leigh bardugo has massively edited and rewritten the six of crows books and no one has noticed
or has for some reason decided not to mention it at all or let anyone else know.
I just found out something insane today. in the new dregs editions that came out for the 10th anniversary, leigh bardugo has removed any and all mention of the crows being teenagers, cut out whole sentences and completely changed quotes that are classic and very well known by fans of the six of crows duology. sheās replaced any mention of words like āchildrenā āboyā āgirlā and ākidsā with āmanā āwomanā āgrownā etc
this is concerning, bewildering and just feels wrong for so many reasons. but besides the obvious āwhich is that the six protagonists of the duology being young is essential to many aspects of the plot, seeing as their world weariness and competence is a result of their experiences as children and survivors who are victims of their environmentābesides even that, editing a piece of literature thatās been published and on shelves for 10 years is objectively not a good idea at all, and doesnāt at all take into account the new contexts and connotations the new wording brings.
above is an example of the original scene we know verses the new version. lots of it has changed, namely their ages, but the sentence at the end in matthas' pov doesn't even sound like him at all. her writing quality has declined noticeably and she sounds like she wrote that sentence in a rush. it makes no sense, and it's not something matthias, who knows practically nothing about the barrel, would be thinking.
and not to mention the famous line 'brekker's eyes were ancient, but he couldn't be any older then matthias' ā cut out of the book completely. I do wonder what impact, effect and influence these changes will have on new readers.
this is another example. such a classic line and they cut it completely.
the entire books are like this. inej saying kaz looking seventeen is changed to kaz looking like someone's apprentice. the boy of the barrel changed to man. criminal prodigy changed to just mastermind. inej described as a woman in place of a sixteen year old girl. wylan changed from boy to young man. full scenes cut. 'jesper is zemeni but don't hold it against him' changed to ādonāt let him wax sentimental about itā which sounds way worse then the original.
and I don't actually own the new copies of these books, my best friend was looking at them in a bookstore and that's when we first noticed all of the changes. so I truly have no idea what else could possibly be changed besides the things I noticed as I cannot look at them for reference - the crow's physical appearance, more of the plot, other famous scenes just being cut completely, etc. if nothing else has changed, then itās still way too much and massively changes core aspects of the books. but I do wonder.
if you own the dregs special editions, I suggest looking for similar differences. I might have to write examples to express how messed up the new connotations are.
leigh now implies that jesper, an adult black man, made the right choice by handing over his share from his job to his white father to keep for you, as he cannot control himself and isn't ready to receive his own funds, as he is a mindless gambler. this is extremely different to a reckless irresponsible teenager grieving his mother and making stupid mistakes, and then deciding to make better decisions in the future with help from his parent. I'm sure you can see without me spelling it out how awful, racist and problematic the new context of jesper being a grown man makes this situation sound.
another example is matthias' childhood centrally seeing him be groomed, manipulated and indoctrinated by a nazi coded witch hunting organisation that targets grisha, an oppressed community, with the intention of torturing, burning, hanging, raping and eradicating them from the world
matthias is just turning 18 when he meets nina. he has not yet done any of these terrible things himself. he is fresh out of training and still basically a child. his views are first challenged, and he eventually breaks out of the brainwashing and mental manipulation that has been taught and instilled in him with repetition. it's not an excuse, but it's more understandable. matthias, now a grown man apparently way older then 18, has no excuse for these bigoted views as he is way more mature, has way more experience, and would have had to have done these horrific things to grisha at some point.
it feels like some sort of fever dream that six of crows was edited and re published so that these famous teenage characters (who were first written so obviouslyā in dialogue, actions, pov, - as teenagers) and their criminal prodigy leader were made into poorly written adults. I can put into words how much this has deeply bothered and distressed me and many other readers I've spoken to.
it's such an odd choice and makes me think it was done to soften the backlash the shadow and bone adaption received from some fans for aging up the characters in the first place.
I cannot stress this enough- leigh bardugo would edit iconic lines and change core aspects of her characters that have been around for 10 years to justify a cancelled netflix adaption of these incredibly popular and well loved books. it's odd and uncomfortable.
now, these books mean the world to me, they have quite literally got me through physical, mental and emotional childhood abuse, suicide ideation and self harm, the everyday ableism and oppression, chronic pain and disability experience, severe depression and anxiety, absolute hopelessness, work and life, etc) but the sheer absurdity of this all just outmatches my distress that it happened. it feels like some sort of hallucination becasue it's lowkey just insane. she never even mentioned she was going to do something like this?
there is just no conceivable reason for leigh bardugo to have done this secretly and quietly other then to have stopped people negatively critiquing the show or some other deeply odd notion. and with all of these changes, the new books absolutely are not the 'dregs' editionsā the heart of the dregs is the young blood, 'the kids like kaz who he had brought in a organised, who worked the hardest and took the worst jobs'
they are the bad netflix adaption editions. the sympathy for terrible adult cast editions. it's troubling, clearly not a well thought out decision, and deeply bizarre. tell me others agree.
