im rereading six of crows/crooked kingdom and every time someone on the team thinks about how kaz is meaner, smarter, and nastier than the big bad they’re up against i gain +5 life points. inej so sure no one can outsmart kaz! jesper basically comforting wylan with the reminder that kaz is so nasty and ruthless he’s going to raze his dickwad father to the ground and wylan a) absolutely believing kaz can and will do it and b) absolutely finding comfort in it. everyone is always going on and on about how cruel and unfeeling kaz is, but when their back is against the wall and there’s an enemy coming at them, they hear his cane or think about him and they feel relief! they feel safe! he’s a thug but he’s THEIR thug and frankly, as someone who imprinted on kaz like a baby duckling the first time i read the books, it’s a fucking godsend!