#inej threads.

[gravesung-moving]

@crowshoots said:

[ LIFT ] sender picks up receiver — inej… it’s a spinning hug :>

A DELIGHTED SQUEAL greets jesper in response to the sudden, sweeping movement. leaving ketterdam behind was a necessary step in inej's journey toward her future. however, it will always be a part of her, and she can't imagine it not being the home she comes back to again and again, even despite all of its horrors. jesper is one of the three reasons for that. the others, wylan and kaz, she hasn't yet seen, but inej is confident that will change soon. for now, she focuses on the tight squeeze of her friend's bony arms around her waist. she laughs, flings her arms around his neck as he spins her, and presses her forehead to theirs. it knocks her hat clean off her head; she catches it on a heel. ❝ oh, jesper, i missed you! ❞

[gravesung-moving]

❝ BY SOME MIRACLE, ❞ CALLS BACK the captain, her face alight with a sunny grin. inej's own vessel has become a part of her — the wraith is another limb, an extension of herself, even when she isn't at the helm. king nikolai's airship is an entirely different experience.

it was certainly a learning curve, but it was one she was happy to undertake. soaring over the world, the sky below her feet, made her feel like a saint in a story. breathtaking didn't even begin to describe it. inej comes to a stop in front of the king and rakes a hand through dark, windswept hair to gather it out of her face. ❝ told you i was trustworthy. all is well in your fair kingdom? ❞

@icarusplunged liked for a starter !

THERE IS delight on his features when he sees the kingfisher land in the courtyard , heart soaring to see his lovely flying craft once again . he is king . he has many things to do . what he does instead is run out to the courtyard to greet both the ship and the people on it .

he grins when he sees inej . ❝ she's alive ! ❞ he calls to her in teasing , referring , of course , to the ship .

[the-wraiths-wife]

I'm starting a new thread abt the crow's insta stories.

First up, Matty<3

1# MATTHIAS

[canalettova]

JUST got over the kanej hangover and then i met kell and lila

[ricardian-werewolf]

Fanfic Masterlist: Finished Fics:

Rating: Mature Status: FINISHED 5/9/24. Cw/Tws: heavy discussions of mental health, prices of religious trauma and sainthood. Lots of mentions of attempted assassinations by Vasily. Sexual assault mentions, smut in later chapters, graphic depictions of violence, but canon. merzost being used anti-canonically.

Ao3 Link: Masterlist

Stars 'round his wrists.

When I am King, you will be first against the wall.

Take My hand, I'll drown you with me.

But your profile could not hide the fact you knew I was approaching your throne.

The world is lying fallow and you are apart from me.

Holy Water cannot help you now.

Still, I follow the Heartlines on your hand.

Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap.

The Cost of the Crown.

I am a world's forgotten boy.

Once More unto the Breach.

The Sun's turning Red.

Everytime I see you falling, I get down on my knees and pray.

True Faith

Just our hands clasped so tight.

****

Non-Grishaverse FINISHED FIC.

Synopsis:

Atlantic City, 1921. Prohibition has come in with a bang, and the bootleggers long to profit off of people’s desire for spirits. But some of their intentions and creations come with nasty consequences. Sometimes, liquor really can kill. And for Nucky Thompson, that’s a gamble he’s willing to take. Even if federal agents are snapping at his heels, and people are dying in the streets, Atlantic City, is after all, the world’s playground.

Chapter list:

Blood stained sheets

The ivory tower

The tin soldier

A Wolf, a man, and a plan

Every little thing she does is madness.

Leave before the sun comes up

Burning for you

Death Race

The darkest hour is before the dawn

Don’t turn your back

Series: Profunda Venae - Deep veins. 

Chronicling a split off of English history during the weeks after Victoria’s coronation, this series explores the What-Ifs of the English Industrial revolution and the idea of vampires being representative of the ruling class. It also dives into the ideas of class revolution, Nuclear Winter, the usage of productive power to control the narrative, and more. It is also mainly a narrative of just how dangerous controlling the reins of who tells history can truly be.

Written during the hardest years of my life, this series was created to be a distraction from the mires and misery of Neurodivergency in a common-education experience.

Book 1 is set in a world much like our own with certain shifts. Book 2 is a world that starts out similar and quickly becomes quite different. Book 3 is a world that is far in the past and far in the future all at once.

