#hoede

[aetsiv]

So I've been thinking about Hoede and why testing jurda parem on Anya (the indentured healer girl from chapter 1 of SoC) backfired on him so badly.

For starters we're told that the reason he tested the parem on her was because he figured that the safer corporalki to test it on is a healer rather than a heartrender given that healers are known to be more tame, they help people rather than harm them. I find this to be one his biggest mistakes, in one of Nina's chapters she states that all corporalki start off training together, learning the same stuff before they decide to choose which path they want to follow-- if they would prefer to harm others or heal others. Although not explicitly stated it can be inferred that the main reason healers and heartrenders are considered different is more or less their training. While healers learn to understand the body more intricately and use more patience in their craft, heatrenders learn to fight, they learn to use their powers in a more bloodthirsty way, they understand the human body enough to break it but not fix it. However, we know that parem alters a grisha's perception rather than power and as we see with Nina after she takes a dose of the parem she can heal just as well, simultaneously healing herself while fighting the drüskelle and fjerdan military. So why shouldn't it work the same for Anya? Hoede's biggest mistake was his lack of understanding of Grisha power.

This is probably well-known information but I just wanted to post about it anyway.

[shit-people-probably-didnt-say]

Councilman Hoede: *Derogatory* You’re nothing like your father

Wylan: Great, that means I’ll win

[stromuprisahat]

Anya

Six of Crows- Chapter 1

First chapter brings us one-sided longing. Young man’s crush on a pretty girl, who also happens to be virtually a slave in the house he’s guarding.

Or perhaps she doesn’t have many reasons to laugh.

Rules for Grisha indentures:

No walks allowed after dark.

You’re not entitled to any sort of explanation regarding your assignments. Neither are your colleagues.

No explanation’s required for sudden disappearance, be it due to death or unplanned reassignment.

What was happening for that hour between Anya’s and Joost’s arrival?

Is it only fear, or did they make her try something else before moving on to parem?

Yes, Grisha indentures aren’t merely servants, they’re slaves. Serfs that can be sold. According to wiki, normal indentures “could usually marry, move about locally as long as the work got done, read whatever they wanted, and take classes" .

I do so hate people- especially men- in power, touching others, when the situation doesn’t require it.

Of course. Healer = nice and gentle.

Oh! Poor, poor capitalistic pig!

How much of Healer’s healing is about habit, intention, and how much compulsion?

This isn’t simple “Preform the task!”, it’s psychological torture- the child was chosen deliberately- and non-consensual body modification. Perhaps not visible on the outside, but Grisha powers are their vital parts. Anya is expected to obey without questions, recieving mollifying half-truths alongside instructions.

Money, money, money...

They SO deserve to leave unharmed.

KARMA!!!

Six of Crows- Chapter 3

Let’s collectively pretend this never happened, Anya got away, got clean and lived!

[blessedsweetgirl]

It's been confirmed that Kaz is nickname and its short for something. I keep wondering what the hell it could be

Since Kerch is inspired by 18th century Dutch Republic, Kerch names are mostly western/germanic. Just look up common Dutch names in 18th century, they are very much giving off Kerch vibes

Examples of Kerch names : Hoede, Alys, Geels, Saskia, Wylan, Jan, Willem, Joost, Per, Gert, Karl

There are names that have have other origins (hebrew, greek, latin) but are still quite common in western countries (Jordan, Marya)

That being said, im not a fan of the theory that Kaz's full name is Kazimir. Kazimir sounds far too different and "exotic" to be a Kerch name since its slavic. The name sounds more Ravkan

In my opinion Kasper/kaspar/kazper or Kastor are more suitable names

[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

[crowshoots]

😮

i cant quite explain it and this is such a trivial headcanon but the way they use ja in soc seems like ja is an older kerch word that's lost its meaning (because otherwise it wouldn't be italicized and othered, because majority of the characters are speaking the kerch that we read as english) and while jesper doesn't do that, he mimics the habit by adding 'yeah?' to the end of sentences

[lunarthecorvus]

Grisha!Kaz Brekker Alternate Universe fanfiction recommendations

part of Lunar's soc fanficiton rec series

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The Etovost Plague by Spikey44

Wordcount: 139k Chapters: 37/37

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

Tags: Grisha Kaz Brekker, Post-Canon, Dead Matthias Helvar, Sorry, Not KoS/RoW canon compliant, Kaz is a Tidemaker. Sort of, some gore, scenes of plague, Don't worry only characters no one cares about die, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm

