#ninej when?!

[rustystars]

NINEJ IS SO GOOD. cannot wait for them to banter or god forbid hug onscreen in s2. malina is the only real couple i care about hot mal means everything to me. but ninej is number 2 for a reason

#ninej! for when you find soc kind of boring but like it when teen girls are crazy about each other

[just-1other-nerd]

New crows clip y'all! I REPEAT WE'VE GOT A NEW CROWS CLIP!!!!

Asdkgbsvbxke that little smile when Wylan saw Jesper and when Wylan tried to tell Jesper that they've met but stopped mid sentence he was most likely going to refer to the first time they met in book canon

The conversation about loosing fingers whilst doing demo is pure gold. It is also a very Jesper thing to play around with the chemicals without any concern and a very Wylan thing to stop Jesper from doing that which also prooves that he is actually careful

Jesper talking that way about Wylans demo skills to Kaz in front of Wylan is so book accurate. Also I love that even though he might not do it consciously he is actually interested in Wylan which is why he asks about university but damn he is wrong about Wylan being the kind of person for a desk job

Inej came with Nina just like how Kaz sent her to recruit Nina in the books, I love this detail and I hope we get that first Ninej (not meant as a ship) converstation

I guess from his reaction that Kaz already knew who Nina was but like the look Inej and Jespers faces. So I guess they're like "That's Arkins contact but I thought she was captured by Fjerdan" and what will their reactions be if they find out that she wants to free one of those Drüskelle from Hellgate?

Nina's reaction to Jesper and Inej was also so on point like she is confused but curious and kinda flirty, how will she react when she finds out they know the conductor

Wylan offering everyone a cup of tea isn't just a Wylan thing to do but also THE most British thing to do

So I guess now we know how my tumblr blog will look like after the whole season drops. I fear this is basically just a teaser...

#six of crows #grishaverse #shadow and bone #shadow and bone season 2 #kaz brekker #wylan van eck #jesper fahey #nina zenik #inej ghafa #the crows #wesper

[lilisouless]

What your favorite Six of Crows ship says about you

inspired by this https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ns_7ax-i3DE&list=PLZKnRTyUP15ZC04zScew3pmDG8ZaKno_M&index=12 and the other serie s of videos 

Kanej: You crave a romance with the yearning of a period drama but also want to create unstoppable chaos while holding hands

Helnik: Your thing is enemies to lovers as long as it pays off with tons of fluff afterwards (also chapter 40 doesn’t exist)

Wesper: You like ships with the versatility of working in any possible au…And you may have anxiety and/or self steem issues

Hanina: You favorite aesthetic is either royalty core or cottage core

Matthias/Nina/Hanne: you just want Nina to be happy and fuck the fjerdans in all senses

Kuwei/Jesper : you just wanted good things for Kuwei (and really, who wouldn’t?)

Ninej: Your love language is physical touch, sharing sweets and slaying together

Kazper: You have a secret crush on someone in your life or you love buddy cop comedies

Kaz/Nina: You though the books were written by Sarah J Maas

Inej/Jesper: You believe in friends to lovers supremacy , but keep it to yourself to avoid toxic responses that you clearly don’t deserve

Matthias/Kaz : You don’t like enemies to lovers, you like enemies WHILE lovers (or you just wish Wesper went harder with their hostility phase)

Wylan/Kuwei: same as above , but more like a passive aggressive kind of hostility

Nina/Jesper: you have a crush on one or both and since you can’t have them you just make the most bi couple to ever bi

Jesper/Matthias: Probably shipped Bert and Ernie in your childhood before knowing what shipping was

Kaz/Wylan : Your thing is corruption and revenge stories, also hate the Dad!Kaz thing

Inej/ Matthias: You just don’t understand why short people with tall partners will beg to get lifted instead of climbing over them and obliterate them

Wylan/Matthias: You don’t actually ship them, you are just a Kazper shipper who doesn’t want Wylan to be sad

Alinej: Your thing is bodyguard au! (Also totally your choice but you should consider Alina x Tamar)

Zonej: There is a surprising lack of positive desi women representation on YA literature, so you said “alright i’ll do it myself”

Nina/ Nikolai : You are heterosexual 

Nikolai/Kaz: 🎼 two bastards are better than one, is twice the cringe 🎶

Kaz/Anika: You tried to get into Kaz x reader but you didn’t feel y/n had enough personality for your taste

Kaz/Imogen: You want to see more of this girl, you also dig lost love tragedies when the main characters doesn’t end up together

Kaz/Saskia: you don’t exist

Anya x Joost: you wouldn’t survive a single A song of ice and fire book

Aditi x Colm: You are a textbook hopeless romantic

Colm x Marya: you are so lost in the thought of second love chances, that you didn’t thought the implications of wesper becoming step brothers

Marya x Alys: you are so lost on the thought of destroying Jan Van Eck that you didn’t thought the implications that Alys is probably at least twenty years younger

Jan Van Eck x Death:I respect your opinions but i seriously don’t get it,death is clearly too good for him

Inej/Dunyasha: You love enemies to lovers in theory, but in practice you would rather they just stay on the enemies stage

Important: i had the link saved since this was on drafts and didn’t remember it gets you to a hp video themed since is the first one on the reproduction list, i recommend skip the video if you can’t stand anything related to jk rowling

#netflix shadow and bone #six of crows #leigh bardugo #jesper fahey #kaz brekker #wylan van eck #nina zenik #inej ghafa #crooked kingdom #kuwei yul bo #colm fahey #aditi hilli #marya hendriks #THIS ARE ALL JOKES #i have nothing against x reader fics #cw anxiety mention #cw jk rowling in the link

[mexicankazbrekker]

soc ships as hozier songs because they’re all i can think about when i listen to him

kanej: work song. “no grave can hold my body down ill crawl home to her” “but i swear i thought i dreamed her, she never asked me once about the wrong i did” “if the lord don’t forgive me ill still have my baby and my babe would have me” its hard to not put the whole song in quotes its so them.

wesper: eat your young is just perfect everything from symbolism to lyrics is chefs kiss. “putting food on the table selling bombs and guns” “theres money to be made” the whole beginning of their relationship was spent planning a heist to break into the most secure place in the world. they had a lot of their almost moments or almost moments interrupted by something happening with the heist.

helnik: they are the most hozier couple to ever couple. its so hard to just pick one song but im gonna have to go with foreigners god. cause “scream in the name of a foreigners god, the purest expression of greif” “all that ive been taught, and every word ive got, its foreign to me” ??? are you kidding its them.

ninej: like real people do. i dont even have room for quotes because i need to say this. there’s something about listening to that song and imagining two deeply traumatized women healing themselves and helping the other heal. it makes it even sadder to think that if nina wasnt grisha and inej was never taken there would’ve been nothing to “bury” as said in the song.

kesper: from eden is so incredibly them. “theres something tragic about you” “innocence died screaming” “theres something broken about this” its just so perfect because jesper entire fascination with kaz is the fact that hes a complete mystery with an obviously tragic past that he wants to understand.

