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mysticmiav · 10 months ago

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I wanna talk about Inej cuz GOD I love her so much. Her intro scene is one that I think goes not talked about enough which I think is a crime against humanity and I WILL be making my case your honour so buckle up.

This concerns scenes from SoC as well as CK, so be warned, a load of spoilers ahead.

So in that first chapter of SoC we are introduced to this absolute badass of a girl. She walks silently, steals secrets and defies gravity. The name they call her? The Wraith. How badass is that? God spared yall (and maybe even me but especially my parents) cuz if I was still doing gymnastics I would've broken my ankle trying to be a fraction of as cool as she is cuz fuck you Newton and fuck your gravity laws.

She is smart and quick witted; the whole scene at the exchange, Kaz counting on her to take care of the second guard, knowing she'll figure it out and manage, and her indeed making it on time.

But no, not only that. This deadly storm of a girl not only holds this guard at knifepoint, saving Kaz's ass from an embarrassing plan gone awry, being shot and possibly even death. She goes on and says, and I quote, "I like it when men beg, but this isn't the time for it."

????? Weird way of asking for my hand in marriage but all the same, yes.

We get to see that deadly, fear-worthy side of her, we see how she's an actual threat people take into account, cue the slippery edges so as to make her climbs harder (fools really, as if some grease and oil would stop her of all things)

But as if that wasn't enough, we also learn of the beliefs she holds dear and her kindness. The way she hesitates about leaving Big Bol alone after everyone else leaves, torn on saving him, getting him help or putting him out of his misery, and ends up sparing him a parting prayer.

She's someone who's been through unimaginably lot of shit, never seemed to catch a break, from being literally ripped away from her family, sent across the ocean and sold to the menagerie, a never ending stream of painful and shameful experiences in her life as an indenture there, and then trading that life for one of killing and stealing, and despite it all, despite all she's gone through and all she's seen, she holds dearly to her faith, to her memories and her hopes of better days, of a world free from this kind of pain. Arguably even more so because of her experiences.

She wonders if her Saints would forgive her if she took Van Eck's life not out of necessity, but out of revenge. Either way, she was willing to spend a lifetime of repenting and take that chance.

But even beyond that, she's faithful beyond belief. Jan-if I ever commit a hate crime it'd be against this miserable excuse of a man-van Eck, while not having actually broken her legs (although his only reason for stopping being Inej's words) it was evident he was willing to, he was going to, and he made it clear he still might on the next day if she doesn't talk by then.

Fast forward to the one and only "I would have come for you, and if I couldn't walk, I'd crawl to you," scene (am combusting as well I know).

I find it to be heavily implied which lengths Inej was willing to go before Jan managed to draw a word out of her; her asking Kaz if he would have come for her when she couldn't scale walls or steal secrets for him anymore implies, in my opinion, what she already saw as the outcome of her captivity at Van Eck's hands. She already was thinking of that future, not just because of that growing, nagging doubt of her role in Kaz's life (whether she really was only an investment or if he'd cared in any way more than that about her), but also because no matter what, she wouldn't have given her crew away like that. She already made up her mind; she'd give that icky bastard some locations that had nothing to do with this, and Jan could break every bone in her body but will find no words of hers helpful, and I just worry of and for that girl.

She made that six-story high climb up a burning chimney with a tight time span, she climbed silos that are twenty storys high with an even tighter window of time, she walked a wire on that height and would've walked many more had things gone according to plan (thanks, Dunyasha), she climbed up shipping containers with a knife stabbed at her side, more or less to ensure she did her best for the crew that was counting on her. She would rather end it herself than find herself captive in those enemy's hands, this playing both into her loyalty as well as her history with captivity and what it meant for her.

She is the Wraith, with a reputation that proceeds her, and she also knows how crucial her skills are, how much her crew depends on her, how many of the plans center on and are weaved around her abilities, but she is also fully aware of her limits, fully acknowledging of her betters (Dunyasha you scare me, genuinely). She is religious and holds her faith very dear, but has made peace with the lives she's taken and will continue to take.

Many people see her as Dirtyhand's Wraith and fear her for her association with him, for his uses of her and the things she does at his bidding, but she is scary in her own light and I don't think people should fuck with that.

When she came for Pekka that night, carved in knife right above his heart, promised him a second slash if he thinks of coming back to Ketterdam, she made the once-proclaimed king of the barrel remember pain and fear.

And as if that didn't shake the man enough, she also made sure to replace his son's lion stuffed doll with a fucking crow, so that he'd see it when he inevitably ran to check in on his kid amidst his blood and panic. She gave this man enough mental damage to warrant endless psychiatric help and a lifetime of cowering, fear and paranoia (totally warranted am 100% in support)

She wears her heart on her sleeve; not in the sense of being naive, but in the sense of not being scared of displaying her emotions and thoughts. Her sentiments aren't random, because she always made it clear she cares for the people around her, she will go out of her way to protect them at her own expense and she will nurture those friendships she's built. Her suli subverbs and beliefs don't come off as a surprise, not to anyone around her and not to us as readers because she proudly displays her faith.

Many times, it felt like people, even Kaz, saw her faith as her weakness, something to be exploited, her sentiments something to poke fun at and use to taunt her with, but it's what makes her stronger. It's these thoughts and feelings that keep her going and keep her fighting. It's these friendships and heartfelt moments that she pushes herself over the edge for, and it's that dream just out of reach that rekindles her spirits even brighter than ever, and there's something so beautiful and heartwarming in it and about her that I can honestly spend this new year dissecting and talking about because am insufferable with a rotting hyperfixation. Why are you still here? Jkjk thankyou for reading this brain vomit of thoughts see you in my next tedtalk maybe. Btw if it wasn't glaringly clear I love SoC and Inej lol

#inej #inej ghafa #inejghafa #six of crows inej #six of crows #soc #soc fandom #soc inej #grisha #grishaverse #six of crows spin off #six of crows spoilers #mia talks books ig #welcome to my brain rot #six of crows fandom

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lady-ashfade · 1 year ago

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Why aren't there any Wylan fics? No one seems to want to write for him! 😭😟😞😔😢

Family by chance.

Platonic! Wylan Van Eck x Fem!Reader. (Kaz’s sister)

Disclaimer: I have no idea really how his identity is revealed in the books, as I am not there yet. But I know a bit- But let’s just keep that in mind because I’m not basing this on the books, just wanted wylan to get some comfort dude.

Warnings: Comfort, bit of angst, feeling self conscious(Wylan), crying. This is also very short. Idk what his father really does.

He knew this day would once come, where his identity was found out. He wondered each day and night who would find out, if it was someone wanting to take revenge on his father, or blackmail. But now he had a family. A real one with people who cares for him and didn’t turn him away. This family might not be blood related but they did bleed together, they picked each other.

He had a amazing boyfriend who cares for him and made him realize he could be loved the right way. He had friends who protected him, kaz who made him feel needed for his skills. But you were like a actual sister to him, you cared for him like you did kaz. A big sister to both boys. You’d sing to him sometimes, you helped him learn to read and remember the alphabet. You took so many hits just for him to be safe, he was forever grateful of you.

“I know you’re Jan Ven Eck’s son.”

His ears started to ring as he heard your voice say those words, his body froze as his eyes stared at you big and wide. He felt his whole begin to close in on itself and it got overwhelming, his chest lost all the air in his lungs. You watch his hands begin to shake and the glass bottles in his hands moving the liquid around. “Wylan.” You spoke softly and moved a inch closer.

Wylan set down the bottles and moved back, he wrapped his arms around himself and turned around. He couldn’t face you. “How did you find out?” His tone shaky and hushed, ready to lose his voice. He stared at the ground and helped himself to try and not freak out. You looked at him with a sad look and hated how he was feeling inside, it pained you to see him like that.

“Kaz found out, I found some letters in his office.” Kaz knows, great.

He let out a exhale and tears stared to form, you saw his shoulders twitching and his arms moving. “Wylan..” you began to walk closer but he stopped you. “It’s not my fault!” He screamed and you saw a few tears run down his face when he spun around. “I didn’t want to be his son.” You blinked at him and let out a sigh yourself.

You titled your head and offered him a kind smile as you walked closer to him, “I’m not blaming you, Wylan. I don’t think of you any different.” The boy in front of you frowned his brows in confusion and disbelief. He expected you to yell at him, to blame him for something, to do something. But here you are, with a comforting smile on your face and looked at him so sweet and nice.

“I care for you Wylan, none of us can control our family. I don’t care if you’re related to the darkling himself, or any of the saints.” He let you come close to him, your fingers lifted up to move the hair off his face. “You’re like a little brother to me. I lost one brother already, and I’m not planning on losing another one.” He let out a laugh in relief but mixed with a sob.

You pulled him in and wrapped your hand around his head and shoulders. “Kaz was the only one I had left, then we met all of you. The crows are my family, and I’m not losing any of you.” You patted his head and felt like crying yourself. He must have been so scared about anyone finding out. How he must had blamed himself for a few years. It wasn’t fair.

“Thank you, y/n.” He mumbled in your shoulder and held you closer. “Anytime.” You kissed his head and held him for a few more minutes, then made him laugh after.

#wylan van eck #wylan van eck x reader #wylan van eck x fem!reader #shadow and bone x reader #comfort #six of crows x readwr #six of crows #shadow and bone #kaz brekker sister

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sixofcrowdaydreams · 4 months ago

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3 / 16 / 24 ? 👀

Hi! *waves* Thanks so much! These were really fun to answer.

3. Were you immediately pulled in or did it take you a minute to get into the story?

So I found Six of Crows through Shadow and Bone and was immediately pulled into the Crow's story line in the first season. And then I watched season 2 and was magnetically attracted to whatever the Crows (and particularly Wylan) were doing. I read SOC/CK afterward and was also immediately pulled in. They were just that good.

