Tumgik
#I’m relying on you Kaz and gang
my-darling-inej · 2 years
Text
appreciation post for kaz’s best one-liners
because he’s the chandler of the crows
about jesper spelling ‘forgive me’ on dirix’s chest in bullet holes: “Compromise”, Kaz said. “I’m sorry does the trick and uses fewer bullets.”
“If you fail, all the world will suffer for it.” - “Oh, it’s worse than that, Van Eck. If I fail, I don’t get paid.”
“I had a question,”, said Kaz. “About your mother and whether the rumours are true.” (he says that to a guard in hellgate 💀)
when he tells wylan to watch jesper so he doesn’t go gambling: “I don’t need a nursemaid”, Jesper snapped. “More like a chaperone, but if you want him to wash your nappies and tuck you in at night, that’s your business.” (captain of the wesper ship from day one)
Kaz replied with a time-saving gesture that relied heavily on his middle finger and disappeared belowdecks. (i know, technically not a line, but still great)
“I’ll just hire Matthias’ ghost to kick your ghost’s ass.” (iconic 👏🏻)
when jesper doesn’t know what to do with the backless book: “Hold it up so we don’t have to look at your ugly face.”
“What is he doing?” asked Matthias. “Performing an ancient Zemeni ritual,” Kaz said. “Really?” - “No.”
“How do we cross? I don’t see anything.” - “Because you are not worthy.” - “I’m also not nearsighted. There’s nothing there.” followed by: “This is only one part of Hringkälla.” - “Yes, I know, then a tree tells you the secret handshake.”
“You can explain why our illustrious Shu scientist looks like one of Wylan’s school pals along the way.”
about van eck’s replacement for the ruby (that HE STOLE): “Nice pin,” Kaz said with a glance at the ruby stuck to Van Eck’s tie, “Not as nice as the other one, though.”
“Let’s go.” - “Me?” - “No, the idiot behind you.”
“How is-” - “Nina is fine. Jesper is fine. Everyone is fine except for me because I’m stuck with a gang of hand-wringing nursemaids. Keep a watch.” (actually it’s because of inej, but sure, kaz)
while petting a dog: “Now why can’t people be this easily trained?”
“I helped as well,” added Kuwei, looking sulky. “He did help,” Wylan said. “We’ll make him a plaque,” said Kaz.
“I need to do this. I’ve never been to my mother’s grave. I’m not leaving Kerch without saying goodbye.” - “Trust me, you care more than she does.” (i mean he’s right but jesus christ 💀)
“Pick up the pace,” Kaz said, eyeing his watch. “If I spill a single drop of this, it will burn straight through the floor onto my father’s dinner guests.” - “Take your time.”
when he breaks that dreg member’s leg: “My leg! My leg!” - “I recommend a cane.” (he’s a bad bitch and he knows it. 10/10)
Jellen Radmakker had fallen to the stage and was bellowing, “I’ve been shot!” He had not been shot.
when zoya tries to reanimate kuwei: “I really hope she gets this right,” murmured Nina. “Not as much as Kuwei does,” said Kaz.
in conclusion: kaz is actually funny as hell
4K notes · View notes
anthony-sharma · 10 months
Text
Six of Crows Reread - Ch. 3
Now, on to the reread, a chapter by own very own Kazzle Dazzle!
_
Chapter 3: Kaz
“Don’t tell me my business, Jes.”
“You think I’m dirty, too?”
“If I thought you were dirty, you’d be holding your guts in on the floor of the Exchange like Big Bol, so stop running your mouth.”
I like it that Kaz calls Jesper “Jes” since the beginning, but since the Crows’ appearance in S&B is supposed to be a “prequel” of sorts, I’m sure we’ll see Kaz call Jesper “Jes” at some point in the spin off (because we are getting it).
And also, he trusts Jes too much to “spill his guts in the Exchange”. Proof is how he treated him after he spilled where they were going. He was an ass to Jesper, yes, and he also fought him (without his cane) but he wasn’t anywhere near deadly violent to him. So shut up Kaz, you big softie!
“Kaz shrugged, unwilling to give her an answer. Inej was always trying to wring little bits of decency from him. “When everyone knows you’re a monster, you needn’t waste time doing every monstrous thing.”
“Why did you even agree to the meet if you knew it was a set-up?” She was somewhere to the right of him, moving without a sound. He’d heard other members of the gang say she moved like a cat, but he suspected cats would sit attentively at her feet to learn her methods.”
And the show draws inspiration from this dialogue for episode 4 of the second season, called “Every Monstrous Thing”, where, curiously enough, he “does” another monstroous thing (burying Alby) without actually doing so. I know what you did there, S&B!
Also, it will be very cool how they portray this part of the book in the show, where Inej is talking to him from somewhere in the shadows but can’t really be seen. 
“For a while she said nothing, then from somewhere behind him he heard her. “Men mock the gods until they need them, Kaz.”
He didn’t see her go, only sensed her absence.”
I wonder if Kaz prayed when Inej was injured by Oomen, later on. 
Also, that last sentence sounds lovely for some reason. Like poetic. 
“Kaz gave an irritated shake of his head. To say he trusted Inej would be stretching the point, but he could admit to himself that he’d come to rely on her. It had been a gut decision to pay off her indenture with the Menagerie, and it had cost the Dregs sorely. Per Haskell had needed convincing, but Inej was one of the best investments Kaz had ever made. That she was so very good at remaining unseen made her an excellent thief of secrets, the best in the Barrel. But the fact that she could simply erase herself bothered him. She didn’t even have a scent. All people carried scents, and those scents told stories – the hint of carbolic on a woman’s fingers or woodsmoke in her hair, the wet wool of a man’s suit, or the tinge of gunpowder lingering in his shirt cuffs. But not Inej. She’d somehow mastered invisibility. She was a valuable asset. So why couldn’t she just do her job and spare him her moods?”
Oh my dude, your opinion’s gonna change by the second book, and maybe even before that! It reminds me to the part where Wylan asks him if he would be able to trust someone with his weaknesses and he thinks that yes, there’s one person who would never take advantage of his weaknesses.
Also, how is it possible that Inej doesn’t have a scent? Can humans not have a scent? Although we’re reading a fantasy book, maybe some things can be overlooked without thinking too much about them?
“Ghosts, Kaz thought. A boy’s fear, but it came with absolute surety. Jordie had come for his vengeance at last. It’s time to pay your debts, Kaz. You never get something for nothing.
[...]
But if they managed it, even after Per Haskell got his cut, Kaz’s share of the scrub would be enough to change everything, to finally put into motion the dream he’d had since he’d first crawled out of a cold harbour with revenge burning a hole in his heart. His debt to Jordie would be paid at last.”
It saddens me to think that Kaz thinks Jordie would want to take revenge on him or thinks that he ows him something, considering that he was only 9 years old when Jordie died and he was not at fault for anything :(
Van Eck thumbed through the papers in his hand. “You were first arrested at ten,” he said, scanning the page.
“Everyone remembers his first time.”
Is he making a sex joke or am I just reading too much into it?
“The mercher cleared his throat. “When Bo Yul-Bayur sent us the sample of jurda parem, we fed it to three Grisha, one from each Order.”
Oh, so he was indeed with Councilman Hoede in his boat safehouse in the beginning! I didn’t catch that the first time I read it. 
“So that was the secret behind the murder of the ambassador in the washroom. And the gold in those three Shu ships must have been Fabrikator made. Kaz hadn’t heard anything about Ravkan documents, but he nodded anyway.”
Haha silly me who didn’t make the connection between a drugged Grisha and the assassination of the Zemeni ambassador. And of course that is why Kaz and Inej hadn’t come up with an explanation - because they didn’t know of the existence of jurda parem or what the drug did to Grishas.
“You have to know he’s probably dead. The Fjerdans hate Grisha. There’s no way they’d let knowledge of this drug get out.”
So interesting to see how Kaz literally spoiled what happened to Bo Yul-Bayur. He really died. Or more like he died even before the book started. He was also right on the fact that they didn’t let the knowledge of the drug get out, because they kept Kuwei under lock and chains - until the Crows came, of course.
“Our sources say he is very much alive and that he is awaiting trial.” Van Eck cleared his throat.”
Well, evidently your sources are wrong. Either that or you were deceived on purpose, Van Eck. 
“From what I know of the Ice Court, whoever stole my DeKappel is exactly who I need for this job.”
“Then you’d be better off hiring him. Or her.”
I love how they’re almost dancing around each other in this conversation. Van Eck basically acknowledging that it was Kaz who stole the DeKappel and Kaz just playing dumb until his last breath. It gives me RoW “I don’t know who Inej is” vibes.
“Van Eck led him through a door and into a manicured garden, thick with the new nectar scent of early crocuses. The smell hit Kaz like a blow to the jaw. Memories of Jordie were already too fresh in his mind, and for a moment, Kaz wasn’t walking through the canal-side garden of a rich merch, he was knee-deep in spring grasses, hot sun beating down on his cheeks, his brother ’s voice calling him home.”
I hope in a future book we can get more details about how Kaz’s life was like before he and Jordie went to Ketterdam. Here we only get the barest glimpse but I wish we knew more.
“Van Eck sighed and crouched down to turn the body over. “We’ve lost another,” he said.
The boy was young, the bare scraps of a moustache on his upper lip.” 
Oh no, Joost!! Why is it that I’m just now reading about his death? Well, maybe because he’s not mentioned again by anyone, but still!
“Oh, it’s worse than that, Van Eck. If I fail, I don’t get paid.”
That’s almost the same thing he says to Nikolai in 2.07, with the “I didn’t know you were patriots” and him answering with “Well, if you die, we don’t get paid”.
So that’s all for chapter 3, next up comes again our darling Inej <3
2 notes · View notes
thewillowbends · 3 years
Text
Logging in briefly to drop thoughts on Shadow & Bone:
1.) The word building is pretty good. The Fold is a nice, big, scary problem driving the main conflict.
2.) I can see why they combined the two series because, uh, Mal and Alina are pretty boring, aren’t they? Lol. The Darkling is definitely the stand out character from the trilogy, and if Kaz and crew weren’t there, you can see how boring it would be once he goes ~over the line.~
Which is like...why? Why not have the obvious — and actually meaningful for once — love triangle? Why not a redemption plot line, especially after showing us a fifteen minute backstory of how completely fucked up Aleksander’s backstory is? (Notice how he had to be flattened and dumbed down shortly after.) It would certainly have made Alina a far more interesting character. Completely unsurprising Darklina dominates the fanfiction. Kind of a shame Netflix wasn’t willing to diverge from the primary material a little more because it probably would have made the story stronger and more nuanced.
Literally guys, if you could just switch the villain/heroine storyline dynamic for S&B and the Star Wars sequels, it would vastly improve both stories, right?
3.) Goddamn Ben Barnes is so hot. The rest of the cast is more in the cute territory to me, but Inej’s actress is also bangin’.
4.) Mal and Alina are kind of terrible friends. I guess it’s supposed to be romantic that they’re each other’s “true north,” but they racked up quite a body count getting back to each other with their dumfuckery, didn’t they? Those poor cartographers.
5.) I find it bizarre how many writers want to write characters like Danaerys and the Darkling being driven to extremism or madness by the horror of their experiences but don’t want to explore the nuances of what it says about generational trauma or the world they inhabit. We can’t just keep writing villains and heroes who use violence to solve problems and only creating a nebulous moral reasoning as to why the latter is to be celebrated for it while the former is not.
Like...how do you watch that backstory in episode 7 and think it flattens Aleksander as a character? He represents a people who have been on the wrong side of genocide for literally centuries, both from internal and external enemies. He’s already tried serving the crown to get respite and lost everything for it. Their enemies to the north want to wipe them out, too. The only reason they have any protection now is because Aleksander carved out a space and weaponized them. He’s literally the only one doing anything! His own mother wanted him to leave the rest of the Grisha to die! He’s not wrong to think he and the rest of the Grisha are in danger if they aren’t in power.
It’s just...vaguely uncomfortable to continually see traumatized, nuanced characters turned into villains and then not letting any of the moral complexity that turned into extremists touch the heroes, too. The big obvious elephant in the room is that The Fold is being carted around as the way he could have brought the world to respect Grisha by using his power alongside Alina. Fine, but the story doesn’t examine two huge issues there: 1.) He had to create The Fold in the first place to make something big enough to make the statement of Grisha power, so essentially making the world embrace Grisha requires them to fear their power (“Make me your villain”) first before they can be amazed by it, 2.) you just showed us in ep. 7 that he had no reason to believe that destroying the Fold would ensure Grisha safety! The king’s already betrayed them once! (For that matter, character complaint here: why doesn’t he bring up Alina’s Shu heritage as an appeal to knowing being different makes you a target for danger?? Why doesn’t she make that connection??)
Just so bizarre to me how you can miss the real core of what’s interesting in the story.
6.) This is of course me telling you I’m total Darklina trash. Aesthetics, baby.
58 notes · View notes
gemma-collins-ily · 3 years
Note
Hello, I wanted to ask for a request with Jesper? I wanted to see him being very protective of the reader. Maybe he saves her from a fight during a job or something (like, she can handle herself just fine but ended up getting trapped by a lot of guards idk) and he comes and shoots them at last minute and is very worried because she did got hurt. Then later she can be all like "it's nothing, I'm fine" but he insists on patching her up and caring for her wounds (maybe make it a soft moment with him being all gentle and lovey with her), kinda blaming himself for her getting hurt, and maybe then confessions are made? Thank you :D
Tumblr media
Fools In Love
a/n - yessss more Jesper appreciation! He needs more credit! It sounds a bit creepy in the beginning I'm sorry 😭 Also Jesper and the pet name lovely ugh my heart! Thanks for the request xoxo💕♥️
Warnings: knives, blood, alcohol (used for cleaning of injuries), brief mentions of nausea and not sure what else!
Tumblr media
Partners.
That's all you were. That's what Jesper kept telling himself, at least.
But it was so strange with you - he felt so strange with you. Like he should protect you, admire you, love you, care for you whenever he could.
He felt you should always be in his heart, and you were. Some part of him, yet every part of him, was saved for you.
On the days he was truly tired, had run errand after errand, participated in a heist, anything that exhausted him, he would save just a simple smile or two for you.
Because he felt he couldn't, and shouldn't, leave you without one. He needed you to be in his life and wanted you to need him too. He wanted you to rely on the him as he would you, and most importantly, deeply desired that you could love him the way he did you.
This was not in a warped version of reality, a figment of his mind and imagination as a sick, manipulative goal, he only wanted to be loved.
By someone. Alright, anyone. Any person. Admittedly, one specific person.
