#greed is my lever

[storystartsanew]

After finally finding some time to meet up with one another, Giulia brought her recipe book along with her to discuss the goat recipe. Her stepfather used to make it all the time so she was just glad to pass it along. “Alright, Kaz. You ready to learn about a delicacy?” She joked with a smile

@infamousfailure

Kaz raises an eyebrow slightly and nods. He's mostly here to piss off Jesper, but there's always something to learn or gain. Knowing the business people in town could be useful down the road. "Yes, I'm ready."

[starsinshadows]

@masterwcrk is overdue a grishaverse starter for Clary...

The streets of Ketterdam were cold, damp and utterly miserable, as wasn't necessarily uncommon for the time of year, but Kaz's own misery seemed to almost drop the temperature around him. If looks could kill, he'd be leaving a trail of carnage in his wake, so it was only natural that nobody was getting in his way - save one. "Is that why you came? To insult me?"

[wilwheaton]

Boeing and its 737 are a textbook case. In October 2018 and March 2019, two crashes of an earlier version of the Max 737 killed 346 people, and grounded the planes for nearly two years. The disasters were ultimately traced to design failures in the model’s flight control software info that was not conveyed in its guidance to pilots, not to mention the Federal Aviation Administration, even though executives knew about it. Yet repercussions were almost nonexistent. A midlevel functionary charged criminally was acquitted by a jury in a matter of hours. It took the better part of a year — and two embarrassing days of congressional testimony — for Boeing to fire then-CEO Dennis Muhlenberg. The Trump administration ultimately decided to fine Boeing $2.5 billion for not informing the FAA about software changes that contributed to the fatal airline crashes, while deferring a criminal charge against the company. For Boeing, the fine effectively amounted to a business expense. The government even declared the company’s failure and misconduct “not pervasive,” a huge favor to a company facing massive lawsuits from victims’ families. Given this farcical excuse for accountability, it’s no surprise that the trouble didn’t stop for Boeing and the Max 737’s manufacturer, Spirit AeroSystems. The Lever reported Tuesday morning that a federal securities lawsuit filed last year against Spirit alleges “widespread and sustained quality failures,” including pressure on employees to downplay “defects.” And according to the Financial Times, last year Boeing itself flagged Spirit for improper installations and badly drilled holes on other 737s.

Boeing’s midair blowout is just a symptom of a much deeper rot

“For Boeing, the fine effectively amounted to a business expense.”

When I heard about this blowout on the 737, my first thought was, “this was caused by corporate greed and cutting corners, because Republicans have eviscerated accountability in corporate America.”

There is no satisfaction in learning that I am likely correct, just the grim knowledge that they’ll probably tighten some screws, but the rot at the core of the danger will be left untouched.

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Kaz and Wylan’s potential to become each other

Wow, you guys were a lot more excited about this than I was expecting! I made a post briefly mentioning this idea and it got way more attention that I was expecting, so as promised here is my explanation and I’ve tagged people who asked for it at the end :)

*WARNING: CONSTANT SPOILERS AHEAD*

Ok so the driving forcing of this comparison is rooted in the similarities of their characters and their backstories. Both of them lost a close family member, were abused by men with power over them, and experienced a form of ‘rebirth’ by nearly drowning in the Ketterdam canals. They also both experience disability; Kaz using a cane for a broken leg that didn’t heal correctly, and Wylan having severe dyslexia that prevented him from learning to read. A key difference that separates them, and arguably is a representation of the difference in the way their experiences have shaped their personalities as well, is that Kaz’s disability is a direct result of his chasing after vengeance, whereas Wylan’s disability was used as an excuse for his father to abuse him for what we as the reader see to be a minimum of eight years. (I’m assuming this because he is 16 in the book and was 8 when his mother ‘died’, which is the point that he describes he father to have “given up on him”)

