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cassecorrea · 9 months

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I’ve seen a lot of people do these and I wanted to get in on the action even though it’s super late

Thoughts on The Little Mermaid (2023)

Likes:

- I will forever preach about how my favorite scene is the one after KTG when they sneak back in!!! Soaking wet!! Giggling!! Quiet!! Late at night!!! I love it!!

- after reading about this I’m actually VERY glad they went with short dresses for Ariel — good costume design choice!! A big ballgown would hide the very fact that she’s human now!

- the Caribbean 👏🏼 calypso music 👏🏼 need I say more?

- how Eric finds out her name ☺️ written in the stars ☺️

- the opening quote! The fact that she doesn’t shed a tear until the end!

- the fact that the ending focuses on their new adventures together in the future

- part of your world reprise 2!! It should’ve been longer!!

- the jade mermaid figurine 🥹 (btw I want one please someone make a replica… that I can afford LOL)

- back to costumes, I love her blue dress!! (Tho Lashana(?) had her animated dress’ color palette so like… it was right there XD) but I also loved her pink dress!! And the ponytail!! She needed more hairstyles 😭

- I LOVE the fact that the mermaids are covered in scale patterns, that they don’t have skin at all but shimmering scales all over

- the fact that king Triton just SPAWNS???? From fish???? With the fish cape???? Now what was that about — also, how old are all the sisters if he’s been ruling for centuries??? Questions questions

- I love how Ariel and Eric meet on the beach in the OG but as a variant I did also like that a fisherman finds her (also I love how we see her struggling to swim to shore) this movie also made me realize how impossible that hair flip scene is since she’s standing on nothing and her hair would be behind her but it’s pretty so who cares

- Awkwafina my girl was the perfect scuttle

- scuttlebutt was so unnecessary but it’s low-key a bop so I’m not complaining (though Ariel and Eric SHOULDVE HAD A DUET ok bye) wait why isn’t there a single pop version of a song from the soundtrack like with every other film? Demi lovato singing let it go, Christina Aguilera reflection, zayn a whole new world, John legend and Ariana beauty and the beast, like BRO we needed one for under the sea!! Or part of your world!! Or kiss the girl! Ugh missed opportunity

- her hair on land TwT is so pretty TwT the shades of gold and red and orange ahhhh (maybe could’ve done with a few more red strands but it was still gorgeous) plus the shells in her hair!! She needed more!!

- I’m all over the place but the library scene !!! Ariel’s curiosity!! Ariel always disappearing LMAO someone needs to nail that girls fins to the floor is right

- love that they took out the writing plothole

- Jodi!! With the fork!!

- Grimsby being the ultimate shipper

- yo Vanessa’s actress?? For having so little screen time she BODIED that role

- Halle’s voice duh

- for the first time was such a needed song, love the cinematography especially in her room (her eating the soap!!! Lmao)

- go back home to daddy, and nEVER. LEAVE. AGAIN.

- Ursula looking all zombie and kaiju-esque?? Definitely to hide weird cgi but it looked so creepy and cool

- Eric struggling back to shore at the end and immediately calling to search for Ariel as he stumbles from exhaustion

- Ariel diving for the trident instead of Eric!!

- scuttle and Sebastian were a hilarious duo lmao

- Ariel’s mermaid design (but the early screen test footage version looked so pretty too… more thoughts in the dislike section about this)

- Ariel saving Max!!

- the whole market sequence tbh

- Ariel’s bones cracking when she transformed back into a mermaid!! But I’m so mad we never once got to see a full transformation scene lmao more about that later

- Ariel just putting everything in her mouth 🌷

- the grander orchestral soundtracks in each song

- Ariel’s grotto is bigger

- ariel killing Ursula (it’s her villain!!!) and having to drag herself across the deck (eric saved her with the harpoons so stop complaining)

- Ariel finding the telescope

- the shot of ariel swimming to the surface with her reflection on top with the fireworks!!!

- Ariel forgetting about the kiss

- Ariel singing along to under the sea!!! To show that she doesn’t absolutely hate her home!!! She just wants more!!! And the way she sings music is to me specifically !!! And the fact that she sings more period! I always thought she should’ve sang a lot more than twice in the original version for being known for her voice

- Ariel saving/healing Eric quicker with her siren song???

- the fact that one of my fave Disney ships is now getting all the love they always deserved ☺️

Dislikes:

- her sisters do more than the og but they still need to be shown more… and have lines lol. I read the companion novels for this version and they’re so prominent and have cool abilities and cultures and kingdoms but !! They don’t show any of that in the movie !! Like why add lore if you’re not going to show it… also I like the fact that in the companion novels they rule over fictional seas and their world map is different from ours, but then in the film they just mention real world locations like… pick one

- okay I gotta talk about it 😔 Ariel’s ocean transformation dress. Not to mention that whole scene. It’s one of my favorites in the original and they just… scrapped it. I was looking forward to them actually showing Ariel’s transformation back into a human at the end because I thought the original should’ve included it too (hello I love a good Barbie transformation scene) but they still didn’t show it… AND they didn’t even show the gold magic going to her tail OR her reaction!!! Like BRO WHAT???? And the fact that they took out her magical dress???? And just put her back in RAGS like they put my poor girl in a torn up smelly dress and for what 😭 not to mention the fact that they imply she had to swim naked, find the rags dress, and climb up all those stairs AHEM YEAH THEY ALSO TOOK OUT THE RISING FROM THE WATER SCENE LIKE BRO also if they didn’t want to include the ocean dress (mistake but ok, they could’ve had her scales transform into a dress but ok) they could’ve at least fixed up her blue dress… added some shimmer or shells and coral idk man

- yeah she needed at least one more day outfit… my girl wore the same dress for three days in a row… and one of those days it fell in a lake…

- the fact that every transformation scene was either dark and hidden or not shown at all (come on budget??)