#can you tell that ninej if my favorite #can you #six of crows #wylan van eck #jesper fahey #inej ghafa #kaz brekker #nina zenik #matthias helvar #crooked kingdom #wesper #kanej #helnik #ninej #kesper #hozier #hozier songs

[blazethecheeto]

Oh boy, now some things I disliked. Some strongly. Sab s2 was a speed run, yes, and sometimes the plot suffered for it. Mostly, I'm mad about the things that were taken away. Nina was done so dirty. She had the Nina personality and was iconic as usual, but I wish they had used more of her instead of her just...being there and talking about Matthias. She has an amazing personality and a lot of plot armor. Yet, they don't utilize that!

We were robbed of ninej as well. I was so excited for Ninej, and we got like two conversations. I want them to have a strong budding friendship, what happened to her flinching when Nina hugs her? Which could have helped with the lack of Inej trauma addressed this season as well. They were so fucking cute together I needed more. Don't get me started on poor Matthias getting like 10 minutes of screen time. I feel bad for him, but that was a mild complaint because what else is he supposed to do this season y'know?

I was mad at the speed run for Nikolina. They literally put all their iconic lines and scenes that were built up and formed of their relationship developing, and shoved them a into one conversation. They made Alina like him right from the start, and I just feel like in general they needed to flesh out Nikolai like a LOT. He was perfect, emanated Nikolai energy, he just needed more chances to prove that!

The erasure of Jesper's crush on Kaz and the Wesper speed run. Oh boy. Okay buckle up. I thought they didn't build up Wesper well enough, and they made them together for the fan service. I wish they had just made them friends or allies this season. Maybe Wylan was crushing on him a little, but I wanted that banter that they had in Soc. Jesper teasing him was great! This season I wished they had spent a lot more time on Jesper's crush on Kaz. Kit Young and Freddy Carter like to pretend it doesn't exist but it does. And I, (a biased Kazper shipper), really would have loved to see it in its early stages. For Inej and Jesper to bond over it and the utter angst in their scenes because Jes knows he won't like him like he likes her. They seriously cut all of that out, and made Jes say they were brothers which is not true. Kaz sees him as a brother, and it just takes out the whole impact of the Jordie line in CK.

Tolya and Inej better not-*sigh* not getting into that.. David I refuse to believe he is dead. He is a part of the Triumvirate, and he was supposed to get married to Genya before DYING. She cannot catch a freaking break.

I also didn't like how the Spinning Wheel was lame. Like, it was supposed to be in the sky. Buried in the mountains. Instead it's like a small mansion in the ground. The sea whip fetter was kind of lame too. Genya's scars could have been better, and so should the Darkling's Sharpie-drawn scars. One thing I just wish could happen is to show Jesper and Nina being bisexual. Like, at this point, people would think Jes is gay and Nina is straight. Is it too much to ask for them both to show their interest in women?

We didn't get lines like "I am not ruined, I am ruination. " and the iconic "i am become a blade. " I have hopes for s3 though. Flaws and all, I love SAB and I have faith in them to give us a good s3 and Six of Crows.

#again just my opinion #mine #fandom rant #grishaverse #shadow and bone reaction #shadow and bone spoilers #shadow and bone #sab s2 #mal oretsev #alina starkov #wylan van eck #nina zenik #inej ghafa #tolya and tamar #six of crows #kazper #nikolina #ninej

[hexgrifa]

Hey how do you see Ninej, I mean if it were to be canon, would you rather it had been just that from the beginning or would you see it happening in the future after Matthias’s death and after Inej leaves Ketterdam? Like are we ignoring Kanej completely in that universe or is there something in between? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.

First of all this ask makes me very happy because I've been thinking about that so thank you

second of all if i could follow you i would

My love for Mattias isn't as high compared to the others, but I can't completely disregard his importance to Nina, so if it were up to me it would be very slow burn after his death. Kanej is difficult tho because I do love Kanej 😭💔. Again, I can't disregard an entire man, so i think it would be like. Some kind of love triangle? But would inevitably lead to Ninej.

Like a Kaz🤝Mattias w\ having their girlfriend leave them for a woman.

This would probably be after Kaz pulled a sugar daddy and bought Inej an entire boat because she still deserves that ofc, but I think she'd go with Nina to bury Mattias, which is when the ship would start sailing. Like, a lot of shut-downs to the romance cuz. I mean. If your man bought you an entire BOAT I think you'd feel a little entitled to stay with him... And also Nina would still be getting over Mattias.

Sorry for the long rant it was like 10x longer beforehand tho 😁👍

#Ninej #Kanej #Helnik #THANK YOU for this ask you are my favorite ever #also this is a sb but we are technicallu mutuals I swear 😭 #the prophecy speaks #asks #wife #jumping spider

[kazscrows]

Crooked Kingdom Reread

Chapter 3: Matthias

Cornelis Smeet tipped, losing his footing, hat sliding from his nearly bald head. The boy who had run into him stepped forward, offering assistance.

The boy was Kaz, but he was not Kaz. His dark hair was mussed, his manner flustered. He kept his eyes averted, his chin tucked into his collar as if hopelessly embarrassed—a green youth, respectful of his elders.

I love when Kaz goes into acting mode™️

I need more of it

lol Kaz saying “Oh dear, I think you dropped your wallet.” like he’s a respectable lad

Matthias watched in disbelief, Smeet opened his billfold and drew out a crisp five-kruge bill. “There you are, young man. Pays to be honest.”

I’m cackling

That honest young man just robbed you of your dog whistle, put it back again, stole valuable information on one of your clients and threatened your daughter—

Matthias could not fathom it. He’d kept his gaze trained on Kaz’s gloved hands as he’d fussed over Smeet, but even knowing that Kaz intended to return the whistle, Matthias hadn’t been able to detect the moment of deception. He was tempted to drag Smeet back and make Kaz perform the trick again.

Kaz neatened his hair with his fingers and handed the five kruge to Wylan. “Don’t spend it all in one place. Let’s move.”

Please why is this so funny? I’m dying-

Kaz just keeps reaffirming that he’s secretly a demjin in Matthias eyes

But same Matthias. I’d want to see that trick a hundred times

And Kaz giving Wylan the money?

Hilarious 😂

Matthias just thought that Kaz is twice as insufferable ever since Inej got taken

He needs her 😭

He’s definitely worried about her

I wonder just how often the others will note his increasingly worse moods

They made it back to Black Veil

It was weird they already came here in the show but it was also very cool to see the cemetery

I guess it just sets it up as a future haunt for later… *ba-dum tssh* get it? Haunt.. cause.. cause it’s a cemetery—

I love that Jesper and Nina are in an argument when Kaz, Wylan, and Matthias arrive

Kaz is just like.. “now now children stop being stupid and shut up-“

He literally herds them along with his cane

Freddy please use the cane for more gestures in the future! I’m begging 🙏

“Stop gawking like you’ve never seen a girl in a dress before, Matthias.”

“I wasn’t gawking,” Matthias said with as much dignity as he could muster. But for Djel’s sake, what was he supposed to look at when Nina had irises tucked between … everything.

“Be quiet, Brekker,” Nina said. “I like it when he gawks.”

It’s your own fault they’re back together Kaz

I love Nina

And I can totally hear Danielle saying that line

Matthias knew Nina would allow herself no comfort until Inej was safe.

Aww ninej 🥹💕

I love their friendship

All the crows love Inej so much

Kuwei poked his head out of the huge stone tomb as they approached.

“What did I tell you?” Kaz growled, pointing his cane at him.

“My Kerch isn’t very good,” protested Kuwei.

“Don’t run game on me, kid. It’s good enough. Stay in the tomb.”

