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#yes this was inspired by helnik
ithinkhemeows · 2 years
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Ladies and gentlemen ... THE CROWS
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trassellynn · 3 years
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@grishatober 2020 DAY 04: Canon Ships - HELNIK (Little note: In my headcanons, the Queen’s Garden is a huge park in Ravka Nikolai built in honor to his wife. Zoya, of course.) Can also find on Ao3 here
LITTLE RUBY BIRD  A few things in the world brought a wonderful sense of peace and calm like sitting in the Queen's Garden, near to the lake shore. Three large towels laid on the grass. Nina was picking her third waffle from the wicker basket next to her, a satisfied smile on her lips. She let her little Aenya, who was sitting on her lap, take a bite, kissing her plump cheek and cleaning the syrup on her mouth with a napkin. Some crumbles fell on the red gown of her dress, but Nina didn’t mind it and bit the waffle with a delighted expression on her face. Djel, what an enchanting vision... Matthias was lying on his side, his chin rested on his hand. He was totally unable to look away, he could literally spend hours staring at his beloved wife. It didn't matter what she was doing or what she was wearing. She was always the most stunning, beautiful, amazing woman on earth to him. And when Aenya's incredible cuteness was added to the entire portrait, well, his heart started to melt and rebuild and melt again thousand time. On the towels, Kuwei and Wylan were enjoying some waffles too, while Inej and Jesper were playing with Trass and Kaz was reading a book, occasionally raising his glance to admire the young Suli's smile. Yes, it was a beautiful day, the Fjerdan thought, the ideal day to spend with their family and... to take the occasion to venerate his wife with a present he bought a week before. Matthias exchanged a quick glance with each of their friends, then, he slowly put out of his pocket a little, oval box. He smiled, turning his head to Nina, he couldn't wait to call her and see her surprised reaction... and then... everything happened in the matter of a few seconds. Trassel ran to him, barking happily, his fangs caught the little box, taking it away from the young man's hand. “No! Trass, no, come back here!” Nina widened her green eyes, visibly confused, as her husband and their friends suddenly started to chase the large, white wolf, yelling him to stop. “Trass!” The animal turned around, folding his front legs, a playful growl from his throat. Inej reached him and pretended to hug him but, when she tried to move her hand towards his mouth, Trassel freed himself from her grip with a jump, making her fall on the grass. Completely deaf to Kaz's curses and insults, Trass approached Wylan, letting his fingers go close to the new toy into his mouth, then, he made him fall too, running between his legs. “Trass, stop!” Matthias didn't feel brave enough to pay attention to the reactions of people around them, he just wanted to lay down and cry. It was since he bought Nina that present he couldn't wait to give it to her and now he risked to see it ruined or lost. He saw Kuwei running stealthily behind a tree, so he and Jesper started to distract the wolf with weird movements and silly calls. “Hey, Trassie! We're here! We're going to throw you the toy!” “No take, only throw, right, Trassie?” Trassel made a couple of festive jumps, clearly appreciating all those attentions, but a terrified thrill ran down Matthias' back when the animal started to shake his head, growling. “He's going to damage the present!” the Fjerdan thought, desperation growing into his chest. Kuwei slowly came out from his hiding place, behind Trass. Before the creature could realise it, the young scientist grabbed him, his arms around the wolf's waist. Matthias and Jesper immediately went to help him and, finally, the blonde giant was able to take the box from Trassel's mouth. The animal freed himself again, barking and looking at his human mate, filled with expectations. “No, Trass. I won't throw this” the young man said. He felt a bit guilty and saddened, thinking he would have disappointed his beloved wolf, but, luckily, Inej reached them with a stick in her hand. “Hey, Trass, look at this!” With everyone's huge relief, Trassel's attention went to the new toy. Inej threw the stick and he quickly ran after it, catching it in mid air and shaking his head, growling. “Thank you guys...” Matthias sighed. “Luckily, the box seems to be in good conditions... just a bit wet...” He walked to the lake shore, immersed the little box into the water, cleaning it, and, when he walked back to the towels, Nina was still laughing, her full cheeks bright red, holding Aenya close to her soft chest. How beautiful she was... “Saints!” she said, trying to regularize her breath. “It has been one of the most memorable scenes ever!” “Glad you enjoyed it,” Kaz grunted, sitting down. “It wasn't the same for us.” “Hush, Mr Grumpy” Inej whispered him softly, hugging him from behind and resting her head against his shoulder. Matthias sat next to his wife, a timid smile on his face: “I'm sorry, love... I... I wanted to give you this, but...” “A present for me?” Her beautiful smile widened: “Look, Aeny, papa has a surprise for mama! Guys, did you know it?” “We actually helped him to choose it” Jesper laughed. “Well, now I understand why you have acted so weird since this morning...” She let Wylan take Aenya in his arms, then, she took the little box Matthias was handing her and she opened it. Her jaw dropped and she let a delighted gasp out: into the box, there was a beautiful necklace, with a bird shaped ruby pendant. “I love it” she whispered, blessing her husband with the brightest of her smiles. She exposed her neck, keeping her hair up. Matthias tried to tie the necklace, but his huge hands were trembling and... Djel, how was he supposed to coordinate his movements, when she was looking at him in that way... “My...  my fingers are too big...” he murmured, blushing. “I cannot...” “Wait, I'll help you.” Kuwei laughed, kneeling behind Nina and rapidly fixing the problem. Matthias opened his mouth to thank him again, when the young woman wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips against his. His thought became fog, as he held her closer, his hands rubbing her back and her soft hips. “I love you” she whispered. “I love you so much. Thank you for the present, it's beautiful.” The Fjerdan tried to reply something, when Trassel walked onto the towels, pressing his head against his human friend's arm. He still had the stick Inej threw him into his mouth and he looked Matthias with playful eyes. Everyone let a giggle out. “Okay, Trass, okay,” the giant said, smiling. “No take. Only throw.”