He wanted to be loved by you.
Jesper knew he did, in fact, love you. And when he realised, his heart had raced, Nina looking up in alarm before seeing the lovestruck bliss upon his face.
Jesper Fahey was in love with you.
And boy, was he in trouble now.
Tumblr media
Chaos.
You were extremely similar to Jesper in that way: the way that meant it followed you wherever you went. There was no escaping the chaos, not when you were apparently born from the very depths of it yourself and had a friend quite the same.
A friend.
That's all you were.
It sent a pang of agony rippling through your chest, possibly enough to send you to your knees, but you swiftly shook the thought away.
Focus was what was needed.
Although, it seemed so tempting to think of him, to picture his face in your mind's eye one last time. One last time before you died.
Because it had been going well. But later, there was a high chance of fatality. But, you decided to do what you did best, instead of giving into the niggling voices that told you to remember every brush of the arm, every smile across a room, every chair he pulled out for you; instead, you decided to give into something else.
You decided, to give in to the chaos.
Your strategy was giving fairly good results, just as you had anticipated, considering it always did. Going with your gut seemed to be the best way of going about it, and it was.
Until it wasn't.
Since you were now improvising and no one appeared to be taking any notice of the shots fired, or grunts of pain heard, when even more men than previously swarmed the alley, you were taken aback.
You had not predicted how much effort the rival gang you were on a heist against would gamble on you, sending out what seemed to be the majority of their forces for just one person.
You supposed that meant whatever Kaz had up his sleeve would work fairly easily now though, the level of guard lowered and their numbers dilapidated.
He better thank me later.
Just as you flipped a man over your back, quickly and efficiently leaning down over him, your shadow looming as your hand reached for your knife that was meant to be in your belt.
"Looking for this?"
You gasped and your eyes boggled as your dagger, that the man beneath you had obviously stolen, plunged into your side, the hilt far from buried in your torso as you recovered from the shock as soon as you could find it in your abilities to.
Another knife was ripped out of a corpse beside you and burrowed in his chest, right above his heart, before he could register what was taking place.
You stood, groaning as you clasped the sore flesh surrounding your wound, not yet having pulled out the weapon to prevent further blood loss.
You spun to face the remaining gang members behind you, grimacing as you felt the bile slip upward in your throat, stubbornly rising no matter how many times you swallowed.
Now you had nothing. Nothing to defend yourself with and nothing to help you in this fight. Nothing and no one.
Dying alone was a nauseating fear, circling through your head and running rampage, sending you into a frenzied panic.
Your back hit the wall, the skin burning as it was grazed against the bricks and your heart racing as you failed to bend to the side, only a grunt sounding from your throat as your hand pressed further against your abdomen.
In that moment, you closed your eyes and prayed. Simply prayed to the Saints you had once ridiculed with Kaz, hoping there was a chance, if even just a miniscule one, that you could be saved.
And maybe Inej had been right all along, that you owed her an overdue apology, because maybe, just maybe, Saints did exist.
And perhaps, Jesper Fahey was yours.
He came barrelling around the corner, your eyes clenched tightly shut as you heard gunshots ring out, believing that moment could be your end, that heist your undoing.
But no, because when you peered through your lashes, swaying precariously on your feet, he was there.
You gaped in shock, confusion and finally, joy. You wanted to jump into his arms, tell him of your gratefulness, all because he hadn't left you alone.
Dying was no incredible feat: it happened in Ketterdam everyday, bodies piled in corners and rotting in the dank, narrow streets. To die with no one to close your eyes, only being forced to gaze glassily into the deep grey sky, or no friend to comfort you in your last seconds or less, even, seemed terrifying.
Although, now you wouldn't have to worry about that. Because he was here.
Jesper rushed to you, nimbly leaping over corpses and stepping around barrels or other obstructions, eyes full of concern that only grew when his line of sight landed upon your side.
You could only weakly smile as his arm was slung over your shoulders and his other was suddenly dipping below your upper leg.
"Jes, I don't need picking up!"
"Hmm... I beg to differ, darling. So do your knees apparently."
That was when you realised just how they had buckled and how much of your weight you were making him support. You sighed and gave a sheepish yet irked nod, giving consent to let him swoop you off your feet, and he did so without hesitance after he observed your approval.
He traipsed through the streets, using his knowledge of shady back alleys to keep away from crowds and even if he had swaggered down the main street, no one would have batted an eye.
Or offered help. Ketterdam was not the place for helpful neighbors or friendly coworkers, and often the inhabitants were cruel, selfish and overall generally appeared to be disappointed with their whole lives.
Go figure.
The capital of Kerch was not an actual hospitable place, but some little nooks and crannies could just squeeze you into a sort of community. You had once known a baker that had given you free whole loafs of bread, shaking you off when you tried to pay.
Your palm was still positioned flat over your wound, digging in uncomfortably and your fingers splayed slightly in the air. You didn't dare move it, not making a sound either, only letting soft whines out when Jesper shifted you in his arms, to which he would respond with an apologetic gaze, no words said.
The scratch was not life threateningly deep, just shocking, and well, frightening; it reminded you anything could happen, just one simple change of plan could kill you.
It mortalised you in a way, made you think of how easily it could all be over. Sometimes, galavanting off with the Crows, searching giddily for trinkets with Nina and Jes made you feel as though you could do anything, stay in that moment forever.
But you were human. And right then, you had a knife in your side. Maybe it would have been better to pull it out, considering now every jostle sourced from your friend's sharp steps, heels tapping forcefully on the stones, could possibly send the dagger closer to your ribcage or organs.
"Jes."
"Yes, love?"
"Pull it. Please."
It was a beg for help, and a desperate one after he had only glanced down at you as he continued walking when answering to his name.
He did as you asked, laying you down to the side for a moment. He always had, providing whatever you needed and doing what you thought was best when it came to you.
"Ready? It'll hurt, lovely."
"You're making me more stressed, just do it already!"
It was true. You had broken a sweat as he had been trying to prepare you, beads of perspiration forming on your hairline.
If you had expected another warning, he certainly surprised you by wrenching the mini sword out of your side without anything else said. You cried out, gasping like a fish out of water and feeling just so, the crusting of the aging blood aiding that.
"I know, I know. Just give me a sec, okay? It'll be fine."
Jesper continued to mutter reassurances as he wrapped your scarf around your lower back and torso. The hardest part was when you had to lift your hips and rotate your body slightly so his slender fingers could grasp the other end of the garment to tie it together fully.
"I know. It's okay, yeah? It's fine."
He was in now way immature but his voice was definitely becoming higher and squeakier in fear: the tell tale lurching of his stomach appeared as he accidentally took a glance at the deep crimson blossoming over the scarf and staining his hands, managing to seep into the creases of his palms, depositing itself under his previously pristine nails and cuticles.
You could tell he was worried as he picked you up once more, yelping out a 'sorry' when his wrist brushed your blazing, sensitive flesh.
It was a troublesome trip to return to the Slat, Jesper aggravating the cut when he shifted to prevent you from slipping downward.
Once you were there however, you were adamant you could treat your injuries yourself, only really having a few minor scrapes and bruises, especially a sort of natural eyeshadow in the form of a black eye that had not fully appeared, yet was still already prominent.
You practically tumbled out of Jesper's arms, limping up the stairs to your room while the Zemeni followed closely behind you, a hand on the small of your back to support you while you found your balance, ticklish tingles spreading from the spot his fingertips made contact with your shoulder blades.
"Jes, I really don't need help, like, at all. Just let me-"
You were cut off as he pulled the alcohol out of your grasp, grinning in that charming way only he could pull off, only serving to irritate you further as he winked.
"Sure you don't. It's just that I can help. And I will, alright? I don't care if you don't agree, it's happening."
With that, the scarf was gently pulled from your skin, a hiss drawn from you as the rag he had tipped the alcohol onto touched your side. You forced yourself to control a flinch, only shying away a little as his unoccupied hand came absentmindedly and immediately to your unharmed side, pushing you back to have the cloth back on your skin, scooting you along the desk you were perched on.
"Just a bit more. I promise, darling."
You nodded, gritting your teeth against the pain until it subsided, choosing to focus on the warm and calloused hand resting on your other side, not yet removed.
"Alright, now it's only the little things."
Your mouth opened to protest, explain you could easily do that yourself, but Jesper only tutted under his breath and used two fingers to close your jaw and tilt your head simultaneously to observe the shiner decorating your eye.
"None of that. Now, all we've got is this, which I can't do much about, and that nasty gash on your arm."
He didn't think about what he was doing, how casually and carefully he was caring for you, as though you were a china doll, porcelain and fractured, broken with any move that was not delicate.
You didn't think about how much you enjoyed someone looking after you for once, taking such a chunk of his time to simply stand between your legs and help.
Suddenly, as you pouted and your bottom lip was drawn between your teeth, withholding a groan while he cleansed your upper forearm, his thumb came up to untuck your lip, barely ghosting over it, although the feeling was still so delicious. Tantalising.
And his arm dropped, cloth soaked with a random drink dropping to the rug as his gaze stayed on your lips. And he leant in, as did you, finally sharing a sweet kiss, tender and loving, all things beautiful and wondrous.
His stare burned into the floor as it drew downward, a murmur heard drifting through the air a few seconds later, "You know, I was so worried about you?" You moved to speak before he hushed you, "No, just let me... I'm saying, I was more concerned than a friend probably should have been. Maybe, I mean I don't know. Actually nevermind..."
But he never had a chance to finish as his locks of chocolate brown were swept away from his forehead, a kiss planted there in replacement.
"I'd love to go out with you, Jes, love. Or, I mean, whatever you want to do..."
Chuckles filled the room pleasantly as you both laughed together, cheeks flushed and lips almost swollen, at your embarrassment and haplessness, plus the lack of tact.
You supposed you were just fools in love. And in that moment, you wanted to be suspended there, floating forever.
With him.
146 notes · View notes
eerna · 3 years
Note
I feel like book Inej learns that the only way to survive the barrel is to kill and obviously she wants to survive so she can find a better life for herself and help others so her whole I guess I have to kill arc being tied into Kanej doesn’t sit right w me… ya know?
Yeah, it ties in the entire “Kaz is too soft” thing. In the books, he flat out ignored her emotional breakdown after she took her first life. He knows what it takes to survive, and he doesn’t pity her for doing it. Here, they made sure he would be around to reassure her it was okay afterwards. BUT I do like it how they added another scene with the sister to show the exact moment Inej becomes a killer. Her loved ones are threatened. She can let the woman live and make good on ther threats, or sacrifice her beliefs, and she makes the choice and her peace with it completely alone.
I can see people thinking Kaz is too open in SaB, but I thought they still captured his coldness fairly well. I'm also kind of operating under the idea that part of the reason he was more open to Inej was because he was out of his element (in a foreign country, away from his gang and club) and because Inej was having such difficulty with justifying her role in the Dregs with her morals and religion. I wonder if in a possible season 2, where they're back in Ketterdam, he becomes more closed off because then he's back in the Barrel and he has to act tougher and harsher because the Barrel is a rough place to live and he's got a reputation to uphold in Ketterdam, unlike Ravka where he's an unknown. What do you think? Love reading your SaB thoughts!
Aww thankss! It does make sense, but same could be said for Ice Court, and he wasn’t nearly as open then. I do hope you’re right and he takes this as a cue to become more closed off so we get to see that good good Kanej development happening... 
my guess is the shadow and bone showrunners and writers are just so excited about the crows and getting to do the six of crows storyline that they’re rushing their plot to get their favorite elements about them in early and i’m just... i don’t absolutely hate it, but i wish it could have been done better.
It did feel taht way. They were so excited about where the characters were gonna end up that they forgot that, in writing, it’s about the journey as much as the destination.
okay so i guess when they said they were making prequel content i assumed that would mean new plot points (which we’ve got) and new dialogue (which we have some of)… but they’re using key dialogue/conversations from the book that come at super important moments in the story (ie investment and the convo nina has w matthias about how barbaric fjerda is the whole how many grisha are allowed to live after their trial thing —> both of which come at very crucial moments for each character)… i guess i’m wondering what the show will offer when those moments come and they’ve already used that dialogue… does that make sense?
i know it’s a small thing but i’m still disappointed
Yup! Kaz giving his crow speech from THE LAST CHAPTER OF THE ENTIRE SERIES during the prequel didn’t sit right with me. The thing with Nina and Matthias was supposed to be that they just didn’t talk about morality during those initial weeks. They became Nina and Matthias, two people who had to rely on each other to survive. They taunted and jabbed each others’ cultures on the basis of food, festivals, and propriety, and it wasn’t until SoC that they got the luxury to start talking about the bigger issues. Which is also the reason Matthias started growing only after Hellgate, when Nina stopped being the exception and became the symbol in his head.
Wow I went on a ramble there but yeah I agree that they shouldn’t have hurried anywhere...
70 notes · View notes
plusultrcs · 3 years
Text
Okay so now that i’m done crying about shadow and bone to my friends i want to make a controversial statement. Don’t bite my head off for my opinion bc 1. idc i said what i said and 2. it aint that serious these are fictional characters moving on though. I don’t think the show is bad AT ALL i really enjoyed it and seeing the inclusion of leigh and her books was so fucking cute but i will say i think combining both series into one did a huge disservice to the character development of most, if not ever, character. and i’ll explain why so (obviously) sab spoilers ahead. this also obnoxiously long so if you dont read it thats fine <3 lmao
I know going into it everyone, including leigh pretty much, was saying not to expect it to be like the books. That it was going stray away and be more like a fanfiction than the original works. Which was true, but only for the six of crows characters. The show leaned heavily and relied heavily on the plot of shadow and bone. Which, of course, makes sense but because of the inclusion of a heavy heavy re-worked six of crows plot that didnt fit the plot of shadow and bone at all it left them feeling incredibly displaced. Like on shadow and bones part every single major and sometimes even the minor plot points were followed to the number, but on the six of crows front the only thing closely followed was the nina and matthias backstory. I wont talk about every single character because i anticipate this to already be long, but the ones i noticed the most were done a disservice.
For instance Alina. Despite shadow and bone being followed so closely you dont really get to see the natural progression of alina’s character the way i was hoping we would. And that’s definitely because of the time restraints. They had to find a way to somehow balance the screen time for both separate plots so that they could hold the audiences attention for both. Like when nina and matthias plot wasnt on the screen for i think 2 episodes i almost forgot about them and what they were up to so i understand why they timing had to be so split, especially when you only have 8 hours to cover the characters of 2 over 300 page long books yknow? But that means important moments alina had to herself in the books were completely cut, and so a lot of that growth we got went with it. The the biggest thing i was disappointed to see go was the defeat she felt when she was first captured and collared by the darkling. She was feeling absolutely helpless, mal was in their hold, she had no power to do anything but sit there and let him use her. All the training she did felt pointless to her and she really was at the point of giving up. She went quiet, wouldnt speak,was basically a zombie until that moment in the fold when she saw innocent people suffering when she knew she could stop. And she found a way to break free. There were other moments like this in the book, like moments at the little palace where shelt herself getting further and further from mal and feeling like an outside on her own all over again. They tried to show it in the show but without the time to develop her life on her own at the little palace it definitely fell short.
