#but half of crooked kingdom already happened

[theamazingannie]

Realizing that if the crows get their spin-off and they do the Kuwei storyline then that means we won’t get to see Jack for way too long😭

[sparklestheunicorn]

EVERYTHING TO MEEEEEEE

[sovasleepy]

I missed you

[ gekko x gn!reader ] - when your mission takes a little longer than usual, gekko starts to worry. needless to say, he’s a little happy when you return.

tags: mentions of anxiety, brief mentions of blood and injuries (reader is slightly injured), mostly fluff though. could be considered hurt/comfort if you squint.

notes: requested by anonymous! i hope you enjoy :)

it felt like the clock was mocking him.

it read 9:37 PM, despite the expected arrival time of over an hour ago. something had to have gone on your mission, why else was it taking so long? missions took less time than usual on a regular basis, but never longer. not unless something had gone wrong.

several people were gathered in the hangar, waiting on the arrival of the jet. he wasn’t the only one nervous, apparently, as several kingdom-employed paramedics were already waiting there as well

brimstone was off somewhere, having gotten a call from those that were on the mission. despite the rapid beating of his heart, gekko knew he couldn’t follow. he couldn’t feel the tips of his fingers anymore, not that he particularly noticed that right now. he felt as though he couldn’t get enough air into his lungs, and with each passing second it only seemed to grow worse.

finally, the door brimstone had left out of opened again. he spoke into his earpiece again, briefly, before the large door to the hangar opened. he could hear the jet distantly.

gekko shot him a worried look. “what’s wrong?”

“had a few run-ins.” brimstone said, but offered the younger a pitied look. “i’m sorry, i can’t tell you more. i didn’t hear anything specific about anyone.”

gekko did his best to swallow back the lump in his throat, eyes flickering over to the sky outside the hangar where he could see the familiar black jet approaching.

the next few moments were a blur. despite his best attempts, he couldn’t see what was happening through the flurry of people running and moving around. he watched as a medic helped breach limp away, another sitting chamber against a wall and studying an injury on his shoulder.

after far too long, he watched you step out from the chaos. there was a cut on your cheek, but it had been half-way cleaned and the only evidence was the small, thin line of red on your skin. dried blood stained your clothing, but your clothes were not ripped.

the blood didn’t belong to you. good.

gekko stepped forward and enveloped you in a hug, tucking his face into the crook of your neck and holding you impossibly close. he inhaled your scent, electing to ignore that it was washed in sweat and blood.

“are you okay? what happened?” he asked. he finally pulled back, just far enough to hold your face in his hands and staring at you, studying your features.

“i’m okay,” you reassure. “some stuff happened, but we’re all okay.”

he nods and pulls you closer to his chest again. you can feel his heart still beating out of his chest from your place snuggled against him.

“let’s go get you cleaned up, alright?”

you nod, happy to change out of the clothes sticking to your body. the blood belonged mostly to chamber, but knowing who it belonged to didn’t make you feel any better about the way it clung to you.

it takes a moment for the two of you to make your way out of the mess of people, finding your way back up to your room. he follows you in, not wanting to take his eyes off of you for a moment.

“i’m gonna go shower, alright?”

he knows you need to, but he can’t help the look of panic that crosses his face for a brief moment. “okay. can i… i can turn around, but can i come with you?”

a laugh bubbles up from, smile painting its way across your face. you agree anyway. “sure, mateo.”

as you step into the bathroom, he’s not far behind you. he smiles at you one more time as you turn on the warm water before turning around to face the now-closed door.

it takes a moment for you to get undressed and step into the shower, but he eventually hears the familiar sound of the shower curtain being shut behind you. with your approval, he turns back around.

he can’t see you through the shower curtain, just moving shadows, but the reassurance that you are there and you alright is enough to calm his still-rampant nerves.

“so… are you okay? nothing too bad happened?” he asks, nervousness lacing his words.

“i am.” you reassure. “i didn’t get to the worst of the fighting. chamber and breach got pretty banged up, i think, but they’re alright too.”

“that’s good.” he hums thoughtfully. his eyes drift down to his hands that are nervously playing with each other. “after you get dressed, can we watch a movie?”

you laugh. “sure, babe.”

the two of you spend the next several minutes in a comfortable silence, listening to the water running in the shower. he hears the water stop, watches as your hand reaches out to grab your towel

“i’m gonna let you get dressed, any preference on a movie?”

“huh? oh, no. whatever you wanna watch is fine.”

he nods and shuts the door of your bathroom behind him, leaving you to get dressed. he makes his way over to your bed, grabbing the TV remote and searching for what he knows to be your favorite movie.

you exit the bathroom a few minutes later, clothes clinging to your still slightly-wet body. you smile at him. “sorry for taking so long, i needed that shower.”

“no worries.” he says.

he leans up to move the blanket on your side of the bed, holding it up for you to crawl into. you do as he seems to be asking, crawling under the blanket and snuggling close to him.

you don’t miss the way his arm snakes around your waist, pulling you close to him. his hold on you seems a bit together than usual today, but you don’t mind it.

[bonny-kookoo]

Can we get a drabble for Lacrymaria olor where Koo is "officially" courting her and what that means in his culture? Thank you.

He's dressed in artistically decorated gowns, gaze serious as you approach him while he stays seated on his throne. You've, for the first time in a long while, been told by him to stay in your shared room for today, and you didn't really know why- you're still not sure. You've been given a simple white short dress to wear- nothing very eye-catching at all, at least not compared to him.

He looks almost.. mad? No. Serious. Determined, even. That's the right word.

One of his hands is resting on a large sword- handle black and worn down from use, but still seemingly polished as he adjusts his grip on it. You walk closer as the guards close the doors, leaving you alone with him, apart from one person, a man you don't know who simply stands by.

"Your attention is mine." Jungkook speaks, his words echoing in the large throne hall, making you shrink in on yourself a little. It's the first time you're reminded of who he is- what he is, and how he rules his kingdom around him.

You included.

