#matthias core

[mattodore]

just realized both theo and matthias's playlists are over a hundred songs long now... that's six hours for each playlist 😁

[its-a-fiasco-bratan]

You know, Ayre would be hard enough to keep up with if I WASN'T sobbing the whole time.

[spaceyhiyyihlight]

[reading The Kingdom of Matthias for history class]

if my husband doesn't lose his fucking marbles after my death like Elijah Pierson did i don't fucking want him

[ofwindydays]

closed for @matthiasxaless

Kevin was blasting the digimon theme song as he twirled in his wheelchair printing out more the missing persons for Sofia. It was the saddest part of his new position but he tried to cope with every emotion. There were a lot truth be told.

They counted the pictures before organizing all the reports. Kevin was interrupted when he heard the bell be rung several times. The receptionist was on break weren’t they. With that in mind Kevin wheeled up front.

“Dude chill with the bell.” Kevin said as he wheeled up front. He peered his head up at the taller with a stoic look. “You here to pay a ticket or what?”

[19burstraat]

hmmm I know we can surmise that kaz & jordie were the iphigenia of the series, in that, whether it's fair or not, they had to be sacrificed for the benefit of everyone else. jordie had to die and kaz had to suffer it and live with it, because if kaz had lain down and died on the barge, it would have had a crazy knock-on effect. inej likely would never have escaped the menagerie, or matthias from hellgate, jesper would probably have fallen foul of debtors or gangs some way or another (he gets at least one beating from enforcers), nina would have been caught up w the dime lions trying to get matthias out of hellgate, and there's even some more tangential ones, like kuwei probably dying at the ice court and marya being stuck at saint hilde.... but I wonder what would have happened to wylan.

kaz had him under dregs protection, so he never suffered the way he did ("kaz is your luck, merchling."); no beatings, etc. without that... well, it's tempting to think that wylan would have just been killed some way or another. and yeah, maybe, but miggson and prior couldn't get him, could they? wylan has that scary glimmer of the biting-animal, kaz-style survivalist in him, and he had a goal; amass enough money to get the hell out of ketterdam and start anew. but how far would wylan have gone to get that money? van eck's letters pushed him into the arms of dregs munitions building. without the perpetual intervention of kaz-- protection, constant jobs even when there were better people for it, good pay-- how quickly would wylan have turned into someone more like kaz? he has a core of decency, but he gets the privilege of keeping that, because kaz helps him to. alone, would he have surrendered it, or been forced to surrender it, just for a chance to survive? I don't think he would have ever willingly given up. it's not an accident that kaz and wylan's first days in ketterdam are so closely paralleled, or that they have a set of similar skills/traits; it's explicitly said that wylan would also be able to count cards and control decks like kaz can, if he wanted to. and after he finds out about his mother, wylan's comforted by the idea of retribution for van eck, that kaz could destroy his father's life. they're a little bit too similar. but kaz is there to take the moral fall, for the most part; all wylan has to do is help him. but without kaz... well. that's another story, isn't it?

[dwyntwo]

I don't think in a modern world, the Crows would completely keep to themselves in a college setting like these weirdass Cullens the way it's often depicted.

Like yes, The Crows would be the core group, but let's be honest, Jesper and Inej would be friends with everyone. Jesper would be the type of guy you'd see sitting at every table, chatting and joking with all the guys and gals and being loved by everyone he comes across. He'd talk to the quiet shy people and try to make them feel included and he'd make everyone at his table laugh.

Inej would have deep and meaningful conversations with lots of other girls and try to get to know them in the most unbiased way possible, but her favorite topic would probably be different cultures, religion, food from different places from all around the world, social injustice and travels. When she doesn't have these sorts of discussions, she goofs off with her peers; often that's her crows, often that's Kaz, but often it's also other people. She's blunt and direct and maybe some people have an issue with that, but those aren't people she involves herself with. She trusted some of the girls with her story, which just makes them admire her even more for how strong she is.

Nina would be one of the most well-known and popular girls on the campus, but in a...controversial way. Like she probably wouldn't be as universally loved as Inej and Jesper because she's very...out there, people might think she's a bit radical, she knows how good she looks (and isn't afraid to show it) and has a sense of humor that is a little too direct. Lots of people would love her, but some would then talk behind her back. There would also be sexist dudes who think she's "too much" (sorry, Matty) and "an arrogant bimbo", and girls with internalized misogyny would say she's "too crass" and "trying too hard", but whatever room she enters, she always finds people to talk to.

Matthias would find a few buddies since he often can't relate to Kaz, Wylan and Jesper. He loves them, but the demon boy gets on his nerves occassionally (their peers still laugh about the time when he snapped at Kaz to "Shut up" after he sneezed) and the other two don't have ANY morals, ugh 🙄 His buddies don't even have to be religious; Matthias just wants some NORMAL friends, is that too much to ask? He'd also be liked by the girls as a "big brother" type figure because he looks out for them and often intently listens to conversations about why the girls always carry pepper spray around.

