#and sure sure sure fjerda isn't ~important~ yet

[barrel-crow-n]

Kaz being horrible to Kuwei in chapter 3 (with Jesper occasionally acting as a Kaz-translator + a jab at Matthias because apparently Kaz can't stop himself) <3

"What did I tell you?" Kaz growled, pointing his cane at him.

"My Kerch isn't very good," protested Kuwei.

"Don't run games on me, kid. It's good enough. Stay in the tomb."

Kuwei hung his head. "Stay in the tomb," he repeated, glumly.

"Well?" Jesper prodded.

"I have other interests," Kuwei replied.

Kaz's black gaze pinned Kuwei like the tip of a dagger. "I suggest rethinking your priorities."

Jesper gave Kuwei another nudge. "That's Kaz's way of saying, 'Help Wylan or I'll seal you up in one of these tombs and see how that suits your interests.'"

"I would prefer to go to Ravka," he repeated more firmly. Kaz's flat black gaze fastened on Kuwei and held. Kuwei squirmed nervously. "Why is he looking at me this way?"

"Kaz is wondering if he should keep you alive," said Jesper. "Terrible for the nerves. I recommend deep breathing. Maybe a tonic."

"Jesper, stop," said Wylan.

"Both of you need to relax." Jesper patted Kuwei's hand. "We're not going to let him put you in the ground."

Kaz raised a brow. "Let's not make any promises just yet."

"Come on, Kaz. We didn't go to all that trouble to save Kuwei just to make him worm food."

There was a long, tense pause, then Kaz ran a gloved thumb over the crease of his trousers and said, "Nina, love, translate for me? I want to make sure Kuwei and I understand each other."

"Kaz-" she said warningly.

Kaz shifted forward and rested his hands on his knees, a kind older brother offering some friendly advice. "I think it's important that you understand the change in your circumstances. Van Eck knows the first place you'd go for sanctuary would be Ravka, so any ship bound for its shores is going to be searched top to bottom. The only Tailors powerful enough to make you look like someone else are in Ravka, unless Nina wants to take another dose of parem."

Matthias growled.

"Which is unlikely," Kaz conceded. "Now, I assume you don't want me to cart you back to Fjerda or the Shu Han?"

It was clear that Nina had finished the translation when Kuwei yelped, "No!"

"The your choices are Novyi Zem and the Southern Colonies, but the Kerch presence in the colonies is far lower. Also, the weather is better, if you're partial to that kind of thing. You are a stolen painting, Kuwei. Too recognisable to sell on the open market, too valuable to leave lying around. You are worthless to me."

"I'm not translating that," Nina snapped.

"Then translate this: My sole concern is keeping you away from Jan Van Eck, and if you want me to start exploring more definite options, a bullet is a lot cheaper than putting you on a ship to the Southern Colonies."

Nina did translate, though haltingly.

Kuwei responded in Shu. Nina hesitated. "He says you're cruel."

"I'm pragmatic. If I were cruel, I'd give him a eulogy instead of a conversation. So, Kuwei, you'll go to the Southern Colonies, and when the heat has died down, you can find your way to Ravka or Matthias' grandmother's house for all I care."

"Leave my grandmother out of this," Matthias said.

Nina translated, and at last, Kuwei gave a stiff nod.

#honestly i could make a post of “kaz being horrible to x” for every character in the books #the bold parts are the most outta pocket bits #he's such a bitch #kaz being kaz #matthias and kaz #kuwei yul bo #nina zenik #jesper fahey #kaz brekker #matthias helvar #wylan van eck #crooked kingdom

[retvenkos]

the worst thing netflix’s version of shadow & bone did was severely cut down the matthias (& nina) story line.

#olive rambles #no this isn't even about the romance they have #listen i could write a whole essay if someone asked me to but here's the skinny: #matthias is the gateway to fjerda. through his eyes we could have experienced so much of fjerda but we just... don't. #they strand matthias too early in the story and then barely give him an episode of development #and none of it has to do with fjerda beyond stereotypes #and sure sure sure fjerda isn't ~important~ yet #bit it actually kind of is. they're fighting a war against fjerdans. #part of the darkling's motivations involve the atrocities the fjerdans commit against the grisha. #it's iMPORTANT and by following matthias we could have /seen/ it and we could have been way more sympathetic to the darkling #plus there's so much to unpack in fjerdan society and since the books delve deeper into that in row it would be nice to have a basis #for the show. #and then you just have the worldbuilding. it's woefully underwhelming in the show and by adding in matthias and nina you get more of it easy #and sPEAKING of nina she is the perfect common thread character #and by that i mean she's in the soc duology /and/ the kos duology and she knows characters from the s&b trilogy she is pertinent to them all #by introducing her strongly we could have really tied all of the stories together in a cohesive way. #when we skip to a new cast in soc it wouldn't be weird because nina and matthias are there #and when we go to kos we are once again following nina into slightly unknown territory #and asdfsdfghjkjhgfdsdghj i have so many ideas for how they could have improved the fjerdan storyline #because here's the thing - alina is our in to ravka. matthias is our in to fjerda. kuwei is our in for shu han. kaz is our in for kerch. #all of these dynamics need to be ~shown~ #so alina is pretty simple. it's not hard to master. when we meet matthias we need to sEE HIM IN HIS HOMELAND ASDFGHJHGFDD #and then when nina goes to kerch and she is confused #she can hear whispers about dirty hands (ideally at the end of season one) and the set up is made. #then ofc when kuwei comes into the story he has flashbacks or tells stories about shu han while in the tomb. #which is iMPORTANT SET UP BECAUSE OF THE KOS DUOLOGY asdghgdsdfhgfdsdgh #and in the show i feel like tolya and tamar are going to have a stronger role in the set up of shu han since they are half shu like alina #so we'll get set up there for sure #so wHY did they fail the matthias storyline so hard???? fjerda is kIND OF IMPORTANT sdfgjkjhgfdssdfghj #i just have so many thoughts..... ways it could have been done........ the establishment of matthias and fjerda is critical