Author's summary/notes: Twenty-eight months after Kuwei Yul-Bo was shot dead and the plague sirens sounded throughout Ketterdam a new and terrifying sickness sweeps through the Barrel: a plague with a unique connection to Jurda Parem. But this time it’s not the Grisha who need to fear. It’s everyone else. This becomes that, and like no longer calls to like, forcing old crows to wing back to Ketterdam as chaos unlike anything they have seen before erupts through the Barrel, threatening to destroy all of Ketterdam and plunge the world into war. But it's a more personal fear that haunts Inej, Nina, Jesper and Wylan when Dirtyhands goes missing at the start of the plague outbreak. Now the Crows must grapple with the sorrow that Kaz may be dead and the even greater terror that the Etovost scourge has turned the Barrel's resident monster into a living nightmare hell-bent on destroying them all. Post-canon AU where a new Jurda Parem variant transforms normal people into Grisha. Starting with the Barrel Bosses. Uh-oh! My summary/notes: Having Kaz turn into a grisha is such an intruiging concept and I ate it up, at the same time its tragic because of the way being a tidemaker effects him and triggers his trauma. It will get real intense so be prepared. The villain in this fic is so interesting. An unexpected intersting part of this fic was reading the crows be a team without having Kaz as their leader sometimes. I love Inej in this fic so much. BAMF's Inej and Anika. Inej and Kaz have some cute moments. The ending eeee. My quick summary is the barrel goes to shit when a plague enters.

---------- ☾₊ ⊹

On Black Feathered Wings by @martinakl13

Wordcount: 139k Chapters: 37/37

[this fic is also a grisha!Inej and grisha!Matthias au]

Characters: Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Jesper Fahey, Wylan Van Eck, Nina Zenik, Matthias Helvar, Jan Van Eck, Alys Van Eck, Pekka Rollins, Jordie Rietveld, Aditi Hilli, Tante Heleen, Councilman Hoede, Imogen, Per Haskell, Doughty, Dregs Ensemble, Dime Lions Ensemble, Kaz Brekker's Father, Original Characters, Inej Ghafa's Mother, Inej Ghafa's Father, Matthias Helvar's Mother (mentioned), Matthias Helvar's Father (mentioned), Matthias Helvar's Sister (mentioned), Anya, Joost Van Poel, Gert Van Verent, Mikka, Kuwei Yul-Bo, Anika, Pim

Tags: Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Grisha Kaz Brekker, Grisha Inej Ghafa, Grisha Wylan Van Eck, Jordie Rietveld Lives, Aged-Up Character(s), Forced Prostitution, Human Trafficking, Misogyny, Racism Violence, Sexual Content, The Menagerie, Flashbacks, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Enemies to Lovers, Lovers To Enemies, unexpected relationships, Angst, POV Alternating, Jurda Parem, First Meetings, Bad Parent Jan Van Eck, Grisha Matthias Helvar, Abuse, Dyslexia, Rape, Humiliation, Non-Consensual Drug Use, Beating, Heist, Sexual Tension, Kaz constantly giving Inej flowers, Mutual Pining, Soulmates

Author's summary/notes: Inej Ghafa is a talented acrobat, but only her closest family knows that she uses her special power during her performances. Wylan Van Eck was sent to Ravka to be trained as a Grisha, but when he returns years later, his home is no longer his home. Matthias Helvar has powers he never asked for, and his family wants to keep him safe. What is the best way to hide Grisha in Fjerda? Among the drüskelle. Nina Zenik is a soldier of the First Army, gifted with excellent language skills. Jesper Fahey moves with his mother to Ketterdam after the tragic death of his father and the loss of their farm due to debts. Kaz Brekker has powers that no one has seen before. Or? My summary/notes: This fic is part of a series so there is a part 2 that is being regularly updated. Be prepared for this fic to simultaneously destroy and heal you. I live for the use of flower symbolism, its so adorable. I loved learning about the kind of grisha Kaz is, and reading Inej as a grisha is just so cool I need more grisha!Inej. Matthias being a grisha is so interesting, and reading Nina + Jesper as normal is so fascinating. Aditi is queen and this fic has Pim and Anika, I love those two so much.