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him-e · 3 years
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what did you think of shadow and bone? have you read the books? i only read the duology
Thoughts on Shadow and Bone, now that you've probably seen it?
I think the show is alright? It lacks a real wow factor as far as I’m concerned, but it’s enjoyable. It’s especially enjoyable in those parts I didn’t anticipate to like / didn’t even know would be there. 
Whereas the main selling points leave a lot to be desired.
The good stuff: the visuals. The aesthetic. The overall concept. Production, casting and costumes are excellent, the setting is fascinating. The worldbuilding isn’t perfect and is sometimes confusing, which is probably due to the show jumping ahead of the books and introducing elements that happen much later in the book saga, but I’m loving the vague steampunk-y vibe of it mixed with more typical fantasy stuff and slavic-inspired lore, the fact that it’s set in dystopian Russia rather than your usual ye olde England.
I find it interesting that in this ‘verse the Grisha are simultaneously superstars, privileged elite, legendary creatures and despised outcasts, according to the context and the type of magic they wield. It’s A Lot, and so far it’s all a bit underdeveloped and messy, like a patchwork of different narratives and tropes sewn together without an organic worldbuilding structure. (there are hints to a past when they were hunted, but how did they go from that to being, essentially, an institutionalized asset to the government isn’t clear yet. There’s huge narrative potential in this, and I hope future seasons will delve into those aspects)
Many of the supporting characters are surprisingly solid. I appreciated that Genya and Zoya eventually sort of traded places, subverting the audience’s assumptions about them and their own character stereotypes, despite the little screentime they were given.
Breakout characters/ships for me were Nina/Matthias, and even more so the Crows, i.e. the stuff I didn’t see coming and knew nothing about (having only read the first book). (I thought the entire Crows subplot was handled in a somewhat convoluted way, at least in the first episodes; it was hard to keep track of who wanted Alina and why, but the Crows’ chemistry is so strong it carried the whole Plot B on its shoulders).
HELNIK. As an enemies to lovers dynamic, Helnik was SUPER on the nose, I’d say bordering on clichéd with the unapologetic, straight outta fanfiction use of classic tropes like “we need to team up to survive” and “there’s only one bed and we’ll freeze to death if we don’t take our conveniently damp clothes off and keep each other warm with the heat of our naked bodies” (not that I’m complaining, but i like to pine for my ships a bit before getting to the juicy tropetown part, tyvm). And then they’re suddenly on opposite sides again because of a tragic misunderstanding - does Bardugo hate high-conflict dynamics? It certainly seems so, because between Helnik and Darklina I’m starting to see a pattern where the slow burn and blossoming mutual trust is rushed and painted in broad, stereotypical strokes to get as fast as possible to the part where they *hate each other again* and that’s... huh. Something.
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^That’s probably why I’m almost more interested in Kaz x Inej, because their relationship feels a bit more nuanced, a bit more mysterious, and a bit more unpredictable. (I didn’t bother spoiling myself about them, so I really don’t know where they’re going, but it’s refreshing to see a dynamic that the narrative isn’t scrambling to define in one direction or the other as quickly as possible)
-
Now, as for Darklina VS Malina... I found exactly what I expected. 
Both are ship dynamics I’m, on principle, very much into (light heroine/dark villain, pining friends to lovers) but both are also much less interesting than they claim to be, or could have been with different narrative choices. I’ll concede that the show characters are all more fleshed out and likable than their book counterparts, and the cringe parts I vaguely remembered from the books played out differently. And, well, Ben Barnes dominates the scene, he’s hot as HELL, literally every single second he’s on screen is a fuck you to Bardugo’s attempts to make his character lame and uninteresting and I’m LOVING it, lol.
But yeah, B Barnes aside, Darklina is intrinsically, deliberately made to be unshippable. 
It makes me mad, because it’s - archetypally speaking - made of shipping dynamite: yin/yang-sun and moon, opposites attract, COMPLEMENTARY POWERS AND SO ON. And what does Bardugo do with these ingredients? A FUCKING DELIBERATE DISASTER:
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^ Placing the kiss so early on (season 1, episode five) effectively kills the romantic tension that was (correctly) building up until that point, and leaves the audience very little to still hope for, in terms of emotional evolution of the dynamic. 
Bardugo lays all the good stuff down as early and quickly as possible (the bonding, the conflicted attraction, the recognizing the other as one’s equal, etc) only to turn the tables and pull the rug so y’all sick creepyshippers won’t have anything to look forward to, because THEY’VE ALREADY HOOKED UP AND THAT BELONGS TO THE PAST, IT’S OVER, THEY’RE ENEMIES. This, combined to the fact that she falls for him *without* knowing who he really is, is the opposite of what I want from a heroine/villain ship (it’s basically lovers to enemies, and while that can be valid too, I wanted to see more pining and more prolonged, tormented symbolic attraction to the Shadow/Animus on Alina’s part). 
