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Kaz Brekker age 9 realizing the guy who killed his brother is literally the most powerful man in the city: ...I just need to lock the fuck in—

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Jesper: FOUR MONTHS

Inej: What’s wrong with him??

Wylan, supressing giggles: It’s nothing...

Jesper: THAT’S HOW LONG YOU STOOD BY AND WATCHED  ME WATER A FAKE PLANT

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Jesper: yum, thanks.

Kidnapper: please stop eating the duct tape.

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Kaz: Well, it’s time to move to plan 2

Inej: Don’t you mean plan B?

Wylan: That would insinuate we only have 26 plans

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Can I just say I do find it very refreshing that Wylan and Jesper's sexual orientations are like, completely plot irrelevant? They're characters with a lovely story who also happen to be in a same-sex relationship but the same-sexness of it is not ~the point~ of it.

As an Old I remember a time when you couldn't have a gay character in your story without it being a Big Deal and their gayness had to be justified with Narrative Weight. Like giving your character a massive facial scar or something. It begged backstory and explanation.

But now we have mainstream fantasy YA novels with non-straight characters for whom their sexual orientation is kind of the least notable thing about them. They simply... Exist.

And I just think that's really nice.

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Matthias: You cannot just go around stabbing people

Inej: Saints forbid a woman has a hobby…

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Something about Matthias saying Kaz would drag Inej back from the depths of hell if he had to then looking at her on Vellgeluk like Orpheus looked back at Eurydice and then getting her back after Van Eck kidnapped her. Something about an Orpheus variant finally succeeding.

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dear usamerican high schoolers looking for a way to resist fascism: sit through the pledge of allegiance.

no getting up. no looking at the flag.

everyone will be looking at you. you'll be sweating like a fucking hippopotamus. your teacher will sternly tell you to get up. you'll feel stupid and that maybe its not worth it because you're just a kid in a classroom. but I'm here to remind you that there are no real life consequences to detention. there are however real life consequences to resisting a thoughtless performance of nationalism.

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Sometimes, I forget that Wylan didn't have a POV in Six of Crows. He was written so well with a distinct personality and a great dynamic with the other characters. Additionally, he was also a key player in the Ice Court heist. He didn't feel at all like a side character, which is why I don't consider him not having a POV in the first book.

I applaud Leigh for being one of the few authors who can write a main character without a POV, and still make him a main character who is actually important to the plot, instead of useless background noise.

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Currently rereading Six of Crows and I have to talk about Kaz and his need for control —

Basically, when I was reading all his backstory parts, my first thought was, "wow he literally could not do anything about what happened to him because he was only 9!" Everything happened to him because he had no control.

And then I started thinking about how at present, he overplans everything to a T, attempting to leave no gaps for error (which doesn't always work) because of his need to control the narrative.

He has to ensure that only he is in charge of his own destiny and no one else. He is now the swindler, and no longer the swindled. In Crooked Kingdom he even goes so far as to have Wylan create a substance that mimics the symptoms of firepox, which he is now allowed to control as well. He is able to pick and choose who gets the "disease" and whose reputation it ruins, rather than other poor souls like his brother and him.

Anyway, every time I read this series I pick up on another detail. I love analyzing these books and these characters because they mean so much to me.

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In contrary to popular belief, I actually really love the small filler moments between the Crows, in which they are all sitting and just talking to each other. Discussing things, planning things. Because these are the moments that show how human they are, how they are just like you and me. We see them debating. We see them joking around with each other as well every now and then. We see them slumping against a chair, drawing circles on the table with their finger, mussing their disheveled hair and drinking coffee. When they aren't being dangerous crime lords getting involved in some intense action, but just people. Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom prove that filler moments aren't always boring when the characters involved are highly intriguing and their shared dialogue is also a joy to read. It's why I really cherished that one scene in the show during the second episode of the second season, when Kaz, Inej, Jesper, Nina and Wylan were all seated at a table in that breakfast shop and just talking about things. It meant a lot to me and I wanted more of them.

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Kanej is the best ship ever because all the other Crows ship it too.

Nina when she told Inej that Kaz's breathing changes when he looks at her, and when she thinks that beautiful line in CK about the "Hope that awaited you on a distant shore."

Jesper when Inej mentioned leaving and he IMMEDIATELY looked at Kaz for his reaction in CK.

Matthias caught it so fast. When he was like "Brekker would drag the girl back from hell itself."

WYLAN LITERALLY SAYS IT OUT LOUD!!!! He's like "Why won't he just say that he wants her back?"

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Kaz with crooked teeth and a crooked nose I love you. Nina with a double chin and stretch marks I love you. Inej with thick body hair I love you. Jesper with acne scaring I love you. Wylan with birthmarks I love you. Matthias with big ears and a big nose I love you.

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i need to go take a shower but i feel like we just completely skipped over the fact that Jesper has been subconsciously using his Grisha abilities his entire life? like a lot of people talk about how him getting "sick" for not using his powers was his gambling addiction, but maybe the reason he got sick like that instead of actually physically sick is because he's been using it to some extent for years. it was just enough to let him stay physically healthy, but it still took a toll on his mind and resulted in him looking for the kind of rush he would usually get when using his powers.

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Currently rereading Six of Crows and I have to talk about Kaz and his need for control —

Basically, when I was reading all his backstory parts, my first thought was, "wow he literally could not do anything about what happened to him because he was only 9!" Everything happened to him because he had no control.

And then I started thinking about how at present, he overplans everything to a T, attempting to leave no gaps for error (which doesn't always work) because of his need to control the narrative.

He has to ensure that only he is in charge of his own destiny and no one else. He is now the swindler, and no longer the swindled. In Crooked Kingdom he even goes so far as to have Wylan create a substance that mimics the symptoms of firepox, which he is now allowed to control as well. He is able to pick and choose who gets the "disease" and whose reputation it ruins, rather than other poor souls like his brother and him.

Anyway, every time I read this series I pick up on another detail. I love analyzing these books and these characters because they mean so much to me.

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