Wylan wouldn't really have that many friends, but his peers like him because of his "shock humor". Like, he's quiet and blushes easily, but then when someone says something stupid or offensive in class, Wylan will suddenly out of nowhere respond with the most witty, unhinged shit they've ever heard. Just for that, they respect him and make him part of their (well meaning) jokes. He's not "invisible", he's also not really "out there", but he's accepted as "one of them" and everyone talks fondly about him. They also accept the fact that he can't read and it probably even makes him more interesting to them.

Kaz (and I'm sorry, but I REFUSE to acknowledge that Kaz would wear a suit on campus. He'd wear a casual black shirt/hoodie and black jeans, fight me. Don't make him more obnoxious than he needs to be 😭 Also, his backstory stays the same!) would, surprisingly, also be liked by most people due to his dry sense of humor and his blunt way to put things. A bunch of others would be intimidated by him, but overall, he'd be one of the more popular ones. Maybe the fact that he's together with Inej has something to do with that, too. He gives off major "Idc who you are and what you've done, we're cool if you don't get on my nerves"- vibes. When the class doesn't know how to solve a task, he's the one they turn to. Kaz IS actually socially intelligent, he just chooses not to be in canon; I mean, the bitch is a theater kid, he can slip into any role, which speaks for his ability to empathize with others. In college he doesn't have much reason to act like a wet cat, so he doesn't. He's not exactly "friendly", he doesn't let anyone get too close, doesn't share anything personal and the "No touching rule" is something most people on campus are aware of, but he still likes to talk to other people and discuss things with them. His peers try to give him THE most difficult riddles they can find, hoping to find one he can't solve, and get frustrated when he knows the answer to all of them. Have I also mentioned that he's a magician? Like come on, people would eat that shit up! Yeah, he's moody, but he also lives for dramatics and performances. You're trying to tell me he WOULDN'T make coins appear and disappear just to see the looks on his peers' faces?

[five-of-cr]

the crows as candy

wylan: pop rocks (sweet but also make things go boom)

jesper: ring pop (flashy fashionista with a gaudy sense of style)

kaz: black licorice (bitter and not for everyone but the people who love him LOVE him)

inej: chocolate (smooth, adaptable, impossible to hate)

nina: chili-covered mango lollipop (hot and spicy (especially at first), bold and passionate at her core)

matthias: banana laffy taffy (tough, sweet, bad sense of humor, needs to leave his warped reality to find out what an actual goddamn banana tastes like)

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

An interesting thing about Kaz is the way he views a hierarchy within everyone he meets, an attitude probably defined in him by the Kerch culture of trade and the environment of Ketterdam. Kerch is a country that in many ways is designed to reflect the American Dream as it is portrayed in classic literature such as The Great Gatsby: as an ultimately unattainable and useless lie, designed to control and quell the masses in the danger of extreme capitalism. The social hierarchy in Ketterdam is well-established and discussed throughout the novels, though mostly in Crooked Kingdom since the plot stays almost entirely within city limits, and the attitude of viewing a miniature hierarchy amongst those around you as part of the overall societal structure is evidenced in Kaz, and possibly reflected in Wylan; a link both to their different upbringings within the Ketterdam social structure, and their position as literary foils. (I wrote a whole long thing about how Kaz and Wylan had/have the potential to become each other, so feel free to check that out for more detail if you want it). The city’s hierarchy and the unattainability of joining the rich upper echelon of society is cleverly hinted at from the very beginning of Six of Crows, when Kaz is jumped and then wakes up in what he expects to be the deb of a rival gang. He instead finds himself in Councilman Hoede’s Manor House, which I believe is on the Geldstradt, and the way he makes the distinction is by realising that the decor in the room he’s in “takes real money”. We know that people like Pekka Rollins or Tante Heleen have become truly rich from what they do in the Barrel, and so it’s strange to suggest that you’d need “real money” for this since we would generally use that phrase to refer to a large amount of money. What Kaz actually means here is “old money” or “family money”; you need the kind of money that the Merchant Council have been hoarding for generations, making supposedly risky trades when they have millions of savings to cushion the blow if things go wrong, not the kind of money that comes from the popular gambling dens and brothels of the Barrel. He means the kind of money that Daisy and Tom have in Great Gatsby, people who’ve never worked a day in their lives and yet like to think of themselves as very successful at life when all they’re truly succeeding in is spending their parents money, not the kind of money that Gatsby scraped and saved and began to chase through undisclosed illicit means. Even when men like Gatsby and Rollins make their money, and their name, they are never equal in the social hierarchy to people with old money. (To be clear, not that this is a defence of either character, I have criticisms of both, especially Rollins).