Book 1: The Lineaments of Malefaction: [Finished 2022]

Synopsis:

1838 - the house of Hanover and the United Kingdom are at last stable. Queen Victoria has taken to the throne with Lord M at her shoulder as her beloved Prime Minister. However, as always, those left in the shadows squabble and plot.

For what more of a travesty can there be than a sweet queen of 18, and a human one at that?

Wrongs must always be righted, regardless of who is in the way. Sometimes those means are more dastardly than anyone could imagine. As someone once said, family is not stronger than the blood that is spilt on the battlefield of power.

Chapter List, with dates of publication:

Pills and plans (2022-03-11)

Blood in the water (2022-03-12)

A murder of politicians (2022-03-13)

Ballrooms and bites (2022-03-13)

The Revenants of Pemberley (2022-03-17)

Lifting the veil (2022-03-17)

Burning down the castle (2022-03-28)

Shadows, the stars, and you. (2022-03-28)

Oh Noel (2022-04-02)

For the Queen (2022-04-02)

If we burn, you burn with us (2022-04-07)

recovery and revolution (2022-04-07)

Paint it black (2022-04-07)

A wedding and a honeymoon. (2022-04-07)

All that ends well (2022-04-07)

Book 2: The Evils of Darkness: [Finished 2022]

Synopsis:

1848 - the house of Kingsbridge and England have enjoyed 8 years of relative peace and quiet. Victoria and Lord M are at last united in matrimony and state, and those who opposed their rule are defeated or interred. Yet, plans always abound to take down those some see as unpopular.

For vampires aren’t fit to rule humans. Even in a place like Great Britain, wrongs must be righted, and balance must be restored.

No matter the personal cost.

Chapter List:

A bad beginning

Hold tight London

The Threads of eternity.

The War Game

When the wind blows

The Day After

Protect and survive

Operation square leg

Do no harm

Nuclear winter

Babylon

Unfinished FICS:

Book 3: Dum Pugnatur, Bellum Amittitur [ongoing - stagnant updates based on fixation]

Synopsis:

1865 - the thrones of Queen Victoria and King William are lost to the wastelands. The House of Kingsbridge is no more, and in its place, factions plot and squabble to rule the destroyed land once called England.

But that is easier said then done, for England herself is a place of ruin and starvation. For the nuclear winter that ripped the royal family apart has rolled its citizens back to the Middle Ages. But for those who have survived the hell of 1858, there is a new threat on the horizon that may blot out even 1848 - America has been at war with itself for going on 4 years, and there is whispers abounding that the Royal Family may be amongst the evacuees who fled on the steamship, the Kerberos.

All of these whispers and plans within plans make for a perfect firestorm to be set upon England's starving lower classes, for as someone once said: fealty is not stronger than the blood that is spilled on the battlefield of power.

Chapter list:

1. Now Is The Winter Of Our Discontent

2. Ravens feathers and Mozart

3. Paternoster Row

4. The Evil Genius of the Republican Party.

5. A Plea To Fate

6. Marian

Fear and Delight, or how I learned to stop worrying and wear gloves to hide my trauma. {ongoing - abandoned until new season comes out and interior worldbuilding kinks are solved}

Synopsis:

* Set During Season 2 of the Gilded Age - does not follow central plot by the beats*. Title taken from Dr Strangelove. ***** The Russell's Newport mansion could be called many things. The New York Times called it “Grandiose - a paragon of modern architecture.” The Post deemed it: “The newly-built mansion is a sign of the shifting tides of New Money upon our cities elite,”. More attention was paid to the ongoing Opera War waged by Bertha Russell and her arch nemesis, Caroline Astor. Astor had the boxes at the Academy of Music and dealt them out like generals awarding medals to soldiers who’d survived a conflict: rarely given and precious to only a few. Bertha Russell had set up the enemy camp with her Metropolitan Opera house (still undergoing building and desperately needing funds), and sought to gain some of the broken backs of the Academy’s patrons. The more soldiers - patrons - Mrs Russell could win over in advance of the Met’s opening, the better. ***** Robber Barons, The Crows, a Princess who is in America to settle an old Score, all for one very mediocre production of Faust.

