#one of the many reasons why book kaz is better

[mistylakeee]

Netflix Kaz doesn’t have the audacity to take off his shirt and wash himself in front of Inej, book Kaz as we all know, does. Netflix Kaz doesn’t have the personality to say “my darling Inej, treasure of my heart”, book Kaz does. In this essay I will…

[thefatesofspring]

You know who's stupid? The people who'd go below and beyond to justify every sh*t Rhys pulled, claiming he had "good" reasons and intentions for everything, while also claiming he's morally gray.

Sjm is one of those people. Write him off as the bad guy, make him do something very terrible to write him off as this morally gray character and then justify his bs and assasinate characters to make him look like the good guy. Wtf is he meant to be??? He cannot be the feminist king that cares for everyone and their mother while also have him be an asshole. Kaz and Carden don't need reasons for why they do sh*t. They do certain things for their own gain and they don't give a damn. They're clearly morally gray. Rhys? I don't fucking know.

Hi anon 👋🏾 again my apologies for only responding now😩

Couldn’t have said it any better myself & it further proves my point again that Rhysand isn’t written for the story let alone the plot!!

I’ve not read the shadow & bone series yet but the cruel prince series I have & to me Cardan is a perfect example of morally grey & executed really well! Ps I absolutely love Cardan! But with Rhysand & the things he’s done not just to Feyre but other courts/HL’s & the justifications are INSANE!!! Everything Rhysand has done has served NO PURPOSE or even benefitted anyone including himself and example of Rhysand doing shit that had the opposite effect of benefiting anyone including himself was when he went to the summer court & he, Amren & Feyre stole the book of breathing because he swore blind that Hybern was after it & if memory serves me correct Hybern actually stated that he was never after the book until Rhysand had taken it out of its home court…like wtf!! The actual big bad villain is telling you that your judgement was wrong & way off & somehow we’re still supposed to believe Rhysand did the right thing & is a “good person”?!!… when in reality if he had just listened to Feyre when she said perhaps asking Tarquin for the book & letting him in on what they think so many things could have been avoided including Tamlin thinking that Feyre was being controlled because now she’s out here lying, manipulating & stealing from other high lords and their courts.

Rhysand is only “feminist” to the women in his circle excluding Nesta & the irony is he never actually gives them choice just the illusion of it & yet for some bizarre reason people buy it🤷🏽‍♀️ he’s honestly just become a joke of a character that is so poorly written & executed. He’s not morally grey or even morally black he’s straight up horrible.

Not to mention ACOTAR is a legit watered down, YA, knock off version of Anne Bishop’s The Black jewel trilogy😩

[lilisouless]

"Wylan and Kaz would have becoming each other" controversy, opening.

"Should we been doing this?"

"Controversy" just to make it more dramatic cause it´s not really a big deal.

I want to thank everyone who responded to the post

It got more responses that i expected, some of you put way better explained arguments that i could have said, and i think we are all actually on the same chanel. So, instead of a long argument that just will repeat what everyone said i will include pieces of the essays and divide the huge deal for parts cause i think it´s a bigger study than we think. This is just the opening so it´s going to be a short one.

like the title said, the very first section will be "should we be doing this" so i´ll add this sample of @savethegrishaverse, who had a bigger response, i will probably use the rest of the argument in later sections:

To me, Kaz & Wylan aren´t that similar, to me there´s a diference between kid!Wylan and kid!Kaz, but thats a story for another section. The important here is that the narrative wants us to see the similarities.

Cause sure, you can always compare two characters, it´s a harmless practice. The question here is, is it deliberate? or did people took the dynamic out of a fandom sentiment?

To me, yes , it´s pretty much deliberate. And my response may be a bit shallow but stay with me here: The desing choices

For those who don't know, in book canon Kaz has dark hair and brown eyes. Wylan has blue eyes and light red-gold curly hair. This is because it may be confusing to people that only know Jack!Wolfe´s Wylan for this argument, since he was hired out of talent instead of a comparision to his features with Freddy Carter´s

Now what i mean? Both Kaz and Wyan are from Kerch but their features are opposite. Kaz has dark eyes (with some warmt,but thats another subject) Wylan has bright blue eyes, Kaz has dark straight hair, Wylan has blonde curls, Kaz is all edges, Wyan has round features.

This may be just to separate the phenotype of the high born kerch from the Ketterdam outsiders, but to me it´s clear that regardless, Wylan is described to be the opposite of him (Kaz is most likely the first Soc character conceived)

Now, does this mean they are mirrors or that they would have become each other? Not exactly, the next sections with treat that so we could say it for sure. The reason i don't want to make the conclusion quite yet is

-Like i said, the desing may be just to stablish the diferences between Kerch´s sites

-To me , Wylan´s mirror (maybe not "who he would have become" but this perfect parallel) it´s probably Jesper. Not sure about Kaz, it may be Nikolai or Inej but not sure yet

-The soc characters are so tridimensional and rich in characterization that many of their traits can be used for a study. The point is if the Wyan-Kaz parallel is just some traits or their whole character.

So, was this for nothing? No, cause we can't say the conception of Wylan-Kaz becoming each other comes out of nowhere, there is some narrative choices that invites the reader to compare them and hey, maybe as we go, the conclusion may actually be that the theory is right. And if its not, why not.

I actually HAVE a reason on why not, but i do want to put everything on the table

[tabl3]

beginning of a oneshot i'm writing

Oliver let out a blood-curdling shriek. 

The projectile was zipping at his head, at least eighty miles per hour. 

He ducked to avoid it, feeling it sail so close that it grazed his scalp.

“Chase, look out!” Kaz shouted. 

Chase had just entered from the rooftop door, flipping through a book. He snapped up as the volleyball came flying toward him.

It screeched to a halt a centimeter from the tip of his nose, floating there.

Chase nodded to his left, making it shoot back over the net and land on the girls’ side before even Bree could stop it.

“HAH!” Kaz pointed two fingers at Bree and Skylar. “Point!”

“Your first,” Skylar teased, catching the ball when Bree, miffed, tossed it to her. It was a sunny afternoon, bordering on too warm, but with a nice breeze to cut through the heat. Four of the five Elite Force members had decided to go up on the roof, set up the volleyball set that Bree had purchased from a sketchy website a few months ago, and waste the day. Due to their packaged deal philosophy, Kaz and Oliver had chosen each other as a team. What fools they had been. Bree was a devil. A beast. A monster. Evil. Skylar wasn’t much better. The boys were up to forty-nine misses in the half-hour they’d been up there.

Chase rolled his eyes fondly. “Have you guys eaten lately?”

Four nods. 

“Okay, good,” he waved his hand, bringing a package of water bottles from the alcove. One was thrown to each person. The girls caught theirs. Oliver again ducked under his. Kaz’s smacked him in the face. “Oliver, Kaz, watch the temperature. Don’t overheat.”

“Yes, Mom,” they echoed.

“Bree, Skylar, go a little,” he pinched his fingers together. “Easy on them.”

“Yes, Mom.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Chase put his hands on his hips. “Don’t come crying to me when you get too tired to celebrate tonight.”

“What are we celebrating again?” Skylar asked, resting her elbow on her girlfriend’s head.

“Only one of the best holidays ever!” Kaz exclaimed, springing to his feet.

“Yeah!” Oliver backed him up. “Watermelon, fireworks, random cold salads, barbecues!”

“I make some bomb ass bbq, girl,” Kaz bragged, puffing out his chest. He’d already spent the previous evening making far too many sides for five people, which of course caused the kitchen to explode. It took Chase and Oliver hours to clean, because Bree was conveniently gone and Kaz dragged Skylar into their room for whatever reason. No one knew why he did anything, generally speaking.

“It’s the way neither of them answered my question,” Skylar deadpanned with a snort. 

“Yeah, they do that,” Chase observed. He folded his arms, lightly smiling. “It’s the Fourth of July.”

“And?” Skylar blinked.

“Big party. Celebrating the country,” Chase toed a loose piece of gravel. “Frankly, I never understood why.”

Kaz gasped as though Chase just admitted he was cheating on him, slapping a hand to his chest. 

“Hot dogs! Ice cream! Sparklers!” he listed, dramatically counting on his fingers. Chase snorted, shoving his face away.

“Fireflies! Picnic blankets!” Oliver chimed in. “Sparklers! Watermelon!”

“You already said that, buddy.”

“Oh, did I?”

“Yep.”

“Well, it deserves it.”

“True.”

“Anyway,” Bree cleared her throat. “We don’t really have to celebrate it.”

Kaz gasped again, as though she had just admitted that Chase was cheating on him. 

“You don’t have to do that every time.”

“Guys!” he threw his hands up. “It’s literally the most nostalgic thing ever! Do you have no shame?”

“I guess fireworks looked nice from the TV in our basement lab,” Bree said sarcastically.

“Around Earth’s summer we had a gladiator tournament to purge the weak from our forces on Caldera,” Skylar offered.

Silence. A bird squawked.

“Jeez,” Kaz smacked his lips. “I forget how fucked your childhoods were.”

“Whatever the case, I need to get back to work,” Chase turned with a wave. “Have fun.”

“NOOOOO!” 

He was halted.

“...What the hell?”

“Babe, you gotta rescue us!” Kaz cried, holding onto his ankle and laying on the roof like a kid being dragged out of a toy store. “We’re getting smoked!”

“Pleaseee!” Oliver begged, gripping his other. “We need you.”

Chase stared at them incredulously.

Skylar and Bree covered their mouths to hide their giggles.

“How old are you two again?”

“69,” Kaz replied before Chase finished the last syllable. 

“It’s funny every time.”

“Thanks.”

[wh0refornikolailantsov]

omg hi could you maybe do a high-school au where you're failing English lit and Tolya is assigned as your tutor and you had no idea he was good at English and just mutual crushing vibes over poetry and maybe he's a jock and you go to his games to cheer him on and yeah...

the song could be Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince by Taylor Swift

Okay, look. Normally I don't do AU stuff, because, so many reasons, but I looked at this request and thought about it, and then I thought about it out loud and it sent me and bestie spiralling so fast into a whole Shadow and Bone High School AU concept, that I kind of, have to write this. I kind of have to, but it will have a lot (A LOT) of AU background info so hold on tight buddy. It may get to the point where you're asking yourself "what happened to the original plot of the movie," and to that I say... Idk.

Between Classes And The Bell - Tolya Yul Bataar

Content Warnings: Explicit Language. Spoilers for Seasons 1 & 2 And Potential Book Spoilers Implied Throughout. Not Canon Compliant, As AU But Canon Referenced Throughout. Not Beta/Proof Read.

Word Count: 5k+

"My expectations are low," Kaz says, tapping his cane against the table as he passes Zoya, a gentle taunt. Zoya purses her perfect lips and taps her pencil against the table, refusing to take the bait. "But they can always go lower, of course."

"You really think this is an argument you'll win, Brekker?" Zoya asks, turning in her seat to look at him. He smiles, eyes darting to make sure there is no teachers to oversee the devilish smirk, and clasps his spare hand over the one holding the cane.

"Never been in a fight I couldn't," he says. Zoya looks ready to explode. And you can understand why, Kaz never loses Debate, and she was just beginning to think she had the upper hand on him, but he had only wanted her to think that.

"I don't think we need to take this so seriously," says another classmate, "we aren't being supervised."

"I think taking things more seriously when unsupervised is essential to a thriving environment," Kaz is mocking Zoya and she knows it. She wants to do something, and if she let her heated nature get the better of her, she might. But she just folds her arms, and takes in a deep breath. As Head Girl she has to be composed, and as Captain of the cheer squad she has long learnt composure. When Zoya breathes it is like even the air is competing for her attention, she is that kind of beautiful. You glance at her and she has her eyes closed, calming herself. She shouldn't let Brekker get under her skin so easily, but Zoya takes everything very seriously, whereas Kaz gives the illusion of caring about school, all the teachers think he is a perfect student, and his grades suggest as much, but it is more of a game to Kaz. But that would go unnoticed by most, after all, no body tends to look too closely at a boy with a cane. But you don't doubt he is probably the most threatening of all of you. You'd heard a rumour once that he was running a blackmail scheme and that's why his grades were perfect without trying. But you knew Kaz was smarter than he cared to display, and you didn't want to put too much stock in rumours. School is so full of them after all.

You get up as the class empties, and you try not to pay close attention to the way Kaz hovers in the room, awaiting it's empty, you cannot tell if he is waiting for someone or waiting for the silence.

Zoya is headed for cheer practice and you are quick to step out of her way, it is best not to get under her feet at the best of times, yet again when she is fuelled with rage from an argument and especially when she is running late at the expense of losing said argument.

You step to the side to let most of the crowd pass, but as the corridors empty you feel yourself getting confused about where you were going. You catch a glimpse of your science partners leather messenger bag, and watercolour eyes and you nod to yourself, science, you're sure you've got a science next... but which one? Probably Chemistry, you'll settle for Chemistry.