But the hierarchy Kaz places upon himself and upon the others is slightly more subtle, and arguably subversive. He looks down on Matthias because he “stinks of decency” and because he supposedly hasn’t struggled, arguably gaining slightly more respect for him when he learns of him losing his parents and baby sister but still maintaining the idea of ‘everyone has a sob story and you were clearly more lucky in your options to deal with it than I was, it’s not my fault if you made the wrong choice’. We as readers obviously know that Matthias had no options but to go with Jarl Brum and spent the next 6 years of his life (I think that’s the right amount of time, please correct me if I’m wrong) being emotionally manipulated and abused by him, but Kaz simply refuses to accept has suffered because it would be psychologically damaging to him to admit that Matthias was able to go through that and still come out a good person, when Kaz sees himself as having become truly demonic. Matthias looks down on Kaz for the exact same reason, unable to understand - especially since he knows far less detail about Kaz’s trauma - how someone who ever had a core of decency couldn’t maintain it through their pain, he assumes Kaz was never a good person, or never had the potential to be one. Kaz also looks down on Wylan, arguably far less for his attempt to maintain a core decency but because he views Wylan as having had the option to do so. Kaz seems to have more respect for Wylan in Crooked Kingdom than in Six of Crows, when he knows more about (but never, it should be noted, the full extent of) Jan Van Eck’s abuse to his son, once again showcasing that he struggles to accept the idea of someone feeling bad when they have supposedly suffered less than him. His trauma has clearly warped him in many ways, and one of them is losing the ability to see relative pain and how different things can affect different people in different ways; he effectively views everything in the manner of ‘I had it worse, and I’m fine so you need to get over yourself’. He labels Nina “a snob” for staying away from the Crow Club and the Slat despite being a Dregs member, and her response is “she didn’t much care what Kaz Brekker thought”. I think that Nina is possible the person Kaz holds the most respect for in his platonic relationships, and that is mostly because she simply couldn’t care less whether he respects her or not.

His relationship with Jesper is more complex; he judges Jesper for his addiction and yet continually eggs him on, giving him a line of credit to play cards at the start of Six of Crows and having the first step of his planning in Crooked Kingdom to make Jesper play all night, although it’s unclear whether Jesper has ever shared anything about his mother if anyone knows then the most likely parties are Kaz or Inej and yet Kaz forces Jesper to give up his revolvers in Crooked Kingdom, his most treasured possession and his constant connection to his late mother, he consistently infantilises Jesper, but mostly in his head and this is possibly an interesting link to the final nail in the coffin of their relationship; Kaz sees Jesper as a substitute to Jordie. I think it’s possible that he likes to see him as younger because that’s how he remembers Jordie - it’s also important to remember that Kaz is now several years older than his elder brother ever was so seeing him in someone his own age is possibly even more painful because that’s a point Jordie never reached (he was only 13 when he died). Jesper is someone that Kaz feels the need to keep at arms length, not because he doesn’t respect him but because he fears having a close relationship with someone who could so easily slip away from him like Jordie did. I think we can also arguably see aspects of Jordie within Jesper, the naïveté of thinking you can make it Ketterdam followed by the city swallowing you whole, killing Jordie and driving Jesper to his slow self-destruction - “I’m dying anyway, Da. I’m just doing it slow”. (If y’all have read many of my analytical posts you may have begun to notice that’s one of my favourite quotes)

Then we have Inej. Kaz places Inej on a pedestal whatever she does. I’ve spoken before about how she claims to be bad at picking locks whilst he claims to have done “a shoddy job at teaching her to pick locks” because he’s incapable of accepting that she is incapable of something; if there are flaws, they must be his because she cannot have any. In a lot of situations this can be harmful, going back to the romance of Daisy and Gatsby where Daisy is placed on a pedestal and idealised so much that she become more of an image than a person, so when she does not live up to his every high expectation Gatsby is destroyed by it. But with kanej this seems only to elevate their position, possibly because Kaz isn’t claiming that Inej is flawless, but rather that she is capable of working on her flaws in a way that he isn’t; it is almost a form of envy. For example, Inej also has a fear of touch and human contact, but she purposely forced herself to cope with small amounts of it, such as allowing Nina and Jesper to hug her even though it makes her flinch, because she fears it becoming a debilitating condition, as it has done for Kaz (not that she knows that initially when it’s first implied that she too fears contact). In the bathroom scene when she admits to him that she also struggles with touch, it has such a massive effect on Kaz not because he refuses to accept that she has flaws but because he sees her as so much stronger than himself and wishes that he could be more like her. Although both of them are ultimately unable to go any further than a few light brushes of contact, it’s suggested that what trigger Inej more than the touch itself is the sexual implications of those touches based on everything she went through at the Menagerie. Kaz doesn’t see Inej aligned with with himself or the other gang members, but as above them - and not in the way he labels Nina as a snob, but in a genuine manner he refuses to acknowledge her as low in society because he sees her as deserving of so much more. He notably never refers to her as “a canal rat” and he never even comes close to defining her by her time at the Menagerie, a start contrast between him, the supposed low of the hierarchy, and Van Eck, the supposed upper, he yells at her “you little skiv! You little whore!”. However, there is one way in which Kaz arguably looks down on Inej and it’s in a similar way that he looks down in Matthias: how dare she still try so hard to remain truly good, and decent, and to find her Saints and to politely ask them for forgiveness, when it would be so much easier to let the world beat that out of her? Arguably, it’s not that he judges either of them for their faith, but it’s that he fears them judging him for losing his, be that in religion or in the world at all. (I don’t think we know if Kaz was raised in a religious household or not, but based on societal structure in Ketterdam and the way most of the population in most of the countries are religious I think it’s safe to assume he at least grew up with an understanding of Ghezen). Kaz fears that they’ll judge him for failing to maintain his core of decency, which is exactly what Matthias does, and so he aims to offend or challenge them before they can him.