But here’s the trick: it’s not marketed as lovers to enemies - it has all the aesthetics and trappings of an enemies to lovers (the Darkling is, from the get go, villain-presenting, starting from his name), so it genuinely feels like a trollfic, or at the very least a cautionary tale *against* shipping the heroine with the tall dark brooding young villain, and I don’t think it’s cool at all. It makes the story WAY less interesting, because it humanizes the villain early on (when it’s not yet useful or poignant to the story, because it’s unearned) but it’s a red herring. The real plot twist is that the villain shouldn’t be sympathized with, just defeated: there’s a promise of nuanced storytelling, that is quickly denied and tossed aside. So is the idea of incorporating your Shadow (a notion that Bardugo must be familiar with, otherwise she wouldn’t have structured Alina and the Darkling as polar opposites who complement each other, but that she categorically refutes)
Then we have Malina. The good ship.
Look, I’m not that biased against it. I don’t want to be biased on principle against a friends to lovers dynamic that antagonizes a heroine/villain one, because every narrative is different, and for personal reasons I can deeply relate to the idea of being (unspeakably) in love with your best friend. So there are aspects of Malina that I can definitely be into, but it troubles me that in this specific context it’s framed as a regression. It’s Alina’s comfort zone, a fading dream of happiness from an idealized childhood, to sustain which the heroine systematically stunts her growth and literally repressed her own powers, something that in the books made her sickly and weak. But the narrative weirdly romanticizes this codependency, often making her tunnel vision re: going back to Mal her primary goal and centering on him her entire backstory/motivation, to the point that when she starts acting more serious re: her powers and alleged mission to destroy the Fold, it feels inorganic and unearned. 
Mal is intrinsically extraneous to Alina’s powers, he doesn’t share them, he doesn’t understand them, he has little to offer to help her with them, and so the feeling is that he’s also extraneous to her heroine’s journey, aside from being a sort of sidekick or safe harbor to eventually come back to. People have compared him to Raoul from Phantom of the Opera, and yeah, he has the same ~magic neutralizer~ vibe, tbh.
The narrative also polarizes Mal’s normalcy and relative “safety” against Aleksander’s sexy evil, framing Alina’s quasi-platonic fixation on the former as a better and purer form of love than her (much more visible and palpable) attraction to the latter. This is exacerbated by the show almost entirely relying on scenes of them as kids to convey their bond. I’m sure there are ways to depict innocent pining for your best friend that don’t involve obsessively focusing on flashbacks of two CHILDREN running in a meadow and looking exactly like brother and sister. LIKE. I get it, they’re like soulmates in every possible way, BUT DO THEY WANT TO KISS EACH OTHER?
Which brings me to a general complain: for a young adult saga centering on a young heroine and full of so many hot people, this story is weirdly unsexy? There are a lot of shippable dynamics, but they’re done in such a careless, ineffective way that makes ZERO EFFORT to work on stuff like slow burn, pining and romantic tension, and when it does it’s so heavy handed that the viewer doesn’t feel encouraged at all to fill the blanks with their imagination and start anticipating things (which is, imo, the ESSENCE of shipping). The one dynamic that got vaguely close to this is, again, Kaz and Inej, and coincidentally it’s also the one we didn’t get confirmed as romantic YET. Other than that, where’s the slow burn? What ship am I supposed to agonize over during the hiatus to season two? Has shipping become something to feel ashamed of, like an embarrassing relative you no longer want to invite in your home?
Anyway, back to Alina/Darkling/Mal, this is how the story reads to me:
girl suspects to be special, carefully pretends to be normal so she can stay with Good Boy
the girl’s powers eventually manifest; she’s forcibly separated from Good Boy
the girl’s powers attract Bad Boy who is her equal and opposite but is also a major asshole
girl initially falls for Bad Boy; has to learn a hard lesson that nobody that sexy will ever want her for who she is, he’s just trying to exploit her
also, no, there is no such thing as a Power Couple
girl is literally given a slave collar by Bad Boy through which he harnesses her power (a parody of the Twin Scars trope)
you know how the story initially suggested that the joint powers of Darkness and Light would defeat evil? LOL NO, Darkness is actually evil itself and the way you destroy evil is using Light to destroy Darkness, forget that whole Jungian bullshit of integrating your shadow, silly!
conclusion: girl realizes being special sucks. She was right all along! Hiding and suppressing her powers was the best choice! She goes back to the start, to the same Good Boy she was meekly pining for prior to the start of the story.
... there’s an uncomfortable overall subtext that reads a lot like a cautionary tale against - look, not just against darkships and villain/heroine pairings, but also *overpowered* heroines and, well... change? Growth?
Like, it’s certainly a Choice that Alina starts the story *already* in love with Mal. That she always knew it was him. The realization could have happened later (making the dynamic much more shippable, too), but no. 
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ineffablebooklover · 3 years
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Oh goodness, I'm terrible at writing prompts, hmm......
Are you familiar with D&D/Pathfinder/tabletop RPG's in general? I'd love to see The Crows rolling up characters and playing a one-shot. I can't decide if I'd rather Kaz or Jesper be the GM. Both sound horribly great. 😆
Otherwise, in a very un-original but beloved AU, I'd love to see HP Drarry and Romione + SoC Kanej, Wesper, and Helnik in some kind of Coffee Shop setting (I owned my own shop for the better part of a decade, so I love those).
And Matthias always being alive, please, if you do either of these. ;)
And I don't care about fic length; whatever you feel inspired to do!