Speaking of mal: THANK YOU WRITERS FOR FIXING HIS WHINY ASS. And while he was annoyingly whiny in the books, he is not a boring character. Not to me at least, honestly he never was. While i do appreciate them not making him so whiny, I would have appreciated seeing that same dissonance realizing alina was grisha brought about in the books. Its just like alina said, grisha were people they scoffed at and talked about in a joking way. Their lives felt miles and miles away from their own, and then to learn that she had been one the entire time. I know i know, it has nothing to do with, and alina didnt know either. BUT THAT IS STILL HIS BEST FRIEND. And obviously girl he’s in love with even if he wasnt aware of it at the time. it made him question everything he thought about grisha, and more importantly brought both of their biggest fears to light: being torn apart. In the book he doesnt deal with this well at ALL and while leigh bardugo does a great job throughout the series showing him growing to me he never got where he should have been, and the show did place him there but i think they do so prematurely. I definitely wanted him to be as understanding as he was, to take notice of how much healthier and stronger she looks since she’s not withholding her power anymore, but i did still want the tension of him wondering what it means for them, how their lives would change, because just based on laws alone she is a grisha and would typically never be someone he would have the chance to befriend but neither of them would be okay with that.
AND ON THE TOPIC OF MALINA. THEY ARE NOT A BORING SHIP. I think the only person other who would work for alina is nikolai (dont fight me on this im right), and that is who i wanted her to end up with. However, I understand why Mal was the choice. Alina has always been someone who just wanted to belong, to fit in somewhere, AND THAT IS OKAY. IT’S NOT A CRIME TO WANT TO BE ORDINARY. I know shes the main character, and has the prophecy of being the ~chosen one~ but that doesnt mean she suddenly has to alter change and rearrange herself entirely. she never wanted to be a saint, and even by the end of the series she still doesnt. Choosing to let the world believed she died so she could live a quiet life. tHAT’S ALL SHE’S EVER WANTED. And Mal is the perfect person to give her that. People who claim she gave up her life for mal, to me, didn’t understand her character. She bounced around from needing mal by her side, and when she couldnt have him there she still sought acceptance in the only other person willing to give it to her, i.e. the darkling. and then when she couldnt have it from him she’s forced to find it in herself and while she learns she doesnt need him or mal she doesnt need anyone, she still chooses mal bc she wants to be with him. she doesnt feel obligated and even later on in the books makes plenty stands on her own without him but she loves him and they honestly make perfect sense. a softer ship doesnt make it a boring one js.
NOW THE SIX OF CROWS GANG. I hate to say it, i do but they felt reduced to a form comedic relief. they had their serious moments ofc but for the most part whenever they popped up on the screen i knew a joke or gag was soon to follow. i will say kit as jesper? best decision that could have possibly been made he fucking did what he had to DO. Kaz’s development for me felt really really rushed and forced. Like he was saying things to inej he wouldnt have said so quickly and especially not while he wasnt under stress??? it honestly felt like fan service??? which im not mad at because again i dont think the show was bad at all the actors brought really great life to the crows, but it just makes me sad to see all that development and build up go out the window.  i think if they were that set on combining the crows story with the shadow and bone story it would have been so much nicer to get a sort of prequel on the crows. like they should have given them the same treatment they gave nina and matthias. so that we could see their backstories as explained in the book happening in real time like how they all came to ketterdam. i know theres no point in wishing that now since whats done is done and again I DONT THINK ITS BAD. Im just sad about all the character development and strong subtle points lost because leigh bardugo always does such a great job in dropping subtle hints and always bringing them back in the end, and that was sadly lost. STILL A GOOD SHOW STILL LOVE THE BABIES. STILL PRAYING FOR A SEASON TWO.
EDIT: IT ALSO MADE ME SAD TO SEE THEM LOSE SO MANY TIMES??? ESPECIALLY AFTER SOC WHERE THEY ALWAYS MANAGED TO WIN?? Like ofc it made perfect sense for them to be unable to capture the damn sun summoner !!! but kaz and all of the crows are meant to be the best of the best when it comes to criminals top tier and they were bested by a ball of light and a jog???? and them going home basically empty handed was kinda :// like i got it but also where did alina get that necklace lmao so yeah once again still great still love it questions had to be asked 
3 notes · View notes
dregstrash · 5 years
Text
gilded crowns (pt. 6)
A/N: Me? Updating my fics? Unbelievable. But here’s part 6! Thanks for reading as always! 
Part 1  ||  Part 2  ||  Part 3  ||  Part 4  ||  Part 5
Description: Prince Kaz of Ketterdam has been subject of much mystery and speculation, but that doesn’t stop his brother, King Jordie, to arrange a marriage to Princess Inej of Suli. Neither party are happy with the arrangement. Kaz has other ideas and if he can drive Inej away, he can get back to the plans that’ll silence the demons that plague his dreams. Of course, what happens when she proves to be as stubborn as he is?
Tagging: @birdskullsandboats @lavehl @hysteriaas @definitely-not-procrastianting @fromferfer @lupine-teddy @ifangirlninja @spell-cleaver @s-artsnstuff @locksandbobbypins @friendo-nintendo @thatonefangirl-mrc @readmeaway @looking-for-wisdom @terrywho-cartoons @mykitchenisonfire151 @ysitsohardtofindaname @timeinhereyes @stormwitch-zoya @spvcexpeachvs 
“Do my eyes deceive me or is this a wedding invitation?” Jesper’s brassy voice trampled any thoughts that Kaz was mulling over, and he didn’t hesitate to shoot his friend a glare. Jesper wore his grin much like his clothes, haphazardly and entirely too open. He held out a cream colored piece of parchment that had been sent out a week ago. 
The Zemeni didn’t have a monarchy, but they still had a council and was governed by the general public. Both Jordie and Kaz had to learn about the different types of governance throughout the world, and had to know the corresponding terms that belonged to each. So while the Zemeni didn’t have a king, they did have chancellors, and Jesper happened to be the son of the High Chancellor herself. 
The first time Kaz had seen the lanky boy, he had been twelve and Jesper’s mother had just been elected. Her and her husband had decided to take a tour around the neighboring kingdoms to assure no changes would be done with their treaties. At first, Kaz had been unsure about the boy who seemed to smile and talk far too much. He was a system of movements that seemed independent of one another, and while it was intriguing. Kaz also found it incredibly annoying. It wasn’t until he, Jordie, and Jesper took a trip to the armory that Kaz had decided to befriend the Zemeni boy. He did beat Jordie in a shooting contest, and any chance to knock his brother’s ego off its high horse was a good starting point to any friendship.
“You’re early.” Kaz stated as he watched his friend make himself at home in his study by pouring himself a drink and flopping down on his couch.
“Mother has some other business to discuss with your brother.” Jesper shrugged and taking a long drink, “And Da decided that he finally had time to examine the farming techniques of the Kerch or whatever.”
“Your mother still lets your dad run Jurda farms? Isn’t that slumming a little?”
“It’s not so much as letting him, as giving him a break from council meetings. He’s always hated the attention.”
“A trait that you don’t share, apparently.” 
Jesper threw Kaz a wink, “Would be a shame to put these good looks to waste, don’t you think?”
“Why don’t you save it for someone who actually cares.” Kaz shot back. 
Jesper just chuckled, and Kaz logged the reaction as a confirmation to Jesper’s changing feelings. He’s always known that Jesper had harbored some feelings towards him, but Kaz had never done anything about it. Besides the fact that he had always seen Jesper as a brother, Kaz wasn’t built for the kind of relationship that his friend was craving. The night he broke his leg was plenty of proof of that. Kaz had always thanked whatever saints were present that someone else had shown up at the right time to divert the affection. 
“Speaking of someone who actually cares.” Jesper drawled while also getting up from his horizontal position to sit. He threw his legs out and tapped his glass with nervous fingers. “I don’t suppose you’ve seen a shy, anxious, chemist running around, would you?”
Kaz rolled his eyes, “I’m not Wylan’s keeper. And you know better to ask me that.”
“Yeah, well, I figured I could hit two birds with one stone, I get to know about Wylan and also transition to the real reason I’m here.”
Kaz had a clue as to what Jesper wanted, but he still said, “Spit it out.”
“The Princess of Suli.” Jesper said his smirk reaching his eyes, “Do tell me all those sordid details.”
“It’s an arranged marriage, Jesper. How sordid can it be?”
“You forget I know the princess, dear Kazzie,” Jesper intentionally said the nickname that should have ended with Jordie, “And she’s not just beautiful, but accomplished, smart, determined, kind--”
“I know.” Kaz didn’t need the rundown. He notices Inej too much as it is, he didn’t need the comprehensive list. “But this is all just a means to an end.”
“I’m glad that all these years haven’t taken the cryptic out of you. Any chance you’re going to elaborate?”
Kaz hesitated as he weighed the cost of telling Jesper his plans. Nikolai had sent him a missive two days ago saying that they were close to uncovering the Dime Lions. Thus far, they’ve only given him the name of the gang leader: Pekka Rollins. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
It was enough for Kaz to find out that he used to be a stonemason on the small nation of the Wandering Isle. He had moved to Kerch almost twelve years ago. He ran gambling halls and whorehouses and leased his thugs out to powerful men. This could include the person who had ordered the assassination of his parents. 
He’d need more information though. It wasn’t enough to rely on a king who sometimes moonlights as a privateer. He needed an ear on the ground, and as Kaz looked at Jesper, an idea came to him. 
“You still play the tables, don’t you?” Kaz said casually. 
Jesper scratched a spot behind his ear, suddenly sheepish, “Um...sometimes.” 
“By sometimes you mean you try not to get caught?” 
“My parents have made it clear that if they catch even one card in my hand, I’d be shipped to the Shu for university, so no I don’t get caught.” Jesper said his glass was empty but he rolled it in between his palms.
“How about a job then?” Kaz said slowly. 
“A job?”
“Yes. One where you get some credit every night, and you get to play in some of the best gambling halls Ketterdam has to offer?” 
Jesper’s eyebrows raised in shock. And he couldn’t blame his reaction. He knew that his friend had gotten into his fair share of trouble over nights of endless “just one more hand”s, but he couldn’t think about that now. Jesper wasn’t going to change unless he wanted to, so it seemed like a wasted opportunity to not use that to his advantage. 
“Let me get this straight,” Jesper got up from the couch and started to pace, “You’re offering to give me money so I can play cards up and down the gambling district?”
“I’m offering to give you money, so you can play and listen to conversations and tell me what you hear.”
If he had looked shocked before, it didn’t hold a candle to the expression he had on now.
Kaz got up from behind his desk and moved to the drink cart, “I’m getting close, Jes. I’m getting close to figuring out who had ordered my parents’ death. And I need someone to get me information. I can’t trust anyone at the Crow Club and I don’t trust any of the guards to not tell my brother about this. Jordie can’t know. Will you do it?”
He turned around to face Jesper, and he saw him sift through the risks. It wasn’t just the playing in less-than-reputable gambling houses, Jesper would also be risking his parents finding out or that someone might recognize him, or losing to the wrong people. But then again, Jesper always had a taste of the wild and dangerous, it had benefitted Kaz on more than one occasion. And he felt Jesper’s agreement even when he said, “What do I get out of it, Prince Kazzie?”
“Besides my silence regarding the trouble you got into the last time you were in the Crow Club? I’ll tell you where Wylan is.” 
Mischief danced in his gray eyes, “I can always trust you to deliver the vinegar before the honey, can’t I? Okay, fine. I’ll do it.”
Kaz nodded once, “Start tonight. I need anything you can find out about the Dime Lions and Pekka Rollins, but don’t be stupid about it.”
“When have I ever?” 
“I’m serious, Jes.”
“Don’t tell me you’re actually worried about me?” There was that smirk again.
“I’m worried about the excuses I’d have to make to your parents and my brother if you’re taken hostage or dead in a ditch. So be careful, Jesper. I’ll have Anika and Pim escort you. Meet them at the Crow Club.” 
“Nothing says safe better than bouncers.” Jesper rolled his eyes and began making his way to the door, but Kaz noted the tension in his shoulders, the danger of this assignment settling into his spine.
Kaz went back to his desk, his drink in hand, while Jesper raised an eyebrow at him.
Kaz sighed, “Wylan’s hiding out in the music hall. I suggest you hurry. His father thinks he’s at university right now.”
-
As soon as Jesper eagerly left his study to go bother someone else, Kaz waited a few more minutes before saying, “I can feel your questions burning a hole through that wall, Princess. Speak your mind.”
He sat back in his chair as he heard the secret door open off to his left and Inej materialized in front of him with a stony expression on her face.
“How did you know I was there?”
Kaz shrugged. Call it a sixth sense or intuition, but Kaz had always been finely attuned to the feeling of being watched, and since Inej walked through this world like a spirit, he had to more or less rely on that. 
“You sent Jesper out to a gambling hall.” Inej stated, her eyes as sharp as the dagger sheathed at her waist. She was dressed in dark trousers and a tunic today. An attire made for battle than a palace. 
“I sent him out to several.” 
“And you know about the scandal he had caused because of his taste for cards?” 
Kaz did know about that. He was the one who had bailed him out. With the added benefit of Jesper owing him a favor. 
“Is there a point to his inquiry?” Kaz said instead.
“You sent him out to find information for you even at the risk of ruining his reputation and the reputation of his country?”
“Jesper doesn’t need my help in ruining his reputation. He does it fine by himself.”
Inej studied Kaz for a long while. Her rich brown eyes, analyzing his face as if there was some secret there that she longed to pull out. He stayed perfectly still under her scrutiny. He wouldn’t be intimidated by her. He wouldn’t let her infuriating righteousness distract him from his goal. 
“How long have you been looking for your parents’ muderer?”
There it is. He knew that the question had to come eventually, especially since she seemed to have heard his entire conversation with Jesper. 
“Since the day I had found my parents dead.” Kaz said simply. The rest of the story was on the tip of his tongue, but he held back. Those memories had already plagued his nights, he didn’t need that darkness to seep into his days either. 
“Why don’t you want your brother to know you’re still looking for them?” 
