sesuyeh

[sesuyeh]

vasiliair​:

she was always the one to be sought.   the lone deer in the forest.   not every girl survives it.   sometimes she becomes the forest.   (you see it in her as well.  the growing distrust, rooted like an evergreen.)   a grin spreads across her cheeks,  alight on her face and she responds with a nod,   “ well i will personally pinkie swear to break all the bones of any man who even looks at you wrong, ”   her tone had become serious,  a rarity & her eyes fall to the other woman,  a delicate laugh,  “ agreed.   especially the drunk nobles..   who,  if you want to knock over with a gust of wind:  i will not say anything. ”

She made a noise somewhere between a scoff and a laugh and leaned further into Elyse’s side. Her shoes pinched tightly at her toes and her back ached from the weight of the skirt around her. Elyse’s beauty had always seemed effortless and it was times like this when she remembered the girls in her village. They had been mean in the way that girls were, backhanded and cruel. When Tuya was just ten, she remembered, one of the princesses had visited her village, her mother forced her into her finest clothes. Those girls had snickered and said if you put a dress on a pig, it’s still a pig. That night she had thrown that lovely dress in the mud. “As much as I wish I could the laws of propriety enforced by your brother prevent me from doing so. If I were a general I’d do away with parties all together.”

[sesuyeh]

fcklidiya​:

lidiya was hoping that tuya would take her up on her offer. in reality, the idea of going out and dncing in front of all of these beautiful and powerful grisha was intimidating. would they think that this little human girl was intruding on their event? however at tuya’s words, she cracked a smile, almost immediately feeling more relieved. she nodded her head, giving the woman another hand squeeze. “i will do just that.” she inhaled and glanced at her reflection once more before smiling. “i am so excited!” lidiya finally got to see some of the gowns and suits she worked on in person. “you’re right. the only opinions that matter are our own.” 

Tuya had always wondered what it would have been like to grow up as a human. The thin line between being Grisha and being human had changed her life irrevocably. Would she even be in Ravka right now if she weren’t a Grisha? She probably would have stayed in Shu Han and lived a perfectly happy life with her mother and the other people in her village. Sometimes she resented being a Grisha. But tonight, walking arm in arm with Lidiya, she had no regrets. “You know my mother used to say that dancing was a language all on her own. I wish I’d listened to her more for occasions such as these. I just wanted to throw bugs at the village boys and roll in the dirt.”

[sesuyeh]

empyrcals​:

“I love it especially when your face flushes. You glow with raw beauty/ Like the sun, life giving but searing, un relenting. Stare too long and all are bound to be blinded that is the wonder of one of my dearest friends. Radiant truly” Havva explained before nodding with the statement the other had made. It would be a lie if Havva hadn’t ever imagined in a fever dream being married to a particular some, if she hadn’t dreamed of babies with blue eyes and  perfect happiness. It was hard to imagine wanting someone enough now or rather tolerating anyone enough to touch on the idea of picturing herself an equal partner in a marriage. “I quite agree.  Let us only fall in love with those little desserts and keep our freedom. Should you spy anything plum I would be eager to try it. Do you have a favorite fruit tart - we could see if they have any still left?”

Tuya laughed, unsure of where Havva’s penchant for dramatic compliments came from. It was like no poetry she’d ever read it was just something uniquely Havva. She had always managed to stand above the crowd as simply an exceptional person. Tuya had always thought she looked like an oil painting, a face that belonged in storybooks and legends. It was the company of women, women like Havva in particular that soothed her worried edges and kept her sane in the long days between war and the search for her mother. “Desserts aren’t as fickle as men anyways. I wonder if they have any blackberry left?”