"You're getting all turned around again," comes a voice from behind you. You turn and the familiar face of Inej Ghafa, is closer than you expected it to be. Inej is one of The Dregs like Kaz, you hated that name, but High School will be as High School will be and names like that sort of stuck. They called them The Dregs because they were scholarship students who couldn't afford to be in the school without the scholarship, 'Dregs Of Society' as a senior had not so politely explained to you one day when you were fresh in and dumb enough to ask. You nearly jump out of your skin, seeing here so close to you, without sensing her at all. She has a tendency to do that, so light on her feet, petite and so quiet. You have often wondered if the ability to walk unheard came first or if it was something she had learned from being a gymnast. If the acrobatics came naturally and the silence was learned, you're not sure which would be more impressive. Inej is simply a marvel, her scholarship is based on her gym skills and you would never doubt why, you've never seen someone able to preform with such confidence and prowess as her. But more than that, it's her heart you've noticed most, so quiet and yet so endlessly kind.

"Am I?" you ask her. She nods.

"You have English," she tells you, pointing towards the arts block.

"I have Chemistry," you say quickly but Inej shakes her head.

"No you had Chemistry last semester in this time slot on a Thursday," she corrects you, "now you have English."

You pause, but you realise she is right. You don't bother questioning how she knows that, one of the things you were quick to learn about Inej was she seemed to know everything about everyone, it came with the quietness you guessed, that she can hear and learn everything about everyone while no one even notices she's there. You wonder if that's what Kaz sees in keeping her so close, but then again based on the way the boy looks at her, you'd guess that was something else.

You turn to thank her but she has already disappeared from sight.

You're not late but you are cutting it close when you make your way to your seat. Nina, who you know relatively well from the short time you spent in the drama department last year, at her own coaxing, throws you a smile. "Pass this back to the pretty one?" she asks, handing you a note.

You glance over your shoulder and you don't need to ask who she means, you should have guessed. Matthias is looking even less eager to be in this class than you feel, but you don't blame him. For an exchange student Matthias doesn't seem to be thrilled to be here at all, most of the time, except when he is with Nina, which he is every moment he has the opportunity to be.

Every time you hear him speak it is to tell Nina that something she is doing is improper, and where he grew up that would've never been allowed, and yet every time you see him he is staring at her with a look in his eyes that could make you believe in love all on its own.

"Please?" Nina asks, fluttering those long beautiful eyelashes at you. You've never seen anyone say no to Nina Zenik, it might not be at all possible.

"Of course Nina," you tell her and hand the note back. Matthias frowns, and you can see the thoughts bubbling to the surface. He mumbles something about etiquette and respect for educators and then recognises Nina's handwriting and stops his grumbling.

"I think I am winning him over yet," she grins before turning back to the front of class. Nina was studying to be a nurse, but after a particularly rough semester switched carer plans and now intends to be a mortician, most of her bubbliness has come back to her, but it's clearest enough when she has the blonde in her eyeline, he truly brings out the best in her.

You find yourself tuning out most of the lesson, which you know you shouldn't, your Literature teacher is old enough that you feel like you should be able to get away with not paying attention, but you know she sees everything, and you're more than a little convinced everyone is afraid of her. So you're knocked sick immediately when Miss Morozova asks you to stay behind as the class is finishing up. You hope for a moment you might have misheard her, but her cold eyes on you is confirmation that you didn't.

She beckons you to the desk with a flick of her wrist and you approach, wondering what misstep you took, but she just slides your previous paper across the wood at you, and you see your mark and goose bumps spread through your skin. Fuck.

"You're going to fail," she tells you. She has never had a knack for encouragement or being gentle with her students.

"That is not what I had hoped," you admit. She laughs, it's a cold type of laugh, all apathy and disappointment.

"Not about hope child, it's about application and effort, I am not sure if you're missing the point or if you are not trying to see the point at all, either way you're not getting where you need to be," she shuffles a few papers, "so I have assigned you a tutor, hopefully that should fix your shortcomings, if not you will fail this class."

"A tutor?" you ask, the cold feeling just continues to spread through your body. Please not Zoya, please not Zoya. You don't doubt she is good at it, you've seen the turn around of Zoya's tutoring, but she intimidates you if you're honest and you don't think that is optimal for your learning. "Who?"

"Tolya Yul Bataar," she says, not bothering to look at you, "I have already informed him, the rest he will sort out, you're dismissed."

"Tolya?" you ask. You hadn't thought about it, you know he is in the advanced class, but you'd never given it much thought. Always seen the jock first, which isn't surprising, his education likes to focus on his sports, they treat his twin sister Tamar the same. Their skills making your school highest in competitive sports, it makes the school want to focus on their athletics. But you're a little annoyed at yourself for not even thinking about it.

You've thought about Tolya more than enough to have justified thinking about his academics. But the slight crush you've had on the athlete who stands taller than you can reason and with arms you're convinced could move mountains, you have had time to think about him.

You had lunch with his sister once, just the once. Tamar is nowhere near as tall as her brother, with short cropped hair which is a contrast to Tolya's own, but her strength is just like his, even for her size she is fierce and unrelenting. She looks like she could fuck you up, and you know she has the power behind her to back that up, and she would, and is willing to if the need arises. Her girlfriend Nadia had also been present at that lunch and you'd wanted to talk more than you had. Tamar was a type of brave you often wanted to be, unapologetic in her braveness, equal parts bark and bite.

You don't try asking anymore questions, you're pretty eager to get out the classroom that you walk straight into the corridor, not thinking to look around you, and are met by a leaning Tolya, who is rested up against the notice board beside the door. If normally he makes your heart skip a few beats, seeing him waiting for you nearly makes your heart stop. You tell yourself that's a fear response, but you know you're lying. "Tolya," you say breathing a little too heavily.

"I didn't take you for the flunking English type," he smiles at you, "but then again how well do you know a person?"

You smile, trying to not blush too deeply and give yourself entirely away. "I didn't know I was flunking," you admit.

"That isn't reassuring," he says, but he isn't criticizing you, you know criticism when you see it.

"It wasn't supposed to be."

"I am sure we can fix it up, I am... fond of prose."

You're supposed to be studying Remains by Simon Armitage, but even in his tutoring state, you can tell Tolya is finding the poem just as painful as you are. You don't want to be difficult, you don't mean to be, you're stressed about the fact you're going to flunk English Lit, and you know Tolya wants to help. But this poem is driving your attention elsewhere, and in an attempt to not stare at the large, pretty, tutor doing his best to go through themes with you, you let your eyes wander around the library.

Jesper Fahey, the lean theatre student with the true talent for dramatics in every aspect of his life, right down to the way he is dressed with bejewelled collar pins and matching cufflinks, is leaning over your chemistry partner, giving him that smile you recognise. Jesper has always been a flirt, and he never misses the mark, you've seen him flirt with nearly everyone around, but he only ever gives Wylan those eyes. You'd seen it first the day Wylan has suggested pyrotechnics for one of their next play, the same day Jesper tried to pitch Rocky Horror, they were a strange match, but perfectly matched in their strangeness. You especially liked Wylan, as your partner in the sciences you spent enough time with him to know that he is so smart, the kind of smart that makes your head spin, he could be a scholarship student, but he actually is a Legacy, not that you'd know it by looking at him, or talking to him. He doesn't really talk about his family, and you never pushed, knowing he runs the tech for the drama kids and can make homemade fireworks is a decent amount of know about a person.

"Am I boring you?" Tolya asks, his voice soft.

"No," you chuckle, "but I won't lie Simon Armitage is, maybe to death."

Tolya offers you a chuckle in response. "In honesty, I would like to say there is credit in all poetry, and I think there is, something for everyone, but I am inclined to agree this is no Keats," Tolya concedes.

"Or Wordsworth, or even Larkin," you add. He smiles.

"So you do like poetry?" he asks. You frown.

"Did I leave you with the impression I didn't?" you ask. He tilts his head, and he looks so unreasonably large in that blue library seat that you bite your tongue to not giggle at it.

"I had to read your previous paper to prep," he says, "you made it sound like poetry was the lowest form of art."

"I didn't mean for it to sound like that, maybe that poem," you joke, "but not all poetry."

"So, what poems do you like?" he asks, closing the book.

"What poems do you like, I didn't take you for the type," you give that preconception willingly, hoping to dismiss it quickly, and get his true interests locked into memory in a hope to know him better.

"All muscle and no appreciation for art?" he asks. You shrug.

"I never thought you were only muscle," you say, "you've got height too."

He laughs a little too loud for the library but you're too busy smiling to care. "I like classic poetry, epic prose," he admits.

"Iliad?" you ask. He grins.

"Yeah, Homer is up there," he nods, "also The Cantos."

"Oh is that... Ezra Pound?" you check, genuinely unsure if you're right but the gleam in his eyes tells you that you are before his words do.

You sit for a while, swapping favourites and preferences and you don't hear the sound of the bell ringing, calling you to classes, you just keep listening to Tolya reciting from memory and you think you could listen to that forever.

"I hate to pull you away," comes a voice anyone would recognise. You look up and the resident Lantsov, Nikolai with his puppy grin and sparkling eyes is looking at Tolya, "but you are very late."

Tolya glances at the time, as long in you as you were in him, and gets up a little too quickly. "I lost track of time," he admits.

"I can see that," Nikolai spares you a glance, and smiles back at his friend. Nikolai is charming, charming in all the ways a politician might be without half the deceit and double the bravado. Handsome in the way that he knows he is handsome and leans on it, but doesn't rely on it solely like people as pretty as he often do. But it works for him, and you understand where it comes from. Lantsov is a Legacy student, which gets him a lot of allowances, but his older brother got expelled a few years back and he has been under a lot of pressure to not fuck up like Vasily did. So he goes the extra mile, does the extra work, head boy, and boy scout all in one, just to fix what his brother broke. The new girl Alina is hovering not far behind, Nikolai took a liking to her immediately, she looks lost in this place, she got in on a scholarship for a sport she didn't play and has been trying to juggle everything ever since. But she mostly talks about missing home, she has a boy back at her old school, a boy her heart aches at the absence of. Usually that sort of thing is a lie, but the way she talks about him, you would never doubt, you're not sure of his name, you've heard it once or twice, Hal, Mal maybe, you don't let your mind linger on the thought.

"I have to go, but I promise to meet you here tomorrow?" Tolya asks you, bringing you back to the library and out of your mind.

"I'll be here," you say. You watch the three of them walk away, the twins have been close to Nikolai as long as you've known any of them, thick as thieves and twice as protective of one another. You can admire a friendship like that.

"And the final stanza, ending with that imagery," Tolya is trying so very hard to stay on topic, but you are tapping your fingers across a very old copy of Odyssey and he knows you're trying to pull his attention away, and you know it's working.

"or six-feet-under in desert sand, but near to the knuckle, here and now, his bloody life in my bloody hands," you recite. "I know Tolya, it is ingrained in my mind I promise you."

"If you fail the next essay you won't be stuck with me anymore, you'll be failed," Tolya reminds you.

"I am very aware of my predicament," you straighten up, "fail and well fail, or succeed and be told the tutoring is effective and I must continue to spend these hours with you."

The way you tease him makes him want to forget the studying all together and just keep you in his company for longer, without explanation or reason beyond just wanting you there.

"This is such torture for you, isn't it?" He asks, not meaning a word.

"Not in the slightest," you confess. "My favourite part of the day, and not just because you bring really good snacks."

"I do," he agrees reaching to take a biscuit from the centre of the table. "Are you coming to the game?"

The question strikes you as odd, you have spent weeks with Tolya and you've discussed art and music and poetry at length, but you've avoided talking sports, you thought because he had wanted not to talk about it, but with this question you wonder if maybe you've been negligent in not asking him about that aspect of his life. If you've come across as uninterested in the athletics and dismissive because of it, and that thought fills you with an uncomfortable nervousness.

"I hadn't been planning on," you say slowly, "should I?"

"It's going to be a good game," he says, "a competitive one." You nod, trying to seem more enthusiastic than you're sure how to be about sports. "It's an important game," he admits, "and I would... like to have you there, if you want to come?"

"Are you asking me to come watch your game?" you ask, twiddling your pencil between your fingers. He smiles.

"Yeah, I kind of am," he admits, "is that okay?"

"Yeah," the blush creeps up your neck but has the respect to stay away from your cheeks, weeks alongside Tolya you've had to train yourself to blush more subtly, "I'd like that."

Genya and Nina are both fussing over Zoya in preparation for the game, Genya because she wants to be beautician and it is helpful, Nina because it's her prerogative to get involved wherever she wants to. Seeing Genya and Zoya be so friendly with one another is still a little unnerving, due to a not so friendly rumour about Genya and a teacher Genya had been the subject of a lot of hate from the girls at school. Zoya was among them. But the last year has brought everyone a lot closer, and everyone has become a lot more understanding, and Zoya with the help of Alina went around getting Mr Kirigan fired for his unprofessional behaviour, that which they could prove anyway. Genya weathered the worst of it all, and she never seemed to shake.