💜
The Crow Cafe Coffee Shop AU~ with the Crows, Ronmione, and Drarry
authors note: I got a bit carried away with the idea, and I added some plot. There’s going to be multiple parts to this (yay!) so I guess keep in tune!
Part 1. Kaz’s Crow Cafe
There is a cafe, down some streets in Downtown Ketterdam’s Stave, run by a boy and his friends. There, you can find stories, romance, and most importantly, a decent cup of coffee.
“Not for my coffee, you podge,” Kaz scoffed, slapping away Jesper’s offer of sugar with a glove-clad hand. “I’m just saying sugar prices are getting higher. We need to compensate for this fact.”
Kaz waited for questions, looking around the table. No one said anything. Kaz looked directly at Jesper, who sighed, taking back the sugar and dumping it in his own coffee.
“And how do you want us to do that?”
It was a chilly Saturday morning in early-September, and Kaz was giving his Saturday morning pre-opening briefing.
“Kaz, people come here for the low coffee prices. We can’t hike the prices really high,” Inej added. Jesper nodded, grabbing another packet of sugar.
Kaz sighed. “I know. I’m working on it. Just thought I’d let you two know.”
“Don't mind if I do,” Jesper cut in, pouring the sugar in his overly-caffeinated drink, “but shouldn’t good old Mr. Haskell be thinking about this instead of us?”
Kaz sipped his coffee, shrugging. “‘Old Mr. Haskell’, as you say Jesper, is old and inert.” Kaz sent a glance Inej’s way. “He won’t be doing much about it.”
Jesper just chugged his coffee, bouncing up and ready to start the day.
“Jesper, was it wise to take in that much sugar and caffeine?” Inej inquired as Jesper bounced around the shop.
“Probably, not,” Jesper grinned, flipping the sign to ‘Open’ as a few early-risers started to form a line in front of the Cafe.
A girl with tied back light brown hair entered the cafe first, a stack of textbooks and notebooks in her arms. She ordered a coffee and a pastry, and started working at a table.
She was followed by a tall, burly, blond male who Kaz was sure he’d seen before. Trailing him was Nina, a girl Kaz knew from previous jobs he had done with her to help keep up the profits. Next to the composed blond dude, Nina looked dead tired.
“Why do we even have to get up this early?” Nina whined.
“I have to do things later today and Sunday, this is a good time to work on the project,” the blond replied.
Nina groaned. “Good for you. I was going to get my beauty sleep.”
“Well you get to have a beautiful coffee instead,” Jesper said cheerfully. “Good morning, Nina! What will it be for you and your…” Jesper looked the blonde up and down. “...this hunk of a man, here?”
Nina smirked tiredly. “Yeah, that’s my hunk of a man to you,” she pointed a lazy finger at Jesper.
The blond huffed. “So impudent and improper. My name is Matthias. I will have a black coffee.”
Jesper typed it into his screen quickly. “And no cream, no sugar, nothing sweet?”
Matthias shook his head.
“Anyways, I’ll have a mocha, like 10 shots of coffee and lots of creamer,” Nina cut in.
Jespers slender fingers flew across the board. “Okay so that’s one coffee as bitter as Kaz’s soul, and a mocha with 4 shots of espresso and half of it basically milk. Is that all for today?”
Nina scanned the pastry rack and ordered two chocolate chip muffins. The two sat down, getting stuff out for a project.
Meanwhile, Inej bounced around in her athletic wear, preparing coffees. She finished one for the girl named Hermione, grabbed the apple strudel she wanted, and headed over.
“Hermione?”
Hermione turned, and greeted Inej with a smile. “Thank you. I’ll take those.”
Inej noticed the bigger table Hermione had chosen, and tilted her head. “Are you waiting for someone?”
Hermione nodded. “Yes, my friends. They’re supposed to be here in about an hour, I’m just catching up on studying before they come. Is that alright with…” Hermione stared into the distance, where Kaz stood ominously staring at Inej.
“Oh he… he’s alright.,” Inej lifted a hand to wave at Kaz, who noticed and looked away. “That’s Kaz for you,” she mumbled under her breath.
“Pardon?” Hermione asked.
Inej just laughed nervously, brushing it off. “Enjoy your breakfast!” Inej went back to making coffee behind the counter watching Jesper chat up customers left and right. Inej was glad for his enthusiasm so early in the morning, she never liked taking Saturday morning shifts at 6AM, especially if they had meetings at 5:45.
“How’s it going Jesper?” Inej asked while preparing another cup. Jesper nearly jumped out of his skin.
“Holy- oh Inej. Oh Inej don’t sneak up on me like that. Besides that, I’m doing fine!”
Inej nodded and disappeared behind towers of cups and spouts of coffee. She prepared Nina’s things and brought it over. The two seemed to be arguing.
“I’m just saying- ooh, food!” Nina gasped, sitting up straight for the first time that morning. Inej smiled, placing the coffee and muffins down on the table. Matthias just watched her, arms crossed.
“Enjoy the food,” Inej smiled, then went back to the counter.
Kaz watched her silently from the side, then, noticing the line, straightened his gloves and walked over to help make coffee. They went through orders silently, Inej doing all of the walking, but they enjoyed each other's company. Inej and Kaz would work on an order or two, Kaz would place his finished ones on a counter for Inej to take. While Inej was gone, Kaz would get started on the next thing, and so on.