[sesuyeh]

𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘁𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝘀𝗻'𝘁 𝗲𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵, 𝗶 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝗮 𝗴𝘂𝗻!

a tuya kir-khan playlist, listen here

[sesuyeh]

echoesnshadows​:

           luka  georgiy  was  not  a  stranger  to  hate  .  in  fact  ,  he  welcomed  it  ,  embraced  it  as  though  it  was  an  old  friend  .  it  was  his  (  misguided  )  philosophy  that  self  -  loathing  was  the  primary  contributor  to  character  development  .  while  hate  from  others  ,  he  saw  as  a  challenge  .  it  was  either  one  of  two  things  ,  1  )  another  tribulation  to  overcome  —  to  which  he  then  will  use  his  charm  and  contrarian  wit  to  manipulate  their  relationship  or  2  )  a  spark  of  flame  ,  potentially  creating  an  all  -  out  inextinguishable  flame  of  rage  —providing  luka  an  easy  path  if  their  untimely  downfall  was  required  .  and  thus  ,  both  of  which  ,  the  georgiy  man  thought  ,  would  be  fun  to  entertain  .  but  with  tuya  ,  his  perception  of  her  aversion  towards  him  was  different  .  it  was  as  if  ,  at  times  he  wanted  nothing  more  than  to  befriend  ,  to  know  what  was  hidden  behind  those  soulful  eyes  then  a  second  after  that  ,  he’d  be  (  pathetically  )  trying  his  very  best  to  start  a  rage  within  her  .  but  ,  to  his  disclosure  ,  the  latter  was  often  accidental  ——  nothing  but  the  nature  of  horribly  insensitive  men  .  the  corners  of  his  lips  lift  just  slightly  at  her  retort  ,  ❝  they  actually  do  need  guarding  ,  haven’t  you  heard  ?  there’s  a  cake  thief  roaming  around  the  little  palace  .  ❞  he  smirks  as  he  looks  her  up  and  down  before  leaning  forward  just  the  slightest  to  whisper  ,  ❝  apparently  they’re  in  the  costume  of  an  angry  overgrown  bird  .  ❞  he  leans  back  ,  a  proud  smirk  upon  cherry  lips  .  ❝  say  ,  you  haven’t  seen  one  around  have  you  ?  ❞

Tuya fumed, face burning red with anger. He was a nightmare, a horror, an absolutely dreadful idiot with not one lump of common sense behind his stupidly well-shaped head. And worst of all he vexed her. Whatever feeling she had towards Luka it seemed to be only for him, nobody else could make her this angry, this frustrated. And she hated it, she detested that anyone had that kind of power of her to rule her mood like a fist hitting a pendulum and starting its eternal swing back and forth. Gracelessly she shoved past him towards the food and stuffed a cake in her mouth to keep herself from saying something uniquely horrid. She had already felt enough like a performer in these clothes she didn’t need anyone else telling her that. If she weren’t bound by the laws of propriety she thought, he would have been flat against a wall by now and scurrying back out of the palace from whence he came. Tuya huffed noisily, her slim nose now tipped with frosting. “You men are always like that. So arrogant, so entitled to say whatever you like to anyone and for what reason? Because you can lift a bale of hay or just because you don’t have enough common sense to know when to stop talking!” She whirled on him pointing an accusatory finger in his face. “You are so...so....” Tuya paused, what was he? She didn’t particularly know or care to name the feeling that came with Luka Georgiy, his broad shoulders, or the proud slope of his nose. “So stupid!” she said finally. 

[sesuyeh]

Finding Elyse in a crowd had been Tuya’s solution to the problem of parties for nearly twenty years. Whenever she was overwhelmed and everyone was just too much undoubtedly Elyse would always manage to make her laugh and the tension racking her body would melt away. She swept through the gardens grateful at least for the middling quiet out here. She was only met occasionally by wandering couples and someone taking in the scenery. A sigh of relief came at the sight of Elyse and she fell in step next to her. “I don’t know why we have to entertain these parties so often.” She grumbled. “Having to live with all the men in the Little Palace is enough. Must we invite outsiders too?” // @vasiliair​

[sesuyeh]

fcklidiya​:

upon her arrival to the little palace, lidiya was scared that she was not going to connect with anyone besides her brother. however tuya was someone she wasn’t expecting at all. the grisha was kind and encouraging and she made lidiya much more confident around the little palace. a smile spread onto her features, easily. “oh thank you!” she murmured, a blush appearing on her cheeks. she squeezed her friend’s hand. “i would love to dress like this every day,” lidiya admitted, smoothing down her light-colored skirts. her eyes widened as the other ushered towards the main room. “oh- i-” she stuttered out. “i don’t know how to dance really well. what if i just watch you?”