"Genya if you do not stop fussing me," Zoya warns her, but it's coming from a softer place than her normal warning tone. Zoya holds a lot of guilt when it comes to Genya, about not defending her, about not believing her, about not protecting her from the rumours.

Even Zoya had her fair share of rumours, the real reason as to why she doesn't date, the way her eyes linger moments too long on a pretty girl in the hallway, but again, you didn't like to put too much stock into rumours.

Genya twirls one of her red tendrils around her hand, trying to keep them off Zoya's long dark hair which she has pulled up into a ponytail. "Can I at least-,"

"No," Zoya says sternly. "David, please come get your girlfriend."

David, the reed thin brunette who rarely understands half of what is going on around him, looks up from the book he is reading, something on geology and metallurgy, to look at Genya who gives him a sweet smile, and he gives her a little wave, not having heard exactly what Zoya said. David and Genya are high school sweethearts, the type that you're not even aware you are rooting for at first, but at some point you realise the happiness of their relationship is the thing you are basing your idea of true love on.

"You're coming tonight right?" Nina asks you, throwing you a look across the room, you hadn't realised she noticed you being there, between trying to keep Genya from trying to colour Zoya's hair and Zoya from trying to kill Genya with a look.

"To the game?" Genya turns her eyes to you and they're glistening with anticipation. "I didn't realise you found your school spirit."

"I was invited," you explain.

"Yeah, by a tree with the muscles of a Saint," Nina quips giving you a wink. "I don't think it's school spirit they've found."

"Tolya?" Genya asks, tone shifting up a pitch with her eagerness.

"Don't say it like that," you say. Genya leans up on her elbows, resting her pretty face over her crossed hands.

"Like what?" she asks.

"Like," you gesture to her in her entirety, "like that, like you think you know something I don't know."

"If your truly flunking Lit, I think we all know something you don't know," Zoya says, "now can we get this show on the road, I cannot and will not be late."

"Ignore her," Nina mouths, "she's just cranky because... well because she is Zoya."

The air is brisk but you don't feel cold as you walk towards the field, you see Brekker underneath the bleachers talking with someone you don't recognise, but you pretend not to see anything.

Wylan has his arms around Jesper's neck in the back of the stands, and he looks less lost and more found. Matthias and Nina are bickering by the food queue about how acceptable sweet toppings are on savoury foods and she is too wrapped up in her fun game of wind up Matthias to see your wave, but you don't mind.

Zoya has corralled the cheerleaders and they're all pretty ready, Alina is staring trying not to get roped into anything as one of the cheerleaders in blue tries to tell her how good cheer is for the spirit.

Nikolai is trying to convince Zoya of something but you're not sure what, but you are at least sure it isn't working.

You are brought out of your people watching by feeling a presence close to your side, you turn your head and Inej is walking in stride. "Tolya is looking for you," she says, and you expect her to disappear into nothing as quickly as she appears, but she doesn't. She is a girl after all, not a ghost.

"When does the game start?" you ask.

"You have time," she assures you. She points south and you follow that guidance, and you see Tamar leaning on the gate, she is talking with some of the other players, and she looks so at home. It would be hard to believe there was a time when Tamar had to argue her way onto the team, given how much she has to offer.

Tamar gets a warning for cursing with enthusiasm and you cannot help but chuckle. If the other team wants a fight, they will definitely find one with her. You're about to ask if someone has seen Tolya when you feel the shadow casting across your shoulder.

"I'll get them back," Tamar is insisting.

"Always forgive your enemies; nothing annoys them so much," Tolya quotes, standing beside you. Tamar throws her brother an unamused look.

"Oscar Wilde," you say craning your neck up to look at Tolya. He looks different in his sporting kit, but his hair is still held back the same, and his arms are still exposed to the cold air, just not with rolled up sleeves this time. Looking at him makes you feel cold, and you want to ask him how he isn't.

"You're shivering," he points out.

"I am?" you ask, glancing down at your own body, "I hadn't expected it to be so cold."

"Here," Tolya reaches behind him into a bag and pulls out a jersey, it's for the team and is sporting his number on the back, he hands it to you with one hand. "So you're warm."

You take it slowly, mind racing with the many implications of such a small, kind gesture, and you don't want to jump the gun with this, with him. "Thank you," you manage, slipping the fabric over your shoulders. "I didn't even realise you had one of these."

"Everyone on the team has one," he says.

"No, a jacket," you tease, "you never wear one."

He shrugs. "I don't get cold," he explains, looking around to see how quickly he needs to make his way to the field.

"Then why did you carry it with you?" you ask. The jersey smells like Tolya, from being in his bag you'd guess, and you feel a weight in the side pocket, reaching in you find a small packet of dried mango. You let yourself smile at that.

"I've got to run," he says, "wish me luck?"

"Break a leg," you say, "or is that just something you say for theatre?"

"I'll take it," he says before joining the team.

You'd not given the sports of your school too much thought, but watching Tolya play you must admit you weren't giving the sport aspect much thought even now. You cheer for Tolya, not the game, you're watching Tolya, not the game. If anyone asked you what was happening you're not sure you'd be able to offer more than this name.

If you had any doubts about your schools victory they would have been quickly squashed by the victory cries from Tamar, all fervour and for more expletives than the coach is happy for there to be. She gets a whistle of a warning and a stern look which she just brushes off, letting her brother pull her into a hug.

You are leaning on the fence, which you hadn't noticed until now, with Tolya approaching you. The field is lower set than the stands but Tolya still feels very tall as he gets closer. You can understand why Nina described him as treelike. "Good game," you say. The warmth of his jersey on your skin feeling as secure as that embrace you watched him give Tamar, and it leaves you reaching out for him with eager thoughts and hesitant hands. You tuck them deep into your pockets- his pockets, trying not to give yourself away.

"Thank you," he says, the adrenaline in his smile is dizzying. "Thank you for coming by the way, it means a lot."

"Thank you for inviting me," you say. You want to say more, you want to find the words for this feeling, this gentle buzzing that is sparking between the two of you.

"Ask her you coward," Tamar calls from her place now sat next to Nadia, straddling the bench of a lower section of the bleachers, sharing a milkshake with her girlfriend.

Tolya laughs. "I made a bet with my sister, if we win I had to take that win, and take a risk," he says, and for someone so tall he looks so nervous. "And we won."

"You did," you nod, "quite well I think."

"Really well," he admits, laughter echoing in the spaces between the words.

"So what risk?" you ask, feeling yourself leaning onto your toes, needing to know, feeling your heart pounding in your chest.

"I was wondering if you'd like to see me, outside of school hours?" he asks.

"Like now?" you ask, trying to keep the smile at bay. He tilts his head in a nod.

"Yeah, like now, but maybe more... just us," he says. You feel like you might fall down but you can't help but tease him.

"For studying?" you ask. He can tell you're playing with him.

"No," he says, "not for studying."

"Are you trying to ask me on a date Tolya?"

"I am trying."

"I would like that, I would like that a lot."

[aparticularbandit]

Of A Fatal Captivity: Day Seven (II)

Summary: When do they decide that she can’t leave? That they’re going to keep her there no matter what she wants? That’s the day her captivity begins. Is that today?

Some of you will think that this beginning is a gimmick. Up to you! Think what you want! (It’s not a gimmick more than anything else in writing is a gimmick, which is to say, of course, it’s a gimmick, because that’s all writing is, really, isn’t it? A bunch of gimmicks? Some of them more successful than others? Isn’t that why we have tropes? The trappings of a Tragedy to tell us whether that’s really what the story is or not? (Do you know the story you’re in?))

Enough games.

You’re here for something better than that.

Or: Junko Enoshima’s factory reset may or may not be going as planned, and Ryoko Otonashi has plenty of things to say about that. Or will, once she realizes what’s going on.

Chapter Rating: T. Fic Rating: M for Danganronpa reasons.

TW for Vomit and Bare Description of Corpse Scent.

AO3

previous chapter | next chapter

Book One

Day Seven (of a Fatal Captivity).

On the way to what Mikan referred to as the old school, Ryoko tells her everything she can remember about Yasuke.  She tells her about the curve of his long blue-black hair, about how he’d always looked at her with such gentleness (even when he was mad at her!  which she seems to think was quite often), about how his hair was super duper infinity soft, about how he’d been taller than she was but he’d always made her feel so much bigger than she was, about how he was such a slob in what he wore but that was okay because it meant she could see the skin of his chest—

Kaz groans before she can finish.  “It sucks to hear ya goin’ on about this other dude, Miss Ryoko!”  He runs a hand through his hair.  “No guy wants ta hear about that!”

A deep flush brushes across Ryoko’s cheeks.  “Sorry!”  Her gaze drops to her hands, to the fingers that are all tangled together.  “I didn’t mean to annoy you.”

“It’s okay.”  Mikan reaches over and places a hand on hers.  “I asked.  I wanted to know.”

“Oh, sure, ya did.”  Kaz rolls his eyes.  “Order good ol’ Kaz ta take ya back ta the warzone.  Make ‘im listen ta ya blabber on about some other dude.  I see.”

Then the world shifts.

See, Ryoko and the others are riding in a huge mecha version of the little plush bear that Mikan gave her just yesterday.  Which honestly adds a whole new realm to the idea of the stupid little bear.  She’d thought it was just a stuffed animal that Mikan named Monokuma, but apparently he’s a whole big thing?  Like not just the random name of a plush bear that she’s supposed to remember at some point, but some icon of the Resistance?

(At least, as far as Ryoko knows.  She’s with the good guys, after all.  There’s no way Monokuma’s, like, the Death Star.)

The control center of the giant Monokuma rests squarely behind his eyes, so what he sees, they see.   It also means that whenever Kaz needs to make him shift one way or the other, they shift one way or the other.  And every now and again, he presses a button – usually by accident, but not always – that sets the giant mecha to dancing.

It’s honestly been more than a little surprising to see what the world looks like now.  The sky overhead is stained a deep red like blood after it’s dried, although Ryoko thinks that’s a result of the red slash of Monokuma’s left eye.  She’s seen houses and what looks like hospitals as the Monokuma walks forward with its lumbering gait, and Mikan mentions as they pass them that Junko made sure to protect as many of the poor and sick when the war started.

That just cements Ryoko’s belief that they’re the good guys.  Maybe they started the war – Fuyuhiko implied they did, after all – but if their queen made sure to get those most likely to be hurt somewhere safe before the soldiers went in, then…that’s something the good guys do.  Mikan leading the hospitals, Teruteru feeding the crowds, Sonia’s entire country allying with them to provide as much as they need—

They wouldn’t have this many people here, hiding with them, being helped, if they were bad.

And this time, as Kaz presses the Monokuma Dance Button intentionally, he gestures Ryoko closer to the front.  “Look,” he says, peering out and down at the world around them.  “Look at all of them!”

Ryoko steps cautiously forward and peers out.  They’re nearer to what looks like the bulk of the warzone; the buildings are cracked, broken, shuddering.  She can’t help but look for the cathedral she saw in her dreams, but she doesn’t see it.

Instead, there, out in the ruins of the world that Ryoko once knew, is a crowd of people.  They stand along the streets, on the rooftops (or what’s left of the rooftops), on the crumpled bits of debris scattered here and there; they stand in places she can’t see and doesn’t even notice until she catches the movement of them.  Because none of them are standing still.

They’re dancing.

Just like the giant Monokuma.

“Who are they?” Ryoko asks, staring down at them, at the dance.  “What are they doing?”

“They’re your people,” Mikan answers, “and they’re doing the dance you taught them – the one you taught all of us.  It’s a celebration for you being back with us again.”

Ryoko stares at them, at the side to side, at the intermittent thrusting.  “I…I taught them how to do this?”  She turns to Mikan, her eyes wide.  “I made this whole dance up?”

Mikan just stares back at her, dumbfounded.

“What?”

Kaz leans back, wraps one arm around the back of the leather chair next to him, and looks up at both of them.  “We gotta show ya the movie, Miss Ryoko.  It was your favorite.”  He grins, pointed teeth so like those of the Junko in her dreams, but somehow less menacing.  “I make some wicked popcorn.”

“I….”  Ryoko’s brow furrows.  “I don’t like popcorn.  I don’t like the way the kernels get stuck in my teeth.”  Of course, that would be one of the few good uses of her long, sharp fingernails; they’re perfectly equipped for picking that stuff out.  Sure, they’re also perfectly equipped for making her gums bleed, too, but why should she worry about that?

And yet Kaz blinks twice, looks over at Mikan, and then glances back over his shoulder as though there’s something wrong with what she’s just said.