Chapter list:

Washington Square

Old Money

Abstract: Set in an alternate timeline of the Grishaverse where the country of Ravka very closely resembles the Western Front of the Great War, this is a fic that sets out to explore an idea: What if First Army developed their own order of Saints, and how this affects the war effort. Part reflection on Religion, War, femininity, and social propaganda movements, part war-story Straight from the early 20th century a la the writings of Will R Bird. All angst. Characters: Nikolai Lantsov, Dominik Vertov, Olga Kylov (oc), Will R Bird, Alina Starkov, and others! Pairings: Nikolai x OC. Rating: Mature CW/TWs: War, mentions of extreme violence, universe typical prejudices, heavy discussions of religion. Later chapters go into period typical sexism of the late Victorian period, and share cases similar to that of the Red Army's female soldiers of ww2.

Chapter List. 1. Over There

[gravesung-moving]

STUBBORN. KAZ HAS ALWAYS BEEN STUBBORN, and as long as the sky remains above her head, inej is certain he always will be. if left unchecked he would certainly run himself into the ground with overwork. more than that, for the three years they've known each other, kaz and inej have grown to depend on one another. he has no one else — at least, no one else he lets close enough to take care of him when he refuses to take care of himself. inej does her job very well. she knows this, as if it weren't the case, he would have cast her out into the cold by now. however, she'd like to think she is an asset in other ways, too. as long as he will let her close, she will reach out where no one else can. in no case is this truer than when he gets sick. this time was a scare. finding kaz brekker on the floor of his flat could mean any number of things, none of them good, nearly all of them terrifying to her very core. inej isn't sure when she became so scared of losing him. she'd prefer not to think about that. instead, she inspected him for signs of life and breathed a sigh of relief when she realized he'd simply overworked himself despite the nasty cold that had taken over his body a day earlier. now, she's working (hardly, really) to wrestle him back down into bed so that he can't make the same stupid mistake. ❝ you'll prevent no fires like this, ❞ she chides, the corners of her lips tugging down into a frown. ❝ a fever is serious business, kaz. i've seen what happens when they're neglected, and it isn't pretty. stay. you know we can handle ourselves. ❞ her hand is still pressed firmly to his shoulder to keep it down, and a wily strand of hair tickles his cheek where it's fallen free of the tight coil at the nape of her neck. ❝ i'll not leave your side until your temperature falls. here. drink this. ❞ finally, she moves her hand away, if only to pluck a mug of steaming tea from the shoddy excuse for a night table and pressing it into his gloved hand. ❝ it will work with the cold compress to keep you at a neutral temperature. ❞

@icarusplunged said: “ ❝ i’m trying to keep you alive. ❞ ( from inej ) " {♠️ x the last of us (show) starters ||  accepting x}

"I don't need looking after." Kaz knew, of course, that he was being completely unreasonable. He could hardly stand on his own, let alone fulfil his duties as lieutenant. He'd tried to ignore the fever, had thought that simply willing it away would be enough. 

Unfortunately, his body had not agreed. Though at least it had been nice enough to wait until he was back in his attic flat in the Slat before it made him pass out. 

That's how Inej had found him, he assumed. Because next thing he knew, he'd woken up in his bed, covered in blankets and a wet rag pressed to his forehead with her by his side. It hadn't lasted for long, of course, and he'd tried to fight his way out of the blankets; but to no avail. Either Inej had grown incredibly strong, or he'd grown a whole lot weaker than he liked to admit. 

"I'm fine, Inej. It's just a bit of a fever, nothing more. I need to get back to the Crow Club before the whole thing burns down."

[lessnearthesun]

I think if social media existed in the Grishaverse, someone on the Twitter equivalent would try to cancel Kaz for being a class traitor and then someone else would go “girl he’s literally a mob boss who kills people……he has worse problems” leading to huge debates. I just know Nina and Jesper are laughing their asses off. They definitely share the drama with Matthias, Wylan, and Inej, and probably also stir shit up for entertainment purposes. Kaz, of course, wouldn’t be aware of this because he doesn’t use social media, but I like to imagine that Inej tells him and he’s just like “well, I’m glad to see everyone agrees that I am a bastard for one reason or another 💅”

[noblehcart]

open

"-and what do you make of that?"

[therooftopsofketterdam]

closed / plotted starter for @thiefofcrows

The music died down as the twilight started to fill the courtyard of the palace. Guests were beckond outside by multicolored firelights. Inej could see her father lighting torches dipped into different powders. They burned blue, green, bright white and guarded them against the shadows. Her older cousins were tumbling through the courtyard, balancing on a barrel, the two of them, doing flips and circles all while keeping them in motion. The young acrobat waited for her signal from far above. She preferred the quiet of the rooftops to the bustling crowds below, up here she didn’t feel like she had to hide, she could focus only on herself and her breathing and the thin wire below her feet. They had secured it earlier that day, high on the towers of the palace spanning diagonally across the courtyard so everyone would be able to see her. Inej wore a dark teal costume with two bands of painted fabric fluttering in the wind behind her, extending from her shoulders like wings. It gave her an ethereal look, her mother had said, but Inej knew it was to help with weight distribution and show. They made her feel like a heroine from the legends her mother used to tell her as a child.