- the screen test version where Ariel had more upper body and arm scales… was better. She just looked so empty compared to her sisters it was a weird choice they made to make her top look more like an actual bandeau bra with a harsh cut off and everything

- yes Ariel and Eric needed a duet

- where was the ensemble?? The choir??? Both in under the sea and kiss the girl??? Under the sea should’ve had a lot more people singing as the song went on especially since he’s talking about instruments and animals (that don’t even get shown???) but instead it sounds so empty since he’s singing by himself until Halle joins and a tiny quiet ensemble — and in kiss the girl it was such a BAD choice to have it just be scuttle Sebastian and flounder I’m sorry but it ruined the sultry smooth jazz calypso vibe of that beautiful song 😭 flounder’s vocals threw me so far out of it lmao they could’ve started the song singing it but the ensemble should’ve come in!!! Where were the harmonies!!! Anyway the broadway version is my fave listen to that instead

- the lyric changes were so unnecessary… Ursula’s a villain, duh she’s gonna spout some shady misogynistic advice… plus that was my fave part of the song 😭 also the whole “use your words boy” line was unnecessary… because when he leans into kiss her multiple times he doesn’t even ask………… like they missed the point there (also why was he already so willing to kiss her, he should’ve been super reluctant 😭)

- they took out les poissons which, fine, I guess but we’re not even gonna have a kitchen scene in any way?? Also Ariel got over the whole food for slaughter thing real quick but I’m glad they brought it up at all

- they could’ve had Sebastian rap at the ending bridge of under the sea (as an alternative to scuttlebutt)

- where was the finale song !!! With all the merpeople and humans singing together!!! At least have Ariel sing the deleted clip of it !!! Now we can walk now we can run… ugh we needed it

- loved the ending… but that final shot was a bit wonky?

- where was the cruise ship????? If we’re not gonna see the wedding on the ship (missing triton’s water spout and rainbow) fine but not even the engagement cruise?? Hello budget??? We didn’t even get to see Ariel swimming her butt off to get to Vanessa?? But we got her tackling her instead 😭😭 odd choice

- I’m sorry but the visuals were not giving on wild uncharted waters, at least in the first half… like show something!! Show him on the beach at least!! At Ariel’s rock??? Show flashbacks?? Idk something??

- the fact that Sebastian is no longer the court composer 😔 and he’s not dignified anymore he’s just an abused wannabe advisor who is harassed like whaaaaat he’s supposed to be one of her father figuresssss,,, also the fact that he’s so miffed and takes things into his own hands during KTG is because he’s a composer, it’s why he mentions bands and instruments in under the sea!!

- I was afraid of this when the casting announcement was first made but I was looking for some more expressive… expressions from Halle :( mainly in the poor unfortunate souls scene and when she has no voice, like she does a great job but I do think she needed to be more expressive in some parts

- why does Ariel call him father?? And not daddy?? Small nitpick but it seemed a lot colder/distant when she called him father lol like it threw me out of it in the goodbye scene

- the whole concert scene was gone lmao not to mention that we barely even see other merpeople or their culture, we literally just see the sisters in an otherwise empty sea until the ending

- no lyrics to Vanessa’s song :( but it was sung beautifully. Oh also it made no sense that Vanessa’s melody started singing before she even put the necklace on?? Like wha?? Why would Ariel’s melody change on its own? Also why did Vanessa not talk in Ariel’s voice? That girl had three voices come out of her XD I guess they wanted the actress to be able to talk??

- also I wish Vanessa were black too since she was supposed to look so similar to Ariel and be mistaken for her (Halle could’ve played her, or even Chloe!) but the actress did a great job so it’s fine

- I’m sorry but Eric should’ve been Hispanic imo… :( they made sure it takes place in the Caribbean but still had a white Eric? Who was adopted? Idk man I wanted a Latino prince :/ also wasn’t a fan of the way they styled his hair or stubble because he looks much better in other things he’s been in

- Eric had only one outfit, even for his wedding XD, and what was up with that weird blue vest

- the shot of Ariel in the sun was too blurry and dark :( didn’t give off the same vibes as the og

- the sky in the part of your world reprise is so pale, they could’ve upped the saturation behind her :( the shot didn’t give the same oomph

- Ariel creeping up the rock… why

- the weird shot in part of your world where her hand is through the hole but it cuts to her being on the rock at the bottom? Made no sense lol also they could’ve upped the saturation of her hair underwater the way it looks in the sunlight since it’s all cgi

- they couldn’t even give my girl an actual high quality mermaid tail to base the cgi off of?? H2O had a much smaller budget but had actual detailed tails 😭

- for the first time was great but melody wise it didn’t seem to fit the rest of the soundtrack? It was much more broadway-ie

- why didn��t the eels talk? Why did Ursula not even talk to them? Ariel killing them literally is what gets her mad and go kraken on her but… they barely had a relationship in this one

- ^ like why did Ursula say the word pathetic out loud? To no one? How was that not an immediate turn off for Ariel? Plus the skulls??

- where was Eric’s flute? Playing Ariel’s melody? And Vanessa walking across the beach all majestic like?

- I’m sorry but the queen was so unnecessary… I get what they were going for with the Triton parallels but they could’ve done that with Grimsby in the beginning or his court or whatever, why give a mom who’s barely in the film then immediately changes her mind in the very end without us seeing it?

- Carlotta 😭 poor girl was written out!!! Lashana was obviously supposed to be her so why change her name?

- I do kinda wish they made the three days longer (give her a week?) but I get why they didn’t, that’s just a personal thing

- some of the underwater scenes were shot at an angle that were unflattering to Halle which pissed me off because she looks stunning in every other part of the movie

- why did Eric’s castle look like a gray European fortress 😭 where were the red tiled roofs and the canals

- Atlantica went from a glowing golden magical city-palace to an underground rocky coral cave… couldn’t we have done a mix?

- flounder was so unnecessary he was barely in the movie in favor for the scuttle/Sebastian dynamic

- max was barely in the movie :(

All in all I HOPE they make a sequel (but please don’t base it off of the terrible animated one lmao please no kids) and give Ariel and Eric a duet, give Eric a tail!!! Make him explore her world too!!! And actually address the fact that Ursula killed the queen like the companion novels state… also please include a full transformation scene lol also why does no one make a version where she can switch between worlds freely, it’s okay I’ll write that into my own version

#I’m probably missing a lot of stuff but #I loved the movie #the little mermaid 2023 #live action little mermaid #halle bailey ariel #little mermaid live action #Disney remakes #little mermaid thoughts #cassecorrea #text post

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fuegossketchbook · 1 year

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Miraculous Secret Santa for @cassecorrea via @mlsecretsanta

Just two heroes sitting on a roof having a little pastry break

#FuegoPhilippe's art #miraculous ladybug #chat noir #ladybug #ladynoir #MLB #mlsecretsanta #mlsecretsanta2022

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pjoplanner · 13 days

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🔱 CONTRIBUTOR LINEUP 🔱

Meet the creators who will be working on "Through the Mist", a PJO planner! We can't wait for you to see what everyone has been working on. Check them out below!

