I don’t know how to express this well but I really like how flowers and ribbons are motifs that Bardugo emphasizes especially in Kaz Brekker’s backstory and Nikolai’s life which I feel are sort of foils of each other. Both of them mask their feelings for their crush - Nikolai with humor and Kaz by not addressing them at all. While Nikolai came from wealth and Kaz from destitution, I feel they both desire the same simple things. To have their loved one safe and to maintain some sort of power but not abusing their power (Kaz taking Haskell down) (Nikolai trying to choose a rightful leader). They both have a sense of moral and justness that they cling to.
Kaz remembers the detail of Saskia’s red ribbon. It’s a symbol of his lost innocence, childhood, his love for life and others. I thought it stood out because this was a detail disclosed to us in a flashback but Kaz didn’t verbally share it with us , the readers. It is only when he repeats this detail to Pekka when we realize this red ribbon is personal to him and deeply affected him. Kaz is a deeply sentimental person at heart and he is still a child hurt by the loss of losing everything that made him happy. He lost the red ribbon. And you see why he is so deeply vengeful. He remembers everything he lost.
For Nikolai. he seems to have this sort of fetish . Well I don’t like fetish word. But obsession with Zoya’s ribbon. It’s Something that signals his crush on her throughout the book.
Geraniums, Inej’s mother’s favorite flower, comes up a lot. And right after Inej talks about Kaz and how he won’t give her flowers. But obviously Kaz is this man who is providing for her. He gives her a ship. He thinks of what she wants. We do get a flower moment in CK when Kaz dumps the geraniums into the canal and swoops a cloak around Inej like a phantom in the night. It’s sweeping. It’s romantic and over-the-top.
Not sure about other flower moments but it is mentioned quite a lot in the books like the blue irises for Alina as a symbol of the Darkling’s manipulation and Mal’s care for her.
I love how flowers symbolize the thought and care that the partner shows for the other. I guess that’s usually what most people use flowers for in books but I like how its mentioned consistently through different relationships in the books.
i made @gratzi-the-artist model for me so i could get the lighting and pose right it turns out drawing hoodies is HARD
headcanons:
•there was a solid week once where matthias only texted in gifs cause he thought it was “hip”
•kaz sleeps with socks, jesper is appalled jes can put up with a lot of crap from this guy but that is TOO FAR
•inej has the highest spice tolerance in the group and matthias and kaz can barely handle any spice without a few glasses of milk
•nina spends a lot of the car rides adding clothing items she’s nerving going to buy to her cart (asking matthias his opinion on most of them as she goes)
•matthias’s guilty pleasure is trashy westerns
•wylan has the most aesthetic instagram out of the group and nina is proud but also feels betrayed???
•wylan listens to owl city
what should i draw next for this au? share your thoughts and ideas (or personal headcanons) in the comments!
•the car is matthias’s mini van (the only car that will fit all of them comfortably
•inej likes to open up the sun roof while they drive
•kaz and wylan get super invested in cutthroat kitchen (the only decent show on the motel tv after 12:00) and end up watching it whenever they can find it at their stops
•kaz considers being a food critic for a whole two seconds before a) he remembers he doesn’t eat enough and b) a woman’s fake nail ends up in the salad
•inej takes over driving for kaz at like 3 AM after a long sleepless night in a super sketchy room and forces him to sleep because it looks like he’s wearing really messy eye black
•nina continues to document all their adventures and now has a photo album labeled “kanej <3” that she shared with inej
•nina and matthias making waffles in the little hotel breakfast bar waffle maker
•jesper eating froot loops without milk while the others watch in disapproval
i love hearing from you guys so share your thoughts and headcanons too! ♥️
Can’t believe I haven’t drawn the dregs yet. Gotta love these kids!
Commissions open! PM me for details!
[ID: A black and white drawing of Kaz Brekker and Inej Ghafa. Kaz is a tall boy with sharp features. He is wearing a dark suit and long coat, leaning on a cane and staring off to the side. Inej is a petite girl wearing a dark tunic and caplete. She is holding a knife and looking straight ahead with a serious expression. END ID]
There’s a big issue in this fandom and I want to talk about it. The problem at best is that people don’t fully understand trauma. At worst, it’s people loving Kaz and Inej’s suffering and never wanting them to get better. And these issues especially come up when the topic of sex is brought up.
Now, let me start off with a couple things. Number one, I agree that it probably wouldn’t happen right after Crooked Kingdom. I think they would need a lot more healing to actually get to the point where sex is an option. Number two, I personally would like to see them aged up before we get into the nitty gritty. My issue isn’t people who think it wouldn’t happen so soon. My issue is people who think that it should neverhappen.
To say that being sexually intimate with one another isn’t something that Kaz and Inej want is simply dishonest. And the people making those claims should go back and re-read/listen to the books. It is very clear in the text that Inej and Kaz are sexually attracted to one another. Inej says to Kaz that she doesn’t just want him fully clothed. During the bathroom scene, Kaz admits to himself that he has had sexual dreams about Inej. They want to be able to get to that point with each other.
Inej’s past is filled with sex being a negative and something that caused her deep psychological scars. Doesn’t she deserve to take her body back? Doesn’t she deserve to want sex? Doesn’t she deserve to consent to having sex? Doesn’t she deserve to enjoy it? And what about Kaz? He very clearly sees his touch aversion as a negative. Doesn’t he deserve to heal and move forward? Wouldn’t it be nice to think of him without those gloves and being able to freely touch the girl he loves?
Trauma isn’t fun. Trauma isn’t romantic. Trauma is pain, anger, sadness, reliving something over and over again. Wanting to heal from trauma is not a bad thing. Trauma will most likely always stick with you, but it is something you can work through in some way or another.
TLDR; Inej and Kaz deserve to heal from their pasts and explore their relationship further.
Who is excited for the Grishaverse Netflix adaptation? I totally am. Six of Crows by the amazing @lbardugo is one of my totally favorite books of all time. I fell in love with every single character, and with every single couple in this series. I love everything about this book and I can’t help it haha. To begin with we have Kaz Brekker, the bastard of the barrel, dirtyhands, Demjin, … He is such an impressive character and I can’t wait to see him on screen. Hope you like this illustration as much as me!
i’m sorry i just can’t stop thinking about no saint ever watched over me, not like you have like excuse me!! that line is straight up poetry! they really went there. like this could be straight from the books!! absolute banger.
instagram • netflixgeeked:I too only invest in the one of a kind. And this show + cast is my investment. Thanks for celebrating 1 year with us today, Grishaverse. May the Saints bless you all ☀️ (9/9 celebrating Shadow and Bone’s 1 year anniversary) @marissasketches
• I would have come for you. And if I couldn’t walk, I’d crawl to you, and no matter how broken we were, we’d fight our way out together-knives drawn, pistols blazing. Because that’s what we do. We never stop fighting.
Crooked Kingdom / Leigh Bardugo
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This is the second and final books in the soc (six of crows) duology. The crew managed to break into the most secure prison (the Ice Kingdom). But now they’re having a bit of a rough patch trying to get out of their own city. As always, Kaz has the most flawless plans, Inej is the Wraith, Wylan has a useful knowledge for chemistry; Nina and Jesper have their powers, and Mathasis was a soldier. Yet the book will leave you in tears. No mourners, no funerals? 5/5