Kuwei hung his head. “Stay in the tomb,” he repeated glumly.

lol

I just like this interaction

Kaz calling anyone kid is kind of funny. Like dude you can’t be anymore than four years older than him

Poor Kuwei though

If I’m being honest I never cared much for him before I guess we’ll see if that changes after this reread

I’ve definitely been sympathizing for him more

The tomb was constructed to look like an ancient cargo ship, its interior carved into a vast stone hull. It even had stained-glass portholes that cast rainbows on the crypt floor in the late afternoon.

I had forgotten it looked like a boat so I’m glad the show got it right!

We always talk about Nina and Kaz’s sibling energy in the fandom and I love it, but I’m getting sibling energy from her and Jesper too and I’m living!

He turned his gaze on Matthias. “The Fjerdans are here too. They’ve got a whole contingent of drüskelle with them.

Oh rip I didn’t realize they knew the drüskelle were there so early

Kaz continued. “Once we have Inej, we can move on Van Eck’s silos.”

Nina rolled her eyes. “Good thing this is all about getting our money and not about saving Inej. Definitely not about that.”

“If you don’t care about money, Nina dear, call it by its other names.”

I’m probably reading way too much into this but

Kaz called Inej, Inej here.

Not the Wraith or a spider

He cares about Inej. He didn’t call her by her other names

It’s probably not meant to be read like this at all

Especially since in the next breath Kaz calls money freedom, security, and retribution to help appease Nina’s disapproval and of course to slightly mock her…

Yeah I’m definitely going off the rails, but it’s just a thought I had

Inej is his first priority though, can’t deny that one

Matthias heard Wylan murmur to Jesper, “Why won’t he just say he wants her back?”

“You’ve met Kaz, right?”

“But she’s one of us.”

Unfortunately Kaz is emotionally constipated

“Inej is part of the crew.”

“Just don’t push it.”

“Why not?”

“Because the practical thing would be for Kaz to auction Kuwei to the highest bidder and forget about Inej entirely.”

“He wouldn’t—” Wylan broke off abruptly, doubt creeping over his features.

None of them really knew what Kaz would or wouldn’t do. Sometimes Matthias wondered if even Kaz was sure.

Wylan trying to stand up for Inej is wonderful

But man this hurts

None of them believe that Kaz wouldn’t just leave them all to die if it was ever more convenient for him

I don’t believe that for a second but…

This emotional constipation is getting dangerous Kaz-

None of them trust you-

Just let them in alReAdy—

Also Jesper and Wylan talking like Kaz isn’t just right there and can’t hear them

He can definitely hear them

“Once the job is done, Kuwei—and any other convicts, Grisha, and disinherited youths who may or may not have prices on their heads—can lie low in the Southern Colonies.”

Jesper frowned. “Where will you be?”

“Right here. I’ve still got plenty of business that requires my attention.”

There he goes

Getting everyone their money and then just pushing them all away

Though Kaz’s tone was easy, Matthias heard the dark anticipation in his words. He had often wondered how people survived this city, but it was possible Ketterdam would not survive Kaz Brekker.

Some of Matthias’ thoughts about Kaz are such bangers

“Kuwei cleared his throat. “I would prefer to go to Ravka.”

“I’d prefer a pair of sable-lined swimming trunks,” said Jesper. “But we can’t always get what we want.”

I love Jesper so much

“Do you really think an antidote is possible?” Nina asked.

“I don’t know,” said Kuwei. “My father was a Fabrikator. I am just an Inferni.”

“You’re our chemist, Wylan,” said Nina hopefully. “What do you think?”

Wylan shrugged. “Maybe. Not all poisons have an antidote.”

Jesper snorted. “That’s why we call him Wylan Van Sunshine”

Ah the famous Wylan Van Sunshine quote

And wouldn’t you know it’s Jesper being sarcastic

There was a long, tense pause, then Kaz ran a gloved thumb over the crease of his trousers and said, “Nina, love, translate for me? I want to make sure Kuwei and I understand each other.”

“Kaz—” she said warningly.

Kaz shifted forward and rested his hands on his knees, a kind older brother offering some friendly advice.

The very worst older brother you could ever have

Sorry Kaz but it’s true..

I was about to say the speech he gives Kuwei isn’t so terrifying but uh.. I was wrong

It’s pretty awful actually

“You are a stolen painting, Kuwei. Too recognizable to sell on the open market, too valuable to leave lying around. You are worthless to me.”

Like.. yikes

This is why they all worry you’d leave them bleeding out in a ditch if it suited you, Kaz-

“Kuwei responded in Shu. She hesitated. “He says you’re cruel.”

“I’m pragmatic. If I were cruel, I’d give him a eulogy instead of a conversation. So, Kuwei, you’ll go to the Southern Colonies, and when the heat has died down, you can find your way to Ravka or Matthias’ grandmother’s house for all I care.”

“Leave my grandmother out of this,” Matthias said.”

No you’re definitely cruel Kaz but uh.. okay-

The grandmother comments are making me cackle though

Oh my gosh this is so perfect actually since we know that Calahan’s real grandma watches the show!

“Okay Cal, I have watched 5 and 6 and you are still in prison! 😳”

That is a real text Calahan got from his grandma about season 2 of the show

The knife that had killed Muzzen had been meant for Matthias, and the Fjerdans might well be responsible. The drüskelle. His brothers. They’d wanted him to die without honor, murdered in an infirmary bed. It was a death fit for a traitor. It was the death he had earned. Now Matthias owed Muzzen a blood debt, but how would he ever pay it?

I was just thinking about the guy they left at hellgate the other day 😬

But if the drüskelle killed a guy helpless in a prison cell it’s no surprise what happens to Matthias later…

Also I think Muzzen and Jesper must have been friends… he’s the most upset by his death

Jes was sad about Big Bolliger last book too

“There’s something else,” said Rotty. “Someone’s kicking up dust looking for Jesper.”

“His creditors will have to wait,” said Kaz, and Jesper winced.

“No,” Rotty said with a shake of his head. “A man showed up at the university. Jesper, he claims he’s your father.”

Ooh

Here comes Mr. Fahey!!

Colm! I like Colm

First | Previous | Next

#crooked kingdom #six of crows #matthias helvar #kaz brekker #nina zenik #jesper fahey #inej ghafa #wylan van eck #wylan van sunshine #shadow and bone #grishaverse #soc #ck #reading #books #shadow and bone netflix #leigh bargudo #kazscrows #kazscrowsreadsck

[grishaverse-chaos]

Nina for the ask game

omg ty!! nina is one of my fav grishaverse characters ever (actually she's my fav crow!) so I loveeee talking about her

why I like them: her badassery. she doesn't take shit from anybody which I love, and she has a really strong sense of self-worth and independence

why I don't: she keeps falling for goddamn fjerdans. for legal reasons this is a joke, I love helnik and hannina more than life itself HOWEVER this girl clearly has a type and it's v funny to me

favourite episode/scene: ooooh I'm actually not sure but I do love her scenes with zoya in s2 because their dynamic is SO deep and SO intricate and I could talk about it for hours

favourite season/movie: so she's brilliant in both s&b seasons and both soc books, but I think she's actually best in the kos duology!