I’m gonna quickly hop to parallels between Kaz and Pekka Rollins, bare with me I promise it’s relevant, which are quickly established as a key part of the novels. When Inej compares them, Kaz’s reply is “I don’t sell girls, I don’t con helpless kids out of their money” to which she gently responds “look at the floor of the Crow Club, Kaz”. Aside from this being the heartbreaking line that it is, it also does a very good job of highlighting their similarities and a similarity that they share with Jan Van Eck. When they meet the merch at the end of the first book they meet on an island called Vellgeluk, which is described as being popular with smugglers and slavers like those who kidnapped Inej. The other Crows are surprised Van Eck knows about Vellgeluk, but Kaz simply says “maybe he isn’t the upstanding merch he appears to be”. Great subtle foreshadowing for his double cross, and great establishment of the link between these three characters. In fact, Van Eck and Kaz echo each other more than you might think. Just as Kaz states “Greed bows to me, it is my servant and my lever”, Van Eck says “Yes, Chaos will come. And I will be it’s master”. In their first meeting, Van Eck accuses Kaz of murder and gambling with people’s lives, and in return Kaz points out that 1 in 5 of Van Eck’s ships will never return because they will sink or “fall prey to pirates”, so they are both doing the same thing, and that they both have the same motivations for this bloodshed: “profit”.

Now consider how often Wylan echoes Kaz, and therefore whether he echoes his father as well. They both have exceptional memories, Kaz’s being photographic/eidetic and Wylan being able to put words to music in his head to remember pages worth of infomation - this is even emphasised by Kaz being able to count cards when he gambles, saying “he could keep track of the game for up to three decks” and Jesper asking Wylan if he’d be able to apply “that trick to counting cards” to which he replies “probably. But I won’t”. They also both have impressive intellects, which could have placed them far higher up in the world than they’ve found themselves if it weren’t for cruel circumstances - Van Eck even comments on this, saying it angers him that Kaz has so much potential but does nothing with it. Then there’s their tendency to avoid being vulnerable. I think we too often overlook the fact that no-one knows Jan Van Eck hired two men to kill his son, not even Jesper, and that not even Inej knows what happened to Kaz on the Reaper’s Barge. Jesper believes that Wylan left his house as a result of his father’s abuse but that it was still his choice, and Inej has no information beyond “Pekka Rollins killed my brother” and the explanation of the con when Kaz faces off with Rollins in Crooked Kingdom. I genuinely believe that the biggest thing separating them is where they place blame for their situations. Kaz blames Pekka Rollins. Wylan actually blames himself.

Arguably, although he catalysed the events, if Rollins hadn’t conned Kaz and Jordie they still would have suffered in an almost identical way: they would both contract the Queen’s Lady Plague, they wouldn’t have enough money for both medicine and boarding, and Jordie would die. In that scenario Kaz would have still been left penniless and alone with nowhere to go, but he wouldn’t have had anyone to blame. In fact, he may have died as well because it’s really his drive for vengeance that makes him strive for survival. When he’s on the Reaper’s Barge he wonders if it’s worth trying to survive because there’s nothing waiting for him in the city, but then he realises that the chance of revenge is waiting for him, and that thought drives him to stay alive every day that follows. Without Rollins, Kaz probably would have blamed himself for Jordie’s death, and I’m backing that up with the singular moment when he’s first attacked by parem-high tide makers and has a brief “boy’s fear” that they are ghosts. He thinks, for a split second, that a ghost has come to kill him and what does he say? He says “Jordie had come for vengeance at last”. This is chapter three. We have no idea who Jordie is. With the limited information we had at the time and what we’d just seen happen to Big Bolliger, I assumed it was someone in Kaz’s gang that he had backstabbed and who has died because of what he did. But no. This single line leads me to wholeheartedly believe that Kaz blames Rollins, who realistically was only a small part of his suffering, quite so vividly to emotionally avoid blaming himself.