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The Bastard's Brother by FlatApple

Wordcount: 214k Chapters: 66/66

Characters: Kaz Brekker, Inej Ghafa, Jesper Fahey, Dregs Ensemble, Jordie Rietveld, Wylan Van Eck, Nina Zenik, Matthias Helvar, Jan Van Eck, Original Background Characters, (they're not important don't worry)

Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Kaz is a Grisha, Angst, Hurt/Comfort, Starvation, Touch-Averse Kaz Brekker, Haphephobia, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Canon, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Organized Crime, Whump, Kaz Brekker is Bad at Feelings, POV Kaz Brekker, (mostly), Paranormal, Graphic Description of Corpses, Kaz Brekker is a feral orphan for large portions of this, Corpsewitch Kaz, Warning for strong language, Gang Violence, Heist, Slow Burn, Kaz Brekker-centric, Canon Rewrite, Ghost Jordie Rietveld, Good Sibling Jordie Rietveld, BAMF Kaz Brekker, Pining, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Sickfic, Hurt Kaz Brekker, Fever Dreams

Author's summary/notes: Kaz Brekker’s Mother was Ketterdam. His Father was profit. But Kaz Brekker’s Brother? That was Death. Or, the one where Kaz has been a Corpsewitch all along. My summary/notes: Reading Jordie as a ghost was so sad, the author managed to write him so well, this fic answers the question of what would Jordie's reactions be to Kaz's ruthless actions. We get to see young struggling feral kaz (it will break your heart) and we get to see Kaz grow. Every dynamic between the crows is explored and its so interesting to read. This fic part of a series and there is more.

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The Bastard Saint of the Barrel by Spikey44

Wordcount: 152k Chapters: 46/46

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

Tags: Grisha Kaz Brekker, Jordie Rietveld Lives, Kaz is Corporalnik this makes everything worse, Kaz is a Dime Lion, Pekka Rollins owns Kaz's indenture, Jordie is Dregs, Kaz has a new alias, A Kaz by any other name is still a bastard, Inej remains awesome in all realities, Jordie makes the deal with Jan Van Eck, Matthias is probably gonna live, Elements of Six of Crows reworked with Living Jordie/Grisha Kaz, Canon Disabled Character, Touch-Averse Kaz Brekker, warning for drug use eg: Jurda Parem and its effects, warning for mild depersonalisation and dissociation in ch 8

Author's summary/notes: In a story of star-crossed brothers, where Kaz's grisha powers save Jordie but don't save him from Pekka Rollins, Kaz becomes the Bastard Saint of the Barrel; Rollins personal Healer and the most feared Grisha to haunt Ketterdam's seedier streets. This upsets Jordie quite a bit. In an attempt to pay off Kaz's indenture, and save his brother from the threat of Jurda Parem, Jordie Rietveld, Dregs Lieutenant and confidence man, makes a deal with Jan Van Eck to perform an impossible heist. Naturally, Kaz, busybody extraordinaire, is not about to let his brother screw up in a foreign land alone. He's going to steal his brother's heist and one Bo Yul-Buyur --or his nearest relative, whatever works best --and save his idiot big brother from a Fjerdan prison. And if this means running out on Rollins -well, thirty thousand Kruge should be more than enough money to pay his way out trouble. Right? My summary/notes:

[magneticflower]

The foreshadowing of Nina taking the Jurda Parem by saying how Hoede thought he'd made the safe choice to test a healer over a heartrender

[denachtwacht]

Wijnegem - Shop Eat Enjoy - (S100 decor, 11/7 tot 24/8, 2024)

Alles lijkt heel gewoon in Schemermeer, maar de leden van de Nachtwacht zijn steeds op hun hoede.

Wist je dat...

...Keelin 18 jaar is, Wilko 19 jaar is en Vladimir maar liefst 200 jaar is?

...De Nachtwacht niet enkel het kwade bestrijdt maar ook jonge elfen, vampieren en weerwolven opleidt in de 'Nachtwacht Academie'?

...het kleine dorpje Schemermeer naast 1 weerwolf ook veel andere dieren telt zoals honden, varkens, herten, paarden, kippen, geiten en zelfs een papegaai!

...er naast "Ad Inferos" nog spreuken bestaan om gevaarlijke monsters weg te houden? Help Keelin, Vladimir en Wilko een handje en zeg de spreuk in het boek luidop: "Visibilis"

[simpingcorner]

Daughter of the Shadows  ch.2

Word Count: ~1.4k Warnings: mild violence (stabbing, mentions of gunshots, physical fighting), blood, alcohol, gambling,mention of human tr*****, implied SA,not proofread, let me know if I forgot something.

