lizb

it's more than understandable people will focus primarily on the objectification and physical aspects of her trauma; at the same time though there are so many other elements to discuss alongside them too:

Let's not forget that Inej herself claims perhaps the worse part of her time at the Menagerie wasn't the physical part of it, rather it was was Heleen's capacity for kindness and consequent benefit of the doubt that she'd use for emotional abuse.

Let's not forget that Inej was sold as a sex slave in a country she didn't know, with a language she didn't speak and a religion she did not practice to a brothel that specialized in cultural fetish, where she couldn't use her own fucking name for a whole year and was referred to with the name of a literal animal and one that didn't make sense to associate with her Suli origins at that.

Let's not forget that Inej's natural defense mechanism isn't fight (which she had to learn) but freeze, that dissociation was what got her through her work and the one time she couldn't manage to separate herself from what was being done to her was with a man that recognized her from her prior happier life.

Let's not forget that her freeze response carried through time even after she left and it was so bad she couldn't walk the street in front of The House Of Exotics and the one time she succeeds she runs into Heleen who taunts her and she freezes again.

Let's not forget that on that day and on the one she first arrived on Ketterdam at age 14, Inej thought of killing herself.

Let's not forget that to Suli people have no land and the capacity to rely on others and find shelter in community is how you survive, and Inej was blocked in Ketterdam of all fucking places, where everyone operates for their own interest and on their own if not for family or gangs and not even these could be trusted- and Inej had to learn that with the Dregs, to be ready to defend herself even from those she thinks are her friends. In fact-

Let's not forget that when she was being hostage by Van Heck the only person she trusted would've come for her is the only unapologetically openly devoted member of the crew (i.e. Nina) and literally everyone else was some variation of 'I don't know if they'd come for me', not just Kaz (she assumes Matthias might out of honor more than anything, Wylan doesn't seem to register as an option and she didn't trust Jesper would prioritize her over the needed money).

Let's not forget that Inej called every single one of her knives after the Saints she'd pray to after using them, that her faith isn't just an anchor of hope but also near the only bit of her identity she had left to clung onto.

And that’s why even though Kaz is already more vulnerable and open to her in the series, I had to make him even more emotionally vulnerable to Inej in the span of the two books.

Otherwise it would be very difficult for them. Not impossible. But difficult.

Inej needs someone who becomes her safe place. Someone who is patient with her and not just leaves at the first moment it gets hard. Someone who holds her physically but especially emotionally. Someone her nervous system can learn over time to feel safe with.

Another thing are Inej’s trust issues. I think there are many things she wants to tell Kaz, but can’t due to her fear of not being perfect. We know how Kaz sees her, but what if she can’t live up to this in certain moments?

Heleen made her believe that she had to earn her love/ praise/ approval and unconsciously, she applies this to Kaz.

Of course I didn’t forget Kaz’s trauma/ his grief for his family and the little boy in him, but at some point Inej still struggles both with being completely honest with him and her body still not feeling as safe with him as she wants to.

So, it's not that I necessarily disagree with this specific point but I personally can't read Inej's behavior towards Kaz as her assuming she has to earn his approval or appreciation (though of course she would like them) since she's very aware of her own worth as well as of his cruelty, even if she can't pinpoint why he is the way he is. Like, if anything she's upset that he doesn't acknowledge everything she already does with and for him (rightfully so I'd say).

Maybe I'm misinterpreting which specific aspect of their dynamic you're talking about here, but IF we're talking about her trying to find and/or push redeeming qualities in Kaz (according to his POVs) then I'd like to put forward another interpretation of what's going on with Inej's... "insistence" in said regard, at least prior to the Ice Court.

It has to do with this passage from Crooked Kingdom:

In her early days at the Menagerie, she'd believed someone would rescue her. Her family would find her. An officer of the law. A hero from one of the stories her mother used to tell. Men had come, but not to set her free, and eventually her hope had withered like leaves beneath a too-bright sun, replaced by a bitter bud of resignation. Kaz had rescued her from her hopelessness, and their lives had been a series of rescues ever since, a string of debts that they never tallied as they saved each other again and again. [...]

As established, Suli people rely almost entirely on community and Ketterdam is all about self-interest even within gangs and families; a user on TikTok (@/winterbrekker) made the brilliant observation that Inej and Kaz's exchange in the bathroom scene "Was there anyone to protect you?" / "Was there no one to protect you?" shows how Inej sees protection as something that people should have by principle while Kaz sees its absence as normal.