Ok I’m not gonna lie to you guys it’s like quarter past one in the morning as I’m writing this, and oh my god it just got so long out of nowhere… I might have lost my point somewhere in there, I don’t even know, this came from one quote I was thinking about and I’m not sure I even wrote that quote in there so, yeah, I guess. If you bothered to read this far the tysm I hope it made sense

[carionto]

Humans and Boredom III

Interceptors and fighter craft.

Almost nothing in the Galaxy can go toe to toe with a Human built Dreadnought. Practically nobody had built anything even close to that size before Humanity emerged and shocked everyone with such an arsenal, and now a few are looking to catch up. Most had figured that at least the smaller Human ships would be somewhat equivalent to their own existing ones. They were wrong.

While the neural interface drone swarms were actually comparable to our own in both design philosophy and usage for civil and military needs, what they call "Fighters" were terrifying.

Armed with countless weapons facing forward and incinerating thrusters out back, there's nothing one of these small dual or single pilot vehicles wouldn't try to pick a fight with. And probably win. Save for a direct hit to a core section, the typical Human redundancies and manual overrides for literally every system make taking one of these nimble horrors out a challenge. A full squadron? Pray.

So, despite their already ludicrous advantages, the Humans never stop upgrading and innovating. There is no such thing as a ceiling for any aspect of their weapons. In with the new, out with the old, as they say. When we asked what happens to the things that become outdated or obsolete, they said that if it can't be retrofitted anymore, it gets sent to a recycling station. They naturally have a specific one for military hardware to maintain secrecy.

___________________

At said station two operators were having a slower week and Patricia decided to try something different with all these old drone piloting kits and scrapped fighters and transports.

After convincing Matthias, they mounted gravity hooks on a bunch of vehicles and set the drones on a bunch of junked boosters, and programmed them to move in a partially randomized pattern towards the main atomizer bay. While they would gently float around to their demise, after a coin toss, Patricia would try to block a different set of much faster, thruster-enabled scraps, controlled by Matthias and which had deconstruction lasers instead.

The goal for Matthias was to turn as much mass of the slow moving horde into slag before they reach the end. Patricia would use whatever other junk is around to strategically shield the horde from taking direct hits to get as much of it into the bay. You get disqualified if you target the gravity hooks/lasers. Whoever "recycles" the most spaceship mass wins and gets first dibs on any one thing they want from the next shipment. Well, anything that isn't explicitly marked "Classified" in the manual.

Matthias dominated the first match and they both agreed to significantly reduced the laser potency and control only two at once. The second match was far more fair and Patricia, still in control of the horde, managed to eke out a win. They thought about doing a best of three, but realized they had in their excitement completed the entire week's worth of scrapping in an afternoon.

So they decided to play some board games with the few leftover scraps, both to just pass the time, and to appear busy to any supervisor who might make a surprise visit.

[barrel-crow-n]

Kaz has three animal motifs all to himself

The Crow

The Dog

The Shark

The Crow

This one is the most apparent. It's his symbol, the sign of his gang, the tattoo on his arm, the name of his crew, the bird that nests around his territory.

The crow represents many things: death, danger, misfortune and illness. Kaz identifies with all of these, and uses them as his armour. He brings and causes death, he is dangerous, it is people's misfortune to cross him, he allegedly causes people's flesh to wither and die at his touch. However, it also describes his life. Everyone he has cared about has died, he lives in constant danger in the Barrel, misfortune caused him to catch the plague, be mistaken for dead, thrown on the Barge, and lose his brother. He became ill with the Queen's Lady Plague and "died". But crows also represent: rebirth, self-reflection, intelligence, and loyalty. Kaz was reborn in the Ketterdam harbour. He decided to never love again to never hurt again, believing love to be the cause of loss. He's scarily intelligent, probably the smartest man in the city. His gang is loyal and his crew is loyal - he gathers people around him that will never betray him. Jesper, his second that will do anything Kaz says. Inej, the girl who would kill a dozen men to protect him.

Also: "Crows remember the faces of the people who wronged them. But they also remember those that were kind. They tell each other who to watch out for, and who to look after." Kaz remembers everyone who has ever wronged him and goes after them in a bloody quest for vengeance, but he also looks after his people.

He is deeply associated with the crow, but he also personally relates to it.

The Dog

One of his nicknames is "Per Haskell's rabid dog" and he has all of the qualities that the dog symbolises.

Dogs symbolise: guidance, protection, loyalty, fidelity, faithfulness, alertness, and love, strength, courage, and tenacity.

Guidance: Kaz is a leader. He's a gang leader, he's the leader of the crows. He makes the plans and finds the resolutions of problems and difficulties that they face. But he also helps others, in his own way. He never judges Nina for what she did to Matthias, and not only does he focus more on what Wylan can do instead of what he can't, he gives him advice. He tells Wylan that he should not be ashamed, that shame eats men whole, that he doesn't need to be able to read to be valuable.

