desi182-blog

[fagandordyke]

lozenge helping my sore throat but triggering my acid reflux..... my options are throat hurts and throat hurts but different

[feliks-grayscayl]

I AM NOW ON T :D i'm so fucking happy i never thought i'd get to this point. even when i was getting evaluated it seemed so impossible

[adelheidsideblog]

do u think maybe theres anyone who'd like an s/o whos more androgynous/can flip flop between masculine/feminine dress? 🥹

Yes I do! As a nonbinary person myself I feel like the grand majority of countries don’t care too much about gender or presentation. I have a headcanon that the nations are kind of like the angels and demons in Good Omens: they’re all on the nonbinary spectrum because they experience gender differently than humans. So I think all of them would be alright with it

With that being said, off the top of my head the nations that end up with genderqueer s/o’s are:

1. Alfred

2. Matthew

3. Arthur

4. Francis

5. Feliciano

6. Kiku

7. Yao

8. Feliks

9. Matthias

10. Lukas

[sere-ness-ima]

i wonder if i dump so much whump on feliks because he's my main muse, or if i had chosen feliks for my main muse because i knew he would provide tons of whump opportunities

[thetimecrystal]

music asks 1, 5, 6, 7, 24, 31, 38, 40 teehee :3c

music asks

1 what is your favorite song. right now. tell me.

or

i have been on a planet booty kick lately

5. shuffle your playlist!!! what’s the first song that plays?

6. what bands/artists do you want to see in concert?

ghost, planet booty, quadeca, gorillaz and käärijä... twrp (again)

7. what bands/artists have you seen in concert?

tokio hotel, r*mmstein, hatari (twice), duncan laurance, shiraz lane, crashdïet, dead by april (supposed to be twice too, but shit happens), blind channel, blur, depeche mode, twrp and my latest show was mio!

24. what’s a song you cry to?

not a song, but i didn't mean to haunt you by quadeca. that entire album has me crying

31. are you a lyric analyzer or do you just listen for fun. 🫣

i am a mixture of both, primarily just for fun and for vibes but sometimes i get into the lyric analysis

38. did one of your favorite bands/artists do a cover???? tell me about it!!!

twrp worked as a backing band on nsp's three cover bands but they don't really count to me bc i don't listen to them... their live covers of something about us from daft punk is absolutely *chef's kiss* tho

the only cover i can remember atm is placebo's cover of running up that hill (a dream with god) by kate bush... but that cover takes this very trancendental, epic, super 80s song from bush and turns it into this haunting, almost horror-esque masterpiece. the kate bush song is probably one of my favourite songs of all time, so the fact that this cover stands up is a testament to what placebo did! plus their i feel you cover (originally by depeche mode) from the same album is great!!

40. shuffle your playlist and the fifth song—describe it in one image.

(inuyasha by mahmood)

[quillcraftconquer]

John “Soap” Mactavish x Female reader

TW: Smut, spanking, (kinda) rough sex? Bj, piv.

Soap deserves more x reader content. Just sayin.

WC: 1.9k

Maybe a WIP? Idk

—————-

You didn’t intend to go out tonight and get unequivocally drunk, especially the night before you were deploying with a new unit.

But here you were, a couple beers deep, watching the muscled back of the man with the short, dark mohawk as he attempted to catch the attention of the bartender.

You didn’t intend to try to bring anyone back to your hotel tonight, but damn if that man didn’t look good. He was leaned forward over the bar, palms splayed out on the sticky wood. His thick, Scottish accent was carrying over the other voices around him as he got more and more frustrated at being ignored. The bartender, your poor friend Feliks, continued to ignore him, bustling around the bar to serve the rowdy regulars who ordered in his native language, occasionally glaring at the Scot who threw his hands up in exasperation each time. It didn’t help as the night went on, the regulars were getting rowdier, pushier, shoving against him.

You looked down into your empty glass.

Fuck it

You approached the bar, sliding into the empty space next to the man and called out to Feliks for another drink.

“You’re losing a customer.” You joked to him in Russian, nodding your head to the Scot who guffawed when Feliks set another beer down in front of you.

“Tell him to leave a yelp review.” Feliks barked out, swatting the wandering hands of a patron who was reaching over the counter.

“Am I fucking invisible?” The Scot grunted, stiffening his shoulders as another person bumped into him.

“He doesn’t speak English.” You laughed, turning to face him. Finally, the Scot peeled his eyes off the bartender, glancing down at you. His eyes darted from one of your eyes to the other, to your lips, and back to your eyes.

You were an interpreter, and you could definitely interpret that look.

“What do you want?” You asked, glancing down at the beer he was holding.

“Same thing.” He answered, and you flagged Feliks down, who begrudgingly passed another beer your way. You slid it to the man, letting your eyes wander over his chest before meeting his eyes.

“You’re a ways away from Scotland.” You joked.

“Military.” He grunted, fiddling with the tab of the beer until it popped open, raising it to his mouth to take a long drink.

“Mm.” You hummed in response, resisting the urge to crinkle your nose. You definitely didn’t intend to take one of them back to your hotel.

“Like a man in uniform?” He asked, giving you a cheeky grin. You wanted to groan and roll your eyes, but if you were going to get laid before being in the middle of fucking nowhere for months, you had to take what you could get.