16. Got a hill you'd die on about a particular character trait/scene/ship/ect.

Ooh, definitely!

Wylan does not own his workshop in season 2, Kaz does.

Jesper ironically calls Wylan Van Sunshine (or sunshine as a nickname in general), and he uses it only when Wylan is NOT acting like a ray of sunshine.

I actually LIKED that Kaz took Pekka down in season 2 before the events of the Ice Court Heist and Crooked Kingdom. In the book so much was happening at the climax of CK that Kaz's confrontation with Pekka felt rushed and squished between the auction and plague. I like that in the show the moment had time to breathe and was setting up Kaz's thought process that if Pekka Rollins, the most evil man he knows, loves and would do anything for his son, then surely Jan Van Eck would too, right? (Besides, Pekka was always going to escape jail -- I assume the writers would have him escape Hellgate instead of the Ice Court and take back control of the Barrel while the crows are away, setting the scene for Barrel-mercher alliances of CK.)

I would die just defending everything about Wylan Van Eck.

Inej will never, never, never, never, never ever birth children of her own. Pregnancy is a huge violation of bodily autonomy and she would hate every single second.

24. What is a backstory detail about a character that you wish we learned more about?

As far the S&B goes, all of them, haha. *sobs* The book backstories were fleshed out enough and covered enough of the Crow's backstories that I didn't have too many questions. But given that the Crows in S&B are adults and things are slightly different, I have so many questions about the timelines of the backstories. Like, was Inej still trafficked at 14, was she older? My biggest question is, How long was Wylan in the Barrel before he met Jesper and Kaz? I'm desperate to know what happened to him in that small amount of time. Also, what exactly happened on Jesper and Wylan's stroopwaffle date? I need to know this like I need to breathe air.

#six of crows #shadow and bone #answering asks

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jazzythursday · 1 year ago

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Prompts: Nightlight | Drifting | Dried (1489 words)

Wylan is tired

Nightlight runs off of the oil lamps and the club signs that line the streets, spilling out of open doors and casting the wet cobblestones in tones of yellow and gold.

Wylan is cold.

He drifts through the streets of the Barrel like a spectre, like he’s invisible. Like the cold canal water has seeped straight into his bones, and he shivers for too many reasons to count.

He’s not dead.

It’s an absurd thought to have, even more absurd because he’s so surprised by it.

I’m not dead. I think my father tried to have me killed. It didn’t work.

Jan Van Eck is not a man who takes well to not getting his way. If he’d wanted Wylan dead, Wylan has no clue how he managed to avoid it.

It makes him consider that this all might have been some misunderstanding. Maybe father hadn’t meant for him to die. Perhaps he had intended for Wylan to reach Belendt. Maybe his men were simply confused, or they could have been hired by some other party, someone else with a vendetta to settle.

Maybe, perhaps, could have. Who is he kidding? Miggson and Prior are loyal to his father, and no one else hates Wylan enough to even bother with killing him. How could they, when he’s barely left the house in years and his father has only ever exposed him to the public to parade him like a symbol of his good intentions as a humble family man, a single father and a dutiful Ghezenite.

No, this was—it had to be—there were too many coincidences, there were too many factors, and all roads led back to the same answer.

I’m not dead. I think my father tried to have me killed. It didn’t work. Over and over again. It didn’t work.

It makes a funny sort of sense, considering that the only goal his father has ever fallen short of achieving is Wylan himself. Eternal disappointment and failure, no matter how much he poured into Wylan, no matter how much he tried. Wylan failed his expectations as a son, and he failed his expectations tonight as well. It didn’t work.

His father always said his greatest talent is causing problems.

I’m alive.

Wylan is not, if he’s honest with himself, quite sure if that’s a good thing.

He might die of hypothermia anyway, if he doesn’t find somewhere to rest soon. He’s soaked through. His wet hair drips down his forehead and his boots squelch with every step. Already he feels close to collapse, weight dragging him by his joints and lungs wheezing from inhaling water and swimming for hours and also, probably, being nearly choked to death.

Weak, his mind whispers, what are you going to do with a life you’re not strong enough to live? Wylan is too tired to answer it, too cold to care anymore. A numbness deeper than the chill has been slowly setting in since the terror of Prior’s hands around his neck had first left him for exhaustion, and Wylan wants to sink into it like a blanket, protecting him from the harsh bite of wind and the dark night. If he’d cried, he hadn’t been aware of it, and when he touches shaking fingers to his face they come away dry.

He thinks of putting each foot in front of the other, walking as he has for hours, and nothing else. There are too many feelings, too many thoughts, and he has a hunch that giving into them now might just bring him to his knees right here on the pavement. Might finally break him. He clutches the straps of his bag in his hands like his life depends on it, like they’re the only things holding him up.

“Boer, buddy, no need to get handsy, you only need to ask nicely.”

“That’s enough, Fahey, you’re done for the night.”

Wylan stops, he turns to see a man being led out of a club by a bouncer, practically dragging him by the collar of his coat. The man grins like he and the bouncer are having no more than a friendly chat, hands held loosely up and top hat tipping to the side as he tilts his head.

“But the night isn’t done with me, Boer. You wouldn’t deprive her, would you? Me and the night, we have plans.”

“Not here you don’t. Go home.”

“But I’m feeling lucky! Kaz will understand. Come on, one more game, and then I’ll be out of your hair for good, on my honour.”

“Don’t speak of honour where none exists. Times up.”

With that, the bouncer pushes the man roughly off the step, only to stumble gracelessly into the street.

The thing is, Wylan may feel invisible, but his body is as solid as ever, and that’s proven to him as the man’s momentum sends him forwards and directly into Wylan. It knocks them both off balance, and they go careening downwards like a clumsy sack of potatoes. Wylan yelps, back hitting the ground with a harsh slap of wet stone and knocking the wind out of him. The man follows, falling just shy of collapsing on top of him, hands and elbows bracing against the slick ground and bracketing Wylan’s shoulders. He groans as Wylan’s knee jerks up and hits him, tangling their legs together.

His chest rises and falls in heaving and shaky pants. His shoulder hurts where it’d hit the ground, his satchel digs painfully into his shoulder blades. He’s been moving for so long, and now that he’s stopped, everything aches even worse.

Wylan stares up, stunned, and the man stares back. A sound that is not quite a whimper and also not not a whimper emerges, unbidden, from Wylan’s throat.

All at once, the man snaps back into action as if he’d never been still at all. “Sorry. Sorry. I’m—Saints, here, let me—” he pushes himself carefully off of Wylan and offers him a hand. Wylan, still too stunned to do anything else, takes it. The man pulls him up and then braces him as Wylan sways forwards into him, unsteady on his feet. His heart is pounding, his legs are jelly, and somehow, Wylan still finds it in himself to be embarrassed, because even in the low lamplight, the man is the most attractive person he’s ever seen, and Wylan must look like a drowned rat that’s been dragged through the mud.

He takes a sharp breath and it rattles in his chest, making him cough. The man looks at him with open concern, probably noticing for the first time the state Wylan is in. The bruises he’s sure wring his neck, the dark purple under his eyes and blue tinge of his lips.

“Are you alright?”

And, Wylan may be stupid and foolish, but he knows what the Barrel is like. He knows the kinds of things that go on here, knows that there’s absolutely nothing about this situation that’s advisable or safe. But Wylan is tired, and cold, and despite all efforts to the contrary, he’s alive.

And the beautiful man has kind eyes.

Wylan bites his lip, and shakes his head.

“Do you need some help?”

He does, doesn’t he? Yes, Wylan definitely needs help. But he doesn’t respond. This is supremely stupid, and he knows it. There’s no guarantee that kind eyes make a kind person, and there’s every likelihood he could be robbed for what little kruge he still carries and then dumped for dead.

Seeming to sense this, the man smiles, softer than the cocky grin he’d given to the bouncer.

“I promise that looked worse than it was, by the way. Boer likes to play, forgets his own strength. Ask anyone around and they’ll all tell you l have dodgy luck with the cards, but my other references will check out.”

Wylan nods, though he isn’t sure he quite follows.

“I’m Jesper,” the man—Jesper, and Wylan thinks the name suits him—says. “Jesper Fahey.”

“W—” Wylan coughs again, and his voice sounds as ragged and waterlogged as he feels. “Wylan.”

“Okay, right. Hello, Wylan. Now that we’ve been acquainted, need some help?”

“Why?”

“Well, I did accost you in the street. My fault entirely, by the way. Look, can I just—can I walk you anywhere at least?”

“I don’t have anywhere to go,” Wylan whispers pitifully. He looks down at his water soaked clothes. At the space between Jesper’s boots and his. His bottom lip is starting to tremble. From cold or the impending collapse of all his crumbling walls, he doesn’t know. He can’t make sense of anything beyond the cold in his bones and the sense that he is finally too broken to ever be fixed.

A hand squeezes his shoulder gently, and Wylan looks up and into the incongruously kind eyes of this strange but seemingly lovely man. Jesper Fahey.

“Okay, that’s—okay, we’ll sort that out first.”

#I’ll probably post this to ao3 at some point but I’ve been lazy with titles lately #also idk if it’s going places or not we’ll see #a drabble for your troubles?#jazzy writes #jazzy writes fanfic #wesper fic club #flash fic #wesper #shadow and bone #wylan van eck #six of crows #jesper fahey #sab fanfiction #soc fanfic

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in-a-continuous-daydream · 5 months ago

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Extract of my SoC fanfic

I love this scene, and I love Theodora and Wylan, they are cutie pies. For context: Theodora, my OC, knew Wylan beforehand because she was indentured to Gallaghan Geller (another OC who we hate), who belongs to the merchant council with Jan Van Eck (we also hate). Wylan and her met one night and I love the scene, it's so wholesome, I adore Wylan fr, he is such an important character for me.