⚡️ Cover Artist

Sarah Moustafa

⚡️ Page Artists

@aylendoesart • @sunncean • @tonftyhw • @zambomarti • @soia-jpg • Floriane_Clabri • @myoonmii • @mageofspace924 • @starsarekind • Iitsnothingpersonall • @artsicfox • @cassecorrea

⚡️ Poets

Neems • Darby • @courtrecord • @lost-halo-rights

⚡️ Merch Artists

EpicGrapes • @orbitsab • Den

#percy jackson #pjo #heroes of olympus #percy jackson and the olympians #annabeth chase #nico di angelo #jason grace #leo valdez #piper mcclean #greek mythology #rick riordan #riordanverse #zine #pjo zine #fanzine

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hermesmyplatonicbeloved · 3 months

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Tyson

This is part eight of my masterpost (that had too many links so I had to break it up lol).

Anyways this section is all about Tyson. He's so sweet, talented, smart and criminally underrated that it makes me want to scream. I'm constantly editing and adding new links and content so please check out the original post on my blog for the updated version.

Enjoy!

Tyson Fanart

Multiple characters including Tyson by takara phoenix

Percy and Tyson fanart by allarica

Percy and Tyson gaming by mozomz

Tyson (full body) by cassecorrea

Tyson and Percy by khajidont

Tyson and Percy hug by minuiko

Tyson (portrait) by burdge

Tyson Content

Cyclops (especially Tyson) are valuable and highly skilled essential workers in PJO. [Analysis]

A short fic with Percy, Tyson, Rachel and Ella

Percy and Tyson's relationship is the sweetest thing in PJO and so underrated: a canon moment

Beckendorf and Tyson's underrated friendship

Tyson gifs from the movie

Baby Tyson and Estelle Headcanons

Canon Poseidon and Tyson hug

Tyson deserved better - analysis of who did him wrong and who tried to make amends

Tyson deserves an apology from Annabeth for the things she said to him (discourse)

It was incredibly shitty of characters to only start valuing Tyson after he "died" for them

Analysis about how Percy treats Tyson (wip)

#tyson #percy jackson #pjo #hoo #percy jackson and the olympians #heroes of olympus #rick riordan #percy #poseidon #seafam #sea fam #tyson and percy #tyson and poseidon #percy and tyson #percy & tyson #tyson & percy #mine #masterpost #masterlist

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pjocoloringbook · 2 years

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HELLO! This has been something brewing over the summer, only to now drop on THEE Percy Jackson's birthday. To celebrate, we have the 2022 Iteration of the PJO Coloring Book! There is a STUNNING collection filled with so many styles and themes, that you're bound to love it. An epic number of 40+ Artists have come together to deliver to you 50+ Pages of 60+ Characters from the PJOverse!!! This has been entirely fan-driven and fan-created <3

The Coloring book is FREE to download and enjoy! Permissions are inside, and if you want to post your colorings, use the #pjocoloringbook2022 hashtag on your site of choice so all these awesome artists can see it!

If there are any questions or difficulties, send an ask! :) Otherwise, ENJOY!!!!! <3

Download Links:

GOOGLE DRIVE / DROPBOX / GUMROAD

Artists Involved Under the Cut! <3

Artists 💗:

@anniesology, @avohcup (insta), @cassecorrea , @clarvoyant , @clbl-arts , @cresendipity , @missedthememo , @duppys , @echostudies , @elliedaughterofapollo (insta) , @emiraee , @faowoo , @flyingdonuuts , @galactictrxgedy (twitter), @gayleafpool , @greasyjosh (insta), @jaasvandha (twitter), @jamjam.doodles (insta), @lamehaikus , @layes.art (insta) , @limmy , @lostinsummerwonder (insta), @maelstorm0505 , @marcoofthemoon , @meppiiii , @moonlight22oa , @nicohate , @north.of.art (insta), @oohpiart , @orbitsab , @osillygoose , @parcai , @peri-grin , @piperreyna , @purrfectlypunny , @santoriel_art (insta), @silima , @siminiiedoodles , @team-leo-v , @tumtive (insta) , @waffelton , @wingedrobins , @wondertrails , @worteltje7

Thank you!

#pjocoloringbook2022 #dl post #percy jackson #pjo #hoo #toa #tkc #mcga #pjo fanart #percy jackson fanart #percy jackson art #pjato #pjato/hoo

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thepjoguidebookzine · 3 months

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What's this on the camp notice board? It seems to be our wonderful contributor line up! We've been working hard to bring to you the best guide for all your creative, cooking, exploring and questing needs. Grab your guide on 28th Janurary!

See below for the full list of contributors ⤵️

Breakfastatmiles (insta)

Starsarekind (insta)

LunaJhope (twt)

@wingedrobins

dududrigs (twt & insta)

oranglesswrld (twt & insta)

alyssaartxox (twt & insta)

@strawberrysoop

@the-kings-of-games

C_art (Ao3)

lukatales (twt)

Kaygoldsart (insta)

tunatunatunas (twt)

@elms-art-gallery

@myoonmii

@kleprite

@marlasomething

NocturnaIV (twt)

@jankwritten

Siminiecricket (twt & insta)

Alnair.jpg (insta)

Cassecorrea_ (twt) & cassecorrea (insta)

@dawn-t0-dusk

@sunncean

Viebirdy (twt & insta)

@wondertrails

Monicasivart (insta)

Colorsofcharcoal (insta)

Shadowrosepaiton (insta)

The_artist_gem (twt & insta)

AnaArts12 (twt) & 12_anaarts_12 (insta)

Megantyc (twt & insta)

@worteltje7

@nottesilhouette

Shinyravenhoard (twt & insta)

@nightingbell

Hazelypine (insta)

Easeah (twt) & easea.art (insta)

@zukkaoru

Itsaleois (twt & insta)

@chikaarisilver

Mokonadraws (insta)

Bree_knee_cos (twt & insta)

Copicdragon (twt & insta)

@severedleftie

Cherryziu (twt)

@humanbobjeanpants

@Saturniiids

@pewpewpew

#fan zine #fandom zine #percy jackson #pjo fandom #art zine #fanzine #percy pjo #pjo zine #pjo fanart

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pjoseasonszine · 4 months

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A warm welcome to our amazing cover artist: @cassecorrea !!