There was a signal, a long, even tone played by flute and fiddle and drum. Her fathers voice boomed above the crowd once it was gathered. “The good Ravkan folks know the legends about the folk of air, but what if I told you, we had a member with us tonight? A young girl, defying gravity!” They started playing a tune and Inej placed her first, bare, foot against the wire. It felt good, familiar, she held a pole in her hands, walking slowly, wobbly towards the middle of the wire, then stumbled a few paces backwards, pretending to struggle with her balance. There was no net. A Ghafa never worked with a net. The crowd below gasped in shock as Inej nearly fell infront of their eyes, but of course, it was their task to put on a good show.

She dropped the pole as if by accident and let herself fall. The wind rushed up to greet her, below her family gasped and ran as if to catch her. “Don’t worry good people, she is a child of the wind. They will not fall.” Her signal. Inej leaned forward, her hand expertly catching the wire and using the velocity to propel herself back up into the air, body tensing as she elegantly twisted and easily landed on pointed feet, arm outstretched in a pose. The crowd erupted in applause. Her dark hair had started coming loose from her braid, strands gently swaying in the light wind that was blowing around her.

Inej bent backwards, slowly, until her hands touched the wire securely, then, slowly pushed off with her feet, gliding into a handstand and walking a third of the length of the wire on her hands before dropping again, hooking her leg through the wire and holding on with her free hand to strike another pose, lieing suspended in mid-air. She changed her grip, swinging back up again in a fluid motion and the second her feet touched the wire she jumped a backflip from a crouch into a standing position, then flipped forwards, her hands on the wire for support as she cartwheeled her way back. The music her family played started picking up as the show of panic passed and people were watching Inej perform. Her cousins were on their way up and would take over in a few moments but for now she enjoyed the fluid, almost dance like, movements of her body, keeping it tense, muscles aching in that satisfying way of good work.

She gently priouhetted her way to the middle of the wire again, standing on the tip of her left toe, right leg outstretched in an arabesque behind her as she slowly turned on the wire, arms gently coming down, sinking into a bow, then she whipped her leg around, turning quick once, vaulting off the wire. Then there was an eruption of light and sparks and a resounding boom and the next time people lifted her eyes. She was simply gone, vanished, like the wind she was supposed to resemble.

[storystartsanew]

"I don't know what to tell you, I prefer to stick to the shadows." Inej materializes, seemingly from nowhere.

[gravesung-moving]

@crowshoots liked x.

❝ THANK YOU FOR COMING OUT WITH ME. ❞ inej smiles at her friend from across the booth as two chipped cups of coffee release plumes of steam into the air between them. ❝ so much has changed, but some things endure. the diners in ketterdam still sell waffles and hutspot. you still wear bright colors. kaz still has his ambitions. ❞ she reaches out to cup her hands over the ceramic, warming her fingertips against the draft whistling through poorly-insulated windows. ❝ how was your pilgrimage to novyi zem? you carry yourself differently now. ❞

[esotericdescent]

@barrelcrow | PIRATE AU STARTER FROM INEJ.

The man they'd found drifting through the frigid waters of the True Sea had seemingly come out of no where. Whatever had happened to him, there'd been no definitive sign of it; if he'd been in some kind of wreck, the boat seemed to have long-since sunk. They hadn't caught a glimpse of anyone else and Inej had actively searched the area once they’d gotten the man aboard. He’d been unconscious, barely breathing, his pulse weak.

He had more than his fair share of scrapes and bruises, of unusual wounds that looked like they could’ve easily scared had they been left to their own devices. Luckily for him, Inej had a few Grisha amongst her crew, three heartrenders for various tasks — one of which being healing the wounded.

In the end, they found no sign of the wreckage, if any existed, nor of any other survivors, so … Inej had no reason to keep them there, to further detour from their original destination. They had information gathering to do and now they were most certainly behind schedule, but … they’d saved a life. His wounds had been healed, any water in his lungs drawn out with the help of a tidemaker and all that was left for him now was to rest and find his way back to the land of the living.