“Because he’d tell me to give it up. Jordie has always been the better man, so he was able to let it go. To move on. I won’t. I can’t.”
Inej was silent again, but he noticed a shift in her eyes. They went from scrutinizing to sympathetic and he hated the comfort he found there.
“Revenge is a dagger that you hold over your own heart, prince.” Inej said.
“I have no interest to hear your Suli proverbs, princess.” Kaz snapped. “If you have nothing else to berate me for, or if you insist on lecturing me on a pain you don’t understand than I invite you to leave.”
Inej’s jaw ticked, and the sympathy in her eyes disappeared. She stalked closer to his desk, and Kaz felt his own anger spark with hers. 
“You will never know anything about my pain, prince. I had to suffer a kidnapping, two years in hiding with a circus, and no way to contact my parents. You have no right to say anything about my pain.”
Kaz knew the story. The princess of Suli had been taken, but no ransomed place. They said that slavers were responsible for it. His brother had tightened their security when the news had reached them. And the rumors were rampant about the fate of the princess. Some had said that she had died. Or that she was sold to a pleasure house on the shores of Shu. Or that she still lived. It had come to a great relief when she had turned up back to her home, dirtied, half-starved, but alive. 
His parents had been dead for two years, and he had been floating on his own delusions to really have time to put out his own conjectures. While Inej studied him, Kaz took his time reading the emotions behind her eyes. There was annoyance, disdain, and more importantly anger. Anger was understandable. Anger was easy. Anger still meant that she cared. And that was worth everything.
“Tell me, princess, given the chance, if you could look at those slavers in the eye as you drive that knife into their hearts. Would you do it?” 
Her hesitation was all the answer he needed. 
“Revenge may be my undoing, but not before I take down the demon that created me.” Inej didn’t say anything, and Kaz felt something else move between them. Something other than contempt and disdain. It came close to understanding, maybe that’s why he offered something to her. “You have certain skills I can use, Princess. Skills that’ll bring our engagement and my goals closer to the end. If you help me, I can help you.” 
They hung suspended in silence. Caught in a battle of wills that neither was used to losing. 
Eventually, Inej took a step back. Her face suddenly unreadable.
“Can you guarantee that you can find them? The slavers that took me?”
“No.” Kaz said bluntly. “I can’t guarantee them, but you seem the type to still have hope in the impossible. Now, what do you say, dear fiancee? Help me, help you?”
83 notes · View notes
Text
Top 10 Obscure Christmas Specials II:
 Guys! Guys! I'll get to the review proper in a second, but remember last year when I talked about A Cranberry Christmas? I said that it was lost media. WELL IT'S BEEN FOUND! HALLELUJAH! [link]
Tumblr media
 Hell-ho ho ho everybody! My name is JoyofCrimeArt, and it's that time of year again! Christmas time is upon us, and there is no escaping it! The radio is playing the same ten Christmas songs on loop (nine if they've already banned Baby, It's Cold Outside.) The feeling of kindness and generosity shared between you and your fellow man. And best of all, their finally airing all those weird ass Christmas and holiday specials.  I love Christmas specials! Even the not very good one's usually have SOMETHING good about them! Whether it be some kind of festive ambiance, a good message, or just being very easy to make fun of. Sure, everybody knows about the classics Christmas specials. Frosty the Snowman, The Grinch, Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, ect. But that's only the tip of the iceberg. But with Christmas being such a massive holiday, There are THOUSANDS of other Christmas and holiday specials out there that mostly go unnoticed every year! And while most of these specials go unnoticed for a reason, some are actually worth a watch, and act as hidden gems. And that'd why I'm here. To count down five more of these weird, bizarre, and unknown Christmas specials, that way you can check them out before the holidays are over. This is 5 Obscure Christmas Specials You Should Watch Part II.  Now, I've done this before last year. (Link here if you haven't seen it. Top 5 Obscure Christmas Specials You Should Watch:) As such I'm going to be following the same rules as I did last time. I'll be ranking these specials not by quality, but by how much you should watch them! Because sometimes a bad or cheesy Christmas special can provide more entertainment value than a really good one. But don't take the number ranking to seriously. This is mostly just a showcase of bizarre specials that you might not have heard of, and the actually number rankings aren't really the focus here. But with all that said, let's get this started with... Number 5: Neo Yokio: Pink Christmas (2018) (Oh, the Cringe!)  Just like to remind all of you that this is still running while Daredevil is canceled. Anyway, Jaden Smith is back! Just in case six episodes just wasn't synergy for you, now there is a Christmas special. Neo Yokio's Pink Christmas. This sixty-six minute long movie continues the story of Kaz Kaan, Neo Yokio's second most eligible bachelor and top demon hunter. The special opens with him having a cold around the holidays as his robot butler, Charles, tells him an original Christmas tale to make him feel better.  Said tale follows Kaz as he has to prepare for the Neo Yokio top bachelor secret Santa contest. He finds out that he has to find a gift for his arch rival, Arcangelo. Being uninteresting in giving his rival a present, he hires a shopkeeper named Herbert Sims to handle the secret Santa contest for him. And while this is all going on he also has to deal with his Aunt Angelique visiting Neo Yokio for the holidays. But when both demonic forces and Arcangelo have plans to ruin Christmas, it's up to Kaz to set things right.  If you've seen season one of this show, this special is more of the same. However, It is a bit more refined in it's doing so for the most part. I feel like there is more INTENTIONAL comedy overall compared to the first season. And I do like how this special manages to balance both the demon hunter and the bachelor aspect of Kaz's character. As oppose to the first season, where it felt like the show forgot half way through that it was suppose to be about demon hunting. We even get some more backstory and world building on the history of Neo Yokio and the Great Demon War, which is definitely a welcome addition. And Arcangelo, much like in season one, continues to be one of the highlights. He's like a cross between Phantom Blood's Dio Brando and Jake Paul. I love him. So I like how this special has him in a more major role.  I also like some of the themes presented in the "message" of the special. How corporations around the holidays essentially try to monetize anti-materialism for there own benefit. "Sure, we'll air specials like the Grinch and Charlie Brown. Specials that are meant teach you that Christmas isn't about consumerism. Just as long as you sit through all the ads we place in the middle. It's a legit and kinda smart message that I haven't really seen tackled before. But like Neo Yokio season one I don't really know where the show stands on this topic. Is it pro or against capitalism? Maybe it's trying to show that there's no right or wrong answer, but it ends up feeling more confused than anything else.  However, what does annoy me about this special is *Spoiler Warning?* the whole thing is, presumably, not cannon. I know that from the beginning we know that it's all a story told by the butler. But I was expecting some kind of twist where everything we heard would have actually happened somehow. Like Kaz would say "Wait, didn't that all happen last week Charles?" or something. Like a joke. Cause you know, this show is supposedly a comedy. But no, it's all just a story. So all the lore and world building that was actually somewhat interesting serves absolutely no point! *Spoiler Warning Over* I can't believe I let Jaden Smith trick me yet again.  In conclusion, what you see is what you get here. If you want to see a Jaden Smith anime Christmas special, than Neo Yokio Pink Christmas is the special for you. Check it out for the clout.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LLVazo8J9uE
You know what, I change my mind. Screw "There About to Warp!" this is my new favorite Toonami promo. Number 4: Crunchyroll's Christmas Special (2015) and Crunchyroll's Holiday Special (2017) (Oh, the Cringe!)  Now this is as bizarre and obscure as it comes. Just in case Neo Yokio wasn't enough for you to get your fill of vaguely anime themed Christmas nonsense, we have not one but TWO different Holiday specials brought to you from the lovely people of Crunchyroll. For a company as big and professional as Crunchyroll, you would think that any kind of special that they would make would have to be at least somewhat well produced, safe, and marketable, right? But that's not what this is at all.  What we basically got here is two half hour long "variety show" style specials that were released on both Crunchyroll and Youtube. Both specials are pretty much the same in terms of content. There both just a smorgasbord of random sketches, out of context anime clips, straight up ads for their own service and merch. All themed around the holidays and anime. This special has a real [adult swim] vibe to it, relying on a lot of surreal humor and anti-comedy. In fact, it might of even out [adult swim]'d [adult swim] in it's sheer bizarreness. It's honestly pretty hard to describe without just telling you to see the special for yourself.  Both specials are hosted by some guy named Mike Toole. I don't know who this guy is, but he's one of the best things about these special. He's just portrayed as this bumbling goof who's just unfazed by everything but really loves Christmas and anime. He has some really good comedic timing and his dry but cheerful delivery is a consistently funny thought both specials.  The specials aren't perfect however. Not all of the skits land and some of them go on for WAY to long. But that's kinda what happens with any sketch show. You gotta take the good with the bad. But do you know what you should do if you want REAL otherworldly experience? Watch the Neo Yokio Christmas special, but pause it at random intervals and watch this special. Treating the sketches like the bumpers you would get in between the ads of a TV show. It's a horrible idea that I'm not willing to try, but I feel doing so could lead somebody to either madness or true enlightenment. And I want someone else to be the guinea pig for that.  If you're a fan of both anime and weird surrealist humor then I would actually recommend checking these specials out. There both up online for free, so what do you have to lose?
Tumblr media
Number 3: The OTHER Charlie Brown Christmas Specials (1992, 2002, and 2003)  So everybody knows about a Charlie Brown Christmas. It's like, one of the most famous Christmas special of all time. Charlie Browns sad. They hold a play. Snoopy kisses Lucy on the mouth without her consent #MeToo. Linus gives a speech about Jesus to an empty auditorium cause adults don't exist in this world. Everybody sings. THE END. Timeless classic, we all know it. But many are not aware of the OTHER Peanuts holiday specials.  There are three. 1992's It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown. 2002's Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales. And 2003's I Want a Dog For Christmas Charlie Brown. Like all the Peanuts specials made after Charles Schulz's death, these are all just a collection of random Peanuts comics that were animated. As oppose to the original Charlie Brown Christmas special that had an original story written by Schulz's himself. All three of these specials are just little vignettes based around the Peanuts gang celebrating Christmas.  While none of these specials are as ambitious or as heartfelt as the original special we all know and love, I don't think that their trying to be. While the first Charlie Brown Christmas special tries to tell an important message about the true meaning of Christmas, these other specials are pretty much just jokes without much plot or sentiment. But, given that they are just adaptation of Charles Schulz's writing, you know that there going to be funny. I always forget how much of a little shit Sally is, and these specials remind me. However,  sometimes the transitioning between scenes can be a bit wonky. They clearly just copied the strips, without putting much thought in how it would work when put together in a sequence.  While It's Christmas Time Again, Charlie Brown and Charlie Brown's Christmas Tales are pretty similar. But I Want a Dog For Christmas Charlie Brown takes a bit more of a different approach. It focuses mostly on Linus's little brother Rerun, and has much more of an overall plot. (Though a lot of it is still just mini vignettes.) However, while I do admire the risk, I'd say it's the weakest of the three. Rerun just isn't that interesting of a character compared to the rest of the Peanuts gang. And that one has an hour long run time, which causing the special to drag a bit. But there still are some fun highlights.  If you are a fan of the Peanuts comic strips or specials, I would highly recommend these specials. They're light fluff, but They're good light fluff. They might not give you that warm Christmas feeling, but they will make you laugh. And sometimes that's all you need. 
Number 2: Olive the Other Reindeer (1999)  1999's Olive the Other Reindeer use to be a holiday tradition for Cartoon Network every year right long side such other TIMELESS and BELOVED holiday classics as Grandma Got Run Over By A Reindeer and Legend of Frosty the Snowman. But now, it's seem like it's kinda fallen into obscurity. Which sucks, cause this special is actually really good. The special follows Olive, voiced by Drew Barrymore before her magnum opus Freddy Got Fingered. Olive is a dog who isn't very good at doing traditional "dog" stuff. She's so un-dog like that she actually begins to believe that she might in fact not be a dog at all, but a reindeer. And when one of Santa's reindeer's get's injured right before Christmas, Olive believes it's up to her to trek to the North Pole and save Christmas by flying Santa's sleigh. Despite the fact that she isn't a reindeer and can't actually fly.  This is just a nice special, and a lot of that comes from Olive herself. Olive is a precious cinnamon bun who I WILL PROTECC! She's just such a kind and lovable lead, and Drew Barrymore's voice talent really helps extenuate this. But it's not just Olive, there are several other fun supporting characters too. Like Martini, a con artist penguin who accompanies Olive on her journey. There's also a evil postman (played by Dan Castellaneta) who acts as the specials main antagonist. His goal is to ruin Christmas because he hates all the extra work he has to do around the holidays. It's an interesting motivation for a villain, but they kind of ruin it in the last act by adding in a cliche "was always on the naughty list" element to his backstory. But regardless he's a fun villain. Between this and Robot Devil from Futurama Dan Castellaneta really knows how to ham it up as a villain who sings. What, you thought he wouldn't have a villain song? How naive of you.    While the special is based on a children's book the adaptation was headed by Matt Groening, which I never realized as a kid. Though that does explain why Dan Castellaneta is here. The special is a departure from his usual style, with art based more on the book instead of his usual Simpson style. The special is done in CGI surprisingly, despite the characters looking entirely flat. I don't really get the point of this. Why go through the effort of trying to use CG to make something look 2D, when you could just animate it in 2D to begin with. But whatever the reason, I do appreciate the pop up book look this special provides.  The special also carries a bit of that more adult humor, without going to far. Kind of like Murray Saves Christmas, a special that I talked about last year and also featured a lot of recurring staff members from Futurama. However, the world of this is special is weird. Santa is a known person who does radio interviews, but I guess that makes sense if we are assuming a world where Santa really exist. But then there are other oddities, like how Martini mentions how he use to work at the zoo until he got fired. But we also see Monkey's trying to escape the zoo. If being in the zoo is there job, why are they escaping? Aren't they there willingly? And why does Olive have an owner, but also a pet flea? Is this show set in the same universe as The Moxy Show? These are all questions that need to be answered.  The special is cheesey and some parts are just there to fill up time. But overall it's still a really nice special featuring some likable characters and some really funny jokes. While no means perfect, I still recommend you give it a watch if you can. 