Cassandra says: I'm an aspiring screenwriter and visual development artist currently in grad school for animation and VFX (ahh!) and I'm also working on completing my very first novel! I hope to see it published soon, and (maybe one day) see one of my works animated. :)

#Pjoseasonszine #pjozine #heroes of olympus #fanzine #percyjackson #trials of apollo #pjo zine #annabeth chase #nico di angelo #jason grace #piper mclean #percyjacksonandtheolympians #pjo #pjo series #pjo tv show #pjo fandom #percabeth

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gingerale2017 · 1 year

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Recommend some good tlc blogs/writers?

MY ASKS WON’T POST ISTG

anyways, here are some (mostly) kaider writers :) @impossiblesuitcase @just2bubbly @salt-warrior @kaider-is-my-otp @kaiderforever @princessselene126

tlc fanfic writers 🫶 @moon-mirage @lovelunarchron @shellyseashell

crack accounts 💀 @deprivedmusicaljunkie @a-salting-the-world @incorrecttlcquotes @notjacinclay @yourfavshipsjacolf

FANARTISTS (they aren’t exclusively tlc but have drawn A LOT of tlc stuff so i put them here) just type in the lunar chronicles fanart in the search bar and a lot will pop up @eerna @shanlightyear @cassecorrea @captain-hooks @cosmicnovaflare @beebee-art @winterrhayle @minidoodles97 (ik ik there’s so much more and i’m not good with memory so mutuals please tag then in the notes 💕)

tlc blogs in general: basically the crack accs and the fanfic writers 😭 @slmkaider @rapunzelfromthemoon @ao3feed-thelunarchronicles @channary @cinderswrench @kaixiety @zephyr-thedragon @notcressdarnel @whimsicalxdragons

there are so many blogs out there and if you’re one of them that i haven’t mentioned, please tag yourself and tag others that you know :)

#anon #anon ask #tlc #the lunar chronicles #kaider #lunar chronicles #emperor kaito <3 #tlc blogs #mutuals #PLEASE ADD MORE PEOPLE #I KNOW THERES MORE #IK PEOPLE WHOSE USERS IM FORGETTING

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mrthology · 1 year

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Walking Backward Into My Own Myth

"You should have ascended years ago," Zeus said without preamble, looking down at Percy. The other Olympians, even his father, remained silent, watching the proceedings with uncharacteristic solemnity.

"I said no years ago," Percy snapped, rage making his voice tremble and hands shake. "I didn't want to be a God then, and I want to even less now. I've seen how horrible eternity is."

"You would defy the fates themselves?" Athena asked softly, leaning forwards with narrowed eyes. She looked more godly than Percy had ever seen her, to the point where it was nearly unbearable to look at her face. Percy did so nevertheless, glaring at the Goddess he's lost almost all respect for.

"You had children die today," he snapped, desperate to return to Camp. "Annabeth could still die—hasn't she done enough?"

———

Or, Percy keeps living the same horrible day over and over and over again, regardless of what he does. Eventually, something will have to give. Percy just isn't sure what.

For the @pjo-hoo-bigbang!! thank you to @intermediateills and @cassecorrea for the amazing art!!

#PJO/HOO Big Bang #pjo fic #percabeth #percy jackson #annabeth chase #pjo #my writing

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aceinejghafa · 1 year

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on the magic inherent in snowflakes and in laughter

Kanej | Rated general | tw for canon-typical discussion of the slave trade

Summary: Ketterdam is grey, when the Wraith docks in berth twenty-two of Fifth Harbour.

Or, Kaz and Inej take a walk in the snow, ft. reflections on magic and absolutely zero plot.

Materialki: @cassecorrea (art here)

Etherealki: @swift-creates (fic here)

A/N: My fic for the Grishaverse Reverse Mini Bang @grishaversebigbang!

Read it on AO3 or below the cut.

Ketterdam is grey, when the Wraith docks in berth twenty-two of Fifth Harbour. Captain Inej Ghafa stands on deck, her hands on her hips, and looks out at the city that has broken her, rebuilt her, shaped her.

On second thought, maybe it’s not quite grey. It’s more black and white, city and snow mixed together and piled on top of each other until the first impression is that it’s all one grey mass. A closer look shows dark rooftops peeking out from underneath the snow, dark streets paled by drifts piling up to either side. The still-falling snow creates a mist that makes the city seem gentler, softer.

Inej’s feelings for Ketterdam are complicated. Despicable things are done here, just as they are done everywhere else she has been — Ravka’s oppression of the Suli and general imperialist bent; Fjerda’s demonization and genocide of Grisha; Ketterdam’s refusal to value anything more than money.

And yet, as everywhere, it’s a mix. Ravka has a half-Suli queen. Whatever Nina’s doing in Fjerda, it’s slowly chipping away at the Fjerdan hatred of Grisha. And Ketterdam — well, Inej is doing her fair share to clear Ketterdam of the least savoury aspects of its business, and between Wylan’s influence with the Merchant Council and Kaz’s willingness to help her take down any other barrel boss engaging in the slave trade, the city’s got a chance at not being quite so atrocious as it has been.

But atrocious or not, grey or black-and-white — Inej has missed this place, missed the rooftops she’s ran across countless times, missed this dirty, complicated, greedy city where she has learned who she is, who she wants to be.

She has missed the people, too: Jesper, his grin and his guns and his ridiculous waistcoats; Wylan, clever and red-haired and far less innocent than he looks.