favourite line: I WILL LEAVE THIS WORLD ON A HAMMER BLOW holy fuck it's one of my fav quote of all time, I just love it so much. it perfectly encapsulates nina's personality and her determination

favourite outfit: her red dress from the shu han heist in s2! something about it being red but not heartrender red yk? like she's claiming her grisha powers but still refusing to align herself with the second army.... it's deep okay

otp: ugh I can never choose between helnik and hannina (in an ideal world they'd be polyam lmao)

brotp: okay so I love ninej however. nina and zoya are sooooo deep I could analyse them for Hours. I have a playlist for them in my notes app. also nina and nikolai would be the most chaotic friendship EVER which I love sm

headcanon: there's like zero chance she's cisgender. idk what she would be but there's some gender fuckery going on there I swear

unpopular opinion: I love hannina and idk if that's unpopular as such but I'm pretty sure it's less popular than helnik so let's go with that. also matthias's death adds so much to the narrative and there's no way it could have been as satisfying if he'd survived

a wish: she's going to be such an incredible queen omg, I want her to change the world (and specifically fjerda) forever and leave her mark

an oh-god-please-don't-ever-happen: imagine if hanne (I hc his chosen name as demyen!) dies as well.... leaving nina all alone and widowed..... yeah. that would suck.

5 words to describe them: determined, chaotic, badass, independent, vicious (when she wants to be)

my nickname for them: again tbh I don't really have one 😭😭

give me a character and I will answer...

#mayhem.txt #answered #nina zenik #grishaverse #ty for the ask!! <3

[six-of-crows-hyperfixation]

Master List

Tumblr: six-of-crows-hyperfixation

AO3: Talking-Crow

* * * * *

When Crows Blush (Office AU) 💦

Hope is the thing with feathers, that perches in the soul (Soulmates AU; Famous AU; Social Media AU) 💦

Nothing But a Broken Wing (Massage with a happy ending) 💦

Like a Throne (They discuss face-sitting) 🍓

I dreamed we were criminals (Domestic AU) 🌼

So Right (Trans AU) 💦

Bedroom Walls (Collage AU; Ninej POV) 💦

💦 = E rated

🍓 = M rated

🌼 = G rated

#wesper #wylan van eck #jesper fahey #wylan/jesper #six of crows #crooked kingdom #shadow and bone #ninej #master list #fanfic stuff

[galwithalibrarycard]

Ninej AU Moodboards: Coffee Shop AU

Inej Ghafa is the manager at Corvid Coffee. It might be owned by her best friend and amicable ex Kaz Brekker as a front for his extra-legal activities, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to slack on making it the best shop it can be- any more than she’s going to slack when it comes to her other gig as an assassin. So clearly, she needs more help at the shop if she’s going to make this work.

The woman who answers her Help Wanted ad is like no one Inej has ever met before. Nina Zenik makes the best cappucino in Ketterdam, and has a knack for soothing customers’ lonely hearts. Maybe even… Inej’s own?

Image Description: A moodboard for a Coffee Shop AU of Nina x Inej, or Ninej. Top row: A picture of Inej (Amita Suman) wearing a green dress with white collar and sleeves and a gold sunburst design; a picture of a mass of brown coffee beans; a picture of the counter at a coffee shop, with decorative vases and a coffee machine visible. Middle row: an off-white square with thin black cursive writing saying “i heart you” but the heart is a hand-drawn image of a heart; a cup of coffee with a heart design in the foam, in white cup and saucer, on a brown tabletop; a silver metal backdrop with a red neon sign reading “Energy Flows Where Coffee Goes” in cursive. Bottom row: a White person from the neck down, wearing a plaid shirt under a brown apron and pouring water into a coffee filter from a metal teapot; a bakery counter at a coffee shop with menu boards above it; a picture of Nina (Danielle Galligan) squinting into direct sun with her chin propped on one hand.

#ninej #shadow and bone #six of crows #nina zenik #inej ghafa #inej x nina #ninejedit #my edits #coffee shop AU #i'm definitely writing this fic too

[violivs]

TV Moodboards/Book Moodboards: Ninej (Nina Zenik/Inej Ghafa), Shadow and Bone & Six of Crows

“...You’ve saved my life. I’ve saved yours.” “I think you’re ahead on that count.” “No, I don’t mean in the big ways... I mean the little rescues. Laughing at my jokes. Forgiving me when I was foolish. Never trying to make me feel small. It doesn’t matter if it’s next month, or next year, or ten years from now, those will be the things I remember when I see you again.”  

#ninej #ninejedit #shadowandboneedit #shadow and bone #six of crows #nina x inej #my moodboards #tv moodboards #book moodboards #theyre in bisexual and romantic love i will hear no arguments #images: pexels and unsplash #quotations except for the neon sign: pinterest

[ninacarstairss]

these are my incoherent thoughts just about the first episode and i didn’t even include all the screaming

nikolai being introduced IN THE SAME ROOM AS KAZ BREKKER?? this is a fucking dream come true

all the doubts about paddy playing nikolai faded as soon as he smirked like that. that’s sturmhond

JESPER’S SECRET?? i don’t even know how to react. kaz seeing everything as usual, noticing all the details, and jes never telling him before. i couldn’t wait for this moment

i’m like ten minutes into the episode and kaz is in a wagon full of prisoners having a panic attack, feeling skin around him and remembering jordie. i can’t do this. i can’t cope with this pain

i love that they added the meaning of “zowa” to the show. i thought it was never going to make it in

“what happens to saints is up to fate. what happens here is up to us” YES KANEJ IS GOING SO STRONG

ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME WYLAN IS BEING INTRODUCED BY PLAYING THE CROWS THEME ON THE FLUTE??? I AM HOLLERING

so this is basically crooked kingdom?? pekka is turning the whole barrel against the crows, framing them for anything he can come up with and leaving them with no home? it’s genius.

“you were with the funny guns and the angry hat” this is how we’ll refer to jesper and kaz from now on okay?? also NINA AND INEJ NINA AND INEJ AODNWKNSJAJA WE FINALLY HAVE OUR NINEJ TOGETHER ON SCREEN

NINA SPEAKING SULI OWNSKNDJE

inej saying “he does this” to nina when kaz orders them to follow and just goes. this is so crow coded i’m crying

BRICK BY BRICK NAKZBXJJXKSKSJ KAZ SAID THE LINE

“the barrel doesn’t belong to kings. it belongs to bastards” KAZ IS ABOUT TO RECLAIM HIS MOTHER KETTERDAM

#can you tell i’m freaking out?? because i am #I AM SCREAMING AT THE SCREEN STOPPING WVERY THIRTY SECONDS TRYING TO REALIZE THAT YES I AM WATCHING THIS SHOW IT IS REALLY ON MY SCREEN #IM SOBBING AND SCREAMING ON THE FLOOR NOW #sab spoilers #sab #shadow and bone #shadow and bone netflix #sab netflix #grishaverse

[tapedsleeves]

🎁 and 🎥 for the ask meme

🎁if you had to give one of your fics as a birthday gift to someone which one would you give?

oh, man. I genuinely don't know? Most of my 6167 fics are like. Lowkey already dedicated to @himbeaux-on-ice, the current fic i'm writing is for @lurlur, and like. I give fics as gifts out like candy on halloween. Writing a thing *for* somebody is the best way to like, convince me to finish a thing.