Inej checked on him semi-regularly and it only took a day and a half for him to regain consciousness. She'd brought him fresh food and water, as she was expecting him to wake soon — the food was nothing special, but there was nothing unusual about that. Hard bread, meat and cheese along with an orange. She wanted to question him, find out what had happened to him, where he'd come from, as there were a vast amount of dangers on the sea that had very little to do with what may or may not lurk within the depths of it. Whatever had brought him here couldn't have been good fortune, even if them saving his life certainly had been.

She was pouring fresh water into a glass for him when he began to stir and her dark eyes snapped over to him, wary, but inquisitive. She wore her long, dark hair in a high, thick braid that cascaded down her back and she moved with deadly silence, but with smooth, effortless grace as well. Inej Ghafa was small and lean, but everywhere she went, her head was held high and an air of command followed in her wake. She wore a teal embroidered vest with an airy, long sleeved collared shirt beneath it, lighter colors that contrasted her Suli brown skin — but she had countless knives hidden throughout, some more visible as she moved, their handles glinting in the dim light of the cabin.

❝You're finally awake,❞ she said, her voice containing a hint of gentleness, but that air of command and added professionalism was at the forefront. ❝Perhaps now we can have a much needed chat. How do you feel? ❞

[multistoty]

The wraith. That’s the name his brother had called her. He had only seen Kaz from far away. The brother he thought dead for years now. Grisha had done a pretty good job, but some of the plague marks still lingered on his skin. He couldn’t help the pain of guilt in him that his brother was limping and been forced into becoming some sort of barrel boss in the absence of his brother. The brunette couldn’t know for certain though it seemed like those dark eyes took him in shark like nature. The gloves tightening almost imperceptibly against the cane. His brother lacked his warmth, but he knew him. This girl. This suli girl cloaked in shadow was the every way to get to him. He’d heard the stories, but he’d seen the looks on both their faces. Besotted even if their badass nature hid it. There was no denying who it was once dirty hands spoke. His voice deeper and weathered though clearly his Kaz.  What had happened? Ivory fingers brushed back slightly longer than necessary onyx curls from his face. The beautiful brunette felt like a cool breeze. Comforting and endorphin rushing with its danger. She could lift you or throw you in her gust. He was not a many of frenzy, but he needed her to understand. Needed her to see. Sure, his harsh and angular lines were reminiscent of the boy king of Ketterdam including the dark nature of his eyes, but she needed to listen to him. Let him in as if he wasn’t some con. “Wraith, I- I’m Jordie rietveld. And I need to speak to my brother. My brother, Kaz. He will listen to you.”

@climbing-inej

[nxttheendxfthestxry]

Inej materializes out of the shadows, quiet as a mouse. She pulls down the cover over her face and looks James up and down appraisingly. "My boss would like a word." - ( @storystartsanew )

"And I'd like a normal, easy day, so it sounds like it sucks to be the both of us," James raises an eyebrow, though he doesn't actually look up from his homework, though he looks like he's contemplating setting it on fire. "Also, if you're going to be scary appearing out of nowhere to someone, try harder. Or, smarter yet, find someone who still startles over something like that."

[averrse]

@climb-inej [  SEVEN  ] :  “ being in love with you doesn’t mean i want to be with you. ”

There is a silence that follows her words that is overwhelming, impenetrable. Like being underwater. For a moment, he doesn’t breathe, because breathing it in could drown him. But this is where he’s always been, isn’t it? Always just underneath the waves, lungs burning, never able to find the harbor.

No. Childish. These thoughts are childish. The very fact that he wants her to say it again, wants to hear her say that she loves him until it makes sense to him, until it mends what’s broken in him even though anyone who loved him died before his tenth birthday…

It’s proof that she shouldn’t say it, and he shouldn’t listen.

She cannot fix him. Clearly, she doesn’t want the job, and part of him is sure she wouldn’t survive it. So, he should leave, Say nothing. Let her sit in the drowning silence alone. 

Instead, he asks in a raw and spiteful rasp, “Then what does it mean?”

[chthonicbeloved]

        inej opened another bottle lifting it to her lips. the rest were quiet. they were either asleep or quietly contemplating their own mortality. she let out a soft sigh fingers wrapping around the bottle as she took a slow drink. looking at them she cocked her head slightly and offered the bottle. “drink?” she asked with a raised eyebrow as she smirked. “might be your last on this earth.” she added. 

@arcaneloved​