The Dregs

Sideblog, follows from justaseasaltyselkie, home to The Dregs, fandom blog for Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom

[xandrei]

Most of the time, he wakes before her; up with the dawn, sunlight filtering in through the attic window hazily. He doesn't have the heart to disturb her sleep and settles for watching her slow inhale, exhale.

[lilithsaur]

Welcome Back

[bookslight]

Disability Awareness Month

#2020diversityreadinhchallenge

Kaz Brekker from Six of Crows walks with a mobility aid. As does Leigh Bardugo. When I went to her book signing she talked about how she wanted to create a character who uses a stick but is still a badass and instills fear in everyone who hears his stick click down the street. That's the energy I hope to exude whilst using my stick instead of the pitying looks I sometimes get from people who think I'm too "young and pretty" to be using a stick.

This ink drawing took forever, remind me next time I decide to do ribbon work to do it digitally!

[sixofass]

this is so beautiful!

[manicfairydreamboy]

The Ambiguity of Kaz Brekker and writing Morally Grey Characters:

I want to look at the writing of Kaz Brekker and why his character seems to elicit very positive and very negative emotions in readers.

Kaz is interesting, because his actions do not necessarily align with his words and reputation. We see this immediately. When Inej introduces the readers to Kaz, she already describes the way people talk about him (Kaz didn't need a reason) and the way she sees him (Kaz always has his reasons). Also very interesting is that this first look at Kaz is through the eyes of the girl that not only knows him in a way noone else seems to, but also the girl that is attracted to him (as clearly seen in the washing scene). So the reader immediately gets a biased look on the character that most likely helps the attraction around Kaz. This would've been very different if someone else would have been the pov of this introductory chapter - say Nina. Through Inej we're able to see the dichotomy between this cruel man she respects and is exasperated by and the young man she's tentatively interested in.

What Kaz does is morally wrong, undoubtedly. Murder is not okay, violence is not okay, gangs aren't fun. In the real world. This is fiction. Our world rightfully does not accept murder. Ketterdam does not work like our world and it is quite obvious that Ketterdam moral system is Kaz' biggest influencer. He's adapted to his surroundings. That does not make murder acceptable, but it's something the reader can understand, especially through his twisted logic. It's quite obvious that there's a huge difference between the killing that the fjerdans are doing - killing a group of people as a hate crime - the immoral workings of the slave traders that just want money and killing to find some place in a corrupt system as Kaz does. And the book shows that clearly.

Kaz is obsessed with money, with power and with revenge, at least on the surface. But he isn't, because he doesn't use the money he acquired for himself. He renovates the Slat while his desk is a dingy DIY-project. He doesn't seem to own much at all. I'd argue that Kaz wants only one thing and that's safety. Safety through financial stability, safety through being the monster nobody dares to touch and safety through intimidating his enemies and staying in control of his own life. His idea of revenge is endangering himself and his people, but it's his way of rewriting his life story, of gaining control over a plague and deaths he'll never have power over.

Again, being a greedy, power-hungry asshole lusting for revenge are not good character traits. But he's coming from a place I can understand, he's reacting to his story. In his mind this is the only way to be okay. And I highly doubt that you can go to therapy in Ketterdam, get taken in by a nice foster family and feel safety and control through measures I'd rather suggest in our current world.

Finally, Kaz is cruel not only in his words, but in his actions. But he also uses actions to show that he cares. Inej does not understand that. She doesn't understand that him carrying her is an apology she won't get out of his mouth and him taking off his gloves in front of her is as good as an "I trust you more than everyone else". Kaz relies on words to carry his reputation, they're cruel and deliberate and every nice confession is a weakness. But his actions show what he actually is. They show that he is cruel, sometimes unnecessarily so, but also that he has feelings and - surprise - actually shows them. It's not his fault that nobody understands his language. The readers usually get the hint though (hence the romantisation and exasperated eyerolling he receives in reviews)

My final point: Kaz is a product of the world he lives in and we can only measure him by that world. In Ketterdam, where corruption is as common as smalltalk, everyone knows about the slavery that is forbidden on the surface and violence is the only way to have a voice if you don't have money, a character like Kaz with his own integrity seems almost good. He could be the villain but he isn't, because he is written in a way that allows us to understand where he is coming from. Perspective and fleshed out narratives are the reason for the Ambiguity of Kaz Brekker.

[sallteas]

Kaz Brekker, Bastard of the Barrel.

[manicfairydreamboy]

Guys, I love you all, but can we PLEASE remember that Kaz actually uses his cane to help him walk? All those damn gorgeous paintings where he just keeps it in his hands or over his shoulder while walking don't make sense. Yes, he can walk without it, but he chooses not to because if he does he is in pain.

Other things to remember:

- The cane is in the hand opposite of the bad leg and is used in sync with the bad leg

- A cane is also helpful while standing, mostly to keep balance and weight off the hurting leg (or other painful areas, depending on the person)

- A cane gives you a huge range of new gestures while it's still functional! Leaning on it, gripping it tightly or lightly, leaning against something else whilst toying with it... It also takes one hand out. So the one reason you'll see a cane user with their cane under the arm is usually because they need both hands for something (In Kaz' Case that could include picking locks or card tricks)

- the handle should be perfect to distribute weight on the cane. Usually it points back. A functional cane usually doesn't have a very small or round handle.