Though, let's make this a bit harder: if I had to give one of my fics as a birthday gift to someone i know *in real life* and not someone I met through fandom first... technically i've already done this too. I gave a Ninej (six of crows) fic to one of my friends from college for their birthday in 2019....

The hard answer is that I'd give one of my eagle fanfics to my best friend from High School unprompted for her birthday bc she's the one who originally made me watch that movie & when i fell asleep (it was 4 am) made me watch it again and we realized it was so hella hella gay and changed the shading of my entire decade. @eeriedreams this one's for you. (bet you didn't expect her to have a tumblr, well joke's on you, all of my real life friends transcend into fandom) also hi sam, this is my hockey blog i love you.

🎥If you could make a movie/tv show for one of your fics which one would you chose?

a;lsdkfjals;dk this one is not hockey but i'll keep these crooked ways. it's the most episodic, it covers the most time, and it's the longest. also i just. Really want more canon throuples in television, you know? (chinhands) androids

ask meme

#hrpf #ask meme

[rhaenyratargayen]

I apologize in advance for the person I will become when we get to see ninej on screen

#my beloveds #ninej #soc #sab

[dazebras]

Paper Faces on Parade (Ninej Masquerade AU)

a/n: Part of the @grishaversebigbang Reverse Mini Bang 2022. Big thanks to @margot-arts​ for such a fun concept! Check out her amazing art here.

Summary:

Bastijn Morssink’s annual masquerade ball: A night of pageantry and loose inhibitions. An anonymous mingling of nationalities, classes, and enemies confined to Morssink’s Zeirfoort estate. There was no guest list; as long as a person fit the dress code, they’d not be turned away at the door.

It made the first part of Nina’s plan - entry to the grounds - ludicrously easy.

Read the full fic under the cut or on AO3.

Nights like this made Nina miss the little things about being a Corpralnik the most. Right now, her nose itched, and she wistfully recalled the days when she could soothe a minor discomfort without missing her makeup or clothes.

It was this damned mask. The gorgeous half-mask that tapered in sharp angles beneath each eye did wonders to accentuate her full lips, but the lace trim itched wherever it brushed against her cheek.

Still, it was required for Bastijn Morssink’s annual masquerade ball. A night of pageantry and loose inhibitions. An anonymous mingling of nationalities, classes, and enemies confined to Morssink’s Zeirfoort estate. There was no guest list; as long as a person fit the dress code, they’d not be turned away at the door.

It made the first part of Nina’s plan - entry to the grounds - ludicrously easy.

Ravkan intelligence indicated that Morssink had been buying abducted Ravkan citizens on the slave black market and falsifying their indenture contracts. Ravka had enough evidence to move on the mercher’s holdings, discreetly seizing his assets and liberating his indentures, but first they needed the name of his forger. If Ravkan operatives acted without that information, the forger could get spooked and go to ground before they learned who was forging documents for multiple slavers throughout Kerch. The name of the forger was speculated to be in a ledger kept in a floor safe in Morssink’s office.

It wasn’t Nina’s usual mission. Her skills as a Corpsewitch, as some called her now, were unlikely to come in handy. But, given her recent lack of attachment to anything - or anyone - keeping her in Ravka, she was one of a handful of operatives familiar enough with Kerch customs to blend in and willing to travel at a moment’s notice.

And, as she wandered the crowded ballroom, she admitted that she did not mind being assigned to play dress-up and attend a fancy party.

Like most of the female guests, Nina wore a shade vibrant enough to make a Barrel-born gangster sweat. The bright scarlet reminded her of her kefta, which was half the reason she had chosen it. The off-the-shoulder neckline of the tightly fitted bodice plunged to a daring level. Around her waist, the skirts billowed out into an exaggerated silhouette achieved by ruffled layers of silk and tulle.

Nina slipped amid the wallflowers and gossiping grandmothers who crowded the borders of the dance floor. The guests’ full skirts made it difficult, but she was nothing if not graceful. Finally, she spotted her target on the other side of the room - the buffet table.

The table was laden with tiny sandwiches sliced into delicate shapes, meticulously iced cakes and bonbons, succulent pink shrimp, soft cheese and fruits spreads ready to be slathered onto bits of herbed toast, and more. Nina sampled each with gusto. After only tasteless meals on the boat from Os Kervo, she didn’t let herself feel any guilt about overindulgence.

“You should try the Bossche Bollen next,” suggested a masculine voice to her left, just as Nina popped the last bite of something cheesy into her mouth. She turned to see a tall gentleman decked in a fine mercher suit and teal, satin mask. The matching teal lapel pin with the Morssink Trading insignia gave away his identity. He indicated a puff pastry half-dipped in chocolate. “They’re to die for.”

Nina smiled and licked her lips, noting that his eyes followed the movement intently. “They look divine.”

Morssink was right - the creme-filled pastry was delicious, if a bit messy. When she finished, she debated whether it was too rude to lick the chocolate smeared on her fingers and looked up to see Morssink offering her a handkerchief. She left her small plate off to the side and took the cotton square gratefully.

“I like a woman who knows how to enjoy the finer things in life.” Oh, he really was making this too easy, even if his flirting was enough to make Nina’s skin crawl. She was sure his wife enjoyed the finer things too, which was why she was at their country estate where she didn’t have to be around her husband. Or perhaps Morssink just didn’t want her to bear witness to his… indiscretions.

“Oh, I do have an appetite for fine things,” Nina purred. “But now I find myself a bit parched.”

And just like that, Nina found herself whisked away to the back halls with a promise of a bandy in the library.

The most eye-catching thing wasn’t the frankly tacky statuette of Ghezen’s Hand that formed the centerpiece of the room or the fact that the books were all grouped by color, proving that most of the tomes here were merely for show. It was the gorgeous, dark-eyed woman draped across the settee, clearly awaiting their arrival. Her sleek, amethyst satin gown and simple braid that cascaded over her shoulder made her stand out in comparison to the full skirts and elaborate up-dos of the rest of the guests in attendance tonight. A pair of gloves the same shade as her gown and a mask tipped with dyed violet feathers at the upper corners completed the costume.

Nina’s surprise at the other woman’s presence gave the Interloper, as Nina decided to call her, the advantage of the opening move.

“I’m so glad you found someone else to join us, Bastijn.” With a dancer’s grace, the woman slid off the settee and glided across the room to a decanter of golden red liquor, giving Nina an eyeful of the expanse of bronze skin revealed by the woman’s open-backed dress. “How many fingers should I pour?”

Nina lost Morssink’s response in the time it took her to weigh whether she should pretend to be put out. The Interloper presented the perfect distraction for Nina to slip the vault key from her mark’s neck but also introduced another pair of eyes she must avoid.

In the end, Nina chose to play it cool. She flirted with Morssink, pouted for him when he paid more attention to their third companion, made him feel as though he were the most interesting, charming man in Kerch.

But when she finally found the opportune moment to slide her hand inside Morrsink’s collar to unlatch the thin chain that held his vault key, she found it missing.

She glanced up to see the Interloper grinning slyly at her over Morssink’s shoulder, as if to say, “Looking for something?”

That little thief! Her confidence game had been easy enough to see through. Still, she’d expected the Interloper to be playing the long game for a spot as one of Morssink’s regular mistresses, a competition Nina had been happy to let her win in the end. Now she knew the woman was a direct threat to the success of her mission. There was likely no money in the vault - it was supposedly only the size of a small document safe - but the Interloper wouldn’t know that and would be unlikely to believe her if she tried to explain. Regardless, Nina had to get her alone if she wanted any chance at nabbing the key.

