#kuwei yul-bo fanfiction

[cawcawbeech]

SIX OF CROWS AND KISSING !!

(Welcome to this silly but intricate guide nobody asked for)

Just so everybody knows and is fully aware, I literally never kissed anybody in my whole damn life. I dont much care to try (for now) unless your name is Amita fucking Suman (jkjk, or not), but that doesnt mean I didnt do some very extensive research on the topic just so I can write what are hopefully non-generic scenes where all of my favorite characters make out till the following sunrise without a single other thought plaguing their empty little minds (exception being if the said thought is used to deepen 'the plot').

Before I say much else, I would like to note that THIS is just a very detailed bullet point list on kissing for all of my boys and girls separate of their partners assigned to them in canon or by the fandom. We will get to how it would actually go in different scenarios with different ships a bit later on if I decide it wont be a waste of my time. PS: No, not every kiss / kisser has to be extraordinary or unique or have whatever traits I ended up slapping on these characters here, Im just extra like that. And its not like anybody can stop me. Deal with it and simply enjoy (whatever this may be)!

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JESPER LLEWELLYN FAHEY

Jesper has had his fair share of practice in this particular field, we all know it. That is no reason to say that he is a perfect kisser, there are many who have done way more, constantly brag about it, and yet still leave you disappointed. But, this is Jesper we are talking about. Kuwei has said that he is a great kisser too, I choose to trust him on that. That joke he made to cheer up Wylan at Olendaal, the one about kissing Nina / Matthias 'with tongue', it doesnt have to mean anything, but I like to think he is a tongue kind of guy. I also like to think that he is adaptable to any type of person though, he aims to please through-and-through. It saddens me to look deeper, to think about how that may be a result of his low self-esteem, but in moments like these, it makes him happy most of the time, and it is all I could hope for when it comes to my boy.

The first relationship he had been a witness to, the one his mother and father shared before her death, had been a very healthy one. I wouldnt call Colm the perfect father, certainly not after his wife was gone, albeit he is significantly better compared to the hands the rest of our favourite characters have been dealth with, but he was good to Aditi. Most kids, including myself, were the type to be grossed out by PDA, especially when its between their parents, and while thats not in any way a bad thing, we can clearly see that Jesper was not of that type.

Despite his many faults, he was raised fairly well. He knows how to make a comfortable environment, to recognize a clear invitation, what to ask and what not to ask, what is acceptable and what he shouldnt do without a more in-depth discussion. He knows how to create and opportunity where one could deny him if they so wished. I wouldnt say its some overly high bar to jump over, if anything it is the most basic standard any and all should hold themselves to, but I call Jesper 'the consent king' for a reason.

Its said in the book that his mind empties when he kisses the right person, that thinking of methaphors clearly means something is wrong, but hes still pretty descriptive in his POVs if you ask me. Its also very clear that he likes to kiss deep, slow, and involve other sensations throughout which is the part where Id like to include some of my very own hcs (slight temperature / texture play where he drags his rings over skin, hair pulling is a given but I can see him also liking to touch peoples ears a lot, talking in between and whispering during the few subtly initiated pauses, etc). Jespers favourite type of kiss would probably be those he iniciates as soon as he wakes up in the morning. It rains often in Ketterdam, its normal, so he would also probably be one of the rare creatures among the regular Kerch citizens who finds kissing in the rain romantic.

KAZ BREKKER (RIETVELD)

Kaz will have to go through some major healing first, no doubts about that, but Id say he would probably be one of the elite members of the 'Im keeping my eyes open for this' club (until he isnt). I doubt he does much analyzing during, mentally he is on another planet thats probably many lightyears away as he tends to do with a lot of other even remotely intimate things, but theres lots of squinting, eyelid fluttering... Kaz is basically a personafication of that cliche 'when did I close them' quote. In my own experience, I can barely hold eye contact when talking, but I dont really see this as a bad trait. I also dont see it as a trauma response either like some would assume it would be for Kaz, I think its just a him thing. If this man didnt want to kiss somebody, you would not be kissing him, end of.

He likes to focus on teeth, whether by unconsciously (or consciously) biting his partner, having your teeth bump into each other, or licking his own after youre done. Theres lots of shuddering, youll feel him there more than youll hear him, but he is not completely silent either. I dont think he would like beeing cornered, picked up or lifted in any way except on very rare occasions. Just like the pulse thing where he feels for it on the wrist (or neck once he is more comfortable), feeling his weight including the pain of his leg serves to ground him. Perhaps he might also like feeling of you breathing through your nose on his face for the same reasons? He doesnt like leaving things unfinished, even if its just a peck, he will make sure it feels 'complete', I dont know how else to put it. If anybody could overuse the words "Again?", it would be Kaz motherfucking Brekker.

Im in no way saying he will be good, in fact, theres lots of traits here that many wouldnt like, but he tries when he wants to (and again, you would not be kissing this man if he didnt want it), he will learn and he will remember the smallest of details (so that he can ponder over them later). The only thing we hear about Kazs appearance related to his mouth is that there is a scar running through his upper lip. I never got it when people talked about kisses having a taste, but Kaz seems to often call people light-weight, so clearly, he handles his alcohol well, perhaps having developed such a habit to settle down his own supposedly non-existent nerves. It might not be the main reason, we heard about him being on the receiving end of many fights that in certain circumstances and with the ways they are handled lead to similar results, but liquor does leave one dehydrated and with chapped lips.

WYLAN VAN ECK (HENDRIKS)

Unless he is particulary fired up, Wylan likes to start slow and chaste no matter if you are the first, the thousanth person he has kissed or just a person he has kissed a thousand times. Unlike Kaz, he has some experience, sheltered kids know how to have fun in secret (and Im the last person who would ignore that 'lie' about him being kicked out for bedding the tutor, theres some truth to everything), but he is also nowhere near the level of Jesper or Nina or Matthias. We know he likes when his partner feels calm and like they are actually in their body before he goes in for the kill, we saw it with Jesper, but we also see that he isnt the type who needs to ask every time and will just do it when 'the time feels right'. Look out, he just might squeeze into your shirt while youre wearing it and do a makeshift 'surprise attack' from there if he is determined enough for it.

From that, we could say he might have some other habits, including but not limited to the familiar one of guiding his partner through breathing patterns. Maybe sometimes he likes to hold onto your forearms more tightly than necessary (not forcefully though), have your knees touch and bump into one another, straighten his own / your items of clothing, compare hand sizes while making weirdly-intense eye contact, use his thumb to subtly rub at a random tensed muscle, touch foreheads if he is tall enough or rub his face along the side of your neck, anything that would focus your attention to him and the moment... Ironically, as a follow up to the last point and as the kiss drags on, he forgets that he is an actual person who has a weight to them and has to lean back against something with the help of his partner before he falls down and cracks his goddamn skull open.

He likes to leave an effect on whoever he is kissing, but he also likes to 'clean up after himself' as much as possible after its done, which once again serves to bring both of you back down. So yeah, he would probably do something like twirling a stay peace of hair around his finger before neatly tucking it back in place, running that same finger across a brow, down the nose or along the jawline, nudging you playfully with his shoulder, hips or elbows, swaying a bit to slowly return the atmosphere back to relaxed as he secretely links your pinky fingers together. Lips would be his main focus, and he especially likes the soothing effect it has when he is sleepy, but he could also grow to like eyelid, nose, tummy or thigh kisses when it comes to placement.

INEJ GHAFA

Inej has had many men kiss her throughout her life, and unfortunately, theres no need to debate whether she truly enjoyed any of them. Oh how I would love to say that every shitty person is also shit at every other skill they try to master, however, that doesnt have to be the case. The fact that she was a brothel girl doesnt have to mean all of her kisses were bad (to specify, that refers to the technique). That being said, I think she would appreciate the message more than the way its done. It also might result in her not exactly caring about the placement of a kiss, palm, knuckles, hair, cheek, neck, lips, any of them would be equally as intimate to her, platonic or otherwise. Its somewhat similar to what Wylan also likes, but very different too once you look further.

As is with Kaz, you would not be kissing the Inej we know now unless she didnt want you to. I probably should have said this earlier, no, I dont mean that any of the other Crows would enjoy a kiss that was not what they wanted, they wouldnt ignore the signs and will fight the person off if needed, but I hope you understand why Im emphasizing it for these two in particular. I think her kisses would be short, but sweet, a petite little package that can deliver a punch under a right set of conditions, just like she can, the same going for her ship. Physically, we know her lips have an upturn to their shape. As is true with alcohol, salt water has the same drying effect that is only made worse by licking.

One other feature that might make Inejs kisses unique is a possibility of her aquiring more jewellery during her travels. I always imagined that the Suli find piercings to be very meaningful. Perhaps she had some since a very young age, perhaps they were taken from her too during her time at the Menagerie, maybe the holes closed naturally over the long months, maybe she got more whilst working for Kaz, and although it was not put there for such a reason, a lip ring (just as an example) has quite a pleasing effect for either side.