š¶āØļøwhen you get this, put 5 songs you actually listen to, then publish. Send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool)š¶āØļø
pairing: inej ghafa x fem!reader
summary: when dirtyhandsā most trusted spider returns to ketterdam, his new informant seeks to size up her predecessor.
word count: 1.06k
y/nās always been very aware of the standard she has to live up to.
kaz brekker didnāt seem to trust a person more than he trusted inej ghafa. his wraith, his spider, his friend.
but now the girl's away at sea, freeing indentures and being a hero, kaz brekker needs a new informant.
kaz never called y/n his spider. it was something she felt grateful for, but it didnāt stop others from doing so. and as much as y/n - and kaz - tried to ignore it, the impact of the words still seeped into the roof she perched on, the crates she hovered behind, the windowsills she scaled.
and the pressure was getting to her.
y/n had slit one too many throats. scraped one too many injuries. missed one too many messages. all thanks to her getting in her own head about inej ghafa.
and so, when her inside man from fifth harbor informed her that a young suli woman, small and silent, was to arrive in ketterdam that morning, y/n knew this was her chance to scope out inej.
she did not realise inej was going to be the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.
y/n almost bailed right there and then, from where she lingered in the shadows at fifth harbour, too stunned to move. and then inej began to slip through the crowds and she remembered why she had come in the first place.
she tailed the girl through a number of alleyways, learning her pacing, the moments at which she'd speed up or slow down or melt away into the shadows.
and when she had begun to learn inej's pattern, she allowed herself to seep into the open. y/n timed the moments right; the flash of her jacket showing when inej's eyes darted to the left, scuffing her shoes when she paused to listen for followers, crossing wide around corners and matching every change in inej's pace.
and so when y/n followed inej around yet another corner and the girl was nowhere in sight, she knew her plan had worked perfectly. she stopped dead still in the middle of the alleyway, fighting away a smile and dragging her eyes across the rooftops to try and glimpse the wraith.
knives were unsheathed from behind her and y/n whipped around to find inej stood directly in front of her. she had no idea how she managed that.
y/n felt something in her chest flutter as their eyes met. and then inejās gaze sharpened.
āyouāve been following me.ā
y/n bowed her head forwards ever so slightly, holding her hands up in surrender.
āyou caught me.ā
y/n couldnāt help but hide a smile at the glint of triumph in inejās steady gaze. inej straightened up and as her long dark hair fell over her shoulder, y/n felt the same fluttering in her chest.
āhereās a tip: if you want to follow someone without being caught, you need to-ā inej trailed off as a smirk slipped onto y/nās lips.
inejās shoulders slumped slightly but she maintained the hard look in her eyes. āyou wanted me to notice you.ā she realised aloud.
y/n shrugged a little. āmaybe i wanted to meet your pretty face.ā
āi wish i could say the same.ā
inej's eyes widened as she realised what had slipped from her mouth. she hadnāt meant the girl didnāt have a pretty face too, simply that she wasnāt intending on any spontaneous meetings on her trip to ketterdam. but the damage was already done.
āyouāve a mean tongue, inej.ā y/n winced.
āwhat business?ā she demanded, willing away the warmth in her cheeks.
"no business, just curiosity." inej's eyes narrowed at that, but y/n continued. "your reputation precedes you."
"what's that supposed to mean?"
"it means i'm your-"
ā-inej,ā a rough voice cut the air, and y/n had to force back a sigh at her boss's timing. āi see youāve met my new informant.ā
inejās eyebrows shot up, barely, the only sign she was surprised at that information. but y/n was watching her so closely she could see every morsel of expression in her face.
kaz's cane hit the ground as he settled a few feet away. neither one had heard him approaching. although, y/n wondered if she hadn't heard him because she was simply distracted by inej.
āi have.ā she replied, matter of factly, in such an endearing way that y/n couldnāt bring herself to be mad.
"this is y/n." he introduced, tilting his head to indicate the girl.
"that's why you were following me, y/n?" y/n thought her name sounded like honey on inej's lips. "were you sending someone to spy on me, kaz?"
"always good to know what you're matching up to." y/n answered before kaz could, with a shrug. "no spying. well, none beyond the spying i did do."
inej's expression gave nothing away. kaz's eyes narrowed at her then, and she felt the urge to shrink away, knowing what was to come next.
"y/n, my dear, when were you going to tell me inej had arrived?"
"i was just on my way to the crow club." she chimed back, not convincing herself let alone kaz, but he surprisingly let it slide.