One deliberate spill down Morssink’s shirt and giggle about her “clumsiness” later had Morssink rushing to reassure her that it was a quick fix. He left, patting himself ineffectually with his sopping handkerchief, and promised to have someone fetch them to relocate to his “love nest.” Nina was surprised anyone could say that with a straight face, but then again, what did you call a room set aside for entertaining your mistresses within your marital home?

With Morssink gone, Nina finally had the chance to confront the Interloper. She rose and went to the decanter across the room to pour herself another finger of brandy - it really was good stuff - only to spin around at the sound of the library door creaking open. She witnessed only the hem of the Interloper’s amethyst dress fluttering behind her as she darted from the room. Racing to the door, Nina saw her meld into the crush of bodies beyond and disappear.

Nina was not one to be outdone, however. With the urgency of her mission spurring her on - and just a little bit of professional pride - Nina followed the Interloper into the throng, pressing between canoodling couples and dodging grandmothers with hors d'oeuvres plates.

Nina thought briefly that she might call out that she had witnessed a theft but quickly discarded the idea. The crowd’s attention would instantly turn to her, allowing the Interloper to slip away easily and would end with her being questioned by the Morssink’s guards instead. Still, she thought as she peered about the room, straining to catch a glimpse of the Interloper, it might not matter after all.

There!

The petite, brown-skinned woman pushing her way toward the exit to the estate’s family wing. She’d untied her braid, releasing a curtain of luscious black waves to flow down her back, but it did little to disguise her. It had taken Nina a moment longer to identify her, but there was no concealing that purple gown. While the dress must have done its part to catch Morssink’s eye earlier in the night, its unique silhouette now worked in Nina’s favor.

Nina shoved and twisted her way toward the exit with a singular focus, tossing half-hearted platitudes at the trail of glares behind her. Finally, she reached the woman and caught her by the shoulder just before she slipped out the door.

Immediately, the Interloper grabbed Nina by the wrist and spun her, ending with one hand on Nina’s waist and the other clasped in Nina’s own.

“That eager for a dance, are we?” she teased, loud enough for the nearby party-goers to hear.

Nina took in the curious eyes observing them and sized up the woman holding her. Amicably, she said, “I suppose I am.”

Their audience twittered approvingly and turned away appeased now that Nina’s rudeness had the excuse of young love to fuel it.

“Well, gorgeous? To what do I owe the honor?” the Interloper asked. Nina had to admit that the woman was a skilled dancer. She led Nina through the steps of the Kerch Waltz with easy confidence.

“The key to Morssink’s vault,” Nina answered. “You took it.”

“And I suppose you want it for yourself.” The Interloper flashed Nina a rakish grin as she steered her through another spin, pressing even closer to Nina when they rejoined the basic hold. “If only you’d been faster in your lift.”

The woman’s cockiness should have irritated Nina. Under any other circumstance, it would have. But with the bare skin of the Interloper’s shoulder blade under her palm and the ghost of her breath against her cheek, Nina found she couldn’t get too upset about it. The Interloper was right, after all. Nina had made a mistake by writing her off as a common swindler, a non-existent threat. And, it had been too long since she had been close to anyone like this. Not since -  It didn’t matter. What mattered now was getting that key and completing her mission.

“That’s right, I do,” Nina admitted. “What’ll it take for you to hand it over?”

As she said it, Nina ran her free hand across the woman’s nape, trying to discern whether she wore the object of their negotiation. The Interloper clucked at her mockingly. “You won’t find it so easily. You took long enough to catch up that I was able to hand it off to my accomplice. He’ll have already stashed it at our drop site. Or did you think I’d be so careless as to let you catch me with it on my person?”

To Nina’s chagrin, she hadn’t considered the possibility that the woman wasn’t working alone. This entire evening had been one distraction after another - from the spectacle of eye-watering colors to the beauty in front of her - all leading to Nina behaving like a complete amateur. She thanked her lucky stars that this was a solo mission with none of her colleagues to witness her blunders.

“A kiss,” the Interloper said. At Nina’s bemusement, she elaborated, “You asked me what I’d trade the vault key for. A kiss. From you.”

“A kiss? I was expecting you to demand half the kruge inside.”

“Are you shocked? I’ll admit, it’s a little more bold of me than I usually am. It’s the mask, I’ve decided.”

“My mask or yours?” Nina wondered.

“Mine. There’s no accountability where there’s anonymity.”

“Clever quip.”

“It’s true though. Don’t try to tell me you can’t feel it too. It wasn’t until tonight that I realized that’s the appeal of these sorts of parties. No one knows who you are under the mask, so as long as you wear it, you can be anyone you like.”

“There are no inhibitions.”

“And no consequences. At the end of the night, I’ll go my way, and you’ll go yours. We’ll never recognize each other even if by some small chance we happen to meet one day. So why shouldn’t I ask the pretty girl for a kiss?”

She was right, Nina realized. Perhaps that was what Nina had feld all evening - an untethered freedom. If she hadn't had her mission to keep her grounded, where might she have floated off to?

She thought, if not for that, she might have offered more than a kiss.

“One kiss,” Nina said firmly as the music began to wind down.

“Agreed.”

The Interloper led Nina out of the ballroom and up a roped-off staircase. The upstairs hall was deserted with no one to stop them. Finally, they stopped in front of a non-descript door that opened into an unused parlor, its furniture covered in white sheets.

“It’s under the couch at the back of the room,” the Interloper said. “But first, your end of the bargain.”

She tucked her hand around the back of Nina’s neck to pull her down to meet her lips. Nina went easily. The woman clearly had more experience with being kissed than doing the kissing, but her lips were soft and tasted faintly of sweet wine. Nina found herself leaning into the gentle press, savoring the sensuality. The moment seemed to stretch for an infinite, magical moment but still was over far too soon.

“Well, Nina breathed as the woman drew back. “Was that worth the trade?”

“Easily.”

Her smile made Nina wish she could recapture the woman's hot mouth, pull her solidly against her, and spend the rest of the night learning just how to make her melt. But Nina had already fallen behind schedule.

Reluctantly, Nina left the woman in the doorway and pulled back the sheet covering the couch the woman had indicated at the other end of the room.

She nearly missed the sound of the door pulling closed behind her, but the sound of the lock turning was unmistakable. At the same time, she realized that the space beneath the couch was empty of anything but undisturbed dust.

Nina flew to the door. She tried the handle, but it wouldn’t turn, and there was no way to unlock it from this side. Banding fruitlessly on the door, she shouted for the Interloper: “You little thief! Come back here!”

“Sorry, gorgeous.” Though the reply was muffled by the solid wood, the Interloper’s smugness was clearly audible. “You just weren’t at the top of your game tonight.”

“Open this door immediately,” Nina demanded. “You’re playing with things bigger than you realize. There’s more at stake here than the weight of your purse.”

“I know what’s at stake. Do you?” she hissed.

Before Nina could question her, a cry came from down the hallway. The sound of hurried footsteps - at least four sets - echoed from multiple directions. The guards!

“There she is! Grab her!”