She holds a special appreciation for people who remember their first kiss, or at least remember their first kiss with her, a courtesy she will offer in return as well. It takes special kind of brave to get close (she knows better than most) and never lets the feat of overcoming fear go unappreciated. For some reason, I can see her counting the seconds, not for any reason at all. I wouldnt say its something particulary good nor bad, but Inej doesnt give me the 'let me kiss your words away' signals no matter the situation. The phrases that would fit more would be "We will get through this", "Stay strong, for you", "Lets face it together" or "We shall see each other once more". She seems like the type to keep her affairs secret, but at the end of the day, I also dont think she would mind PDA all that much.

KUWEI YUL-BO

I know the fandom likes to joke that Kuwei is the bad kisser between the two, seeing as to how Jesper was left 'disappointed' even before knowing the truth behind who he was actually kissing... But I dont think that had to do much with the kiss itself. We were told that Jesper liked Kuweis body plenty enough, but even if it were really Wylan (both in shape and spirit), Jesper wasnt in the right space, and Kuweis silence and mannerisms didnt do much to help.

Now, this is a personal headcanon, but one of the habits I think he might pick up in the Little Palace would be scratching his nose or covering his mouth before he goes in for a kiss. Or well, I like to imagine that being his tell among all the snarky comebacks, vicious flirting and sly glances. And seeing as to how playful he is with his powers and how much he grows to use them for mischief and otherwise in KOS, I like to think that his face is always warm to the touch as Kuwei himself is constantly touching it. Random instert, this man unironically likes lemons and you will without a doubt taste quite an assortment of teas while with him.

Some people care about the emotional setting, some like keeping it casual, and some like having that perfect mix of both. Kuwei might acknowledge that in different ways and act accordingly, but I also think he might care more about the physical setting and connect good actions with places rather than specific people or mutual feelings. This man is a certified tease, unless you pull him towards you which is exactly what he wants, he is 100%, absolutely ready to keep a partner on the edge of their seat, kiss the corner of their mouth, or maybe with the lips barely touching. Instead of licking his own lips out of habit or to seduce, he would lick yours. Kuwei being a tease might also be a way for him to set up walls? In a sense that hes reminding both himself and the person hes kissing that this is just a kiss and it doesnt mean anything. And when hes kissed by someone he loves and trusts, hes downright pathetic, super soft and annoyingly sweet about it.

I dont know where else to put it so it will have to be here, but I like to think he chewed on his lips a lot as a child and whilst in captivity, leaving him with barely visible indents once he reached adulthood. When it comes to the type, Id say he could end up enjoying goodnight kisses next to the fireplace or lit by the flame in his own hand more than he would like doing anything in the early morning. Kuwei tends to get frustrated and bored easily so that might lead to certain effects as well, more specifically the speed, angle and desperation. He has hid for long enough and doesnt much care about who sees what, only whether they got a nice view from wherever they were standing at the time.

NINA ZENIK

Nina has practiced CPR from a very young age (I wouldnt call any of those a true kiss by any means, but it will make slightly more sense in just a moment), we see her perform one on Kaz in the books without hesitation, so I doubt her first 'kiss' was particularly enjoyable or wholly consentual or that she even remembers it. Perhaps from that, her kisses would grow to be particulary breathy in the future, although that doesnt mean its some kind of rule or that its not just a result of her personality being put into how she goes about it. We already know temple kisses are her thing among some other stuff, but she also doesnt seem to have a similar kind of bond with any other type that is not at neck level or above. Shes fine with them, but always seems to go to certain spots herself when she has a choice, singing and laughing through all of it. As Matthias tends to say a lot, the chase is a game to her, whether on top or beneath, she still wins.

Her skin is said to be soft, and supposedly so are her lips, plus the girl is a Heartrender and that surely results in many privileges. Surprisingly enough, I wouldnt say she is particularly experienced in the world of romance, even if her talent at sweet-talking might suggest otherwise. Perhaps shes had flings, one or two, maybe even a relationship at some point, but I dont see much more in my visions of her backstory. "Dont you want to play with me?" and "Cant you handle it?" are some of the repeating phrases in her vocabulary, but oh, it only gets worse once she feels well and truly romanced, swept off her feet as one might say, and that takes lots of effort. Its a good thing we know Nina has some high expectations, that way all of us can be her personal wingmen.

If anybody could obtain the famous movie achievement of leaving a string of saliva to connect her lips with her partners for just a few more moments, it would be Nina. Speaking of such things, she may also be the only one for who the 'let me kiss you against this wall so that they dont spot us' scenario might actually work (in theory), or at least give her enough time to incapacitate them during their confusion since she tends to be quite loud appearance wise. Likes being attended to and coddled, and no kiss has a chance without a firm grab or two. Will die if you do a tango dip with her in your arms. She is one of the biggest fans of mistletoes and finds it extremely romantic. Sometimes, when she is invited to watch a play or show, she will turn around and kiss her partner whenever the actors do. "Consider me madly in love. With the kisses, not you. ... But maybe also you if you did it again."

MATTHIAS BENEDIK HELVAR

And finally, we have our romantic-at-heart of the group, Matthias. Now, his and Ninas romance is the most obvious and out-in-the-open throughout the whole duology, and frankly he is the one I had the most trouble with writing, but the difference between seeing their first kiss from Ninas perspective and the one of Matthias is that theirs was his first kiss ever. All of his actions leading up to it, as well as those after, are a promise in some way or another, and Im not only talking about his vow to her. Nothing could have prepared me for when he lifted Nina straight off her feet and held her there as he kissed her, yet it was also the most in-character thing he ever could have done.

Matthias will absolutely, every time, start an hour long conversation on what led him to this moment, if it is the right time, the right place, the right everything... He will continue up until he himself is basically internally shouting at his own mouth to shut itself (he has very low patience despite everything mentioned above) or his partner takes the initiative themselves. The second option is prefered by both parties and a 5-star whine is the expected plus-one to excellent service. He is the type to gulp when you get too close. Will go mad if you can tell when he is holding on by a thread despite his lack of many facial expressions, especially if told something along the lines of "Just lose control, love".

He is particularly sensitive for textures. All humans are to some extent, the lips have more nerve endings in them than fingertips, but Matthias is the one who is fullfilled by it the most and frequently says stuff related to it like "Are you wearing chapstick?" or "I can feel the dip of your scar". Often acknowledges indirect kisses. Matthias has once said that kissing isnt about romance, that it should be proper and only done as a follow up to a conventional Fjerdan courtship, and while lots about him has changed during his canonical relationship with Nina, I think he might still enjoy going through at least some of these with somebody who might appreciate his efforts. Matthias is still highly religious even if he is now seeing the world from another perspective and there are some cultural things that for him go deeper than just tradition. In a very specific headcanon of mine, he has grown up fantasizing about having to lift up your chin to do it, and so now he does so even with taller partners who can reach his mouth just fine.

He would 100% take the 'Will you love me if I was a worm' jokes way too seriously. "How am I supposed to handle a worm? I could hold a butterfly, maybe kiss you if you were a wolf (but thats after a very extensive inspection of your molars)". Kisses the back of your neck after putting on a necklace. Pretends that lipstick stains dont turn him on to the highest setting.

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[mezlymils]

just coming on here to post all my kuwesper/kuwylan fics because i love them and want to introduce these ships to more people!!!!

Kuwylan mostly but technically kuwesper

late night conversations about daddy issues lead to hugs and kisses

Kuwesper (mostly kujesper)

Jesper and Kuwei share some kisses while they wait for their boyfriend to join them

Kuwesper (again, mostly kujesper)

Jesper gives Kuwei piercings. That’s it. That’s the fic.

Minor kuwesper

Aly's daughter, Wylan's half sister, has a nightmare and he has to comfort her

Kuwylan

Kuwei gets sick but luckily his lovely boyfriend is there to spoil him with soup and cuddles

[funnyao3]

“Oh. Wait, so you do mind?” Jesper turned to Wylan, a little hopeful but mainly resigned. Before the boy could answer, Kuwei popped up from behind the counter, golden eyes flicking between them all.

“This sounds fun. What’s happening?”

[biggukuma]

Does someone wrote a divergent canon to the Crooked Kingdom where Jesper follows Kuwei and go to the Little Palace, leaving Wylan while they're each the love of their life ? I want so much to read that, the potential of angst, pining and emotionally hurt Wylan... Mostly if he thinks that the Crows will stay in touch with him only because he's with Jesper. And if Jesper has left him behind, so then he's definitely alone...