Eventually, Kaz went into the back and disappeared for a while, leaving Inej with the coffee work.
By this time, Hermione’s friends had come, and their study group looked like they were having a great time, though only ⅓ of them seemed to actually be doing any studying.
By 8, Inej and Jesper switched spots. Inej found that Jesper still loved people-watching, even behind the counter. Or... was he looking for someone?
Her suspicions were correct when a boy walked in, with ruddy, orange-brown curls. Jesper leaned into her, pointing him out. “I think he’s starting to be a consistent customer. At least on weekends. Have you seen him around school?”
Inej had in fact seen him around school. His name was Wylan and he was in Kaz’s math class, and in her Art and Gym class. During lunch, he was usually just drawing something or doing math homework by himself.
Inej nodded, then went back to a customer, leaving Jesper to speculate by himself.
When the boy with golden-brown curls stepped up, she asked what he wanted.
He looked up at the board for less than a second, then back to Inej. “I’ll have an iced coffee. With the cream.” Inej nodded and punched it into the computer.
“Your name?” She asked.
“Wylan,” Wylan smiled. Inej pretended to punch it in as if she hadn’t already.
“And… if you want, the Crow Cafe is thinking of starting a sort of rewards club for regular members. There’s more info up on the board, but all we need is your number,” Inej added effortlessly.
Wylan looked up at the board and back to Inej. “Uh… sure,” he said tentatively. He gave her his number and she pretended to type it in, instead writing it down on a piece of paper after he left the counter. She then looked up at the board to confirm her suspicions. There was nothing about a rewards club. So he can’t read, and yet he still pretends…
She tucked that information away, smirking as she slid the paper into Jesper’s back pocket.
Everything was going pretty smoothly (besides Nina and Matthias’ constant bickering) until the door opened and in walked the most pretentiously blond man Inej and seen, with an even blonder son.
_end of part 1_ thanks for reading, and for the commission!
next commission: Sleeping Beauty AU :)
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lafiametta · 3 years
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Daughter as a Helnik one word prompt, please? 💕💕
More Wandering Isle AU, where they do, in fact, live on a farm (partially inspired by this gorgeous poem)
The sound of laughter and delighted squeals greeted him as he stepped through the kitchen door, followed by the warm aroma of yeast and cinnamon. 
Nina was standing at the counter, apron tied around her waist, and in her arms was Dasha, erupting in giggly hiccups as she pounded her tiny hands along the floury surface. White puffs emerged with each blow, billowing across both mother and child, turning the countertop—already a scene of chaos—into a wintry war zone. 
“Are you helping Mama?” Nina cooed as she bounced Dasha in her arms. “Oh, yes, that’s very good.” 
Dasha had dark hair, like her mother, but her eyes were Fjerdan blue, and each time they blinked at him it tugged at a secret place in Matthias’s heart. 
He kissed both of them on the cheek and then stepped over to the basin, eager to wash the dirt and sweat of the bright afternoon off his hands and face. 
“The southern wall looks good,” he told Nina, as he wiped a damp cloth across his forehead. “Should hold until the winter, at least.” 
Matthias had gone out after lunch, saddled up one of the ponies and ridden down to the bottom of the lower field, where their land touched Old Faolan’s. He had seen the three of them in town a few days earlier and warned Matthias that a portion of the rock wall that divided their properties was near collapse—or at least attempted to, as Matthias’s grasp of Kaelish was still rudimentary at best. Nina thankfully stepped in to translate, and then invited the old man over for tea the following afternoon for his trouble. 
“It’s his wall, too,” Matthias had grumbled in Ravkan. “Don’t see why he can’t tend to it.”
Nina smiled, a dazzling one he knew was mostly for the benefit of Old Faolan. “Good walls make good neighbors, my love,” she murmured. “Didn’t anyone ever teach you that?”
It had taken an hour or two under the warm sun for Matthias to set the wall to rights, mostly by hauling stones back into place and adding a few on top for good measure. Their sheep were wily beasts—when they were not being irrepressibly stupid—and needed few excuses to wander far from home. 
Nina wiped Dasha’s plump arms free of flour with the bottom of her apron, holding her a little tighter as the child began to squirm. “I think this one’s ready for a little nap, hmmm?” She glanced over at him expectantly. “Can you take her? I need to finish up these sweet rolls.” 
The dough had finished rising and was sitting in a bowl atop the counter—along with every other spoon, pan, and canister in the house, all of it in a state of complete disarray. Matthias, as always, held his tongue when it came to the way Nina ran her kitchen, so different from the way his mother had when he was a boy, everything spotless and in its place. This was Nina’s domain and, like Nina, it was at turns unruly and untidy and utterly brimming with love.  
Matthias took Dasha from her, feeling her warm body grow even heavier as he curled her against his chest. She was little more than a year old, on the verge of walking and talking and all those things he wanted desperately and at the same time hoped would never come. Her face nuzzled along his neck and he began to croon softly to her in Fjerdan, a worn childhood melody whose last few verses he could not fully recall. 
She was half-asleep by the time they reached the top of the stairs. 
He laid Dasha down in her wooden cradle, letting her hold two of his fingers as he watched her eyelids slowly droop and close. It was getting too small for her, he realized, and soon he would need to build something bigger, something with sides so she would not escape as easily as the sheep. The old cradle—well, perhaps it could be put away somewhere, in case they needed it again. 
