#is this kanej posting

[yangvik]

so i recently finished the lives of saints and now it's time for my specialty; making everything about inej ghafa. the stories behind the namesakes of all her knives can be found here but the one that stood out to me the most was that of sankt petyr, her first knife. as the patron saint of archers it's likely she named the knife after her family's saying ("the heart is an arrow, it demands aim to land true"). but what stood out to me about it was how petyr died. i've seen a lot of analysis about the water imagery in the series and so i couldn't help but notice that petyr was martyred fighting a demon possesing a body of water, as inej fights slavers on the water. i know she didn't know that she would end up there when she named it but whatever it's symbolism you get it!!

while i was searching tags to see if anyone else noticed this i came across this post that highlights a possible parallel between petyr and kaz which is so delicious since it's known he gave the knife to her. one thing the grishaverse series is gonna do is eat the fuck out of symbolism. it was also not lost on me that sankta margaretha patron of thieves and lost children was kerch that was a nice touch. maybe a future knife name idk a girl can never have too many!

and ps sankta marya being a suli girl and the patron of those far from home made me want to eat the book. what the hell. what the hell.

[19burstraat]

I like to think that part of the reason Inej is drawn to Kaz is because he's such a damn performer... I feel like it's easy to forget it bc her job in the Dregs is to go unseen, but Inej was raised in the circus. She performed until she was fourteen, and her tell is still squaring her shoulders like she's performing to an audience. I think it's fun to consider that she likes Kaz exactly because he's a bit of a showman, not in spite of it. That even though he's a conman and a thief and coddles his reputation so hard its difficult to tell where the truth even is, there's still something she finds familiar, or even comforting, in his theatricality and weakness for magic tricks.

[hexgrifa]

more of these but Nina is accidentally in every other one LOL

[writtenrpfc]

Oops I did it again.

Bonus, bonus, bonus:

[thejudeduarte]

Kaz Brekkercore

[lunarthecorvus]

I've never stopped thinking about this scene

[padfoot-lupin77]

Something funny in six of crows is how we see Kaz and Inej slowly realize they’re in love with each other and Kaz is like fuck no I have feelings while Inej is like fuck no I have feeling for him

[anonniemousefics]

Like a mad king forcing his court jester to dance until his feet bleed, I once again press play on Shadow and Bone Season 2 Episode 1.

[angstydiaz]

“They rushed this they rushed that” with the amount of cancelations netflix does to shows yeah its kinda necessary sometimes dude

It’s definitely not a perfect adaptation but its pretty enjoyable lmao

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Once again remembering the Crows canonically did shots before the Ice Court Heist and laughing my head off

[jazzkrebber]

Joost had three problems, actually. the moon, his mustache, and the fact that his girl was literally about to murder him

[neptune-scythe]

The thing I love and appreciate so much about Kanej is that they are an example of the deeper more nuanced aspects of a relationship that is so often overlooked in modern media.

It's Kaz loving Inej's laugh, it's Inej paying such close attention to Kaz that she can tell when he passed out just from the change in his breathing, it's Kaz emptying his life savings to buy Inej her freedom, it's Inej about to kill all the Dregs just to save Kaz, it's Kaz buying Inej a ship so she can have her dream of hunting slavers even though that means they'll be separated, it's Inej accepting who Kaz is and acknowledging that even if she didn't always agree with his methods that the Barrel needs him just as he is.

It's how well they know each other, that their relationship is based on friendship and mutual understanding, it's the little things like Kaz seeing Inej and feeling like a little boy who believes in magic again.

It's so much more than the typical modern portrayal of love that requires touching or sex to telegraph what two people feel about each other. They never need to hug or kiss or hold hands for us the readers to know how they feel because Leigh put the effort into portraying the beauty and depth of real love that modern media so often doesn't bother to attempt.

Regardless even of the fact that I, and many other aroacespec people, feel represented by Kaz, Inej, and their relationship, their relation and interactions with each other shows the aspects of love and friendship that is so rare in modern medias. And especially for younger generations growing up with TV and books, seeing love portrayed as sex or physical attraction can be very misleading and leave them confused when those things don't give the satisfaction in real life that it is given in media. But Kanej is the balance of that, they are real love, portrayed in the ways that show what real love is.

Young boys and girls and non binaries and every other gender or type of person can read these books or watch the show and see what real love is. They can see they don't have to sell their bodies or give up their boundaries to satisfy another person and that none of that would guarantee being loved, that love is so much more than just physical attraction, that being known and valued for who you are as a person in the current moment is the most important thing.

I want to make this another TedTalk about why I take issue with Kanej being portrayed in fanfics and fanarts as touchy or needing that to show they've healed or that their relationship is valid, but I'll keep this one focused on the positives so I don't get all the aphobes and haters clogging up my notifs ◉⁠‿⁠◉

[19burstraat]

Local couple have amazing hobbies such as 'heist' and 'gossiping like housewives at the weekend market' and 'being last people to know they were in a relationship'

[wiser-girl]

The amount of disdain I have for fics where Percy calls Annabeth “Annie” is only rivalled by the love I have for fics where he calls her “Beth”

[evellynssocbrainrot]

Other YA Male Traumatized Love Interests: I have suffered unimaginable tragedy as a child and now I'm traumatized, which justifies my toxic behaviour with my girlfriend. I don't need to fix that or apologize. In fact, I'll simply pull her down to my level so I don't have to feel bad about it, she will love me anyway.

Kaz: I have suffered unimaginable tragedy as a child and now I'm traumatized to the point where I can't even touch anyone, but that doesn't justify my assholish behaviours towards Inej, who most likely suffered even worse than me and yet she's still pure and good and loved by everyone, just as she deserves. But I still want her, so I will work hard, make up for my awful behaviour and pull myself up to her level so I could be that semblance of a man that she should have. And if I can't give her everything now, I will give her as much as I can.

[thejudeduarte]

For some reason my brain can't imagine kaz brekker in pajamas. Like, I just can't 😭 he would look so goofy