Ryoko grows cold.  “What?”  Immediately, she flails and steps backward, away from him, away from the eye.  “Do you…do you like them, or something?  It’s weird to not like popcorn!  I-I-I’m sorry!”

And again, Mikan places that hand on her shoulder and murmurs, soft and gentle as anything, “Don’t be.  You don’t need to like popcorn.”

“B-b-but Miss Junko—”

“Kaz can eat all of it,” Mikan continues as though Kaz hasn’t tried to say anything.  “It’s fine.”

But Kaz keeps looking at Ryoko like it’s not fine, like it’s not normal, up until he meets her frightened, uncertain eyes.  Then he rubs the back of his neck and shrugs.  “Yeah,” he mutters, then seems to force himself to smile.  “That’s fine, Miss Ryoko.  Teruteru’ll make ya somethin’ great, probably.  Not really movie food, but….”  He shrugs again and grabs the controls.  “Forget I said it.”

Ryoko doesn’t forget.  It feels just like some other way she’s not measuring up to what she should be, to what they expect her to be.  And although she can’t remember it exactly, can’t remember why she feels that way, she has a strong sense of déjà vu to this whole thing, as though there’s someone else – maybe even multiple someones! – who she’s disappointed before in exactly the same way.

She cowers beneath the weight of it all.

~

“If it’s empty,” Mikan says, hands on her hips and crouching down nearer to Kaz, “you should turn the guns off.”

Kaz grits his teeth, jaw working against itself.  “Miss Junko told me ta leave ‘em goin’, and until she says otherwise, they’re gonna keep goin’.”  He doesn’t even turn back.  “No offense, Miss Ryoko, but you’re no good for this one.”

That flies right over Ryoko’s head.

“Guns?” Ryoko says instead.  “What guns?”  Her expression falls, and she turns to Mikan.  “Better clothes aren’t worth getting shot—”

“We won’t get shot.”  Mikan places a hand on Kaz’s shoulder and gives it a squeeze.  “Kaz here is an excellent pilot.”  She turns away from him, misses the way he first grimaces and then beams with pride, and meets Ryoko’s eyes.  “Particularly when he needs to be.”  As Ryoko stares, Mikan’s grip tightens on Kaz’s shoulder.  “Like now.”

“Ow ow ow ow!  I got it, I got it!”  Kaz bats at her hand and glares up at her.  “If you’re so sure of me, why’d ya tell me ta turn the guns off?”

“I thought it would be safer, Kaz.  You want to keep Ryoko safe, don’t you?”

“We’ll be safer if ya quit buggin’ me—”

Gunshots – rapid fire – and then bullets glance off the giant Monokuma’s hard outer shell.  Ryoko lets out a squeal of fear and runs back to crouch down, hands over her ears, hiding in the back.  “We’re gonna die!”  She shivers.  “I don’t wanna die!”

(Something inside her says that isn’t true.  She ignores that.)

“We’re not gonna die, we’re gonna be just—”  Kaz cuts himself off as the Monokuma shifts and shakes.  He grinds his teeth together and doesn’t say anything else, too focused on his attempts at driving.

Ryoko huddles behind one of the leather chairs.  This has nothing to do with her.  Right?  This has absolutely nothing to do with her.  These people just think that she’s some leader with amnesia.  Maybe she is!  But that doesn’t mean that—

The shadow of someone crouching down in front of her causes Ryoko’s gaze to lift, and Mikan’s soft, bruise-colored eyes give her a gentle look.  She reaches out, wraps her arms around Ryoko, and draws her gently against her.  “It’s okay,” she croons, gently scratching along Ryoko’s back.  “I won’t let anything hurt you.”

It’s meant to be calming – and for the most part, it is – but there’s also something in the way Mikan’s voice speaks so insistently that makes it quietly terrifying.  Less protective of her and more threatening to anyone who tries to hurt her.

Somehow, in that fierceness, Ryoko finds herself comforted.

Ryoko curls against Mikan, rests her head against her chest, and lets herself be held.

(She still shudders when there’s gunfire, but Mikan holds her closer, tighter.  Before she realizes it, Mikan has unbraided her hair just so she can thread her fingers through it.  And always, always that murmuring, “You’re okay.  You’re okay,” until, eventually, she believes her.)

~

When they finally land, Mikan presses a kiss gentle as anything to Ryoko’s forehead.  “See?” she murmurs, brushing Ryoko’s wavy hair back from her face, tucking her fingers under her chin, and gently lifting her face.  “You’re okay.  You’re safe.”

Ryoko nods and then tucks her face against the crook of Mikan’s neck.  She closes her eyes, forces herself to breathe.  “Thank you.”

“Always.”

There’s a few moments of just that comforting stillness before Kaz breaks it.  “Uh.  What’re…what’re ya doing?”

Ryoko’s breath catches in her throat.  That’s a good question.  What is she doing?  This is…this isn’t—

“It isn’t what it looks like!” Ryoko exclaims all at once, pushing herself away from Mikan without another thought.  She ignores Mikan’s hurt look as she scoots away, but she can’t as she stands and brushes the wrinkles from her skirt.  Their eyes just meet; she presses her lips together, blushes, and looks away.  “W-w-we’re…we stopped.  That means we’re at the school, right?”  She rushes over to the front of the control center to look through the Monokuma’s eyes, only to be stopped abruptly as Mikan grabs her sleeve.

It would be easy to slip out of her blazer and keep running forward, if not for the buttons holding it together.  As it is, Ryoko starts forward, comes to a complete stop, and then trips backward, nearly landing with a painful jolt.  She turns back to Mikan, hands clenched into fists and held up in front of her.  “What did you do that for?  Can’t I look?”

“Why don’t we go down together?”

Ryoko bites her lower lip.  “To explore an old abandoned school?  Do we…do we need to look for threats or something first?”

Mikan just smiles.  “You’re here.  There are no threats.”

That’s not….

Ryoko hates this, hates how much Mikan believes in her.  She’s not who she thinks she is, even if Fuyuhiko is convinced she will be and has been – even if she might have been at one point.  She’s not now.  And she can’t just…she can’t just make there not be threats!  She’s not some sort of super powerful being, or anything like that.  She’s just a girl!

And yet none of them look at her like that.  They all look at her like she’s something special, and it makes her…uncomfortable.  Even Kaz just looks at her like she’s…like she’s something more than herself.  As if anyone could be more than—

“Do you know where we’re going?” Ryoko asks quietly instead, not wanting to argue.  This has nothing to do with her, after all.  Not really.

Mikan just smiles.  “I have a good idea.”

Ryoko stands in the ruins of the school with the strongest sense of déjà vu.

She’s been here before—

~

MEMORY UNLOCKED.

CONTINUE?

Wait, what, now?

Really?

Right now??

YES | NO

Memory #??? Found.

Password: 284359579875

Memory #??? Unlocked.

Memory Downloading….

After She Taught The World Tragedy.

(Her Whole Life Has Been One, After All.)

“Everything’s ready, right?”

She doesn’t know why she’s asking.  Of course, everything’s ready.  More than even Mukie—

~

Day Seven (of a Fatal Captivity).

“Ryoko?”

She hears Mikan say her name, and her brow furrows.  “Wait, I—”

~

Memory Downloading….

AFTER SHE TAUGHT THE WORLD TRAGEDY.

(HER WHOLE LIFE HAS BEEN ONE, AFTER ALL.)

She spins in her swivel chair, then kicks her feet up on the control panel.  It’s covered with so many buttons and knobs; most of them don’t really do much of anything, but she likes the aesthetic of it.  At least, as much as she likes anything.  Besides, if someone else were to discover it before her plan kicks off (they won’t; she knows them all well enough to know that they won’t, which is…honestly the worst part.  Kyoko, at least, should notice when she’s gone, when she’s slipped out of their shared bed, but…but she never has.  Or if she has, she’s never said anything about it.  She’s certainly never tried to follow her down here.  That’s the thing about Kyoko Kirigiri: she has a blind spot, even if she pretends that she doesn’t)—

If someone were to discover it before her plan kicks off, they’d fiddle around with all of these buttons and never get anywhere.

She brushes her finger along a notebook detailing everything about the machine, then taps it twice with the tip of a red-painted, sharp fingernail.  Byakuya will need this.  She’ll pretend to mix it in with the story she gives Toko, if it gets to that point.  As though it’s an accident, when really it’s all been meticulously planned.

It’s not like she needs all of these details.  She’d created the machine, after all.  Everything’s memorize.

Mukie doesn’t notice that either, so it’s not like Kyoko’s the real disappointment here.

(She really does deserve to die, doesn’t she?  Can’t even pick up on these small, extremely significant details.  She’s supposed to be the Ultimate Soldier!  You’d think she’d notice this sort of thing!

Or believe that her sister, the Ultimate Analyst, the creator of the machine, wouldn’t need a stupid fucking notebook like this.

Stupid, stupid Mukuro.  The biggest disappointment.  Trusts her sister when she shouldn’t; doesn’t trust her sister when she should.

Idiot.)

“Are you ready?”

She laughs, loud and brash.  “Yep!  Ready and raring to go!”  She leans forward in her sister’s face, smile twisting into a scowl.  “And honestly, I’m bored of fucking waiting around.  Chop chop.  Let’s go.”

(It’s a lie.

She’s not ready.

She doesn’t want to do this.

Her friends are going to die.  Again.  It will be her fault.  Again.

No one stops her.  Why will no one stop her?  She doesn’t want to do this.  She doesn’t want to—)

She swallows as Mukie turns away.  Sits there in the hidden chamber for a little while longer.  Waits as Mukie brings the first of them and sets her in the first cradle.

(Sakura has to be first.  Otherwise, she would take even Mukie down.  Best to get the drop on her unaware.)

Then she moves upstairs.

To the garden.

To wait.

Kyoko will find her.  She’s sure of that.

Kyoko will find her.

~

Day Seven (of a Fatal Captivity).

Mikan squeezes her hand, and Ryoko comes back to herself.

“Don’t look.”

“Don’t look at what?”

But as soon as the words are out of Ryoko’s mouth, the smell hits her.  Immediately, she gags and tries to step back and away, but Mikan holds her near to her and doesn’t let her move back.  “What is that?”

But Ryoko knows what it is.  She shouldn’t.  But the same thing that tells her to use Mikan’s nickname (even though she doesn’t), the same thing that gives her muscle memory for things to say and do even though she shouldn’t know any of that, it tells her now, strongly: there is a decomposing corpse near her.

“We have to walk past it,” Mikan says, giving Ryoko’s hand another squeeze. “Cover your mouth and your nose with your shirt, and you’ll be just fine.  It’ll be fine.  Okay?”  As Ryoko obeys, raising her arm so that her shirt does as instructed, Mikan turns and meets her eyes.  “And whatever you do, don’t look down.”

Ryoko nods.  She focuses on Mikan and Mikan alone as she’s led past the corpse; she knows she’s being led past it because the sharp smell grows sharper, even through her shirt, to the point that she can barely breathe, that she takes in small breaths so as to try and avoid the stench that’s so thick she can taste it.  When they make it through what appears to be the frame of a doorway, she drops Mikan’s hand, drags herself over to the nearest wall, and retches.  Heaves.  Nothing comes up, just bile, just emptiness, but it’s enough to get the taste of the scent out of her mouth, even if she can’t get the scent itself out of her nostrils.  Then she wipes her mouth on her shirt.

Maybe this is what she deserves.  For killing—

“Miki?”

“Y-y-y-yes?”  Mikan’s eyes grow wide, frightened.

“I told you about Yasuke,” Ryoko says, running her fingers through her hair, avoiding Mikan’s eyes, “so will you tell me about Mukie?”  She presses her lips together.  “Fuyuhiko says I killed her, and I remember…I remember bits and pieces.  But the memories don’t make sense.  When we were in there,” she gestures to the room with the corpse, “I remembered that she was my sister.”

(She doesn’t think about the nails in the memory, how they’re the same as the nails on her hands that she hates; doesn’t think about the boots on her feet when she’d propped them up on the control panel, how they’re the same as the boots she’s wearing now; doesn’t think about how she’d wound strands of pink-tinted hair around her finger, how she’d smelled so strongly of blue raspberries.

And she is certainly not going to mention Kyoko to Mikan.  Not right now.  Not when she has no idea who that even is.)

“But…but in my earlier memories,” Ryoko says (and she doesn’t mention what those are because she’s still trying to understand them), “she’s just a…just a friend.  Not my sister.”

Mikan’s eyes widen even more at that comment.

Immediately, Ryoko thinks she’s done something wrong.  “I-I-I mean!  M-m-maybe she was my sister?  Even then?  I don’t know.”

“I-I-I don’t want to tell you,” Mikan says, her gaze falling, “because I don’t…I don’t want to influence how you…how you remember things.  If I color what you remember, then you’ll…you’ll feel differently about the memory, and you might…you might not….”  Her voice trails off, and her brow furrows.  “B-b-but I can…I can tell you what she was to us.”  She tugs her lip between her teeth and nods.  “While we find your room, I can…I can tell you that.”