Author's Note: Second chapter to my Grishaverse fanfic. A reminder this is insipred by my SoC DR so it’ll follow both the books and the show plotlines, there will be changes to the canon characters and their storylines, it’s also a Kaz Brekker x OC. | English isn’t my first language so please bear with me and tell me if there’s something wrong. I hope you like it.

all rights to leigh bardugo, i only owny liith and her backstory (other ocs will be introduced later)

Read part 1 here - Ch. 3 - Ch. 4 - Ch. 5 -  Ch. 6

CHAPTER 2 

LILITH 

Inej's silent footsteps brought her back to reality, the rooftops of the city stretched out beneath their feet, their legs dangled over the apex of the roof, their eyes studied the streets and the movements beneath them, "You know he won't take you with him if that cut doesn't heal. " The Suli said without shifting her gaze from the streets, "It's lucky it's already healed then." the brown haired one replied, pulling her sleeve over her palm, Inej's gaze stopped on the younger girl beside her, a mixture of concern and pride expressed in the brown irises, "Be careful." she said before disappearing behind Lilith.

The rhythmic clatter of his cane echoed on the roof tiles, a rhythm now known, familiar, "I have a job for you." Exclaimed the boy's impassive, hoarse voice, "What business?" "A banquet will be held for the Council Members, you will infiltrate with the actors of the Komedie Brute along with Specht." "Who is the target?" "Jellen Radmakker."

The second floor of the Geldrennen Hotel had been reserved by the Council Members, five of the richest men in Ketterdam, interested only in their image, their place in the city's food chain, protected by more guards than anyone could count, accustomed to wealth, luxury, security, indifferent to the city's needs, concerned only with dressing well, with showing the rest of the city how rich they were, oblivious to how many teenagers and children had lost their innocence by becoming criminals because of them, because none of them deigned to help the citizens, too worried about losing their investment in Jurda's production.

The girl pulled her veil over her face, the costume of the Lost Bride allowed her to hide, to camouflage herself among the actors, no one seemed to notice the few extra actors, but that was her speciality, hiding in the shadows even when the shadows were not there. Lilith noticed Specht's gaze on her, although older than her she knew he had to answer to the girl's orders, all the members of the Crows knew they had to answer to her orders; her reputation, her name, her history, the legends about her past and her family made her more dangerous and important than anyone thought.

The girl's brown eyes studied the room, Jellen Radmakker was sitting at the table, two armed men were staring at him ready to defend him; to his right was Nathan Boreg dressed in grey, his gaze passed from his colleagues to the guards to the actors, the man's breathing was quickened, although he tried to hide it you could see the drops of sweat forming on his forehead; Karl Dryden sat opposite Radmakker, his gaze fixed on the roast quail on the table in front of him, his mouth open, waiting to dig into the dish; to his left Jan Van Eck resided with a look of superiority and disgust towards the rest of the diners, his purple velvet suit fell perfectly over his body, his gold ring shone on his left ring finger under the dim light of the candles, four guards behind him scanned the room for threats; at the head of the table the figure of Hoede resided boredly waiting for entertainment and wine. "I have had news of the arrival of a more than prosperous merchant cargo." Broke the silence Radmakker, "A durast, a healer, a squaller and three other unspecified Grisha." "When will they arrive?" "By the end of the month. I understand they will be sold on the third port when they arrive. No one has been informed of their arrival yet so we will have exclusive rights to them." "I want the names and any information you have on them by tomorrow night." The three merchants exchanged information for the duration of the dinner, information they were not supposed to exchange in public. Their plans were unknown to the girl but the mere knowledge that other kids would be sold to the highest bidder made her blood boil, she adjusted the gloves on her hands, the veil on her face and the wreath on her forehead before shifting her gaze from the merchants' table to Specht, the man was listening to the conversations of the guards, focus on finding something to tell his boss.