[iriswords]

Febuwhump Day 4 - Knife to the throat

You can also read this on ao3 and find all of my febuwhump fics here

tw:  tw: held hostage, mention of past captivity, self-esteem issues, light injuries, fear of torture

Fandom: Six of Crows

Words: 2394

Kuwei is held hostage in exchange for something Kaz possesses. He is certain no one will come for him and resigns himself to die in his cell, miserable and alone.

--

Kuwei shuddered as he stepped out of the Slat and onto the Barrel’s streets. The winter’s cold had truly settled, and his coat was doing little in shielding him from it. He had put on his lighter coat this morning, thinking he would be too hot with the other one, and he was regretting it now, as vicious cold sipped in through the thin material and into his bones.

Night had long since fallen, but the streets in the Barrel weren’t any less crowded. If anything, there were more people now than there were during the day. Kuwei hurried through the streets, arms wrapped around himself and shoulders hunched, both to protect himself against the cold and to avoid catching the attention of people in the streets. All of the Crows had already left the Slat and gone to Wylan’s mansion on Geldstraat, but Kuwei had wished to stay at his designated room—transformed into a lab—to work a while more. He’d thought, foolishly, at least one of them would wait for him. He’d always made his distaste and fear of the Barrel streets well-known.

He hadn’t been surprised when he’d come out of his lab and found even Kaz’s office empty, just disappointed. Nina had stayed in Ravka, and none of the four remaining Crows liked him very much. Kuwei was certain the only reason Wylan allowed him to stay at his house while Kuwei was in Ketterdam was that Wylan was too polite to turn him away.

Now, he simply hoped they wouldn’t already have eaten by the time he arrived at the house.

Kuwei woke up in a dark, humid cell. Hard, uneven cobblestones dug painfully in his butt, and thick metal manacles held his wrists above his head. It was not the first time he had woken in such a predicament, but he’d thought he wouldn’t have to again, now that he was free from the Shu and the Fjerdan, now people thought him dead and no one was after his secrets anymore.

He would never find out. As he turned on a narrow street, a hand shot out from an alley and grabbed his wrist. The hand yanked him into the alley, and Kuwei stumbled along, trying not to lose his footing. He crashed against a broad chest anyway and had time to neither cry out—not that it would be much use in the Barrel—nor fight back against his assailant before they brought their arm around Kuwei’s neck, pinning him against them and cutting his air off.

He trashed weakly against them, his nails digging into their skin, to no avail. Before long, dark spots dotted his vision, and he lost consciousness.

Cruel, remembered terror curled in his stomach, and a dry sob slipped from his mouth. Was there nowhere he’d be safe? Had someone recognized him for who he was, or was he just the unlucky victim to slave traffickers?

Heels slammed on the cobblestone with rhythmic regularity, and a few seconds later, a stern woman stopped in front of Kuwei’s cell. The lamp she held threw uneven shadows on her face, but even then Kuwei could make out the brutal twist of her mouth. He choked on his fear. Whatever she wanted, she would do everything to get it.

The woman huffed impatiently. “Yes, Kaz Brekker, Bastard of the Barrel. He has something I want, and threats have not pushed him to give it to me. I figured their execution might.”

“You’re awake,” she remarked, her voice icy and distant. “Good. How long do you think it will take the Bastard of the Barrel to come to get you?”

Kuwei startled. “Kaz?” That was the name he went by, wasn’t it?

Kuwei stared at her with round eyes. He fought back the weird urge to laugh. She was badly mistaken if she thought Kaz would move a single finger to ensure Kuwei’s safety now Kuwei wasn’t worth anything to him. Had Nina been there, she might have bullied him into helping, but the four Crows in Ketterdam at the moment bore him at best a profound disinterest and at worst deep-rooted dislike. They wouldn’t come for him.

“Why me?” he asked his captor. It didn’t make sense. How could she have thought he’d be the best one to convince Kaz to act? That he’d be a means of pressure at all?

“The others would have been too difficult to kidnap. They’re all more careful than you are.” Shame rose to Kuwei’s cheeks. “But it doesn’t matter. Brekker will come anyway.”

Kuwei shook his head vehemently. Perhaps she would release him if he could make her understand how worthless he was as a hostage. “No, he won’t. He doesn’t care enough about me.”

The woman arched an eyebrow. “You’re a Dreg, aren’t you?”

“No, and I don’t intend to become one.”

“I don’t believe you,” said his captor and turned on her heels. Her footsteps echoed down the corridor, and the light dimmed until there was none again. Kuwei wondered where he was. He didn’t know Ketterdam enough to make a guess, but it looked like an old prison, a holding place for criminals.

“I’ve watched you come and go from the Slat. You were with him multiple times. You were with the others, too.”

Kuwei scoffed. “That doesn’t mean anything. I’m telling you, your plan won’t work.” And Kuwei would be left alone in this cell, waiting for someone to end his misery. Still, better him than any other Crow. They were too important. They loved each other too much. They’d break, if another one of them died. If Kuwei died, on the other hand… Nina would mourn him, probably. But she’d soon be over it.

Kuwei waited in his cell. He had no way of telling how much time had passed. Growing hunger knotted his stomach, but his captor didn’t come back to give him food and water. He slept in fitful dozes and often woke with a gasp, unable to get his bearings. His father’s corpse visited him in his sleep, and when he was awake, memories of previous captivities swirled in his mind. To distract himself from his past, he thought of the Crows, but his thoughts turned dark with brutal speed. He wondered if they had even noticed his absence and if so, how long it had taken them. He wondered if they were worried, or if they couldn’t care less.

Desperately, pathetically, he imagined them coming to his rescue, imagined them showing him they cared. When he took to daydreaming in such a way, all he managed was to make himself cry. He had no hope they would come.

His captor returned, eventually. Fury distorted her face.

“Brekker is an arrogant bastard, but he is mistaken if he thinks I’ll just give you up if he doesn’t meet my terms,” she spat at Kuwei, as though it was his fault Kaz wasn’t coming.

Kuwei sighed. “He just doesn’t care enough about me. I told you that already.”

“Shut up! I didn’t ask you to speak.” Keys jangled as she opened the cell, and Kuwei recoiled backward when she stepped into the narrow space. “If he needs more incentive, I’ll happily give him some.” Kuwei didn’t want to serve as an incentive. He didn’t want his body parts to serve as incentives. Which would it be? A finger, an eye, an ear? His tongue, perhaps, if she was truly angry that he’d spoken.

She unsheathed a knife from her side, and Kuwei let out a broken keen. His vision blurred with burning tears. The woman stepped closer until she was towering over him. Nimble fingers played with the dagger. Kuwei was breathing too fast, tears streaming down his face, a sob stuck on the edge of his throat.

The woman grabbed his hair with a firm hand and held his head into place. Kuwei clenched his eyes and clamped his mouth shut. But the woman only took a lock of hair and placed it into a box Kuwei hadn’t noticed until now. He stared at it, dumbfounded, and his captor laughed.

“Oh, darling, don’t worry. This isn’t the only thing I’ll send.”

Kuwei’s head snapped up towards her as fear skyrocketed in his stomach. But she put the knife back in its sheath and instead went for the keys dangling from her belt. She freed one of his hands, then the other. Kuwei would have liked to throw himself at her, to do anything to defend himself, but he hadn’t moved or eaten in days, and he was weak as a kitten.

All he could do as his captor unsheathed her knife again, her eyes gleaming with eagerness, was to scramble back to wedge himself in the corner of the room. She laughed and moved closer, until she could grab his hair again. She yanked his head back so he was looking at her in the face. Her blade caressed his cheek; blood pearled from the shallow cut.

The woman bent down toward Kuwei, as though she was about to say something. Kuwei would never know what that thing was, for the corridor’s wall facing the door of his cell exploded. The woman let go of Kuwei and whirled around. Kuwei’s head bounced against the stone wall from the suddenness with which she released her grip on him, and the world spun around him.

Before Kuwei could begin to comprehend what was going on, his captor grabbed him again and yanked him up by the arm. With one arm, she pinned him against her, and with the other, she pressed the blade of her knife to his throat.

Kuwei sucked in a startled breath when his eyes focused on the corridor. In front of Kuwei stood the Crows. All four of them. Jesper pointed his guns at Kuwei’s captor and, subsequently, at Kuwei, and Wylan had a hand deep in his satchel. Kaz stood next to them, Inej hovering behind his shoulder, acting as his shadow and making her presence forgotten.

They had come.

“Do you have what I asked, Brekker?” asked Kuwei’s captor. “You better have it, or the boy dies.”

“If you harm him, you won’t live to regret it,” threatened Jesper. The woman ignored him.

“Give me what I want, Brekker, and I’ll release him.”

“I don’t trust your word,” replied Kaz coldly. His eyes, hard and unreadable, were fixed on Kuwei.

“You don’t have a choice,” spat the woman and pressed the blade harder against Kuwei’s neck. The skin broke, and blood trickled slowly down his neck, staining the collar of his shirt. Kuwei held his breath as well as he could and closed his eyes. He didn’t dare look at the Crows. They had come, but perhaps they had thought they could retrieve him without having to agree to the demands of his captor. What would they do now?