"Come here." He says, moving the sword to point at a spot in front of his throne, and you're nervous now as you walk towards where he points, unsure what's happening. For all you know you've been fine until recently, apart from the incident where you've been.. well, the victim of attempted kidnapping. But other than that, you thought you were getting closer-

have you done something wrong?

His gaze softens just a little, and you're relieved to find at least a glimpse of the Jungkook you've been getting to know more these days. He slowly gets up, walks down the steps from his throne to stand right in front of you, sword still in his hand, though the tip of it rests right in between you both. "I'm asking you this once, and I demand an answer that is truthful." He commands, and you stand a bit more straight, nodding shortly. "Where do you place your loyalty?" He asks, and you don't have to think for long.

"..In you." You say, easily, and with confidence. There's no one else you'd ever pledge loyalty to, after all. And from the way the corner of his lips twitch, you seem to have given the right answer.

"I am, with Jung Hoseok as my witness, officially courting you as my mate, partner, and equal half." He proposes, making your eyes widen as he lifts one of his hands, eyes softening once more as you almost on instinct place yours in his. He places yours over the one of his that's already placed on the handle of his sword, before he looks at you again. "With this blade, I will protect and guard you as your mate, from today on until the end of my life." He offers, the man you now know named Hoseok starting to write something down- but you don't avert your eyes from Jungkook, who holds out his free hand, Hoseok moving to place something in his palm before he moves back into his corner. "With this ring, made from the purest metal, I will bind myself to you, and you to me." He continues, sliding the simple silver ring onto your thumb, and you realize that he's already wearing one himself on the same side as you do now. "To last even after death, as I shall follow you even as our time alive comes to an end."

Suddenly, he leans in, angles his face into the crook of your neck, where he speaks a lot lower, and a lot closer. "And with this bite, I will mark you as my own; my partner, my equal, my lover." He says, before you feel him harshly bite down, skin breaking and wound instantly stinging as he truly does what he just said-

mark you with a scar that will last forever.

He leans back, lips slightly red and stained with your blood as you feel it run down your skin, body still in shock of what's happened as he holds out his hand again, Hoseok providing a cloth for Jungkook to use to hold against your wound.

"Hoseok." Jungkook asks, and the man looks up, walking closer. "Take it." Jungkook says, giving the sword to the man who takes it with a bow, walking away to place it back to it's usual place right above Jungkook's throne. You're shaking a bit, mostly from a mix of adrenaline and the cold floor against your naked feet, and he watches with amused interest how you hold onto him. "You can look away now." He smiles, and you let go of a breath you didn't realize you were holding, finally unfreezing your position. "How do you feel?"

"...Happy." You nod after a moment, as Jungkook removes the cloth, folding it neatly before he places it in the pocket of his pants. "Are we like.. married now?" You wonder, and he laughs.

"I assume that is what you call it on earth?" He wonders, and you shrug.

"I honestly am not sure what just happened." You giggle back, as he leads you backwards to walk up his throne and sit down with you on his lap.

"I told you I'd court you." He explains. "And I kept my promise."

"Oh.." You hum, leaning against him. "Jungkook?" You ask, and he hums a reply, hand running up and down your cooling skin, before he grabs a blanket from the side where you usually sleep at, placing it over your shoulders. "I love you." You say, and his lips turn, morph into a smile as he leans down kiss the top of your head.

"And so do I." He responds, watching you how you close your eyes to rest in his arms.

Right where you belong.

[bee-a-lover]

let’s talk about the shadow and bone s2 ✨controversy✨

here’s my two cents. obviously, beware spoilers ahead.

specifically, this is going to be about how they handled the crows. and as a little disclaimer, you obviously don’t have to agree with me.

what i’ve seen people most upset about is how they took events from crooked kingdom (kaz’s revenge on pekka), or created scenes that somewhat resembled those events (kanej bandage scene, etc) and squashed them into the first four episodes of s2 with no build up. and i can agree that when you view it like that, it’s upsetting and underwhelming.

here’s the thing- i don’t view it like that.

the way i see it, the crows content we got in the first half of season 2 were teasers for what’s to come in their spin-off. a preview for the character development they’re about to go through in their spin-off, and laying groundwork for what’s ahead.

for example, the kanej bandage scene we got in the show was not the bathroom scene from the books. their conversation was not the same and didn’t hold nearly the same weight because it was a conversation from early in six of crows before they had relationship development. what differed was the setting and the actions, but even so, kaz attempting to clean inej’s wounds with his gloves on and telling her simply that pekka rollins killed his brother, having the “tells” convo, WAS NOT kaz opening up about his trauma while pushing himself to clean inej’s wounds without gloves and having that intense intimate moment with her. i keep seeing people say that that WAS the bathroom scene, to which i strongly disagree. what i think will happen is that in the future of the show, we will get the bathroom scene, and we’ll have that on-screen full-circle moment to when kaz was cleaning her wounds in s2 and could barely do so.

and i think that goes for all of the ck-resembling content we got from s2. save for the alby confrontation, which was directly from the books. we did get a version of the slat fight— and based on what i’ve seen with the writer’s talking about the spin-off, we’ll get something equal in emotional weight when the time is right for it. perhaps something with even higher stakes than in the books. because let’s face it, pekka rollins is probably going to be back to haunt kaz. he’s already teaming up with matthias. that guy’s gonna be back, and that’s going to mean something. the new content that will generate is almost like getting six of crows 3 and mixing it into the plot of soc and ck.

and i’m excited for that. i’m excited for the new relationship dynamics we have to work with. inej is getting a taste of her dream going with sturmhond, but we know that isn’t the end for her. she hasn’t had her arc yet where she realizes that she needs to hunt slavers for herself. when she comes back for the six of crows story, it’ll be interesting to see how the realization that something is still missing in her journey to reclaim her life will affect her.

and then there’s kaz, who’s going to be dealing with the realization that revenge is not the end, and like was lightly touched upon in the latter half of the show, he needs to figure out what’s next for him.

and sure, jesper’s getting more comfortable with being a durast where the show leaves him, but what happens when he realizes that his gambling debts have doomed his father? what happens when colm comes back into the picture? those questions from the books are still left unanswered in the show.