“I like when they take them off.” You said, lifting an eyebrow, hoping he could take a hint. The way his grin widened you knew he was picking up on what you wanted.

“Yeah?” He smiled, eyeing you over the can, fingers tightening on the tin as his gaze fell over the tight dress covering your body.

“Too bad you’re not in yours.” You said, running your hand up the hard muscles of his chest, resting it there as the patrons around you bumped your bodies closer.

“Still looks pretty good outta this, if you want to try it out.” He breathed, catching your waist in his hand and idly grazing his thumb over your hip.

And just like that, you’re letting him lead you through the crowded bar, out the door and to his car. A car that is much too clean to be used daily. You punch in the address to your hotel, tossing the phone down as it loads the ETA.

9 minutes.

You can work with that.

You wait until the gravel is crunching under the tires as he pulls out of the bar, driving through the dark, illuminating the interior of the car when it passes under the occasional street light. You unbuckle, and he glances over to you suspiciously until your fingers graze against his waist band. His eyes widen and his hands squeeze the steering wheel, shifting his hips to give you better access. You unzip his fly, fishing his cock out as it hardens in your grasp. You let a small smile fall across your face when he moans, working your hand up and down his thick length, the precum beading at the top.

“Condom?” You ask husikly, and he nods.

“Wallet.” He groans, bucking his hips into your hand.

You reach into his pocket, fishing out the brown leather wallet and opening it. Your eyes dart over the I.D

John MacTavish.

One condom.

“Just one, John?” You ask, holding it between two fingers with your eyebrows raised. You didn’t want to put this strangers cock in your mouth without protection, but god, it looked delectable. He smiled at you sheepishly, and you tucked it back in the wallet, tossing it on the dashboard. You returned your hand to his cock, leaning forward to press your lips against the shell of his ear.

“Make it count.” You whispered, giving his earlobe a playful nibble. He groaned, and you dipped your head lower, drawing your tongue across the mushroom head. You sucked him further into your mouth, jaw aching as it stretched to accommodate him. You could hear the squeak of the leather on the steering wheel as his grip tightened.

“Fuck.” He moaned, laying a hand tentatively on the back of your head, gathering your hair into his fist. You nodded, allowing him to move you freely up and down his cock, eyes watering when he bucked up, groaning as he attempted to fit all of him into your mouth.

“You’ve arrived at your destination”

He sighed when you pushed up against his hand, pulling him from your mouth with a pop. You led him up to your room, his hand resting on the small of your back, occasionally dropping lower to give your ass a squeeze. You opened the door to your room, tossing the key on the dresser and turning to face him. His hands were immediately on you, his length straining against the denim of his jeans. You reached for the hem of his shirt and he paused, pulling away from your touch.

“Sorry.” He mumbled, turning to face the dresser and digging under his shirt, pulling out a holster and laying it on top. He bent, pulling up the pant of his leg and unclipping another from his ankle and placing it next to the other. He reached into the other boot, pulling a knife out, laying it with his other weapons. He rose up, gauging your reaction.

“Two guns, a knife, but one condom?” You said sarcastically, shrugging the dressing off your shoulders and peeling it down your body.

“Use those more.” He joked, pulling his shirt over his head, his jeans and briefs quickly joining the discarded clothes on the floor. He pressed his naked body against yours, his hard cock trapped between your stomachs as he kissed you, tongue dipping into your mouth. You moaned as he backed you up until the back of your knees bumped into the bed. You sank into the mattress, expecting him to join you. Instead, he knelt on the carpet at the edge of the bed, gripping your hips and dragging you to him.

“What’re you-“ You started, gasping when you felt his tongue lap at the wetness that had pooled between your thighs.

“Thought I’d return the favor.” He said, drawing a long lick up to your clit, his hands wrapping around your legs and pulling them over his shoulders. You moaned, tossing your head back into the bed as you fisted his dark mohawk, grinding into his face with need.

“Oh, fuck.” You gasped as he dragged two fingers across you, pressing against your entrance. He curled them inside of you, thrusting gently as he focused his mouth on your clit.

“Oh god, please don’t stop. Fuck, John.” You moaned, and he groaned against you when you said his name. You squeezed your eyes tightly shut, bucking against his face as you felt your orgasm hit, clenching around his fingers. You sighed when you felt him pull back, opening your eyes as he rolled his one and only condom on. You scooted up the bed until your head hit the pillows, his body draping over yours, knees pushing your legs further apart. He reached behind your head, grabbing a pillow and placing it under your ass. Your lips twitched at the corner, fighting a smile.

This was a well practiced man.

He leaned forward, his dog tags jingling as they dangled by your face. You felt the tip of his cock press against your entrance, and his eyes met yours.

This was much more intimate than you intended.

You both groaned in unison when he pressed forward, his length causing you to tingle with a burning stretch that felt so good. He pressed his forehead against yours, panting. Your nipples hardened when the cool metal of his dog tags brushed against your chest, arching your back into him.

“Fuck, you feel good. So good.” He mumbled, drawing back a few inches before driving into you again, the top of your head gently bumping against the headboard with each thrust.

You weren’t into military men. In fact, you did your best to avoid them. You were in the military, you knew how terrible these men could be.

But holy shit, this man was working your body in ways you didn’t know it could be worked.