Wylan blames himself until around chapters 14 to 16 of Crooked Kingdom. His experiences with mental, emotional, and physical abuse have actively convinced him that his so-called ‘inadequacies’ caused a change in his father’s behaviour. But Wylan not being able to read didn’t magically turn Van Eck from a lucky family man into someone willing to try “specialists, tonics, beatings, [and] hypnotism” against his child. The fact is that Van Eck, like many abusers, is masterfully manipulative in everything he does. Wylan describes seeing his parents’ marriage as a happy one, but he also says “the argued all the time, sometimes about me. But I remember them laughing a lot too”. He’s quick to defend their relationship as if it isn’t supposed to be marred by argument and he lays blame on himself by suggesting that he was the root of their unhappiness. He also says that around Alys, Jan Van Eck becomes who he once was around Marya; a kinder, gentler man. I don’t think we’re meant to assume that he’s acting any differently with Alys in private right now, but I do think we’re meant to assume that he would have done down the line if he hadn’t been arrested (and presumably she filed for divorce). In chapter 14 of Crooked Kingdom, Wylan learns that his mother is still alive but that his father had her committed and declared insane so he could use it as grounds for divorce and marry Alys instead. And you know what happens? Wylan blames himself. He says, verbatim, to Jesper: “You don’t understand. It’s my fault”. He explains that Van Eck did this so he could have a “real heir”; because Marya produced a “faulty” child he needed a new woman to give him the child he wanted. That’s a messed up thing to think on so many levels, but Wylan doesn’t blame Van Eck because he is still being conditioned by his abuse. He and Kaz experienced different kinds of abuse, and Kaz wasn’t conditioned to blame anyone but his abuser, so that’s what he does. When Wylan does begin to blame Van Eck, he is immediately taken in by this same idea of revenge. Kaz says “you were angry. I needed you righteous” when explaining why he sent Wylan to St Hilde blind in chapter 16. Wylan was angry with his father before, but he wasn’t actively seeking vengeance. Now that he has a cause, someone other than himself to fight for? He tells Kaz “well, now you have me”.

Both of them have this potential to be fuelled by revenge or self-hatred, and although they go about it in different ways and lean towards different sides of the scale they are both balancing between those two extremes for the entire duology. Their past experiences have, and their future experiences could, tip them further either way but right now they are almost playing with the line.

Thank you so much if you’ve bothered to read this far, sorry for the long post but you did ask for an essay, so there you go. Tagging the people who asked - @kazooyay @mikasimaginairyworld @sunseeking-cyptid @moonlit-aura @alexplutoplanet @gandalfsmallnaturals @livsarthaven @goodomenstrack23 @origami-butterfly @flower-biatch @bookworm010307 @thesunniest @wherela @space-ace-thoughts @sixofbabycrows @antisocial-burrito

Sorry if I missed anyone!!!

[a-reverii]

" greed bows to me. it is my servant and my lever. "

━KAZ BREKKER, dirtyhands

[barrel-crow-n]

Kaz's language

Kaz talks in roundabout, theatrical ways but every piece of his theatre actually holds truth in it.

"Greed bows to me; it is my servant and my lever." This is a part of Kaz's philosophy and how he sees the world - he mentions it when Van Eck talks him around into helping by offering 20 million kruge.

"My mother is Ketterdam, she birthed me in the harbour; my father is profit, I honour him daily." He was metaphorically reborn in the harbour and Ketterdam is his perpetual education. You're meant to honour your fathers but he doesn't have one. He honours profit instead.

"Barrel boys don't have parents. They're born in the harbours and crawl out of the canals." Again, his rebirth in the harbour. He, quite literally, crawls out of harbours, and metaphorically as someone new

[simplydannie]

What if it was Velvet who told the truth in the end? What if fame caused her EVERYTHING…. Including her brother…

My first ever fanfic that started my adventure. Originally posted on tiktok. Enjoy!!

Velvet and Veneer stood silent and in awe at what was going on around them. Big voices for such small Trolls. Singing their tiny hearts out. Like that’ll do any good, Velvet thought to herself. She was too distracted to feel that the diamond containing Floyd began to glow and move. Within a moment it popped right out of her chest.

“No, no!” She desperately reached out to try and grab it.