wylan in particular i think was done so brilliantly in the show. people were mad that they dropped that he couldn’t read early, but i think it’s genius, because it just leads casual viewers who haven’t read the books away from his other secret even more. people like my mom who haven’t read the books but seen the show just assume that he’s illiterate because he was never taught to read, because he’s presented as just some penniless guy in ketterdam with no money for food. when his true story is revealed, it’ll come as even more of a shock, and put the casual viewer in the same boat as the characters— we thought we knew this guy, but turns out we don’t know him at all. and with wylan and jesper already being in a relationship? something tells me jesper isn’t going to take that well— hence the “merchling” teasing will ensue, and the tension. if anything, their established relationship just ups the stakes. jesper thinking his friend and crush is on the ferolind when it blows up in the books is one thing, but jesper thinking his BOYFRIEND is on the ferolind when it blows up in the show? jesus christ, we aren’t ready for kit young.

what i’m trying to say is, it might help your enjoyment of the show to not view the crows scenes as THE scenes from the books, because with all my heart i don’t think that’s what they are. i’m not saying these “teaser” scenes were necessary, but that goes back to the crows’ inclusion in the shadow and bone plot being forced and unnecessary. which is unfortunate, because the crows deserve to get to the good stuff in their story, but at the moment they’re in a holding position because they just don’t have enough time sharing the screen with s&b to do their story justice. which is WHY GETTING THE SPIN-OFF IS SO IMPORTANT. if you want the storylines we love the crows for, if you want the REAL crooked kingdom scenes with their buildup and emotional impact, we gotta help the crows get their own show. even if that means watching them be filler in the s&b show. which is still completely possible to find enjoyment in, at least from my perspective— you just gotta view it less critically and more like foreshadowing for what’s to come, getting to see these characters build relationships early so that they might in fact be stronger when we get to their story in the show.

and when you view it like that it can be exciting! what’s worse than pekka that the crows will have to deal with? what confrontation will inej wiitness kaz have that affects her view of him like witnessing the alby confrontation in the books did, since she missed it in the show? how will seeing the alby confrontation affect jesper and nina’s perception of kaz (we can still get “who the hell is jordie” guys, jesper doesn’t know kaz’s brother’s name). the s&b show expanding on the crows content, even if the storylines are messy and rushed and unnecessary, is also building their relationships and characters. so when we do get the proper soc storyline, we’re ready for them in a different way than when we started the books.

[kallypsowrites]

Shadow and Bone season 2 is a string of scenes that might be intriguing as one shots of a fanfic, or might be direct adaptations of single scenes, but the surrounding context either does not support the scenes at best and absolutely ruins the scenes at worst.

If the show is viewed in gifsets of the conversations, a casual viewer might get excited. There are direct lines from the books! There are scenes from the books! There are lovely little shipping moments. But if you actually watch these things in order, adding in the absolutely garbage pacing of the show and you realize that most of these moments are just forced into the narrative for reasons of hollow fan service, they kind of lose their meaning.

There are lots of classic Darklina lines from the books, for instance. But all of the emotional complexity is gone.

There are lots of Kanej moments, but they’re from Crooked Kingdom, which means they are happening WAY too early.

There are lots of Wesper moments, which are of course adorable, but it means there’s very little direction for their dynamic to go in the spinoff and will probably involve creating shallow conflict for the sake of drama

There are Helnik moments, but Matthias really has NO reason to be in the show at all.

There are lots of Malina moments, but the pacing of their relationship is such that it feels like an after thought at best and forced at worst. Like the writers suddenly remembered: ‘oh right, they’re supposed to kiss...ah, well, lets just throw that into the first episode, that’s a normal time to have a romantic relationship begin’.

Kaz’s confrontation with Pekka Rollins is great until you realize that his main emotional arc has already been explored and nearly resolved before the Crows spinoff. Inej’s emotional arc is removed completely as not only she is robbed of a confrontation with Tante Heleen, but also doesn’t seem to have any aversion to romantic touch. Her trauma is just...completely deleted.

Jesper is a grisha! And he has already accepted and embraced it in this show, so he can’t have that arc in the spinoff.

Matthias, Nina and Wylan still have lots of stuff left, but you’ve basically spedrun the arcs of half the Crows.

And while the Crows have some good moments but in the wrong place, the actual shadow and bone characters are absolutely decimated. Alina is given ‘girl boss anger’ because the writers think that means agency. Mal has practically nothing to do accept die. The Darkling has all pathos and care for saving/protecting Grisha removed in favor of making him a one-dimensional evil guy so that the characters can be justified in fighting him. Zoya has no purpose at all and could be removed from the story.

Nikolai might come off the best writing wise but even he is given the character inconsistency of working with the Crows to justify their actions in the previous season.

There are a lot of things to talk about in how bad this season is. But ultimately, its that the whole is SO much less than the sum of its parts. The cast is incredible and they make a lot of terrible lines work as well as they can. But add it all together and you get a terrible mess.

[heartfullofleeches]

Princess becomes paranoid of any letters addressed ever since she found a fan or even a love letter addressed to Reader Knight.

She skims any letters addressed to her kingdom with the fine comb from then on.

"Dear Knight, Thank you for helping me find my lost kitten. I am forever in your debt, and wish to show my gratitude with a cup of tea if you are available this weekend."

The princess crumples the piece of paper in a ball and tosses it into the flames of her fireplace. She watches as it burns, a scream of pure rage threading to rupture her vocal cords if she let it free. She instead tosses her arm chair onto its side and slumps down to the floor; the fire reflecting across her face.

Her curiosity had been peaked when you requested the day off. You'd only asked for a break a handful of time during the entirety of your lifelong duty as her guard. It got worse when she saw you through a crack in your door; dressing yourself casually for whatever reason. Simple civilian attire to you, but the clothes had been gifted to you by none other than the princess herself and made you look formal, and ready for a eve with the one you adored. She was already regretting her choice by that point, but still decided to let you go.