They had met one night. Wylan had been told by his father to “not be a bother.” Geller had given him one look and told him to “explore the house” Wylan was absolutely marveled by it: big marble stairs, a beautiful piano in the living room, wooden floors which shone brightly. He took care of going to every room he could find, not caring about being too intrusive, after all if he returned to his father before they were ready, he would probably scold him.

And then he stumbled into a room at the end of a hall, it was dark, and he was under the impression that it would be locked, but it wasn’t, he opened the door slowly, it creaked after him.

The room smelt of wood, but also paint, burnt metals: it was a workshop. It was fairly different from the other places at the house, starting by the fact that the windows had metal bars in front of them. Wylan got shivers down his spine, somewhat he felt like he wasn’t supposed to be there. He was going to leave, but then he saw her.

In a corner of the room, a big mane of red hair shone under what little light came from the window.

“Who’s there?” A voice spoke, soft, thick with an accent Wylan couldn’t recognize.

“Wylan…Wylan Van Eck.” His voice trembled.

The girl stood up from her bed, a small mattress on the floor with two pillows and a blanket.

She walked closer to him, Wylan could now notice her hands were tied, thick handcuffs around her wrists.

“You’re Van Eck’s son?”

Wylan nodded. The girl couldn’t have been older than him.

“Mister Geller mentions him sometimes.” She then stopped talking and looked at him shyly. “Have you come to fetch me? Does…Is Mister Geller asking for me?”

Her voice was heavy, suddenly distraught. Wylan stuttered.

“N…no, no.” He then looked behind him back to the hallway. “I am sorry, I was just exploring the house.”

Her face showed relief as she looked down and nodded. Wylan wanted to leave, feeling like he was in trouble, but he also didn’t want to leave the girl there.

“What’s your name?”

“Theodora.” She looked at Wylan, she knew that he was confused. “I am Mister Geller’s Fabrikator, I work for the Geller family.”

Her explanation sounded rehearsed, as if she had to explain that to anyone who stumbled with her.

“You’re Grisha.” Wylan’s eyes went wide with wonder. He would’ve loved to ask her to show him something, but the girl was hand tied…he shuddered at the thought, the Grisha his father had at home were treated a bit better…but well, they were basically slaves anyway.

Theodora could notice that he looked at her hands with fascination, stopping when noticing that they were tied. She seemed to be embarrassed by it. Wylan stopped looking at her tied hands and got into the room a bit, if only to pretend he was interested in something else.

He noticed in the center table, a box. Inside it, some crystals would cast glimpses of light when hit with the moonlight that came from the barred window.

Wylan couldn’t contain his curiosity, he timidly walked up to it and pointed to it before taking it.

“May I?”

Theodora nodded. She then practically hears Geller’s harsh words in her head: “Speak up when being spoken to.”

“Yes. Of course.”

Wylan grabbed the object, which he now noticed was a music box. It seemed to have a little gold pipe in the middle, like a coil. Around the coil-like object, which had a sort of match on the center, delicate and thin pieces of a silver material held various pieces of crystal around it. Theodora smiled a bit at the boy, he seemed to be entranced with the object, paying more attention to it than Gallaghan to any object she had crafted before.

“Is the coil in the middle made to hold a lit match in the center?” He asked enthusiastically.

Theo smiled and nodded. She opened a drawer under the table and grabbed a match.

“Here.” She passed the match to Wylan, nodding encouragingly for him to light it up, seeing as with her tied hands, she couldn’t do it herself. Wylan did so carefully. The whole thing was so well crafted that the shape the coil-like gold pipe had, held the light inside it, only using it to light up the crystals, which made reflections all around them.

“It’s beautiful…” He gasped.

“Thanks.” She whispered. “But it’s defective.”

“How come?” He asked.

“It’s supposed to remain in its spot, but when I wind it up and the music begins…” She did so to show him. And when the music box began to play the song, with a soft sound, the crystals inside began to move around, casting reflections all around the room, circling around, moving the light all around them… It was absolutely mesmerizing. How could someone consider such an artifact to be defective? It was perfect, beautiful.

“I think it makes it better.” Wylan said. He then looked at the music box again. “And the song…is it, it’s…”

“A Kaelish song, you know it?”

Wylan nodded. It seemed as if this was the best thing that happened to him all week, little did Theo know, it actually was.

“How did you manage to create a shape that was so perfect to keep the match burning inside the coil–”

“Wylan!” A voice interrupted him and they both looked at the door in fear.

Van Eck’s face almost fell when he saw his son speaking to the indentured Grisha inside her workshop. Theodora looked at her feet as she shuffled a bit from Wylan, what was she even thinking? This is Van Eck’s son, a well known Councilman.

“It's time to leave.” Van Eck said harshly.

Wylan walked slowly towards the door. Before he could wander too far from the table, Theodora’s voice was heard, a timid whisper.

“Take it.”

Van Eck’s contemptuous face only got worse.

“It’s a gift from Mr. Geller.” She lied.

At this Van Eck expected for Wylan to receive it, which he did so with a shy smile.

“Thank you–”

“You can thank Gallaghan when we get to the front door.”

Without more words they left, Van Eck slamming the door on his way out, leaving Theodora in darkness. The moment the door closed, she could hear hushed scolding towards Wylan about him wandering towards the workshop and mingling with the staff.

After that encounter, every time Theodora heard about Van Eck and Wylan was brought up, she made sure to listen, wondering how the boy was.

Which is why, even though she didn’t really owe him the secrecy of his identity, it still hurt that he looked at her with those betrayed eyes.

How times have changed, she thought, neither of us live in a wealthy mansion anymore, and I would not craft a music box even if they begged me.

And then a hint of panic built up inside her, because maybe Wylan thought she had disclosed his inability to read, and she knows, by the way it was spoken by Van Eck, that that would be like him disclosing to them all how Geller treated her, or how tamed she was when she worked for Gallaghan.

#wylan van eck six of crows #six of crows duology #six of crows inej #jesper six of crows #wylan six of crows #six of crows wylan #wylan van eck #kaz brekker #jesper fahey #nina zenik #inej ghafa #matthias helvar #fanfiction #fanfic #six of crows #shadow and bone #grishaverse #grisha

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cristalbeesnow · 1 year ago

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in the six of crows duology i always found jan van eck much scarier than pekka rollins. ok pekka rollins is a criminal who built his empire on scams, but his major crimes are hinted at in history rather than closely analysed. I perceived him as a braggart, crude man. jan van eck, on the other hand, scared me much more because behind his fake moral instincts there is a monster who not only breaks the deal, but locks up his wife in a psychiatric institution and tries to kill his own son because he doesn't realize the expectations of him. pekka has so many flaws but he is more human in that. ok he's a big crook and he doesn't mind screwing jordie and kaz and a thousand others but he loves him son alby more than anything in the world. in the show I really appreciated the actor who made pekka (although I hated his character) I swear, both in the first season and in the second he made my blood run cold on more than one occasion. it was done much more wickedly than in the book. (However, I appreciated two things in him: the love for his son plus the fact that it is he, and not others, who wants to get his hands dirty with Kaz in the 4th episode of the 2nd season, even if only to reaffirm his strength. He could have him killed by his men but decides not to do it and beats him with his hands). now with that premise, if we ever get a spin off...how evil is jan van eck? I hope they don't let me down because I have high expectations of that monster. if pekka made me tremble so much when i practically snubbed him in the book...i want to see jan of which i'm honestly much more scared in the book. if the series ever gets made, don't let me down! you did a wonderful pekka ... don't trip over jan .. already alekander at times, much more inhuman and scary in the book he is too soft in the show (although I love Ben and his interpretation with all my heart)

#six of crows #kaz brekker #shadow and bones #kaz dirtyhands brekker #kaz fucking brekker #sab season two #six of crows spin off #sab season 2 #sab s2 #jan van eck #pekka rollins

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kazscrows · 2 years ago

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Six of Crows Reread🪶

Chapter 45: Kaz

The deal is the deal

Unfortunately everyone is a bloody liar

Why had he believed Van Eck had the blessing of the Merchant Council? Because he was a rich, upstanding mercher? Because he’d dressed his own servants and soldiers in the purple uniforms of the stadwatch? Kaz had met with Van Eck in a quarantined mercher’s house, not a government building, but he’d been taken in by a little set dressing. It was Hertzoon and his coffeehouse all over again, only now Kaz was old enough to know better.

Ouch

“Chaos will come, and I will be its master. Its very wealthy master.”

Could’ve been a banger of a line if it wasn’t from Van Eck

The little freak

Oh look we finally get to learn just how horrible a father he is

Van Eck began to laugh – a warm, almost jovial chuckle, but its edges were jagged and bitter.

“Let me tell you about my son.” He spat the word as if it were poison on his lips. “He was meant to be heir to one of the greatest fortunes in all of Kerch, an empire with shipping lines that reach all over the globe, one built by my father, and my father’s father. But my son, the boy meant to rule this grand empire, cannot do what a child of seven years can. He can solve an equation. He can paint and play the flute most prettily. What my son cannot do, Mister Brekker, is read. He cannot write. I have hired the best tutors from every corner of the world. I’ve tried specialists, tonics, beatings, hypnotism. But he refused to be taught. I finally had to accept that Ghezen saw fit to curse me with a moron for a child. Wylan is a boy who will never grow to be a man. He is a disgrace to my house.”

“The letters …” said Jesper, and Kaz could see the anger in his face. “You weren’t pleading with him to come back. You were mocking him.”

I volunteer to punch Jan Van Eck in the face!!

After Jesper and Wylan get the first swings in of course

Leverage number one doesn’t work out quite like Kaz had imagined

But of course he has a backup plan

If you’re reading this, then you know how much I wish to have you home. Every letter had been a slap in the face to Wylan, a kind of cruel joke.

“He’s your son,” Jesper said.

“No, he is a mistake. One soon to be corrected.”

So so cruel

Doesn’t he have any love inside of him?