Protection: Kaz is very protective. When Inej got stabbed, he killed a dozen men and carried her all the way to safety despite his limp. He has his crew's back in a fight. He offers safety and protection to his gang: threatening retaliation if one of his own is hurt. He gives Wylan his father's empire. He lies for Jesper to Colm and refuses to give Jesper the parem. He looks after his own.

Loyalty: Kaz is committed to the Dregs. They are his gang and he does his best to look after them. He made their revenue, makes them money, insulates the house, pays for the water. He looks after them in a fight, too. And of course, he expects the loyalty back.

Fidelity: He is exclusively loyal to his gang, and his friends. When Pekka says that he offers a Kaz a place in the Dime Lions Kaz deadpans that he'd rather "be roasted on a spit with Van Eck turning the handle". This is partly because he utterly despises Pekka, but it is also partly that the Dregs are his people. He may not exactly see them as a family but he cannot deny that that is what they are. "Did Muzzen have any family?" "Just the Dregs." Kaz admits that the Dregs are a family, and Inej says that Per Haskell was a little like a father to Kaz, and Kaz like a son to Haskell. He wouldn't betray them.

Faithfulness: He is true to his word and never breaks a promise once he has given it.

Alertness: Kaz is always alert. He's always ready for a fight, or for something to go wrong.

Love: At Kaz's core, he deeply believes in love. His motivation for revenge was not that he got conned out of money, it was the loss of his brother and the feeling of betrayal that Pekka caused by pretending to replace the family he had lost, only to snatch everything away. Whenever he threatens someone, he threatens to hurt their loved ones, because he believes it's the worst kind of pain - he experienced it himself. He loves Inej so much that he's willing to try and better himself for her. He accidentally calls Jesper by his dead brother's name.

Strength: Kaz is strong - physically, emotionally, and mentally. Physically, he dangled a clerk by the legs from the top of a light house for an extended period of time, fought a whole gang on his own, and many other feats. He can handle running and fighting even when he is in agony. Emotionally, he manages to maintain a poker face at everything and almost nothing fazes him; when something does, he doesn't dwell on the pain, but on how to get revenge or how to save the person being hurt. Mentally, he managed to push past the trauma and swim back to shore from the Reaper's Barge using his dead brother's body as a raft. He was able to try and push past the trauma to try loving Inej.

Courage: Kaz is brave, and strong in the face of pain and grief. He went and fought the Dregs on his own, has survived so much and still kept going.

Tenacity: Kaz never stops. He's persistent and he won't ever quit. He doesn't quit on his revenge at Pekka, he doesn't quit even when the Dregs nearly kill him in the Slat fight. He keeps trying until he gets what he wants.

The Shark

Kaz's eyes are often compared to that of a shark: black and cold. He also has the qualities that the shark is a symbol for.

The shark symbolises: power, superiority, authority, focus, determination, adaptability, and self-confidence.

Kaz has a lot of power. He is now the king of the Barrel and very rich. He's the leader of his gang and no longer has a boss. No one tells him what to do. He's superior to most in the Barrel - more ruthless, more driven but also, ironically enough, morally superior. Not just in the Barrel, but to more socially acceptable people. He doesn't deal with slavers and despises the skin trade. He is actively against slavers and bawds. Kaz also has a lot of authority. He's the leader, and the Dregs and the Crows follow his orders without question.

Kaz is very focused. Mainly on revenge. He has nothing else in his life, just that primal urge to take down Pekka Rollins. He is also determined in this focus yielding results. He doesn't give up. Ever. Even when everything is falling down around his head, he finds a way to flip it around and end up in control again.

Kaz is extremely adaptable. He became what he had to be to survive the Barrel. He became cruel and mean and ruthless because that's what it took to survive the Barrel. When something goes wrong on a job he always has a spare plan and when those run out (which is rarely) he is good at improvisation. He can turn even what seems like an utter loss, into a win.

Kaz is very self-confident. Arrogant, too. He knows that he's good at, and exactly how skilled he is at what he does. He confidently went to the Slat and fought a dozen gang members, he broke into the Ice Court - one of the most impenetrable strongholds in the world, he's confident in his plans, and he knows how to make people stand down, bring them to their knees. He uses people's loved ones against them because everyone has someone they love that he can use, this has no exceptions. Sure, he failed to use Wylan against Van Eck, but he managed with Alys. Using people's loved ones is absolutely a good technique and he knows it. He knows he's skilled in fighting, blackmail, breaking and entering, etc. and he's confident in his abilities.

[mattodore]

theo 🐇🧯🩹

[sixofcrowdaydreams]

Crows Fanfic AU Idea...

With all the Crows college fics that exist, we've been sleeping on the Crows Community AU. Hear me out...

Summary:

Six very different students share one very common goal: passing a stupid language class at the local community college. They form a study group, new unlikely friendships -- new romances -- and maybe, just maybe, figure out how to pass their class.

Details:

Nina speaks six languages already and the 101 class is so easy for her, why would she bother to switch for something harder? The others find out she’s fluent and beg for help. (Lol, not Kaz though. He doesn’t beg, nor need help. He just shows up to the study group because his class partner comes to the study group and he claims he wants Jesper to actually work so that they can both pass.)