Matthias wasn’t sure if Nina wanted another child. He, on the other hand, wanted nothing more than to give Dasha a host of brothers and sisters, and to fill the house with the patter of their feet along the floor. In the end, he knew, it would not be up to him, but still, he hoped. Nina’s pregnancy had been difficult at times—having another heart beating inside her body had been a source of some disquiet for her—and the birth had been an ordeal neither of them wished to remember. There was also the question of Dasha: would she be Grisha, like her mother? They would not know for many years, and even though the war had been over for some time, a part of it scared Matthias, a cold hand around his heart. 
For now, though, he would let his daughter sleep, his lips pressing softly against the crown of her head before he stood to go. 
Downstairs, it smelled heavenly, even as the mess seemed to have increased in an exponential fashion. Nina was leaning over to put the last of the pans into the oven, the delectable curve of her hips on full display, wisps of dark hair curling along the back of her neck. Even half-covered in flour, her apron smeared with stains, she was completely irresistible. 
He gave her a moment to close the oven door before pressing her back against the counter. Her hands flew along the edge to steady herself, and then migrated upwards to his cheeks, holding him there as their lips met in a warm, inviting kiss. 
After a moment, they paused to breathe, Nina pulling away just long enough to take one look at him and begin laughing. She held up her hands, flour from the countertop coating her fingers—and, Matthias could only assume, his face as well. 
She shook her head, green eyes sparkling. “Saints, I’ve made a mess of you.” 
“You’ve been doing that since the day we met, I think,” he said, grinning, and then lifted her up to sit along the counter, clouds of flour escaping from under her skirts. Nina’s eyes turned round with shock, only to gleam with a familiar hint of mischief—but before she could enact some reprisal, Matthias pulled her close and pressed his mouth to hers. She sighed and melted against him, arms curling tight around his neck. 
He kissed her there in that absolute wreck of a kitchen, kissed her hard at first, then slow and sweet, and even with his heart near full to bursting—for Nina, for Dasha, for everything they had and all their silly sheep—he had no intention of ever letting go. 
[send me a one-word Helnik prompt]
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sendme-2hell · 3 years
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Ranking the books I read in April
aka just ranting about the books I read in april pls ignore me
1. The Space Between Worlds - Micaiah Johnson 
I cannot believe this book wasn’t nominated for a Hugo! I like the Hugo list (of the books I’ve read) but cmon. This book is like if you combined the social commentary in The City We Became and the queerness of Harrow the Ninth. Seriously this book had everything I wanted: parallel universes, great character development, social commentary, woc sapphic slow burn, satisfying ending. Also I feel like the title is paying homage to W. E. Dubois which is cool. “Between me and the other world, there is ever an unasked question: How does it feel to be a problem?” Like there is just this very cool idea of talking about other worlds as in literally other universes but also different worlds due to social and racial hierarchies. 
2. Plain Bad Heroines - Emily m. Danforth 
Horror, Hollywood, boarding school, everyone is gay, the narrator talks directly to the reader and it is hilarious, copious footnotes, have I mentioned how many sapphics there are? It’s hard to keep track. Plus polyamory. I just really loved this book and I felt it all came together in a way that was worth it. 
3. Steel Crow Saga - Paul Krueger 
This godamn book. I loved this book so much. I was so ready to yell about it on tumblr and tell people to read it. But apparently the author is someone who has harassed a lot of women so...uh...yeah. Nevermind I guess.
 I do want to say it is the most accurate depicition of a Sherlock Holmes superfan that I have ever seen in media. 
4. The Tiger’s Daughter - K. Arsenault Rivera
What if we went on a long trip on horseback and we were both lesbian warriors...jk unless…
Yeah so I loved this book so much. A lot of it is about navigating familial responsibility, fighting literal and metaphorical demons, fighting the patriarchy, fighting your anger, fighting tigers, etc...and yet I kept thinking to myself “this is the most romantic book I have ever read” and honestly I am gonna stick by that. It also has the “you think me a monster so I will become one” trope which is great. It is set in an Asian-based fantasy world and I did read a goodreads review that said it was as accurate to the countries it draws inspiration from as Leigh Bardugo’s Grishaverse is to the Russian and Scandinavian cultures it takes from. So that’s not great. 
5. Six of Crows - Leigh Bardugo
Speaking of! A few months ago I tried to read Shadow and Bone in preparation for the tv show and I could not finish it. The writing was...bad. Anyway I really liked Six of Crows and even though, yeah it’s tropey (I’m looking at you, Helnik backstory), there’s a reason those tropes work. Plus you cannot go wrong with a heist. About halfway through I did realize that there are six mcs and three couples so its kinda just like a giant triple date, which really changed how I read the whole story.
I’m very glad I did read it before seeing the tv show because I was able to be appropriately excited for the Crows and catch the Wylan reference and everything, but I also got to see the Alina stuff without having to read about it. 
6. Crooked  Kingdom - Leigh Bardugo 
I think I somehow liked this even more than Six of Crows, but for narrative simplicity I’ll put it after. I really like it when you put people in an impossible situation and see how they figure it out. Especially if they get out in a clever and reasonably possible way that ties together many different plot threads and has a few good fake-outs. This did all of that, and also developed every character in a way I found satisfying (except [redacted] *cry emoji*). 
Kaz pulls a Baru Cormorant with some money stuff and now I wonder if they would be friends. 
I read this after watching the show which was good because I knew who Zoya and Genya were but bad because there is a point where Nina is like “here is how shadow and bone ends.” She’s just talking to Mattias and casually spoiling everything for me. So there goes my dreams of living spoiler free until the end of the show. 