You wrapped your arms around his torso, dragging your nails across his back.

“Harder.” You begged, clasping one hand on the back of his neck. He grabbed one of your ankles, maneuvering your leg over his shoulder as he drove deeper, harder, smashing his hips against yours. But it wasn’t enough.

“More, please.” You pleaded, embarrassed at what this man was turning you into. He choked out a laugh, pausing his thrusts.

“What do you want?” He asked, using the opportunity to catch his breath. You placed a hand against his chest, pushing him back off of you, out of you. He stared at you in question, eyes darkening with lust when you flipped around, raising your ass to him and burying your face into the mattress. You felt his hands grip your hips, pulling you back onto his cock. You gasped as he pulled back, ramming into you again roughly. A small smack on your ass made you moan into the pillow, and encouraged by the sound, he did it again, harder this time.

“Better?” He asked, massaging the spot his hand had connected as he thrusted. You nodded, unable to contain the small whimpers that escaped your throat each time he surged forward and hit that delicate spot inside of you. Your ass tingled with each smack, followed by the massage from his calloused hand.

“Feels so fucking good, god I can feel you gripping my cock. I’m not going to last long.” He moaned, hips quickening as if to make a point. You nodded again, your eyes fluttering shut in exhaustion and pleasure as another orgasm overtook you.

“John…” You moaned out, for the first time wishing there wasn’t a barrier between you.

He groaned as you felt his fingers tighten against your hips, draping his body against your back, pressing his sweat drenched forehead against your shoulders blade as the condom filled with his release. He stayed like that for a moment before pulling out of you, the mattress creaking as his weight left it. You felt the comforter fall over your body, the faint rustling of clothes and keys filling the silence as you kept your eyes shut, body spent.

[mac-ann-cheese]

the wolf and the sheep

I'm silly...

Surprise, surprise, I do enjoy drawing other pairings!

This is my love letter to the Lietpol nation out there!!!!!! (⁠つ⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)⁠つ∘⁠˚⁠˳⁠°

I wanted to draw something warm since lietpol fanficition tends to be incredibly tenebrous.

I continue to experiment with my style.

Chibi bonus!!

•••

An evil witch put a curse on Poland so that he could only speak one word each year. One day, Feliks fell in love. He was silent for 3 years and saved up 3 words, after which he approached Tolys and said:

— Liet, so, like

[bookneat]

Lithuania Headcanons for @council-of-beetroot

Tolys is loyal to a fault. He loves and cares about his friends and family deeply, and will go to the ends of the earth to protect them, even if it puts himself in danger. (Feliks hates when Tolys puts himself in danger)

That said, it’s nearly impossible to regain his trust once it’s broken

He loves Eduard and Raivis, but he doesn’t trust Tino or Gilbert

On occasion, he tries to convince other nations Poland doesn’t exist

This man loves basketball right, but he also loves baseball. It reminds him of the US and Alfred

Speaking of Alfred, he and Tolys always find time to see each other. One of the best days of Tolys’ life was when he showed Alfred Vilnius for the first time in the 1930s

Ivan convinced the rest of the world Tolys was weak. He ran with it because it gave him plausible deniability

He’s a clingy drunk, never wanting to let go of Feliks

[yaoxsblog]

Headcanon except not really because I am Himaruya anyways Feliks is fluent in Silesian and Kashubian. Also speaks in gwara góralska. Uses all of them exclusively with the purpose of confusing his enemies (And Liet)

[fagandordyke]

the difference between my social confidence drunk and sober is really staggering. like yes i sucked u off bc we vibed so well over a 45 minute car trip but is it weird if i text u tho?

[floralcrematorium]

If you could picture FrUk (either as individuals or as a duo) at only one point in time (present, past, or future) where in time and space would they fit ideally? What AU do they permanently live in for you?

!!! Thanks for the ask!

I tend to stick to human AUs because the whole immortality thing freaks me out a little bit (my personal and chronic existential dread...) and I genuinely cannot get a grip on how interpersonal relationships between characters would work when you consider personal strife as well as actual politics and history. Plus in human AUs, I can just stick 'em in silly situations. For a while I entertained myself with a silly grocery store AU that led to some very fun New Character Groups (EX: I put Natalya, Piri, and Feliks in customer service bc I think the three of them together would actually be really fun, but this post isn't about them.). Does it make sense to stick Heta characters in an American style grocery store? No. But the shenanigans entertain me.

Cough. FrUK. Buckle up.

I'm an absolute sucker for FACE fam AUs and just soft FrUK content, so I really enjoy slice of life modern things with them. I realistically could enjoy putting them in any time period, but FrUK is just comfort to me atp. Literally talking with friends, I'll send cat videos and be like "wow this is so FrUK"

Speaking of cats. I yap with @jaynuu (hi sorry for the ping) a bunch abt FrUK + them owning their nekotalia counterparts. Them owning the cats can literally be applied to nationverse, human AU, human AU with FACE fam, etc etc it goes on and on - there are so many variables

Together we've surmised that Arthur owned Neko-France first; a fluffy little monster who has known nothing but the lavish comfort of the indoors. Whether or not Arthur's got Neko-Fran before he and Francis are together/living together depends on the situation, but Neko-Eng comes along after. Francis manages to tame this absolutely feral cat, and nobody understands how, because he seems to hate everyone but Francis. Neko FRUK get along very well. FrUK just have gay cats now.

