books are my forte

Kylo: alive

Hux: fine alive

Kylo: and unscratched

Hux: just alive if you need to rough her up, please do

And then Mark’s just like HEYYYYY!

OKAY I GOT YOU

His royal Moodiness Prince Kaz of the Barrel and high commander-in-chief of the Dregs hears about a famous acrobat group coming to town

his main cabinet adviser, Duke Jesper, urges him to see the show with the Countess Nina, the Earl Matthias, and Baron Wylan van Eck

Kaz goes grudgingly after Nina threatens to toss all his hats and gloves into the fireplace 

“…and don’t think I don’t know where you stashed all your crowns, I’ll have them all melted by the blacksmith.”

so they enter the tent and wow, isn’t it huge and holy shit that’s a really high and thin wire up there and why is there no net??

the five trek up to the royal box - because of course Kaz gets one of his own - and watch as the acrobats file out one by one, doing technical wonders and impressive stunts

Kaz is wondering whether anyone would notice if he sneaked out

until a little slip of a girl with dark serious eyes steps into the limelight and bows to the audience

the girl scurries up the ladder to the rope and suddenly Kaz can’t believe what he’s seeing

the crowd oohs and ahhs as this girl practically dances across the rope with her feet and fingers 

Kaz can’t take his eyes off her and the others notice with stifled snickers and knowing grins

After the show, Inej prepares to relax until late afternoon, until she gets a frantic announcement that the Prince wants to see her

She’s greeted by Nina and Wylan, who inform her she’s not in trouble, the Prince was just impressed by her skills on the high wire

She’s helped into the large carriage by Jesper and carefully sits down next to the Prince who looks as stoic as a rock 

“Are you an acrobatic enthusiast, Your Highness?”

“No, Jesper simply persuaded me into watching this performance.”

“So what gave you reason for you to call upon me?”

Kaz struggles to answer this

“I need a spy. Someone who can go through the palace undetected and pick up every secret traded in transactions. You’ll be able to do this well enough.”

Inej crosses her arms and flatly refuses 

until Kaz mentions that he’ll pay her parents enough money to buy a house in the kingdom which startles her (she’s never lived in a permanent home before) 

so Inej enters the palace under the guise of an unfortunate Viscountess who just lost all her fortunes 

she refuses to wear a dress, which the court immediately comes to accept once Per Geels tries to grope her (he gets five stitches and a knocked out tooth in return)

and Inej constantly trains with the wires Kaz sets up for her, steel instead of twine, so she asks him to be her spotter

Kaz accepts and soon it becomes a common thing for Kaz to hold Inej’s hand whenever she needs balance

their conversations consist of 80% relaying information to each other and 20% snark 

Kaz is impressed by the silver-tongued wit Inej holds while Inej appreciates Kaz’s bluntness and honesty, no matter how it makes her lips curl in disapproval

he’s one of the first people that doesn’t lie to her

also she often brushes a hand over her shoulder in case she might fall 

she knows she won’t 

but she does it anyway

the wire is set higher and higher until the top of her head nearly scrapes the domed ceiling of the ballroom 

Inej grows proficient at spying in the palace and becomes one of the sharpest ladies of the Dregs Court

and one day Inej steps on the titanium wire and she finds that the metal no longer scrapes her fingers or leaves her bleeding 

so she begins to do her acrobatic tricks but realizes Kaz won’t spot her anymore

the thought makes her wobble and her hands immediately snap outwards but she’s already in freefall 

a pairs of hands catch her and she already has an explanation ready

“I was being careless.”

“You’re never careless.”

“It won’t happen again.”

Inej tries to slink out of Kaz’s grip but his hands grip her shoulders a little more tightly and suddenly she realizes the intimacy of the position they’re in and she can practically hear his heart because her head is near his chest

and she sees the fear in his eyes and an Inej in his mind that he couldn’t run fast enough to save

so she simply curls up against him so she can hide her own trauma (that was her first fall in years)

“Thank you.” she says to the black velvet of Kaz’s robe, because she doesn’t feel like looking at him at the moment

a small hitch of breath

a soft voice replying “You’re welcome”, so different from the usual gravelly noise of rocks scraping against each other

So pleased to finally be finished!!  This is the full video–just the first verse + chorus–but the full song works really well for Six of Crows and you should listen to it!  And also read the Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo because those are them Good Books. uOu/

Some notes: Wylan’s burning a letter and yep, that’s his dad.  Yep, that’s Jarl Brum’s gloved hand that appears before the wolf.  Inej’s knives should’ve been dark for maximum stealth, I just liked the shine too much.  In retrospect, I wish I’d given Kaz a proper limp.

Programs Used: Toon Boom Studio 4.5, Adobe Photoshop CS6 Song: Trouble by Valerie Broussard (available on Spotify!)

These fics are literally my life right now and I’m loving it. Will edit as more are found/written; suggestions welcome!

Masterpost

+ - fic is mature/explicit

* - fic is incomplete

Multichapter:

+ the Ghost of Ben Solo by writingramblr

* Something Entirely New by alittletoobright

*+ Whatever I want by KyloZen

* Across the Galaxy by Scholastica

Whispers In The Night by LadyBee

* All the Stars, They Must Burn by Ambrosia

*+ Destiny Calls by Mistletoy

*+ Beyond my Reach by Lizzen

Aftershocks by lovelydarkanddeep

*+ Promises by cuddlekylo

*+ Scour by CalliopeKismet

*+ All That Is Gold by Django_Fett

*+ When you’re lonely, I’ll be lonely too by RatFlavored

* Cormorant Bird by Vadelith

* And the Path Was a Circle by tatertatra

* Bedstead by reyleaux (witchoil)

Series:

+ The Post-TLJ Reylo Therapy series by tinylittlebrain

The Where Can We Go From Here series by AnandaRunner

Oneshots:

+ Exposed by snivellus023

+ Irrevocable by VeryImpressive

+ Burn My Skin by Rayhinon

Pulp by VerityR

Tenuous Threads by TearoomSaloon

Connections by sourcrayon 

+ Sovereignty by OccasionallyCreative

+ The Falcon’s Cockpit by Naatta

+ Hunger by sinisterkid92

+ Battle of the Mental Images by Naatta

+ touch by Emetic

My Blood Will Make You Clean by Tonight_At_Noon

Morning glory by Applesith 

+ Close Enough to Touch by Mster70

+ Missed Connection by TearoomSaloon

+ The Storm by EyesLikeStorms

Weight by CitrusBlooms

+ The Chasm Between Us by slight_Ichatrina_obsessed_sleepyfangirl

+ Get A Little Closer, Let Fold by fettuccine_alfreylo

+ Je Veux Vivre Dans Mes Rêves by reginahalliwell

Dancing in the Rain by Naatta

+ You Keep Me Awake at Night by WrittenInRain

Five First Kisses by Luv_Haze

The Connection Still Holds by ValmureEld

+ An Endless Name by avidvampirehunter

Quid Pro Quo by the-reylo-void (Anysia)

+ Undertow by TheAfterglow

Unexpected Visits by valorvictor

Me @ me: “Hey maybe don’t draw the entire first season of YOI from yakov feltsman’s perspective. That will take weeks and you’re an adult with a life”

…I did it.

Bonus:

Loosely based on this post.

ok so this has to have been pointed out before, and it’s been so long since episode 2 came out that I can’t remember if I saw any posts about it but??