"we should get back to the club. we have business awaiting."
inej bowed her head to him, then looked to y/n. a flicker of delight and amusement crossed her face as she tilted her head to y/n too and then turned away into the shadows to head to the crow club.
the quiet creaking of a drainpipe - only heard due to the deafening silence between dirtyhands and his informant - indicated that inej had turned to the rooftops for the remainder of the journey to the crow club.
neither y/n or kaz moved nor said a word. and then, when y/n felt like enough time had passed for her to continue after inej, her boss's voice sounded out.
"y/n."
there was an unfamiliar tone in kaz's voice that jolted y/n. it almost sounded like genuine, friendly amusement.
"were you flirting with my wraith?"
there it was again. the genuine, friendly amusement.
kaz was biting back a laugh as y/n's face flushed violently red and she craned her head up to look at the rooftops to see if the other girl was still hiding away in the shadows.
"kaz brekker."
"yes, y/n?"
"i am going to murder you."
a/n: okay so originally i thought this was really cute but now iām starting to think itās not. let me know what you think! all i know is inej is the love of my life and she deserves far more love than she gets on here.
pairing: inej ghafa x fem!reader
summary: when dirtyhandsā most trusted spider returns to ketterdam, his new informant seeks to size up her predecessor.
word count: 1.06k
y/nās always been very aware of the standard she has to live up to.
kaz brekker didnāt seem to trust a person more than he trusted inej ghafa. his wraith, his spider, his friend.
but now the girl's away at sea, freeing indentures and being a hero, kaz brekker needs a new informant.
kaz never called y/n his spider. it was something she felt grateful for, but it didnāt stop others from doing so. and as much as y/n - and kaz - tried to ignore it, the impact of the words still seeped into the roof she perched on, the crates she hovered behind, the windowsills she scaled.
and the pressure was getting to her.
y/n had slit one too many throats. scraped one too many injuries. missed one too many messages. all thanks to her getting in her own head about inej ghafa.
and so, when her inside man from fifth harbor informed her that a young suli woman, small and silent, was to arrive in ketterdam that morning, y/n knew this was her chance to scope out inej.
she did not realise inej was going to be the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.
y/n almost bailed right there and then, from where she lingered in the shadows at fifth harbour, too stunned to move. and then inej began to slip through the crowds and she remembered why she had come in the first place.
she tailed the girl through a number of alleyways, learning her pacing, the moments at which she'd speed up or slow down or melt away into the shadows.
and when she had begun to learn inej's pattern, she allowed herself to seep into the open. y/n timed the moments right; the flash of her jacket showing when inej's eyes darted to the left, scuffing her shoes when she paused to listen for followers, crossing wide around corners and matching every change in inej's pace.
and so when y/n followed inej around yet another corner and the girl was nowhere in sight, she knew her plan had worked perfectly. she stopped dead still in the middle of the alleyway, fighting away a smile and dragging her eyes across the rooftops to try and glimpse the wraith.
knives were unsheathed from behind her and y/n whipped around to find inej stood directly in front of her. she had no idea how she managed that.
y/n felt something in her chest flutter as their eyes met. and then inejās gaze sharpened.
āyouāve been following me.ā
y/n bowed her head forwards ever so slightly, holding her hands up in surrender.
āyou caught me.ā
y/n couldnāt help but hide a smile at the glint of triumph in inejās steady gaze. inej straightened up and as her long dark hair fell over her shoulder, y/n felt the same fluttering in her chest.
āhereās a tip: if you want to follow someone without being caught, you need to-ā inej trailed off as a smirk slipped onto y/nās lips.
inejās shoulders slumped slightly but she maintained the hard look in her eyes. āyou wanted me to notice you.ā she realised aloud.
y/n shrugged a little. āmaybe i wanted to meet your pretty face.ā
āi wish i could say the same.ā
inej's eyes widened as she realised what had slipped from her mouth. she hadnāt meant the girl didnāt have a pretty face too, simply that she wasnāt intending on any spontaneous meetings on her trip to ketterdam. but the damage was already done.
āyouāve a mean tongue, inej.ā y/n winced.
āwhat business?ā she demanded, willing away the warmth in her cheeks.
"no business, just curiosity." inej's eyes narrowed at that, but y/n continued. "your reputation precedes you."
"what's that supposed to mean?"
"it means i'm your-"
ā-inej,ā a rough voice cut the air, and y/n had to force back a sigh at her boss's timing. āi see youāve met my new informant.ā
inejās eyebrows shot up, barely, the only sign she was surprised at that information. but y/n was watching her so closely she could see every morsel of expression in her face.
kaz's cane hit the ground as he settled a few feet away. neither one had heard him approaching. although, y/n wondered if she hadn't heard him because she was simply distracted by inej.