The princess had faith in you. She knew you wouldn't run off with whatever creature that summoned you, but the thought of them all over you made her gag. She knew exactly who it was too. A military family's brat who her parents dragged her along with to meet. A courtship most likely, but their eyes were glued to you. Whose wouldn't? A strong, loyal companion is the object of anyone's dreams. Too bad for them you were already called for.

The princess composes herself, smoothing out the skirt of her gown as she stands to her feet. She turns toward her bedroom door; calming her nerves with the fact that you'd return home soon. All will be fine as soon as you walked through the castle gates and back to her embrace. Everything's all-

"My lady, I bring a message to you-"

Rip!

Opening her door, the princess finds a servant waiting for her. Seeing the res envelope in their hands activates her fight or flight and she tears it from their hands then into pieces. It litters the floor like confetti; the princess slamming her heel into the carpet for added effect.

Her lips crook into a half smile as she looks up at the startled guard. "I saw a rat."

"Um... While there are a few issues with that statement, I believe that was an invitation to your estranged brother's birthday party."

"It'll happen next year."

"Yes, but, you hardly ever see him due to his travels."

"Not my problem. Since you're here, you can do me a favor. Any letters addressed to Y/n are meant to be delivered to me by hand first."

"That doesn't seem very-" The princess slams her fist against the frame of the door. "I didn't ask for your opinion. Unless you want me to send one to your family describing the horrible accident you were in - do what I command."

The servant stammers out in agreement before clearing the princess' path. As she walks down the hall, she makes eye contact with two maids who had witnessed the entire ordeal. As much as she'd like to send them away as well, they could prove useful in her plans to make sure you were right where your place was, and all that she could provide for you.

"If you want to gwak so badly, you can do it over tea making lessons that you'll be giving me this afternoon. I'll show Y/n that they don't need the praise of others since I can give them all that they need."

[dangerously-human]

Every time I've asked my mom what she thinks of Six of Crows so far, she's hesitated and then admitted to being kind of confused and having a hard time following the story. My mom tends to struggle to follow stories with POV switches, but she loves heist movies and the way all the disparate pieces get knitted together later, so I've reassured her that it would make sense soon. When I was visiting today, she told me she was almost a quarter of the way through the book and STILL couldn't understand what was happening, so I asked her to tell me what she'd learned so far and as she started rattling off plot points, I started getting confused too, and squinted and said, "Huh, already? I thought that happened later in the - wait, which book are you reading?" "Six of Crows, that's the first one, right? I'll go get it," and she disappeared upstairs for a minute and then I heard hysterical laughter as she checked her nightstand and realized that, half asleep, she had in fact picked up Crooked Kingdom to start and just hadn't questioned it since. My poor mother could not figure out why everyone kept complaining about not getting paid for the Ice Court job when, as far as she was concerned, the Ice Court job never happened. 😂😂 I feel terrible that it took us this long to realize, and now she's going into the series with some really weird out-of-context spoilers, but she's just relieved she's not actually stupid, and I'm glad we eventually figured it out!

[lilisouless]

Show Wesper is cute but it doesn’t do Book Wesper justice. I wished the show took the repressed wizard and dyslexic guy and properly explored their issues. Them helping each other out with their issues is my favorite part of their relationship in the books. Their chapters in Crooked Kingdom made me cry. They are my favorite couple in the books because they help and support each other. Six of Crows teases them and the audience expects them to be the comic relief couple as a breather from the Helnik and Kanej angst but Crooked Kingdom beautifully subverts this initial assumption and gives them a captivating storyline where they both become better as a result. It doesn't just reduce the LGBTQ+ characters as a fun side couple. This ship will always have a special place in my heart. It's probably the first mlm ship I really got invested in and they are mutually supportive of each other and help each other grow. This may be a weird metaphor but Show Wesper is the equivalent of eating fluffy and sugary dessert for every meal where Book Wesper is more like a savory meal, less overt sweetness but more filling and satisfying.

I agree, book wesper is superior and the show shouldn't had rushed Jesper's arc since it doesn't mention Colm, the grisha slavers as external influence nor his gambling or adrenaline adiction as a consequence. Overall how Wylan and him bonded over their commom trauma, show wesper will never have the whole plate because Jesper already knows Wylan can read and already acepted his powers. If you ask me which crow they screwed over the most on s2 is definitely Jesper , but i don't feel it happened because of his relationship with Wylan , so it doesn't give me a huge sour feeling for the ship itself .

i do have a small tentative defense of show! Wesper nor that they maybe be better or even good BUT that they mostly makes sense but i will reblogg it later because i am writing from a movile , i am not sure how i feel about it yet. Let me just say that they are not hugely out of character (like S1 Kaz) had their trauma ignored (like inej or s2) or getting reduced to their relationship (like Nina pretty much the second half on s2 and as a concept overall)

[kazscrows]

Crooked Kingdom Reread

Chapter 4: Inej

I like that this chapter starts right off with Inej trying to escape on her own

She’s not a damsel in distress sitting around waiting to be rescued

She’s going to try escaping on her own first

The room was pitch-black, and all she could hear in the silence was her own rapid breathing as panic seized her again.

She’d leashed it by controlling her breath, in through the nose, out through the mouth, letting her mind turn to prayer as her Saints gathered around her. She imagined them checking the ropes at her wrists, rubbing life into her hands.

My heart aches for her

But what I love is how she leans into her faith

Her actions and her Saints aid her 💕

She did not tell herself she wasn’t afraid. Long ago, after a bad fall, her father had explained that only fools were fearless. We meet fear, he’d said. We greet the unexpected visitor and listen to what he has to tell us. When fear arrives, something is about to happen.

I think about this quote from Inej’s father a lot

Whenever I find myself feeling afraid it comes to mind

Well either this quote or Yoda’s quote about fear

Fear isn’t bad, but we can’t let it control us. Sometimes it can guide us to make slightly better decisions, but we can’t let it stop us in our tracks

So far Inej has thought of:

Her past kidnapping/trauma

Her saints aiding and protecting her

Her father

And finally how Kaz would already be free of his bonds if he were in a similar situation

Van Eck could not have chosen her jailer better. Bajan was Suli, only a few years older than Inej, with thick black hair that curled around his collar and black gem eyes framed by lashes long enough to swat flies. He told her he was a music teacher indentured to Van Eck, and Inej wondered that the merch would bring a boy like that into his household given that his new wife was less than half his own age. Van Eck was either very confident or very stupid. He double-crossed Kaz, she reminded herself. He’s leaning heavily into the stupid column.