Tumblr media
Ahhh, nothing says Christmas like Santa, Pope John Paul II, Ultraman, and Quasimodo. Number 1: Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas (1999) And to end this countdown, let's end on a Christmas special that just screams wholesome. Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas. Probably the best direct to video product Disney has ever made. (Not that doing so is very hard.) This special is pretty simple. It's three different Christmas specials stitched together to equal an hour long movie, each staring a different Disney character. We got Huey, Dewey and Louie wishing on a shooting star hoping for it to be Christmas everyday. We have Goofy trying to prove to Max that Santa is real in what I guess is a prequel toGoof Troop? And then we have Mickey and Minnie reenacting the Gift of the Magi. All these segments are linked together by a narrator voiced by Kelsey Grammer. His voice is so warm and cozy in this special, and really helps add to the mood. Sure, none of these stories are that original, but that's fine because there well executed. There's just such an earnest sensitivity to this special that it's hard not to not feel all Christmas-y while watching it. The animation, while nothing that fantastic, is good for direct to video. And it manages to do both cartoon-y slapstick and warmer more emotion moments pretty well.  The special isn't perfect. Some of the segments can feel a bit longer than they need to be despite the fact that the films so short. They're written like TV episodes but most run close to thirty minutes instead of twenty two. Also the last segment, with Mickey and Minnie, while not bad, is probably my least favorite. So it kinda ends on it's weakest note, though I get why they ended with it. Mickey just isn't my favorite of the Disney cast. I personally prefer the cartoon-y antics of Donald or the kindhearted nature of Goofy more in this special.  Goofy is also a precious cinnamon bun who I will protecc. And I ship him with Olive.  There was a sequel, Mickey's Twice Upon a Christmas, released in 2004. I haven't seen it in a while, but I remember it not being very good. It's goes for five shorter stories instead of three more focused ones, and I remember there being less of a warm Christmas-y essence to it. It was more jokes and less sentiment. Also, they replace the beautiful 2D animation for CGI. In 2004. With a direct to video budget. I can commend the ambition, but that probably wasn't the best movie. But if you want a nice wholesome Christmas special that the whole family can enjoy, than Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas an underrated pick I highly recommend you check out this holiday season.
Tumblr media
 And so there we have it. five (or technically eight now that I think about it) obscure Christmas specials that I highly suggest that you look into this holiday season. But again, there are WAY more underrated specials that just these out there. So I may have to revisit this idea again at some point in the future and do a part three. What would you all think of that? And what weird, obscure, underrated Christmas specials do you guys watch every year? I'd love to hear all about em in the comments down bellow! I'm always looking for new specials to watch! Please fav, follow, and comment if you liked the review. And I hope you have a Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah (Even though that ended a week ago) Happy Ramadan (Even though that ended in June) Or whatever holiday you celebrate. Life Day? Regardless, Happy Holidays to you all! May your days be merry and bright!  Now if you excuse me, I have to go work on 2018 year in review. Have a great day, and see you then! (I do not own any of the images or videos in this review. All credit goes to there original owners.)
https://www.deviantart.com/joyofcrimeart/journal/Top-5-Obscure-Christmas-Specials-II-776656208 DA Link
4 notes · View notes
thesffcorner · 5 years
Text
The Gilded Wolves
Tumblr media
The Gilded Wolves is the first book in a YA fantasy duology written by Roshani Chokshi. It’s set in a fictionalized version of Paris, 1889; in this universe the destruction of the tower of Babel, left the world several fragments of Babel, each with an unimaginable magical potential. The Order, an organization lead by 4 Houses, hide and protect the location of these fragments, as well as lead the world into the art of forging; an ability to manipulate mind or matter into various ways. We follow Severin, the heir to a disgraced House of Vanth, and his ragtag team of thieves, who specialize in “acquiring” artifacts from the Order. During their latest acquisition of a forged Chinese compass, the gang realizes that the map hidden inside the compass leads to something immensely powerful and dangerous; a Horus Eye, an artifact that can show them the location of Babel fragment. This book was awesome; it has all the elements of this type of adventure story that I like; a motley cast of characters, treasure hunts, heists and powerful artifacts related to history. The world and the characters are incredibly entertaining, and if you at all enjoyed the original Mummy films, National Treasure or even Tomb Raider, you will probably love this book.
World Building: Let’s start with the world-building. This novel is set against the backdrop of 1889 World Fair or Exposition Universelle, which unveiled the Eiffel Tower. Combine that with the characters’ base of operation being a hotel called L’Eden, which Severin owns, and this book has the perfect atmosphere for Paris during the turn of the century. Choksi takes full advantage of the setting; we visit glamorous parties, cabarets, palaces and the Exposition itself, while also not shying away from the darker parts of Paris. Something I really enjoyed was the juxtaposition of France, and Paris in particular being this city of liberties and progressivism, while at the same time being firmly a product of its time, with all the colonialism, racism and xenophobia that entails. One thing I’ve heard from people who didn’t like this book is that the world is very confusing and dense. I definitely will agree that the first 50 or so pages of this book are very dense; there’s a lot that needs to be explained, especially the magic system and the background as to how this world is different from historical Paris. We learn about the Order, the Houses, Forging, the Tower of Babel, the Horus Eye and all the character backstories in a very short amount of time, and while I didn’t have a problem following any of it, I am also a huge history nerd and religion nerd, so a lot of these things I was already familiar with. I think there’s also a specific reason as to why a lot of people were annoyed with the world-building. Before this book came out, and with early reviews, it was compared a lot to Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo. Now, that comparison is apt; the general plot, the group of 6 ragtag thieves trying their best amidst a crisis much bigger than any of them, the search for a powerful, mysterious artifact, the heist elements, are all things that were present in Six of Crows. However, Six of Crows was a sequel to a whole trilogy that had already set up both the world and the magic system, so it was free to start the plot immediately. This book has to actually build up this world, and while we can agree or disagree on how successful it did it, I think a lot of people didn’t give it a proper chance, because they expected another Six of Crows, and they got something different. Speaking of the confusing elements, I really enjoyed the backstory on the Houses and the commentary on colonialism and power dynamics that Chokshi weaves in it. As secret organizations tend to, the Order is rather corrupt and power-hungry and the people who suffer under it, tend to be the same people who suffered under the European expansion of the 18 and 19 centuries. It was an interesting reflection of real historical events, and I enjoyed how it actually tied both with the plot and the characters. Plot: Speaking of plot, I enjoyed that a lot too. The plot is essentially several increasingly dangerous heists, and there’s nothing I like more than a good heist. But what really sold this treasure hunt to me were the actual clues and treasure. Without spoiling anything, this book relies heavily on puzzles, riddles and a combination of math and history. It make sense that the Order would design these elaborate puzzles based on math and historical knowledge, seeing as one of their main roles is preserving history. As such, it was a blast to try and solve the riddles with the characters, and I was thrilled to see they were actually complex, and not at all similar to the puzzles and riddles we usually get in media. There’s a lot of Latin, a lot of religious texts, a lot of play on words, and most importantly math! I love math! It was so much fun to see math in a fantasy book! My favorite puzzle had to do with a specific mathematical sequence that also shows up in Dishonored: Death of the Outsider. It was great. Characters: The characters were all very likable, and distinct from one another. I will admit, at first I too fell into the trap of comparing them to the characters in Six of Crows, and though they do fill out roughly the same archetypes, they are entirely different people. Let’s start with Hypnos. He was my absolute favorite character; he has a dramatic flare and sense of humor, while also having a true vulnerability which the rest of the characters take a bit to see. I liked that he was unabashedly himself, that he had real struggles with race and belonging (seeing as he’s mixed race, his mother being from Mozambique), but was still a character who took everything in stride and was just a joy to watch bicker with the others. Tristan was the character I liked the least. He was the least developed one, and at many points I sort of felt like he was filling out the role of a child, while still being at least a teenager. He’s a botanist, and can forge plants, but he disappeared for long stretches of the book, making it hard for me to sympathize with him. Since he doesn’t get a PoV, and his personality isn’t strong enough to compensate for it like Hypnos’, he got lost in the shuffle for me. Zofia was my favorite of the girls. She reminded me of a mix between Audrey and Vinny from Atlantis: The Lost Empire; she’s stubborn, has a difficulty with conversations and people, and likes to blow things up. It’s never explicitly stated is Zofia is on the spectrum or just awkward, but I thought the way her discomfort with jokes, conversations, word play, physical touch and humans in general was presented was very well done and respectful. Zofia was a great character; she has flaws and insecurities, and she works through them in her own way, while also clearly caring about her friends. She is Jewish too, and this plays a big role in her character backstory that I really liked; it’s not often that we get visible Jewish characters, especially not in fantasy. Enrique was, after Hypnos my second favorite. Like Hypnos he has a very strong sense of humor, and he masks his fears and discomfort with jokes, which I can relate to a lot. He’s half Spanish, half Filipino, and a historian to add, which was very entertaining, as he is often paired with Zophia (Zophia being the math expert), to solve the riddles. I liked that his religion while being a part of his identity, didn’t overtake his character, and his banter with all the rest of the characters was very entertaining. Laila was a character I’m torn on. On the one hand, I absolutely loved her persona as L’Enigma, and I loved the banter she had with especially Severin and Zophia, but on the other hand I found her backstory contrived. I didn’t like that she needed this specific thing to have such large hang ups around, and I felt that it especially didn’t make a lot of sense with her persona as L’Enigma. I won’t lie and say that her relationship with Severin wasn’t heart wrenching, but I felt like out of all the characters she had the most muddled motivations. Her powers were very cool though, and I liked that she was clever in a different way from Enrique and Zophia, being more attune to people and manipulation than science or history. Finally Severin. Like Laila, I found his character a bit muddled; he seems to flip flop the most between being a charming manipulator, and a brooding, serious crime boss. I found the former part of his personality a lot more interesting, because those were the scenes where he didn’t remind me of a less developed version of Kaz. His backstory is interesting and I really liked his relationship with Laila, but I think the rushed ending really hurt his characterization the most. Overall, this was a book I enjoyed immensely. It’s fun, it’s fast paced, it has a group of incredibly likable and funny characters, and it was a blast to read. I can’t wait for the sequel and if you’re in need to some kids trying their best, check this out.
goodreads
7 notes · View notes
emjenenla · 6 years
Text
I'm Holding On; Why is Everything so Heavy? [a SoC Fanfic]
Modern AU. Kaz knew he only was only asking because he thought he was supposed to. Most people were like that; Kaz’s multiple lives and many secrets relied on it.
Warnings: violence, panic attacks, PTSD, mentions of car accidents, near drowning, sex trafficking
Title: I'm Holding On; Why is Everything so Heavy?
Author: Emjen Enla (Fanfiction)/emjenenla (Tumblr)
Teaser: Modern AU. Kaz knew he only was only asking because he thought he was supposed to. Most people were like that; Kaz’s multiple lives and many secrets relied on it.
Rating: PG-13/T
Canon/Timeline: Modern AU; same general time frame as SoC (Kaz is seventeen, Jordie is four years older which means he’s twenty-one)
Dominant Characters: Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Jordie Rietveld, appearances by Jesper Fahey, Nina Zenik, Alina Starkov, Per Haskell, mentions of Pekka Rollins, Jan Van Eck, Wylan Van Eck, Mal Oretsev, one OC, various others
Pairings: technically more Kaz & Inej friendship than legitimate Kanej, mentions of Wesper
Warnings: violence, panic attacks, PTSD, mentions of car accidents, near drowning, sex trafficking
Notes:
- Long story short, I became obsessed with the idea of Kaz in a hoodie riding a subway with earbuds in so no one would try to talk to him and this fic happened. I hope you all enjoy. :)
-Special thanks to wylanvanwreck on AO3 and their story The Mighty Dregs as well as a post by @crows-and-co. Both formed the basis of the thought experiment that became Kaz in this AU.
-Also, why is Jordie in the Fanfiction archive character list as Joshie R.?
Disclaimer: I don’t own Six of Crows or “Heavy” by Linkin Park (the song I got the title from)
--
Kaz knew that his day was officially a bust when he had a panic attack in third period.
Okay, technically he didn’t have a panic attack in third period. He realized it was going to happen and fled to the bathroom, where he locked himself in a stall and waited until he could breathe again. The bathroom was thankfully empty. If someone heard him, one of two horrible things would happen; he’s be pitied or mocked. He’d lost a lot of his bully shielding when he’d cleaned up his school presence during the switch to high school. That change had been necessary both for Jordie’s peace of mind and to keep Kaz Rietveld and the Dregs lieutenant Brekker separate. Of course, that meant that he’d gone from that scary kid who smoked weed behind the school to a crippled AP student who no one thought could fight back.
Even worse than bullies would be if some well-meaning student told the nurse. Marya Hendriks was one of the nicest people on earth and she meant well, but if she figured out about the panic attacks she’d tell Jordie. Kaz had been hiding his admittedly shaky mental health from Jordie basically since the accident that killed their parents. He knew that was a bad idea in the long run, but it didn’t change the fact that therapy and meds cost money which was something the tragically orphaned Rietveld brothers did not have.
So he hid alone in the bathroom until almost the end of the class period before he admitted to himself that he had to go back. He felt shaky and a little panicky, but he was standing by the sink washing his hands when Jesper came in.
“What are you doing here?” Kaz asked. “You’re supposed to be in class.”
“So are you,” Jesper said. “You’ve been gone a long time. Are you sick?”
Jesper was Kaz’s oldest friend, though they didn’t spend as much time together as they once had. If asked Kaz would blame that on Jesper starting to date Wylan, though he knew it was at least partially because of the Dregs and the ever-lengthening list of things that Jesper didn’t know about.
“I’m fine,” Kaz said drying his hands and brushing past the other boy. “Did Dryden manage to explain anything today?”
“I don’t understand it,” Jesper said. “And neither does anyone else. Can you tutor me after school?”
“Lunch or tomorrow morning,” Kaz said. “I’m busy tonight.”
“Fine, lunch then,” Jesper sighed. He liked to have his lunch periods and he hated getting up early. “I honestly don’t get how you’re the only one who doesn’t get confused by Dryden. Everyone else is struggling.”
“That’s because I’ve long since accepted that Dryden doesn’t know how to do algebra and I don’t try to understand what he’s teaching,” Kaz said. “I still get all the right answers, so there’s nothing he can do to me.”
They reached the algebra classroom. Kaz’s bad leg was killing him after all the time spent curled up in the bathroom stall. He really should have been using a cane, but when the injury had first happened he’d refused. He’d come around to it after joining the Dregs because it turned out a cane was a pretty good weapon. Unfortunately, since the cane was now connected to Brekker, Kaz Rietveld couldn’t start using one.
Kaz opened the door just as the bell rang and students began pour out. He stuffed his hands into the big pocket of his black hoodie and tried not to hunch his shoulders to obviously. Touch aversion was on the list of things he’d pretended to get over to keep from worrying Jordie, in reality it was hard to shake the horror of being trapped with his parents’ bodies in a car that was slowly filling with water. The negligent and painful treatment he’d received from the doctors afterwards hadn’t helped either.