7. The Miseducation of Cameron Post - Emily m Danforth
My expectations for this book were....very different than it turned out, and I’m glad for it. After reading Plain Bad Heroines I shouldn’t have been surprised at how well written it is. I really appreciated how nuanced it is. It doesn’t spell out its ideas or themes and therefore lets you really sit with them. I would rank it higher but I don’t really enjoy reading about high school. 
8. Foundryside - Robert Jackson Bennett
I love a good found family, especially if at the beginning of the book they are on opposing sides. Enemies to friends = best trope! Also it’s sapphic that’s always good. But the best part of this book was the worldbuilding which was so cool. 
9. Malice - Heather Walter
Remember what I was saying about “you think me a monster so I will become one”? This book is the definition of that trope. Women becoming unhinged after being treated like shit, we love to see it! Especially if it’s gay. I do have to say, authors who write duologies where the first book ends on a cliffhanger, I see what you’re doing but yes, I will be preordering the next book. 
10. Fugitive Telemetry - Martha Wells
I don’t have much to say because Murderbot is so consistently excellent.  uh why is it so cathartic when xenophobes disrespect Murderbot and it’s humans step in and shut that shit down. Gets me every single time. 
11. Queen of Coins and Whispers - Helen Corcoran 
This book was like half romance half politics and unfortunately I did not find the politics that interesting or well written. But the romance was A+. It reminded me of Priory of the Orange Tree a LOT. Though significantly less dragons and I’m taking many points off for that. 
12. The First Sister - Linden A. Lewis
I wanted to like this book a little more than I did. There was just maybe too much body horror for me. Interesting characters and world though. There was  a location named Cytherea that they mentioned a lot and it was very distracting. I guess I still have tlt brainrot. 
13. Shorefall - Robert Jackson Bennett 
I think this book was well plotted out but it didn’t quite have my attention like Foundryside did. Also yet another book where a woman’s girlfriend ends up in her head. This time no one had to die so that’s nice. TM and SD take notes! 
14. The Deathless Girls - Kiran Milwood Hargrave 
Ok I LOVED the Mercies by KMH so I was a little disappointed in this Dracula retelling. It got interesting in the last 50 pages, but unfortunately that is not enough for me.
proud of myself for not reading a single straight book this April 
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sunel0 · 3 years
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Fanfic Questions (If you want haha): 6, 20, 23, 32 and 50 😬
Oh I SO want to answer these! :D
6. List your OTP from each fandom you’ve been involved in.
Okay define involved again, I've been in fandom spaces for over 10 years now and things happened
I'll cut it to the places I actually interacted with something or someone, which includes RPing, and I'll also cut to one per fandom, so it'll be:
Drarry (Harry Potter/Draco Malfoy) form Harry Potter (I used to RP the third generation, plus we had a community fic notebook with my friends)
Legitimately Alice Cullen & Jacob Black BroTP from Twilight Saga (we had a fic notebook for that as well, and I shortly RPed as an OC werewolf girl)
1880 (yes hi number names, Kyoya Hibari/Takeshi Yamamoto) from Katekyo Hitman Reborn (I used to RP a lot for Reborn TBH and had a couple of drabbles for a half OC pairing)
I will have to say Rimahiko (Rima Mashiro/Nagihiko Fujisaki) or Kutau (Kukai Souma/Utau Hoshina) from Shugo Chara, but all of them are literal babies, so even when we RPed it it was 100% gen tbh (but I did write some romance fics with them being older)
Okay then there was
Klaine (Kurt Hummel/Blaine Anderson) form Glee (used to beta read a very popular Russian Glee author, have once rewritten half of her chapter (she allowed me to) because she wouldn't Give The Actual Angst), and have a fic posted myself)
Casmund (Edmund Pevensie/Caspian X) form The Chronicles of Narnia (have a fic with them)
Oh Jesus Caleb/Four from Divergent don't ask questions have a fic about them I don't know why
Then there was Homestuck with Erisol (Eridan Ampora/Sollux Captor), I used to RP a lot with Homestuck but for OCs, and I used to be in the Ask Character thing as Eridan
Then there's Steo for Teen Wolf
And since I've done moodboards for it, I can't decide between Declansey (Declan/Gansey), Jiclan (Declan/Jiang), and Jordeclan (Declan/Jordan) (or Jiang/Declan/Jordan together with Declansey and side Sarchengsey arrangement) for The Raven Cycle + The Dreamer Trilogy universe
And also Helnik (Matthias Hevlar/Nina Zenik) form Six of Crows (part of Grishaverse) just because I'm in a discord server for this fandom
20. Any ships which you surprised yourself by liking?
I've actually answered this already, but now I also remembered Chuck/Dan from Gossip Girl, and yeah, I was shocked I was willing to read anything for this show
23. Name a fic you’ve written that you’re especially fond of & explain why you like it.
Ohhh it's a tie between The Beginning and He Knows Now (I hate the named of my fics ah<3) TBH. HKN was the fic written on a spot and it was deliberately so weird I absolutely loved writing it, although it makes 0 sense. I still feel very inspired about it and murder mermaids in general (probably Homestuck's fault). And TB... Just... Hell yeah I'm getting back into killing my favorite children, I love that stuff, I don't ever read it, but writing is 100/10, Hurt no Comfort is <3, plus the moodboard turn out to be AMAZING, and just the way it's written, the experimental thing with trying to show how Stiles is conscious but trapped inside his body that functions on its own??? loved that despite the fact that it probably didn't render at all considering how I had to explain to @/impractical-matters after the first round of betaing, so I'm pretty sure I failed at actually properly showing this idea, but I still loved the challenge and the concept. Probably it's partially due to me not being a native as well:C
32. Do you listen to music when you write or does music inspire you? If so, which band or genre of music does it for you?