“Vels!” Veneer reached out to grab his sister just in time.

“The Troll!” She screamed, her eyes glowing pink with greed.

“Sis, it’s not worth it!” Veneer held her back. At the moment something began to happen… the Trolls harmonized. The diamond holding Floyd began glowing brighter and brighter. Veneer saw and knew what was going to happen….. the diamond exploded sending a wave of light.

“Vels!” He jumped on top of her right at the moment of the explosion, shielding her from the burst of light, knocking him off instead.

“VENEER!” She cried out. As the explosion diminished, she crawled towards the edge looking below. “VENEER!” She called out again…… she saw him. He lay motionless in his side facing away from her.

“….no….” She quickly ran to a lever that allowed the risen platform to lower.

The Trolls were paying no attention. Branch attempted to talk to his brother, hoping Floyd would wake up.

“I built it Floyd, I built the bunker… except for the waterfall.” Branch whispered, tears starting to fill his face.

“Then… how will we shower..” Floyd said softly. At that moment a wave of happiness spread through the Trolls. The brothers were the first to embrace, Viva and Poppy joining right after. They were interrupted by the sound of the platform lowering. Branch and his brothers grew a defensive circle around Floyd, waiting for Velvet to make her move…. But she ran past them. That’s when Floyd turned to see who she was running to.

“…oh no..” he said softly making his way to the giant Mount Rageoun.

“Veneer!” She held her brother in her arms…blood coming from his head and nose. “Veneer…Vennie come on wake up.” She said shaking him softly. Tears began filling her eyes. The star shaped cameras began to hover around them. “CAMERAS OFF!” She demanded. They powered down.

At that moment Floyd ran up to them followed by the other trolls. Floyd placed his tiny hand on Veneers cheek… checking for warmth… nothing. He looked at Velvet.

“Hey Vennie! Remember those chocolates we ate as kids. I never told you, but I found them! Let’s go get some right now!” She exclaimed trying to sound happy. Branch walked past Floyd and up to Veneers chest, laying his tiny head on it….no heart beat. Branch looked solemnly at Floyd, then to Velvet.

“Oh! How about we get another goldfish!!” She began to say things she knew would catch his interest… something that would wake him up.

“Velvet..” Floyd said softly.

“Remember all the dances we would make up together? Remember how we would show mom and dad?” Tears began streaming down her face as she saw he wasn’t waking up. “Remember how you said that we would both get married, be next door neighbors, our kids would grow up together…. That no matter what we’d always be… we’d always… be brother and sister…” She began to cry uncontrollably. She buried her head on his chest… he wasn’t waking up… he wasn’t going to.

“Not my little brother please.” She cried. Poppy held her hands over her face, she walked up to Velvet, placing her tiny little hand on her arm. Viva followed and did the same. One by one until they all surrounded her. Velvet felt the warmth of their tiny hands. She looked up at them, tears streaming down her face.

“I’m…. I’m so sorry.” she said looking at them, then to Floyd. The little Troll placed his hand over his heart, tears beginning to fill his eyes. Velvet stood up.

“Cameras on me.” She said. The star shaped cameras hovered around her. “Cameras on.”

Her face filled the screens around them. A gasp of the crowd as they saw her tear filled face.

“Listen up people. And listen good….we…” she corrected herself, “I am a fraud!” A wave of gasps and murmurs filled the air. “I have no talent. I’ve been using a small little Troll to give me talent. Everything was a lie! I brought my baby brother into this,” tears falling down her face again, “I changed him. I made him change into something he wasn’t. And he let himself…for me…I’m not who you guys think I am… I’m a nobody… and I’m ready to face those consequences.” She said. The crowd was stunned and silent.

“Cameras off.” She said. She turned to Crimp who was crying a distance away. “Call the cops…. Please… just… just give me a moment first though.” She returned to Veneer who still lay motionless. Grabbing his body she held him… she held him the way she did when she first met him… when he was just born. She placed her head on top of his, and began rocking back and forth slowly, humming a small tune their mother use to sing to both of them. She could still smell his cologne.