Kaz twisted his hands around the black leather gloves hidden inside his hoodie pocket and tried not to think about how much better he’d feel if he was wearing them. He could wear the gloves as Brekker because he could explain it away as trying to avoid leaving fingerprints, but there was no explanation for Kaz Rietveld wearing gloves.
If he was completely honest, he hated being Kaz Rietveld.
He crossed the room to his desk and began gathering his books. Dryden looked up from arranging papers on his desk. “Are you alright, Kazimir?”
Kaz knew he only was only asking because he thought he was supposed to. Most people were like that; Kaz’s multiple lives and many secrets relied on it.
“Yes, sir,” he said with a submissive smile that he knew Dryden’s ego liked. “Thank you for asking.”
~~~~
Kaz was feeling a little calmer by the time they got out of school. Helping Jesper with algebra during lunch had helped a lot. Kaz loved math; it was easy and straightforward and never failed to make him feel like he was at least partially in control of his life.
When the last bell rang, Kaz made his way through the halls to his locker, hands buried deep in his hoodie pocket. He unlocked his locker and pulled his ancient slide phone out of the front pocket of his backpack. The only texts he had were weird Instagram photos that Jesper had sent him during study hall. No texts from any of the Dregs which meant that things were still on for tonight.
Someone slammed into his back and Kaz almost broke the kid’s arm. He’d learned from being Brekker that nothing kept people from touching you without mockery or pity like the promise of violence to anyone who violated your personal space. Unfortunately, that was on the list of things that were frowned upon at East Ketterdam High.
He glared at the kid until he was gone, then pulled his second piece of ridiculously outdated technology out of his backpack. It was a 4th Gen iPod Nano in an absolutely revolting shade of orange. The thing had been Jordie’s first and bore his dubious taste in color as a result. Jordie had given it to Kaz shortly before their parents had died, and Kaz had been stuck using it ever since.
Still, it was better than having no music player at all. Kaz unwound the black earbuds and shoved them into his ears. He put his playlist of pirated music on shuffle and gathered up the rest of his things. Then he swung his backpack on and left the school.
He made his way to the nearest subway stop. Subways were pretty much the only type of transportation he could manage these days. He was so deathly terrified of cars that some days it was a struggle to cross the street, and buses could still be struck by other vehicles and be pushed off the road into water. Subways ran on tracks and had only limited interaction with other subways, so he could handle them.
The subway was busy enough that there were no seats. No one stood up to offer him a seat, but that was okay; Kaz didn’t want anyone’s pity. He hooked an arm around one of the poles and leaned against it, watching as the stops zoomed by. He finally gave into the urge to put the gloves on. The subtle leather covered his hands, and he felt a million times safer.
He got off the subway at a stop near West Ketterdam High. He was now on the opposite side of the Barrel from his school and the dingy apartment he and Jordie lived in. It was a long trip for what basically constituted as a commute, but when he’d joined a gang he hadn’t wanted to risk running into someone he knew from the East Barrel.
He climbed up the steps out of the subway station and set off down one of the streets. His bad leg was throbbing worse than before after the jarring it had received on the subway. He wormed a bottle of Advil out of his backpack and shook two into his hand. He chewed them so they’d kick in faster and put the bottle away. The Advil would barely help, but his prescription meds were too expensive to use most of the time.
His mouth was still full of the sour, acidic taste of medicine when he reached an old but well-kept house in a dingy side street. He climbed the front steps and knocked. A minute later Alina, Inej’s foster mother, answered the door. She was a young woman and dressed casually, her long, inexplicably white hair was hanging loose around her shoulders. “Hello, Kaz,” she said with a smile. “You know you can just come in. You don’t need to knock.”
“I know,” Kaz said stepping into the house.
The smile Alina gave him was fond and it made Kaz want to do something to wipe it off her face. “Inej isn’t home from school yet,” she said. “I made some cookies this afternoon, though. Do you want some?”
“Maybe later,” Kaz said. “I’ll wait for Inej upstairs.” He tried to avoid Inej’s foster parents as much as possible. He knew that they’d assumed he was Inej’s boyfriend though to be honest he wasn’t sure if he and Inej were even really friends.
He climbed the creaky stairs and headed into Inej’s bedroom. Her foster sister, Nina, was already there lying stretched out on her bed on the left side of the room. Kaz raised an eyebrow. “What are you doing here?”
“I was sick today,” Nina said in an airy voice that suggested she’d just skipped out.
“Fun,” Kaz crossed to Inej’s bed on the right side of the room. He took off his backpack and lowered himself to the floor, suppressing a hiss of pain. Then he leaned over and began rummaging under the bed.
He heard Nina’s sheets rustle as she rolled over. “Is it a big job tonight?”
“You know that I can’t tell you that.”
“Oh, come on, Brekker,” Nina whined. “I thought you’d stop this when I joined up.”
“Whether or not you’re a Dreg doesn’t change the fact that this is an active job,” Kaz said without looking at her. “Only people involved can know about it right now. If you want all the details, I’m sure Inej will be happy to fill you in tomorrow.”
“Fine,” Nina grumbled and fell silent.
Kaz pulled a heavy cardboard box out from under the bed and opened it. Inside were his and Inej’s knives, lockpicks and other equipment. He began separating his favorites out and strapping them to various parts of his body underneath his clothes.
“You know if Alina and Mal find those Inej is going to get in a lot of trouble,” Nina said. “This house has a ‘strict no weapons policy.’”
“I bought all of these,” Kaz said. “That means they’re technically mine, and I don’t live here.”
Nina snorted. “You know, I’m not sure Alina and Mal would accept that loophole.”
Kaz opened his mouth to respond, but something changed, and he knew Inej was there. He turned to see her standing silently in the doorway in her leggings and boots and oversized knit sweater. He didn’t know how he always knew when she was around, but he did.
“Hello,” he said.
“Hi,” Inej crossed the room and began taking her knives out of the box. “How are you today?”
Kaz did not let himself think about the panic attack he’d had that morning. Besides, Inej didn’t know about those so he couldn’t tell her anyway. “Ready,” he said.
“Me too,” Inej said. Settling down to strap on her weapons.
Inej had been abducted by sex traffickers at fourteen. She’d been rescued a year later and put into foster care while the system tried to find her parents. Two years later and it was blatantly obvious that no one was actually looking for Mr. and Mrs. Ghafa, and Inej would probably be stuck in the system until she turned eighteen.
Kaz finished arming himself by sliding an oyster shucking knife into one of his battered high tops. He worked himself to his feet, ignoring the worried look Inej gave him and moved his backpack into Inej’s closet. His cane—a sleek black thing with a rounded knob on top—was also there, leaning against the wall. He took it out and tried not to lean too heavily on it.
“Ready to go?” He asked Inej.
She nodded. At some point she’d changed out of her fuzzy knit sweater and put on a dark-color zip front sweatshirt with a hood that she could pull over her head later to keep her braid out of the way.
“Tell me how it goes,” Nina called after them as they left the room.
Inej called goodbye to Alina at the front door and they let themselves out into the street. At the sidewalk, they turned right and began the walk to the Slat. Kaz knew that Inej rode the bus to the Slat when he wasn’t around. When he’d first started keeping his stuff at her house, she’d suggested they ride the bus a number of times. He’d gotten around it by simply ignoring her and walking; eventually she’d stopped asking.
It took them a little over twenty minutes to walk to the Slat, which was a beaten down four-story building of an indeterminable original purpose. Even though it wasn’t even five o’clock yet, the place still had a number of seedy looking people hanging around. Those were the gang members who made their livings working for the Dregs and nothing else. That was Kaz’s legacy to the gang; before he’d joined up and started running things Per Haskell had barely been able to pay his own expenses let alone anyone else’s.
Kaz let himself and Inej in through the creaky front door, then he stalked across the big front room and knocked on Per Haskell’s door. “Come in!” the gang leader called and Kaz stepped inside leaving Inej outside.
“Just letting you know that Inej and I are here,” Kaz said.
Per Haskell looked up and snorted. “You look like a high school nerd, Brekker, that undercut doesn’t help.”
Kaz looked down his oversized hoodie, dark jeans and old high tops. “This is how I dress, sir,” he said hoping he didn’t sound like a petulant teenager, this was not the first time he and Per Haskell had had this conversation. “If you want me to wear a full suit, give me the money to buy one and I will.”
Per Haskell hacked out a sound that was half laugh half smoker’s cough. “That would be something to see,” he said. “When are you leaving for the job?”
“When it gets dark,” Kaz said. “It should only take us an hour or two”
“I’ll let you handle this,” Haskell said leaning back in his chair and reaching for the large mug of room temperature lager sitting on the desk. He spoke like there had been a chance he would come. Per Haskell hadn’t done any real work in as long as Kaz had known him; he didn’t even know exactly what the plan was, only what the goal was.
“I can handle it,” Kaz said without letting any annoyance in his voice. He reminded himself that his long-term goals relied on Haskell’s incompetence. “Don’t worry about a thing.”
~~~~
When the sun set, he and Inej rode the subway out of the Barrel and into the business part of Ketterdam. At this time of day, comparatively few people were heading into the business district because people didn’t live there, so they were both able to sit, something Kaz would never admit to being relieved about.
After they got off the subway they only had to walk a couple blocks before the headquarters of Van Eck Industries rose up before them. They stood on the corner looking up at the darkened windows. Kaz pulled off the backpack he’d brought from the Slat and pulled out a pair of ski masks. It was almost hilariously like something out of a movie, but they needed to make sure their faces didn’t end up on any of the building’s copious security cameras. They would deal with them, but only from the inside.
They both fitted their masks on and became a pair of extremely stereotypical bandits. Then they headed across the street to the employee entrance. The door was locked with a randomly generated password, but Kaz whipped out one of the laptops he’d bought for the Dregs with Per Haskell’s money and within seconds had bypassed the lock and they were in.
Once they were inside, they made their way to the security room. The guard on duty tonight was exceedingly lazy which was why they’d chosen tonight for the job. When they entered the security room, the man was sitting at his desk watching a soap opera and vacantly munching on potato chips. He obviously wasn’t watching the many security camera monitors around him, because if he had been he would have seen the two masked people slinking through the hallways.
Inej crossed the room on silent feet and punched the man a couple times with a pair of brass knuckles she always kept in one of her pockets. When he passed out, she heaved him out of his chair and began to drag him towards a closet.
Kaz sat down in the security guard’s chair, stuck a flash drive into the computer and released the most potent of his half a dozen custom computer viruses into the system. When he was finished, he glanced at Inej who stood in the center of the security room watching the security footage on the computer screens flicker out. “I’ll never get tired of that,” she said with a smile.
Kaz smiled as well and made sure he kept his face turned away until he could smooth out his expression again. “Whatever,” he stood up, and pulled his mask off. Now that the security cameras were out of commission there was no reason to keep wearing it. “Let’s move. We’ve got thirty-one minutes before the second security guard finishes her round and gets back here.”
~~~~
Jan Van Eck’s office was on the top floor of the building. With the computer virus in effect, Kaz had to open the electronic lock by opening it up and fiddling with the wires, but it still took him less than a minute. He’d started to learn to pick locks at age nine, while in the hospital after the accident and trying desperately not to think about any of the bad stuff. He’d kept practicing afterwards and now he was one of the best lockpicks in Ketterdam.
The door to Van Eck’s office opened into a borderline ridiculously expensive space that was exactly what you’d expect of man of his wealth and famous arrogance to have. A DeKappel painting hung on the wall behind the desk. Kaz and Inej lifted it down to reveal the safe.
Inej stood guard by the door while Kaz cracked the safe. Even though they were in the middle of a big job, Kaz found his nerves settling. Lockpicking was as relaxing as math.
He got the safe open in what he estimated to approximately half the time it would have taken the Dregs’ second best lockpick. He swung the safe door open and shone a flashlight inside to get a better view of the contents. There were stacks and stacks of cash inside along with some other boxes and papers. Kaz whistled softly. “Someone learns to learn that keeping copious amounts of cash in his safe is just asking for it to be stolen.”
“Is there a lot?” Inej asked.
“Yes,” Kaz began taking out the cash. It was all carefully tied up in those little paper slips you got on bills from the bank. Kaz estimated there was around twenty thousand dollars. His fingers itched to take the money for himself. Twenty thousand dollars would take care of rent and food and all that credit card debt Jordie pretended they didn’t have. He pushed the urge away; Per Haskell might be one of the most useless generals in the Barrel but stealing from him was still a bad idea.
Inej left her guard post and began loading up her backpack with money. Kaz dug deeper into the safe and pulled out some jewelry that was probably worth a couple hundred dollars apiece. Kaz stuffed them into his own backpack with part of the money and laptop he’d used on the outside door, then began going through the papers. This was not strictly part of the plan, but Kaz and Inej built their reputation on having dirt on everyone in Ketterdam so it wouldn’t be right to pass up a chance to gain some new information.
He found a couple worthy-looking papers and memorized them in a handful of seconds. When he was finished he looked around the office. His eyes fell on the DeKappel sitting in its frame against the wall. It was probably a nice painting, though all art looked the same to Kaz. Still, it was expensive and the fact that Van Eck had it so prominently displayed meant that it was important to him...
“Do we have a screwdriver?” Kaz asked Inej.
“Yeah,” Inej said still focused putting the last of the money into Kaz’s backpack. “Why?”
Kaz grinned as his heartbeat sped up. This was going to be great. “We’re taking the painting.”
Now she looked up at him, confusion on her face. “Why?”
Kaz’s smile got even bigger. “Why not?”
She stared at him for a moment then she smiled and shrugged. “Sure,” she dug around in the front pocket of her backpack and pulled out a screwdriver. “Here you go.”
It took them almost ten minutes to get the back of the frame off and the painting taken out. Once that was done they rolled the painting up and fitted it carefully into Inej’s backpack. Then they put the back of the frame back on, closed the safe and hung the empty frame on the wall again.
“Alright,” Kaz turned towards the door, pulling on his own, now significantly heavier backpack. “Let’s get out of here.”
They left Van Eck’s office and headed down the stairwell towards the outside. They were almost to the ground floor when they heard footsteps and voices. They both froze and stared at each other. “How long have we been here?” Inej asked.
Kaz checked his watch. “We should still have ten minutes,” he said. “Maybe-”
A door above them opened. Kaz looked up and his stomach clenched. A couple big, burly men Kaz recognized as members of the Dime Lions were pushing their way into the stairwell. He and Inej looked at each other in shock. Where had the Dime Lions come from? Had they just so happened to plan a break-in for the same night?
“You there!” one of the Dime Lions yelled. “Intruders! Stop right there!”
“Run!” Kaz told Inej and they took off down the stairs.