The streets of Ketterdam were illuminated by oil lamps and animated by tourists and locals, the Pleasure District, known as the Barrel, was floodlit despite the fact that the sun had been down for several hours, the men and women working in the various bars attracted customers with false claims, false promises, false truths necessary to survive in this place; the tourists looked around, too focused on the bars, the scenes and promises of an unforgettable time to notice the disappearance of watches, wallets, valuables and other items; blonde hair blocked Lilith's view, the voices around the girl seemed to suddenly disappear the moment she felt the pressure of a hand approaching her side, her left hand clasped on the blonde's wrist, the dagger clutched in her right hand stopped at the thief's side, two pitch black eyes locked into Lilith's brown ones, her blonde eyebrows furrowed in shame and disappointment, a half smile formed on Lilith's face before the girl released her grip on the blonde, "You need to relax your breath and your arm, the pressure of the hand near the pocket would have brought you a lot of trouble." Explained Lilith to the blonde, "Check the other dagger." Said the thief with a proud grin, Lilith's hand moved to the dagger hidden in her boot, pulling it out before releasing her grip on the accomplice's wrist, "You must conceal your footsteps, though the noise in these streets is impossible to muffle, your footsteps echo like a pin on marble." The two kids nodded at the brunette before turning on their heels, "Shouldn't you be checking the tables at the Club?" shouted Lilith before turning the corner towards the Slat.

It happened before she could even notice, two men grabbed her arms while a third stopped in front of her, the man's face inches from hers, the smell of alcohol and smoke invaded her nostrils, the three drunk and out of it men stared at her with hungry stares, a look she knew all too well, a look she had seen all too many times at Emerald Palace, the dagger slipped from her sleeve into her hand before making contact with the arm of one of the three men, the man's blood stained the girl's glove, the wreath slipped from her forehead, breaking on impact with the cubblestone beneath her, the dagger in her left hand ready to be used on the second man, eyes fixed on the enemy, her right hand ready to move if necessary but before she could do anything else the smell of gunpowder invaded her nostrils, the man in front of her groaned before falling to the ground in pain, a pool of blood began to spread beneath his body; before the girl could recognise the shooter she felt a burning sensation between her ribs, her hand clutched her side, crimson red began to cover her hand, she managed to pull the dagger from her boot in time to find a new home in the man's sternum before everything went black.

Her body lay motionless in Jesper's arms, blood oozed from her side, the cut on her right forearm had reopened during the confrontation, her closed eyes and almost non-existent breathing forced Jesper to run through the streets, making space for himself by shouting and pushing tourists and workers, Big Bolliger noticed Lilith unconscious in his arms before he even noticed Jesper shouting and trying to get into the Crows Club, the line of people waiting to enter protested at the sight of the scene, "I've been here for three hours." "I've been waiting my turn since before the sun went down," were some of the comments Jesper could hear before turning towards the Pigeons, "And she’s dying. If you want I'll shoot you too so you can come in," the boy replied before entering the club. Inej was the first to notice Jesper, she stood beside him studying the girl's wounds, her gaze and expression impassive, used by now to such scenes, "Take her to her room, I'll go get Kaz." "No.... Don’t.... Call him..." said Lilith between sighs, before losing consciousness again. Jesper and Inej knew not to go against the girl's wishes, but they needed Kaz to heal her, he was the only one who could find a healer and hire them before the worst happened, "Lil, we have to, he's the only one who can help you." Jesper's voice was gentle and concerned, "Milana... Work... At the Orchid..." Lilith's laboured breathing grew quicker and more erratic as Jesper laid her down on the mattress.

[jackwolfes]

tagged to share something for wip wednesday by @inexplicablymine !! ✨ everything im working on is very nsfw at the moment but this is one of the less horny parts of what i'm writing tonight 😅

Van Verent sighs. “We’ll have been married for five years this winter, Wylan.” 

And you have never once made me come, Wylan thinks. “Mm,” he offers instead. 

His husband carries on, unbothered by Wylan’s disinterest. “It’s time you start acting like a real homemaker. Missions, work, that sort of thing.” 

Wylan forces himself not to roll his eyes. This isn’t the first time he’s heard this spiel. Plenty of the other Council spouses have given him sly looks and barely concealed sneers when he’s turned down their invitation to Hellgate to scrub it clean, but no one has said a word against him. Van Verent is one of the most powerful men on the Council, and Wylan is all but untouchable. 

By the other spouses, that is. 

“I do expect answers from you, Wylan,” Van Verent says harshly, sudden enough that Wylan can’t suppress a startled jump. He bites his tongue, turning his head and forcing himself to look his husband in the eye. 

“I do work,” he says, a little harshly. "Who do you think is keeping all of the household staff in order? Half of them were threatening to leave!" 

Van Verent's lip curls, judgement and derision out in full force. "That's paltry. Hoede's wife manages their household and four children." 

"Shame that you aren't married to Madam Hoede, then," Wylan replies.