Kaz’s cane clicked against the stone floor as he entered the cell. Kuwei’s eyes flashed back open, and he stared at the man with wide eyes. From the corner of his eyes, he noticed Inej slip into the cell, nearly melting into the wall. His captor hadn’t noticed her. Kaz stopped a foot away from Kuwei and the woman and reached into his pocket. He took out a neatly folded paper and held it between deft fingers.

“If you want this, you’ll have to let him go.”

The woman scoffed in Kuwei’s ear. “I know you, Brekker. I ain’t doing shit so long as I don’t have the paper. Put it in the box in the corner of the room, and I’ll let the boy go.”

Kaz’s eyes didn’t even glance at the box. They stayed fixed, unyielding, on the woman’s face. “No,” he said, and a second later, the woman gasped. Inej had entered the conversation, Kuwei guessed. “You let him go, and you’ll have the paper,” continued Kaz. “If you don’t, the Wraith will take care of you.”

“What tells me you’ll keep your word?” snarled the woman.

Kaz smirked wryly. “You don’t have a choice,” he parroted. “I don’t care about this paper. You can have it. But you have to let him go first.”

A moment passed. Tension thickened in the air, and Jesper’s fingers tightened around the handle of his guns. Wylan’s eyebrows were furrowed with intense concentration.

“Tell your guys to let go of their weapon,” demanded the woman eventually. Kaz turned to Jesper and Wylan and nodded. Jesper muttered something derogatory under his breath, but he kissed each of his guns and put them on the floor next to Wylan’s satchel.

Finally, the woman released Kuwei. She pushed him forward harshly, and he would have sprawled on the floor had Kaz not caught him with a firm arm. Quick as a bird, the woman snatched the paper from Kaz’s fingers and escaped through the hole in the corridor’s wall.

With more care than Kaz had ever shown Kuwei, he lowered him to the ground. Kuwei slumped against the wall, breathing hard. The cuts on his cheek and throat stung, but he’d had worse.

“I’m sorry,” he rasped. Kaz waved his apology away.

“Are you injured?” asked Inej, kneeling beside Kuwei.

Kuwei shook his head. “Hungry and dehydrated, but aside from that, I’m fine.” He was not. He would have nightmares about this for weeks and couldn’t bear the thought of the Crows hating him even more. “Why did you come?” he asked.

Jesper appeared behind Inej, Wylan by his side. “Why wouldn’t we?” replied the sharpshooter.

Kuwei didn’t dare meet any of their gazes. “Because you hate me,” he whispered. “And now I’ve made you lose something valuable.”

“We don’t hate you,” said Wylan. Tears gathered in Kuwei’s eyes. Adrenaline was coming down, and he was coming undone.

“You don’t have to—”

“We don’t hate you,” repeated Kaz. “And Inej and I will go and retrieve the paper tonight. Make an example out of the woman, show anyone who thinks they can go against me that they are badly mistaken.” He stopped, and his face gave a strange twitch. “We would have come anyway. Your life is more valuable than this paper.”

Tears spilled on Kuwei’s cheeks. He couldn’t find his words.

“Let’s get you home, alright?” said Inej gently.

He nodded. The Crows had come. The Crows cared.

@febuwhump @the-narnian-sea

[bazberkker]

Fic description: Nothing at the University of Ketterdam makes sense; not the classes, the people, nor the fact that Wylan's father had enrolled him there in the first place [...] When students begin disappearing all around Ketterdam, Wylan must decide where his trust lays.

Relationship: Jesper Fahey/Wylan Van Eck

Characters (in chapter): Wylan Van Eck, Jesper Fahey, Nina Zenik, Kuwei Yul-Bo

Tags: Main Character Death, Dark Academia, Roommates to Lovers, College/University AU (kinda), conspiracy

"The students slowly file in when I spot him: the mysterious student from Shu Han. Ketterdam U rarely gets students from there solely because Shu Han's education system is infinitely better. They've got better science, language, and history departments. Their universities are cheaper, too, with even higher graduating rates than Kerch. The only thing KU has that they don't is their competitive business classes. And music.

But this out-of-state visitor of ours isn't studying business or music. He's here to study chemistry under what people have said is practically a full-ride scholarship at the ripe age of fifteen years old.

I can hear Jesper's voice in my ear, saying: "He's a genius!"

Well, even if that weren't true, he sure does act like one. He sits beside me, hunched down low to write out his notes furiously. (Again, class hasn't even started yet. He's just doing it to draw attention to himself.) Long, thin black hair falls into his face. He is just as much an intellect as he is attractive, and the idea that Jesper might just admire that...

I hate Kuwei so much. "

[lunarthecorvus]

Six Of Crows Canon Divergence fanfiction recommendations

part of Lunar's soc fanficiton rec series

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The Pugilist's Creed by @bardelow

Wordcount: 123k Chapters: 30/30

Characters: Jesper Fahey, Kaz Brekker, Matthias Helvar, Nina Zenik, Inej Ghafa, Wylan Van Eck, Original Characters

Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Blood and Violence, Gun Violence, Angst, Established Relationship, Slow Burn, Kidnapping, Major Character Injury, Gunshot Wounds, Matthias Helvar Lives, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fjerda, Ketterdam, Canon-Typical Violence, Protective Kaz Brekker, multiple POVs, Inej Ghafa is THAT bitch, Really everyone is THAT bitch, Eventual Fluff, Slow burn Kanej, Established Wesper, established helnik, Helnik Wedding

Author's summary/notes: “I wonder if you’d be dragging your feet like this,” Nina spoke through gritted teeth. “If it was Inej’s life on the line.” A storm fell over Kaz’s features, but he did not move, did not let his eyes fall away. Instead, he spoke in a slow, calculated tone. “I’d choose your next words very carefully, little deathrender. However soft you think I’ve grown, remember that I am always willing to show you that the monster is still alive and well.” It's been sixteen days since Matthias and Wylan were taken, and Kaz Brekker has chased down every possible lead only to come up empty handed. However, with an angry Nina and desperate Jesper at his side, he is willing to do whatever it takes to find his missing crows and bring them back home - even if it means more blood on his hands. My summary/notes: The first part of this fic is VERY angsty and consists of Nina and Jesper being mad at Kaz. Kaz is gen really trying to do his best. This fic comes with a side of badass Inej scenes. The rescue mission/'heist' was so fun to read even if it was intense and emotional. Matthias' POV's are written brillantly and I loved seeing the way his mind worked, he was very book!Matthias in this fic. I will end this with saying Inej, knife, heart.. that scene-

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carry your heart in their teeth by boybi_i

Wordcount: 21k Chapters: 1/1

Characters: Inej Ghafa, Wylan Van Eck, Nina Zenik, Jesper Fahey, Matthias Helvar, Kaz Brekker, Jan Van Eck, Alys Van Eck, Kuwei Yul-Bo

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Post-Book 1: Six of Crows, Kidnapping, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Except it takes like 17k to get to the comfort, Murder, Rescue Missions, Major Character Injury, Blood and Injury, Implied/Referenced Torture, None of said torture happens on screen but it is referenced and talked about, Knives, Knife giving as a love language, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Haphephobia, Canon Disabled Character, Inspired by a The Crane Wives Song, Jan Van Eck Bashing, Canon-Typical Violence

Author's summary/notes: “They will consume your sweet resistance And they'll carry your heart in their teeth But I am always feeding them The ugliest parts of me” - Take Me to War, The Crane Wives - On Vellgeluk, Van Eck kidnaps Kaz. Inej discovers the lengths that which she will go to get him back. My summary/notes: I loved reading Inej's thought process throughout the whole fic, the feelings were written so well. This fic was so interesting especially because its ck Inej and not post canon Inej dealing with Kaz. The crows do argue a lot in this fic, and Inej is focusing all her energy trying to figure out how get Kaz back while ignoring her pain. Very whumpy.

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Plan F by bbbeautifulboy

Wordcount: 168k Chapters: 30/? (hasn't been updated in a year)

Characters: Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Nina Zenik, Matthias Helvar, Jesper Fahey, Wylan Van Eck

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Book 2: Crooked Kingdom, Alternate Ending, Jurda Parem, Matthias Helvar Lives, On the Run, Canon Disabled Character, Deaf Character, Found Family, Jesper Fahey Has ADHD, Sign Language, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Angst with a Happy Ending, this fic is so unhinged, Mental Instability, Chronic Pain, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Addiction, Platonic Relationships, Service Dogs, Plot, Healing, POV Multiple, Pirates, Crows as Found Family, Captain Inej Ghafa, Time Skips, Domestic Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Suicidal Thoughts, Simp Matthias Helvar, Original Character(s), Including a baby, Minor Character(s), Developing Friendships, Hallucinations

Author's summary/notes: The Auction fails, leaving all of the Crows with a warrant for arrest over their heads and all of Ketterdam and the countries beyond officially their enemy. They've lost everything: their money, obscurity, and their last chance at winning and walking away free. They can only be helped by the Saints and each other now. What will they do to survive? The home that’s lived for years in his nightmares surrounds him, but he cannot see past the five people in front of him. His crew- they’re all looking to him, and as long as they are, he has something to fight for and protect the way he did his reputation and name in Ketterdam. He’s not letting them go. My summary/notes: In this fic you have everything, cottagecore, fluff, angst and a whole bunch of plots. The crows really feel like found family in this and its so sweet. A whole bunch of angst so be warned. Helnik is so cute in this fic. This was one of the first big fics I read and I absolutely adored it.

