Whim

I am Sarah.

(I used to go by the user evellynssocbrainrot, but then I changed it to whimzzzyarts)

I love visual art in any of its forms. I also love reading (particularly fantasy), analyzing complex characters/fictional relationships, ice cream, animating, daydreaming, and cute, pretty, shiny things that catch my eye enough to interest me.

My recent and long time obsession is the Grishaverse, expecially Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom. I've read every other book in the Grishaverse, have seen the show multiple times, read tons of fanfiction, particularly Kanej fanfiction, and devoured any other piece of Grishaverse-related media I can think of.

I meant what I said about Kanej, I love them to death. Have been since 2017.

Kaz: I know you gambled it all away

Jesper: I lost a little bit of the money

Kaz: *Glares*

Jesper: I lost all of the money. But I managed to steal 20 pounds of alabaster coal

The Conductor: No, no, no, 16 pounds

Jesper: 16 pounds of alabaster coal

Kaz's first: "Yes and no. It's always good to have a country in debt to you. Makes for friendlier negotiations." (Six of Crows, page 16)

Kaz's last: "That's the laugh." (Crooked Kingdom, page 463)

Inej's first: "This is a mistake. Geels is up to something." (Six of Crows, page 18)

Inej's last: "This was the first cut, Rollins, if you ever think about coming back to Ketterdam, we'll meet again so I can make the second." (Crooked Kingdom, page 468)

Jesper's first: "Three ships! The Shu sent them. They were just sitting in First Harbor, canons out, red flags flying, stuffed to the sails with gold." (Six of Crows, page 16)

Jesper's last: "Not one for goodbyes, is he?" (Crooked Kingdom, page 451)

Wylan's first: "He's not better. He's reckless." (Six of Crows, page 117)

Wylan's last: "How about I push you in the canal and we see if you know how to swim?" (Crooked Kingdom, page 450)

Nina's first: "Go, be at peace." (Six of Crows, page 75)

Nina's last: "Still as the grave." (Crooked Kingdom, 451)

Matthias's first: "Nina?" (Six of Crows, page 99)

But the argument that "Inej gave up so much and that Kaz didn't gave her much choice when he asked her to join the Dregs" really puzzles me the more I think about it.

From the very first moment when Kaz and Inej share their first actual conversation, Kaz makes his terms very clear. He tells her that the conditions of the Barrel are harsh and that she was expected to do things like killing to survive. I've seen some people say that Inej didn't really have much of a choice because her only other option was staying at the Menagerie.

And I can get that, but it feels unfair to zero all the frustration on Kaz. At that time, realistically, there wasn't much Kaz himself could do about Inej's situation either. Because remember, the Kaz then is not the powerful and wealthy gang leader he is now. Then he was still working under Per Haskel and keeping a hold on the amount of money and valuables they spend. It took him a great deal of convincing to just transfer the ownership of Inej's contract. And even that took a great deal of cash. At that time, Kaz offered her the best he was capable of offering and made his terms clear. And Inej agreed to them.

And then there's the thing about Inej giving up so much and having to kill despite her moral beliefs. I do feel sorry for her, given everything she's been through and the cost it is to her religious beliefs. As a religious person myself, I get it. Completely.

However, it's important to remember that Inej isn't the only person who was forced to kill and hurt people to survive. This is something that applies to almost every member of the Dregs. I'm sure there was a point when none of them wanted to hurt people or take their lives. But even they eventually adapted to survive. (We don't talk about Kaz, his situation was different and a bit more extreme given his age at the time). But isolating the "giving up so much" exclusively on Inej feels dismissive for other characters.

Plus, its not like Inej did all that killing strictly for Kaz. A lot of it was for herself too. To protect herself.

So I started my annual Six of Crows reread again. This time, I am deliberately reading it slowly because if I read at my usual pace, I'll finish the book in one day. I want to really take in all the details, so I'm reading slow.

While reading, I decided to draw designs for various Komedie Brute costumes. I ended up drawing five of the Crows because I had only found five costumes in the book. But then felt bad for leaving out Jesper, so I went back and drew a whole separate piece with him.

I may not be able to physically read the book yet, but I can certainly make art for it!

Letters and newspapers, featuring our notorious crime lord and a mysterious woman on the ship, The Wraith, known as "I"

Now listen, just because I made this, doesn't mean I love Jax.

Drew this iconic Freddy and Amita photo, a bit more Kanejified. (Actually, tbh, most of Freddy's irl outfits, I can see Kaz wearing, too)

I genuinely need to practise more on my man/boy art 😭UGH

There you go, Brekker. I hope that makes you happy. ❤️‍🩹