Shadow And Bone 2x06

Shadow and Bone 2x06

So I'm re reading six of crows for the millionth time, and I just wanted to share Matthias's first impressions of the crows (not including nina because shes already met him but if you want me too I can) because I can't stop laughing. This guy has no chill. And I know these are here for our benefit too to give us more description for the crows.

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Kaz: - "Gravelly voice" "Dark eyes" "pale demon with his black-gloved hands"

Inej: "small girl" "dark hair" "deep bronze suli skin"

Jesper: "long limbed boy" "bony knees" "deep brown zemeni skin and incongruous grey eyes. "He was built like a stork" 😭

Wylan: "Ruddy gold curls." "He's about twelve"

I know Wylan saying "always hit where the mark isn't looking" in Crooked Kingdom is supposed to be a humorous nod to his "who's Mark?" line in Six of Crows but I can't help but think of it as a representation of an overlooked facet of his character development.

What I find the fandom forgets is that he's ultimately the least experienced of the Crows and the one who, let's be honest, is the least cut out to be a criminal. It has nothing to do with him being soft or whimpy (I want to unleash my inner Dirtyhands every time I hear someone say that), it's simply because he spent most of his life sheltered from the brutality of the Barrel. Yes, his household was abusive, but "he’d never had to work for anything. He’d had servants, hot meals, clean clothes. Whatever it took to survive the Barrel, Wylan knew he didn’t have it" - and he spent a total of three months in the Barrel prior to the events of Six of Crows. Had he not started doing demo for the Dregs, he would have definitely died in the Barrel - especially considering how he clings to his decency and morality because it's all he's got left, but they won't get him very far in a place like the Barrel.

Due to his inexperience, as Leigh puts it in the Crooked Kingdom collector's edition, he "wasn't a Crow yet" in book one: he wasn't accustomed to Barrel life, let alone the life of a criminal. (It also references how he learns to trust his crew and is now a part of them not out of desperation, but out of a bond beyond blood, but that's for another time.) Going from not understanding what "[hitting] the mark" means because he's autistic to, as Jesper puts it, "[being] thoroughly corrupted" signifies how he's finally started becoming accustomed to a life he's never had to lead before.

you know what I mean

Wylan Van Eck is a badass hiding behind Jack Wolfe's innocent little face.

𝕾𝖍𝖆𝖉𝖔𝖜 𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝕭𝖔𝖓𝖊 ꜱᴇᴀꜱᴏɴ 2 ʀᴇᴡᴀᴛᴄʜ #144 ↳ 𝟸.𝟶𝟼: 𝚗𝚒 𝚠𝚎𝚑 𝚜𝚎𝚜𝚑