And she has missed a boy with dark hair and sharp edges, with a painful past that’s left him with gloved hands and armour, with a clever mind and a rare smile.

Inej could spend the next few hours arranging for a food and water resupply for the Wraith. If not, she could head out into Ketterdam and catch up on anything she’s missed — there’ve been some rumours of a buyer in the warehouse district that she could investigate. She could even stay on her ship and spend time with her crew.

But she doesn’t need to do any of that, and Specht is a perfectly competent first mate who can safely be left in charge of a ship — arguably more competent than her, although she’s learnt a fair bit about handling a ship since first stepping foot on the Wraith.

She climbs easily down the Wraith’s side — her skills as a spider might not apply to sailing a ship, but they at least work in her favour to allow her to get off and on — and disappears into the maze of the city.

The first time that Kaz saw a snowfall in Ketterdam, it seemed like a magic trick — like the street performers who hid coins in their palms and up their sleeves, reality concealed behind obfuscation. Some of the city’s dirt vanished beneath the white, nature flicking a wrist to hide what she did not want people to see. Drawing attention to the glittering piles of white so that nobody saw the beggar in the corner, the starving child, the scars on the girls in the pleasure houses. A veil thrown over the world to soften its edges. Sleight of hand to replace poverty with beauty.

But Kaz knew that all the dirt was still there underfoot. The magician’s trick was not quite good enough, or perhaps Kaz was too good for it, too good at seeing through the magic to the mechanism behind it. That first year, the snow brought cold, and cold meant death. The veneer of white concealed a fate to which Kaz refused to succumb.

He begged and lied and cheated and stole, that first year. He survived that first year. He survived every year, clinging to life, to revenge, to reality, refusing to drift down into the cold white comfort promised by the cold white snow.

Today’s snow is deeper than expected, and Kaz wonders how many children are wandering the streets as he once did. How many are dying. Dirtyhands wouldn’t care; Inej would. Kaz does not know what he thinks.

A girl, perhaps twelve at most, decides that the doorway of the Slat would be a good place to beg from. Kaz tells himself that she is good at faking an injured leg to get more sympathy. He tells himself that she seems clever and resourceful. He tells himself that she could be a useful member of the Dregs, one day. When she subtly inserts herself into the Slat itself and settles herself in a corner, he pretends not to notice, and his Dregs follow his lead. He doesn’t know if Inej is rubbing off on him, or if instinct tells him she’ll be useful, or if there is another reason altogether for his actions — but he lets her stay.

She’s still there in the corner when he heads upstairs to his office. The snow has, of course, another effect — his leg aches more than usual, and it’s a relief when he reaches the top of the flight of stairs. Once seated at his desk, he stretches it out under the table, allowing him a moment to massage away the ache; he knows from experience that a long walk without too many stairs would probably be good for it, but he needs to deal with the paperwork that’s accumulated for him to sign. The Dregs have prospered since the Dime Lions’ fall, but the downside is that he has several more properties to worry about.

He glances out at the cityscape once or twice — his office shows him a panorama of snow-capped rooftops, the familiar view transformed but still fundamentally the same.

But he’s focusing intently on the accounts for the new gambling den he’s recently opened up when he becomes aware of her presence.

Kaz looks up, and there she is, perched on the window ledge only feet away from him. Her old spot, and for a moment he wonders if he’s dreamed her up, but there is a sparkle in her eyes that Kaz does not think his subconscious brain could invent.

Her hair is windblown, a few white flakes scattered amidst the black. She wears a grey tunic with a dark red scarf and gloves; she wears confidence about her shoulders like a cloak. Her cheeks are glowing, and she grins at him when he meets her eyes.

Kaz smiles. “Welcome to Ketterdam, Captain Ghafa.”

Captain Ghafa. Inej has gone by many names, some she hated and some she liked, all of them placing expectations on her shoulders — the lynx, the spider, the Wraith. Captain Ghafa is one she has chosen for herself of her own free will, and she likes it best of all.

Kaz smiles like he’s a boy again, like he’s only seventeen years old, like he’s not a barrel boss with a reputation to strike fear into the heart of anyone foolish enough to cross him. Inej hasn’t seen that smile often, but she’s as helpless as she’s ever been to prevent her own lips from ticking up in response.

“Kaz,” she returns. She’s missed him with an unexpected ferocity, in all her months at sea — missed his cleverness, his talent for getting out of any tough situation; missed his scheming face and the quips he trades with her; missed his company most of all, with a deeper ache than she’s cared to admit to herself.

There’s a moment of silence between them, comfortable silence that doesn’t need to be filled with words. Kaz breaks it first, setting down his pen and leaning back in his chair to look at her, still perched on the windowsill. “What have you been up to?”

Inej takes the invitation for what it is and shuts the window, blocking the cold air out. “Figuring out how to sail a ship. Figuring out how to fight a ship. Figuring out how to track down other ships.” She shrugs. “Killing slavers, which requires a bit less figuring out.”

“Living the dream, then,” Kaz observes drily. He shifts his leg slightly, and she catches the movement, remembering two winters of watching him limp slightly more than in the summer. He hides it well, of course, but Inej has learnt to be observant from Kaz himself.

A walk would help him stretch it out, and walking allows for conversation as much as sitting. “Acquired a fair bit of info on the buyers,” she tells him. “Your competitors. I’ll tell you about them, but I’d like to walk around Ketterdam a bit while we’re at it.”

Kaz raises an eyebrow, and she knows he’s seen her glance down at his leg — he is perfectly aware of what she’s doing. But he doesn’t object. “Gladly,” he says instead, and pushes his chair back to stand up. He doesn’t hide the faint wince on his face, and Inej knows that is an honour she will cherish: to see past the walls he puts up around every weakness, the masks that hide his pain. Kaz lets her through, and it is a gift.

They walk down the stairs together. Inej does not offer Kaz a hand; she has pushed him enough for today. Instead, she follows Kaz into the Slat proper.

“Inej!” Anika calls, as soon as Inej comes in sight, and then she’s surrounded by a crowd of Dregs — laughing, asking her how she’s been, congratulating her on the growing reputation she’s gaining. She was worried that they might resent her for leaving, or might see her as a competitor, but they greet her with all the comradeship she built with them over those years in Ketterdam. She hadn’t quite realised how much she missed them until now.