Jesper needs help focusing, Wylan needs help reading and writing in a new language, Matthais struggles with pronunciation and speaking. Inej wants to make sure she's learning correctly. Kaz just uses the the time studying to complete his work.

Class partnerships are: Nina and Inej, Kaz and Jesper, and Wylan and Matthias. Their crappy community college may be a joke, but their motivations to succeed are very real.

Character/Plot:

Kaz: business major, needs the degree to keep his club legal and legally reputable. (It is most definitely not, and he uses it to help the other Crows.) Unofficial leader of the study group despite only speaking one language while everyone else is multilingual. Doesn’t actually need help studying, could do it himself, but there is a lot of group work in the class and he’ll never admit it, but he is entertained by the others and enjoys their company. Especially Inej because she's the only other sane member of the study group.

Inej: social work major, wants to fight for others rights and help the most vulnerable. Like most of the Crows, speaks another language, but it’s not the one being studied in class. Honest and sweet, she (and Jesper) are the emotional core of the group, given her ability to care about the Crows' well being more than studying. 

Jesper: agricultural major, hates his major – is pretty sure he’s going to drop out because he doesn’t care about school, a bit of a slacker. Still incredibly smart when he applies himself. The Crows convince him to switch to a trade which is much better for him, now he just needs to tell his dad. (Yikes.) Immediately sleeps with Wylan and they both get awkward about it because they both thought the other wanted something casual, but they definitely don’t. Lets Wylan move in with him. 

Nina: nursing major, is only going through the motions to get a degree because the one she already has doesn’t count because it didn’t transfer correctly when she emigrated, which is total bullshit in her very strong opinion. Speaks 6 languages and the group comes to her with help studying – actually in charge of the studying part of the study group. Shamelessly flirts with everyone and is driven crazy taking a relationship at Matthias’s pace. 

Wylan: music major, homeless and stealthily living on campus because he technically doesn’t qualify for financial assistance (given his family’s wealth even though he has zero access to it). His father enrolled him in a community college instead of his family’s alma mater in order to embarrass him and expects him to flunk out. Wylan is determined to succeed. Works in the cafeteria, can speak class language very well, needs help with the reading/writing elements. Kaz forges some documents to get Wylan financial assistance and into campus housing. The Crows help him (and Jesper) get academic accommodations. Learns how to get help without being embarrassed.

Matthias: criminal justice major, arrested and released from jail, innocent and falsely accused, but having a difficult time getting back on his feet. He has a difficult time letting go of what happened to him and that it effects/limits his career opportunities. Hates how much he needs Nina’s help to pass the class, but he enjoys the one-on-one tutoring with her more than he wants to admit. He would rather slow down a relationship to court. Nina convinces him to let go of his anger and switch to a lit major, which makes him happier. 

I want to read it so badly ... wait, what do you mean that I have to write it first?

[its-tortle]

crows fic recs 🐦‍⬛

put this list together for a friend a few weeks ago and thought i may as well share it here. it's mostly wesper :)

without a mouth i can swear your name by @kvothes - 32k - the only hogwarts au i've ever read that was genuinely great. wylan goes missing and the others go on a mission to find him.

the pugilist's creed by bardelow - 123k - post book canon. wylan and matthias are kidnapped and the other have to get them back. this is whump and angst and ahh but i swear it is also comfort.

if you love her by heavenlyshadows - 3.9k - modern au. kanej take their relationship at their own pace. this is just so sweet

dance with me, darling by @demigodbeautiies - 3.8k - a cute and fun and messy wesper propsal fic

somewhere full of bright colors and beautiful sounds by @demigodbeautiies - 15k - an absolutely beautiful marya hendriks character study

the handmaid by maudeelise - 78k - the crows run a con where jesper is to pose as wylan's handmaid. it goes predictably awry. this one is so so slay and has an amazing plot twist and just ?? reading it as it was updating was insane

keep you safe by @aphroditestummyrolls - 42k - in a post-canon au which has elements from the show and where jesper took the parem (it makes perfect sense when you read it i swear) colm shows up in ketterdam looking for jesper. complicated but heartwarming family reunion

big reputations by @downn-in-flames - 61k - the college au chatfic that has become such a core in this fandom for all the right reasons. so so much fun

[lilisouless]

the crows´s big 3 relationships

Not going to elaborate but here´s who i think are the crow´s top 3 most important relationships that shape them. Not saying its their only important relationships, just their core.

i do notice a pattern, but it would involve elaborate (they aren't in order)

Kaz: Inej,Pekka , Jordie

Inej: Kaz, her parents, Heleen

Nina: Zoya,Matthias,Inej

Jesper: Colm,Wylan,Kaz

Matthias: Nina,Jarl Brum, not sure about the third but i´ll say Trassel

Wylan: Jan, Jesper,Marya

[our-chaos]

Okay, so... we already established Matthias would be the softer one of him and Matt, but...

If it was just him and his s/o? I have a weak spot for a big, strong man who's soft with his s/o but dammit if I don't want that Fjerdan boy to ruin me.

Please give me your thoughts 😍

I’m exploding.