More Dime Lions entered the stairwell from the bottom. Inej slid down the railing of the last flight of stairs and slashed at them with her knives. Kaz reached the bottom a second later and took out one of the Dime Lions with a well-placed swing with the knobbed end of his cane. They shoved their way out of the stairwell. Within seconds they were out of the building through a different side entrance that opened onto a boardwalk facing the harbor.
“Split up,” Kaz ordered. “We’ll meet up later.”
Inej nodded and took off one direction. Kaz knew that within minutes she’d be up a building and well out of any danger.
He, on the other hand, had it a bit more difficult. His leg meant that he couldn’t climb as quickly as Inej could and he couldn’t run as fast either. Still, he would get away; he was way smarter than basically everyone Pekka Rollins had working for him.
Kaz pounded down the boardwalk with the Dime Lions after him. It sounded like most of them were after him. Which probably meant that they’d recognized him and Inej. They knew that he was Brekker, the most wanted man in Ketterdam, and they knew they’d never catch Inej.
He knew he’d never outrun the Dime Lions, so he just needed to find a good place to stand and fight. He turned left and ran along a narrower part of the boardwalk that jutted out into the water. When he was halfway along it he whirled around and lifted his cane, prepared for a fight.
Half a dozen Dime Lions pounded down the boardwalk after him. The front two charged him immediately. Kaz simply stepped out of the way so one ran into the boardwalk railing and beat the other over the head with his cane.
He stepped away until his back was against the railing opposite the one the Dime Lion had just hit. “So what are you all doing here tonight?” he asked with a classic Brekker smile. “Did the Dregs beat the Dime Lions to the pigeon?”
“We’re not Dime Lions,” one of the men said, eyeing Kaz like he was trying to come up with a halfway decent plan to attack him. “We work for Jakob Hertzoon.”
Kaz had never heard of Jakob Hertzoon before, but he also knew for certain that at least four of these people were definitely Dime Lions. You didn’t just switch loyalties in the Barrel, especially if you worked for Pekka Rollins. Something weird was going on here. He and Inej were going to have to look into this Jakob Hertzoon person. “Oddly enough, I don’t believe you,” he said.
“Give back the property you stole from Van Eck Industries, Brekker,” the man growled. That alone proved that he was definitely from the Barrel. Kaz’s face had never been picked up by the government, so no one outside of the Barrel gangs knew Brekker was really a kid.
“I think I’ll keep it,” Kaz said.
“Get him,” the man said and all six of them charged. Kaz swung his cane and caught the closest one in the nose. She screamed and stumbled back. Kaz got the next one too, but then the rest were on him, grasping at his clothes and backpack, shoving his up against the railing. Their touches were a million points of horror. Kaz struggled but couldn’t get free, his cane rolled out of his fingers.
They were trying to get the backpack off him. Kaz tried to twist away from their hands and felt himself fall backwards into space. He was weightless in the air for mere seconds before he splashed into the harbor.
The water of the harbor was cold, dark and dirty. Kaz couldn’t tell if his eyes were open or closed. He couldn’t tell which way was up. He couldn’t tell anything at all, because he was back in that car eight years ago, trapped with his parents’ bodies while the cold, disgusting water creeped inside.
He struggled but it was in vain. He couldn’t get out of the car, he was going to die here. There was nothing he could do to stop it.
Then hands grabbed him and dragged him out of the water. He struggled to get air into lungs that didn’t want to inhale. He was out of the water, he wasn’t going to drown, but now he was going to suffocate.
Hands grabbed at him, trying to sit up him up. They were too much like the bodies of his parents which had bounced and pushed against him as the car filled with water. He shoved the person away. “Get your hands off!” he screamed with all the air his starving lungs possessed. “Don’t touch me! Don’t touch me! Dontouchme!”
The hands vanished, and Kaz collapsed again. Gravel drug into his cheek and that was what reminded him that he wasn’t still in the car; there was no gravel in the car.
He lay there gasping for an indeterminable amount of time until his vision cleared, and he felt like he could sort of breathe again. Then he peeled his eyes open and looked around.
He was lying on his side on a gravel bank underneath the boardwalk, the water lapping a few inches from his shoes. Inej was crouching a little further up the bank, as dripping wet as he was. She must have dived in after him and pulled him out.
“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “I thought you were drowning at first, so I tried to sit you up to see if you’d breathe easier that way. I didn’t mean to make things worse.”
Kaz realized immediately that the game was up. If Inej had been less perceptive she might not have realized what had actually happened, and he might have been able to pull the drowning card, but she knew. He could tell that she’d recognized the panic attack for what it was. He could see her rearranging every interaction they’d ever had--everything about him that had never made sense from the buses to the gloves--to accommodate this new information. He could see her bursting through the armor that was his Brekker identity to the sad, weak, pathetic Kaz Rietveld underneath. It was horrible.
He forced himself to his feet. Cold, slimy harbor water ran down his body. He tried not to think of the car. “Let’s go,” he said attempting to sound normal with dubious success.
“Kaz,” Inej said carefully, still not moving any closer to him, “the Dime Lions left after you fell in the water. We’re safe here for a couple minutes if you want to catch your breath.”
“I’m fine!” Kaz snapped. He tried to walk and stumbled, catching himself on one of the boardwalk supports. “Let’s get back to the Barrel before one of the Dime Lions manages to come up with the brilliant idea of calling the cops.”
“Kaz,” Inej said. “You know you can-”
“Inej,” Kaz spoke over her with his nastiest tone. “Let’s go.”
~~~~
Per Haskell found Kaz and Inej’s sodden appearances hilarious and spend a good five minutes laughing until he had tears in his eyes. He was decidedly less pleased about the soaked money in Kaz’s backpack and the ruined laptop. He told them he was docking part of their shares even though the money would dry out useable enough and he thought the laptops were useless anyways. At least Inej had had the foresight to ditch her backpack before jumping in the harbor, so her half the money and the DeKappel were fine.
After finishing up with Haskell, Kaz and Inej returned to Inej’s house. Kaz had a change of clothes stored there for bloody jobs (jeans, a tee-shirt and another hoodie, this one navy blue) but not a second pair of shoes so he had to settle for being completely dry aside from his feet. He tried not to think about the harbor water squelching between his toes as he gathered up his school backpack and fished his iPod out of the front pocket.
Inej watched him from her perch on her bed. “You know you don’t have to leave just yet,” she said. “There are still some cookies left over from this afternoon. We could watch a movie. I could probably convince Mal to make popcorn.”
Kaz knew what she was doing, she was trying to convince him to stay because she was worried about him, because she thought he was weak. He would not allow that. “I’m leaving,” he said without bothering to come up with an excuse. He had no idea how he was going to salvage this situation, but he was going to have to do it somehow and he needed some space to think about it.
“Kaz,” Inej said. “I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable, but I don’t think that just ignoring that is a good idea. You can talk about it with me; you can trust me.”
He couldn’t trust anyone. He’d learned that in the years since his parents had died. Even Jordie, who should have been his partner in this quest for revenge, could not be trusted. Kaz had something he needed to hide from absolutely everyone in his life.
“No, we’re not going to talk about that,” Kaz said as coolly and Brekker-like as he could. “As far as you’re concerned that never happened. Never bring it up again, and if I figure out that you told someone else--anyone else--I will not hesitant to kill you.”
Instead of flinching back in fear, Inej lifted her chin. “I don’t believe you,” she said. “You’re not that cruel.”
“You should,” Kaz said even if he wasn’t totally sure if he would kill her either. “Good night,” then he turned and left the house.
~~~~
It was now after ten pm, so the subway was nearly empty. Kaz sat in one of the cars, folded over at the waist, his forehead pressing into his knees, eyes squeezed tight closed, earbuds blaring overly loud music into his ears. He couldn’t get his mind off how catastrophically badly tonight had gone. Kaz Rietveld’s weaknesses were not supposed to affect Brekker. Brekker was supposed to be strong enough to get revenge on Pekka Rollins.
One of the curses of having a memory like Kaz’s was that nothing ever faded. Pain never got duller. He could still remember the exact way his dead mother’s soaked hair had felt against his hand. He remembered the way blood had trickled out of his father’s mouth. He remembered struggling to keep his head above water when his leg was too badly shattered to kick. He remembered it all as if it had just happened, and he would for the rest of his life.
Mr. and Mrs. Rietveld had died after a multi-car pileup had forced their car and a couple others off a bridge and into the harbor. Officially, it was just a horrible accident, but the fact that the accident had been orchestrated by Pekka Rollins and the Dime Lions was an open secret among all of Ketterdam. When Pekka Rollins wanted someone dead, they died, but what Kaz had never been able to figure out was who the target that day had been. He knew it was ridiculous to get caught up that detail, but he needed to know. He needed to know who Rollins had been after. He needed to know what his parents had died for, once he knew that, he would gladly rip Pekka Rollins’ throat out and everything would be better.
Kaz wasn’t stupid, he knew that destroying everything Pekka Rollins loved and then killing him wouldn’t fix any of his problems, but he had to believe that. He needed to believe that killing Rollins would be the magical cure for everything that was wrong with his life; he didn’t know how he would keep going if it wasn’t.
The subway arrived at his stop. He got to his feet, hissing in pain. He chewed another couple Advil while he climbed out of the subway station and stuffed the bottle into the pockets of his new hoodie. He headed down the dimly lit streets to the tumbled down apartment building where he and Jordie lived.
Their apartment was a two room, one bathroom flat that they probably paid too much rent for. Still they stayed because as long as they paid the rent, the landlord would overlook anything. That had been especially helpful back when they’d both been minors and their uncle had never been around enough to constitute as their actual legal guardian.
Their uncle had been supposed to take care of them, but instead he’d fooled around and burned through their admittedly meager inheritance before Jordie reached eighteen. He also went on long trips without telling them where he was going or when he’d be back, so they’d mostly fended for themselves. They hadn’t seen him since Jordie had turned eighteen and Kaz privately hoped the man had managed to die, though he doubted they were that lucky.
Kaz struggled up the steps to the eighth floor, wishing the elevator actually worked. Still he eventually made it to the apartment and reached for the knob.
The door was unlocked.
Instantly on high alert, Kaz pulled out his earbuds and slid his backpack from his shoulders. He’d left all his knives at Inej’s, but the backpack was heavy enough to serve as a weapon in a pinch. He twisted the knob quietly and stepped into the apartment.
He made his way silently down the tiny hallway to the main room. He saw the form of someone sitting on the old, saggy couch. He hefted the backpack up and stepped closer, then stopped. “Jordie?”
Jordie jumped and whirled around, getting to his feet. It was obvious he hadn’t heard Kaz come in. His face twisted into a frown. “Kaz! It’s about time!”
“What are you doing here?” Kaz asked. “You work nights on Thursdays.” That was why he’d planned this job for tonight; he knew Jordie wouldn’t be around to notice he was gone.
“We’re not talking about me right now,” Jordie snapped. “It’s after eleven! I’ve been calling you for hours! Where were you?”
Kaz knew he was failing at completely keeping the surprise off his face, he hadn’t checked his phone picking up his backpack and apparently, he should have. “Hanging out in the university district with Jesper,” he said. He remembered that Jesper had mentioned that he and Wylan had been going on a date in the university district tonight, so perhaps if Jordie had called Mr. Fahey this story wouldn’t be instantly disproven. “We lost track of time.”
Jordie ran a hand through his shaggy dark hair. “Kaz, you can’t just wander around the city with no one knowing where you are. I should give you a curfew.”
For as long as Kaz could remember, Jordie had always been a little more. A little taller, a little heavier, a little better looking, a little more trusting, a little more tactful, a little better. It wasn’t until Kaz had created his Brekker identity that he’d truly acknowledged the ways that he was more. He was smarter, and braver, and a better fighter, and a better planner. He was more untrusting and untrustworthy, more hardworking, more reckless, more morally gray, and above all more vicious. Jordie was the better brother, but Kaz was the one who would get them their justice.
That was how he knew Jordie would never go through with the threat of a curfew. Jordie liked things to be easy; he knew that he would have to fight tooth and nail to impose something like that on Kaz and he’d rather not do the work. Kaz resented that on some level, because it was the same method of thinking that kept Jordie from truly trying to seek justice for their parents, but in this situation, it was helpful.
Suddenly Kaz was very tired. He’d had an absolutely horrible day and he really just wanted to curl up on the couch with a warm blanket. He’d make himself a mug of hot chocolate and maybe spike it with that bottle of whiskey that Jordie thought he didn’t know was hidden under the sink. He’d turn on the TV and watch whatever mindless programs were on until he fell asleep. Now his brother was here, and he had to deal with him instead.
“I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”
Jordie wasn’t done, “I asked off of work tonight, did you know that? I wanted to spend some time with you. We’ve barely seen each other recently and I thought it would be nice to have a night just the two of us. Instead you spend the whole night galivanting around the city and I was stuck here watching the hours tick by and thinking of all the money I was losing!”
Kaz would not stand for that. “You know,” he snarled. “If you wanted to spend time with me, you could have asked me in advance. You could have said, ‘Hey, Kaz, I’m thinking about taking Thursday night off, so we could hang out. Do you have any plans?’ like any normal person. You can’t just expect me to never have anything going on. I’m not a little kid content to sit around practicing magic tricks and waiting for you to finally have time to notice me!”
That was a low blow, and mostly untrue because while Jordie had had increasingly less time as he picked up jobs to try to take care of both of them, he’d always tried to make time for Kaz. Kaz knew he’d feel guilty about playing that card eventually, but right now it didn’t matter.
Jordie’s mouth opened and closed in shock. “How can you say that?” he asked. “Everything I’ve ever done is to make things better for you.”
“If you really wanted to make things better then maybe you would have stopped our uncle from spending all our money,” Kaz snapped. “Maybe you would try to make Pekka Rollins pay for what happened to our parents!”
“Kaz, I can’t either of those things!” Jordie snarled. “You can’t just expect things to work out the way you want them to all the time, sometimes you have to accept what you get.”
“And sometimes you can’t just lie down and let the machine walk all over you!” Kaz said.
“I can’t bring Mom and Da back, Kaz,” Jordie said. “Getting Pekka Rollins won’t bring them back either.”
“I know that,” Kaz snarled. “I’m not a child, but that doesn’t change that he still deserves to pay.”
“Let it be, Kaz,” Jordie said quietly. “There’s nothing you can do.”
“If that’s the way you want to be,” Kaz said crossing his arms. “Then I don’t see why you’re so angry about where I was tonight. I told you that I was hanging out with Jesper and we lost track of time. I’d known that we were going to hang out for a while, if you’d asked me beforehand we could have avoided this whole situation. Now, I’m going to bed and there’s nothing more you can do about this situation.” Then he turned and stalked off into the apartment’s only other room.