Kaz stands by, leaning on his cane and watching from the shadows. It’s achingly familiar: Kaz never joined in with the conversations or games or jokes tossed around the Slat, but he always watched, and Inej knew he was secretly pleased when they all got along — and only partially because a more tight-knit gang is a more efficient one.

Eventually, Inej manages to extricate herself, and walks out the door with Kaz. Out of the corner of her eye, she sees Rotty open his mouth to wolf-whistle only to be elbowed in the side by Anika; he doubles over in soundless pain.

Inej smiles, and steps out onto the street.

The streets of Ketterdam are quiet, footsteps muffled by the fallen snow. The cold keeps most of the city in their houses. There are still a few hurrying about on errands, but nobody pays close attention to the two figures walking side-by-side down the street. Kaz is grateful; he isn’t in the mood to get into a fight if a rival gang recognises him.

His knee still aches, but walking is helping, as he (and Inej) knew it would. His coat is warm enough to keep out the cold, especially with Inej walking at his side. He’s missed her in her absence, more so than his dignity would allow him to admit to anyone but her. Seeing her again is like a breath of fresh air after too long underwater.

Inej tells him about which slavers she’s gotten rid of and which Barrel bosses she thinks have been buying from them, about the rumours of a buyer with a hideout in the warehouse district, about — in a quieter voice — catching the man who kidnapped her, two and a half years ago.

Her feet come to a stop; she is not looking at anything around them. “The ship,” she says, quietly. “It was. The same one. That I was—”

Kaz isn’t good at offering comfort, but Inej’s eyes look far away like she’s been pulled out of her skin, like she’s far away in a ship that brought her torment. “Inej,” he says, but she doesn’t seem to hear him; a shiver races across her skin.

Touch, Kaz thinks, would help. To ground her. To draw her back to the snowy streets of Ketterdam, and away from where she is now. He doesn’t think he could touch bare skin right now — the cold has brought back memories of cold water and cold skin — but he’s wearing gloves, and so is she.

“Inej,” Kaz says again, and brushes the back of his hand against hers.

She shudders faintly, exhaling mist into the cold air, and grabs his hand properly. Her eyes flick over to him, present again in a way they weren’t before. “Kaz.”

Kaz feels something in him relax at the sound of her voice. A small smile appears on her face; he feels his own lips tick faintly up in response.

Talking about it, right now, in the open street, is not what she needs. So he returns to their earlier topic of conversation, offering his side of the puzzle that will show her where Captain Ghafa is needed most.

Thanks to Inej, most of Ketterdam’s pleasure houses have closed down, and Kaz has been ensuring that no new ones open (quietly, because it feels like a crack in the armour that is Dirtyhands, but efficiently all the same). He’s also made a custom of keeping an ear to the ground, listening for rumours of anyone trading in people — whether that be regular indentured slaves, Grisha, or women — and finding out their veracity.

Now, he tells her what he knows about the trader in the warehouse district, and they fall into planning out their next steps as they have a hundred times before. Except now, Inej isn’t the Wraith, indentured to Per Haskell, Kaz’s subordinate in the Dregs; she is free, and still choosing to walk beside Kaz with their hands still entwined.

While plotting murder, naturally. But for them, that’s par for the course.

Inej discovers that she’s missed plotting with Kaz.

He has a tendency to make at least four layers of plans beyond what he actually tells her about, which can be a bit annoying, but she’s missed it nonetheless. Before the Ice Court, she’d bring him secrets and whispers from all over Ketterdam and he’d listen, and ask questions, and take her input on whatever plans he concocted.

Now it’s — it’s not Kaz concocting plans and Inej bringing him the information he needs; it’s both of them sharing information, then building plans together. Plans that are actually the entire plan, not just the basics that Kaz sees fit to tell her; they are partners in this, equals, in a way that they weren’t before.

Kaz trusts a very small number of people. Trust itself has been dimmed out of him by cruelty and plague and loss, and the Barrel is not exactly the best place to learn to trust again. Even with the Dregs, she knows that Kaz must always be on the lookout, always aware of the motivations of everyone around him in case those motivations should lead them to betray him.

He trusts Jesper. Wylan, now, too, Inej thinks. Nina, perhaps; her allegiance to the Ravkan throne is an obstacle, but not an unsurmountable one. Rotty.

And Inej. Even before the Ice Court, he trusted the information she brought, even relied on it — and today, he shares information with her in equal measure. He tells her what he’s planning, lets her see not only what but how he thinks. Kaz turns life into a series of magic tricks, performances, where he pulls the strings from behind the curtains. Now he’s letting her come backstage with him, and that is a gift.

(It is also a gift that they’re still holding hands. Kaz hasn’t let go since he drew her from memories of a slave ship she’d rather forget, despite his aversion to touch. Their hands are gloved, yes, but he holds her hand like it’s nothing, like the demons of his past don’t haunt his skin like ghosts. She doesn’t know if they’re absent for once or simply being ignored, but either way, Kaz is choosing to keep holding hands of his own free will.)

In this part of town — the wealthier, bourgeois district they’ve wandered into — they’re not going to be recognised as Dirtyhands and Captain Ghafa. They could be mistaken for any two sweethearts, wandering the streets despite the cold, speaking sweet nothings in low tones — and although they are not that couple and never could be, on this street, in the snow, they are — similar.

They are two people broken by the cruelty of the world, two people who have pieced themselves back together into someone different, stronger, than they once were. Two people who have too many jagged edges to fit with anyone unbroken, unscarred; two people who, nevertheless, are walking down Ketterdam’s streets in the snow.

Snowflakes are still falling, dusting Kaz’s hair with white, the outline of the city paled to something gentler than usual. Their breath ghosts in the air, and Inej is comfortable regardless of the cold, warmed from the inside out by her hand in Kaz’s and his smile when he looks at her.

Gradually, the conversation shifts from planning to reminiscing, to storytelling. Inej talks about her crew — among them not a few former Dregs — and Kaz reciprocates with updates on how all the current Dregs are doing.

Their words drift, like snowflakes, and Inej smiles and laughs and is at peace.