Van Eck is hoping to lull her into a false sense of security with someone who looks familiar from her past

Her tune will change about Bajan soon

And heck yeah Jan Van Eck is extremely stupid!

He should have never tried hiring Kaz at all really. Conning him is like signing a death warrant

She thought of Jesper toying with his guns, Nina squeezing the life from a man with the flick of a wrist, Kaz picking a lock in his black gloves. Thugs. Thieves. Murderers. And all worth more than a thousand Jan Van Ecks.

They’re her friends. Her family-

Then where are they? The question tore at some hastily stitched seam inside of her. Where is Kaz? She didn’t want to look at that question too closely. Above everything else, Kaz was practical. Why would he come for her when he could walk away from Van Eck with the most valuable hostage in the world?

My heart is being ripped right in half—

They are coming!

He’s coming!!

Just hang in there-

Bajan wrinkled his nose. “Let’s not speak Suli. It makes me maudlin.”

Right before this Inej had called him “Shevrati” Know-nothing in Suli

If you’re like me you had to look up what maudlin means

It can mean sentimental or even sick

This is actually super interesting because for Inej to survive in Ketterdam she clutched onto her Suli culture and her faith

Remembering that is what has helped her survive

It looks like Bajan has done just the opposite by shunning who he used to be

That’s quite sad actually…

She knows Nina will try to come for her, and Matthias will follow because it’s what’s right

And Jesper would want to if he could

But she’s so unsure of Kaz…

…without Kaz, were any of them a match for Van Eck’s ruthlessness and resources? I am, Inej told herself. I may not have Kaz’s devious mind, but I am a dangerous girl.

I love her confidence in herself her though

It’s beautiful

Inej knew better than that. She’d learned from the best. Better terrible truths than kind lies. Kaz had never offered her happiness, and she didn’t trust the men promising to serve it up to her now. Her suffering had not been for nothing. Her Saints had brought her to Ketterdam for a reason—a ship to hunt slavers, a mission to give meaning to all she’d been through. She would not betray that purpose or her friends for some dream of the past.

She’s offered the possibility of freedom and a chance to be with her family, but she won’t betray her friends

Maybe Kaz and the others were coming for her, but she didn’t intend to wait around and see.

That’s my Inej!

Once Bajan and the guards had left, she’d slipped the shard of broken bowl from where she’d hidden it beneath the ropes around her ankles and set to work. Weak and wobbly as she’d felt when Bajan had arrived with that heavenly smelling bowl of mush, she’d only pretended to swoon so that she could deliberately knock her tray off the table. If Van Eck had really done his research, he would have warned Bajan that the Wraith did not fall.

She said she’s not as clever as Kaz, but honestly I think she could give him a run for his money sometimes

Oh gosh

Crawling through the tiny air vent would be so horrible

I never thought I was claustrophobic, but reading Inej describe the experience might be changing my mind-

Like this quote:

Every time she took a deep breath, it felt like the air shaft was tightening around her ribs.

She wished for her knives, for the comforting weight of them in her palms. Did Van Eck still have them in his possession? Had he sold them off? Tossed them into the sea? She named the blades anyway—Petyr, Marya, Anastasia, Lizabeta, Sankt Vladimir, Sankta Alina and found courage in each whispered word.

…Finally, her fingers hooked over a door frame and her hands wrapped around the knob. It wouldn’t budge. Locked. She gave it a tentative rattle.

The room flooded with light. Inej shrank back against the door, squinting in the sudden brightness.

“If you wanted a tour, Miss Ghafa, you might simply have asked,” said Jan Van Eck.

He stood on the stage of the decrepit theater, his black mercher’s suit cut in severe lines.

This scene feels very much like a play. It’s almost comical

But I guess it’s fitting considering the location

It’s also just super rude of Van Eck to just be there waiting in the dark for her to try opening the door like that

Like. It’s so ridiculously dramatic actually

And then she attempts to escape

And she fails…

It does take three guards to hold her though!

Inej is so incredibly strong. I forget that sometimes because of her physical stature

“You are not going to find your way out of this without my help or Mister Brekker’s. As he does not seem to be making an appearance, perhaps you should consider a change in alliance.”

Inej said nothing.

We’re almost to the part shatters me…. and now that I think about it that’s a really poor choice of words because of what almost happens to Inej—

“… Where is Kaz Brekker keeping the boy?”

“How could I possibly know that?”

“You must know the locations of the Dregs’ safe houses. Brekker does nothing without preparation. He’ll have warrens to hide in all over the city.”

“If you know him so well, then you know he’d never keep Kuwei somewhere that I could lead you to him.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“I can’t help what you do or don’t believe. Your Shu scientist is probably long gone already.”

“Word would have reached me. My spies are everywhere.”

“Clearly not everywhere.”

Dab on him

Is that cringe to say in 2023?

I don’t care. This is the cringe™️ website for a reason

Van Eck sighed. “Remember that I have tried to treat you with civility.”

*eye roll*

I hate when the bad guy is like “now remember I used to be nice to you, but since you’re being frustrating now I’m going to be mean and hurt you mentally and physically-”

Like I don’t care how you used to be

You’re being awful Now—

You’re threatening to torture her!

And he was always awful actually

He kidnapped her and kept her bond in a tiny room- that’s not civil—

“Wait,” said Van Eck. He was studying Inej as if he were reading a ledger, trying to make the figures line up. He cocked his head to one side and said, “Break her legs.”

Inej felt her courage fracture. She began to thrash, trying to get free of the guards’ hold.

“Ah,” said Van Eck. “That’s what I thought.”

All she can manage is repeating “Don’t” over and over again but then…

“He’ll never trade if you break me!” she screamed, the words tearing loose from some deep place inside her, her voice raw and undefended. “I’ll be no use to him anymore!”