Neko-Fran is a strictly indoor cat while Neko-Eng is allowed to go outside (the guy would NOT stop howling to be let out, after all, he did spend most of his life outdoors). One afternoon FrUK come back home to find Neko-Eng out on the front doorstep with two kittens he's randomly acquired????? They're on the younger side and both a vet visit and asking around yield no results as to where the kittens came from, so Francis and Arthur just have two??? New cats?? Which are Neko-NA bros. Neko-FrUK take to caring for the kittens as their own and shenanigans ensue in a household with FOUR cats

I have been trying to dip my feet into some historical works, but through a piece with Miss Ukraine, I'm learning I'm just not very good at it due to writing the dialogue and worrying about if I'm getting things correct. I would eventually like to play around with FrUK from 1300s-1600s with the Hundred Years' War, the Wars of the Roses, and the Tudor Period as a whole. I've been DYING to play with the Field of Cloth of Gold for a hot minute. While it's something I'd love to do, I don't know if I'll ever get around to it because in the last year or so I just have lost a lot of braincells. If I could think coherently, I'd love to sit down, research, and craft some story, but alas. I can't decide if I'd use regular 1P FrUK or if I'd use nyo!FrUK either. I would LOVE to play around with designing some 16th century outfits for the girlies

[catapparently]

Malina and or Kanej HCs pleaseeeeee

My boos I miss them all ty <333

Kanej Headcanons

I'll do Kanej because despite having read the books, I'm honestly not really familiar with Mal's character and therefore not likely to write something accurate.

Also sorry not sorry this is half angst because it's Kanej

First of all, they both think the other deserves someone better/more suited to them;

Inej knows that Kaz needs someone who'd be willing to be with him despite not being able to touch. He needs someone with patience and who wouldn't mind waiting forever for him.

On the other side, Kaz thinks Inej OVERALL deserves someone better than him, someone who would be able to hold her, comfort her, kiss her...

Despite that, if Inej ever gets approached romantically by another man, Kaz will beat him up later, threaten the dude's mother, then frame him for a murder Kaz committed and get him sent to Hellgate, far far away from Inej

Inej doesn't ever worry or get jealous over Kaz speaking to other girls because she knows he wouldn't be interested in a million years

Ok so we all remember when Inej said “I will have you without armor, Kaz Brekker. Or I will not have you at all.” and Kaz didn't budge, basically a silent painful rejection

Inej said that because she 99.99% knew that Kaz wouldn't instantly take off his "armor" for her

She WANTED him to "reject" her because her goal was to go hunt slavers, far far away from Kaz

Sure, they could send letters, but they could never be genuine in the letters lest someone intercepts them and finds out Kaz's weakness

As long as there wasn't an unspoken "rejection" between them, Inej wouldn't feel completely free to leave after the whole Ice court heist and all

Obviously she will still love him, but she needed a way to let go of that attachment enough to go and follow her dreams

Inej thinks about Kaz every single day since she left him

She's always reminded of him in every single thing she does or thinks;

"That's exactly what Kaz would say/do"

Inej goes to visit Kaz in Ketterdam whenever she passes by with her ship

Whenever she leaves again, Kaz sends her off with a pair of gloves or a coat of his

After the events in Rule of Wolves, when Zoya tasks Kaz with finding the heart of St. Feliks (I think that's the name?), Inej was the first person he asked for intel. Since she travels around so much she surely heard something

Of course, when he's going outside of Ketterdam for jobs or other stuff, Inej is the one who takes him on her ship. He wouldn't trust anyone else

Inej once said a few affectionate words in Suli to him and Kaz immediately searched through all of his contacts for someone to translate it for him

Inej once stole a wealthy slaver's fancy watch and brought it back to Kaz;

Not because Kaz needed yet another one but more as a symbol that she was still what Kaz made her.

When Kaz bought her the ship, he made the captain's room look like a better version of her room at the Slat so that she would always have a reminder of him and the Crows

Because her "magic slippers" got burnt while scaling the incinerator in SoC, Kaz got her a nice pair of more practical boots and commissioned yet another Fabrikator to modify the soles and make them excellent for climbing

Kaz made Wylan work on cannon blueprints until they were perfect and had them installed

He basically went all out with that ship

Inej got a little tattoo that said "the Crow" with "The Wraith" under it on her back despite her issue with branding

She didn't get it as a label, she got it as a reminder of who she was

"the Wraith" was everything the Menagerie's Suli lynx wasn't. For Inej, the tattoo was a symbol of her strength

Kaz didn't know

He found that out when one day, she came to visit him and was wearing a backless top;

He'd gotten (stolen) a necklace for her and she asked him to put it on for her;

At first Kaz was really hesitant but he *GASP* took off his gloves, and gently brushed her hair out of the way and that's when he saw the little tattoo

This man FROZE and didn't even realize his UNGLOVED index finger was tracing her bare skin along the lines of the tattoo

When he realized it he quickly stopped and hurriedly clasped the necklace around her neck

He still isn't over his touch aversion, but he's doing better. He still quickly stepped back though, putting some distance in between them

He noticed the faintest flush on Inej's cheeks and that's how he knew she still loved him, he felt relief in knowing so

These days, amongst Kaz's men, the Wraith is a myth. They don't know that Inej is gone, they think she's always there in the shadows, spying and reporting back to Kaz

Only the OGs know the truth

To Kaz, this was a way of forever having a piece of her within the gang

I hope these are to your liking!!! It's hard to write Kanej without angst

[council-of-beetroot]

The way Tolys carries shame is so fascinating. Ivan really did a number on him. One minute he's happy being a feral forrest pagan boy covered in mud, blood and animal hide and the next he's feeling utterly humilated and fretting bc Felix is wearing a dress. He's like if you took a wild, ring-worm filled wolf-boy and put him in an office setting and taught him nun levels of modesty. He's Ivans forever psychological experiment.