“……..I love you Vennie…” she said softly as the tears came back.

The Trolls stood back to let her have her final moments with her brother…. They couldn’t let her go to jail… not like this..THIS what they were witnessing… was already torture enough.

[raven-at-the-writing-desk]

Dearest Rollo, if you meet the Righteous Judge himself in person, what would you do?

DISCLAIMER: Whatever I write here does NOT reflect my own opinions about Frollo or any of the beliefs he held. I strongly disagree with and condemn what he stands for. In this post, I am creating through the viewpoint of a character that has a warped understanding of what Frollo was truly like, and thus I am using this perspective to inform my creative writing.

Like Fire, Hellfire.

A spark lit in Rollo's dark, gloomy eyes. His thin lips curved into a semblance of a smile--too small to be considered in full, but enough to register as different from the null expression he typically showed the world.

"My, what a thoughtful inquiry," he mused softly, uncharacteristically enthralled. "How kind of you to ask."

Rollo ran a finger across the red jewel set in his ring. Contemplative. "Were I to be graced with the presence of such a venerable man... Fufufu. I would humbly confess my admiration, confide that I strive each day to live up to his ideals. More importantly, I would like to discuss a great many things with him. Someone of his stature and moral compass would no doubt have a great deal of wisdom to share."

His eyes shone fondly with a newfound fire. Warmth crept into his voice, kindling a controlled excitement.

"I would invite him to walk alongside me in the City of Flowers," Rollo continued. "Surely he would be proud to gaze upon the place he has spent so long protecting and what it has blossomed into. The people prosperous, businesses booming, the peaceful song of the bells every morning, afternoon, and night..."

It was odd, you thought to yourself, how the same person who was once cackling about destroying all mages and pulling trap door levers was now quietly fanboying. I guess we all that capacity in us.

"We would stop at a bakery I frequent, perhaps share a light meal there. Bread, cheese, and grape juice. It would be a golden opportunity to become acquainted with him on a more personal level. Men allow for their true selves to shine over shared food. Beyond history and law, what I wish to discuss with him most of all is..."

Rollo found himself hesitating.

In his imagination, he was seated before the famed figure, prostrating himself. The Righteous Judge silently stared down at him. Watching, listening.

The busy bakery faded away to nothingness, and the table assumed the form of a confessional booth. It was him and the Righteous Judge, parishioner and pastor.

"Sir, I implore you. Please advise me. Guide me. Grant me your insight," Rollo begged. "Truthfully, I am... lost. I thought what I was doing was correct. That it was just. In his name, I dedicated myself to this cause, the crusade against dastardly mages--but I was not able to recognize those ambitions to the fullest."

Tears pricked his vision then. The stony-faced judge said nothing, did nothing.

"Now I am left with only the ashes and cinders of that broken dream, questioning what is right and what is wrong. I fear that my faith is wavering, that those vile villains have somehow tainted my soul."

His voice cracked like delicate glass.

"Your judgment is always absolute yet fair. Tell me then. What must I do to attain salvation? To soothe the fire that crawls and burns under my skin? To finally be at peace...?"

Finally, the judge's mouth moved, Rollo couldn't make out the answer. He was forbidden from that knowledge.

It was all meaningless noise. Garbage sounds. Nonsense. An answer, obscured.

Rollo closed his eyes and held his tongue. A sharp intake of breath. Then--

"... Well, you needn't know the details."

"Whaaat?!" you cried, pouting. "You're seriously going to leave me off with a cliffhanger like that? You were just getting to the juiciest part!!"

"I've already said enough. No, perhaps I've said too much."

"Keep talking!! I wanted to hear the rest of it!!"

Rollo folded his arms. "You already received quite the sufficient response. To ask more of me would be to cave to your greed. Be grateful that I was in a good enough mood to entertain the question."