“You’re the fool,” Jesper snarled. “He’s smarter than most of us put together, and he deserves a better father than you.”

YEAH YOU TELL HIM JESPER!!

The Tidemakers didn’t hesitate. Before anyone could draw breath to protest, two huge walls of water rose and shot towards the Ferolind. They crushed the ship between them with a resonant boom, sending debris flying.

Jesper screamed in rage and raised his guns.

“Jesper!” Kaz commanded. “Stand down!”

“He killed them,” Jesper said, face contorted. “He killed Wylan and Nina!”

Poor Jesper…

This scene will be so intense in the spin-off

Please

I need it—

Jesper looked back at the rocking waves, at the broken bits of mast and torn sail where a ship had been only seconds before. “I don’t … I don’t understand.”

“I confess to being a bit shocked, too, Mister Brekker,” said Van Eck. “No tears? No righteous protests for your lost crew? They raise you cold in the Barrel.”

“Cold and cautious,” said Kaz.

Even more cautious than you realize

I can’t remember my initial reaction to this part exactly but I’m pretty sure I figured Kaz would have tricks up his sleeve

Like there was no way Nina and “Wylan” were killed off after everything and with only a chapter to go

Plus I knew there was a second book

“I don’t need to take him from you. You never had him. That’s not Kuwei Yul-Bo.”

“A sorry bluff at best.”

“I’m not big on bluffing, am I, Inej?”

“Not as a rule.”

Van Eck’s lip curled. “And why is that?”

“Because he’d rather cheat,” said the boy who was not Kuwei Yul-Bo in perfect, unaccented Kerch.

Van Eck startled at the sound of his voice, and Jesper flinched.

The Shu boy held out a hand. “Pay up, Kaz.”

Kaz sighed. “I do hate to lose a wager. You see, Van Eck, Wylan bet me that you would have no qualms about ending his life. Call me sentimental, but I didn’t believe a father could be so callous.”

Please I forget they literally bet on this 😂😭😭

Also the fact that Kaz asked Inej and the fact that she knows he actually is big on bluffing

He trusts her so much!

She knows all his secrets

And she’ll never betray him

I mean he uses this trick at least three times in this series

Bluffing/lying/cheating to scare someone is Kaz’s favorite tactic

Oh… oh but this makes Jesper flinching at the reveal super painful

Kaz trusted Inej to know about Wylan and Kuwei swapping places, but he didn’t trust Jesper….

He probably did it to get a genuine reaction from Jesper as well but the trust issue thing is definitely there too

Kaz could see the fear and hurt in his golden eyes – Wylan’s surprising courage, too.

After the battle in the Djerholm harbour, the merchling had come to Kaz to warn him that he couldn’t be used as leverage against his father. Wylan had been red-faced, barely able to speak the words of his supposed ‘affliction’. Kaz had only shrugged. Some men were poets. Some were farmers. Some were rich merchers. Wylan could draw a perfect elevation. He’d made a drill that could cut through Grisha glass from parts of a gate and scavenged bits of jewellery. So what if he couldn’t read?”

It’s been said before but I’ll say it again

It’s really beautiful how Kaz doesn’t judge others on their flaws

“There could be no judgment from a boy known as Dirtyhands” -chapter 20

He looks for the best part of every individual and makes that part of them shine

Or he finds some way for them to be useful at least

Kaz shrugged. “Kill us, and you’ll never find Kuwei.”

Van Eck appeared to consider this. Then he stepped back. “Guards to me!” he shouted. “Kill everyone but Brekker!”

Kaz knew the instant he made his mistake. They’d all known it might come to this. He should have trusted his crew. His eyes should have stayed trained on Van Eck. Instead, in that moment of threat, when he should have thought only of the fight, he looked at Inej.

This line oh my gosh—

KaNej—

And Van Eck saw it. He blew on his whistle. “Leave the others! Get the money and the girl.”

Do you hear that?

No?

Well it’s me screaming

He tries to run to protect her!!

Please I am SOBBING 😭

“The Tidemakers reached her first, vanishing into mist, then reappearing at her side. But only a fool would to try to take Inej in close combat. The Tidemakers were fast – vanishing and reappearing, grabbing at her. But she was the Wraith, and her knives found heart, throat, spleen. Blood spilled over the sand as the Tidemakers collapsed in two very solid heaps.

She’s so cool

Oh my gosh

they had to face the sun to shoot and not even Jesper could aim blind.

Hmm.. this is interesting

I don’t think the show follows this statement

Jesper has literally shot without looking several times

The Squaller barrelled into Inej and sped upwards with her into the sky.

Stay still, Kaz urged her silently, his pistol drawn.

Something about Kaz with a gun just make me so…

So…. Hnnnnnnngh

It’s hot, okay?

AND THEN SHE’S FALLING

AND HE TRIES TO RUN TO HER AGAIN!!

Ashjfssfhjvsadh—

A third Squaller swooped down, snatching her up seconds before impact and dealing her a vicious blow to the skull. Kaz saw Inej’s body go limp.

“Bring him down!” roared Matthias.

“No!” shouted Kaz. “Shoot him and she falls, too!”

He can’t watch her fall…

It terrifies him

…. “Why the net, Kaz?”

Some hints for later I see??

But now she’s gone-

There was nothing they could do but stand there like fools and watch her shape get smaller in the sky – a distant moon, a fading star, then gone.

There and then gone…

Just like the magic trick

Just like Jordie..

But he can get her back!

Vengeance for Jordie, all Kaz had worked for, was slipping away. He didn’t care…

…“Kaz, I can make the shot,” said Jesper, rifle to his shoulder. “Van Eck is still in range.”

And all would be lost – Inej, the money, everything.

“No,” Kaz said. “Let them go.”

Inej is his first thought

He values her more than his revenge

He felt as he had looking into the darkened windows of the house on Zelverstraat. Helpless once more. He’d prayed to the wrong god.

It hurts 😭

Kaz marvelled at his own stupidity. Dumber than a pigeon fresh off the boat and looking to make a fortune on East Stave. His greatest vulnerability had been right beside him. And now she was gone.

Poor Kaz

He’s so hard on himself

Love isn’t a weakness!!

😭😭😭

The idea of “there and then gone” keeps coming up though and I love and hate it!

“That’s why you disappeared during the journey,” said Jesper. “You weren’t helping Matthias care for Nina. You were hiding.”

“I didn’t hide.”

“You … how many times was it you standing beside me on the deck at night when I thought it was Kuwei?”

“Every time.”

“Nina might not be able to put you back, you know. Not without another dose of parem. You could be stuck like this.”

“Why does it matter?”

“I don’t know!” Jesper said angrily. “Maybe I liked your stupid face.”

See I told you it was Wylan

I say this like I haven’t read these books like five times already

I’m actually here for angry Jesper??

I want more strong emotions from him in the show

He turned to Matthias. “You knew. Wylan knew. Inej knew. Everyone but me.”

“Ask me why, Jesper,” Kaz said, his patience at an end.

Here comes pain

It hurts because it was an accident

Jesper would never willfully betray the other crows

This echos the opening scene of the book with Big Bolliger a little

Just this time the betrayal wasn’t on purpose

“You told one of the Dime Lions you were leaving Kerch, but that you’d be coming into big money, didn’t you?”

Jesper swallowed. “I had to. They were leaning on me hard. My father’s farm—”

“I told you not to tell anyone you were leaving the country. I warned you to keep your mouth shut.”

“I didn’t have a choice! You had me locked up in the Crow Club before we left. If you’d let me—”

Kaz turned on him. “Let you what? Play a few hands of Three Man Bramble? Dig yourself deeper in with every boss in the Barrel stupid enough to extend you credit? You told a member of Pekka’s gang you were about to be flush.”

“I didn’t know he’d go to Pekka. Or that Pekka knew about parem. I was just trying to buy myself some time.”

“Saints, Jesper, you really haven’t learned anything in the Dregs, have you? You’re still the same dumb farm boy who stepped off the boat.”

Is he talking about Jesper here or himself…

Hmmmmmmmm…?

“Kaz would always remember that moment, when he’d seen greed take hold of his brother, an invisible hand guiding him onward, the lever at work.”

Remember that quote from chapter 18?

Yeah.

Kaz is definitely thinking about Jordie when he looks at Jesper and his gambling problem

Jesper lunged for him, and Kaz felt a surge of giddy violence. Finally, a fight he could win. But Matthias stepped between them, holding them each back with a massive hand. “Stop. Stop this.”Kaz didn’t want to stop. He wanted to beat them all bloody and then brawl his way through the Barrel.

This man does have a tendency to get into fights a lot

He’s always coming back bloody during their heists and schemes

Anyways-

They’re so brothers

Kaz wants to see Jesper as his big brother but he keeps letting him down…

Just like Jordie did—

For now, there was nothing but the flat grey of the sky and the dead rock of this miserable excuse for an island. And Inej’s absence. Kaz wanted to hit someone. He wanted someone to hit him.

I’m sure Jesper would happily deck you if you let him

If Kaz was their leader, then Inej had been their lodestone, pulling them together when they seemed most likely to drift apart.

I love this comparison

Inej holds them all together!!

According to that deleted scene we got today she’s their heart!! 💕

Nina had disguised Kaz’s crow-and-cup tattoo before they’d entered the Ice Court, but he hadn’t let her near the R on his bicep. Now he touched his gloved fingers to where the sleeve of his coat covered that mark. Without meaning to, he’d let Kaz Rietveld return.

He didn’t know if it had begun with Inej’s injury or that hideous ride in the prison wagon, but somehow he’d let it happen and it had cost him dearly.

I think he started coming back even sooner than that…

I want him to let Rietveld free but at least he’s making a plan

Also give us Kaz’s tattoos netflix!!!!

“Scheming face,” murmured Jesper.

“Definitely,” agreed Wylan.

Matthias folded his arms. “Digging in your bag of tricks, demjin?”