Tuya scoffed, aghast at the idea that she would go out and dance on her own like some sort of moony girl who picked flowers and sang to herself. “I am far from a performer Lidiya, and besides-” she shrugged “-they wouldn’t know how to handle me.” Her grin was wicked, a secret thing reserved for the women she held close enough to lower her walls, only a little bit. Knowing Tuya was like knowing the waning moon, only ever able to see one half at a time. Sometimes she flirted with mischief and laughed with her whole belly. Other times she was cold and cruel as a whip like someone had seeped the warmth from her eyes. “It’s alright. You can just follow my lead. Anyone who would mock someone for dancing at a party is a fool whose opinion I don’t particularly care to know regardless.”

[sesuyeh]

echoesnshadows​:

           luka    ditched    the    comfort    of    his    kefta    when    he    retired    from    the    second    army    .    now    it    was    all    suits    and    ties    ,    polished    shoes    ,    golden    locks    nearly    tamed    ,    a    stark    difference    from    the    wild    soot    -    spotted    hair    ,    soil    -    stained    shoes    and    the    violet    kefta    decorated    with    bullet    holes    .    and    so    ,    adorned    with    yet    another    classic    suit    ,    luka    does    not    feel    there    is    much    difference    between    a    business    venture    and    the    spring    celebration    ——    then    again    ,    there    was    no    such    thing    as    a    celebration    in    the    georgiy    man’s    mind    .    every    waking    moment    was    spent    working    for    total    grisha    supremacy    .    just    as    the    threads    of    ambition    began    to    yet    again    create    a    tapestry    for    total    dominion    ,    he    was    interrupted    by    a    familiar    voice    .    he    almost    froze    at    the    greeting    .    luka    had    little    friends    ,    many    enemies    but    there    were    even    more    relationships    who    were    ,    hanging    on    by    a    very    thin    thread    ,    in    the    middle    of    the    spectrum    and    his    relationship    with    tuya    kir    -    khan    was    certainly    in    an    unpredictable    pendulum    that    could    swing    either    way    at    any    moment    .    he    plastered    on    a    smile    on    a    smile    .    ❝    good    evening    tuya    .    i    didn’t    think    the    evening    could    get    any    better    then    you    graced    me    with    your    presence    .    ❞    he    says    ,    a    bitter    sarcasm    laced    in    his    words    .    ❝    am    i    in    your    way    ?    ❞

Her eye twitched as he spoke. The angry tick had manifested itself two conversations ago and seemed to be reserved exclusively for Luka. The feathered crown on either sides of her head made her resemble an angry overgrown bird. Like a heron when someone had stepped to close to its nest and she was ready to peck. Tuya couldn’t pinpoint why she disliked Luka so much but she resented everything about his presence. Despite her own considerable height he still managed to tower above her in a mass of brawn that set her on edge. Or was it the tilt of his eyebrow as it surveyed her, the inherent male confidence that lived within him. Perhaps however, it was his sarcasm and the lilting mockery of her voice every time they spoke. She steeled herself doing her best to look intimidating.”I live to please.” She returned his own mocking drawl clearly on the edge of anger. “You are actually.” You great oaf. “If you would be so kind as to remove yourself from directly in front of the cakes it would be greatly appreciated. They don’t need guarding.” She smiled too saccharine for her frigid face.