I did edit this bit in the original post Heleen's emotional abuse very much hinges on this desperate need for a safe place which, among other things, feels like another layer of mockery of Inej's identity and personhood, so while I don't think she has trust issues per se, what she had to endure at the hands of both her clients and Heleen has made her distrustful of kindness and eventually she gave up on the concept altogether (as the books say, better terrible truths than kind lies).

Even when she manages to sneak up on Kaz when they first meet, her request for help is presented as an offer. One that Kaz answers to, as we know- and to his credit, he's very upfront with her with what kind of job will be asked of her and the risks that come with it. The only thing he can assure her of is that whatever ugly and unhappy life she'll have with the Dregs it'll still be a better deal than living at the mercy of Tante Heleen for the rest of her life.

The thing is... Inej's offer was still, deep down, a request for help.

It's worth noting that within her first year in Ketterdam life inside The Menagerie was all she knew because the girls working there are forbid to leave; we know Inej herself tried, got caught pretty quickly and got beaten so bad she couldn't work for 3 or so weeks.

I think Inej unintentionally projects an ideal onto Kaz as a way of coping with the fact that Ketterdam itself is rotten too, that she isn't happy even outside of The Menagerie so long as she is stuck in this corrupted city and that the person who saved her, who she spends the most time with, who she works with and fights beside to, is closer to being the very embodiment of the Barrel than he is at being a better man.

Which I think is exemplified by both Kaz's ""My mother is Ketterdam" speeches and the final interactions between him and Inej after she has gone through the final stage of her arc which, non coincidentally, sees her recognizing her own gray morality by coming to terms with the fact that (although she doesn't plan on staying so she can go hunt down slavers at sea) she has learned to love the city despite all of its problems.

"I'm not ready to give up on this city, Kaz. I think it's worth saving" I think you are worth saving.

Wylan: Things felt so far:

Humidity

like from Inej's personality, just everything about Inej lol (minus the murder ofc but then again rn, Inej is killing slavers so it's fineeee)

- Both the second of two sons, out of place in taking up the mantle of the first.

- Both stand out because of their wit. They’re both strategic thinkers, but lean into jokes, wordplay, as much as their unique, quick thinking.

- Both like to invent things. Creative thinkers. Dramatic people…theatre kids.

- Both are coded/admitted to have PTSD largely because of how and in what condition they lost a brother.

- Contrast: an actual bastard who must feign legitimacy for survival in his sphere versus a man presumably born under wedlock in a stable home who feigns being a bastard for survival in his sphere.

- Contrast: the very top (royalty) versus the very bottom (homeless -> criminal) of societal hierarchy.

- Both really can’t shake desire for a Suli woman they work with who has made clear she can kill him if he gives her a reason to. Made said woman legally or metaphorically a Queen and meant it.

Do you ever think the reason why inej choise knifes is becuse they have a phaliic image. And your gonna have to listen for this one but inej was young when she was sexual assulted and lost her virginity and we can assure it was by an Olded person who didn't prep her becuse he didnt care so we can assume her firts time was violent and bloody as her body was forced to adapt to this intrusive action. Pentravie sex could be symbolic with being stabbed this intrusion of an item that's rough harsh and bloody and by inej useing a weapon of a knife she is holding who puts things in her. Like the scene where she went to use the knife against herself becuse she knew if they got her she would be raped and taken to the menagerie and she promised she would die by her own hands she would soemthing in her body by her choise rather then it being forced?

It also has me thinking about Romeo and Juliet. Critics will go on about how Juliet, in stabbing herself, is the one with the more masculine and violent death (Romeo sips poison). One of her main motivations is the fact that, if found alive, she knows she’d be forced into marriage with an older man. Juliet is also taking the idea of violent penetration and turning it into agency over herself.

Kaz's Southern Kerch accent coming out thick whenever he's drunk, or on very specific words that he avoids saying for that very reason

Ravkans being able to tell when foreigners learned from a textbook or a standard classroom because they talk vaguely like middle-aged nobles

East Ravkans and West Ravkans having different accents, expressions, and slang because of being separated by the Fold for so long

Specific dialects on the disputed borders (the Ravkan-Fjerdan border, the Ravkan-Shu border, etc.)

Nikolai having to change how he speaks as Sturmhond so that his very posh noble accent doesn't give him away

⬆️ Wylan trying to do the same thing in the Barrel so he's not noticed

Jesper chatting with anyone and everyone who speaks a lick of Zemeni

Some Suli people speaking Suli, others speaking a dialect of Ravkan, others just using "standard" Ravkan/Ravkan with a particular accent

Matthias using hardcore military expressions and slang without even knowing it