You’d have to warm him up to certain things, him being from where he’s from and all. He was always mild mannered, and in bed he was nothing but soft with you. Matthias never wants to do anything that would hurt you, so if you urged him to be more rough with you he might be hesitant. He’d give you a look that would make you giggle, one of confusion, and it would take everything in you not to kiss the dumbfounded expression off of his handsome face.

“You’re not going to hurt me, Matthias..” you’d assure, moving his large hand by the grip you had on his wrist to place his palm against your throat. He’d swallow, a fire forming in his stomach, his icy blue eyes shooting a glare right into your own eyes.

“You tell me to stop, I will stop.” He spoke sternly, like this were a life and death situation even though you’ve been practically begging him to have his way with you. You were lost in the timbre of his voice, the low tone that shot straight to your core.

“Understand?” He asked, his hold on your neck twitching the slightest bit, catching your attention. He’d have to keep from smirking at the way you blushed, how you nodded so compliantly in agreement.

By the time Matthias had given his all, you’d be a drooling, idiotic, fucked to a point of foolishness, incomprehensible, babbling mess. He’d have his hand around your pulse, restraining you still while he fucked you into the mattress. All you could do was gawk up at him, choking out unsteady praises and pleads of mercy. But Matthias wasn’t merciful tonight. No. You wanted this, and the big bad Fjerdan would do nothing until you got exactly what you wanted. Who was he to dissatisfy you? He wouldn’t dare, not when you looked like a gorgeous little whore accepting his cock like it were the only thing you knew.

He’d settle his lips right to your ear, the harsh pants and raw breaths emitting from that pretty mouth enough to carry you over the edge for your third orgasm of the night. He clamped your breath within his fist, just a bit tighter, and he knew you were listening from the way you squeaked at his harsh touch. Good, he wanted you to hear this.

“You asked for this, min trassel,” he taunted, “So take it.”

[ell0ra-br3kk3r-writes]

The Phoenix and the Crow

part seventeen

pairing: kaz brekker x fem!reader

genre: neutral

el's thoughts: part seventeen!!! hope y'all enjoy!

series masterlist

“No,” Nina said as she watched the wolves circle Matthias. She grabbed Kaz’s arm, “You have to stop this.”

“Let go of me, Nina.” His gravel-rough voice was low, but Y/N sensed real menace in it.

The heartrender dropped her hand, “Please, you don’t understand.”

“If he survives, I’ll take Matthias Helvar out of this place tonight, but this part is up to him.”

Nina gave a frustrated shake of her head. “You don’t get it.”

Y/N drove her attention back to the arena below them. The three wolves lined up together and tumbled over one another to get to him. 

At the last second, Matthias dropped into a crouch, knocking the first Wolf into the dirt, then rolling right to pick up the bloodied knife the previous combatant had left in the sand. He sprang to his feet, blade held out before him, but his reluctance was painted on his face. His head was cocked to one side, and the look in his blue eyes was pleading as if he was trying to engage the two wolves circling him in some silent negotiation. Whatever the plea might have been, it went unheard. The wolf on the right lunged. Matthias crouched low and spun, lodging his knife in the wolf’s belly. It gave a miserable yelp, and Matthias seemed to shudder at the sound. It cost him precious seconds. The third wolf was on him, knocking him to the sand. Its teeth sank into his shoulder. He rolled, taking the wolf with him. The wolf’s jaw snapped, and Matthias caught them. He wrenched them apart, the muscles of his arms flexing, his face grim. 

Y/N turned her head subconsciously leaning closer to Kaz, and squeezed her eyes shut. There was a sickening crack. The crowd roared. 

Matthias knelt over the wolf. Its jaw was broken, and it lay on the ground twitching in pain. He reached for a rock and slammed it hard into the poor animal’s skull. It went still and Matthias’ shoulders slumped. The people howled, stomping their feet. Only Y/N and Nina knew what this was costing him, that he’d been a druskelle. Wolves were sacred to his kind, bred for battle like their enormous horses. They were friends and companions, fighting side by side with their duskelle masters.

The first wolf had recovered and was circling Matthias once again. He got to his feet, but his movements were slow, weary. His heart wasn’t in this fight. His opponents were gray wolves, rangy and wild, but cousins to the white wolves of the Fjerdan north. Matthias had no knife, only the bloody rock in his hand, and the remaining wolf prowled the arena between him and the pile of weapons. The wolf lowered its head and bared its teeth.

Matthias dove to the left. The wolf lunged, sinking its teeth into his side. He grunted and hit the ground hard. For a moment, it looked like he might simply give in and let the wolf take his life. Then he reached out, hand scrabbling through the sand, searching for something. His fingers closed over the shackles that had bound his wrists. 

He seized them, looped the chain across the wolf’s throat, and pulled the veins in his neck cording from the strain. His bloody face was pressed against the wolf’s ruff, his eyes tightly shut, his lips moving. What was he saying? A druskelle prayer? A farewell?

The wolf’s hind legs scrabbled at the sand. Its eyes rolled, frightened whites showing bright against its matted fur. A high whine rose from its chest. And then it was over. The creature’s body stiled. Both fighters lay unmoving in the sand. Matthias kept his eyes closed, his face still buried in the creature’s fur.