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l'appel du vide by @alltheworldsinmyhead

Wordcount: 41k Chapters: 8/8

Characters: Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Jesper Fahey, Wylan Van Eck, Tante Heleen

Tags: Angst with a bittersweet ending, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Marriage of Convenience, Kaz and Inej make a deal, jokes on them, mentions of past trauma, Canon Backstories, Past Rape/Non Con, Partners to Lovers, slowburn, Inej nevr becomes the Wraith, post-revenge Kaz, Kanej - Freeform, secondary wesper, Canon-Typical Violence

Author's summary/notes: “He was hoping that bringing a famous prostitute on his arm to the saloons and ballrooms of the rich and the powerful of Ketterdam would at least bring him some entertainment if nothing else. But what Kaz did not take into consideration was what marrying a woman like Inej really meant.” CANON DIVERGENCE AU: Kaz comes to the Menagerie for Inej many years too late and bites off more than he can chew. My summary/notes: Honestly this fic is the best thing I've ever read. It presents Inej's character so her but at the same she's so different and its expected as she has been in the menagerie for so many years. This story is a marriage of convenience and follows both Kaz and Inej's path of miscommunication angst and some healing along the way. If you read this fic you will never be the same.

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A Shift in the Air by Just_Another_Bookworm

Wordcount: 176k Chapters: 66/66

Characters: Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Jesper Fahey, Wylan Van Eck, Nina Zenik, Matthias Helvar

Tags: Hurt/Comfort, Angst, Pre-Canon, Kaz is Deaf, Post-Canon, Slow Burn, Slow Build, canon adjacent

Author's summary/notes: The chattering masses of people he passed didn’t know it yet, but they would one day fear the half-drowned nine year old shaking from the cold and the effects of the plague. Then again, no one knew much about Kaz Brekker. They didn’t know he wasn’t from the Barrel or that he’d once had a family. They never guessed where the rasp in his young voice came from. They certainly didn’t know why he really wore gloves. Most weren’t even convinced he was human. No one ever suspected that Kaz Brekker was deaf. *** Basically a random story of what if Kaz went deaf from the plague. It starts sort of pre-canon and has expanded. I am bad at summaries so read the first chapter if you want to get a feel for what this story is. My summary/notes: Reading this Deaf Kaz AU was so fascinating, they adapted Kaz being deaf around canon soc so well. The Kanej in this fic captures that beauty of understanding each other through not saying words. It also goes into Kaz and Jesper's brother bond and it so sweet to read.

[retvenkos]

nhaban (rising phoenix) | k.y.b.

Grishaverse - A Kuwei Yul-Bo story, angst.

tw: lots of burning imagery, mentions of death, choking imagery, spoilers for Six of Crows

word count: 1.2k

A/N: We don’t get a direct translation of the phrase “my son” in Shu, but “yul” is “son” and “kebben’ya” is “my kin/my only” so i made some inferences and I am 90% sure “yul’ya” is how you would write “my son.” I’m doing my best, here. Also, in this house we love and support Kuwei Yul-Bo, so I expect you to bow down before him.

Summary: Kuwei was always a phoenix - burning from the inside out, choking on all that ash.

When Kuwei had been a child - not yet anything - a boy with a life in the making and a haunting not yet rooted deeply, the world was vast and painted in beautiful, burnt hues. He spent those days running in the gardens of his home, his father chasing him through the flowers, his grin too wide and his sides aching with too much joy. His father would catch him and raise him high in the air, where the sun caught his being and warmed him to the bone. Kuwei would squeal with delight, and when he stood down on the earth again, he would cast a look toward his mother, resting in the shade. She would smile, and Kuwei wouldn't notice anything else.

At night, his mother would tuck him in, her dark hair rippling down her shoulders, her hands warm and strong. "My little phoenix," she'd say. "You shine brighter than the sun."

And Kuwei would feel a fever in his chest, then, something hotter than warmth, but not quite bitter.

Kuwei's father was a scientist, and his mother was an artist. In their home, equations mixed with pictures - drawings on the margins of lengthy operations, numbers jotted on the corner of sketches - and there was never enough surface for pencil and pen. Once, when Kuwei was sleeping, he awoke from his slumber and saw his mother standing in his room, her hair pushed back behind her ears, her paintbrush precise as she filled Kuwei's wall with depictions of little phoenixes, their feathers on fire, their beaks open in a triumphant cry.

Kuwei watched her without speaking, and in the morning's stillness, he noticed the way her brow sweat with effort and how her hands shook with tired uncertainty. When he was a boy, not yet anything but balancing on the precipice of something, Kuwei saw how his mother stood and how all her life seemed to fail her slowly, all of her strength ebbing away from her chest. Kuwei gasped with some naive realization, and he couldn't remember what happened next.

The color blue was for mourning, and too soon, his family was draped in the shade.

✧ *:･ﾟ

Kuwei was always a phoenix - burning from the inside out, choking on all that ash. When he was a boy, barely old enough to recognize the flame sparking in his chest, his father used to take his hands and cup them - like he was trying to catch all that Kuwei was before his son fell apart. 

"Yul'ya," he would say. My son. "This fire will not burn you forever. This power will not take you away from me."

But in its own way, it had.

Bo Yul-Bayur scoured his science for an answer. He believed, despite the fear that clawed at his sides, that there was a remedy for his son's cursed gift. Bo stayed inside - lost somewhere in the whitewashed walls of his laboratory, hidden somewhere within the blanched casing of his skull.

Kuwei watched his father from a distance - peering into doorways and stretching for glances over tall counters. 

Kuwei watched him and memorized the fear that glinted in his golden eyes. When he was old enough to understand the equations that filled the walls of Bo's laboratory, Kuwei joined in his father's work. Together, they searched for a saving grace. Together, they searched so Kuwei wouldn't smolder.

And during the day, Kuwei was a scholar; but at night, in the solace of his room, Kuwei burned.

If it wasn't a spark at the tips of his fingers, it was a funeral pyre in his stomach. Kuwei was burning before he learned to fan the flames; he was smoldering without respite. Even when he had been too young to fathom that his fire had the power to consume, Kuwei could feel the burning in his chest. He only indulged it at night, and in the silence, Kuwei burned from within.

In the morning, he was ash, and if his father ached when he looked at him, perhaps it was because of the soot.

✧ *:･ﾟ

Kuwei was always a phoenix, but he was more than just a mythos for the devout, more than whispers of the occult, and more than just drawings a woman had once painted on the walls of his room, fading but beautiful - dripping with devotion and despair.

Kuwei was a phoenix because he burned, and in his flames, he created something infinite. In the light of his fire, Kuwei could see the flash of his father's eyes and the amber of his burnt, perpetually summered world. And occasionally, when the tongues of the blaze jumped high enough, he could see smoke curling into the figure of his mother - a woman singing him to sleep, all of her hopes and dreams caught in her throat, choking her sweetly and harmonizing just for him.

Kuwei was always a phoenix because he burned, and sometimes, his fire wasn't strong enough to light the way. Sometimes, he was just spitting - popping sparks of what he had once been, yearning to devour whatever stood in his path, but not having the necessary firepower laced in his heaving chest.

When his father created parem, Kuwei wanted to ignite the laboratory and all of the research it held. He wanted to watch it burn down to the ground and turn his golden world into nothing but ruin and cinders. The heat within him was already leaping in his chest, but his father warned him that something would rise from the ashes, and perhaps it would not be something they could control. Kuwei had seen fear in his father's eyes, then, so he let his fire stew within him, his chest aching with greed, vowing that one day, he'd burn every laboratory and factory until they were nothing but ash. Someday, he'd let his work on parem explode from within.

Then the Fjerdans attacked, and Kuwei was not burning, but his father was. His father was a phoenix, with fire in his heart and his golden eyes dancing with ire. Kuwei watched his father as he always had, his golden eyes sharp, his reeling mind apt, his bleeding heart still raw, building with the pressure of a scream. His father was burning - he always had - and together, they were becoming ashes.