It hurts

Every single time—

Van Eck held up a hand. The mallet fell.

Inej felt it brush against her trousers as the impact shattered the surface of the table a hair’s breadth from her calf, the entire corner collapsing beneath the force.

My leg, she thought, shuddering violently. That would have been my leg. There was a metallic taste in her mouth. She’d bitten her tongue. Saints protect me. Saints protect me.

Just. Chills.

Horrifying chills

Oh Inej, I’m so sorry—

Inej could not control her shaking. I’m going to cut you open, she vowed silently. I’m going to excavate that pathetic excuse of a heart from your chest. It was an evil thought, a vile thought. But she couldn’t help it. Would her Saints sanction such a thing? Could forgiveness come if she killed not to survive but because she burned with living, luminous hatred? I don’t care, she thought as her body spasmed and the guards lifted her trembling form from the table. I’ll do penance for the rest of my days if it means I get to kill him.

Van Eck made a mistake making an enemy of the Wraith

Bajan moved to place the blindfold over her eyes. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t know he intended … I—”

“Kadema mehim.”

Bajan flinched. “Don’t say that.”

The Suli were a close people, loyal. They had to be, in a world where they had no land and where they were so very few. Inej’s teeth were chattering, but she forced out the words. “You are forsaken. As you have turned your back on me, so will they turn their backs on you.” It was the worst of Suli denunciations, one that forbade you the welcome of your ancestors in the next world, and doomed your spirit to wander without a home.

Bajan paled. “I don’t believe any of that.”

“You will.”

Bajan is such a sad character

He turned his back on his own people

In her early days at the Menagerie, she’d believed someone would come for her. Her family would find her. An officer of the law. A hero from one of the stories her mother used to tell. Men had come, but not to set her free, and eventually her hope had withered like leaves beneath a too-bright sun, replaced by a bitter bud of resignation.

Kaz had rescued her from that hopelessness, and their lives had been a series of rescues ever since, a string of debts that they never tallied as they saved each other again and again. Lying in the dark, she realized that for all her doubts, she’d believed he would rescue her once more, that he would put aside his greed and his demons and come for her. Now she wasn’t so sure. Because it was not just the sense in the words she’d spoken that had stilled Van Eck’s hand but the truth he’d heard in her voice. He’ll never trade if you break me. She could not pretend those words had been conjured by strategy or even animal cunning. The magic they’d worked had been born of belief. An ugly enchantment.

But it’s not true Inej

Kaz will always come for you

Always. No matter what!

Keep your faith in him

End of Part One

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[arillusionist]

s&b season2ep4 reaction!! book update: i finished seige and storm. it was lwk boring and im literally so mad bc alina deserves SO much better than mal hes such a hoe. anyways

help whats going on i kinda forgot what happened in the last episode

time to go read my own reaction

HELL NAH ITS BEEN A WHOLE WEEK SINCE I WATCHED THIS SHOW?? anyways i kinda remember the last ep now but my reaction is mostly crows stuff so it wasnt That helpful

ANYWAYS

even though mal is muchhhhhh better in the show i like the direction theyre taking with alina actually marrying nikolai

then again i havent read the kos duology (yet) so i dont know anything abt his real romance story so thats probably why i dont mind

stop mal telling alina shes his nation is so cute unlike in the books

and the way they actually do have some chemistry?? im sorry for ever hating you show malina 😔😔

is that the brother i cant tell

why does baghra lwk piss me off ...i cant tell if its because she wont stfu or because shes js boring

GENYA ☹️☹️

🥱🥱

FINALLY

"it'll give me some comfort to know you're with me" ohhhdhfmyygodddd and then her smile ahhhh

i cant tell if inej is mistaking kaz telling her to leave the city as him wanting her gone, when in reality hes js tryna protect her

or if shes just not promising it because she cant

theyre so complicated they make me sick (i love them 😭😭😭)

AWW THE I LIKE YOUR STUPID FACE LINE its different but whatever

WAITT JESPER BASICALLY CALLED HIM AND KAZ BROTHERS AND KAZ DIDNT EVEN DISAGREE?? HE LITERALLY AGREED

no cuz i actually thought kaz was gnna punch him or something but thats nice

no mourners no funerals 🙏🙏

NINA DECKING KAZ HELL YEAH I NEEDED TO SEE THAT

Dont take this as me disliking kaz btw hes my 2nd favorite character i js need to see him being put in his place

i have the most out of pocket thing to say but im not gnna say it

there are two heartrenders right there why dont they just check his pulse to see if hes lying

oh now they do it

i feel like maybe this is how they incorporate the crows into alina's plot - they'll ask them to find the sword since theyre criminals and know more than just the "wider black market"

IM LITERALLY A GENIUS HELLO????

NOT ME PREDICTING IT LIKE 2 SECONDS BEFORE HE SAYS IT

they cant just show kaz and nina for two seconds and then cut to another scene hello

OH NVM its an inej scene 🙏🙏

its so dark i can barely tell whats happening

oh they did the pox thing too they really taking half of crooked kingdom's plot huh

yeah now they decide to explain the plan

kaz is actually being so much like book kaz in this scene

"the trick is not to love anything" YEAH YOU KEEP TELLING YOURSELF THAT... and with nina in the background too?? i wish inej was here tho like in the books

i think shes busy saving those randos

"something you'd sacrifice everything for and it makes you weak" stop projecting

SIX FEET DEEP

see inej really needs to be here now nina and jesper kinda know his backstory but she doesnt

then again its more meaningful if he tells her on his own time

HIS SMIRK

"im begging you" "are you?" hes not begging but i can

sorry

HIM ASKING FOR THE QUITCLAIM DEED FOR INEJ 🥺🥺 him liquifying everything he owns in the books is still better tho