You know the way you put that it's quite relatable. I've spent so many years learning to mask myself to fit in and survive that when someone else I'm with isn't performing to the social standards that were drilled into me it is like low-key stressful it's "like hold on wait you can't do that or they won't treat you with dignity"

I made a post elaborating on this theme here. I don't know if this ask was more along the lines of this or was in response to my fanfic I reblogged

I think Tolys is after everything in a strange place where he's no longer forced to conform to Ivan's or even Feliks' standards yet he can't go back to the way he was in his youth.

I think tolys focused on trying to control as much as he could when he lived with Ivan because that way he could feel like he could predict and determine the outcomes and manage to get through. A large aspect was dedicated to making sure his brothers were safe as he could to the point where it didn't give the other two much space.

Now I think he still is an anxious mess and he still has his set of rules to survive modern day just as he did living with Ivan. This is completely opposite to a person like Feliks, who he is one to change nothing about himself to conform (in theory) and he's not confined by self imposed boxes like Tolys. He's spent so long performing a script and returning to someone who throws the script out of the window sort of speak.

Tolys feels shame strongly because he is a warrior at his core. In his mind he is meant to fight with honour and it is up to him alone to change the course of the battle. He is supposed to retain that glory to his name or die fighting. Alas, the world forces him to survive rather than die fighting and I think that leaves him with shame because he feels like he's given in.

I think it all comes back to a rather maladaptive view in Tolys' mind that's been been effectively reinforced by Ivan and remains to this day.

It's past midnight so I hope this makes sense! Thank you so much for the ask💕

[polycraftory]

Dragon Falls (How to Tame a Husband) by Davis Lavender

Reviewed by Meghan 💜

⭐⭐⭐⭐ 4.5/5 | 🌶️🌶️ 2/5

GENRE: Cozy Portal Fantasy REP: mlm, achillean demi male mc, gay male mc, queer scs CW: mentions of cheating, manipulation, minor injuries LENGTH: 357 pgs

If you are looking for a sweet and funny gay romcom in a fantasy setting, I highly recommend this book! It manages to deliver an interesting isekai / transmigration narrative with a cast of incredibly lovable characters. This is exactly the sort of novel I had wanted when I was growing up looking for queer romance in a fantasy setting. Added to that just a little bit of spice and a whole lot of humor. It's technically an adult novel, but it's a lighthearted one that is also light on the smut. Also, I desperately want this to be a new au setting so fanfic writers please read this. Overall, this is a delightful indie book that I am very glad I got. I really love this Rainbow Crate @rainbowcrate edition from their Cozy Fantasy box.

Below the cut you can find my full review! You can find more reviews like this on my Storygraph or in our "meghan reviews" tag. Check out our pinned post for links!

If you want to avoid spoilers skip the section labeled "The End".

The Main Characters / Core Romance Feliks is an incredibly relatable and very sweet ADHD hot mess. He isn't explicitly neurodivergent, but the way he describes his "brain squirrels" and the everything else about him was deeply relatable to me (my whole household is some flavor of neurodivergent). He is an absolute ray of sunshine, and he gets isekai-ed into a dragon riding warlord with the Ruthless as his moniker. It is incredibly funny to watch him try to do damage control on all the awful things that the old Ryszard did. To differentiate them both in the narrative and for the reader, Feliks has people start to call him Rys. I found him absolutely charming, even though he so often speaks before thinking and puts his foot in his mouth. I thoroughly enjoyed watching him win over everyone, including his husband. Also! He's demisexual and demiromantic! I have literally never read a book before where I saw myself represented like that! It was honestly so wonderful and validating even though its inclusion is very subtle.

Marek is a classic and wonderful example of the grumpy half of the grumpy/sunshine dynamic. He has incredibly good reasons not to trust his husband, who reappeared after being presumed dead for two years. Yet, he can't resist Rys' charm no matter how much he doesn't trust his husband's new polar opposite personality. From his best friend Kasia to the denhands he teaches, I enjoyed how much he cares for everyone despite being so very grumpy. I feel like that personality type tends to be portrayed as a loner, but Marek is at the heart of his community and they all adore him. The relationship between him and his dragon is also incredible, and there is quite a lot of humor in how infuriated he is that his dragon suddenly adores his husband who used to treat them both horribly. Rys calls their dragon Honey Bunny despite there being a Whole Thing (TM) about Dragons not being owned and therefore not being named. It does not at all infuriate Marek that his dragon now only responds to Bunny! Don't be ridiculous!