Inej is telling a story, and Kaz watches her, drinking up the joy that emanates from her with such ease. She’s dusted with snow, and little curls of hair flutter around her face in the wind. She’s beautiful.

She is, unquestionably, far too good for anyone so broken and crooked as Kaz. She deserves better than him, but she also deserves whatever she wants. And she has also been quite clear that she wants to spend this time with Kaz, so who is he to deny her?

If she deserves better than what he is now, then he’ll simply have to make himself into someone more worthy of her.

So Kaz walks by her side and holds her hand and absorbs into himself all the goodness that she gives him freely. She’s brighter now than she ever was as part of the Dregs; this — fighting for what she believes in, fighting for everyone as powerless as she once was — is good for her. (Good for the world, too, most likely, but Kaz is more preoccupied with Inej.) Kaz doesn’t really believe that people have preordained destinies, paths they’re set to follow — but if he did, he’d say Inej is achieving her purpose.

He doesn’t know what his own destiny might be, but he knows he wants his path to lie close to hers.

Kaz is a cynical bastard, has been since he swam to shore using his brother’s corpse as a raft. He isn’t good at having faith, at hoping for the best outcome, at believing in a magic trick.

But Inej laughs, and this is no sleight of hand — it’s more magic than trick, inexplicable and real all at once. There is no curtain to look behind, only truth. Only magic.

It is fitting that Inej be crowned by snowflakes.

#gvbbrmb22 #gvbbrmbfic22 #gang 4 #six of crows #soc #inej ghafa #kaz brekker #kanej #kaz x inej #fic #my fic #tw slavery

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swift-creates · 1 year

Text

That’s The Laugh

a/n: this is my fic for @grishaversebigbang Reverse Mini Bang 2022! This was super fun to write and I hope those who read it enjoy ♥️

see @cassecorrea’s amazing art here

read @aceinejghafa’s wonderful fic here

read on Ao3 or under the cut

Jesper watched Kaz pace the length of the Slat and concluded that his best friend was really, irrevocably in love with his other best friend.

“Calm down, Kaz,” Wylan tried, but as the past five thousand times they’d tried to get him to stop pacing, Kaz paid no mind.

“Just like Kaz, to be so contrary.” Nina rolled her eyes. “Bet if we told him to keep pacing, he’d stop, right then and there.” Kaz said nothing, only shot Nina a glare before continuing past the billiards table.

Jesper had a suspicion, a hypothesis, if you would, as to why Kaz was being so moody- Well, moodier than he usually was, anyway. In Inej’s last letter to Jesper, she’d referred to a fight, or at least a chilly ending to a conversation, that she’d had with Kaz before sailing off for Ravka’s Southern Colonies. The sharpshooter suspected that was why the Crows’ favourite bastard wasn’t in the best of moods.

As Jesper wondered if he should try to say something, and if so, if he should mention Inej or not, Kaz suddenly deviated from his regular pacing path and started to limp up the stairs. The other Crows watched him go, and then Matthias broke the silence by asking, “Waffles, anyone?”, at which Nina kissed him very firmly on the lips.

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“Kaz?” Jesper poked his head into Kaz’s old office. The thin curtains had been drawn over every dingy window but the one at which he sat, staring out over Ketterdam, fingers trailing over the ledge. “Kaz?” Jesper said again, more tentatively this time.

“Would Wylan hate you if you said his occupation was a waste of time right before he left Ketterdam?” Kaz asked suddenly without turning.

The question took Jesper by surprise, and he blinked twice before it clicked that he was alluding to his situation with Inej. “Oh. Well, Wylan doesn’t really have an occupation now.”

“Right.” Jesper thought he saw Kaz frown, but it was hard to tell just by his silhouette against the cloudy Ketterdam sky. They fell into silence again before Kaz finally asked, “What are you doing up here, Jesper?”

“Oh, you know. The others are having a waffle party. Didn’t feel hungry, so Nina kicked me out and proclaimed herself queen of the waffle kingdom.” Jesper shrugged nonchalantly.

“Really, Jesper.”

Jesper bit his lip and winced. “I came to see if you were okay? If you needed relationship advice? If you wanted me to write Inej and just tell her, ‘Hey, don’t be mad at Kaz anymore because he’s sitting at his window all sad and moody thinking about your fight’?” “Came to ask you if you wanted a waffle.”

Kaz did turn then, and gave him an appraising look, arching one eyebrow at him with a short “No.”

“Okay. Good talk, then.” Jesper started to walk out, but then promptly turned on his heel and came back. “Nope, that wasn’t what I wanted to ask you.”

“Then what was it?” Now Kaz was starting to sound a little annoyed.

“Just… Inej wrote me the other day.” He drew the crumpled letter out of his pocket and waved it around a little. “And she kinda mentioned something about, um…”

“About. What, Jesper.”

“That you guys might’ve, maybe, had a teensy, weensy bitty bit of… conflict, is all.” Jesper braced for wrath, maybe threats, probably yelling and the end of a years-long friendship, but all Kaz said was, “Oh. Okay.”

‘Okay’? “‘Okay’?”

“Okay.”

Huh. “You’re not mad?” He stared at Kaz for a few moments in utter surprise.

“Why would I be? Inej chose to tell you. She thought you should know, so if anyone, I should be mad at her. And I’m not. We both trust her judgement more than that.” Kaz watched a small flock of birds cross the roof of a nearby house, settling on the window ledges of the building next door, and it brought Jesper no small amount of relief to hear that.

“Oh. Okay. Good, then.” He blew out a breath through his mouth before tentatively continuing on. “You sure you’re okay?”

There was a silent pause, then Kaz tore his gaze away from the birds — crows, Jesper realised — and sighed, suddenly looking exhausted and sad. “Maybe.” The moment was gone just as soon as it’d come, and he turned away again. Jesper waited a beat more, then another, then slowly backed away and exited when he realised Kaz wasn’t going to say anything more.

The part he’d neglected to mention to the Barrel boss, his best friend, was that he was holding onto the hope that Inej would straighten all this up when she docked back in Ketterdam’s twenty-second berth the very next day.

----------------------------------------

Matthias frowned at the Dreg messenger, then nodded, stood, and as the girl left, walked into the adjacent sitting room and said, “Inej is back.”