I love it

Kaz wants to go after Inej alone!

But he knows he’ll need help

“I’ll need the right crew.”

“Wylan got to his feet. “For the Wraith.”

Jesper followed, still not meeting Kaz’s eyes. “For Inej,” he said quietly.

Matthias gave a single sharp nod.

They all love Inej so much 🥹

Inej had wanted Kaz to become someone else, a better person, a gentler thief. But that boy had no place here. That boy ended up starving in an alley. He ended up dead. That boy couldn’t get her back.

No!

He can survive now!!

He has friends! A family!!!

Though… I guess he does need Dirtyhands Brekker for what comes next..

I’m going to get my money, Kaz vowed. And I’m going to get my girl.

YEAH YOU ARE

THAT’S MY MAN!!!

WRECK HIS PLANS—

Inej could never be his, not really, but he would find a way to give her the freedom he’d promised her so long ago.

He really loves her

Enough to let her go 🥹

It’s heartbreaking

Dirtyhands had come to see the rough work done.

Aaaannnd that wraps it for the Crows! Just Pekka’s chapter left!!

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crowpricorn · 1 year ago

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6 + wesper for the kiss prompts if you'd like to! 💖🥰

questions

6: on a falling tear

thanks nura!! 💗 I don't even know where I went with this one, just cw for nightmares

The thing is — Jesper is well aware that he is a lot to deal with. He knows he's a handful — has been ever since his Ma and Da took care of him. He buzzes with energy, he is loud and impulsive, he never knows when to stand down from a fight. Or from a game. He is in such desperate search for something that he constantly looks for anything to distract himself from the search.

He finds himself in the third club of the night, then, just when it's almost dawn — but customers are so blinded by the twinkling money that they don't see the stars disappear beneath the gray of day.

Or at least, he thinks this is the third club he steps into. Everything is a bit too fuzzy tonight, and it feels somehow crooked.

Eerie.

Wrong.

He tries to shake it off and walks past familiar faces: Big Bolliger is lost into a fiery argument with someone from another gang — Oomen, Jesper remembers. There's Per Haskell observing everything from his usual spot, and Da laughing at a table with Kaz.

Jesper stops in his tracks.

Why is Da there?

Suddenly, all the noise and voices have stopped to a halt, and Jesper feels a shiver creep up his spine as he realizes that everyone is looking straight at him.

"We are waiting," Kaz says with his venomous, hoarse voice.

"Waiting?" Jesper asks, a knot in his throat — his voice sounds muffled, like he is hearing himself speak from over the water.

"For you to admit it," Oomen continues, and Jesper realizes with horror that where there should be his two eyes there's just… There are holes.

This is wrong, a voice yells in his head, but Jesper stubbornly ignores it.

"That you killed her," Da says, but he is not looking at him. His sad gray eyes are set on a woman on his left — Jesper follows his gaze, trying very hard to ignore every member of the Dregs, still as stones while looking at him.

He thought he would have seen his Ma — the Saints only know how many times he sees her whenever he is drunk like he is tonight. Instead… instead, there's Marya, standing there and shaking in hospital clothes — the ones they first saw her in, back at Saint Hilde. Her lips move around incoherent words, and Jesper has to walk closer to hear what she is saying.

When he does, the biting smell of rotten jurda flowers fills his nostrils until he chokes.

"...hates you," she is saying. "Because you are broken and wrong. Wylan hates you. Because you are broken and wrong. Wylan hates…"

Jesper halts back like he has been electrocuted, and all lights turn off on him. All he can see is the luminescent lights that make up Makker's Wheel, numbers and lines in bright, blue-ish bone light. His eyes dart left and right, frightened and alert — there's dice clattering and shining in the shadows, the white of everyone's eyes and the flashing white of their teeth, all showing on eerie smiles. Jesper makes a run towards the door, but he collides against someone.

He freezes right where he is, all lights turning back on on Wylan's face — all swollen like it was that day when the Dregs beat him up to send Jan Van Eck to prison.

Wylan has a thing with stares — his eyes are so honest that they hide no depths more than what he wants to convey. Jesper spends their days getting lost in those endless, sky-blue eyes that are always so affectionate and stubborn, so fiery and beautiful.

Now… Now they are full of hatred and pain, a stare that the mirror has often shown Jesper before going out for a game or twenty, after the thrill of a shooting had subsided, before going to bed every late night.

When Wylan opens his mouth to say something, a piercing scream reverberates through the room and Jesper's bones, and everything goes pitch black.

Jesper wakes with a startle, heart beating like crazy and ears pierced by someone's shrill yell. When he feels soothing, firm arms surround him and lull him, he realizes that he is the one who had been screaming. He closes his mouth and presses his lips thin, shaking in Wylan's arms.

"You are fine, Jes. I got you. You are here, you are fine."

Jesper anchors himself to Wylan's arms, pressing his limbs as close as possible to his body and letting himself be shushed quiet until his breath doesn't come as ragged and desperate.

"I'm sorry," he manages, but he immediately feels Wylan's arms hold him harder, like a warning.

"You have nothing to be sorry about. Ghezen knows how many times you've been woken by my nightmares."

Classic Wylan, all straight to the point and factual as usual, leaving no space for debate or to overthink. Jesper lets his body melt against Wylan's, and his boyfriend tugs his face in the crook of Jesper's neck. He presses a kiss against Jesper's throat.

"Are you okay?"

"I am," Jesper says, but then he remembers the fear — Wylan hating him, hurting Marya, being judged by Kaz and Colm. He remembers how every face he saw sent him back what he sees in himself: a useless piece of trash who ruined his life and that will never be able to change, no matter how good he is doing now — he has something wrong deep within, and that can't be changed with love and freedom to practice his zowa powers.

"Except that it can," Wylan says when Jesper tells him as much. Jesper turns into the hug, now facing Wylan and searching for his face in the dark. His thumbs brush Wylan's neck, and then raise to his cheeks only to find…

"Why are you crying?" Jesper whispers.

"I want you to be alright," Wylan mumbles, pressing his forehead against Jesper's.

"I am," he says. "I am with you."

"But I want you to be alright with you," Wylan says, voice getting louder and more stubborn. Jesper leans forward, and his lips kiss a tear as soon as it's being shed. He keeps kissing Wylan's wet cheeks until he is unable to do anything but start giggling under Jesper's attack.

"I am getting there," Jesper says around a bashful smile. "This dream I didn't even have to play Three Man Bramble with my hands tied with you on a side judging me and calling me a loser," he shrugs, and feels more than sees Wylan's brows furrow, creating an adorable little divot between his eyebrows. "What I'm saying," he says with haste before Wylan can retort. "Is that if my nightmares are getting better, it must mean I'm getting better as well."

"I wouldn't call that bone-shaking dream better," Wylan says. "But I get what you are saying. And you are, objectively."

"Huh?" Jesper asks.

"You are getting better. Slowing down more, practicing your blessing for fun more than as a chore. You are shining, Jesper Llewellyn."

"And you ruined it," Jesper jokes, speaking directly against Wylan's curls. "You called me Llewellyn. I'll have to tickle you until you are breathless."

"Dare," Wylan says in challenge. And then, "But if you do, I'll tie you up to the bed, again."

Jesper shivers at the treat, and when he speaks next his voice comes too hopeful and pathetic to his own ears. "What? Like… right now? Would you?"

Wylan smacks his hand and tries to get free from his hold. "Jes," he whispers-yells with horror and laughter. "It was supposed to be a threat, you horny, insatiable…"

Jesper kisses Wylan — on the mouth this time, and it's salty as his skin had been, still wet from the tears. He melts into the kiss that he has begun as soon as Wylan deepens it, and lets himself feel grounded — safe into this kiss, this embrace, with this man that he loves and that, surprisingly, loves him back. He is a handful, he knows that. He is too much energy bottled away for so long it doesn't know what to do with itself; he is a bullet stuck into the barrel of a broken gun. He knows his bothersome, and loud, and a bit crooked, but he can't see any of that as Wylan kisses him tenderly and holds him close.

The ghosts of his nightmare — the ghosts of his past self — disappear into the thin night air as Wylan keeps kissing him until he is the breathless one, lightheaded with love rather than liquor, rooted in safety rather than lost to the tides of any passing wind.

#americanbeautiies #six of crows #wesper #ask game #wylan van eck #jesper fahey #cw nightmares #horror #ish?#kiss ask game

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sleepyowlwrites · 1 year ago

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Happy blorbo blursday! I was thinking recently about how I have very few outright villains in my writing and I got curious about other people's. So tell me about your villains (or your most villain-adjacent antagonists)! - @void-botanist

here is my incomplete list of villains/antagonists:

Masryune from Summon Story

his real name is Petirik Ov'Rine

somebody once told him the reason for why summoners stay away from the Field of Teeth and he was like "sounds like an invitation"

has some delusions of grandeur but from like. a business standpoint. he thinks a great business idea is to start a war.

he summons some shidha - the type of spirit summoners are warned against ever summoning - to possess dead dragons so he can start this war

he monologues a lot

in my head he's a cross between Ardyn from FFXV and Jan Van Eck from Six of Crows, two antagonists that are fun or interesting for a hot minute before you're like PLEASE GO AWAY

he has no idea that the reason his plans keep getting tripped up is literally just a group of nobody summoners accidentally interrupting them

he throws temper tantrums but the consequences are that people die and there's blood in the streets so that's great

Alexander Gold from Magick Story

he's the calculating, calm type of antagonist. he's playing the long game and he's very good at it

when he's through, all magick in TOWN THAT STILL DOESN'T HAVE A NAME TWO YEARS ON will be linked back to him and he can live forever and control everything. that's the plan

it's not a terrible plan but it's also not a great one because magick is lowkey almost sentient and it literally can't be coerced into a single intention so this is a doomed enterprise but also while it's on its way to doom it's causing a lot of havoc so there's that

he's got this weird fling with Heidi Chorus, his partner in crime, sometimes, and they flirt super weird and torture people together

he's suave and interesting but he also kills animals so we hate him

Max (and Cam) from City Story

he's my least favorite, I hate him so much

his crimes include: abuse, coercion, blackmail, drug dealing, running an illegal fight club thing, abuse, arranging a murder, being an asshole to everyone he meets, brainwashing his brother, abuse

he hasn't even shown up in the story yet because I don't want to touch him with a ten foot pole

he sends people to hurt Rune because he believes she's his property

Cam, the brainwashed brother, wasn't always awful but now he just agrees with whatever Max says and this isn't a Jang Hanseo situation, he is OK with hurting people as long as Max doesn't hurt him. we can feel a little bad for him but that's it 'cause he is willingly terrible

and Max is just the worst

he's slimy and my least favorite and I hate him so much

I dunno who the villain/antagonist of Mercenary Story, Guild Story, or Rain Story is/are. I do also have some evil/antagonistic girls, don't worry.