Their dynamic is everything you'd expect from this sort of grumpy/sunshine pair up, especially with the added component of Rys often saying exactly the wrong thing to Marek since he doesn't know their theoretically "shared" history from before he transmigrated into the story. Rys has absolutely no knowledge of the plot or world he gets thrown into at all, so it leads to quite a lot of unintentional hurt. Still, they have an incredibly sweet romance and both work hard for their happily ever after. For me, this was a very low spice book but I didn't come here for that.

The Worldbuilding I had to give this it's own section because the worldbuilding is so fun and I want people to immediately adopt this as a new fun AU setting for fanfiction. Only nobility can become Dragon Riders. In order to be a Rider, you have to court and marry yourself a Dragon Tamer. Each Tamer has one Dragon that they tame and train. Tamers can be anyone who earns the position, and they often start out as Denhands (basically, like, squires; they help with upkeep around the Den and help care for your dragon). Denhands get adopted by a Tamer and a Rider, so their entire family structure is based around the dragon riding system and I just think that's such a fun build! Once a Tamer and Rider get married, the Rider starts to bond with their dragon and learns how to ride. Once you are done training as a Rider, you have your final test which is the Claiming Ceremony. You take a leap of faith off the cliff and if your dragon catches you, you are a fully fledged Rider. If they don't, well, you fall to your death. Womp womp. Until their Claiming Ceremony, Tamers must protect their Riders from all harm so you get an extra layer of bodyguard romance. Seriously, I need this as an AU setting for every ship I've ever seen immediately. The Plot Very straightforward! Rys thinks his only way back to his world is to survive till his claiming ceremony so he can reuse the whistle at the top of the Falls to reopen the portal. Most of the narrative is a combo of the training leading up to the ceremony, the building romance, and Rys figuring out how to be a good husband (and father lol they adopt a kid. Damon/Demon I adore you). You also see Rys unravel all the harm the character he took over did to all the people of this training camp and home city. It has plenty of found family vibes, and honestly I loved the whole main cast. Overall, this was a very lighthearted plot even though murder / being trapped in another world / falling to his death were all theoretically on the table. The humorous tone keeps the plot from getting dark or serious. It has a good pace and was exactly the right amount of plot based on what I was expecting, which is basically a romcom in a fantasy setting.

The End Spoilers time! It almost goes without saying, but this is a nice, easy, unequivocal happily ever after. I was pleased that there was still plenty of book left after the climax. We got a really nice falling action with the main characters getting together and figuring out how to stay together. Also, this nicely side-stepped any of the usual portal fantasy or transmigration angst from having to choose between returning to their world and staying with their love interest. Feliks/Rys gets to have the best of both worlds since he has a portal he can open and close with the whistle reforged. I do wish we got to see Marek meet his brother and mother, I am dying to know how that went. Also, my edition had a nice little bonus story, The Trouble With Tybald, about two of the side characters getting together as well as a closer peek at the side romance between Demon (Rys and Marek's son) and the son of the bartender. It was a fun little surprise snack at the end, even though the bonus content wasn't for the main couple!

[doomspiral]

The computer sci gamer trans girl is a delight, let no one speak ill of the blessed, but let us not forget the goths who want to drive a hearse and wear lace. Feliks is the former, Nat is the latter.

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Daughter of the Rain and Snow

Concept: Around ten years after the events of Crooked Kingdom, 25-year-old Captain Inej Ghafa frees Maya Olsen from a pleasure house in Ketterdam. Maya is looking for revenge against the man who put her in her position, a man who she knows nothing about except his name: Kaz Brekker.

Tags: @wraith--2 @lunarthecorvus @just2bubbly @real-fragments7 @cartoon-clifford @origami-butterfly @lady-a-stuff @thelibraryofalexandriastillburns @inej-ghafa-deserves-the-world @thatdelusionalnerd

If anyone wants to be added let me know :)

Content Warnings: in more general terms I want to remind people to be aware of the nature of Kaz and Inej's experiences and relationship since even if I'm not directly addressing these things they tend to be implicit in any writing about them, but specifically to this chapter there's ptsd references

AO3 link: Daughter of the Rain and Snow - Chapter 100 - She_posts_nerdy_stuff - Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo [Archive of Our Own]

Chapter 99 - Inej

Inej didn’t know how long she had slept for, leaning on Kaz with the curtains open and the sun still leaking through the window, because she wasn’t sure exactly when she’d fallen asleep, but it was afternoon when she awoke, her head clouded but less painful, the ache in her side dull and distant. Distant enough, anyway. Kaz was still there, still awake, still holding her. It must have been at least three hours, she thought.

“Kept myself busy,” he said, when she asked how he hadn’t lost his mind for boredom, “Started reading this,”

He showed her the book she’d left on the nightstand, the one she'd borrowed from Jesper.

“It’s not bad,” he said, “But there must be another twist coming, because I’d worked out who the father was by chapter three,”

Inej smiled. 

“Don’t tell Jesper that,”

She stood and stretched, still stiff but grateful for every ache in her muscles that meant she could still feel them, was still breathing, was still alive. 

“What time are we leaving tomorrow?”

“Six bells,”

Inej paused.

“We leave the house at six bells or the boat departs at six bells?”