[wesperbrekkered]

Decided that for Wip Wednesday from now on I'm gonna post my favorite snippet so far from each one of my *many* wesper wips that im working on. Tags under the cut ♡

-------

Tangled In Your Web > Spiderverse AU Part 2

Crossing the room so that he could loop his arms around Jesper’s neck and give him a kiss. “Do you want to come over to my universe?” Wylan asked softly, lips brushing against Jesper’s as he spoke, “my government likes to profit off their superheroes and they just released a Spiderman movie, I need to laugh about the inaccuracies with you.

Jesper chuckled, kissing Wylan again. “Sounds fun,” he said, already feeling the coil in his stomach loosen.

-------

To Capture Perfections Muse > Domestic wesper fluff

“You love me,” Jesper managed through his laughter, somehow managing to wrap Wylan up in his arms again.

“I am questioning all my life decisions right now,” Wylan complained, voice muffled where his face was shoved into his hoodie.

“You knew what you getting into,” he said smugly, kissing Wylan’s hair and rocking them side to side.

“Hence the questioning my life choices.”

_________

Of Latte Art and Sweet Suggestions > 5+1 coffeeshop au

“Just a caramel mocha for me please,” he said slowly, “with extra cream. And extra caramel syrup. Please.”

The barista raised a judgemental eyebrow, “that is far too much sugar,” he said stubbornly, the fake smile falling away to Jesper’s delight.

“It’s good!” Jesper tried to defend, leaning against the counter.

“You are going to rot your teeth out,” the barista said flatly, but he turned his head to the side anyway to type Jesper’s order into the computer, putting the elegant lines of his crooked nose on show. And that jawline, saints.

--------

50 Ways To Kill A Man > Detective AU

Jesper slammed the phone down with a triumphant grin.

Across the table from him, Inej raised a curious eyebrow. “What’s got you all excited?” She asked somewhat sceptically, pausing on her report. Leaning back on his chair, Jesper crossed his arms behind his head, grinning. “My darling Inej,” he said, ignoring her eyeroll, “Councillor Hoede is dead!”

---------

The Longest Hour chapter 7 > cowboy au

Jesper barely had a chance to register the fact that Wylan’s side of the bed was empty the next morning before something decidedly soft whacked him in the face.

Jesper spluttered, “wha—” whack.

Scrambling with his right hand, Jesper managed to locate one of his revolvers, fingers curling around the pearl handle just as a voice yelled, “Jesper get up.”

The sheer panic was what spurred him into action, startling him out of his drowsiness.

--------

To Love Like A Lie > Fake Dating AU

So here he was, at the wedding, with Wylan Van fucking Eck hanging off his arm as a very much unhelpful, very much fake date.

Jesper could only curse whatever ungodly deity was residing in the sky that seemed to have a perverse thrill in making him suffer.

Wylan bit his lip anxiously, eyeing the large crowd of people at the afterparty. “So maybe I was a bit hasty,” he admitted, shoving his hands deeper into his pockets. A bit hasty was an understatement.

_______

Rose Tinted Glasses > Post - Canon Fluff

On these nights, Jesper liked to watch his boyfriend.

He hoped it wasn’t creepy, because he never intended it to be creepy, it was just that Wylan had that weird way of always being able to ground him in the moment, no matter how restless or jittery he may have felt.

It didn’t always work, some nights everything was just too much and Jesper would inevitably slink out of bed with a sigh and go run laps up and down the stairs to cool himself down.

He had a feeling this would be one of those nights, the soft light from the moon was painfully bright and his skin itched and burned with such an intensity that Jesper was half tempted to see if he could simply scratch the feeling away.

-----------

Of Hidden Truths and Drastic Actions > show!wesper tackling key book!wesper scenes

The coin his pocket burned like a hot iron, reminiscent of the way the other coin had heated while he shaped it into a coin, completely at ease with the icy hot pain that surged through Jesper like a shockingly cold river.

Everything was muddled and confused and it hurt, and Jesper didn’t fully understand what was going on.

All he knew, was that when Kaz Brekker said ‘meet Wylan Van Eck,’ his whole world had come to a sudden, screeching stop.

-----------

Of Gunslingers and Journey's Home > omalh epilogue

There was an odd sense of regret when Wylan finally put his last item of clothing into the bag. Six weeks he’d spent in Novyi Zem with Jesper and his father, and yet it had felt more like home then anywhere else.

More then the Slat, more then the boarding house, more then his father’s giant mansion for sure.

He found he didn’t want to leave, not yet.