Ryoko nods.  “Okay.”  She runs her fingers through her hair again.  “Let’s…let’s do that, then.”  Then she follows as Mikan continues to lead her into the school.

(Tidbits of understanding are better than nothing.)

[taricide]

I'm so mad at netflix for butchering the grisha trilogy AND crooked kingdom at the same time holy fuck. The grisha trilogy wasn't too great imo but i still really liked those books and Netflix just completely fucked it up in all the ways possible. Like Zoya for one, her character arc was so noticeable in the books and now it's not even there ???!!! i don't like the casting for her either but that's another thing. She was exceptionally powerful and an excellent commander and now she's just .. Someone We Know. Why did they have to kill off David so soon ? WHAT was the point. I also really liked alinas hair being bleached to white which completely was NOT shown. Also it's so dumb how Nikolai didn't need to get tailored to be sturmhond. book sturmhond is 100% times better. And the nichevo'ya look really really stupid. Nikolai being attacked by the Darkling in the books was a hundred times more impactful than just some random wound. Also I'm really confused as to how grisha can travel freely in shu han but whatever. Also i feel like the apparat and his cult was a fun thing to explore. And i imagined Tamar's axes to be much bigger, the ones she has in the show look so dumb I'm sorry. I'm still mad that everyone calls the darkling "kirrigan" because that just takes away some of the weight of his presence. I have so many more things to be mad about but I'm forgetting so let's talk about the crows. Inej's trauma was quite literally erased from the show and tante heleen being killed earlier just makes me 2?#+8*+₹ so annoyed. They just explored kaz's trauma like everyone else doesn't matter. Jesper is now sleeping around for some reason which is a very cool and normal way to show bisexuality. Jesper and wylan getting together before Nadia and tamar is so crazy to me... i HATE it. Pekka rollins being defeated and making up a plot specifically to defeat the crows makes no sense, and that wasn't even the point of his character . The point was that he didn't remember kaz because he's ruined countless lives. Some of the crows' exchanges seem so fake to me and the dialogue is so poorly written that it's laughable. I don't think theyre gonna adapt crooked kingdom since they've already adapted a bastardized horrible version of that book. Anyway i hope the show gets cancelled and the writers get fired and the show becomes obscure and everyone forgets about it.

[noyoucannotpushthevoid]

Redo: Six of Crows Characters Sorted into DnD Classes

It was bothering me how I didn’t actually justify my answers in my post sorting Six of Crows characters into DnD classes. In addition, I want to change my answers. So I’m redoing the whole thing: Starting again with…

Kaz Brekker: Mastermind Rogue with the Urchin background He stays the same. There’s no better class/subclass for him. In fact I struggle to think of any others he could conceivably fit in, and I only draw blanks. Now for the actual justification that was missing from last time. While it is all pretty self-explanatory, that is not acceptable evidence. It’s like handing in an essay to a professor that states your argument and the rest is just, “if you read the story you’ll know why”. And, unfortunately, I have academic standards for myself. So, without further ado, Kaz is the mastermind of the Dregs. Per Haskell can lie to himself (and then get fucked) all he wants. As stated in the book, he is just another puppet in Kaz’s plans. He’s the figurehead to Kaz’s actual government lol. There is very little he doesn’t account for, and always has several back up plans. What is a mastermind if they can’t plan their way out of ANYTHING?  The subclass is the main reason he’s a rogue, but per my last post he is incredibly perceptive, thrifty/resourceful, and can do major sneak attack damage. Not to mention, but what’s more rogue than letting people underestimate you, in this case because of his disability, only to prove them wrong at the most opportune time for your plan? Related, but only tangentially, he’s not a master of disguise but he can pull a convincing one together in remarkable time.He is so incredibly well connected through secrets and knowledge (even though it’s Inej whose the one gathering said knowledge, he’s the one who exploits it like a good mastermind. But we’re not talking about his subclass anymore). Going back to the first sentence of this paragraph, he is incredibly hard to get a jump on. Even that initial kidnapping that kicked off the plot of the first book, he was only caught because he couldn’t comprehend what he was looking at, not because he didn’t see it. He is a rogue to the tune of my friend’s whose whole thing is that she’s always watching. If I had to give him a magic item it would be said friend’s PC’s jacket of many eyes if you will, which with expertise makes this PC an absolute legend at nightwatch lmao, and saves us the horror of surprise attacks. That is Kaz for his group. He’s thrifty. Going back to people underestimating him, he is a master of improvising with his cane. And That’s such a rogue (or monk) move, to use just what’s at his availability in a given situation. Because you can go one of two ways with a rogue (typically), which are the complete shadow route (Inej) or a flashier route, and Kaz, arguably, took the latter, it’s all about the kind of surprise of it. That’s for lack of a better way of saying it. Rogues really keep you on your toes. Finally, sneak attack damage. I still have not reread the books again, but I know there were moments when Kaz would attack people from behind while they were distracted; if not, it’s something he’d do. As for his background, criminal’s an option, a hombrewed farmer background could be used, but Urchin is what fits best. While, yes he is and was a criminal, that’s only because he was an urchin before that. His backstory and his development hinge on Pekka Rollins scamming Jordie and him, leading to Jordie’s death, leading to him swearing vengeance. And none of that could’ve come about if he and Jordie were not wet around the ears, unsupervised urchins in Ketterdam.

This is going to be an uholily long post, oops. Regrettably I feel no regret, let’s discuss my favorite character: Jesper Fahey: ONE level in Sorcerer, then multiclasses into Fighter and takes the Gunslinger subclass. He retains the Gambler background. I can see his single sorcerer level coming about in 2 ways, a fun thing with his backstory where he and the DM orchestrate the reveal in the books. Therefore the character arc, and have it be one of his character’s main plot lines. Or, he is like me and a diskier of magic classes. But he tried, didn’t like it, multiclassed at the first available opportunity. Then it was twisted to be useful later on in the campaign. He is just like me fr fr (and Gideon Nav) he sees opportunity to fight, he fights. I love how each character has an object that’s heavily entrenched in their backstories. If they pull a Hunter the Vigil I can see each person’s like one on one prologue centering on said objects (ex: Kaz’s gloves, Inej’s knives, Nina’s kefta, etc). That’s besides the point though. He’s a fighter because it’s the quintessential martial class and he just doesn’t fit into the others. He’s not angry or explosive enough to be a barbarian. On the exact other side of the spectrum, he’s not methodical or practiced enough to be a monk. He’s a fairly straightforward fighter. His complexities lie in his backstory/how he’s played, not really in his class (when i say this bastard is like me fr fr, I fucking mean it). Obviously, because his guns are so integral to his backstory, he took the gunslinger subclass. Regrettably there’s really not much else to it. He evidently talked a lot with the DM, definitely making an argument to start with guns.  Gambler background, there’s others that arguments could be made for, but like Kaz none of them really encompass him as a character. Gambling is a huge hurdle for Jesper. It greatly impacts his life, like all addictions do. Therefore it greatly impacts how he acts as a character and his motivations/priorities. Jesper is the kind of character that’s really simple on paper, but comes to life in game.

Matthias Helver: I think I was right on the money with him too. Beast Master Ranger that multiclasses into Oathbreaker Paladin with the Zealot background He’s a beast master because of his wolf, that’s really about it. Regardless, that wolf did mean a lot to him so it should be reflected in his character in some way. That being said, as the campaign continued he decided to multiclass into paladin because he found it more useful (probably right about the end of the Ice Court job. They also definitely started the campaign at level 3 or 4, which kinda recons what i said about Jesper, but not entirely. I also posit (cause I don’t remember how early Matthais was introduced, but he and Wylan were late to the campaign. Cause it’s obvious the other 4 have history and these 2 were introduced later than the rest. Otherwise the players of the other 4 were an established dnd group beforehand and for the new campaign they introduced 2 new players. I’ve seen this happen twice and there is a slight, not detrimental, but slight one or two session divide while everyone gets used to each other)). He multiclasses when he does, cause honestly him being a ranger would come in handy when they were traversing the tundra from the port to the ice court. And then there’s not really any reason for him to multiclass until after he realizes that the next chunk of the campaign is going to take place in Ketterdam, rendering a good bit of his abilities useless.  Paladin plays into his backstory, but also into the fact that he’s big and tough. It’s also more fitting to his characterization than a barbarian or blood hunter. This is in the way he gives off the stereotypical way you think paladins are played, as very lawful and uptight if you will. He’s obviously not lawful good, but he is lawful regardless. If he multiclasses when I suggest, he’s at the point where he is starting to learn and break from the ideology he was brainwashed into. So, he would eventually take the oathbreaker subclass. He was a paladin for what he’s learned is an evil order and as his character develops he breaks free of it. The zealot background works perfectly for him, because it’s what he was. In addition it brings in that part of his backstory before he multiclasses. He also starts with a zealous mindset that causes strife in the group.  While he’s very much not my favorite character, from a dnd standpoint I adore him. So long as it’s done well and all the players understand it’s not personal and only in game, a character that causes a bit of strife in a group is always fun. Maybe his player is a close friend of the others and has a lot of experience with playing dnd so he manages to play this bigoted zealot in a way that doesn’t destroy the group.

Inej Ghafa: Here’s where some things change drastically. She also multiclasses, from an Oath of the Ancients Paladin to a Soulknife Rogue. And she likely trades off levels between the two. She maintains the entertainer background I couldn’t let go of the fact that her religion is a massive part of her character, yet is completely neglected in what I gave her last time. Shame on me. So she would start as a paladin, take the oath of the ancients at 3rd level then multiclass into rogue at 4th (this is where she starts the campaign, so they start at level 4). She is very entrenched in her religion; it is something that keeps her going even in the worst of times, but she’s not really a healer. Therefore she’s not a cleric. She is not a fucking support character; in flavor maybe, otherwise absolutely not. Oath of the ancients is her subclass because her religion is a long standing one as well as (i don’t know jackshit about this subclass, so don’t quote me on any of this) ancients implies multiple, and she worships multiple saints. Rogue is pretty straightforward. She’s sneaky, she’s honestly the stereotypical rogue. Soulknife might not seem so straightforward. My justification though is, as per my first draft if you will, her primary weapon is knives, why not give her unlimited knives? I see no argument against this. Plus this allows her to keep knives as her main weapon, but also deal a good deal of damage. In addition, she probably gets so many surprise attacks, so she can exploit the fuck out of her sneak attack. She’s played dnd before and she knows how to game the system. Finally, she was quite literally raised as an entertainer. I am making her routine acrobat, even though it’s not listed. It’s the most fitting background for her backstory.

Wylan Hendriks: Soooo, 2 levels of bard, because he deserves Jack of All Trades for how quickly he learned to make bombs despite disliking chemistry. Then multiclasses as an artillerist artificer with the Noble background. He’s got to have a little bard in him. As well as, he really should get Jack of All Trades, chemistry is a bitch and a half. Besides learning a heavily chemistry based skill absurdly quickly, he also adapts to each major change in his life fairly smoothly. In addition to both of those reasons, he’s stated to have tried his best to be the best in everything else to hopefully win back his father’s love and compensate for his inability to read. Even if he doesn’t like chemistry he’s pretty darn good at bomb making, and making things in general, if my memory stands. So it should stand to reason that he be an artificer. Like Kaz though, he fits into this class, mostly because of a subclass. In this case the artillerist subclass. It’s a subclass all about bombs and projectiles, and so is Wylan. He’s this class because he has to be to survive. Regardless, he’s constantly working on various experiments in order to help the group out in combat or tough situations, or, y’know, ruin his father’s life. He really adopts this role and class. He becomes great at it, just like pretty much every other subject he’s been faced with.  Finally, his background really can’t be anything else. The whatchamacallits are the closest Ketterdam has to nobility, so with a bit of tweaking to account for the fact that they aren’t true nobility it’s the most fitting background. Afterall he was not “kicked out” that long before Kaz took him under his wing. As I said in the last post though, it would probably be flavored as a disgraced noble or something.