“We leave the house. Our ferry departs at seven bells, the Wraith should be here by nine. I need to stop at the Slat to pick up the forged travel documents, and to tell Anika and Pim what time to get Rollins to the docks,”

Inej still wasn’t sure she liked this plan very much. She nodded.

“They bring him to Ravka,” she said, “Then when they return they pick up Maya. Fiona will need to be on the boat back to Ravka again, but I’ll need a Corporalnik on the team staying in Ketterdam to finish the Tulip Mill job. Do you think Evan would do it?”

“Possibly,” Kaz mused, “But it might depend how much time he can afford to spare. Or how much time Feliks will give him,”

Inej nodded. Kaz knew something she didn’t, and she wasn’t sure why he wasn’t telling her. Some kind of secret of Evan’s, she supposed. It shouldn’t matter.

“Can we put Maya in a Dregs safehouse until the Wraith returns?” she asked, pulling a clean tunic from the chest of drawers.

“I suppose,” said Kaz, “I can easily spare someone to watch her for a few weeks,”

Inej shook her head.

“It’s not just watching her; even if she’s better than I am she’s going to be ill, she’ll probably hallucinate - and she needs support anyway. Maybe I should ask Fiona to stay…”

Inej thought of Maya collapsing at the shelter, whispering Celina’s name. She did not voice that to Kaz.

Maybe not Fiona, then. But someone.

“I’ll speak to Nina,”

Kaz raised an eyebrow.

“She’s not coming to Ravka?”

Both of them had assumed Nina would follow them on the Wraith. Inej had actually assumed Nina would come on the ferry with them, but at some point it had all been organised and Nina was staying behind.

“Are you sure you don’t need me to come?” Nina had asked, hand closed over Inej’s, not long after Inej had first woken up after her hallucination.

Nina had never actually offered to come, only made the assumption that Inej would expect her to. Are you sure you don’t need me to come? Need. Not want. Inej frowned. Nina had been slightly off all week, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was she wasn’t telling her. She would not force her to say anything she didn’t want to.

“I need you to help look after the girls for me,” she’d murmured, resting her head on Nina’s shoulder, “And to look after Jesper and Wylan,”

Nina leant her head on Inej’s.

“I’ll write to you every day,”

“You’d better,”

Nina had laughed, softly.

“I promise,” she murmured, “Kaz packed you a bag, but if there’s anything particular you want I can go and get it,”

“Have you seen the scarf Aimee made for me? I think it’s downstairs,”

Nina squeezed Inej’s shoulder, then stood up.

“I’ll go find it,”

Now Inej shook her head, shrugging a little.

“I asked her to help Jesper and Wylan with the girls,” she said, “But maybe she can stay with Maya instead, I don’t… I’ll talk to her,”

It was all too complicated for Inej to keep track of. She sat in the living room and explained what she could to Aimee and Kiada, then spent most of the day’s remainder curled on one of the sofas and talking quietly to whomever wandered in and out. Both Jesper and Wylan sat with her for a while at some point; each at different times and she knew they didn’t want to leave Clemmie alone. She asked them both the same question.

“How is she?”

“Hard to say,” murmured Wylan.

“Terrible,” said Jesper, “But what else are we supposed to expect?” 

Kaz stayed with her most of the day. He was quiet, most of the time, but spoke softly to Aimee and Kiada - and Inej could probably have kept perfect track of time by counting how many times he’d asked how she was feeling. Every ten minutes, like clockwork. 

“I’m thirsty,” she told him, and before she could continue he replied:

“Oh, good. I was starting to wonder if ‘fine’ was the only word in your vocabulary,”

Inej squeezed his hand and made to stand up.

“I’m going to get a cup of tea,”

“No you’re not,”

He pulled gently on her arm and she let him sit her back down, leaning her up to him as he stood and his lips briefly pressed against her forehead. He turned to the girls and offered them a drink - they both declined - and then walked slowly from the room. And so he was not there, when Nina came and said that she thought Maya was dying.

“It’s far worse than we thought,” Nina murmured, “She’s completely delirious. If we don’t-”

Inej lay a hand on Nina’s arm to quiet her, and glanced at Aimee and Kiada. Nina nodded.

“She’s barely conscious,” Nina said in Ravkan, “She’s awake but she’s not… here, I don’t know - it’s like she’s dreaming,”

“Evan said she had eight months,” Inej replied, matching Nina’s language choice. She shook her head, “How-?”

“A Corpoalnik can’t tell what’s happening in her brain,” said Nina, “It’s too complex - that’s why he couldn’t stop the hallucinations. The poison isn’t only affecting her body it’s affecting her memory, her -”

“What are you telling me, Nina?”

“I’m saying she needs to go. Now”

Inej breathed. 

“She can’t come with us,” she said, “I can’t put her on the Wraith with Alby. We cannot get her to Ravka for at least another two weeks-”

“If she sets off now she might not survive the journey,” Nina bit her lip, “She needs to get there as soon as possible, can’t the Wraith take her first and come back for Alby?”

Inej pressed her fingers to her eyelids.

It would be taking a risk to leave Alby at the Slat for that long. And would they even be able to help Maya without him? If Kaz was right about needing to know what poison he’d used, probably not. Saints, this felt like a terrible plan.