Tagging some peeps with some pretty cool wips: @crowpricorn @darjeelinh @heypax @jackwolfes @littlelcvestory @mezlymils @sunfl8wer @thesacredlore @violets-and-books

[aphroditestummyrolls]

Hello. I’m almost done with Keep You Safe, I promise 😭😭😭 this is from some fun show verse whump that @liggytheauthoress is enabling

By the time they fled the house, smoke was billowing in tall black plumes over the geldstraat. It blocked the moon, the clear night going dark with the acrid tang of it. Even in his fog of adrenaline and the throbbing ache that pulsed through him, Wylan had a faint memory of these gardens— Mr. Hoede’s daughter, her tenth birthday party.

They got lost in the maze.

This time, though, they had Kaz Brekker. His cane clicked on the gravel path, and Wylan focused on its metronome, timing his own stumbling steps to it, to keep time with the group. It was all he could hear except the blood in his ears. It was all he could focus on, besides Jesper’s hand clutching his, tugging him along.

“Jes,” he wheezed, finally turning out from the garden gate and to what looked like an old servant’s entrance. There was a non-descript carriage by the street, and Kaz and the others were making a beeline for it— thank Ghezen. Everything hurt. “Jesper, I…”

He nearly tripped before Jes heard him through his own haze, and whipped around to him. He scanned his body, grey eyes reflecting the blaze licking out the windows above them. Wylan could only dig the heel of his palm deeper into his side.

It hurt. It must be his ribs, he knew they’d been cracked on that side. Pekka had seen to that.

He couldn’t recall what he called Jesper for. His entire body seemed to vibrate with the force of his heartbeat, and his mind couldn’t reach his mouth. His tongue was heavy, sticking to the back of his teeth with dehydration and smoke residue.

My ribs, he tried to will himself to say, Jesper, everything hurts, it all hurts so badly.

Why was he wet? It was a clear night, there’d been no rain. Still, he could feel it— his palm where it was dug into his side, between his fingers, and his shirt was drenched. It was even on his trousers.

The world went syrupy slow. He blinked sluggishly at Jes, trying to parse out the words he was saying. He looked angry— he looked angry? No. No, he was concerned. His brow was drawn together, furrowing his forehead. His lips were forming his name. Wylan would always know the shape of it, the way Jesper’s perfect lips looked around his name. He took two steps closer, slowly. Everything was slow, everything hurt.

Kaz was shouting to them from the carriage. Inej was coming up on Jesper’s shoulder. But, his fierce eyes never wavered. They were searching, and then they stopped.

As long as Wylan lived, he’d never forget the panic that took over his face when he saw it.

And Wylan was powerless to do anything more than follow his gaze, pulling his hand away from his aching ribs.

Oh. He blinked.

There was a flood of crimson down his front, drenching through his pale blue shirt, dripping down the front of his right trouser leg. It was even on his shoe. It was so dark around his hand that it looked black in the reflection of the fire and smoke, crusted into his nailbeds and stinging absently in the cracks of his split knuckles.

He’d been stabbed.

[bestgrishaversequotes]

longer quotes under the cut!

Joost had two problems: the moon and his moustache.

He was supposed to be making his rounds at the Hoede house, but for the last fifteen minutes, he'd been hovering around the south-east wall of the gardens, trying to think of something clever and romantic to say to Anya.

(Six of Crows, chapter 1)

--------

"When we get our money, you can burn kruge to keep you warm," said Kaz. "Let's go."

...

Jesper consulted his compass, and they turned south, seeking a path that would lead them to the main trading road. "I'm going to pay someone to burn my kruge for me."

Kaz fell into step beside him. "Why don't you pay someone else to pay someone to burn your kruge for you? That's what the big players do."

"You know what the really big bosses do? They lá someone to pay someone to..."

(Six of Crows, chapter 19)

[th3d0nutl0rd]

Guys what is six of crows actually about are joost retvenko and hoede gay or what

[she-posts-nerdy-stuff]

Symbols I would be making sure were present (or adding) if I were producing the Six of Crows TV show

(Btw I’ve been writing my own script for a bit of fun since the cancellation news so if anyone wants to see that I’ll tag you, and the save S&B petition is also on my page if anyone wants the link)

EDIT: Sorry I should’ve put this I forgot; SA reference warning for the second point, nothing explicit but in talking about Inej’s experiences and the experiences of women in Greek mythology 🖤