Nina Zenik: Way of Mercy Monk that multiclasses as an Order of the Ghostslayer Blood Hunter. Her change comes in the form of her background. I know she wasn’t in the field for long, but I feel like the soldier background is far more fitting than the cloistered scholar one. Most of my reasoning stays the same. Her being a heartrender really impacts what classes/subclasses she would fit into. For example, she is a way of mercy monk because the abilities of the way of mercy, particularly the dual hands of harm and hands of healing parallel her heartrendering abilities. She can use her manipulation of the human body to do both great harm and great good, just like a way of mercy monk can. In general monk is a very fitting class for her because most monks come from a specific monastery where they likely grew up and learned. It’s not the same, but her situation being raised in the little palace parallels this quintessential part of the monk class.  After taking parem though, she multiclasses. Her abilities were a threat before, but they were controlled. Parem not only makes her even more of a threat, but it gives her abilities a more terrifying and feral, for lack of a better term, quality. Heartrending, especially after parem parallels the abilities of a blood hunter incredibly well. Both are based in fucking with the body, and lends the user and ability to manipulate a creature’s most basic functions. After (and when I say after, I'm typically including when she was on it as well. As in after she took it) parem her abilities start to come with a drastic cost. To use your abilities as a blood hunter, particularly to push them further and therefore make them stronger/more effective, you take damage yourself, and not necessarily a small amount either. Not only does Nina’s abilities take a greater toll on her after parem, but while she’s on it she’s wasting away even if she’s getting this incredible boost in her powers. Blood hunters are known to take on aspects of what they hunt, almost becoming the monster in order to successfully hunt the monster. For her, following parem she becomes monstrous in her abilities, though that also makes her much better at them. As for the ghostslayer subclass there are several reasons: it’s age as an order and the type of creatures the order focuses on.  Nina’s abilities are still her own, but they’re bastardized and warped because of parem. Again though, they’re still fundamentally her initial abilities, which she developed as a part of a long line of grisha. The order of the ghostslayer is the oldest blood hunter order. The ages parallel each other, as well as though the order has a lengthy history, one doesn’t become a blood hunter until later in life, after something horrific drives them to it. This is just like how parem drove Nina, later in life to her new abilities. Ghostslayers also primarily hunt the undead. Nina’s new abilities allow her to manipulate the dead, so there’s another connection in the focus of abilities. I changed her background because she is a very active extroverted character, not the type you’d see huddled away doing research. Her dream was to be in the field, it’s what her entire childhood culminated in. Yes she was cloistered away in the little palace, but it was learning how to be a soldier, so she can have that leeway and take the soldier background.

Kuwei Yul-Bo: Pyromancy Sorcerer with the Inheritor background He stays the same because I have not remembered anything new between that initial post and now. His abilities are his father’s every relevant part of him he inherited. And he has that vague relation to fire that I cannot remember the context for for the life of me lol.

[padfootagain]

Crooked Kingdom spoilers (and heavy criticism) ahead, please don't read if you don't want to.

Okay, I've just finished reading Crooked Kingdom, and let me tell you something: the end was absolute shit.

It has ruined the entire book to me honestly. Because you either make all your heroes lose, or you make them all win, but you do NOT decide to kill off one of the main characters FOR ABSOLUTELY NOTHING when all the others get a happy ending.

Because it simply does not work. The whole point of the first book is that they become some sort of a found-family group. The whole point is that they will do this all TOGETHER. No matter their fate they will do it as a united front. And yes, of course, there are tensions and evolutions and progress and step-backs but the point is that either all win or all lose.

It's even clearly mentionned when Wylan says that they were all supposed to make it. They were supposed to all make it. Or to all fail. And it was probably a way to say 'hey, reader, you thought they would all make it but no! They can't break from the doom of their lives' but THAT WAS THE WHOLE POINT ON THE TWO DAMN BOOKS!!!! To me it just ruins the whole thing. Because why then give an ending that's almost too good to everyone else except for Matthias and Nina ?

And when I say a too-good ending, don't get me wrong, I'm glad that everything ends well for the rest of the group. But Inej did not need to find her family to get a happy ending. Breaking free and getting to hunt slavers and having a chance with Kaz was enough. Wylan didn't need to get his father's money and property, getting away from his father's grasp and staying with Jesper and getting his mother back was enough. Some got it almost too good. I would have been contempt with less for them, they could have had progress to make still. A promise of a search for her family, a place to find of his own will. I like these happy endings for them, don't get me wrong. But to me it isn't balanced. Why offer too much to some and nothing to others?

Especially given that Matthias's death is MEANINGLESS in the story. What is the point? It doesn't teach anyone a lesson. It doesn't make the plot progress drastically or move in an unexpected twist. It's just there, coming out of the blue, it ovcupies barely a chapter, it doesn't draw enough grief at all. It misses the impact. If the message was simply to say 'not everyone can get a happy ending' or 'not everyone can change' it was proven time and time again in these books. And yet Inej's final thoughts with Kaz are that indeed everyone can change. So again... what is the point? There isn't any. Nina doesn't use her powers to resurrect him, which would have made sense. Again... what's the point?

And don't give me the 'but in life people just die with no reason...' because that's the whole point. This is not life. None of it is realistic. And in such a book where the whole plot relies on carefully crafted plans... why put something that doesn't make any sense and doesn't better the story by any mean?

To me it's truly about breaking a contract with your reader. You have enough plot twists in the story to wonder a dozen times whether or not they will make it. But you KNOW that they will, because it is the contract. Everything leans towards the final happy ending. They are not doomed enough to fail. To kill off your main character like this, with a death that means nothing, you must show the reader it will happen. They must try to get away and yet you KNOW they will fail. The element of surprise, to me, is better used when it leads to what you expect: you wanted to hope that they would live, they got so many chances, and they fail, every time, and they die. Or on the contrary, you know they will live, they have plenty of surprises thrown at them to make you doubt it, and yet they survive. It's not about not liking to be surprised, it's about the lack of consistency in the writing and the structure of the plot. Pulling something out of nowhere like Matthias's death, shot by a stranger, does not make sense. He was shot by a younger version of himself, you will say, it is a sign of doom indeed, but it wasn't foreshadowed enough to be relevant. Matthias is still struggling but he's winning. There is no doubt thay he's getting over his hatred for Grisha, that he will not fall back into it. So why bring his past back like that? He is not tortured enough for that. He is still struggling, but he is not going to go back to his old ways, so why pretend that his past is killing him, when he has already stepped out of it? It doesn't make sense, it's not logical enough. Not to me, anyway. I guess the message was that Matthias had a fool's hope, that the Fjerdans won't change, not that easily, at least. But the point of the book is NOT that the Fjerdans can change or not. IT IS NOT THE POINT OF THE PLOT. This could have been a story for another book, focused on Nina and Matthias, and them failing to change the ancient ways. That I could have accepted, but here? The point of the books was never about Fjerda, it was about the Crows. The point was not really to protect Grisha at all, it was to protect THEIR group. Grisha or not. It would have been better suited to the ending of Six of Crows, because he struggled more then and Fjerda was central to the plot. So again... Matthias's death misses the point. It comes out of nowhere in Crooked Kingdom, answering a question that was never asked in the first place and failing to bring any element of doom, because to have doom, you need attempts that fail and succeed. One step forward and two steps back. It isn't how it worked here.

I'm just so frustrated and angry, because once again, I am disapppinted by an ending on Grishaverse. It was the same in SaB, and here again... it's so frustrating.

Anyway, end of my rant. I'm just so angry, I had to talk about it.

[but-ter-flie-ge]

Finally. My reread of Crooked Kingdom actually did happen.

I was way more excited for the second book of the duology. So my prediction consisted of me rushing through SOC and then starting CK a bit less as if the apocalypse is going to break out if I don't finish it within a few days.

Jokes on me: I got so excited about different scenes that I still flew through it. So my brain is jumbled and my life is falling apart but I guess I did finish it, no?

For my first read of the second book in the duology, I actually understood the hype a bit more. It granted us the last two background stories of the characters and had a whole lot more banter. Which is one of the strongest elements of the books. However, I feel like CK manages the riddles and hidden plans of Kaz way better. It feels more deliberate than just being based on pure luck. Not everything of course and it probably still is 80% luck but it is covered up more thoroughly.

There were just so many details I simply forgot and was shocked to learn about once more. Even things I hadn't fully understood the last time I read it.

The writing style is a bit more poetic in my point of view. I could be wrong but that's what it felt like and I think it gives the text an emotional smoothness in-between the edges that come with the fighting and the comedy.

Still the pacing is awry sometimes.

The point of view changes get so frustrating in some parts which I didn't feel too much in the first book.

If you shoot someone and the next page is a lengthy description of what the surroundings look like, I won't read that. Or I will read it but my brain will zone out of this universe. For others this may work but not for me.

What I need to add to this though is that when there is a brawl at the end of the one character it is almost certain the next one will experience something that reaches the same level of stress which makes the scenes afterward easier to flip through.

I did not like the Pekka Rollins ending in the church.

Kaz hasn't struck him or really confronted him through the whole length of two books. Now in all of this chaos, attention shifting every few seconds and nerves on edge for other reasons he decides to finally do what we waited for.

I understand that there probably wasn't enough space or time to write an extra plot point for this so I will just watch the show whenever I'm craving Kaz's vengeance.

One of my favourite chapters in the whole series got to be chapter 14 of CK.

It is also the only chapter that plays outside of Ketterdam and it almost feels like a bittersweet nightmare. Or a dream? It's so hard to decide how to feel, being torn from "Oh his mother lives!" To "Holy fuck his mother lives..." To "I can't do this- she painted him..." While everything plays in this unfamiliar setting dipped in the afternoon sun. Wylan is not just retelling what happened but we are actually there while it happens. It helps to stir my pot of emotions.

This song was running on repeat when I was reading this:

The time has come. Whilst we're at iconic scenes I have the physical urge to throw in the "Who the hell is Jordie" - Jesper Fahey.

My friends are probably already wailing over the fact that I'm once again explaining my issues when it comes to Kaz Brekker. I'm sorry, my dears. I love you all very much.

Book one he redeemed himself and even in book two at the end I felt lighter, the anger issues not going complete berserk when thinking about him.

A huge part why I didn't like him is caused by his anger towards Jesper. I established that in my first review as well but in CK this burning rage of and therefore for him just flames higher.

I understand why and how and what and when and blablabla but I still don't think it's acceptable. And I think the fandom handles it wrongly. Maybe this is because there are a lot of young readers in the community. (Even though the SOC duology has very morally grey characters and it shouldn't be young adult-- that's a discussion for another day.)

I know I'm chronically online for this but children listen: Kaz can't just stomp his bestie in the ground because he has PTSD. Why do you think Inej left before the same fate could happen to her? It's so painfully obvious it makes me convulse. Jesper already has doubts about himself and his right to be loved, have friends, be trusted. And that just worsens in the presence of Kaz and his jabs here and there. You also have to keep in mind that Kaz actively fed into Jespers addiction which were the cause of him accidentally betraying the crows. Additionally: who gave Kaz the right to speak for Inej? She is the one who got hurt and she's the one who will settle it. Which she did. (Brilliant scene by the way.)

The way Kaz reacts just strengthened my belief from the first book: he never trusted Jesper and he just lets out his pain at someone who was foolish enough to stay with him.

Now I know I've been antagonizing him a lot but it's my opinion on the fandoms matter not on the overall of his character because I feel like in the books it's perfectly clear that this is a fight where he's in the wrong.

Shockingly, my very one-sided view on Kaz changed. Otherwise I would've not enjoyed the book as much as I did. I hold the moments when Nina and Wylan say that he accepted them very close. Or him giving Wylan the heritage he deserves even if it was just to taunt Van Eck into madness I have the (most likely false) inkling it's not only that. Probably just another scheme to use Wylan later on but we don't think about that. When he tells Inej that Jesper is missed I felt like the Pekka Rollins incident was finally wearing off just as the memories.

And of course there's Inej whom he gifts her her ship and brought her back to her parents. We all love to see her happy and even if he earned the simp-stamp during this, it is still a scene that makes me tear up.

Talking about more scenes I like: the fights between Inej and Dunyasha are awesome. I find Dunyasha super interesting as well as the way Inej views her.

Her character design is fun and her belief system so twisted and messed up. I don't know it just was a "fresh wind" of insanity outside of the common crowd we already knew.

And Inej grew through her. Inej's character growth has always been kind of shoved in your face with very obvious metaphors but I learned to absolutely love and appreciate it this way. It leaves you with very impressive scenes that are bound to her with connections and further consequences.

Speaking of character growth: Matthias. We finally got his final big bear form. It's funny how he transformed from being this irrational crazy murder husband of Nina to kind of the innocent-not-so-innocent-simping-lovely-idiotic-diplomat of the group.

We all know how his story takes it's end though. And once again I find myself wondering if the pace is just too fast or the pov change destroys this particular moment. But I couldn't really engage in it. I found it sad but not in a way that really stuck and made me mourn his character which I find a bit unfair. Because he deserves to be mourned. No pun intended.

I'm surprised that I don't think it was unnecessary or something that was just done to hurt the reader. Or Nina for that matter. Maybe it is but that's not how it seems to me.

I think he deserves better, obviously. I think he could've survived and the book would've been just as good, maybe even better.

But he dies and I feel like it just shows how luck does run out sometimes. And all it took was a younger version of Matthias plagued by hatred and a clouded mind shakingly holding onto a pistol. Matthias did change, wanted to help and free his family from the ice but cruelly he wasn't given the chance.