I way too distracted by music, so I usually watch reality TV shows/listen to audiobooks I don't care too much about/watch TV shoes I don't care too much about (all of it distracts me less than music does). Objectively, I don't possess the mental capacity for this so eventually I'll turn the noise off anyway if I'm really getting into writing, or still be distracted all the time<3
50. How did you get into reading and/or writing fanfiction?
I don't actually remember? I was a baby for both of these:D I think somehow trough discussions in VK communities, consider what my first read fic was, and then for the writing I probably started with joke little scenes or something like that:D It was so long ago, it's terrible to be a child on the internet
Thank you!:333
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booklovingturtle · 5 years
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Booklovingturtle Fanfic Masterlist
A collection of all of my crazed typings! The more mature ones are marked with a * though none of my fics are wildly explicit. You can also find them all under my tag when Tumblr does decide to work properly. They haven’t all been edited and some are a bit old so please ignore the typos. Some of them will have spoilers for the books so read at your own risk! 
Updated on 1/6/20
Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo
Kanej
*Kaz Teases Inej Fanfic: Inej tells Kaz not the be so delicate with her. Kaz decides to use this as an opportunity to tease his Wraith.
Kaz Shows Inej His Home: Kaz takes Inej back to his village under the guise of a job to complete. One night, he pulls her out of her room to enjoy the night sky and confess his feelings for her.
A Sweet Suli Spice: Inej Ghafa hasn’t seen her family in four years. Not since she’s been taken. Now that it’s been so long since she’s seen them, Inej is scared and nervous to go back. One night, while sitting on the rooftop, Kaz asks her to teach him Suli. That inspires Inej to fight her nerves and finally find her family. She asks Kaz to go home with her and he takes this opportunity to learn more about her and her people. Once home, Inej is faced with a guilt of her past, the fear of family’s reactions, and the hope of finally being ghar (home).
Helnik
Helnik Anniversary Surprise: I haven’t read KoS yet so I’m still living in peaceful denial that CK ended the way it did. This is a fic about their one year wedding anniversary.
The Folk of the Air by Holly Black 
- Jurdan Fics -
*Cardan’s POV of Chapter 15: LOL, y’all already know what I mean by “Chapter 15″ from TWK so let’s just dive straight into my version of Cardan’s point of view.
*Jurdan’s First Time: This will have some angst bc my biggest weakness is angsty Jurdan. Of course, baby Cardan being in love with Jude but it’s from her pov. It doesn’t rely on much that happened in TWK except Chapter 15 and a few other events that are referenced. It’s a little on the long side bc I couldn’t help myself.
Cardan Gets Honest With Jude: Cardan and Jude are finally King and Queen of Elfhame but neither is happy with the way their relationship has developed. After weeks of tiptoeing around one another, the silence finally becomes too much of Cardan to ignore.
Cardan Misses Jude: The palace had finally settled in the aftermath of Orlagh’s failed attempt to kidnap Jude and Cardan still felt like the land beneath him rocking in a sea turmoil.
Jude Teaches Cardan to Fight (1, 2, 3): The High King’s Senechal decides that it’s important for him to learn how to defend himself.
*Cardan’s *Special* Birthday Celebration: Y’ALL WANT A RISQUÉ JURDAN FIC?! Good, bc I did too. It’s lengthy bc I can’t seem to really write short fics. I hope y’all like it!!
Cardan is an Artist (1, tbc): Cardan loves to draw and design his own outfits. This is the first of hopefully many parts of a fic based on secret Cardan’s love of art.
Cardan’s POV of Chapter 21: Chapter 21 from Queen of Nothing is everything this fandom has been waiting for so of course I had to write my version of it.
- Jurdan HC -
Jude Injured: Jude is doing her spy thing but she ends up getting hurt and Cardan realizes that he can’t run the court without her.
Jude is honest (and nice) for a change: I uploaded this hc a while ago and asked if you wanted a fic based on it. The answer was a clear yes! It’s on the more serious side bc I honestly love to write about how Jude and Cardan grow into their relationship.
Cardan and Balekin talk about Jude: Balekin catches Cardan watching Jude and decides to have some “fun” with it.
Cardan Tests Jude’s Temper: Cardan loves to see how far he can push Jude before she kills him...or hopefully kisses him.
Cardan Teases Jude with Food: Poor Jude isn’t allowed to eat anything during Court and Cardan makes sure to have some fun with it.
Cardan Mourns: One night, Jude wakes to find the High King clearly distraught over something.
Some Cardan is a fluff fluff who loves Jude: Let’s enjoy so some Jurdan fluff fluff together! It’s quick and short bc I just wanted to relieve some college stress.
Cardan Finds out What Happened to Jude (Balekin, Locke): Both fics were inspired by this post.
- Jurdan Asks/Requests -
“Alice in Wonderland”: “Jurdan anything tbh (if a prompt will help: ‘Alice in wonderland’)”
Cause and Cure: “cause and the cure by secret broadcast is SUCH a good jurdan song”
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