Kaz’s head snapped up, and he grabbed his cane and left the room just as fast as Matthias had entered. Under Nina’s inquisitive gaze, Jesper grinned sheepishly as the Slat door slammed behind their gang leader. “I forgot to tell him.” That was a lie, and the Fjerdan shared a glance with his partner to see she was thinking the same.

“You better hope to all the Saints he doesn’t find out, Jes.” Nina pointed the end of a pastry at her friend.

Matthias agreed. That conversation would likely go very, very badly.

----------------------------------------

“Inej!” Kaz strode quickly down the quay, and the dock workers and sailors scrambled to duck out of his way — the Wraith may have his support and his heart, but he was still a Barrel boss, and one of the most ruthless in Ketterdam.

When Inej looked up and saw him, her first instinct was to smile and take his gloved hand in hers, but then she remembered.

“Kaz.” His expression remained carefully blank, but she could tell her cold tone had thrown him off a little. Now she was the one with the armour and walls built up, keeping him at a distance.

He had no reply, and they stood there for a moment before he turned and started back up the quay. She fell in by his side as always, but said nothing. The silence lasted as they walked up towards Tuinpark, one of the only green spaces in the whole country, and Inej decided she’d rather focus her gaze at a patch of purple flowers struggling through the snow than talk to him. In the end, it was Kaz who spoke up first.

“We missed you. The Crows. You’re our best spider, you know.” He avoided her gaze as he said it, staring at a puffy cloud drifting over their heads.

“Say it as you mean to, Kaz.” It came out harsher than she’d intended it, and she bit her lip to stop herself from saying anything else more hurtful.

He paused, then met her gaze, thoughtful. Then he straightened and said, “I missed you”, and suddenly she found it that much harder to stay mad at him. They kept walking down the narrow path, stopping to let one of the new Dreg messengers pass by them at one point. They silently watched the young Zemeni disappear before Kaz spoke to her again. “Inej.”

“Yes?”

“I didn’t mean it. That day. When you left. And when I said ‘hunting slavers is a waste of time’.” He was looking at a plant with startlingly vibrant green leaves, so if he hadn’t called her name, or if she hadn’t been paying attention, she might have thought he was talking to the plant. Inej figured that was as close to a hug and apology as she was going to get, so she opened her mouth to accept it, but he cut her off before she could. “I was wrong to say it, and I’m… sorry.”

Now wasn’t that something.

She looked up, met his gaze. “Then this action will have no echo?”

He paused for a moment, then nodded. They continued along the path with a new, soft feeling of peace, and Inej let her gloved knuckles brush his every few steps before she worked up the will to take his hand fully into hers. His grasp was surprisingly warm, and she felt his hand tremor slightly, but then he twined his fingers with hers, and they walked through the snow together, the handheld promise unbroken.

“How are the Crows?” she asked as they left the park and a light snow started to fall.

“Managing. Jesper is somehow making profits with the Van Eck fortune, and for some reason, Wylan is letting him. Matthias is a snow-covered mountain of gloom. And Nina is, well, Nina. She proclaimed herself the queen of the waffle kingdom just yesterday.” Inej couldn’t help but throw her head back and laugh — Nina was and always would be indescribably, unapologetically and incomparably herself — and a soft smile pulled at the edges of Kaz’s mouth when she wasn’t looking.

“That’s the laugh.”

They stopped to buy roasted serdtsenuts from a vendor, and the snowflakes drifted down and down, coming to rest on her head and shoulders, nestling in her hair. He reached out, as if to take a nut, but then reached past the bag of food and tenderly brushed snow out of her ebony locks. She put a hand on his, so close to her face, and all of a sudden it was just that much harder to breathe. And all she could think of was how much she wanted to kiss him.

Then he abruptly pulled away, turned to walk quickly off, and the moment was gone.

A million things ran through her head. Did she do something wrong? Maybe he wasn’t ready yet. Could she have set him off somehow… She tried her best to push them away as she fell in by his side, but they continued to nag at her anyway. They were almost back to the Slat by the time she managed to gather up enough courage to ask him about it.

“Kaz,” she said.

“Yes, treasure of my heart?” he replied, and once those words would have been laced with caustic sarcasm, but now they fell pure and sweet as spun sugar upon her ears, and she felt her face warm, thanking the Saints for a dark complexion to hide blushes well.

She took a moment to reel her wayward romantic feelings back in and calm her heart before she asked, “Do you think… Do you think we’ll ever be like everyone else?”

He tilted his head to the side just the slightest bit. “What do you mean, ‘like everyone else’?”

Inej looked helplessly at the tourists and citizens flooding the square in front of Tuinpark, couples holding hands and giggling, rosy-cheeked children following along behind their parents and siblings. “Could we ever have a family like that?” She looked wistfully at two adults and the wide-eyed little girl who was gazing at a frosted cake through a bakery shop window.

Kaz followed her gaze to the young family, was silent for a long moment, and then cracked the barest of smiles. “Now, why would we want to be like everyone else?” She sighed, turning back to him, but he didn’t give her a chance to argue. “You are magic, Inej. You don’t need their life when you have yours. Maybe… Maybe we’ll have that. In time. But you are anything and everything I need, and the Saints will give you what you want, and what you so deserve. In time, darling.” He brushed one gloved finger against her snow-damp cheek before turning and continuing down the lane again. He tended to do that a lot.

Inej felt as if the twinkling lights of the bakery warmed her from the inside, encompassing her heart in its soft yellow glow. She was preparing to catch up to him when she heard a chuckle from behind her, and turned to see an old woman standing in the bakery’s doorway. “Lucky girl, you, to have a boy like that,” the woman said with a smile.

Inej laughed. Most would have said she was ill-fated, to end up with the tyrant of Ketterdam, the bastard of the Barrel, but Inej knew the truth.

“You have no idea,” she replied, and ran after the treasure of her heart.

#gvbbrmb22 #gvbbrmbfic22 #gang 4 #Swift writes #Kanej #six of crows #SoC #kanej fanfiction #Six of crows fanfiction #swift creates #fic #kaz x inej #kaz brekker #inej ghafa #the crows #crooked kingdom #leigh bardugo

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