Just So We're All On The Same Page With The Writer's Strike.

Just so we're all on the same page with the writer's strike.

If during the strike, it's announced about AI generated shows. We are not watching them. Not even out of curiosity. Let them fail every AI generated show they try make.

The human voice can not be replaced by AI. Don't let them try.

Kaz Isn't Actually Motivated By Greed

Or at least, not primarily. Don't get me wrong, his stated primary driving factor is getting the money he was promised from Van Eck, but his reasoning isn't actually greed-based. Kaz's desire for money is goal-oriented and his fixation on it during the duology is fairness-based. He initially wants his share of the money because it will allow him to split from Per Haskell and start his revenge scheme over Pekka. He then pursues getting it with such zeal because Van Eck broke their deal and Kaz (rightly) feels cheated; Van Eck contracted him for a job, which he successfully completed, and then refused to pay him for it.

He fixates on destroying Van Eck because like Pekka Rollins, he broke his deal with Kaz and scammed him out of his money. It's the scamming and deal-breaking (and his inability to figure it out beforehand) that hit Kaz's pride and motivate him. If it were really just about the money, he could have gotten it any number of ways. But despite talking a big game about worshipping money and it being his primary motivating factor, he throws away an awful lot of opportunities to get and keep it during the duology:

He doesn't take the Ice Court job until he's shown the effects of parem and promised 30 million kruge (enough that when split he could realize his dreams of splitting from Haskell and taking out Rollins)

He gives up his shares in the Crow Club and Fifth Harbor to Pekka in order to rescue Inej and kickstart the Sugar Silo scheme

He doesn't abandon Inej after she's taken by Van Eck to sell Kuwei to the highest bidder, even though that would have been the most logical and lucrative option (as both Inej and Matthias think about)

He liquidates all of his existing financial assets to free Inej AND tells her where his emergency stash is so she and the rest of the Crows can get out of the city safely

He gives Rotty and Specht Per Haskell's share of the Ice Court Heist money (recognizing their loyalty and help) and Nina Matthias's share (to somewhat compensate her for her grief and fund her new cause) instead of keeping it for himself

He buys Inej a ship with HIS part of the money

And while several of the things he abandons money for are for Inej, to keep her safe and free and happy, the rest of the Crows and the Dregs at large benefit too. So do people he's probably never met. Pre-canon!Kaz fixed up the Slat with his own money so it's a safe-ish place for the Dregs to live, for example, and in Crooked Kingdom he totally goes along with Nina's plan to get all of Ketterdam's Grisha onto the boat to Ravka after a mostly token protest even though it massively complicates his plans.

It's pretty clear that no matter what he says, at the end of the day Kaz values loyalty, fairness, and keeping his promises more than he values money. The money is just a means to an end for him: he wants it because it will a) allow him to have an amount of safety and security for himself and the people he cares about (and those who have pledged their loyalty to him), b) let him keep his deals with and promises to said people, and c) give him the ability to one-up Pekka and destroy his empire.

Characters that have “no grave can hold my body down, I’ll crawl home to her” vibes >>> anything else

I am consuming a media and you are going to hear about it

I keep seeing things about Alina and the Darkling so let me just say. They didn’t love each other they understood each other. Not every deep emotional connection is love. Alina felt he was the only one who understood her and the hunger for power she felt and he thought he loved her because she was his only equal. Their understanding each other made them see each other in a different light than how the rest of the world viewed them but saying they loved each other would insinuate they could ever do something for each other at their own cost.

This. This. This.

things I want to see in any future installments of the grishaverse (by Leigh bardugo) include:

- inej doing her pirate thing

- jesper and Wylan chilling in their garden as explosions go off in the background

- kaz breaking into little/big palace and stealing the crown

- said crown being sat on his shelf back in Ketterdam

-zoya unaible to do anything about it as she then had to admit of the crown being stolen in the first place

- nina sends him another crown

-kaz starts a collection

-he still has Alinas hair dress thingy from the show

-nikolai tried to steal it once as sturmhond 

-it ended tragically and he had to run to the Ravkan Embassy to avoid several explosive devises set up on his way

-he lands into the geldcanal at one point and swims/rows his say down towards the embassies

-jesper and wylan wave at him as he goes past, having no idea whats happened, wondering what kaz will them happened when he comes over for the evening

-inej at the time is having tea with Nina and Zoya at some royal party in os kervo making deals between Ravka and fjerda

-she knows

-both about kaz s security regarding his little collecting (purely gathered trough spite) and Nikolai’s ongoing attempt to get the crown back as they’ll need it for some function

-she also knows that kaz doesn’t have the crown, he gave it to her for safekeeping

-its in her bag, Zoya does not know, and has not stopped glaring at her as if kaz would somehow feel that glare through Inej. 

-nina suspects because of certain bones imbedded into the crown

-she is trying not to burst into laughter and cause an international incident between their countries

-inej is kicking Nina under the table, she is starting to want to disappear into her captains hat that kaz had bought for her. Zoya is starting affect the weather 

-dealing with pirates is easier than dealing with Zoya, Nina agrees while she’s trying to distract Zoya so inej can make her escape

-Alina just sips her tea, glad to be invited