wants, waiting for Inej, distant etc. also about Matthias, who had a vision of a future with Nina and in the end could not pursue it

“one’s brother overdosed” = about Jesper’s addiction and also Jordie

“one’s already on his second wife” = Nina

“One’s just barely getting by” = all of them simultaneously

am I reading too far into this? Yes definitely but I’m crying about it anyway

[polycrowtruther]

"Hold on a fucking minute," Zoys said, setting her fork down with an audible 'thunk'. "You've all done some pretty monumental things, I admit, but you can't seriously think we'd believe you're the ones who broke into the Ice Court . That you lot are the ones who started the current civil unrest within Fjerda, or single handedly put an end to the jurda parem crisis. Sure, you were impressive during the Echange months before, but this is the Ice Court we are talking about. Not even the Darkling was foolish enough to try breaking in. I think we must just be talking about two different Kuwei's, I'm sure the name is somewhat common.”

"Zoya, dear, you are underestimating just how greedy our Brekker is," Jesper grinned devilishly, "We most certainly broke into the Ice Court, I can promise you that. There was money to be made, after all. Any subsequent fallout was, while unintended, merely the price of doing business."

" How ," her eyes were wide in shock, "It's impossible."

"It's impossible for you , your majesty," Kaz shrugged. "Like I said before, I am above such trifling things. And unlike the Darkling, I am successful at them, as well."

"No, I think it's just impossible," Nikolai looked between them all for a moment, fighting hard to maintain a straight face. It seemed he was thrilled at the implications of what exactly the Crows got up to during their business pursuits, "You do realize you all are the first people in history to have pulled it off, yes? Saints, it's kind of terrifying to picture, actually. I'm realizing just how lucky I am that none of you were serious about kidnapping Alina."

"We did kidnap her," Jesper jabbed his fork at Nikolai, "We just weren't serious about keeping her kidnapped. The semantics of it all are very important, Sturmhond"

"It's rude to hold your friends hostage," Kaz squinted, "Or so I have been told. Multiple times."

“Because it is rude, you twat,” Alina scowled, punctuating her statement with a bite of her potatoes, “And no matter how much fun I had, I very much did not enjoy being held hostage.”

"To be fair, you came willingly for the most part,” Inej tilted her head, “I don't think it counts as kidnapping if the target climbs into the getaway carriage of their own volition. It's more accurate to say we 'smuggled' you out."

Read the whole thing at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/47964844/chapters/125134003

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Not sure I’m wording this right but I’ll try so most of the plot twists in the six of crows duology that have a large impact on the overarching plot are revealed to actually have been controlled by Kaz, such as “He was just Wylan Van Eck. He told them everything”, Inej being caught by the Ice Court guards and Heleen, the fake Council of Tides, and so on and so forth. One of the only major twists not controlled by Kaz is Kuwei’s existence and presence at the Ice Court in the place of his father. And one of my favourite things about this at that it so massively relies on perception, as is so symbolically relevant in many themes of the novels but particular in the theme of classism and how each “side” of Ketterdam views each other and themselves. Because yes, this is a plot twist that was not pre-planned by Kaz and that he did not figure out in advance of being confronted with it (he internally expresses hope that Kuwei is “a surprisingly young Bo Yul-Bayur” and not just some “hapless prisoner that Nina and Matthias decided to liberate” when they fell the ash, and later asks Nina to explain why the “illustrious Shu scientist looks like one of Wylan’s school pals” please note I’m quoting from memory there may be some mistakes and/or imperfections), but even though this is true it’s also true that in the literally third chapter Kaz immediately and correctly theories that Bo Yul-Bayur is dead. Van Eck states that they have sources telling them he is alive, and Kaz willingly accepts this - even using it to convince Nina when she raises the same assumption of Yul-Bayur’s death. This is a minor example, though of major importance, of Kaz’s ultimate failing grace in the first novel: he was willing to accept Van Eck at his word. We see him criticise and bully himself for believing Van Eck throughout the ending of this book and through Crooked Kingdom, particularly in the way he blames himself for Inej’s abduction, but that’s for the larger, intentional lie; the money. What we see in Kaz’s acceptance that Yul-Bayur must be alive is him tossing his instincts aside in response to Van Eck, essentially because he trusts the rich, respectable mercher to be honest, and to have no motive in lying to him; just as the Dregs (specifically mentioned) and the rest of the gang members (strongly implied) in Crooked Kingdom assume Kaz’s guilt because they can see no reason why a rich, respectable mercher would make false accusations like the abduction of his son. After the original assertion in chapter 3, we receive various pieces of evidence that we and the characters both take to renforce Van Eck’s claim, such as the other teams moving on the Ice Court, most notably the Shu, and (the most damning) Brum’s references to “the scientist”. And yes, if Yul-Bayur had been alive then these would all count towards evidence of that. But the tiniest hint of doubt, that you barely even register as doubt in the moment, comes from Brum when he describes “the scientist” as being “stubborn” for “still mourning the death of his father”. Matthias’ internal response is that he knows nothing about Yul-Bayur’s father so the reader is from that moment prepared to discover a mystery about the elusive father, not the unknown son. From the second we met Kuwei, the fate of the job and of Van Eck’s being a liar was sealed in an absolute excellent piece of foreshadowing. Because Kaz ignored his clear instinct, that Yul-Bayur was dead and something else was at play if the Fjerdans and Shu both truly had parem, in favour of believing Van Eck’s word. And Kaz turned against his instincts, that he shouldn’t take the job because it was a suicide mission, in favour of what he openly describes as his own greed by saying that the lever was working in Van Eck’s favour.

So I think what I’m trying to say here is that Kuwei’s appearance has a two-fold relevance as a plot twist: first in the subversion not of Kaz controlling the narrative but still having predicted some aspects of this, and second as foreshadowing of another major plot twist that Kaz had not control of, that being several aspects of the ending of the book. I hope this made sense, I’m very tired and I’m not sure that I’ve articulated this correctly, but i thought it was interesting and these posts tend to work better when I just put all my thoughts onto the page as they come instead of trying to structure it or whatever