[sesuyeh]

empyrcals​:

“I couldn’t agree more about the sweets. From what I have seen and heard of them they are divine. A few I don’t rightly recognize but they seem to be deconstructed versions of some of the classical ravkan dishes.” She smiled looping her arm with the others happy to walk in stride to the adjacent room. there they were in flowing silks of lavender and green moving about enjoying one another’s company glad to have an ally. “I am having a decent evening. No wild romances and one great auntie trying to fix me up with her great nephew but its fairly tame. I am having a much better time now though with you here”

She flushed red still unaccustomed to receiving so many compliments in a row. When Tuya looked in the mirror she still saw that feral child, half-dead and deranged on the steps of the Little Palace after fighting her way through half of Ravka. Now at events like this she still felt very much little a little girl playing dress up in her mother’s wardrobe, like the child was lurking underneath her gown, gnashing her teeth and prepared to attack. She bristled uncomfortably through the crowd. She would never be used to being around quite so many people, she thought sourly. “Wild romances are overrated. I think I would rather die than ever be called a wife.” She would never be owned by a man again.

[sesuyeh]

fcklidiya​:

lidiya looked at herself in the mirror for the third time. she couldn’t believe she was so dressed up. never in her life had see been so dolled-up, except for maybe her neighbor’s wedding, but even then, she borrowed one of her mother’s old gowns. sure, she was technically still working during spring fête but at the chance to dress up and feel a part of something, lidiya shined. tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she turned away from the mirror and finally noticed tuya standing there. “oh! i didn’t hear you! my…” she murmured, stepping towards the other. “that is very beautiful color on you, tuya.” @sesuyeh​

Tuya loved Lidiya the way that she loved the first bloom of Spring and the first snow in the Winter. She was a creature yet untouched by the horrors of men and every ugly thing they wrought upon the world. Whenever she saw Lidiya a fierce protectiveness came over her. She thought sometimes that maybe if she could help one more girl not suffer the way Tuya herself had suffered then the world might be worth saving after all. Her face split into a rare smile, a jovial hand grasping Lidiya’s. “Lidiya! You look positively radiant. A face like yours deserves to be dressed formally for even the simplest of occasions.” She was quite a bit taller than Lidiya but still ushered her towards the party with soft, nudging steps. “Shall we go dance and dazzle them all?”

[sesuyeh]

A gown felt more like armor than her kefta ever had. Maybe it was the dragging weight of the skirt or the beading that poked into her ribs but the deadliest battles of Tuya’s life had always been fought in ballrooms. Adversaries lurked in every corner prepared to strike at any moment. One such enemy stood steadfast in Tuya’s line of sight.  Luka Georgiy, from the cut of his jaw to the lean of his stance something about him made mind rear back like a startled horse bucking wildly. Her face pinched unattractively as she came to a stop in front of him. He was in the way of the refreshments. Did he not see her, or was he simply doing as men did and waiting to be moved around. They didn’t like or trust each other, this much was clear to anyone who had seen their brief and scattered interactions. She huffed. “Hello Luka.” Her voice was brusque as she spoke. // @echoesnshadows​

[sesuyeh]

empyrcals​:

There were many grisha who were like sisters and others who acted like her sister and she appreciated all of them. Truthfully she was willful and did often do what she liked motivated by her strong convictions but there were those who guided a fearless young woman to maturity. She was no etherealki but she did have a deep fondness of them, squallers especially. “Tuya! It’s a pleasure to see you. You look especially lovely this evening and if I am the first to say that you must know its the truth and believe nothing else. Lelya should be about somewhere here. Would you take a turn with me - perhaps enter the mess hall to find what delicacies their are.” / @sesuyeh  

Tuya did not enjoy parties. Though she had suffered through many in her twenty-two years in the little palace she had never found a taste for them. This many people made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. She felt like a cat on its haunches looking for somewhere to pounce and finding only a barren field before her. When Havva’s lovely, round face filled her vision she loosed a sigh of relief. “Hello, sweet girl.” The words came breathlessly like the relief of someone speaking to her had lifted a weight off her shoulders. “You know me too well. The sweets are the best part of these affairs.” She looped her arm through Havva’s and led her towards the adjacent room. “Are you enjoying yourself?”