Rhea from Summon Story

she's Shae's half-sister and bent on revenge

Shae is happy to be reunited with her but Rhea just wants to kill things now and doesn't care about the collateral damage

she's not all bad. maybe. I don't know if she succeeds in killing her father. yet.

I mentioned Heidi Chorus from Magick Story.

there's also Fawn from City Story, Max's favorite girlfriend. she's awful. not in the annoying, brainless kind of way. she's smart and controlling and that's why Max likes her. goodbye.

there are plenty of unnamed characters in Guild and Mercenary Stories, both good and bad, because I keep not writing them, haha.

in Anxiety Story the antagonist isn't a person, though it briefly manifests as Aiden's father.

in Youth Story there's no plot, just vibes, so no antagonist there.

Train Story is also vibes.

Romance Story has John Rusalo but then he gets redeemed and then Jack Sanderson but we kick him out of the story for being just a terrible cousin and then it's like, English law, I guess.

Apocalypse Story is vibes again.

Space Story is as well.

Hunter Story, Summer Story, Princess Story, and Gang Story barely exist.

Thief Story's antagonist is the bridge they're trying to steal, because I don't know what they're stealing it for.

Dimension Story's antagonist is grief, and the fact that these two kids can't keep ripping holes in spacetime to see each other forever. golly that's such a sad story. no wonder I'm not writing it.

thanks for asking, Sapling

#sleepy answers #oc asks #wip: city story: supplemental #wip: summon story: supplemental #wip: magick story: supplemental

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ediyo-15 · 1 year ago

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A New Morning (also on ao3)

She’d plucked him from his bed while the house was asleep. He wiggled and whined as the cold air invaded, and she’d hushed him sweetly, swaddling him in one of the spare throws lain across the mattress.

She’d packed lightly, pinched from the coffers, snuck a biscuit or two. She reached for his favorite toy, a stuffed bunny rabbit lovingly deemed Loopy, and tucked it between his sleeping arms.

It was all he’d be able to keep. They had to move quickly. The further they were from Jan by morning’s light, the better.

It scared her, the way he’d been talking about their child. Treating him like he was broken. Perhaps he was, but she would not hate him for it. Not when he would sweetly giggle as she brushed paint off his nose. Not when he ran around with flour on his hands after lending his “assistance” in the kitchen. Not when he leaned against her side on the piano bench, eyes heavy as she plucked her way through a new minuet.

Wylan van Eck may have been broken, but he was not a monster. He was sweet and observant, charismatic and witty, smart and artistic. He was still a child. He was still her child. And he was beautiful.

His father did not see him as such. She’d seen the venomous sentiment grow with every passing day. She’d heard him utter horrid statements about their son’s integrity, about his very nature. She’d held their boy as he cried, hurt and distraught by the cruel words shouted by his tutor.

She’d watched as Jan stood in the doorway, face blank.

He saw Wylan as a failure.

He was seven.

His eyes opened slowly as the sun began to shine through the carriage window. He scrunched his nose and pulled the blanket closer to his chin. She rested her hand atop his curls, scratching lightly at his scalp. She hummed softly, waiting for him to come to awareness. For him to make the first move.

“Mama?” he muttered, voice slurred with sleep. He leaned into her touch.

“Hello, darling.”

“‘ere we going?” he asked, eyes squinting against the low morning sun, seemingly offended by their travel’s movement.

“Somewhere Mama has been looking at for a while. I’m very excited to show it to you. I think it will make you happy. You have not been happy in a while, have you?”

Wylan hummed and turned away, always shy in his emotions. In anything that wasn’t warm and joyous. Another effect of his father’s. He used to come to them for everything. A nightmare, a skinned knee, a strong dislike of vegetables. He used to be so open. So trusting. He knew his parents would be there for him.

That’s how it always should’ve been.

She asked the carriage to wait down the street until night. The Geldstraat was not the Barrel. Merchant’s did not stay awake late into the night, gambling away savings. Not publicly, at least. A majority of the spare coin in her pocket would be used to pay for the inconvenience.

The carriage would not take them all the way. She wanted to be untraceable. She’d bought the small cottage in the country, on the outskirts of a small hamlet. She’d purchased it under the name Van Henderson, a strange mixture of her two names, with old family money and the remnants of her dowry.

She barely had enough left to get her and her son through the next year. But she would make it work. She’d carry their belongings, she’d carry her child the remaining distance. Perhaps he’d be awake enough to walk himself. He’d hold her hand and comment on the beautiful roadside flowers. Perhaps he’d help her with their minimal luggage.

He was always so helpful. He loved to be included. And she would allow him. When they arrived at their new home, they would have to bring it to life. It was an old building, left to gather dust for the past decade. She’d ask for his opinion on everything, she’d let him paint the walls. They’d learn how to hammer a nail together.

She’d be grateful for his help, honored to receive his insight.

Funds would be low, but she would make it work. She was lucky to have lived well all her life, but that did not leave her useless. No matter how her husband saw her and their child. Perhaps this is what he’d always wanted. A fresh start, a chance to achieve the legacy he always dreamt of.

She would paint, whether it be houses or murals, canvases or small trinkets. She would help around the village, take care of children or help with the harvest. She already planned to take up Wylan’s schooling, help him learn to read in ways the cruel tutors never could. She’d help other children too, if it gained her coin. Even if it did not, she would. No child should be deprived of their potential.

Their life would not be easy. Perhaps it never had been. But she would keep them alive. She would keep them happy. She would bring the smile back Wylan’s face.

Marya was sure of it.

#writing #random fic moment #wylan hendriks #wylan van eck #marya hendriks #marya said it’s time to skeddadle #fanfiction

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iriswords · 2 years ago

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Blood of the covenant-Part 1

It is a universally known fact that the Crows love Wylan. Here is a four-part story of four adjectives to describe their attitude towards Wylan.

This can also be found on ao3 right here.

All parts can be read independently. Check the pinned post on my dashboard for more information concerning the rights on this story, and the other things I have written.

Part 1 - Protective

I. Kaz

Kaz was used to hate, he was used to scorn. Those feelings came easily to him, almost as easily as breathing. The man he hated the most was, of course, Pekka Rollins, but Kaz found Van Eck came close second in the competition for Kaz’s hate. He certainly came first when it came to scorn.

You see, Kaz hated Pekka Rollins but he didn’t despise him. Pekka was smart vicious, but the only time he had been pathetic was when he had believed Kaz on his son’s death. Van Eck, on the other hand, had always been utterly pathetic. A child trying to play the adults’ game. A full-grown adult who had been incapable to care for his kid.

Pathetic.

Locked as he was in Hellgate—the place certainly fit his loathsome personality—he could do no more harm, only wallow in his misery. But Kaz was nothing if not thorough, and making sure Van Eck would never be a threat anymore was a matter he intended to deal with. That, and the fact that he liked to brag every once in a while, and would surely revel in Van Eck’s rage at seeing him.

Getting a pass to Hellgate proved to be of no difficulty. Kaz went alone, at night, his cane clicking on the empty corridors’ floor, loud and ominous. Normally, Inej would have come with him, would have been his shadow and managed to be more terrifying than him, but she was away at sea, busy terrifying other criminals, ones who deserved her attention much more than fallen Jan Van Eck ever would.

Van Eck was slumbering in his cell when Kaz stopped in front of him, and Kaz took vicious pleasure in watching him startle awake and hit his head against the wall when he banged his cane against the metal bars of the cell. The man’s eyes narrowed when he spotted Kaz standing in front of his cell, his lips curling up in a disgusted snarl.

“You,” he spat. “Have you come to taunt me?” He let out a laugh that he must have meant to be bitter. It sounded, in Kaz’s opinion, more broken than anything, and he didn’t bother hide his smirk.

“I have,” he admitted. “You are a pitiful sight, after all, as I knew you would be. How does it feel, to know a group of half a dozen teenagers ruined your life? How does it feel, to know you really aren’t as smart as you thought you would be? Better yet, how does it feel to have been bested by the son you spent years belittling?”

Van Eck snorted. “He may have fooled me when I interrogated him, but I unlike you it seems, am not delusional. I know he was of little use to you, and dumb as he is he will not make it far. He will dilapidate the familial fortune before he can even begin to comprehend what he has done.”

Kaz contemplated him, all his emaciated and ratty glory. What a sight. He was far from the wealthy merchant Kaz had known, but his eyes still held the familiar gleam of hate and disgust Kaz had always seen him direct at Wylan.

“It had always baffled me,” he said as he took out his lock-picking tools from his pocket and set onto opening the cell, “how you could be so blind to your son’s cleverness. And now it baffles me still, how you can bear such contempt for him when you are the one rotting away in a miserable cell.”

“You tricked me,” accused Van Eck.

“That I did. It doesn’t mean you are innocent.”

The cell opened, and Van Eck frowned. “What are you doing?”