The Fjerdan's caught them, their foreign language harsh on Kuwei's ears, their eyes filled with bloodlust, and their wolves snapping at their feet. Kuwei's father was bloody and bleeding and dying, but he took Kuwei's hands in his own and cupped them - like he was trying to catch all that Kuwei was as his son fell apart.

"Yul'ya," he had struggled to say, his life failing him slowly, all of his strength ebbing away from his chest. My son. "Your fire is mine; it burns you no longer."

And Kuwei knew what it meant, and no matter how he cried and no matter how the flames ravaged his insides, he was not a phoenix - he was just a boy with death in the making and a haunting that was rooted too deep. This fire would not serve him, so he would keep it in a cage - like his father once had. And if it burned, he would not feel it. He couldn't let it - not when he belonged to drüskelle, now.

Kuwei's tears were hot, and in his heart he was spitting, and in Shu, he whispered powerlessly. "This power will not take you away from me."

But in its own way, it had.

--

taglist: @fives-cup-of-coffee, @musicallisto, @catsbooksandmusic, @thefifthweasley, @thegirlwhocriedwerewolf, @amirahiddleston​ // message me if you want to be added!

[bazberkkerwrites]

Day Eight of Out-of-Context Excerpts from my Wesper Fic:

"I don't pay you to be nice to me."

"You're right. In fact, you don't pay me at all; your father does." Jesper thought it over with a laugh. "I guess that makes him a sugar daddy in two ways. How does that make you feel? Knowing he's my sugar daddy?"

"Awful and I wish you'd leave me alone."

"Oh, you know you love it," Jesper said with a wink.

((Chapter Eight: The Party from “A Study in Music Theory” by bazberkker on AO3))

[writtenfangirl]

On the Ferolind

This one is a little bit more connected to the Six of Crows universe than my previous stories just cause I'm currently doing a reread.

I did something different and brought Matthias along for a ride! I clearly love me some enemies to lover trope

No trigger warnings that I know of

Part 2 if you guys are up for it!

The sea felt more like home than Ravka ever did. It called to her, a mesmerizing siren song that she could never resist. When she was at sea, there was a calmness that settled in her, a jolt of peace that not even a good hand at the card tables could bring.

Her hands moved, feeling the shifting waves as though she was swimming in the sea itself rather than sitting on the boat Dirtyhands had obtained for their job to infiltrate the Ice Court and rescue Bol Yul-Bayur.

She had been brought here by Nina after Nina was turned down by nearly every Squaller she’d approached and, at the time, Y/N had wondered why. Brekker was paying her good money to be here, more money than she’d ever thought she’d have for herself. Enough money to bring her home back to Ravka. It was a tempting offer, even if the job risked certain death. Money, after all, was the only thing that talked around Ketterdam.

Then Y/N boarded the Ferolind and she knew why all those Squallers said no.

Nina has brought a Drüskelle on the ship.

She’d attacked first and asked questions later. Water had slapped against the ship, rising high enough that if Brekker hadn’t bribed the Stadwatch, they surely would have been caught. The water had seized hold of the drüskelle and had nearly dragged him under had Nina not stopped her.

Now, he sat near the mast of the ship, his legs bound in iron. He had been queasy since they left the harbor and it hadn’t escaped Y/N attention that every time he’d vomit overboard, he’d send her a glower so strong, it was like she was personally responsible for making him feel sick.

He was glowering at her again, his blue eyes like chips of hard glaciers. Y/N had never been to Fjerda before but she imagined that the water that surrounded the nation was the same color as his eyes. Clear and electrifying.

“Keep glaring at me, Helvar, and I’ll make this ship run so fast and high, you’ll vomit your whole stomach out,” Y/N snapped in Kerch.

“Witch,” Matthias hissed venomously in Fjerdan.

“Murderer,” Y/N replied back in Fjerdan with as much venom as Matthias.

“Abomination.”

“A man of little honor as you calling me an abomination?”

“You—“

Nina, seeming to sense a fight, emerged from below deck just in time. Y/N’s fingers had already begun to twitch and a cold, gray mist had started to surround her, a tell-tale sign of her growing anger.

“Stop it, you two,” Nina said in Kerch. “I am not going to spend seven days on this ship hearing you bicker.” She sounded like a mother chiding her two children for arguing over superfluous things.

Y/N scowled at her. She still hadn’t forgiven Nina for misleading her about the job. Y/N had agreed to a job that involved breaking into the Ice Court, a job that could very much kill her. She hadn’t agreed to working with a Drüskelle. Nina knew more than anyone the inherent distrust the Y/N had for Fjerdans. Y/N had grown up at the Little Palace, just like Nina did. She ate the same meals, attended the same language classes and they even slept in adjacent rooms. They’d both heard stories about the ruthless Fjerdans—men of ice and snow who thought Grishas to be abominations—and their witch hunter armies. Her father had been killed by one of them.

When Y/N was told that Nina had been captured by a group of Drüskelle, she had vowed to avenge her the same way she vowed to avenger her father. Now one of them stands before her and it was Nina keeping him alive.

Y/N let out a huff of indignation and turned away from her friend. She raised her arms, the tide moving around their ship, pushing it faster as the wind swept through their sails.

“You can ignore me all you want, Y/N,” Nina said in Ravkan. “But that’s seven days without speaking to anyone else on this ship.”

“The Suli girl seems nice. I can talk to her.” Y/N said curtly.

“Inej is passed out belowdeck from her injuries. Try again.”

“The Zemini boy.”

“Jesper’s a ball of nervous energy you would never be able to keep up with.”

“Little merchling.”

“Wylan seems more inclined to draw than talk.”

“Dirtyhands.”

At that Nina let out a laugh. “If you can get Kaz Brekker to talk to you, I’ll crown you a saint myself for the miracle you’ll perform.”

Y/N frowned but didn’t say anything.

“I know you, Y/N. You can’t sit here for seven days without saying a single thing. You’ll give up eventually.”

“Maybe,” Y/N shrugged. “But that sounds like a challenge and I’ve always been competitive.”

She turned away from Nina again, clearly through with the conversation. She heard her friend sigh and said, “Stop provoking, Y/N, Helvar.”

Matthias couldn’t even release a retort before Nina jogged belowdeck to tend to Inej’s injuries.

It was silent again, save for Jesper’s incessant chatter and Wylan’s exhausted replies but they were sounds that were easily drowned out by the thoughts in her head.

Y/N didn’t know any of these people, at least, not personally. She wasn’t indentured to the Dregs like Nina was or like the other Grishas that fled to Kerch after the Ravkan civil war. She hadn’t come to Kerch to flee, she had come here on a mission: Find Grishas willing to come back to the Second Army.

When she’d stumbled upon Nina in Ketterdam, the elation she felt was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. After all, everyone assumed she’d died. Carted off to whatever hell awaited Grishas in Fjerda. Then Nina had explained to her that she had to stay in Kerch, to pay off a debt she owed not only to Kaz Brekker but to someone else. Nina hadn’t elaborated and had asked Y/N to trust her and Y/N blindly, foolishly did.

She’d stayed in Ketterdam for the better part of six months and occasionally wrote letters to Zoya and Genya and David and only giving them vague details of where she was, if only to remind them that she was still alive. She hadn’t deigned to mention Nina. If they’d known Nina was alive and well and thriving in Ketterdam, Zoya would have marched towards Kerch herself and brought them back home.

She didn’t owe these people anything. She didn’t owe anyone in Ketterdam anything. Her only allegiance was to her country and staying in Ketterdam for six months had nearly ruined any sort of good image Y/N had of herself. Her only consolation was gathering intelligence on all the indentured Grishas in Ketterdam and feeding the information to the Triumvirate, if only so they could provide safe passage for them should the time came that Y/N would free them.

In Kerch, it was common to see tattoos on people’s bodies. They were displayed proudly in places that could easily be seen by just about anyone. Tattoos were symbols of power in Kerch and it showed where to whom your loyalties lied. The smooth, unmarked skin on her arms signified her status. Grisha but unyielding and free. She’d managed to survive six months in Ketterdam all on her own with nothing but her wits about her. She was careful with the jobs she took and was intelligent enough to ensure that any contract she had to sign for a job was in her favor. Despite offers from nearly all the gangs in town, including one from Kaz Brekker himself, she’d managed to turn them down and find work for herself, earning enough money for a roof over her head, three square meals a day and even the occasional credit line at the Crows Club.

Y/N maybe a Grisha but she would bow to no one, especially not anyone in Ketterdam.

“You speak Fjerdan,” Matthias said in Kerch. His Kerch was an ugly sounding thing. He spoke in the accent of rapists and murderers in Hellsgate, where he likely learned the language. The sound was almost guttural, a growl of vowels and a snarl of consonants. Kerch was one of the languages that Y/N adored aside from her native Ravkan and she hated that somehow, Matthias managed to make it sound so monstrous.