FLOWERS. I want geraniums on the Exchange balcony from chapter 2 and I want reference to the geraniums at 19 Burstradt, I want Matthias the big brooding yellow tulip contrasted with the red tulips laid on his chest and in the water after his death, I want crocuses at the Hoede manor, I want jurda blossoms in Jesper’s flashbacks and maybe Kaz’s too (and probably crocuses in his), I want geraniums hidden all over the caravan and circus tent in Inej’s flashbacks, I want wild flowers in Wylan’s hands on the way to St Hilde’s that get discarded in the lobby, I want wisteria growing outside St Hilde’s, I want blue tulips painted on the floor tiles at St Hilde’s, I want white roses all over Nina’s room in Ketterdam and I want to hear the comment about how all the flowers at the White Rose are perfumed by hand, I want a cascade of geraniums falling all over Kaz and Inej as they tumble of Goedmed Bridge, I want lavish flower arrangements at the Menagerie accented by peacock feathers, I COULD TALK ABOUT THE FLOWER SYMBOLISM IN THESE BOOKS FOR YEARS I WANT IT NOTICED LET’S GO

BIRDS. I want crows, I want pigeons, I want nightingales (that one’s my personal addition but oh boy do I have reasons; Nightingales are a symbol of immortality in literature and could be painted on the tiles at St Hilde behind the wisteria for all the same symbolic reasons the wisteria’s there; in Greek mythology Philomela prayed to the gods to escape her Tereus, who had raped her and intended to kill her, and they turned her into a nightingale, representing freedom and imprisonment at the same time because she’d lost who she was so this wasn’t true freedom DO YOU UNDERSTAND HOW BADLY I NEED A NIGHTINGALE TO CROSS THE SCREEN WHILST INEJ CONTEMPLATES HAVING COMMITTED MURDER AND HER PERSONAL MORAL AND RELIGIOUS IMPLICATIONS OF THAT!!?? I’m going crazy), I want more emphasis on the bird cage in Heleen’s office because in its three seconds of screen time in season one I was SOLD on how genius it was, I want peacocks EVERYWHERE, I want to be so committed to the birds vibe that we can start throwing in a whole load of new birds for other symbolism!! Let’s have owl symbolism around Wylan and Jesper, let’s have heavy emphasis on Nina as the little red bird, let’s talk about the nightingale again because I’m obsessed

KOMEDIE BRUTE. I have talked before about how I think the costumes each character wears are symbolic and directly linked to their arc but it was a long time ago and I updated it a few times based on replies so if anyone wants a full updated version of my thoughts on that lemme know, I also wrote a thing about how I think Mr Crimson could possibly be an omen of death so again if anyone’s interested let me know - I’ll either tag you or write a post fully involving all my Komedie Brute thoughts. I want Nina as the lost bride, Wylan and Inej in matching grey imp costumes, Kaz in the madman’s mask, Jesper and Matthias as Mr Crimson, all of them as Mr Crimson with a black tear in their masks, silver coins thrown all over the staves, costume shops on Ketterdam streets. I want Jackal masks and Drüskelle “costumes” in plain view on market stalls and in shop windows, and as an add on to that I want references to Nina’s fake Kefta being Kerch-made and uncomfortable to wear.

PURPLE. I want purple stadwatch uniforms, I want purple kruge notes, I want purple decor in the Geldrenner, I want purple silks in Inej’s flashbacks.

TREES. I want so many reminders that trees are sacred to Fjerdans!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! This has already been done really well in the show but I would want to maintain it; I want to see Matthias praying when Wylan fells the tree before the Ice Court heist, I want his indignation over the relevance of the sacred ash tree, I want to see the look on Nina’s face when she realises Brum has walked her all the way around the sacred ash instead of crossing underneath it (at the time she thinks it’s because she’s pretending to be a prostitute but later we understand it’s because she’s Grisha and I know we couldn’t have had Nina’s internal thoughts in this scene even though I wish we could have but we can still have hints!!!)

SEALS AND STAMPS. I want to see a blue wax seal with a peacock feather pattern, a black seal with a crow, a pale green stamp for the bank, a purple stamp for government correspondence, I want a stack of letters with unbroken red seals with a laurel wreath crest hidden under Wylan’s mattress.

RELIGIOUS SYMBOLS. Ok there’s loads we could say here but specifically I want “rich as saints in crowns of gold” contrasted with “if it was worth anything Heleen would have taken it. But this is just a simple token of faith that my mother stitched”, I want the imagery of Ghezen contrasting the imagery of the Saints contrasting the imagery of Djel, and I so so badly want “Djel is the god of life, not death”