The crowd’s thundering roar of approval shook Y/N’s core. The ladder was lowered, and the announcer sprang down, hauling Matthias to his feet and grabbing his wrist to raise his hand in victory. The announcer gave him a little nudge, and Matthias lifted his head. 

Y/N squinted her eyes to get a better view of the Fjerdan’s face and her heart ached at the sight. Tears streaked the dirt on Matthias’ face. The rage was gone, and it was like some flame had gone out with it. His north sea eyes were cold, empty of feeling, stripped of anything human. It was a look that Y/N had only ever seen on the traumatized soldiers that had been left under her care after any battle. This is what Hellgate had done to him. 

Kaz watched as Y/N’s eyes darted around the arena, avoiding the scene below. Three dead wolves and a Fjerdan standing amongst them. He knew he had no control over the situation, but Saints, he wished he could prevent Y/N from being in this position. ‘She’s a soldier.’ She was trained for things like this. She was fine. He mentally scolded himself for allowing his mind to drift away from the task at hand. Getting Matthias out of here. That’s the mission.

~

It took Kaz a few seconds to pick the lock. The door creaked open and they slipped inside. 

The cell was pitch-black. A brief moment passed, and the cold green glow of a bonelight flickered to life beside Y/N. 

This is what the men of Hellgate fought and risked their lives for: a private cell, a blanket, clean water, a bucket for waste. Matthias slept with his back to the wall. Even in the dim illumination of the bonelight, she could see his face starting to swell. She winced at the thought of what kind of pain the man would be in once he woke up.

Nina moved toward him, but Kaz stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Let Y/N assess the damage.”

“I can-” Nine began.

“I need you to work on Muzzen.”

Y/N took cautious steps closer to take account of Matthias’ injuries. Muzzen stepped forward. He removed his cloak and shirt and the Madman’s mask. His head was shaved, and he wore prison-issue trousers.

Both grisha women shared a bewildered look once they realized Kaz’s plan. Both men were about the same height and the same build, but that was where the similarities ended. 

“You can’t possibly mean for Muzzen to take Matthias’ place.”

“He isn’t here for his sparkling conversation,” Kaz replied and then turned to Nina. “You’ll need to replicate Helvar’s injuries. Y/N what’s the inventory?”

She hummed quietly, “Bruised knuckles, chipped tooth, two broken ribs… Third and fourth on the left.”

“His left or your left?” Kaz asked.

“His left.”

“This isn’t going to work,” Nina said in frustration. “I can match the damage to Helvar’s body, but I’m not a good enough tailor to make Muzzen look like him.”

“Just trust me, Nina.”

“I wouldn’t trust you to tie my shoes without stealing the laces, Brekker.” She peered at Muzzen’s face. “Even if I swell him up, he’ll never pass.”

“Tonight, Matthias Helvar – or rather, our dear Muzzen – is going to appear to contract firepox, the lupine strain, carried by wolves and dogs alike. Tomorrow morning, when his guards discover him so covered in pustles that he is unrecognizable, he will be quarantined for a month to see if he survives the fever and to outwait the contagion. Meanwhile Matthias will be with us. Get it?”

Y/N had backed away from Matthias’ sleeping form and stared at Kaz with wide eyes. Once again, he’d proved his mastermind. His criminal mastermind. ‘I couldn’t have fallen for a general, could I?’ Kirigan flashed in her mind. ‘Forget the general. A Barrel king would work.’

Nina looked Muzzen up and down, “This is going to hurt just as much as if you’d been in the fight yourself,” she warned him.

He scrunched up his face, bracing for the pain. “I can take it.”

With that, she started reproducing all of the injuries accounted for by the inferni. The tall man grunting and wincing in pain with the start of every new one. With a sharp slice of her hand she broke his ribs causing him to groan and double over in pain.

“That’s a good boy,” said Kaz. “Taking it like a champion. Knuckles next, then face.”

Once Nina was done working on Muzzen, she moved to heal Matthias. Her hands traveled over the bruised line of his jaw, her hesitance was evident as her hand lingered there.

“Not the face, Nina.” Kaz stood behind her with the bonelight in his hand. “I need him to be mobile, not pretty. Heal him fast and only enough to get him walking for now. I don’t want him spry enough to vex us.”

The heartrender placed her hand on his shoulder. “Helvar,” she said. He didn’t stir. “Matthias.” She leaned down to place a kiss on his temple. Tears silently making a trail down her cheek. “Matthias,” she said once again.

Y/N looked away to give her any sort of privacy as her heart ached for her friend. 

“Nina?” The Fjerdan’s voice was raw. 

“Oh, Saints, Matthias.” She whispered. “Please wake up.” 

His eyes opened, groggily, palest blue Y/N had ever seen but something was hidden beneath the waves of his eyes. Something dark made her stand on edge. His knuckles brushed her cheek; his rough hand cupped her face tentatively, disbelieving. “Nina.”

“Shhh, Matthias. We’re here to get you out.”            

Before anyone could blink he had a hold of her shoulders and had pinned her to the ground. “Nina,” he growled. And then his hands closed around her throat.