“The Wraith will have to take them both,” she whispered, opening her eyes, “But I’ll already be gone before they get here, will you be able to get her to the docks? I’ll leave a message for Specht so he knows the new plan,”

Nina nodded.

This felt like a disaster waiting to happen. But it also felt like the only viable option.

*

The sun was almost dawning when Inej reluctantly let Kaz drag her out of bed. 

“I left you to sleep as long as possible,” he whispered, “But we need to go,”

Inej groaned softly; Kaz wass pushing the loose hair off her face and she turned slightly so that he was cupping her cheek as she slowly opened her eyes. He wasn’t wearing his gloves.

“I’m tired,”

He shook his head.

“Of all the times to finally accept that you need to rest,” he told her, taking her arm and pulling her to sit up, “Now is just about the worst one you could have chosen,”

“What time is it?”

“Five bells. Ina Harte’s clothes are on the chair; we’re leaving in an hour,”

He pressed the back of her hand to his lips, and then he was gone. Inej had thought the names were only for the travel documents - why did she have to wear specific clothes? Had she forgotten part of the plan? That felt dangerous. It felt frightening.

She had tried to explain everything to Maya last night, so she would be ready or at least understand what was going on, but she wasn’t sure it had made a difference to anything. Maya spent most of the time looking at her without seeing that she was there, staring straight through her with blank eyes. When she did notice Inej was talking to her, she either panicked or shut down. It took a long conversation to not say very much.

Inej stretched and then collected the clothes Kaz had left for her, and realised why he’d chosen them. She had not forgotten the plan. She had forgotten that the Hartes were middle class - and Kaz was insistent on them looking believable.

At least it was a fairly simple dress, as such things went - this was Kerch, after all. The clothes were not nearly as frivolous as Inej had thought of the higher Ravkan classes. But it was not as comfortable as her trousers and quilted vest, nor did it have nearly as many places to carry her knives. It also wasn’t as subtle. She drew the line at putting a fluffy white feather in her little hat. That was just unnecessary. 

The scarf from Aimee did not really match the outfit. Inej didn't care; nothing could have stopped her from wearing it.

Kaz had already collected the forged travel documents and Inej stood by the front door reading hers with a frown; the description said Ina’s hair was shorter than hers, but other than that was accurate enough to pass. Considering that Mikhael and Ina were complete fabrications, Inej wasn’t sure why they couldn’t have descriptions that matched themselves perfectly, but Kaz had shaken his head and pointed to the dates.

“No-one actually looks the exact same as their description,” he said, “That would be more suspicious. And your hair could have easily grown since the last renewal,”

“What about yours?”

“What about it?”

“It doesn’t say you have a scar,” she ran her finger down the faint white line on Kaz’s face, a remnant that had been slowly fading for the last ten years, “Just hoping they wouldn’t notice?”

Kaz smiled, caught her hand in his, pressed it to his heart.

They hadn’t woken the girls - she’d said goodbye to them last night and it was unnecessary to interrupt their sleep, but Inej still felt strange just walking out on them. They would be safe here. She knew that. But it made her nervous. Jesper and Wylan appeared in the hallway at the almost the same time, and before anyone had a chance to begin their goodbyes Jesper burst out laughing.

“What are you wearing?”

“Careful Fahey,” Inej winked, swishing the wide skirt of dress, “The pockets are still big enough to carry my brass knuckles,”

She released Nina’s arm to move into the hug Jesper was offering her, his long arms folding over her back so tightly he might never let go. 

“Be safe,” 

“I’ll try,”

She drew away slowly, gripping his hand in hers. His eyes were slightly misty as she squeezed his fingers and whispered:

“Thank you,”

“Oh, well, you know,” Jesper winked, “It’s what I do,”

He shuffled a little. Wylan hovered for a moment before Inej took his hand and pulled him close.

“I’ll see you soon,” she murmured, “And if I’m delayed you’d better not have that wedding without me,”

He laughed.

“Never,”

Nina walked them to the docks, listening to Inej repeat the plan for bringing Maya later. Inej was beginning to suspect that Nina was just humouring her, but she didn’t care because she needed to make sure that she’d done everything she could. She walked with her arm hook through Nina’s, leaning on her slightly, watching Kaz’s walking stick strike the cobbles in front of her. He’d exchanged his crow’s head cane for a less conspicuous option, and she wondered if there had been enough space in his trunk to pack his usual one for when they arrived. It looked like it might just be big enough, but it was hard to tell without actually lying them next to each other. 

The air grew colder as they approached the water and Inej tugged on her sleeve slightly. She was wondering how much Kaz had spent on these last minute tickets, and what their cabin was going to be like. She was wondering if there would be separate beds, in case he needed it. A week in close quarters was a long time. A week on a boat with nowhere to run to whilst Inej could start collapsing or losing her mind at any moment was going to be infinitely longer. She should have suggested other options. Kaz wouldn’t have taken them. 

“Write every day,” Inej said, clutching Nina’s hand, "Just constantly. I want an hour by hour run down of your life,”

Nina smiled.

“Minute by minute,” she pulled Inej close and kissed her on the cheek, “It’s going to be okay. You- it’s all going to be okay,”

Inej nodded. She was trying not to cry.

She pressed her forehead against Nina’s.

“Ne Zalost,” she whispered, laughing softly.

Nina smiled.

“Ne Zalost,”