Okay. I know I'm probably going to offend some of you Kod/Taylee shippers with what I'm about to say now, but I'm honestly sick and tired of being asked the question, "Why do you even like Nash? He's a jerk!" and I really feel like I need to explain. Oh, and there's a few spoilers included in this post, so unless you've read all the books (including the three novellas), I suggest you stay away.
Nash Hudson, in my opinion, deserves to be with Kaylee. And no, that does not mean that i hate Tod. Quite the opposite, actually. I love Tod with all my heart. He's funny, smart, charming and he honestly does love Kaylee. That being said, I am - and always have been - on Team Nash.Tod is the obvious Knight In Shining Armour throughout the series - the boy who gave up his own life to save his brother's. The boy who's always around when our heroine needs help. The one who's constantly saving his brother's ass and ultimately saving the day. Nash, on the other hand, is the knight in battered, bloody armor who needs to be saved a little, himself.
Nash is flawed. He doesn't always know what he's doing. He makes bad decisions sometimes, he stubborn, he has moments of selfishness, he doesn't always know the right thing to do... He's human - So to speak.
Kaylee and Tod? They're both self-righteous. Most often, they know the right thing to do. The world is black and white in their eyes - something that, if I recall right, Sabine mentioned to Kaylee during their tug of war for Nash's affections. Things are a little harder for Nash. He sees the world in different shades of gray. But because we see he story through Kaylee's eyes, we judge Nash a little to harshly than we would if the story were in the third person.
"What about when he became addicted to Demon's breath?" You ask? "he was a complete A-hole."
Yes, I agree. While he was under the influence of Demon's Breath, there were a few moments where even I, being his biggest supporter, wanted to strangle Nash. But honestly, when you think about it, how much can you really blame him for his actions? Firstly, the only reason he was influenced to Demon's Breath in the first place was because of Kaylee. Admit it. Even she agreed that was true. Secondly, how in control of his actions did we expect him to be? Of course he was a jerk. Of course he did stupid things - he was addicted to a demonic drug for Pete's sake! We all know how bad regular human drugs are. A drug of the demonic kind? The effects of something like that would be infinitely worse than a regular drug.
And yes, yes. I know he sold his memories of Kaylee and his father's and his brother's deaths but as I've already said, he was addicted. The only thing junkies care about it their next fix, it's common knowledge. "He should have loved Kaylee enough to stop him from selling his memories," you say? He couldn't control what he did while he was under the influence, but I think he proved his love for Kaylee extremely well when he chose her over Sabine WHEN HE COULDN'T EVEN REMEMBER HOW HE'D FELT ABOUT HER BEFORE. He knew how he felt about her. He knew how much he loved her. Kaylee wasn't just an emotional crutch for Nash. She wasn't just another score for him (I think he proved that by changing his playboy attitude and agreeing to wait) and it wasn't even the fact that she was just a bean sidhe - their relationship wouldn't have lasted as long as it did if that were the case.
It was real for Nash.
And yes, I'm aware that he tried to Influence her to spend time with him that day after school when she was going to die, but again, wasn't that just proof of how much he loved her? Even under the influence of Demon's Breath, all he wanted was Kaylee. He may have gone about it all the wrong ways, but I believe that he was just trying to win her back.
He doesn't suffer from survivors guilt as Tod believes he does - he blames himself. Whenever Nash tells Tod that he knows his brother hates him for living while he, Nash, survived, he's just deflecting his own self-hatred onto Tod. Nash hates and blames himself for what happened to Tod. The kid's gone through a lot. He lot a father. He lost a brother. He lost Sabine - the girl he once loved - He lost his best friends - another thing he blames himself for - and then he lost his one true love, not to death, as he'd assumed, but to his brother.
And yeah, he turned into a cold-hearted jerk to Kaylee at the end of If I Die, but honestly, can you blame him? He loved her and she left him for his brother. He loved her and she refused to be there with him during his struggle to get clean. He loved her and she framed him for her own murder. He was hurt, heartbroken and angry, and honestly, I can't blame him. I'd have been the same way if I were in his shoes.
I can go on and on about the other reasons I love Nash and I think he deserves to win the heart of the girl he loves, but I think I'll stop now. My point is, Nash is human (again, in a manner of speaking) and is, possibly, the realest person in the entire series. He's gone through enough pain and I sincerely hope Kash stands a chance in the next two books. I think Nash deserves a little happiness.
And if there's anyone reading this who's preparing to send me hate mail or whatever, I'd like to kindly point out that this post wasn't me trying to sink your ship. If you ship Kod, it's fine by me. I just got tired of hearing Nash called a jerk and wanted to support him. That's all.
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PS: Rachel Vincent? She's amazing, okay? There need to be more people out there who read her work. My irrational emotional investment in this series should be proof enough of how great a writer she is. So, if you haven't read the Soul Screamers novels, or The Shifters novels or The Unbound novels... I highly recommend that you do.
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