[bubble-popping]

day 18 :) continuing from yesterday's drabble so prolly gotta read that first. this might be the longest so far :0

So, he remained still as Sam rode the redstone machine. Can't say he didn't warn him. "What did you-" Sam grabbed his flesh-colored jaw, one of the last remnants of Dream's humanity, and forced his head up. Ah. That oh so familiar expression. It was starting to grow on Dream. The wide eyes, the gaping mouth, the raised brows. Total and utter horror.

Sam dropped his trident, let go of the prisoner, tried to create distance just as Quackity had. Like that could make it any better.

Since he'd been so rudely interrupted by Quackity's premature death, he decided to just pick up where he'd left off.

"What do you see, Sam? Nothing at all? Everything at once? Do you see yourself? All your mistakes and regrets?"

"How-how is this possible?"

"It's quite simple actually-"

"No, no, this can't be real! Stop! Whatever you're doing, stop!" Sam clutched the sides of his head. His body blinked and flickered as any Creeper would.

"If you'd just let me explain-"

"No! NO!!"

Awesamdude blew up

Dream flinched minutely, muscles tensed. Blood and gore splattered over the walls, mixing with purple goop, replacing where his own had painted. Chunks of flesh were scattered about the small space. The lower half of Sam's corpse fell over. Intestines and other miscellaneous viscera spilled out.

"Ewww," Dream groaned, shivering in disgust. "Now there's blood and guts all in my void... That's gonna take forever to clean. Thanks a lot, Sam." He kicked at the remaining body just moments before it disappeared, leaving behind his inventory bag, armor, and weapons.

Welp. Not much he can do here anymore.

The admin picked up the two halves of his mask and tried to put them back together, but the break was far from clean. It'd have to do for now. From his void, two black, dripping hands reached out to take the halves and situated them so they stayed in place to cover it up. Should be good enough until he could make a new one.

After retrieving Sam's things, Dream stepped onto the redstone contraption. Lava bubbled at the bottom of the outer chamber. A well-aimed trident hit the lever on the other side which called back the machine. He caught the trident once it retreated to him.

It took him no time at all to navigate the prison. He designed the blueprints, after all. Minor changes here and there couldn't fool him. Although, the lack of prison guards was confusing.

Not that he was complaining.

But he also didn't much care for this disturbing emerging pattern. The unreliability of humans. XD's laugh rung in his ears.

Why did they fall to such obvious flaws? Greed, envy, pride. Time and time again, no matter how he tried to help them, they gave in to these traps.

Perhaps XD was right. Perhaps they were beyond saving.

The pattering of rain greeted him when he stepped out of the prison 'entrance'. Heavy gray clouds obscured the sky, impossible to tell what time of day it was.

First, before anything else, he needed his ravens. Dream whistled loud and clear. The very next second, a giant mass of shapeless black lifted into the air from the neighboring forest, headed straight for him. He chuckled to himself, unmoved as the swarm swallowed him up in a frenzy of squawking and screeching.

"Have you guys seriously been camping out right in front of the prison all this time?" He asked over the noise, unbothered by the talons when a few managed to perch in his hair and on his shoulders. Ever doting for his flock, he raised his arms to let more rest there.

A cacophony of voices answered him; "Missed you!", "Worried!", and worst of all, more than a few dramatically pretended to drop dead as they exclaimed, "You stink!"

"They wouldn't let me shower, that's not my fault!" He shot back, nudging the closest with his bare toes and earning another cry of disgust.

Not the dogs! Put the grippers away!

"You guys are the worst."

You love us. We love you! Even if you do stink.

"Alright, alright, calm down." Instantly, the entire flock landed on the grass, silent, waiting. "There's some of Sam's stuff that won't fit in my void. I need a few of you to put it someplace safe."

Me! Me! Me! I can do it! Let me do it!

"They're all heavy, so it'll have to be a joint effort." Dream handed out the large pieces of shaped netherite along with the axe, crossbow, and other tools too big to fit and watched as small groups of the flock flew off in different directions. Then, he began the tedious process of storing everything else in his void, the hands holding his mask moving to the sides as he did so.