Kaz stepped in, and closed the door behind himself, though he left it unlocked. He saw in Van Eck’s eyes the moment when he thought of lunging and make a break for it, and took a knife out of his sleeve . It glinted in the feeble light coming from the corridor, and Van Eck paled upon seeing it.

“I find it more agreeable to chat when we are not separated by a cell door. Don’t you?” Van Eck did not answer. Kaz stopped in front of him, looming over the sitting man. “I am not here to taunt, Van Eck. I am here to ensure you will not come bother me again.”

Van Eck smirked. “You cannot keep me in this cell forever.”

Kaz smiled his Bastard of the Barrel smile, the one that haunted his enemies’ nightmares. The one that marked him as a ruthless monster.

“I cannot ensure you stay in prison for the rest of your life,” he agreed. “Even I do not have that power over the Merchant Council. But I can make sure you don’t leave the prison alive. Guards here are not very careful to what happens to the prisoners, you see. No one will be able to stop me. No one will even know it was me.”

Van Eck stared at him with terror in his eyes. “What do you want?”

“I am not one for unnecessary murder, Van Eck. Yours will only be necessary if I think you a threat. When you come out of prison, years from now, remember this night, and leave the country. I do not care where you go, so long as you leave. But be careful, for if you do anything that displeases me, I will hunt you down and I will kill you.

“That includes trying to contact Wylan again. You have hurt him more than enough already. And despite this, he still believes in people and in the world, he still tries his best even though you tried to make sure he would fail forever. He has already achieved more than you ever will, and it is only the beginning. If I hear you contacted or even tried to contact him again, and trust me I will hear, I will ensure you wished I had killed you tonight.” Kaz turned away from Van Eck. “Pray to Ghezen you haven’t traumatized Wylan enough for him to be affected by the fact that you still live. If I think he will be more at peace with you dead, I will not hesitate.”

He left without another word after having locked the cell. The sound of his cane on the ground, he was sure, would stay with Van Eck for the rest of his life.

II. Inej

Wylan had never actually been abducted before. When he had still lived with his father, Van Eck had kept him well-guarded, at first too scared for his son’s security, and then, when he had stopped caring about Wylan, too scared about what Wylan could reveal about him. During this period of his life, Wylan had never left the house much anyway, so opportunities for him to get abducted had been rare and few in between.

The only experience he had to some semblance of abduction had been when Dregs disguised as Dime Lions had taken him to his father, but that had been staged and thus didn’t count as a proper abduction, in Wylan’s modest opinion about kidnappings.

Things changed this morning. He had been out in the Barrel, on his way back from the Slat, where he’d had a meeting with Kaz about an ongoing job. He hadn’t been paying attention to the streets around him—his first mistake.

When he had first come to the Barrel, he had been so scared of being abducted, assaulted, killed, or raped that he had tried to pay attention to everything and everyone around him. This had faded with time, as more and more people associated him with either Kaz or the Merchants Council, two entities most would rather stay away from if possible.

Wylan had been deluded into a false sense of security, and he was paying for it now. A hand had shot out from an alley as he passed before it, and he had barely had time to struggle against his aggressor before he was dealt a blow on the head, effectively knocking him out.

He woke up to a cold, damp room not unlike the one he had been held in by his father in the church. His hands were bound with thick, rough rope behind his back, and his ankles had been similarly tied together. The position left him slumped on his side, putting an uncomfortable pressure on his left shoulder. His head throbbed with vivacious pain, and his neck and scalp were partially covered in something damp that must have been drying blood. A sob threatened to shove its way through his throat, and Wylan took a deep, careful breath through his nose to force it down.

Everything was going to be alright. If his blood was still damp, it meant it couldn’t have been that long since he had been taken. (He refused to believe it meant he had bled out a lot). Jesper expected him back for lunch, and Wylan had left the Slat at nearly thirty past eleven. He would go and complain to Kaz for not releasing Wylan for lunch when Wylan inevitably failed to come home, and when Kaz would tell him Wylan had left the Slat already, they would come to the conclusion something had happened to him.

And they would come to him.

Right?

Something ugly that sounded suspiciously like his father told him they didn’t care enough, that he was nothing more than a tool for Kaz and a passtime for Jesper. A toy soon discarded.

No. They would come, because they cared for him the way he cared for them. Kaz could never quite hide the pull of his mouth when he and Wylan interacted, and Jesper’s eyes were so full of adoration every time he looked at Wylan one would have to be a fool not to know he loved him.

They would come.

His captors came back before.

The wooden door of the room slammed on the wall. Wylan recoiled sharply, and immediately regretted his movement when another burst of pain assaulted his head. The people who barged in all boasted lion tattoos on their forearms, and Wylan lost any doubt this was about revenge on Kaz rather than them being after his money. Why they had chosen him to get revenge on Kaz was beyond him, but Wylan was not in any position to question their choices.

A Dime Lion stepped closer to him and roughly hoisted him up. Wylan could not stifle his groan of pain, and the man snorted loudly. “Won’t hold long, that one. How long do you think it will take Brekker to come running for his protégé?” Another laughed. “Well, he certainly won’t come running, not with that leg of him.”

The Dime Lions did not try to get any information from him. They simply roughed him up, punched him in the guts a couple of times, broke one or two ribs. All in all, Wylan had survived worse. This was nothing his father hadn’t already done to him multiple times. He was scared, but he knew how to handle it.

He waited for what felt like days in the cold room. His stomach was knotted with hunger and fear, and he rubbed his wrists raw trying to get out of the bounds, to no avail.

Eventually, the Dime Lions came back, this time holding crude knives and daggers. “Thought Brekker would react more quickly. It has already been a day.” The woman turned her cruel gaze onto Wylan and smiled. “Guess we’ll have to give him some more incentives.”

Wylan’s eyes widened, and he tried his best to get away from the Dime Lions’ grasp, but hunger and blood loss made him sluggish, and his struggles were easily ignored as two pined him to the ground and another splayed his hand wide.

Wylan was openly sobbing now, his eyes clenched shut as if it would make his tormenters go away. Kaz would have endured it without a word, he knew; Jesper would have cracked puns through the pain. Inej wouldn’t even have let herself get caught. But he was only Wylan, and he sobbed as he felt the blade meet his tender skin.

The blade never cut through. He didn’t realize there was someone else in the room until the Dime Lions’ who were holding him suddenly released him with alarmed shouts, the knife gone from against his finger. Wylan shied away from them and the noise, curling up as well as he could.

A lithe, graceful figure crouched in front of him, her face shadowed by her hood. “Inej,” he breathed.

She nodded, and cut through his bindings. Without a word, she helped him straighten up and stand, providing unyielding support when he leaned heavily on her, courtesy of his broken ribs and likely concussion.

The Dime Lions who had been in the room with him were all sprawled on the ground, unconscious and more or less injured.

“What about the others?” Wylan asked her.

“Taken care of,” was all she answered, before she ushered him towards the door. “Come on, they won’t hurt you anymore. I’ll make sure of that.”

Wylan believed her. His family had come for him.

III. Nina

Nina had never understood how anyone could dislike Wylan. Even Kaz Brekker, the Bastard of the Barrel, had a soft spot for him! And yet Van Eck had not loved him, all because he couldn’t read. Kuwei was jealous of him, though the two of them were making progress in tolerating each other. But what unsettled her most was the opinion the Dregs had on Wylan.

At first, she too had mistaken him for a rich kid who had ran away from home because he thought himself skilled enough to make a life for himself in the Barrel. But she had quickly discovered that was far from the truth, and Wylan was anything but brazen and arrogant the way rich kids were.

She had thought that, with time, the other Dregs would see it, too, would take a liking to the soft-spoken boy who blew up buildings and was not quite as righteous as everyone believed him to be.

Nina and Matthias were back in Ketterdam after a trip to Ravka. They had happily accepted Wylan’s offer to stay at his house with Jesper and him, a merchant’s house being much more comfortable that the cold, humid Slat. Despite this, she often found herself wandering back to the Barrel, paying a visit to people she knew, or lounging at the Crow Club.

Today, she was at the Slat nestled against Matthias. Kaz had sent for them, something about having a job to give them. Wylan had gone with them, claiming he had something to discuss with Kaz, and he had been the first to go in Kaz’s office. That had been half an hour ago, and he had yet to come back down.

Nina and Matthias were not the only people in the Slat’s first floor. A handful of other Dregs Nina had never really gotten to know were there, too, and had been whispering and snickering among themselves since Wylan had walked passed them. At first, Nina had tried to tune them out, but she was rapidly getting fed-up with their attitude.

Eventually, one of them groaned loudly. “What is taking the merchant so long?”

“Maybe we should check he hasn’t murdered Kaz,” suggested another mockingly.

The first one—Nina couldn’t be bothered to remember their names—snorted. “Please, soft merchant hands like his can’t kill. If anything, it’s Kaz who would have killed him.”

Another one snickered. “Must be fucking. It’s the only reason Brekker would have to keep him.”

Nina jumped off the couch before she knew what she was doing, and punched the man who had last talked square in the jaw. He stumbled back with a strangled cry, his hand cupping his jaw, and his companions came up around him protectively.

“What’s gotten into you, witch?” asked one of them.

“What’s gotten into me is that you are being assholes.”

“Is this about the merchant? Come on, Zenik, you can’t possibly defend him.” Nina clenched her jaw and her fists. The men before her stepped back. “I can and I will. If you are all too stupid to see how useful Wylan is, then it’s your problem. But don’t you dare insult him or doubt his worth ever again.”

The man she punched dropped his hand from his jaw. A bruise was already forming on it. “Wait, are you angry because I suggested he and Brekker are fucking? I thought you already had a boyfriend.”