[sesuyeh]

𝒕𝒖𝒚𝒂 𝒌𝒊𝒓-𝒌𝒉𝒂𝒏 at the spring fête

[sesuyeh]

tag dump

[sesuyeh]

location: the kitchens // @ravkastarters​

tuya’s midnight trips to the kitchens were well known amongst the staff of the little palace. she had been stealing into the stashes of sweets in the dead of night ever since she was twelve. her technique had improved over the years but it was generally accepted that if she was having a hard time or stressed over something she could found stockpiling sweets like a bear hibernating for winter. her bare feet pattered on the cold, ornate floors of the little palace. she swept like a ghost through the room, all inky black hair and pale-faced. when she had finished stuffing cakes into the pockets of her nightgown she turned back to the door and jumped. a figure stood blocking her way back to a night filled with ravkan history books and the treats in her pockets. “saints! you scared me.” she hurriedly tried to wipe the frosting from her mouth to no avail. “what are you doing up so late?”

[sesuyeh]

stcrmhold​:

the gardens feat. @ravkastarters​

TASHA FAVOURED HER BLADES, EVERYONE KNEW THAT; but a grisha was supposed to be flexible in every conceivable moment — the revolver in her hand felt heavy and foreign, despite so, she took her aim. one shot, and then two, she didn’t have to move closer to know that only one of them hit an outer ring of the bullseye. a string of elegant swear words were muttered under her breath, barely noticeable over the voices of trainees on the other side of the garden, as she turned to refill the bullets into the barrels. “a sixty-five percent success rate, saints, that’s basically a failure.” 

tuya stood within reach stoic as always. she could often be likened to a statue for her habit of standing still in a place for an hour. the only move she made was the gentlest quirk of her eyebrow an invitation, an inquiry. she enjoyed watching the other grisha train. it made her feel safer to know at least some of their tactics. she herself had been lazily hitting targets with bursts of wind leaving scattered pieces of hay all around. “you’re too critical of yourself. nobody is born with the ability to master everything. the key trait of a warrior is patience.”

[sesuyeh]

tuya kir-khan, a thirty-four year old grisha in the little palace. she is a squaller and are known in the little palace as the shield. they are known to be loyal and acerbic and vaguely resemble zhang xinyu. vee, 20, she/her, est.

hello hello i am vee and i have been in love w the grishaverse since 2018. i hope you all will love tuya prickly as she may be!

when tuya kir-khan fled shu han at ten years old with her mother in tow she knew that she would never be able to return to her home

tuya’s family life was good up until that day. she was born happily despite her father dying in a skirmish on the border to ravka

she was her parents only child and life seemed to be picturesque until the day she started exhibiting grisha powers

born in a land that was unkind to grisha she and her mother went into hiding, living in rural areas closer to the border where the focus was on ravkan soliders and not a small child who liked to make the winds move

eventually soldiers caught wind of her existence however and rather than be turned over to the shu han government for experimentation she and her mother fled the country in the dead of night

they trekked across the mountains with little more on their backs then a satchel of food

they made it safely across the border into careyeva but not a year later her mother was taken by slavers and she was left alone

tuya battled her way through half of ravka and by the time she showed up on the steps of the little palace half-dead and a slip of a girl she didn’t have anything left to do but serve in the second army

tuya resented shu han for their view on grisha and due to it they had been forced out of their home and her mother was taken by slavers

it was hard to adapt to life in the little palace after years of being destitute, any time she wasn’t training she was searching for her mother’s location

it’s been twenty-five years and while she’s gotten close a couple times she still can’t find her mother but tuya refuses to give up hope

tuya is defensive to most, she’s spent a lifetime being hunted and so tends to hit first and ask questions later

she has a long running maternal streak for young grisha in the palace and can often be found sneaking treats to them

she’s a little bit of an acquired taste honestly, but once you’ve won her loyalty it’s very hard to lose it

she’s hardheaded but loveable basically, unfailingly loyal to the second army and grisha and to the search for her mother

yeah this was written at 2am so if it’s bad it’s bad!