Scenes I'm unsure about would also be the pure comedy gold of Jesper mistaking Kuwei for Wylan.

When I first read that I was so on edge. Why wasn't "Wylan" saying anything? Why's he randomely sitting there not playing? Why on god's green earth is he grinning? (Also side note: how the hell could Jesper say their first kiss would be a great thing as a distraction?)

Anyways oblivious Jesper kisses Kuwei and in turn this dude is just glowing with pride.

It is memeworthy and I'm happy it's not a messed up love triangle or any of those sorts.

Still the voices bro, the freaking voices! "How could this be used for a meme moment?"

I can live with it though. It's okay. The show gave us what we didn't have and I'm ready for further angst if the spin off does come out.

Conclusively I'd like to say that the books grew on me through the fandom, the show and maturing as a person. It's quite the funny journey. I'm going to reread my first two reviews now and see what bs my younger self created. Chances are high that I just repeated myself but that's okay. I'll just ride with that. Have a good day.

[kattangeln]

Shadow and Bone commentary s2

Cause I did it for s1 (this is in the order of watching)

So every change in the crows and ketterdam story makes me scratch my teeth. I hate it cause like we all know six of crows has one of the best writing ever

Kinda hate that they are all um speaking English? Like sure they have languages, but just speak English. And I get why. But also, like takes away a lot of the world building. Nina is a language prodigy and I want it to be known <3

The ravkans can only speak ravkan pretty much. Jesper can speak Zemeni and Kerch. And yeah, it’s sad. I miss languages

Like Pekka Rollins is getting way too big?

Nina following Inej, and like managing to follow her. That’s cute <3

Waffles and people skills, love you girl

We are already getting to know about Kaz’s backstory???

Also Nikolai is great. He looks just as charming and slug as I imagined. Hm his introduction though, that was um interesting.

Okay when Wylan is playing the piano and Jesper just wow. I need need the scene with Kuwei playing the piano and Jesper thinking it was Wylan. And them kissing. And that whole scene and misunderstanding and everything. Please guys. Like this could be an amazing foreshadow. Like dude jespers face. I need it

Actually love love that Nikolai’s proposal came that quickly. Yes, dude. You are so ahead of time <3 and Mal talking sense into Alina, yes

I mean I still don’t hate Mal (like the books). But I’m not sure if I would care if he died? Like I remember liking him in s1 for your knowledge.

Genya is crazy. Thinking she can flee Kirigan like that? Wow

David hearing Genya being scarred like that? Oof. Knowing how awfully um that was? Knowing he can do nothing? I mean I love that he is smart enough to like don’t try to stop it cause he wouldn’t have had a chance. But wow, the powerlessness. David <3 you will be rewarded I promise

All the bonding Jesper and Wylan are doing. To die for <3

Why do the Netflix um subtitles call them dogs? Aren’t they supposed to be wolves? Like yes they are obviously dogs and not wolves cause like many reasons. But come on. But also, the foreshadowing <3

Nina, nina, nina? What are you doing? Pekka is there? What the fuck (about nina calling matthias name after the fight)

I hate not being able to tell what the fuck is happening. Although the stakes are so high and I love it

Love the girl who’s so loyal to the darkling. Like she’s pretty. Go girl, go do what you think is best. You’re most likely a sadist.

Every episode opener is soo pretty

Genya getting her nickname <3

Baghra and Genya bonding??

You know at least, Alina is less selfish. And Mal is still selfish. Character growth guys

Love how much this explores Baghra and Aleksander’s relation. And his upbringing and so. Awww like this is well done. I can see the hurt child still in him. And I mean Baghra has some um stuff on her conscious

“I kinda like your face” goosebumps wow hate it (the place in the story) and love it

yes, Alina is training

Love the new mythology, more saints, mythology yay

Okay, hm I do believe Nina and Kaz are in on it. But eh Inej caring about a crying baby? I do not think was part of their plan. Why is Pekka always kicking their asses? Guys, I’m scared

Okay, I love love this scene with Pekka and Kaz. Oh, it's amazing.

Is the brother of Nikolai actually supposed to be smart now? I liked him better dumb. Cause some people are selfish and dumb and only care about themselves and yeah. Pls don’t be smart (yes I’m very happy he died)

Wylan and Jesper. I don’t know how to feel about their backstory.

Oof, my bisexual afraid of commitment self is feeling this very much. Jesper, love. I’m so proud of you. Like I could never do that

THEY KISS IN S2E4 NOT OKAY NOT OKAY WOW AMAZING AHHH GUYS WHAT

one fear I have, is I still want the ice court and everything with that to happen. Nina sacrificing herself, taking that drug, being her most powerful self. God, just that whole heist, guys. I need to see it executed.

Wylan? “Maybe you need a fuller reminder” what is happening guys? Wylan is not supposed to be that gutsy. Even if you get a weird ass confession like that, it still takes guts you know. Oh my goodness, my feels are all over the place.

Kaz turning his worry for Inej into blaming Inej. I love that for him. Very him.

Alina’s smile when she saw Nikolai. Yes.

“Love it when you quote me” is already here. Omg my Nikolina heart is already dying.

Okay he got killed quickly, I love that.

Some part of me love that Pekka Rollins is being dealt with so early. But he is such a good villain though. And I also wish to spend more time with Nikolai and Alina pls <3

Okay, love jesper and Wylan. But no. Too soon. But omg my heart

Alina and Genya omg <3

Genya, go hard! On the queen and on nikolai. Now some years later. You speak for survivors and I feel you. You speak for me too. And I love you for it.

Love it when Mal and Alina fight <3

If nikolai already gets turned into that in s2 I hate it

Nikolai and Alina <3

Baghra and Aleksander, that was so sad. Also I’m glad we are seeing more of Aleksander and his journey. (her dying)

Jesper’s and Wylan’s relationship is just not doing it for me in the show, like it’s the pinning and dumbass and all that. Like it’s too romantic??? And too soon?? I feel like they barely know each other. The heist in six of crows is like weeks yk

I love that Mal is the firebird. Love. Love. Love. Please do it. Kill him and use him <3

This season really makes me realize how much I want more for Alina. Way more than the goddamn book ending. Show Alina, please be better.

And now Aleksander knows that tooo. Amazing. Amazing. There’s no way Mal won’t die right?

Oh, Nadia and Tamar already. Yes.

I don’t have a good feeling about this. (about going out to war with the ambush and all that)

Okay, actually. Alina bringing him back with merzost is actually better than him just dying. Cause pain <3

Can’t believe Nikolai still got cursed 😭

“Make sure there’s nothing left of me”

Also I adore that we got a last emotional and beautiful scene with the Darkling, and Alina.

That was one of hell of a demonstration of jurda parem. But wow god, Alina hasn’t used her powers since she brought back Mal. The price she had to pay is.. from light to shadow?

[lilisouless]

Do u like darklina? If yes, why? If no, why?

i definitely don't

the reasons are many but i only need one: she doesn't want to be with him and she didn't even liked him that much as she liked the attention. She only went with him when she thought Mal has ignoring him, on the book version she never iniciates a kiss (like, their lack of chemistry as lovers on the books its quite amazing, they only have enemies chemistry at the very best) Alina just lies there like a puppet and makes it happen. He is like her self steem fueller and he was not only perfectly aware of that but makes sure she sees him as such by sabotaging her comunication with Mal, her only friend and having Genya spying on her as well (okay, that the other grisha soldiers her age besides David is ulterly obnoxious certainly helped but still)

Its a little better on the show because at least she shows some interest and book!Alina clearly saw herself as inferior to him while on the show she tries to stand up as an equal which is a nice change and a fix of something that i never liked on the books.

Anyway , neither version work because in both the darkling at the end of the day his attachment to her its awfullly self centered. he is a serious first class narcisist. For him, Alina´s value is always thetered to him, never her, its always what she does for him and thinks Alina having her own mind and morals as a betrayal.

Book darkling supposedly cares about her, but his level of writing is a thanos level of mess. Show darkling is a little better at showing afection towards Alina, but its definitely not enought, he still does horrible things and only sees her as an extention of herself. In short: he doesn't love her at all

And Alina doesn't even need Mal to not love him. In both versions she turns against him when she learns what he did, she needed almost nothing to stop trusting him. Even if you erase Mal´s existence this still would happen, in fact

-book version, Alina had a big fight with Mal and against her heart , choose to be done with him (only reconcilied when Mal´s virtues proven to be bigger than his flaws) so could as well be out of the picture. Mal didn't play a part, she turned against the darkling because she deemed him as untrustworthy despite his better attemps to make himself Alina´s most important person

-Show version, Alina by this point doesn't even know she will find Mal so he doesn't play a part either

To make an emphasis, i honestly think Alina suffers from tons of inconsistent writting on the first two books BUT i will pretend she doesn't: compare how she instantly choose to believe Genya had a good reason for lying to her, this is someone she actually loves (and yes, i have complained about this issue, i still do, but its canon so the point has to stick)

All of this to say: she is so not in love with him, the attraction is undeniably there but there is no love that isn't born of the false affection the darkling tried to build and failed (also, Alina´s natural compasion probably played a part) this girl choose death before being with him.

thats the conclusion to me: they are not in love

And sure i am probably biassed but i will still defend my case: other grishaverse ships that are on my notp territory along with darklina would be nikolai/alina and kaz/jesper.

I really wish i could say nikolai was not in love with alina (alina IS not in love with him, thats canon) or that Jesper was not in love with Kaz so the narrative works on my favor, but i can't, they were , thats canon regardless if i like it or not.So you can say i am at least trying to get bias away and at leas on my mind the statement that they (alina and the darkling) weren't in love makes sense

[breadwithoutcheesefan1009]

Reblogging thia again bc I saw a whole lot of Kuwei hate before I read the book and kinda expected him to be a huge asshole. Bro is fucking hilarious.

He’s such a shithead (affectionate) he’s like 16 and he’s been through so much and the crows literally kidnapped him, he’s a great character and (almost) everything I’ve seen abt him (aside from a couple fics but Wylan is still pretty mean to him in most of them) is just pure hate whilst the one time in canon I can remember Wylan actually saying anything antagonistic is the whole “I’ll throw u in the harbor.” bit. Wesper was fundamentally gonna happen the moment “not just girls.” happened (and before!!) and Kuwei just saw a chance for something he (assumedly) never had before he died or had a pretty big chance to die. He’s a character who’s been through a lot in like a year (or less) and he’s doing better in a terrifying situation than most people would be tbh.

Idk if this makes sense but TLDR: I genuinely don’t understand why people hate on Kuwei so much, he’s hilarious and didn’t even do anything truly horrible (like, for example, kaz, who has killed many many people. I’m not saying a hate kaz, I love him and he’s an amazing character, it’s just there’s many more reasons to hate other characters who’ve done much worse. Hate Jarl Brum!! He’s horrible!! Kuwei is a 16 y/o in a Situation.)

most of the kuwei hate in this fandom is absolutely racially motivated and most of it is probably subconscious but i NEED to talk about this.

and not because i think people r thinking "i hate kuwei!! he's asian and i hate asians!!" tbh most anti asian racism on the internet goes way deeper than that.

basically, what i believe to be the most prominent type of racism against asians, especially on the internet, is stereotyping. specifically "uwu-ification." the east asian entertainment industry likes to paint asian people as cute, submissive and sweet because it markets disturbingly well to american audiences, and whether people mean to or not, they internalize it and it affects the way they think of asian people as a whole. This mostly happens to east and southeast asian women, but definitely a lot with men too, especially in more recent years with the whole yaoi culture thing (i fucking hated typing that) becoming more popular. simply put, it's fetishization.

so how does this relate to kuwei? well, when kuwei is introduced to us, and im not gonna dance around it— he is pretty stereotypically asian. he's shy, innocent, small, good at math/science and— you guessed it— no speaka engrish. leigh bardugo lays the perfect trap for fandom white girl weeaboos to gush over this guy. once i came across a modern au where kuwei's whole northern chinese-mongolian ass is a "shy japanese transfer student." i really wish i was making this up.

but then we find out that kuwei is actually a conniving little shit who is really quite terrible at science and spends all day making shitty drawings of his crush instead of doing math or wtv. The turning point where we are told this is the jesper kiss. This is the point where we find out kuwei is not the yaoi uwu baby we thought he was. and how does fuckin 2/3 of the fandom react?? hate. instant hate. If you search "i hate kuwei" on twitter there are tweets both defending and attacking him, but there is significantly more of the latter.

most of them claim to hate him for kissing jesper but like... jesper kissed him. He doesn't say anything because, in his own words, "we're all probably going to die anyway." does no one see how tragic that is?? he let his first (probably) kiss be taken by someone who he knew didn't even like him because he thought it would be the only one he'd ever get.

and yet the only thing people see is that he "got in the way" of wesper and he's evil. throughout the series kuwei is given no agency, and that's the point of his character. everyone on the planet treats him as a weapon or a bargaining chip. he gets tossed around like a rag doll and to white (or otherwise not asian) audiences, that makes him the perfect picture of a little asian cutie i almost vomited typing that holy shit. but the moments where he takes something for himself— insisting on going to ravka, kissing jesper back— that's what makes people hate him. and don't even get me started on the way people project their hatred onto the other crows, especially wylan. yall will act like wylan loathes kuwei with all his being. he doesn't!! wylan is not a hateful person and he always defends kuwei!! but nooo, kuwei sucks and he deserves it for daring to be a person instead of an idea.

and hey?? guess what?? kuwei was NEVER in the way of wesper. there was no love triangle. narratively speaking, there was never any threat that kuwei would end up with jesper instead of wylan. never ever. the kiss was literally only put there to create drama for wylan and jesper. we never even hear how kuwei feels about it. stop using that as an excuse to hate on kuwei when we can all see it's because you're subconsciously mad at an asian person not being nice.

also disliking kuwei does not automatically make you racist, im just saying a lot of hatred towards kuwei is rooted in racism.

tagging my fellow aapi moots (that i know of) because i wanna hear yalls thoughts on this! @hauntedacousticversiontv @dramaqueentruther

[girlfrandletters]

I Love You In So Many Ways And I See That Everytime I Do Basic Tasks

Our conversation the other day about what your favorite color is really struck a cord with me for some reason. I told you that you must not be my real boyfriend because you said your mood changed your favorite color. And then it reminded me of how you said when you were happy, your favorite color was orange. And that in turn made me think about how I've always loved fall and fall colors, but now it had even more of a meaning because most of the fall colors are shades of orange. Fall makes me happy, and orange is your happy color. Maybe that's why I get so damn excited for the autumn months.

