Six Of Crows Duology— Flower Symbolism

Lady asha: my son isn’t perfect and that’s on him he messed himself up fr

"Fine, make me your villain".

- The darkling (shadow and bone) by Leigh Bardugo

That single sentence really struck a cord with me. It exploited multiple things about the darkling and his character.

1. It conveys that he knows Alina (and many others) see him as the bad guy. He understands that they look at him as the villain who must be stopped because what he stands for and does is wrong.

2. He’s trying to make Alina understand that well what he is doing is dark and dangerous business, it’s not the wrong thing to do. He’s trying to make her see that sometimes bad actions must be preformed to generate good results.

3. Despite the fact that he’s attempted to explain his vision of a different future to Alina, he has come to understand that she simply doesn’t see it the way he does. He has come to understand that all she sees when she looks at him, is a monster doing monstrous things.

4. He is upset and frustrated that Alina can’t understand his vision and his actions, that she can’t understand him, that she only sees him as a villain.

5. That sentence also touches upon the subject that the villain never truly sees themselves as a villain. The darkling knows what he’s doing is bad, but he believes in his core that it’s ultimately the right thing to do. He believes that by preforming certain destructive actions, a positive result will emerge from the ashes.

6. That single sentence also shows that in Alina’s perspective, The darkling is her villain, but he doesn’t think he is. He thinks she should be with him, on his side.

The darkling is a very interesting villain because he is written to be very dark and very motivated, yet you can understand his motivation, you just probably don’t agree with his methods.

How Six of Crows taught me that it was okay to not always feel fine

Since today is World Mental Health Day, I wanted to address a side of Six of Crows that has always been quite an important aspect to me.  

Mental illness and awareness is a huge topic in today’s society, and right of the top of my head, I can think of some brilliant YA novels that talk about the subjects; The Perks of Being a Wallflower, It’s Kind of a Funny Story, Turtles all the Way Down, and so on. The list is endless. But there seems to be a distinct lack of YA fantasy books that deal with mental health topics. I did a google search, and sure, you could argue that Harry Potter suffers from PTSD (controversial topic which I’m not going to express my opinion right here), or that Frodo Baggins suffers from depression (not a YA book, but you get the point), but the actual amount of YA fantasy novels where we can actually all agree that the protagonist or a side character suffer from a mental illness is incredibly small. Yes, it does exist, and a quick shoutout to all the fantasy authors who do write about mental health issues. I’m not gonna name any out of fear for forgetting any, but feel free to reblog this with any fantasy YA mental health awareness books you’d recommend (my personal favourite apart from SoC would probably be the Raven Cycle).

But honestly, Leigh Bardugo shows us that it is very much possible. A couple of her protagonists suffer from actual mental illnesses, others are insecure, or non-conforming in some way. Their issues are smoothly integrated into the story and help advance the plot by creating problems and secrets. It makes the characters incredibly interesting and round. It creates the least-cliché romantic side-plots I’ve ever read in a YA novel. And you know what? I think we, as readers, can learn something from every single one of the Crows.

Kaz Brekker teaches us that mental illnesses shouldn’t stop us from achieving our dreams. He teaches that you can not be able to touch anyone but still be powerful. That a horrible childhood doesn’t have to drag us down. Kaz teaches us how to be determined.

Inej Ghafa teaches us that faith can get us anywhere. She teaches us how to stand up to the people we’re afraid of, and that things that have happened to us in the past don’t have to define us. Inej teaches us how to be strong.

Jesper Fahey teaches us that it’s sometimes okay to go off the rails. That people make mistakes (and sometimes make a lot of them). Jesper teaches us how to be human.

Wylan van Eck teaches us that we are not our parents. He teaches us that we have the right to be our own people and don’t have to follow in anybody’s footsteps if we don’t want to. He teaches us to not listen to mockeries and insults. Wylan teaches us how to be independent.

Like Jesper, Nina teaches us that sometimes, we make terrible mistakes. she teaches us how to make them right. But she also teaches us to not be ashamed of who we are, even if we are different or special, and that our body weight does not define us. Nina teaches us to be proud.

And Matthias. Matthias Helvar teaches us that the way we we were raised doesn’t define us. You don’t have to follow the morals and the values and the hatred that may have been burned into your head. He shows us that people have the ability to change. They have the ability to forgive and be forgiven. He shows us that sometimes it’s okay to not know whether you’re doing the right thing. That sometimes, humans lose their way and have to find it again. Matthias teaches us how to develop.

Determination, strength, humanity, independence, pride, development. You know what? Those are some values I can get behind. And these six anti-heroic criminals teach us so much more. Of course, they teach us that it’s okay to not be heterosexual. They teach us that love isn’t always easy. That sometimes our pasts catch up with us. That we can’t always do what we want. But they also teach us that there are always people out there for us. A family. Friends. People who love us.

And I guess I just wanted to say thank you. Thank you to Leigh Bardugo, for creating such wonderfully human characters that I cried for and smiled for even though the real world was trying to drag me down. Thank you for creating characters who helped me understand that it’s okay not to feel fine.

And I also wanted to say, to everybody who is reading this horribly long monologue of mine (thanks for that, by the way), that you’re an amazing individual and you too can be a total badass like our favourite criminals if you put your mind to it. Stay safe, folks. And stay strong.

Happy World Mental Health Day.

Take on the World | Kanej

Summary: post-Crooked Kingdom. // Kaz Brekker is the King of the Barrel, with nothing and no one standing in his way. He has it all. But he soon realizes that “all” is not quite enough when he thinks he might loose Inej forever.

