#actionandecho

[action-and-echo]

Kaz canonically taught Inej to read and write Kerch as soon as she was out right. So I like to think she was losing her mind over how difficult it was to parse out a word all strung together like that until she first saw another man’s handwriting. She’s going to kill him.

[investmentofmyheart]

Hey, so I feel like giving asks. Yeah.

So you're like the biggest Kanej fan out there; it is established.

If you could make if you haven't already, a 6 of Crows song playlist that absolutely encapsulates Kaz, Inej, and their relationship...What songs would you add?

[Taking notes for my SoC playlists]

I only have one character playlist anywhere from any point in life and, surprise, it is about Inej. So here are some songs from that that actually have to do with her romantic relationship, in an order that makes chronological sense to me:

Dios es un Stalker by Rosalía

I actually still have a draft saved where I just went through all the lyrics to this song (full version, my whole life is about that damn bridge) justifying how Inej it is. It’s very Inej. “nunca te enteras / que soy tu sombra / y esa es mi manera / de demostrar que te he pensado / y te he extrañado / yo me sé / tus deseos indeseables / mi aliento es / el viento que / te roza el pelo / y por amor estoy detrás / detrás de ti voy” not to even mention “intervención divina” and “soy tus guantes y el sol que te calma” I mean. Come on. Just read the whole thing. Being the wraith. Being his shadow. Detaching herself, dissociating, from the wild desire she has for him. Can’t let it go. Loop it forever.

Make up Your Mind by Florence + the Machine

“I never thought I’d be a killer” my poor Inej. But anyway: “Make up your mind / let me live or let me love you / while you’ve been saving your neck / I’ve been breaking mine for you” …I rest my case.

Hiding by Florence + the Machine

“I think you hide / and you don’t have to tell me why / you cry a little / so do I, so do I” “I know that you’re hiding / I know there’s a part of you that I just cannot reach / you don’t have to let me in / just know that I’m still here / I’m ready for you whenever” they are twin traumatised flames, and the most perceptive girl in the world learns it silently and quickly. “I know I seem shaky / this hand’s not fit for holding” Kanej and hands…Inej and self-loathing, swearing she’s broken. Ahg.

Be Sweet by Japanese Breakfast

“Tell the men I’m coming / tell them count their days” is just Miss Wraith. Anyway. “Caught up in my feelings / overthink the truth / fantasise you’ve left me behind and I’m turned back running for you” see: Inej’s first chapters in Crooked Kingdom. “Recognise your mistakes and I’ll let you back in / realise, not too late, love you always / make it up to me, you know it’s better / be sweet to me baby / I wanna believe in you / I wanna believe” clear.

And last, Treacherous by Taylor Swift

This is probably the one Taylor Swift song I can never give up no matter how much I grow to loathe her as a public figure and devolving writer. Anyway. Kanej: “put your lips close to mine / as long as they don’t touch / … til the gravity’s too much” the touch aversion, the sexual trauma, breaking my heart. Bathroom scene. Next I will say that “I hear the sound of my own voice / asking you to stay / all we are is skin and bone” etc feels Kaz..wanting her to stay…the selfish desperation he internally narrates fighting. Mhm. “This hope is treacherous / this daydream is dangerous” and then the music sort of exploding…yes. “Your name has echoed through my mind” I’ve read both of these people’s chapters and can attest. They can’t shut up about each other internally. And that’s beautiful.

I love these songs. And also Inej Ghafa.

[action-and-echo]

“Jesper Hendriks” “Wylan Fahey” “Kaz Ghafa” “Inej Rietveld” all possibilities make me giddy. They all sound beautiful.

[action-and-echo]

Post-ck, Kaz is the de facto third wheel to Wesper, who are in love, sure. But there are other dynamics amongst the Ketterdam boys to be noted:

Jesper third wheeling the Kerch boys. They’re talking politics and scheming bullshit and working through finances and Jesper is truly left just fixing a craft in the corner. It’s crazy how his two favourite people start talking to each other and suddenly everything is boring as hell. Jesper goes “let’s go out tomorrow” and Kaz is working all night and Wylan is working all day and “no, that’s too expensive” “it’s not smart for us all to be seen in public together right now” “I’ve got a hearing in the morning, Jes” “a ship is getting in, it’s going to be a big, rowdy night.” He’s going to kill them.

Wylan third wheeling Jes and Kaz. There’s a longer, more intense history there. These bitches are always fighting over a word being mentioned that once came up between them three years ago. Wylan, committing to Jesper, is Kaz’s brother in law. He signed up to be a part of this “family” apparently. Why these two still talk to each other is beyond him because three weeks ago Jesper forgot he said he’d come by to fix up some windows and then made excuses and forgot again so Kaz finally brought it up by literally sinking one of Jesper’s stocks.

And then of course, Kaz third wheeling Wesper when Wylan is very much in the mood to have some fun and…Wesper PDA and Kaz just sitting there questioning his choices. Or, really, Wesper caring very deeply about the mental health of someone whose girlfriend is fighting at sea for months at a time. Kaz somehow literally working around the clock to a degree that is more self-destructive than before. He will get so mopey and so mad and so impulsive some weeks. Wesper needs to take him out and walk him like a puppy. They’re his siblings showing up to poke him and piss him off on purpose but they are also his self-appointed babysitters.

….Jesper’s letters to Inej being so whiny sometimes:

“Your boyfriend keeps stealing my boyfriend. They’ve been talking about some fucking insurance policy for an hour. Girl come back.”

“No one is any fun anymore. Wylan keeps going to work ‘because someone needs to ruin my father’s legacy’ or ‘I need to know what’s going on if I’m going to change anything’ and he leaves in like…in the morning. Like. At 7. In the morning.”

“Your boyfriend is actually evil please fix him. He’s so mean to me. He’ll make me run errands and he doesn’t even pay me because ‘you asked for something to do’ and ‘I’m not giving you money you don’t even need to gamble’ and ‘why did you come over at 3pm just to complain’”

[action-and-echo]

Kanej cautiously avoiding telling any children they raise the whole story of how they met, what they did before they were in charge of their worlds and financially stable, etc. Discretion. Parenting. They’ve already seen enough.

And then their kid will come back from Wesper’s like “Uncle Jes says he and mama drove tanks for you???” and like where does any of that story begin.

[action-and-echo]

I love the soc romances so much. I love the idea of the double/triple date dynamics…

Ninej laughing at how seriously their men take whatever the activity is.

Matthias and Wylan are commentating in hushed voices about how confusing their partners’ flirting with everything is.

Inej and Jesper forever baffled by the stubbornness and thought processes of their Kerch boys.

Nina and Jesper are trying to convince people that they should get a group tattoo to commemorate…their night of bowling or darts or the play they just saw. Something so so spur of the moment.

Kaz and Jesper are arguing over where to go next (it is past 1am) (Inej and Wylan want to go Home. They need to keep these two on leashes when they go out honestly.)

[action-and-echo]

Kaz with grey hairs from, you know, the entire survival lifestyle, and reading glasses by his thirties and that plus the cane and the resting bitch face means an Absolute gold mine for Jesper Fahey. And Nina Zenik. And Wylan Van Eck. They’re going to start calling him Grandpa in public.

[action-and-echo]

Do you think that somewhere in the grishaverse, post-ck, there are kids whose special interest or celebrity crush is a crow? They all end up so (in)famous. I’m losing it at the potential here. This thought…