What's next, Dream? Where will you go?

Dream hummed thoughtfully, carefully releasing a stack of ender pearls into his void. "That's a good question. What do you guys think? Where should I go?"

Find Gogy! Make fun of Tommy! Get a bath!

"Bath, bath is a good one. Preferably somewhere I won't get killed on sight."

Punz! Punz! Go to Punz!

"Ah, not right now. Not until I either fix this mask or make a new one. Can't risk hurting them like that. Somewhere else."

Techno's cabin! Yeah, Techno! Rivalsduo content!

"Techno, huh? That's true, we are still technically on pretty good terms. Alright, to the Arctic we go."

The flock erupted into cheerful caterwauls, and honestly, it was appreciated after so long in utter silence.

[stromuprisahat]

Mister Hertzoon had smiled indulgently. “Jordie, you’re a good lad, and someday I have no doubt you’ll be a king of the Exchange, but you don’t have the kind of funds these investors require.” Jordie’s chin had gone up. “I do. From the sale of my father’s farm.” “And I expect it’s all you and Kaz have to live on. That’s not something to be risked on a trade, no matter how certain the outcome. A child your age has no business—” “I’m not a child. If it’s a good opportunity, I want to take it.” Kaz would always remember that moment, when he’d seen greed take hold of his brother, an invisible hand guiding him onward, the lever at work.

Six of Crows- Chapter 18 (Leigh Bardugo)

"Greed" again, Leigh?! I think we've talked about this...

But hey- at least Jordie's health doesn't literally depend on it. He's just a boy living in an illusion of how capitalism works, exploited by a man specialising in targeting peasants with low financial literacy.

You can even pinpoint specific phrases intended to goad the boy.

[storystartsanew]

"There is nothing in my life that can't be fixed with a large enough amount of money."

[starsinshadows]

@deathb1ooms red rover, red rover let Inej come over...

Things changed, that much was obvious with a short walk through the Barrel on any given day what with the constant motion and often harsh nature of life there. A busy city was in flux at all times with shifting loyalties, politics, economics and everything that those factors so drastically affected, but there were a few things that didn't change. Kaz Brekker was one of those things, at least on the surface. There was a new sense of loss about him that was a fresher wound, bittersweet and hidden beneath the very real and pressing concerns of being a Barrel boss - specifically one as brutal and precise as he was, with his schemes and priorities taking up his attention most of the time.

Most of the time, because even with Inej gone out to sea on her righteous mission, his traitorous, selfish thoughts turned to her at any excuse they were given; the light would come in his window in just the right way and he'd remember her seated there feeding the crows outside, or a slip of darkness would feel just right to hide her. Sometimes a snatch of conversation about saints would catch his attention and he'd practically hear her voice in his ears, chastising him for his lack of faith. He'd take her scolding and her saints if it meant that he was here, listening to her.

Instead, he was listening to Dregs laughing and boasting, celebrating a good night as he broke away from a young man who'd had too much to drink and too many delusions of a 'huge score' - he'd already been followed down the street and across the foyer of the Slat, so it made the stairs his preferred target rather than his office, mostly because he'd be knocking the fool down the stairs if he was tailed any further. Suffice to say that his mood was not the best when he stopped, pressed the head of his cane to the man's chest to stop him with a sharp look and then started up the stairs in his uneven gait.

The damp and cold in the air was bothering his leg more than usual, so the trip up the three flights was a task in itself, but he could trust that he'd be left alone in his private quarters. There was only one person who had the habit of finding him there, and the last he'd heard from her, she was sailing the True Sea. He would have no company except the crows outside his window and perhaps some hot water - or so he thought. The door was shut and he'd made it halfway across the room before he stopped, stiffening. A smile very nearly flittered across his lips, but he halted it. "You nearly had me."

[lilisouless]

favourite roastable dramaqueen kaz quote? 🎤

“Greed bows to me. It is my servant and my lever.”