I've been thinking about this exchange a lot over the last 24 hours and it just instills even more love for you. For no reason. Literally just thinking about your happy color makes me happy. How pathetic does that sound.

...

I was listening to Crooked Kingdom on my way home from work, which is the book from which my cup and crow tattoo comes from. I've read this duology (Six of Crows and Crooked Kingdom) about 4 times, I've listened to the audiobook two or three times. I could tell you what is about to happen in the book if you were to open up the page and read me a few paragraphs. All of this is to say that these two books really hit something deep inside me. On the surface, the book is about a bunch of criminal kids pulling off heists, beating odds, and winning over the bad guys. But deep in the heart of the book, you find the true meaning to be about having flaws, making mistakes, having traumatic histories and getting through them, working through them, and coming out on top of them.

Each one of the characters has something they end up working on throughout the two books, be it PTSD, physical trauma, gambling addiction, drug addiction, personal shame, or fighting to think outside of what they were raised to believe. And the other major point of these books is to help you see that you do not know what anybody else is doing through. Who would have thought that the eternally upbeat, happy boy was 7 feet deep in gambling debt. Who knew that the hard, rough edged boy who everyone fears, can't touch human skin without blacking out. Who'd think that the boy who can put together bombs and create perfect schematics of a complex system was disowned by his father because he can't read. I relate to these books because I have my own issues that I'm working through and they have helped me be more interested in healing myself and getting better. I will never know the fear and physical trauma of being sold to a brothel, or of risking my life for a drug addiction, but I will know the fear of emotional abuse, of waiting to be reprimanded or put down because of a comment, of feeling too clingy or obsessive, or not having enough emotion. Who would think that the girl who comes into work with a smile and hugs sometimes thinks about driving off a bridge or jumping off a cliff and drowning.

Every time I listen to these books, I also think about how other people are also going through their own struggles and fighting their personal demons. I've always found that after I read these books, I'm able to maintain a level head for people that frustrate me because I consider that while they may be angry at me or at a situation, maybe there's something else going on that I don't know about.

To tie this all back to you, I have to go back to the beginning of my side tangent here.

I was listening to Crooked Kingdom on my way home from work today and I got to one of my favorite scenes. In this scene, Kaz (the boy who can't physically touch anybody without having a panic attack) and Inej (the girl sold into the brothel), have one of the most emotionally charged moments. Inej was covered in deep knife wounds and Kaz offers to change her bandages for her. Which, in the grand scheme of things in this book, is the equivalent of him proposing to her. And you see his struggle - he WANTS to touch her, he wants to be able to change her bandages without panicking, he wants to be close to her, but he struggles because his immediate reaction is to run as far away as possible. But in the end, he does change all 3 bandages, he gets through his panic. In the end, he does back away and pushes her away because he can't fight off his panic all the way, and I think he's very ashamed of that.

It's weird that this scene made me think of you in that context. But the thing that I thought while listening to this scene was that I want to push through all my internal struggles and fight all my demons with you. I want you with me when I have to stave off my passive suicidal thoughts. I want to know your arms are there when I hate myself and my face and feel like you could do better. I want you around me when I fall into my pits because your face, your voice, your mere being helps me get up. And I want to be here for you too. I want to hold you and talk to you and hear you when you are working through your stresses with work, with school, with your general feelings.

This scene made me think of you because we are this already. We are each other's rocks in the storms that go on in our heads. We hold each other's hand and refuse to let go, no matter how rough it gets. And I appreciate that. I love the fact that I can count on you, and no matter what I feel about myself, you can count on me too. Because I will always be here for you, and I know you will always be here for me as well.

I love you

and I love the color orange too

because we are happy

even when we aren't

because we have each other.

I love you

~Girlfrand

[thebadgerclan]

Mistake

Pairing: Kaz Brekker x reader

Requested by Anonymous

Summary: A simple mistake causes a fight...

It was one of Kaz’s more annoying traits, how stubborn and bull-headed he was.  When he thought he was right, even if he wasn’t, there was little anyone could do to make him see reason.  Even you, his beloved wife, struggled to get through to him when he was in one of his moods.  Such was the case now: you were seated at the foot of the bed while Kaz paced before you.  You’d found an error in one of the Crow Club’s ledgers and brought it to your husband’s attention.  Your point was that Erik, the new accountant you’d brought on, had missed the error, and had you not caught it, would have plunged the Crow Club into the red for months.

But Kaz, stubborn and proud, took this to mean you knew how to run his club better than he did, and the argument spiraled from there.  What had started as a simple disagreement over whether to find a new accountant was now a full on fight, with Kaz rambling about how he built his empire from the ground up, and how he knew what was best for it.  You merely sat in silence, having said your piece, letting your husband wear himself out.

“I was reluctant to get an accountant for the Club for this exact reason,” he said, and you cocked your head.  “This is why I always ran the books myself, do you know how much this would have cost us?”  “Yes, Kaz, I do,” you countered, rising to your feet.  “Seeing as I’m the one who caught the mistake, fixed the math, and balanced the books before sending them to the Gemensbank, yes, I am perfectly aware of how much this would have cost.”

He huffed, pursing his lips and shaking his head.  “If I had done the books, we wouldn’t be having this argument.”  You scoffed.  “Oh please.  Kaz, it was a mistake, one anyone could have made, even you.  You’re smart, but you’re not perfect.”  His next words were so quiet that you almost didn’t hear them, but you did.  “And you are?”  You felt your blood run cold, and the next thing you knew, you were pulling your coat on as you walked towards the door.

“Where are you going?”  “Out,” you replied, voice clipped.  “I need space, and you need to calm down.”  And you were gone, the door to your home on the Geldstraat slamming shut.  Kaz knew that when you fought, which was a rare occurrence, you needed space, time to think, time to calm yourself, and he needed it too.  But seeing you walk out that door, anger on your face, it hurt him.  It made him think you weren’t coming back, like so many people in his life hadn’t.

But he would give you time.  You’d likely take a walk around the canals, clear your head, and come home when you both were calmer.  But five minutes after you departed, lightning lit up the sky, and it began to rain.  It was a torrential downpour, and Kaz sighed as he pulled on his coat and gloves, reaching for his cane.  This sort of weather always aggravated his leg, but he’d be damned if he would let his wife stay outside in a storm.

The streets were empty, cleared out by the rain, so Kaz walked in the middle of the road, his cane clicking against the cobblestones.  Already his leg was throbbing, begging for rest, but that wouldn’t happen until you were home, warm, and dry.  He walked a few streets over before finding you, facing the canal, completely soaked by the rain.  “Y/N!” he called, and you turned to look over your shoulder.  You shook your head minisculely before once more facing the water.

Your husband limped over to you standing next to you in silence for a moment.  “Y/N, I’m sorry,” he said, and you turned to look at him.  “I shouldn’t have gotten so angry at you.  You were right, anyone could have made that mistake, it’s not necessarily Erik’s fault.”  You nodded, rain trickling down your face.  Kaz took your hand in his and you locked eyes with him.  “I don’t mean to get so defensive, but….I’ve worked so hard to get to where I am now.  The thought of anything bringing us down, I can’t bear it.”

“I know,” you said, shifting closer to his body.  “And I know that mentality will never really go away.  But Kaz, you have to let people help you.  We can talk to Erik about being more vigilant with the math, or we can have someone look over the books before we submit them.”  Kaz nodded, leaning his head against your shoulder.  “I know.  I’m so sorry, love, I hate it when we fight.”  “So do I.”  Your husband pressed his lips to your temple, making you smile softly.  “And thank you for catching that.  Without you…”

“Of course, honey.  Now, let’s go home.  I don’t want to hear you whining about your leg tomorrow.”  Kaz laughed, taking your arm as you walked home.  Sure enough, Kaz’s leg was extremely painful the next morning, but he did not “whine”, as you put it.  Rather, he was grateful when you brought him a hot water bottle and some papers to look over while he rested.  Fights were rare between the two of you, but you always reconciled and found peace.  

[violets-and-books]

The Crow's Hogwarts Houses for no apparent reason:

Kaz:

Slytherin, of course

A master of NV magic

Only had detention twice, surprisingly

Once in Second Year: Incorrect uniform - leather gloves

And again in Fourth Year: Found brawling in the corridor with another Slytherin student

Has an older brother, Jordie, graduated when Kaz started. Also Slytherin

Will say nothing if you're bigoted but you'll wake up tomorrow, a black crow slashed across your neck. And you'd better start atoning for your crimes

Broke his leg playing Quidditch in the First Year

No one expected him to get a girlfriend, especially not from Hufflepuff

Jesper:

Gryffindor

Kaz's self-proclaimed best friend

Moving stairs? Nah. Let's jump it!

Everyone looks at him and thinks 'Weasley twins'

Surprisingly very smart, if he'd just apply it

In and out of detention almost every day

In and out of the Hospital Wing even more

Good with Muggle weapons

Can often be found being scolded by his boyfriend

Nina:

Ravenclaw

So many uniform detentions that the teachers just give up

Muggle memes. Only Jesper gets them

The only Ravenclaw to try and flirt the Common Room door open

Once slept outside the Ravenclaw Common Room for two days because both she and the door were so stubborn

Resident translator of Hogwarts

Has a boyfriend on the Quidditch team

Homework? What's that?

Always sneaks down to the kitchen at night

Always has someone to carry her books for her

Inej:

Hufflepuff

Believes in second chances

Only one who can put up with Kaz

Moving stairs? Nah. Let's jump it but actually do it properly this time

Been in detention only once. No one knows why

Often seen as 'just Brekker's girl'

Woe betide anyone who thinks that

Half the time holding Kaz back from a fight, half the time he's holding her back

Master of Sectemsempra

Has several Muggle knives on her

Robes far to big, never seems to grow into them

Keeper on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team

Practices gymnastics in her spare time

Wylan:

Gryffindor

Was so unsure and scared about being put into Gryffindor that he found his way to the Headteacher's office to ask to be reSorted

When he wasn't, he wouldn't look at anyone for two days

Was sure he was a Squib for a good chunk of his life

Keeps getting letters from his father but doesn't dare pick them up. It'll be torture trying to work out what he's been sent in front of everyone

Was approached by Kaz in the second term of the first year, offering protection and a sort of friendship. Kaz also somehow knew Wylan's secret and offered to help him read in lessons. If needed

Head of the Potions Club

Gets full marks in Potions and Charms, flunks pretty much everything else

His Boggart is his father

Often found following Jesper around or running after Jesper, yelling after him angrily

Never goes home for any holidays and always comes back from the summer holidays slightly worse than he left

Has had to stop Kaz, Inej and Jesper from getting on the train to punch his father about 5 separate times

Is amazed he even got this many friends

Matthias:

Hufflepuff

The grumpiest Hufflepuff you have ever seen

One of the Beaters on the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, that's how he met Inej

Does not trust Kaz with a fibre in his body

If you ask him to join a club or a cause, he will give you the most withering look possible

Only joined the Quidditch team because Nina practically begged him to

Carries most of Nina's books and is angry about it

Constantly insists about how he should've been in Gryffindor but decked a guy for being unsportsman-like

In detention three times, all for fights