“Nina and I had expensive educations,” Y/N replied in Fjerdan.

He scowled at her. “In the Little Palace.”

“Yes. In the Little Palace.” She had snapped at him, eyes blazing in fury. “If we had learned it in Fjerda, Nina and I would be dead by now. Isn’t that what you Drüskelle do? Kill innocent Grishas.”

“There are no innocent Grishas. You’ve killed hundreds of us.”

“And you’ve killed thousands of us! Because you think we’re abominations. You hold phony trials and yet you’ve never found a single Grisha innocent. You’re all dishonorable shams. Nina should never have rescued you from Hellsgate.”

The glare he sent her was fiercer than anything Y/N had ever seen before. She suspected that if looks could kill, she’d likely already be thrown overboard.

Y/N raised her arms and created a series of gestures that sped the movement of their boat. Water sloshed around the side of ship, slapping it from right to left frantically. The crew of the ship immediately grabbed hold on to the nearest solid surface and Wylan even threw his body over the makeshift table to stop the sheafs of papers that held their plans from flying around. Matthias’s once fearsome glare melted as his skin turned into a sickly palour before he gripped the sides of the boat and vomited the contents of his stomach.

Y/N released a satisfied smirk. She may not be able to kill Matthias but she can at least make him suffer, even if all she could do was make him vomit.

He sent her a nasty glare and she only sent him a flirty wink in return.

“Y/N!” Kaz barked from the wheel where Specht, the captain of the Ferolind, steered the ship to course, trying to stop the rocking of the boat. “Stop playing games!”

Y/N stuck her tongue out contemptuously. Kaz Brekker may be Dirtyhands, the Bastard of the Barrel, leader of the Dregs, the one of the most feared men in Ketterdam but to Y/N, Kaz was just another person. Smart and devious yes but no one she couldn’t handle. She was a Grisha, a creature of myth and legend gifted with the extraordinary ability to control water. She had something Kaz didn’t.

Kaz scowled at her, clearly peeved at her insolence and she simply scowled back.

She flexed her hands again, creating a series of patterns in the air that caused the water beneath the boat to slow into a steady wave.

Nina emerged from belowdeck once again, a frantic look in her eyes, her usually perfectly coifed hair flying off in different directions. “What in the name of the Saints was that?! I had to strap Inej down with my own arms to keep her from falling off the bed.”

“Ask Y/N,” Jesper cried out as he straightened himself. “She nearly capsized the boat!”

“Really?” Nina cried out in a disappointed tone. “Y/N!”

“Don’t Y/N me,” Y/N said, repeating Nina’s tone at the sound of her name. “You keep me in a boat with Helvar and I will do whatever I can to push him overboard.”

“I am not paying you to kill Helvar, Y/L/N,” Kaz snapped as he walked towards Y/N, clearly pissed at her. His expression was downright murderous and Y/N suspected that he was close enough to strangling Y/N with his own bare hands.

“There’s the Dirtyhands that the Barrel knows and loves,” She said vindictively. “Keep your money, Brekker. I have no use for it.”

“If you hate it here so much, why accept the job,” Kaz asked, voice dangerously low.

“Because she asked.” Y/N pointed a finger towards Nina. “Nina’s my sister and as pissed as I am with her for misleading me, I am not going to let her go into enemy territory by herself with only the rest of you for company.” She turned away, not even caring that her hair hit Kaz in the face as she pushed Nina aside and stomped belowdeck.

For the next two days, no one spoke to her.

Inej, the Suli girl that had been injured in the skirmish before they’d boarded the Ferolind, had healed nicely but even she wasn’t talking to Y/N. Y/N only occasionally came up from her quarters belowdeck when she felt the wind still and knew that the Ferolind needed that extra push and when night came and everyone had gone to bed, she would exit her cabin and stay above deck, if only to watch the stars.

Tonight would be the third night she’d gone up while everyone had gone to bed. Her stomach had begun to complain after she’d missed both lunch and dinner for the day but she couldn’t even bring herself to search for a meal belowdeck. She only had a few hours of quiet while on the ship and she wasn’t going to waste it by trying to scrounge up a meal.

At night, the ocean was a different creature. It was stillness and peace unlike anything that she could describe. The stars would reflect against the dark waters and the Ferolind would glide on the ocean’s surface, a blanket of glittering lights that left no mark of where they had been, save for a few ripples of water.

Tonight, as Y/N emerged from belowdeck, she found that she was not alone.

Matthias Helvar leaned against the bow of the ship, sitting at the spot that she normally liked to occupy as she watched the stars. The wind whipped at his clothes, carrying with it the scent of the salty breeze. The moon’s rays reflected against his face turning his blue eyes into a lurid silver. His hair was still trimmed short from his time at the prison but with the way he sat, he looked as though he was crowned by the stars themselves.

Grudgingly, Y/N had to admit that he looked like a Saint.

His head snapped towards her at the sound of her footsteps, and, for the very first time, their eyes met without so much as a hint of malice.

She almost wanted to scowl at him and she knew he likely felt the same way but something about the tranquility of the evening demanded their peace and so Y/N’s face didn’t so much as shift an inch.

“That’s my spot,” Y/N said in Fjerdan, pointing at where Matthias sat.

“What?”

“Where you’re sitting. I sit there every night to watch the stars.”

For a moment, Matthias didn’t speak. He only stared at her and Y/N suspected he was likely considering what action to do next. To Y/N surprise, he shifted to the left, giving her more than enough space to sit down next to him if she wanted to.

She walked, almost quickly, and sat down next to Matthias. She hadn’t given herself a chance to change her mind.

There was nothing between them except the glorious sound of the water slapping against the boat. Y/N’s eyes were trained at the sky but her focus was on Matthias. At the heat his body exuded and the small amount of comfort that it brought her. She would have leaned against him if she didn’t have a sense of dignity. Embarrassment clawed at her, suffocating the small amount of comfort that Matthias brought.

He is Drüskelle. It would do her well to remember that. In any other given situation, he would have wrapped his large hands around her throat and squeezed.

Instead, Y/N took the blanket she had brought with her and wrapped it around her cold form.

“That is smart,” Matthias pointed out. His voice seemed so small, drowned out by the whipping wind.

“It gets cold up here at night,” Was Y/N’a only reply. “It gets even colder the closer we are to Fjerda.”

Matthias’ expression seemed to sadden at the mention of Fjerda but Y/N couldn’t be too sure. With the Drüskelle, everything could be a ruse.

“I haven’t seen my country in a year,” Matthias frowned. “I fear that, perhaps, I may not recognize it.”

Y/N hugged her knees, warming them up against the frigid cold. “I haven’t seen Ravka in two.”

“Oh?”

“I—“ she cleared her throat for a moment. Would it be treasonous of her to divulge her country’s secrets to one of its sworn enemies? “I’m like Nina. I go to other places, looking for Grisha who might want a chance to a better life.”

“To join your army.” His voice had developed an edge, one that Y/N couldn’t ignore.

“Better than being dead,” she shrugged. “Grishas in foreign lands don’t worry about Fjerdans executing them or Shu Hans experimenting on them. They have to worry about being found by their own otkazat'sya neighbors and being burned alive at the stake. Ravka offers them safety, a home. The chance to be part of something greater than yourself.”

“But being Grisha—“

“I know you’re going to call us an abomination but are we really? We cannot help what or how we are born anymore than you can help having your blond hair and your blue eyes. Would you trade your features, your face, to look like someone else?”

“I suppose not.”

“And I am no inclined to trade being Grisha for anything. Our life is one of hardship. Even in our own country, there is no rest, especially after the war. And now Nina tells me that there is a drug that could change our abilities and kill us. I—“ She sighed as she ran a hand over her tired face.

“You want to kill him, don’t you? The scientist developing the drug. Bo Yul-Bayur.”

“It might be hard for you to believe me but Ravka is my one and only love. If jurda parem got out into the world, my country’s already fragile stability will collapse into nothing. More and more grishas will die, experimented on by the Shu Hans or weaponized by the Fjerdans—“

“My country would never do that.” Matthias scoffed, clearly offended by the implication of her words.

“What? Weaponize grishas?”

“We are honorable. We would never use grishas as weapons.”

This time, it was Y/N’s turn to scoff. “You might be honorable, Helvar, but I’ve met enough Fjerdans in my life to know that honor is a rare breed amongst you. Do you know of Jarl Brum?”

He gave her a stiff nod at the mention of the name. “He was my mentor.”

“Your little mentor enjoys torturing grishas, did you know that?”

“No. He wouldn’t—“

“You don’t know your own people as well as you think you do, Helvar,” Y/N said almost condescendingly. The wind had picked up, the scent of the sea even stronger now than it was before. The moon’s round face looked down on them, illuminating the small space where they sat down. Y/N could feel Matthias begin to shiver against the cold wind.

“How would you know about what Jarl Brum does?”