Loser, bitchy loser ,i am actually wrong , this is not his most roastable quote because he is roasting himself just for speaking like this and allowing people to hear him

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

Earlier this month, a train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, triggering a massive fire and forcing everyone within a 1-mile radius of the crash to evacuate. To avoid a potential explosion, officials conducted a controlled detonation of five tankers three days later, sending carcinogenic vinyl chloride into the air. Two days later, residents of the 4,500-person village were told they could safely return home. Many questioned the safety of the air and water supply.

Since then, reporting has made clear that this environmental disaster was less a freak accident than a predictable outcome of lax safety measures and capitalist greed. Here’s what you need to know about the Norfolk Southern rail company.

NORFOLK SOUTHERN CHOSE NOT TO UPGRADE ITS TRAINS’ “CIVIL WAR-ERA” BRAKES.

A report in The Lever notes that the train that crashed in East Palestine was not equipped with Electronically Controlled Pneumatic brakes—fully electric brakes that experts say could have reduced the severity of the crash. Although Norfolk Southern once touted its use of ECP brakes, it lobbied against requiring them on trains carrying hazardous materials. An Obama-era rule required that HHFTs have ECP brakes, but the Trump administration overturned this rule.

NORFOLK SOUTHERN WORKERS DON’T GET PAID SICK TIME.

Remember when the Senate voted to avert a rail strike and deny workers sick leave? Norfolk Southern workers were among those affected. When investors encouraged Norfolk Southern to offer paid sick leave, the company said, OK, we won’t furlough people as often. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT.) has since demanded that rail companies offer workers at least seven days of paid sick leave.

RAIL COMPANIES REFUSE TO HIRE ENOUGH WORKERS.

Unions say that the rail industry’s use of furloughs to reduce the workforce stretches staff too thin. As Timothy Noah wrote in the New Republic, the 141-car train that crashed in East Palestine carried just two crew members and one trainee:

"On February 10, Anya Litvak of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that security camera footage 20 miles short of where the derailment occurred showed a rail car axle that appeared to be on fire. Why this information was not transmitted quickly to the train crew remains unknown, but it seems likely that the answer has something to do with the number of people who were in a position to sound the alarm."

NORFOLK SOUTHERN HAS SPENT BILLIONS ON STOCK BUYBACKS.

Norfolk Southern made $4.8 billion in operating profit in 2022, More Perfect Union reported, and paid shareholders $4.7 billion in stock buybacks and dividends.

As my colleague Hannah Levintova explained last year:

"A buyback is when companies purchase shares of their own company from investors, driving up the value of the remaining stock because there are fewer shares circulating. Buybacks are taxed at the lower capital gains rate, which maxes out at 20% for the wealthiest households. But for those investors who don’t sell their shares back to the company, there’s no tax—even though the value of their holdings has increased. Until that investor sells the asset, their wealth will grow tax-free. And thanks in part to a tax code loophole that enables the wealthy to pass shares on to their heirs, who can then skip paying capital gains taxes on them altogether, buybacks play a role in building untaxed generational wealth."

THE TRAIN THAT CAUSED THE CLOUD OF SMOKE OVER EAST PALESTINE WAS NOT CATEGORIZED AS A “HIGH-HAZARD FLAMMABLE TRAIN.”

Thanks to pressure from industry lobbyists, the “high-hazard flammable train” categorization applies only to trains carrying a narrow set of materials, like crude oil, The Lever also reported. That designation would have required that the train follow specific speed and braking restrictions.

DESPITE MAKING BILLIONS IN PROFIT, NORFOLK SOUTHERN INITIALLY OFFERED JUST $25,000 TO EAST PALESTINE.

Norfolk Southern managed to scrape together $25,000 for the town that’s been doused in toxic chemicals. People who fled their homes under fear of death can claim $1,000 per person per household. Since then, the company has announced increases in charity.

[erosedits]

“Greed is your god, Kaz.” He almost laughed at that. “No, Inej. Greed bows to me. It is my servant and my lever.” 

[manikas-whims]

i shortened some words to fit in the entire quotes in the word limit..