THE LOOK IS HIS EYES - this is not freddy carter acting as kaz this is LITERALLY kaz

lmfaoo the offended look on toyla's face

WHYD THAT ACTUALLY SCARE ME (the guy sneaking up behind mal)

ok so i have a class so i'll watch the rest later

im backkk

seeing that vasily guys face after a few hours is such a jumpscare like why is he so ugly

bruh i jus realized theyre not gonna do the thing where inej cuts a line above pekkas heart 😐another kanej moment wasted

hjdkfk wylan hiding under the table when jesper asks him out

this conversation is so awkward i keep pausing it 😭

its cute tho

omg just kiss already the tension is getting to me

finally!!! 🙏🙏

WAIT FUCK I JS REALIZED THATS ANOTHER MOMENT WASTED CUZ THEY CANT DO THE JESPER KISSING THE WRONG GUY THING IF THE SPINOFF HAPPENS

im not really liking how they did wesper anyways.... with the whole one night stand thing... 😐

ok. yeah. wow. go from super cute fluffy wesper to kanej angst. yeah. remind me of what i dont have.

kaz saying that theres a weak link in the crew and inej thinks it means her but hes actually talking ab HIMSELF because shes his weakness and shes the person he would sacrifice everything for and AUGHHH

the difference between the show and the books when kaz gives her the paper is crazy

wish they had kept the book's scene fr

waittt is nikolai adopted??

oh he is

tamar and nadia definitely have something going on its already canon that nadia is into girls so!!

did the vasily guy die i hope he did 🙏🙏

why didn't baghra just. do that before. yk BEFORE she got her damn finger cut off

"your obsession with the fold is naive" is bro talking about alina or himself

and thats it watch me wait another week again before watching the next episode 💀

[littlebigmouse]

Thinking about it, I don't think we'll ever get a properly faithful adaptation of the Six of Crows/Crooked Kingdom books, at least not without some serious retconning of everything that happens with the Crows in Shadow and Bone. Let me explain:

As of now, the Crows are cleanly split into two groups. Those who are right where they should be for the Ice Court Heist to begin right now in S&B Season 2, and those who aren't.

Kaz and Inej were clearly set up to be prequel characters that explicitely still have other stuff to do before the Ice Court Heist can happen. They aren't as ruthless or violent as their book counterparts, they work better as a team, Kaz isn't reporting to a boss or running a gang that can usurp him later (we see him running a club, not a gang), Inej is still looking for her brother in Ketterdam and has only just killed a person for the first time, and we didn't see Kaz get violent with anyone at all.

So it wouldn't make sense for these two at all to start next season off with some kind of Ice Court-ish subplot, because that Heist relies on two leads with rather different personalities, and the story would lose a lot if that were changed.

So let's assume we won't get anything Ice Court-ish next season, but instead some sort of plot that gets Kaz out of the the other barrel leader's sight, the Crow Club back (presumably Kaz and the Crow Club are 'saved' by Per Haskell, if they ever want to actually do something resembling the books), potentially a subplot for Inej to find her brother, etc.

But then what the hell are Nina and Matthias supposed to do for another two seasons?

Right now, these two are exactly where SoC starts off. Matthias is in prison, Nina got him there, she still cares about him, he hates her now. Sure, Nina needs to get herself work in Ketterdam and needs to get to know the Crows, but we already got a shot of all Six Crows together in the Sneak Peak for S2, so they won't just slowly get to know each other, they'll already be working together. All six. Matthias, presumably outside of prison, then.

I suppose they could do that. By some ploy, Matthias gets out of prison, Wylan joins the team, they (probably only briefly) all team up to briefly intersect with whatever Alina has going on in her plot. For the team up to make a bit of sense or at least for Nina&Matthias to not remain ultra static for the next two seasons, they'd need to make up again, or at least begin to tolerate each other.

Two possibilities from then on out:

1) The SoC books do get adapted and by some strokes of probably pretty awkward writing Matthias is put back in prison by the end of S3, they hate each other again, Wylan didn't tell anyone (except maybe Kaz) about his dad, everyone's all set up for the Book Heist now. Which would be awkwardly doubling a few points and/or retconning a bunch of plot.

2) No retcons, no changes, but the Ice Court Heist starts from a different point/gets changed to fit where the Crows are at the end of S3.... Which would also make the Heist almost boring, if not completely different, because the biggest factor of that adventure was that everyone at least majorly distrusted one other person on the team and at least half of them would have easily betrayed the rest. That's a big part where the tension came from. Matthias as the hostage, hating them all but Nina in particular, Nina absolutely planning to assassinate Kuwei behind Kaz's back, Kaz and Jesper fighting over Jesper's accidental early betrayel, Kaz having how own unresolved revenge plot for which he endangers the whole mission, no one really knowing Wylan or the truth about why he left home, etc.

I have a feeling S2, if not then S3 will already dig into Wylan's backstory a bit, probably showing him escaping his father's assassins, but if they spoil/reveal the "If you read this, you know how much I love you" plottwist, I will be so mad. It was incredibly well done in the books and to this day one of my fav plottwists ever.

They already gave us Nina's and Matthias' whole backstory, uncovering which was also a pretty nifty part of the Ice Court Heist because it meant you didn't know exactly where these two were coming from until they discussed openly betraying each other & Kaz in the forest the earliest, but I guess the story still works if their backstories aren't revealed gradually. An early reveal of Wylan's entire backstory would tank a lot of tension of the first book, imo.

Since they didn't really do anything with Jesper in the first season, he and Wylan are kinda wildcards. They could both start into the SoC Heist right now, since Jesper's power- or ruthlessness level doesn't really change (he's arguably way weaker in the books) and the only things missing (a serious treatment of his addiction, his crush on Kaz, his relationship to his father) can all still be added later without breaking what has been already established about his character (since he doesn't really have an arc or an inner struggle in S1, that is, not much in the first place).

TL;DR: We'll either get a significantly changed SoC/CK adaptation after S&B, or they'll have to seriously change some things up in S3/post S3 with regards to Nina&Matthias especially for SoC/CK to still work out similarly to the plot in the books.