His bed was on the right and Jordie’s was on the left. He peeled off his wet shoes and socks and kicked them as far under the bed as he could so Jordie wouldn’t step on them or something and start getting more suspicious. He took off the gloves too; he was lucky Jordie had been too angry to notice them. Then he threw himself face down onto his bed without bothering to change. Perhaps his eyes were a little wet, but he’d never admit that; Brekker didn’t cry.
Jordie never came into the bedroom, and when Kaz got up for school the next morning he was already gone.
--
Honestly, I think that one of the things I enjoyed most about this story was exploring the dynamic between Kaz and alive!Jordie.
Anyway, hope you all enjoyed.
Emjen
23 notes · View notes
dregsleader · 3 years
Text
℟ ...        + TAG DROP  :         ROUND ONE.
℟ ...        + OUT  :         SPEAKING OF‚ LITTLE MISS KATHERINE...
℟ ...        + ANALYSIS  :         CROWS REMEMBER HUMAN FACES: WHO FEEDS THEM‚ WHO WRONGS THEM.
℟ ...        + IMAGE  :         I’LL TELL YOU A SECRET: THE REALLY BAD MONSTERS NEVER LOOK LIKE MONSTERS.
℟ ...        + INTROSPECTION  :         A SECRET’S NOT LIKE COIN. IT DOESN’T KEEP ITS VALUE IN THE SPENDING.
℟ ...        + HEADCANON  :         WITH EVERY RETELLING‚ DIRTYHANDS WOULD GET CRAZIER AND MORE RUTHLESS.
℟ ...        + MEME  :         SEND IN BEFORE REBLOGGING.
℟ ...        + EDIT  :         OKAY TO REBLOG.
℟ ...        + WRITING  :         EVERY MAN IS A SAFE‚ A VAULT OF SECRETS AND LONGINGS.
.
℟ ...        + INEJ  :         HE COULD ADMIT TO HIMSELF THAT HE HAD COME TO RELY ON HER.
℟ ...        + JORDIE  :         HE HATED THE BOYS THEY’D BEEN: TWO STUPID PIGEONS WAITING TO BE PLUCKED.
℟ ...        + JESPER  :         HE KNEW HE WASN’T DIRTY. HE TRUSTED HIM ENOUGH.
℟ ...        + THE CROWS  :         NO MOURNERS‚ NO FUNERALS.
℟ ...        + THE DREGS  :         HE IS THE SPINE: SNAP IT AND THE GANG COLLAPSES.
℟ ...        + NINA  :         A GIRL OF SEVENTEEN‚ RAISED IN LUXURY‚ FAR FROM HOME AND BARELY GETTING BY.
.
℟ ...        + MATTHIAS  :         QUOTE.
℟ ...        + WYLAN  :         QUOTE.
.
I’M A BUSINESSMAN. NO MORE‚ NO LESS.
WHEN EVERYONE KNOWS YOU’RE A MONSTER‚ YOU NEEDN’T WASTE TIME DOING EVERY MONSTROUS THING.
A LIAR‚ A THIEF‚ AND UTTERLY WITHOUT CONSCIENCE‚ BUT HE’LL KEEP ANY DEAL YOU STRIKE WITH HIM.
I WOULD HAVE COME FOR YOU. AND IF I COULDN’T WALK‚ I’D CRAWL TO YOU. NO MATTER HOW BROKEN WE WERE‚ WE’D FIGHT OUR WAY OUT TOGETHER. KNIVES DRAWN‚ PISTOLS BLAZING‚ BECAUSE THAT’S WHAT WE DO. WE NEVER STOP FIGHTING.
GREED IS YOUR GOD‚ KAZ. / GREED BOWS TO ME. IT IS MY SERVANT AND MY LEVER. / THE LEVER WAS AT WORK‚ OVERCOMING KAZ’S RESISTANCE‚ MOVING HIM INTO PLACE.
A THIEF WITH A GIFT FOR UNLIKELY ESCAPES.
MY MOTHER IS KETTERDAM. SHE BIRTHED ME IN THE HARBOR. AND MY FATHER IS PROFIT. I HONOR HIM DAILY.
THE BASTARD OF THE BARREL.
YOU DON’T WANT A LOOK AT WHAT’S INSIDE MY HEAD.
BRICK BY BRICK‚ I WILL DESTROY YOU.
I’M THE KIND OF BASTARD THEY ONLY MANUFACTURE IN THE BARREL.
EVERY MAN IS A SAFE‚ A VAULT OF SECRETS AND LONGINGS.
I BROKER INFORMATION. I CREATE OPPORTUNITY. I KILL FOR A CAUSE.
WITH EVERY RETELLING‚ DIRTYHANDS WOULD GET CRAZIER AND MORE RUTHLESS.
THE ONLY WAY TO GET JUSTICE IS TO TAKE IT FOR YOURSELF.
.
A SHARPSHOOTER WHO CAN’T WALK AWAY FROM A WAGER.
A SPY KNOWN AS THE WRAITH.
.
Crows remember human faces. They remember the people who feed them, who are kind to them. And the people who wrong them too. They don’t forget. They tell each other who to look after and who to watch out for.
0 notes
teenliterati · 7 years
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media
Book: Six of Crows
Author: Leigh Bardugo
Book Summary:
Criminal prodigy Kaz Brekker has been offered wealth beyond his wildest dreams. But to claim it, he'll have to pull off a seemingly impossible heist: Break into the notorious Ice Court (a military stronghold that has never been breached) Retrieve a hostage (who could unleash magical havoc on the world) Survive long enough to collect his reward (and spend it) Kaz needs a crew desperate enough to take on this suicide mission and dangerous enough to get the job done - and he knows exactly who: six of the deadliest outcasts the city has to offer. Together, they just might be unstoppable - if they don't kill each other first. 
My Rating: 9/10
My Opinion: 
“Six dangerous outcasts. One impossible heist.” How intriguing is that? Everything about this book screams mystery and allure, I’m surprised it took me this long to read it. When I picked it up I was still on the fence; only because its theme teetered on the border of interesting and boring, at least for me. 
So lets delve into the interesting and (somewhat) boring. The interesting part is that the main characters are criminals. Every. Single. One. They’re thieves, gamblers, gang members, murderers and all have a dark awful past. I’ll go more into detail about the characters later in this post. Onto the “boring” part... it didn’t last five pages. When I started it I just wasn’t too keen on the idea of a “heist” and it taking place in a bustling trade center. As I’m sure you can tell I’m more into magic, adventure, and romance novels so all things money and trade didn’t seem interesting. However, my perspective changed once I really got into the book.
One of the best things about this novel is the friendships. If you’ve read The Raven Cycle and love their group of friends, Six of Crows is definitely for you. They’re complete different friend groups, almost at each end of the spectrum but the characters in S.O.C. work together so well despite their differences just like in T.R.C.
There isn’t a main character in this book, every single one has something about them that you’ll love and... lets just get into it.
KAZ. FREAKING.BREKKER. He is an absolute menace and that’s what I love about him! The best part about his character is that we never forget how evil he is. That sounds weird huh? It’s one of those situations where you start to fall in love with the brooding male protagonist because he’s just “misunderstood.” And although that’s somewhat of the case, Leigh Bardugo makes sure that we don’t forget that Kaz is only working for himself. Throughout the book we see slivers of who he is underneath the tough exterior and love it but in the end he’s a businessman that will do a n y t h i n g to get what he wants.
Inej; I think everyone wishes they could be as cool as her. She’s graceful, cunning, and most importantly, sensible. She’s the rock of their entire dynamic. Everyone relies on her, respects her, and cares for her. Nina is probably my favorite character in the entire book. She’s funny, sassy, and passionate. The best thing about her is her drive to do what’s right, to fight for her country and the Grisha. Jesper, Wylan, and Matthias are the next in line; each of them are awesome members of this incredible team. In the end, you can tell that nothing would work without each of these characters. They’re uneven, misshapen, and broken pieces of a bigger puzzle but somehow they fit well together.
Everyone talks about the astounding world building this book takes on and all I can do is attest to it. I have to admit that it was hard in the beginning, because I had to train my mind to understand the world of Ketterdam and beyond. The story starts off in the industrial city of Ketterdam, the “hub of trade”, with thugs hiding in alleyways, pleasure houses with elaborate women imitating animalistic beauty, and gambling gang members. It’s interesting because we’re seeing everything in a more “antagonistic” view because of our characters. 
We’re also in the midst of some sketchy stuff happening. Grisha, power wielding humans are being targeted and used for who knows what (you’ll have to read the book to find out what haha!) The biggest traders are fighting to become the best and they’ll do anything for it, like hiring Kaz Brekker and his gang. So our anti-heroes are off on an almost impossible heist; breaking into prisons, fighting rival gangs, breaking out hostages...all to get money. You’ll soon learn that everything happens for a reason and it’s most likely at the hand of Kaz.
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo is a whirlwind of violence, adventure and friendship. It’s reality mixed with fantasy; a perfect balance and you’ll soon remember the term “No Mourners. No Funerals.”
Happy Reading ! x.
1 note · View note
beauregardlionett · 5 years
Photo
Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media Tumblr media
lionness-s twenty-gay-teen reads & recommendations
-- i know that i don’t often talk about the books that i read on this blog, but i felt like i should share some of the incredible queer literature i read this year just in case anyone was looking for a good read! these are all books i’ve read and enjoyed immensely, so i hope that someone else might find as much joy as i did through these novels. happy new year!!
more happy than not by adam silvera
this book fucked me up and i loved every damn second of it. the novel features lgbtqa+, slice of life, and mild sci-fi themes as well as a little bit of violence for anyone who might be sensitive to that last one. i don’t want to say too much on this novel in case i spoil anything, but the gist of it is that there’s a company that was founded to erase/alter memories to make people happier and our main character has to deal with the repercussions of a world in which this possibility exists. personally i thought i knew exactly what was going on in this novel until halfway through when a window got involved and then i had no idea how it was going to end and i loved it
they both die at the end by adam silvera
this book was incredible and i did not want to put it down or have it end. taking place in less than 24 hours, Mateo and Rufus are two teenagers who get the Death Cast call telling them that they’re going to die today. through an app meant for people like them, they find each other and spend their last day alive helping each other through everything thrown at them and making as many memories as possible. featuring themes of lgbtqa+, slice of life, and just enough action to make things heart-racing-edge-of-your-seat interesting, this novel was surprisingly heart-warming despite the title giving the ending away. the story of two kids dying way before they should and helping each other become the person they always wanted to be, this book is definitely worth your time.
the inexplicable logic of my life by benjamin alire-saenz
from the author of Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe, this books was just as wonderful in my opinion. we follow Sal through his senior year of high school and all the everyday and not-so-everyday trials that come with it. he faces the crisis of writing a college essay that describes who he is as a person when Sal doesn’t even know who he is. but of course, throughout the course of this crazy year, Sal realizes that he has his friends and family to rely on to help him figure out that he’s exactly who he is supposed to be. with themes of lgbtqa+, slice of life, and mild violence, drug use, and other possibly triggering themes, it’s a mundane journey of self-discovery through loss and friendship with a very confused and angry teenager. this book actually brought me to tears at one point, which i NEVER do, so personally i highly recommend this book.
at the edge of the universe by shaun david hutchinson
first of all: i don’t know why i haven’t seen more people talking about this book. it’s fucking incredible. featuring slice of life, lgbtqa+, and slight fantasy themes, i absolutely chewed through this book and couldn’t wait to reach the end to know how everything connected. essentially, Ozzie’s boyfriend Tommy vanishes and he’s the only one to remember that Tommy ever existed in the first place. alongside that, Ozzie has to deal with his slowly crumbling family, finishing high school, figuring out where he wants to go to college and what he wants to do with his life, his friends going in their own directions, and a kid named Calvin who seems intent on making Ozzie’s life that much more complicated. to top it all off, the universe is shrinking.
the ship of the dead by rick riordan
quick note: this book is number three in a series entitled Magnus Chase and the Gods of Asgard and links up with the Percy Jackson universe, so do not start with this book. frankly because the whole Magnus series is actually worth a read! the overall gist of it though, is homeless teenager Magnus Chase dies and finds himself living in the Norse afterlife as a waiting soldier for Ragnarok, or the end of times. his friends go along with him on his journeys to try and put a stop to Loki’s plans of ending the world as they travel throughout the Nine Realms. this series is wonderfully diverse and the perfect combination of witty and grounding that it feels genuine. honestly, i was stunned by the diversity, the lgbtqa+ themes, the mythology, everything! just to give a brief peek, there’s a genderfluid character (who does not utilize they/them but switches between he/him and she/her), a Muslim character, a deaf character, a character who was homeless for a long time, and so much more it’s actually crazy. TOTALLY worth your time.
the six of crows (duology) by leigh bardugo
now i know i’ve seen this duology featured around the site, but if you haven’t read this, you HAVE to check it out. with themes of lgbtqa+, crime, fantasy, magic, and more, it’s a thrilling and beautiful written story of teenage criminals who are exactly that: criminals. there is no redemption story, no moral villian; it’s just crime for the sake of crime. it sounds weird to say, but it’s refreshing to read about criminals that are motivated by the money and nothing else. led by Kaz - a young crime lord with a dark history - a handful of teenagers attempt to breech a legendary, impenetrable prison because they’re offered a large sum of money to do so. dark, thrilling, and witty, this duology is totally worth your time if you love immoral characters.
the raven cycle series by maggie stiefvater
if you’re a book based blog, chances are you’ve seen this series talked about in abundance. the author actually HAS a blog on this site, and she’s quite wonderful at giving advice and posting updates. if you happen to be unfamiliar with the series, it features themes of magic, lgbtqa+, slice of life, and adventure while following the quest of five high school kids on their quest to reawaken a dead Welsh king. taking place in Henrietta, Virginia, this series is an extraordinary read in my opinion that utilizes beautiful language, snarky characters, and a nice dose of reality for anyone looking to go on a great adventure but still feel grounded.
the foxhole court (all for the game series) by nora sakavic
personally, this was my favorite book i read this year. i read it in less than five hours over the course of two days and almost cried when i realized i would have to wait for the other two books to arrive. i heard about it from this site, and i’m so glad i decided to read it, because i fell in love with the story and the problematic, dysfunctional characters before i was even done the first chapter. following the story of Neil Josten through his crazy, dangerous life, the story is realistic but full of thrill and mystery and suspense and Exy. with themes of crime/gangs, lgbtqa+, college, and sports, i absolute flew through this novel and am looking forward to finishing the series.
1 note · View note