- if you want more specific tipps, just search for "cane user" on tumblr, the first thing that pops up is a comic on how to draw cane users! You're welcome.

Thank you

A fellow cane user.

[cladelle]

“She’d laughed, and if he could have bottled the sound and gotten drunk on it every night, he would have.”

I animated the scene from Leigh Bardugo’s Six of Crows where Kaz is remembering Inej’s hair blowing in the wind and has some ~feelings~. The animation is a little clunky but you get the gist.

[williamsherondales]

@sixofcrowsnet​ heist: backstory  ⟶  Kaz Brekker

He thought of Inej asking, Was there no one to protect you? He remembered Jordie seated beside him on a bridge, smiling and alive, the reflection of their feet in the water beneath them, the warmth of a cup of hot chocolate cradled in his mittened hands. We were supposed to look out for each other.      They’d been two farm boys, missing their father, lost in this city.

[filippakosta]

Six of Crows. Leigh Bardugo.

a convict with a thirst for revenge. a sharpshooter who can’t walk away from a wager. a runaway with a privileged past. a spy known as the Wraith. a heartrender using her magic to survive the slums. a thief with a gift for unlikely escapes.

[xandrei]

Short timelapse I did to see if I could! And of course, the completed pouty boy 😂

[wafflesandkruge]

SoC TV Teaser Insp.

Just a little something.

Black screen, loud whispering in the background

Beat [if you’ve listened to Lorde’s cover of Everybody Wants to Rule the World, you know what I’m talking about]

“I protect my investments”

Shot of someone calf down striding through a puddle-y street with a cane, flickers off to black

Beat

“I’ll die on my feet with a knife in my hands”

Shot of someone landing into a crouch, a knife in each hand, flickers to black

Beat

“I’ll take my chances”

Shot, Chest down, someone drawing twin revolvers from holsters and twirling them, flickers to black

Beat

“I’ll make it matter.”

Shot, shoulders down from the back, someone slipping on a red Kefta, flickers to black

Beat

“I won’t be kept from this oath”

Shot from the back shoulders down, someone with a gun slung over their back walks away from the camera, flickers to black

Beat

“I know the difference.”

Shot of someone, shoulders down, wearing a messenger bag and holding a book and various smoking and fizzing things, flickers to black

Whispers from background get louder, overlapping voices start calling out

“Greed is your God”

“The Dregs have come calling”

“The heart is an arrow”

“The ice does not forgive”

“Brick by brick.”

“No mourners.”

Suddenly the whispers stop.

The dregs reply in unison. “No funerals.”

Screen flashes to the full shot of the six, basically from the previous six scenes put together. They all stare at the camera defiantly. Quick cuts to each of their faces in reverse order from the beginning. When it gets to Kaz, it flickers to  his trademark razor-sharp I-will-cut-you-smile.

Screen goes black, title card comes up.

[whitepeopletwitter]

[shane-hollander-defender]

[xandrei]

It’s shame that eats men whole. He was drowning in it. Drowning in the Ketterdam harbor.

thanks, @lbardugo, for the visceral journey.

[grungegoths]

I just remembered that kaz bekker killed a man by throwing him off a bridge because he told kaz about how he was blackmailing a black sex worker into having sex with him free of cost regularly bc he knew that she was keeping the gifts her client was giving her instead of giving them to her pimp who would probably have burnt her to death if found out. And i really think thats one of the most underrated scenes in SOC

Like the description of that scene was fucking ICONIC - the fact that kaz was about to reel that man back up the bridge after getting the information he needed from him but changed his mind after he told kaz that he had information about one of the girls at the menagrie,how kaz visibly got the homicidal note in his voice after he heard the man saying that,the fact that it become even more dangerous when he confessed that he was blackmailing her into giving him free sex bc that girl knew that shed be killed by tante heleen if he ratted her out to tante, the fact that kaz even tried to TELL that man how shitty it was that he was basically holding her life over her head to pressurize her into having sex with him .How kaz slowly began to let that man’s legs slide through his grasp and said “Its terible isnt it?Knowing someone holds your life in his hands” and threw him off the bridge after he screamed “Shes just a working girl!! im a good man” bruhh that was fucking awesome i fucking LOVE kaz bekker

[filippakosta]

url edit for @kazrietveldt

“Everything is a negotiation with you, Brekker. You probably bartered your way out of the womb.”

[nynaazenik]

“People point guns at each other all the time in Ketterdam. It’s basically a handshake.”

[artscapade]

I know, I know. I was gone for like a year. College is rough, kids.

But for those of you who don’t follow me on Instagram, I am much more active on there. So if you’d like to see more art, go on over and give me a follow!

Here’s a little Inktober illustration I made as proof that I am still alive and drawing, inspired by @lbardugo​‘s character, Kaz Brekker! 

Should I post the others?