[deadand-gay]

i’m reading crooked kingdom for the first time but i already no like half of what going to happen :(

[dafuq-i-did-not-sign-up-for-this]

Kaz and the Dregs in Season 2

As much as I like some of the changes they made from the books, and as cool as Kaz beating up the Dregs was, I really fucking hate that scene in the show. I loathe it. I want to waterboard it and throw it into an Amsterdam canal and run it over with a boat.

And that's because it doesn't fuck half as much as in the book, and now that scene is done, so even if they do the Ice Court plot, Kaz will never beat his own Gang to a pulp cause they turned on him. It's one of the, if not the best scene in the Six of Crows duology, and now it's done. Badly.

For show-onlys: in the books half of the Crow plot in S2 happens in the second book of their duology. Kaz is a Lieutenant of the Dregs, and Per Haskell is the boss, well from the beginning of the series. Essentially Kaz is running the Dregs already cause Haskell is a lazy coward, which makes what comes next so meaningful. After the "failed" Ice Court Heist the six are in a similar situation like in the beginning of S2. Including that Haskell and the Dregs have turned on them.

So at one point, Kaz goes to beat up his own boss and their Gang, and it fucks so much because that's his crew, and after that he's finally the boss in both action and name.

Him just beating up some random Gang and taking it over is cool if you don't know the books and like watching Kaz beat ass (which I do too), but it's so frustrating to watch as a book fan because the scene in the books means a fuck ton more, both for the plot and Kaz as a character.

But that's just what happens when you twist the timeline like that. Crooked Kingdom was supposed to be the Sequel not the Prequel, and that would have been fine if they wouldn't try to do a spin-off and the Ice Court heist in the next seasons, because now some integral parts of the story have already happened at a point when they aren't supposed to happen.

I both hate and love this show with a burning passion. Anyone else bothered by this scene or is it just me?

[twoheartsoneclara]

i think the problem that i have with sab’s plotlines for the crows in season 2 is that it’s not just that they took events from crooked kingdom but it’s that they literally took the climax of crooked kingdom and removed it from its context and expected it to work. 

and they put it in the first half of a season and then gave the crows an admittedly interesting but not very special adventure to go on the second half.  the plotline of them fetching the sword is entirely superfluous in nature (the only concrete character moments resultant is of their visions via hallucination).  kaz’s entire character arc from the soc duology is reduced to a precursor to a plotline that doesn’t even really affect the main storyline.  more than that, kaz’s revenge on pekka is contextless of the attempt both of them have at the ice court to pull off the heist.  “brick by brick” means little to nothing when kaz is able to accomplish everything so easily, without all the other obstacles that the heist + van eck + literally everything else that goes wrong for them and yet he’s still able to pull off the firepox scam + threatening Pekka’s son.

jesper’s ability to manipulate metal is similarly just like.  not a problem for him.  the reveal that he has those abilities and his progression of skill is admittedly very cool and fun to watch but his curving the bullet was just as much a part of the twist as everything else was at the auction in crooked kingdom. 

similarly, inej going off on the ship to hunt slavers is such a big part of the ending to crooked kingdom.  kaz and inej’s relationship is an integral part of that moment in the books, and they are secure enough in who they are to each other, whereas here they are left in the precarity of “i will have you without armor” which y’know.  happens a full book prior to the events at the end of crooked kingdom. 

even wesper - who are completely adorable, don’t get me wrong - are together almost immediately.  even excusing the fact that wylan is there at all instead of being introduced for the ice court heist, they already know each other’s main secret (namely jesper being able to manipulate metal, and wylan not knowing how to read).  the only thing that haven’t yet revealed is wylan’s origin as a van eck. 

what is at least somewhat good about this is what they’re going to explore as a result of having already wrapped up those storylines, and could potentially result in something interesting.  they’re clearly trying to explore who kaz is without vengeance (and have made the interesting move to make pekka an enemy of matthias’, which is actually quite fascinating and something i’m legitimately excited to see more of), and inej’s journey will make it all the more interesting if she still decides to leave that life and come back to help kaz and the other crows with the heist, and...idk what they can do with jesper’s newfound embrace of his ability.  there doesn’t seem to be any struggle left there to be had.

but the fact remains that these storylines were rushed, and stripped of their context.  i know that the status of netflix shows getting renewed or not is always going to be hit and miss, and that they needed to give the characters journeys to go on.  but couldn’t they have picked different journeys that aren’t the culmination of two full 500+ page books.  now even if they do get the chance to adapt those whether in the same show (ugh) or as a spinoff, the storylines won’t be effective.  the six of crows duology worked because it was just as much a character book as it was a plot book.  things were revealed the audience when it was necessary, and as the external stakes heightened, so did the personal stakes for the characters, and as we learned more about the characters, they became figures that we wanted to root for even more, as we learned about their drive and their stubborness and intelligence and fears and nastiness.  it worked because the triumph of the plot was also a triumph of the characters over all that they had feared and achieved their ultimate goals.  now we have the end result of that but none of the journey that brought us there.

of course if they’d just gone straight to a six of crows series this wouldn’t have happened in the first place but i guess we just stay losing

[emmerrr]

i’ve only watched half of shadow and bone season 2 so far but here’s a brain-dump (spoilers ahead):

it seems like books 2 and 3 of the grisha trilogy are getting covered in this series which i don’t think is a bad thing (especially as things on netflix are super likely to get cancelled) but the pacing just seems SO off to me, and i’m finding the sudden switches between what’s going on with the crows in ketterdam then back to ravka with alina and everyone else REALLY jarring.

why is pekka rollins getting dealt with already, that’s a crooked kingdom story arc, why is it happening before they even go to the ice court what’s going onnnnn

i get that they needed to give the crows something to do, but i feel like a lot of emotional beats and character stuff and reveals are happening so early that like...what happens if they get to do the six of crows arc, y’know?

which brings me to jesper and wylan. i love them but why has it been written in that they hooked up once already? i fundamentally don’t understand that as a writing choice. where’s the build-up. why’s it necessary. whyyyy.

i’ll watch the rest tomorrow but so far i think i’m a little disappointed. idk maybe it’ll make sense when i’ve watched all of it. or maybe they already know that they won’t get a season 3 so they’re rushing it just so it’s finished.