Nina could do nothing but listen to the scuffle beyond the door from her prison turned hiding place. Judging by the pained yelp and colorful swearing, the Interloper seemed to have the upper hand to start. The meaty thud of flesh hitting flesh followed by a feminine whimper and a brief moment of silence signaled that the confrontation had ended in the guards’ favor.

“Here it is,” a gruff, masculine voice said. “Just like Morssink said. Damn, this bitch was armed to the teeth.”

“What the hell was she doing up here?” a second, more nasal voice asked.

“Who the fuck knows,” a third said. “Come help me with this.”

“One second,” said the nasal voice.

The door handle rattled. Nina held her breath, accidentally drawing in a lungful of dust. She fought the urge to sneeze, her eyes watering, as the door rattled again.

“Locked,” the nasally guard finally concluded. “Doesn’t look like she got in there.”

Nina strained to hear beyond the door, but the only other words the guards exchanged were an order to get their wounded comrade medical attention. Nina could just make out the soft grunt of a guard lifting hefting a body off the ground and their retreat down the hallway.

Nina couldn’t even feel relief at not being found. Since the Interloper still had the key, tonight’s mission would be a failure if she didn’t intervene. Ravakan intelligence could send in a proper lockpick on a second try at breaking into the vault, but every day they wasted meant more information slipped through their fingers. Which in turn meant more people would get hurt, a possibility Nina found unacceptable. Not to mention what Morssink and his employers would do to the Interloper. He hadn’t shown a particular taste for violence, but he protected sensitive information for people who did. And, with the Interloper’s earlier trick, Nina was fairly certain her earlier quip about an accomplice was a bluff. If Nina didn’t help her, the Interloper’s chances of escape were slim.

Nina threw her weight against the door once more, knowing it was unlikely to do any good. When it didn’t budge, she examined the parlor with new intent. The room was stripped of all decoration, save for the dust covers that hid the sofas and side tables. A brick fireplace dominated one wall; the rest were bare.

There were only three exits: the door, the chimney, and the window on the far wall. The door was useless, and she was unlikely to fit in the narrow chimney, even if there wasn’t a grate somewhere further up to keep animals from crawling inside. Window it was!

The window fought Nina, sticking to the sill as she raised the lower panes. Finally, she had raised it high enough to unlatch the shutters and push them aside. It was her lucky day - an empty flower bed with a bit of decorative, cast iron fencing was built into the wall outside the window. And, as she leaned out to get a better look, she saw the room next door had a similar ledge installed. She had really not been looking forward to the prospect of rappelling to the ground on those filthy white sheets.

Nina shimmied through the window, her gown making it more difficult by half. The fencing did little to make her feel safer. At a smidge taller than knee-height, it required a bit of coordination to clamber over both sets, even though the window ledges were close enough to step from one to another. Inej, she thought, would have leaped from one to the other as easily as breathing. The Interloper, with her dancer’s grace, would probably not have much trouble either.

Nina cursed the time it took her to unstick the shutters and break the top window pane with her shoe so she could unlatch it. She tore a bit of fluff from her underskirts to protect her arms from broken glass as she reached through. She scrambled through the window, narrowly avoiding a tumble into an empty bookcase. The door to this room thankfully unlocked from inside.

Where would Morssink’s guards have taken the Interloper? He didn’t have any sort of holding cells that Nina was aware of. They’d removed her from this floor, but with all the guests about, it’d be a risk to question her in one of the publicly accessible rooms. No, it had to be somewhere more private.

The secret “love nest” he'd bragged about. He’d said it was remote, which would keep the guests from interfering with whatever he had planned.

Nina realized she knew where it was. One of the notes in her intelligence dossier had mentioned a number of construction laborers stationed in the field by the side garden a few summers ago, but more recent surveys of the grounds by Ravkan operatives showed nothing had visibly changed. Morssink’s hideaway must be somewhere nearby.

Nina raced down the stairs as quickly as her skirts would allow. There was little she could do to be stealthy in a bright crimson ball gown, so she opted for speed. Who knew how long the Interloper could hold out?

She passed a pair of lovers tucked away between the hedges on her sprint through the garden, but they paid her no mind. It grew even more deserted the further from the house she ran. Nina peeled around the corner of a final hedge into an open work area in front of a small gardener's shack.

Right in front of two armed guards.

To their credit, the two goons were quick to act, leveling their pistols at her. Looks like she was in the right place.

“Woah, woah,” Nina said, pitching her voice a little higher than normal. She raised her hands up beside her head and did her best to appear non-threatening. “There’s no need for that. I’m a guest, not an intruder.”

The two guards shared a look. The bigger of the two spoke up, “You can’t be back here, Miss. This area’s off limits.”

“I’m so sorry about that,” she said with a genial smile, inching closer. “My boyfriend and I were playing a silly game. I took a wrong turn and got a little lost. Maybe you could help me find my way back to the party?”

“We really can’t leave our station,” Goon Number Two said.

“I’m really terrible at directions, though. It wouldn’t take but a minute. And it would save me the trouble of having to complain to Herr Morssink about how his staff left me to wander the dark alone for hours.”

The thought of her complaining to their boss made the goons visibly uncomfortable, but Nina didn’t care, because now? Now, she was within arm’s reach of them.

It doesn’t take much for a man to underestimate a woman - a fancy dress and a ditzy voice will usually do the trick. It also doesn’t take much to dislocate a man’s knee, only a sharp kick delivered to the outside of the joint. From there, Nina’s Second Army training had them disarmed and on the ground unconscious within a matter of minutes.

Nina grabbed one of the pistols. Even if she didn’t much like the things, there was no sense in walking into a hostile situation unarmed.

The shack looked like an unused gardener’s tool shed from the outside. Inside, though, a gilt, marble staircase descended into an underground bunker.

From the top, Nina didn’t have a good angle to see into the apartment below. She listened for a moment, trying to get a sense of what waited for her. Four voices: Morssink asking increasingly frustrated questions about the Interloper’s employer, her refusal to answer, and two more goons squabbling over whose turn it was to hit her for the cheek.

Nina crept part of the way down the staircase to get a better view, obscuring her pistol behind the folds of her skirt.

Morssink’s back was to her. He was perched on the edge of a sofa, leaning into the Interloper’s face. A pistol and a glass of something strong sat on the table beside him in easy reach. Someone had shoved the coffee table against the wall and replaced it with a kitchen chair from the breakfast nook. Coils of rope held the Interloper barely upright. Her head drooped to her chest, that dark curtain of hair obscuring her face. Morssink’s hired muscle loomed menacingly at either shoulder. As one of them leaned closer to the Interloper, Nina caught sight of another pistol in his shoulder holster.

Two guns, then - probably three. There was little cover on this side of the lounge if things turned into a firefight, Nina wasn’t a quick enough shot to take out more than one before the other two gunned her down. She’d have to make her one shot count.

“I can’t believe you boys decided to start the party without me,” she drawled, slinking further down the stairs.

Immediately, all three men’s attention snapped to her. The two guards drew their pistols.

Morssink’s expression cycled comically through shock to rage. “You! I should have known!”

But Nina’s focus wasn’t on them. Her world narrowed, and time dilated as the Interloper looked up.

She looked up, and the hair fell from her face.

She looked up, and the hair fell back from her face, and her face was bare.

She looked up, and the hair fell back from her face, and her face was bare, and Nina knew her.

“Inej?” Nina croaked.

Before she had time to read Inej’s surprise to see if she’d been recognized too, her sense of awareness rushed back in.