This time, when Y/N spoke, she looked at Matthias. Her eyes were honest pools of E/C, relaying every emotion she knew she would feel, would likely feel all her life. “He’s the one who killed my father. He told me himself. My father was a high ranking Grisha in the second army. He was a close friend of the Darkling before he passed. The Darkling sent him out on a mission and him and his team was captured and executed. During one of my missions, I met Jarl Brum. Had I been less trained, less focused, he would have killed me the same way he killed my father. He told me…” Y/N trailed off, her eyes seemingly faraway as memory after memory flashed through her head. A sigh left her lips as she continued. “He told me he made my father scream. He told me about how he liked to hear Grishas scream. It sounds so human like, he said. I barely escaped with my life.”

Matthias looked at her, almost stunned at her revelation. “I didn’t—“

“Know? It’s okay. Not even Nina knows. It happened before I arrived at Ketterdam.” Her circling Fjerdan slipped into the soft tones of Ravkan. “A life for a life. He took my father’s. I’ll take his.”

Y/N wasn’t sure if Matthias understood her Ravkan but judging by his expression, he understood the look on her face at the very least. The look of a haunted girl, dogged by her past, tormented by memories of her father.

“That’s why you’re coming, isn’t it?” Matthias asked Fjerdan. “To find Jarl Brum and kill him.”

She gave him a slow nod. “I will find Bo Yul-Bayur and kill him. Then, I’ll find Brum and kill him too.”

“You’ve killed before?” Matthias seemed almost hesitant to ask.

Y/N raised an eyebrow and smirked at him. “Will I scare you if I say I have?”

“How? Your abilities are not like Nina’s.”

“Nina might be a heartrender and yes, it’s easier for her to kill and being a tidemaker meant I didn’t always have the advantage of using my abilities. But I was trained to be a soldier, a fighter. After what happened to Nina, Zoya, our mentor, made sure that I can still fight even with my hands tied behind my back.”

“And you’re a good fighter?”

“Probably better than you.”

This time, Matthias’s once stoic face cracked a smile. “I doubt that.”

At the sight of Matthias’s smile, Y/N’s own fell. She hated to admit it, but it was nice to talk to him without wanting to rip his throat out with her bare hands. She was never the type to be quiet and staying on a ship for 3 days without speaking to anyone would have driven her out of her mind if she didn’t take the evenings off to relax on the bow of the ship.

She almost hated herself for allowing Matthias to get this close. She’d spilled nearly all her guts out to this Drüskelle, her sworn enemy and she didn’t even feel sorry for it. Any amount of self-respect that she had for herself had dwindled into embers.

She cleared her throat as she stood up uneasily.

“Where are you going?” Matthias asked her, his voice almost kind.

“To bed,” she answered curtly.

She hesitated before she walked away. Her hands held tightly on the blanket she was holding, fingering its seams as she wondered at what she was about to do. She dangled the piece of cloth before Matthias, a small, embarrassing blush crawling at her neck at the action. “For when you get cold.”

Matthias stared at the blanket blankly as it dangled in front of him. For a brief moment, Y/N considered taking it back and leaving Matthias by himself in the cold and she would have done it had Matthias not reached out and gingerly taken the blanket. “Thank you.”

She gave him one nod before she quickly walked away without so much as another word.

A time may come where Y/N would feel something for Matthias other than outrageous contempt and perhaps, Matthias might even feel a sort of kinship with Y/N one day. But that day was not today and having her hatred for the Matthias dwindle from a raging forest fire to a tiny flame was enough for now.

[fricklefracklefloof]

"For as long as he can remember, Kuwei has been cursed with fire in his skin. Any flammable thing he touches will burn in an instant, collapsing into ashes like everything in his life has. There are a few things that can keep his fire at bay, but Kuwei knows that it doesn’t take much to feed it either.

When Kuwei came home one day to find his family dead, he cried till he couldn’t anymore, then finished the job. He set his home and any remaining traces of his childhood alight, and never looked back.

Now Kuwei lives in the city. It’s huge and bustling and the buildings are so crowded and compact Kuwei is terrified that if he makes one misstep the whole place will burst into flames. He tries to keep to himself, for fear of burning anyone if they ever get too close. But money is only growing increasingly more difficult to come by, and after joining a gang to make ends meet, Kuwei realizes that he needs to open up to people. Because the boy who has followed him from his childhood all the way to the city won’t seem to let him go no matter how hard Kuwei tries. And because now, for the first time in his life, Kuwei has found someone who refuses to burn under his touch."

my first fic for the @grishaversebigbang 2021 :) if you liked wof as a kid and never forgot about peril this is the fic for you.

i had the pleasure of working with:

my corporalki, beta readers:

@wybiegowritey

@owleys

my materialki, artists:

@artisticaperture with art here

@misterrimpossible with edits here and here

@niecity with art here and here

@bookish-ginger with art here

@ousakasougos with art here

[wylanvanfeck]

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: Six of Crows Series - Leigh Bardugo, Nikolai Series - Leigh Bardugo Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Characters: Kuwei Yul-Bo, Zoya Nazyalensky, Genya Safin, David Kostyk, The Legend of Harshaw Additional Tags: winter holidays, Festive Arson, the Grishaverse Gävlebocken, Kuwei does crime, Very mild King of Scars spoilers Summary:

There was only one thing Kuwei wanted for Sankt Nikolai's Day: to beat the other Grisha in turning the ugly straw goat to flame.

[funnyao3]

Taking a breath, he turned, but it was only Kuwei, squinting at him and looking like he had perhaps died in the night and been reanimated by someone who wasn’t very good at it.

[trassellynn]

SOC OCs

I am obsessed by OCs and she's one of my favorites.

Her name is Helèna Parr, also know as "Doc" or "The Basilisk".

She has Suli origins (from her mother's side) and has been found by the leader of a criminal gang, The Chimeras, when she was an injured child, with almost no memories of who she was.

She is a girl with autism, with incredible medical skills, and she's also an expert in poisons.

After Rollins destroyed the group, Helèna was taken by a cruel man, Count Lucien, who used her genius for personal purposes and mistreated her, leading her to believe she was a horrible monster (due to the scars on the left side of her face) and that no one would have loved her. He thought, in this way, she would have been linked to him forever.

She has later been able to escape, found a friend in another doctor, Julian, and started working with him.

And yes, I wrote of her saving Matthias. (hoping I represented her properly).

Yes, the lyrics in the second image are part of "Heaven's Light", from "The Hunkback of Notre Dame".

-Helèna always goes around with a mask that covers her scars.

- She has a cat named Dyna.

- She doesn't like money.

(Her skin is slightly darker than the actress' in the picture).

Well, do you have OCs in SoC?

[honey-bee-fangirl]

Six of Crows Fanfic

Does anybody know of a fanfiction where Kaz breaks his bad leg? Or good leg for that matter? Then y'know the team find out after he tries to hide it, take care of him, whatever. I really wanna read that whump/ hurt/comfort fanfic. And if it doesn't exist, anyone's welcome to use the idea - just let me know

[bazberkker]

I posted 325 times in 2022

That's 278 more posts than 2021!

69 posts created (21%)

256 posts reblogged (79%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@bazberkkerwrites

@bazberkker

@doubledavid

@rinezha

@hellspawnmotel

I tagged 161 of my posts in 2022

Only 50% of my posts had no tags

#shadow and bone - 23 posts

#six of crows - 22 posts

#the secret history - 19 posts

#donna tartt - 18 posts

#wylan van eck - 18 posts

#jesper fahey - 17 posts

#grishaverse - 15 posts

#dark academia - 14 posts

#literature - 14 posts

#nina zenik - 13 posts

Longest Tag: 111 characters

#i feel like it’s hard to connect with him on the same level as characters like kaz and inej because of this too

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

My biggest flaw is that I’m unironically Kuwei Yul-Bo’s number one fan. I will 100% support every chaotic decision he has made and will continue to make. Give that child a damn medal for having more personality than the entire Shadow and Bone trilogy despite only being in, like, an eighth of Crooked Kingdom and even less in SOC. He may be a little shit, but he’s MY little shit.

795 notes - Posted January 15, 2022

#4

Dracula Daily has only made me realize there’s a fine line between being in Dracula and being in Beauty & the Beast, so we really can’t blame our bestie Jonathan for getting his genres mixed up

1,267 notes - Posted May 12, 2022

#3

Sparknotes should hire me

1,748 notes - Posted April 3, 2022

#2

Sometimes I’ll just read the most profound, heart-wrenching piece of literature, and then remember that I’m on AO3 and it’s an It fanfiction published in 2017 with an author’s note saying “wrote this last night because I was bored lol”

1,800 notes - Posted August 19, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

My mom after I explained Live Slug Reaction to her: “You should make one about your boys from Community!”

2,038 notes - Posted March 4, 2022

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