Nina breathed in slowly through her nose. “I am not jealous, you fool. Kaz keeps Wylan around because he is useful.” And because he has basically adopted the kid, but that was besides the point. “You know he is half the reason why Kaz managed to send Van Eck to Hell’s gate? You know he’s gotten the Dregs out of several tricky situations since Kaz recruited him? You know he is smarter than all of you combined? I don’t know why Kaz keeps you around, but I know precisely why he keeps Wylan around.”

“He’s just a rich kid.”

“He really isn’t. He sacrificed himself for the Dregs. You remember when he was all beaten after what happened in the church?” The men nodded hesitantly. “That was not fake. His father really did that. Ask Anika and Keeg. They were there. They beat him up on his own father’s orders.”

A moment of silence passed. The men squirmed uncomfortably. “We didn’t know,” whispered the one she had punched eventually.

“You would know,” she retorted, “if you had paid attention to Wylan instead of insulting him every chance you get.”

She returned to her place on the couch next to Matthias, whose face was somber but proud, and when, twenty minutes later, Wylan finally came down from Kaz’s office, none of the other Dregs on the floor said anything to or about him.

IV. Jesper

The Merchant Council was made up of a bunch of men Jesper absolutely despised. All of them without fail had been born rich and had never had to do anything besides keeping up their father’s business. They didn’t know what poverty was, and obviously thought of Jesper as a thug only because he came from the Barrel.

(He was a criminal, but that had little to do with the Barrel, and more to do with the thrill that came with Kaz’s jobs. That, and his utter inability to stay away from games, which had led to him having no other choice than to resort to crime to keep surviving. Not that any of these men would know what it was like.)

They tolerated Jesper only because they worked with Wylan, whom they tolerated partly because he was his father’s son and partly because he had let them no choice on the matter. They would work with him, or they would mourn he fortune he brought to the Council.

Still, it was obvious most of them looked down on Wylan for his young age and liked Jan Van Eck better, nevermind that he was an abuser.

The point was, Jesper hated Merchant Council meetings, but he would bear them to help Wylan. They had convinced the Council to let Jesper come to meeting after Wylan had spun a lie about his eyes growing tired quickly, which resulted in his inability to read when it happened. It had worked, surprisingly enough, and none of the merchants had belittled Wylan for it. (They belittled him for other things, instead.)

That day, the meeting was stretching out, and Jesper was growing increasingly frustrated and annoyed at the old men who slowed things down only for the sake of complaining and making it more difficult on Wylan. He would have snapped already, had he not known it would only stress Wylan further.

A knock at the door of the room they were reunited in interrupted the tedious discussion.

A man opened the door, and looked around the room. “Mister Van Eck,” he called, “someone is asking for you. I know you are in a meeting, but it appears to be an emergency, and the woman has promised it would be quick.”

Wylan glanced at Radmakker, who nodded, before getting up and following the man out of the room, leaving Jesper alone with the rest of the Council. Said Council had apparently forgotten Jesper even existed, and one of them—Jesper couldn’t be bothered to remember his name—sighed, shaking his head.

“I know Jan is a criminal, but his son is a pain to deal with.”

“Don’t be so unkind on the boy,” replied Radmakker. “He is young. It is normal that he wants to change things. He’ll see the reality of the world soon enough.” “Still,” someone else agreed with the first. “It’s a shame Jan is in prison. He, at least, knew what he was talking about. I don’t understand how he has let his son become so weak and ignorant about business.”

“He must have tried,” scoffed another, “but the boy was too stupid or weak.” “Wylan is smarter and stronger than all of you,” said Jesper before he could think. Everyone stopped talking and turned to him. A heavy silence fell on the room for all of two seconds before Jesper spoke again. He had started this, he might as well finish it. “Wylan is smarter and stronger than all of you, and he is doing his best considering Van Eck was an abuser and a piece of shit who taught him nothing about business.

“Might I remind you Van Eck nearly lost the Council millions of kruge, while Wylan has done nothing but enrich it with clever and thoughtful propositions since he has entered it? Might I remind you, too, that he is the only merchant Kaz Brekker is willing to deal with, considerably increasing the Council’s wealth and power?

“You speak of weakness, but you have never had to do a single day of labor in your lives. You bask in your comfort, too afraid to risk losing it to offer any real reform. You are scared of the Barrel and you are scared of change, because you know both could bring you down from your privileged positions, and you deem Wylan weak and ignorant because he isn’t afraid like you are and it threatens you.”

Stunned faces met his speech, and Jesper leaned back in his chair with a satisfied smirk. It was the moment Wylan chose to come back into the room. He stopped on the threshold, taking in the tense and stupefied atmosphere of the room.

“Did something happen?” he asked.

Jesper smiled blindly at him. “No. Nothing at all. Shall we resume the meeting?”

It only took another ten minutes to resolve the problems the merchants has been unnecessarily raising, and if that night Jesper kissed Wylan even more passionately than he usually did, it was no one’s business.

V. Matthias

for the sake of this story and because I decided so, Matthias is alive

They were at the library. That, in itself, was unusual. But Kaz had needed them to get information that had been left at the library by one of his informants—he had needed to find others, since Inej was not in Ketterdam as often anymore—and Wylan was the one who looked the most like he belonged in the place, despite not being able to read. Wylan had looked slightly upset when Kaz had announced the mission, but he had relaxed when Kaz had added he wouldn’t need to read anything, and that Matthias would come with him.

Matthias, if he was honest, had a soft spot for the kid, though he wouldn’t admit it to anyone. Wylan was arguably the gentlest and kindest of them all, but his determination and cleverness never ceased to impress Matthias. Thus, when Kaz had bid him for the mission alongside Wylan, he had not protested as he usually would have. (For which Nina had endlessly teased him.)

The walk to the library had been pleasant, Wylan talking passionately about a chemistry project he was working on while Matthias tried to understand with his meager knowledge about the topic what exactly the younger boy was talking about. Needless to say, he failed miserably but the thrilled gleam in Wylan’s eyes and the wide grin on his face were worth the effort.

The boy hunched on himself when they entered the library, the way he did whenever he tried to make himself invisible, either because he felt threatened or because he felt ashamed. Matthias would have liked to reassure him but he had never been very good with words—except with Nina, with whom they flowed easily—and he was certain his attempt would have been more awkward than anything.

Wordlessly, Matthias guided Wylan to the section where Kaz had said the information would be. The aisle was empty but large, and they decided to split to look for anything that might be the information. As he set to work, Matthias cursed Kaz for not having given them more precision on what form the information would be given in.

He was painstakingly flipping through books for a lose piece of paper when he heard it. A masculine voice rang clear in the aisle, the whisper nearly a shout in the silent library.

“Well, if that is not the last person I expected to find in a library.”

Matthias nearly dismissed it as a casual conversation starter when he remembered that he and Wylan were alone in the aisle. Farther down the aisle, a man as tall as Matthias had stopped next to Wylan who, backed up against the shelf, was hunched in on himself.

“Have you finally learned how to read?” asked the man. Wylan’s lowered head, his posture mimicking that of a grounded child, was answer enough and the man sighed theatrically. “Of course not, you haven’t. You’re the only student I haven’t managed to help, you know. If that’s not a testimony to your failure, Wylan, I don’t know what it is. Such a pity Van Eck is in prison. He, at least, knew how to discipline you.”

Wylan was now trying to make one with the shelf, his bag held against his chest to tightly his hands where white. Matthias moved in quick strokes and pushed the man away from Wylan.

“How dare you speak to him like that?” he snarled as quietly as he could.

Annoyance passed on the man’s face, but whatever rebellion he envisagea for a second was quickly dismissed after a glance at Matthias’s stature.

“Look,” he said, “I don’t know who you are, but this is none of my business—” “It is, since you are insulting my friend.”

The man laughed mockingly. “Your friend. And did your friend tell you he cannot do what every children can?”

Matthias stepped forward, shielding Wylan from the man, who fell back a step, eyes widening in panic.

“I know, if that’s what you’re talking about,” said Matthias, “that he cannot read. And I don’t care. Because it doesn’t make him any less brilliant. In fact, he understands music and numbers better than any of us can, and I have never been met with such genius before. What I wonder is, how brilliant do you think you are?

“How insecure are you, that you resort to humiliating a boy who hasn’t done anything wrong to you? To insult him and degrade him when I am certain he has always tried his best with you? To blatantly ignore the fact that, even if he cannot read, he is one of the most brilliant people of his generation? You must be feeling really low about yourself, if the only way to feel confident is to bring down other people to your level of misery. Get out of my sight, and don’t even think about insulting Wylan ever again, or I swear you will regret it. And Fjerdans always honor their promises.”

The man threw a last glance at Wylan and left promptly, nearly tripping over his own feet in his haste. Wylan, when Matthias turned back to him, was teary-eyed, cheeks red with shame. He refused to meet Matthias’s gaze until Matthias crouched before him.

“I’m sorry I didn’t intervene before that.”

Wylan shook his head. “It’s not your fault.” A tear slipped down his face and he wiped it away angrily. “He’s not entirely wrong, though.”

“He is,” said Matthias forcefully. “I meant everything I said. It doesn’t matter, whether you can read or not. It doesn’t take away your intelligence, and knowing how to read doesn’t make people intelligent anyway. Your old tutor is the living proof of that.”

Wylan chuckled wetly, and wiped a couple more tears, less angrily this time. “Thank you. Let’s find this information, now.”

It was Wylan who found it (no one else would have been brilliant enough in their crew), in the form of a tiny ball in a material that would apparently dissolve when put in water—Matthias hadn’t understood everything to his explanation but it didn’t take away his pride. And if he made sure to show his affection to Wylan a bit more after that, well no one made any comment about it, not even Nina.

Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4

#six of crows #crooked kingdom #leigh bargudo #fanfic #fanfiction #my own work #writing #creative writing #wylan van eck #kaz brekker #jesper fahey #nina zenik #matthias helvar #inej ghafa #writeblr #writing community #soc spoilers #my writing

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