Morssink had grabbed his pistol off the side table and now pointed it at Inej’s head. “I should have known you two were working together. You thought you were so clever, but now I have you both. Guards, seize her!”

The guards clearly thought she wouldn’t fight with a gun pressed to her friend’s temple. They holstered their guns and stalked toward her with typical meathead confidence. Their mistake. Nina let them both grab her and pull her bodily off the stairs. But before they could realize she was armed, she squeezed off a shot into the nearest goon’s thigh. He went down immediately, clutching at the inside of his thigh. It earned her a sharp punch to the head that left her dizzy, but Nina didn’t care. All she had to do now was wait.

It was clear none of the men in the room, the injured one included, realized how quickly a person could bleed out from a wound to the femoral artery, or they’d be getting their friend medical attention instead of tying her to a second kitchen chair and ignoring his increasingly weak curses.

Morssink’s attempts at interrogation were even more pathetic up close. For an interrogation to have any chance of extracting useful information, the interrogator needed to project a mein of control. Morssink’s jitteriness and half-drunken slurring said he wasn’t in control of himself, much less the situation.

“Who are you working for?” the Mercher demanded.

He’d been working Inej over for the answer to this question for as long as Nina had been listening, but she decided to let him have it for free. After all, Nina had made up her mind that he wasn’t leaving this room alive. Even so, she had a little fun by answering in her mother tongue first, “Ravkan intelligence.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Inej’s lips twitching in amusement.

The answer seemed to make Morssink as furious as if she’d remained silent. He slapped her solidly across the face. “In Kerch.”

“Ravkan intelligence,” she answered primly around her stinging cheek.

“What the fuck to the Ravkans want with me?”

“We want the forger.” She had to keep his attention until the dying guard’s heartbeat stopped. Three more minutes, maybe less. Already, she could feel him drifting closer and closer to her - a fuzzy image whose detail drew sharper as it drew near. “Maybe you can tell me about him. His name, for instance?”

“I’ll ask the questions around here.”

“Then try asking ones that aren’t so boring.”

“Say for a minute I believe you. The Ravkans want my forger. What information did you think you were going to find? The man’s a ghost! I’ve never even met him face-to-face!”

Whatever information Morssink’s vault had was going to be more than the idiot himself could tell them. Still, she entertained his questioning long enough for the unlucky guard to bleed out on the floor.

It was a strange sensation, feeling someone die. As a Heartrender, she’d been able to track the moment when a person passed from Something into Nothing, as lifeless as a brick to her. Since the parem had mutated her powers, it was the reverse. She was sense blind until someone died, a Something appearing at her fingertips.

Nina curled her fingers and brought the corpse of the guard to his knees. Inej seemed to sense Nina’s concentration shift elsewhere, and Nina dimly heard her address Morssink; though, she paid it little mind. Puppetting a corpse was easier than controlling the body of a living human - there was no intelligence to resist the Grisha’s direction - but it still required focus to coordinate all the moving parts. Especially when the Corpsewitch’s ears were still ringing from multiple blows to the head.

Nina got her corpse soldier to its feet and set it stumbling toward the living guard. A violent twist of her wrist burned her skin against her rope bonds, but the corpse soldier’s hand clenched around the guard’s neck and crunched.

Inej did not waste Nina’s distractions. Her ropes parted like butter under her knife, and quick as a flash, she buried the blade in Morssink’s stomach.

“They never even bothered to check my gloves,” she said, plunging the blade again into his chest.

With their enemies dead around them, Nina let her corpse soldier all to the ground and sagged back against her bindings. Inej turned from Morssink, the vault key dangling from its chain around her neck, and grimaced at Nina sympathetically. She winced when the look pulled at her own injuries.

“Let me get you out of those.”

Nina waited patiently while Inej cut her bindings. “I’m surprised to see you in that color. I thought you hated purple?”

“It was all I could find on short notice,” Inej said wryly. “This shade doesn’t bring back as many bad memories as some.”

“You know, it seems like we were after the vault for the same reason after all,” she said. When they were free, she rubbed at her sore wrists while Inej saw to the ones around her ankles.

“Looks like it. I didn’t know the Crown was interested in it.”

“Well,” Nina said with a smile, “it seems like we were a step behind the Wraith. As usual.”

Nina liked the flattered smile that painted Inej’s lips. She swallowed thickly when she remembered she had kissed those same lips not an hour ago.

It looked like Inej had the same thought because she shot to her feet and turned to hide her reddening cheeks. “We should probably move. There were more guards upstairs.”

“They were taking a nap last time I saw them, but I agree. Will you be able to get in and out of the vault without any trouble?”

“Without you trailing behind, trying to snatch the key from me, I should manage.” Her glibness faded and was replaced with genuine concern. “What about you?”

“I’ll be fine. I have a safehouse here in the city.”

“No, I mean your mission. You won’t get in trouble when you return empty handed?”

“My handler won’t be happy. But I think the Crown will agree the information is in good hands.”

“Give me two days with it. Then I’ll hand over the files. You’ll know where to meet me.”

Nina spent those two days in her showbox of a safehouse stewing over what she would say to Inej when they met for the handoff. They were old friends, but now Nina had had a glimpse of something more. Who would they be if those party masks were their true faces?

But they weren’t. Both women had baggage, had a lot to lose, had things they couldn’t and wouldn’t sacrifice for anyone. Not an old friend and not a lover.

Even so, Nina craved that closeness with someone, with Inej, if her flirtatiousness meant she was unattached.

On the second day, her mind made up, Nina went out for waffles.

#gvbbrmb22 #gvbbrmbfic22 #gang 24 #six of crows #ninej #fanfiction #made by me

[jackwolfes]

is there anything you like about noncanon couples (kylan, ninej, kazper, woost)?

oooh ok. so i will answer this in a romantic and/or sexy sense, rather than a platonic sense because "what are your favourite crow friendships" is a WHOLE OTHER kettle of fish 😂 as is poly ships tbh!! so feel free to ask about those if so inclined

i think one of SOCs greatest strengths is the way it does interpersonal relationships!! so i think there's a LOT of potential for any ship, really, save for (non-platonic) wylan/nina or wylan/inej bc that boy gay as fuck. i think that i can see kind of any other pairing work in a romantic or sexy context! but using the ones you listed:

kylan: i think it has horny potential but it always takes a bit of creative licence and detachment from what i think the charactesr would actually do. i don't think i could ever write or enjoy it in a romantic sense but like, two people that fuck around in a slightly dysfunctional way? yes, good. it's fun to write!

ninej: when i first read SOC this was actually my lil otp! i think their friendship is wonderful and love love love them finding comfort and affection with each other, and specifically inej learning how to like, trust other people (and frankly other sex workers???) with nina. i slip it into a lot of my AUs in a really subtle sense and would love to write more! but dont trust fandom to give non canon wlw ships any engagement whoops

kazper: as you may well know i used to fucking hate kazper 😅 i found the balance really hard to get right and really hard to enjoy if it was even slightly off for me? but i've come round to it!

side note i also think wywei is underutilised and want to add it into more AUs! like, wylan & kuwei who used to date and/or fuck around and probably had a messy break up but are still sort of kind of friends, yknow?

also fuck woost

#long post #im not sorry i rambled lfjasdsfa #soc #asks #doorsclosingslowly