A/N: It’s finally here! Ngl, I struggled a LOT with this fic, specially with Kaz’s pov. I wanted these characters to stay true to the books, so it took me a very long time to perfect this. All the lovely people who wanted to be tagged will be at the end. I want to thank you all so, so much for your support and enthusiasm. It makes the struggle worth it. Thank you, thank you thank you. Also, this one-shot was inspired by the song Take on the World by You Me At Six. It has Kanej written all over it.

Finally, let me apologize for this being RIDICULOUSLY long. Some of you already know I have no control over this, it’s useless for me to try and cut down on the writing - it ain’t gonna happen. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoy this! Comments are always appreciated, I respond to every single one!

Warnings: Crooked Kingdom spoilers!

Word Count: 6,722 (See, I told you. Someone PLEASE get in my ask box and say: “BRUNA, STOP WRITING SO MUCH, YOU’LL HAVE SO MUCH TO REVISE.” Because I clearly need an intervention.)

Find my masterlist here. Requests are open!

Happy reading, lovelies! <3

- All characters belong to our queen, Leigh Bardugo - 

Kaz

               She was leaving today.

               Inej hadn’t explicitly told him so. But Kaz knew – he felt it in his bones, in his veins, in his very heartbeat. He’d known there would be a day when he would have to fight through the tangled knots she’d skilfully, yet unconsciously, formed around his heart and let go of his selfishness, of his desire, so as to finally untie her from his life once and for all.

               He just didn’t think it’d have to happen that fast. That soon.

               There was still that part of him – that foolish, miserable, pathetic, hopeful part that longed to consider the possibility of Inej staying permanently in Ketterdam. With him.

               He had thought that she would, briefly.

               He had let himself hope, stupidly.

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CROOKED KINGDOM AND RULE OF WOLVES SPOILER

“Go little rockstar” but it’s Matthias watching Nina have mercy on his people

Cross out everything you’ve ever done:

Had a beer

Smoked an entire cigarette

Written on a bathroom wall.

Read a George Orwell book. 

Had a physical fight.

Used Twitter.

Listened to Lady Gaga

Been in a car accident. 

Gotten suspended. 

Gotten expelled.

Been allergic to something.

Got a computer virus.

Touched a real gun

Had a dog

Had a cat

Been pregnant.

Camped out

Swam in the ocean.

Wore a bikini 

Driven a car

Been sent to the principal.

Ever liked someone.

Failed a class.

Failed a test.

Went to summer school.

Got worse than a D

Got A’s and B’s.

Read an entire book.

Recorded my own music

Had an xbox.

Worn heels more than 3 days in a row. 

Wore fishnets.

Wore skinny jeans.

Hated someone.

Been cheated on.

Cheated on someone.

Practised Christianity. 

Worn makeup.

Lied to my parents about where I was going.

Had surgery.

Had my license.

Self harmed.

Worn coloured contacts

Painted my nails black.

Broken someone’s heart. 

Had my heart broken.

Cried for an hour straight 

Lost something very valuable.

Got separated from one of my parents as a kid.

Broken a bone.

Gotten stung by a bee.

Eaten something bad/expired

Threw up from being so drunk.

Saw someone throw up from being so drunk.

Danced with someone of the same sex.

Owned an ipod

Owned an iphone 

Fell for a best friend.

Stole a friend’s significant other.

Went far away from home for more than a week

Moved out.

Ran away.

Had a job.

Been fired.

Lied to a friend.

Lied to a family member.

Had a Facebook.

Posted a video on Youtube.

Started a rumour about someone.

Talked bad about someone

Deliberately failed a test.

Been skinny dipping.

Counted to a million.

Counted to a thousand.

Ate rabbit meat.

Ate duck meat.

Had fast food.

Been to Church.

Been to Canada

Been married.

Had a divorce.

Broke a glass.

Hugged someone today.

Texted someone today.

Received a phone call today.

Threw something out of the window.

Ignored a text from someone.

Wished you were somebody else.

Had my feelings hurt by a friend and never told them.

Been to a concert

Seen your favourite band live

Met a celebrity

Met your favourite band 

Own more than 10 CD’s

 samwinchesterwantsme done!

Crooked Kingdom is a goddamn masterpiece and I’ll preach that everyday but I think the best thing in it which is clearly not talked about enough is that whole fucking chapter with Wylan where the ENTIRE time he’s just like:

What the hell... what am I doing here? Who are these idiots? What the fuuuuuuckk... I’m a human fucking being, Kaz

And I think that’s beautiful

WHY DOES NO ONE TALK ABOUT FALA

I recently reread Cruel Prince/read the B&N short story, and I had THOUGHTS:

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Can we please stop making people feel awful for shipping a problematic ship or for liking a problematic character? I've seen people accuse others for encouraging pedophilic behaviour simply because they ship an immortal with a mortal, and for encouraging abusive behaviour simply because they ship an enemies to lovers ship.

Certain self-righteous people tend to forget this is fictional characters we're talking about, and you can't judge a person from that. The characters you love or the ships you ship don't make you a bad person or a good one. If you like a perfectly healthy relationship, or are in love with the kind, cinnamon roll character, good for you. If you like that borderline abusive, slightly problematic ship, it doesn't make you a bad person, no matter what anyone says.

Additionally, this blog supports shipping "problematic" shipping, because fiction and fanfiction is not reality.

Whoever or whatever you like in characters and ships doesn't define your personality. Fandoms are treated as an escape from reality for most people, and that sort of behaviour makes our fandoms toxic which helps no one and nothing.