āi have.ā she replied, matter of factly, in such an endearing way that y/n couldnāt bring herself to be mad.
"this is y/n." he introduced, tilting his head to indicate the girl.
"that's why you were following me, y/n?" y/n thought her name sounded like honey on inej's lips. "were you sending someone to spy on me, kaz?"
"always good to know what you're matching up to." y/n answered before kaz could, with a shrug. "no spying. well, none beyond the spying i did do."
inej's expression gave nothing away. kaz's eyes narrowed at her then, and she felt the urge to shrink away, knowing what was to come next.
"y/n, my dear, when were you going to tell me inej had arrived?"
"i was just on my way to the crow club." she chimed back, not convincing herself let alone kaz, but he surprisingly let it slide.
"we should get back to the club. we have business awaiting."
inej bowed her head to him, then looked to y/n. a flicker of delight and amusement crossed her face as she tilted her head to y/n too and then turned away into the shadows to head to the crow club.
the quiet creaking of a drainpipe - only heard due to the deafening silence between dirtyhands and his informant - indicated that inej had turned to the rooftops for the remainder of the journey to the crow club.
neither y/n or kaz moved nor said a word. and then, when y/n felt like enough time had passed for her to continue after inej, her boss's voice sounded out.
"y/n."
there was an unfamiliar tone in kaz's voice that jolted y/n. it almost sounded like genuine, friendly amusement.
"were you flirting with my wraith?"
there it was again. the genuine, friendly amusement.
kaz was biting back a laugh as y/n's face flushed violently red and she craned her head up to look at the rooftops to see if the other girl was still hiding away in the shadows.
"kaz brekker."
"yes, y/n?"
"i am going to murder you."
a/n: okay so originally i thought this was really cute but now iām starting to think itās not. let me know what you think! all i know is inej is the love of my life and she deserves far more love than she gets on here.
Yāall in the notes please be mindful when you say stuff like āitās time to kill the British.ā The people suffering the most from British transphobia are....British trans people.
^^^^^ for serious. British trans folks rarely get to transition at all, and when they don't they're often denied any social transition period. TERFs in the UK aren't here to start laws against people in America, they're trying and succeeding to kill off trans people in the UK. This really isn't the situation to cram on the brits to look and feel better about yourself... the trans body count is tremendous over there. Please have some respect for the people actually effected.
Please do keep this in mind. As much as I find the anti-British memes funny, this is a genuine issue in the UK.
Iām a trans man in the UK, Iāve been on the waiting list to be diagnosed for just over 2 years now, and am expected to wait around another 2 years before I get my first appointment (if the wait time doesnāt increase). I will then wait around 2 more years (at the very least) for my second appointment, and if Iām very lucky and am diagnosed in that appointment (which is not guaranteed in the slightest), Iāll enter another waiting list to access healthcare. The service Iām in is considered around average. There are people waiting 6 years for their first appointment in other services, so I am incredibly lucky with my supportive family (in that I havenāt been kicked out or abused, parents still donāt respect pronouns or name) and I have good friends who respect me, as well as only waiting 4 years for a first appointment.
Maybe you could go private if you had the money, right? Go a similar route to trans people in the US? A diagnosis from a private practice can be rejected by your General Practitioner, and any referral you get for hormones or surgery can be completely dismissed, because you werenāt diagnosed by an NHS practice. You would likely have to go entirely private, which is not possible for thousands of trans people who rely on the NHS. This is an issue within the NHS and a completely lack of funding and training for trans healthcare, resulting in horrifically long wait time and difficult to access help, especially given doctors and surgeons have and are having their practices shut down because they arenāt considered proper by the NHS, despite being one of very very few who commit to this kind of work.
The transphobia in the UK runs far deeper than just tweets, and combining the aggressively transphobic attitude of a large portion of the population with the lack of healthcare due to wait times and difficulties with funding, you set up an incredibly difficult and dangerous position for trans people. Maybe this sounds like a bunch of complaints and nothing to people in the US, but people here are dying as a result of this. Please do keep this in mind when making anti-UK memes surrounding specifically transphobia.
There are officially English asylum seekers in places like New Zealand now because other countries have acknowledged that it is genuinely unsafe for trans people to stay in this country.
#when you say everyone in [insert place here] should die #you are also talking about the countless number people who are suffering there #and that makes you kind of a cunt
Also you need to understand that while engagement in Britain is off the charts it is NOT because there are a lot of transphobes - polls show brits are MORE accepting generally in fact. What this is actually showing is the small and completely insane network of online terfs in the UK who dedicate unfathomable amounts of time and energy solely to driving up engagement on transphobic content, the numbers are unbelievable. Britain is not a place full of transphobes, it's a place with very dedicated transphobes who have the backing of the government and a certain outrageously wealthy and bigoted author.