#SOPHOS

[exercise-of-trust]

not pictured: the annux of the little peninsula making such a spectacle of himself offscreen that no one is paying any attention to his cousin who is eddis and his bestie who is sounis saying all kinds of undiplomatic things about him in the corner

[mothsartart]

finally drawing again, so here’s this weird piece

[vegetable-soup-wizard]

Since I can’t help myself-

The Queens Thief books as John Mulaney quotes:

The thief

The Queen of Attolia

The King of Attolia

A Conspiracy of Kings

Thick as Thieves

Return of the Thief

[saessenach]

a path, but not a plan

Sophos and Irene in A Conspiracy of Kings, a gift illustration I made for @alecjmarsh as part of the @hamiathesgiftexchange

[thecrenellations]

Oh, you married the older sister (?) of the friend/crush you connected with on a dangerous adventure as a teenager? She has some gender stuff going on and was pretty much the only person who could get through to him when he was extremely ill after one of the most traumatic experiences of his life? On a scale of Jerott Blyth to Sounis Sophos, how well did it go?

[tealfoxarts]

Farron and Noodle S2 E15

The pact has been made 👀

[atropinenightshade]

Send hate about Atote please. I, the author, give permission. I may turn it into a crackfic. Idk. I just want hate for it. And if people find a lot wrong with it I may just crash and burn it, ruin it

(I really won't get offended I promise. I need a good laugh tbh)

[tenebrius-excellium]

The scene where Sophos gets the gun. Like. Two young people who despise violence. Whose hearts and minds burn unisono that they would, in an instant, choose any other way if they could. And yet, this scene makes the Thief-Turned-King-Turned-God Eugenides just human again, because here he shows his personal helplessness, quietly whispering to his protegé: Dear friend, I too didn't see any other way. Use the gun.

[deadmomjokes]

Took a hot minute (switching brain meds no fun can we get an oof in the chat), but I'm BACK with the memes, this time for A Conspiracy of Kings!

Unfortunately, this is the book where my child started asking us to read sections aloud (we avoided the murdery parts), and Hakakatoes and Akrekeysmashnesh can go kick rocks

But anyway. Let me take you through a bit of my process when I started this book.

"Oh boy, my favorite side character from the first book is back! I wonder what he'll get up to!"

Trauma is what. Should have known.

Baby boy needs some therapy and a course on self esteem my gosh.

He's too cinnamon roll for this awful political hellscape he got dumped into. But when it comes down to it...

Bunny Boy came in clutch and it was glorious.

(Me too, Gen.)

As if he didn't feel guilty enough already. Give! My! Child! A! Break!

And a couple extras of two of my favorite moments between the kings.

Anyhoo, overall not my favorite book in the series so far (which pains me to say because Sophos is My Darling Child Whom I Love Very Much), but still an excellent read!

[vioqueenofmushrooms]

Sophos in a conspiracy of kings is truly just like. WWGD (What would Gen do)?

He is always going "I thought about what Eugenides would do here" or "I did this thing as Eugenides would". His acting skills consist of emulate Gen

Tbf I too think what would Gen do sometimes

[nebulardrip-art]

Day 29: Sophos, marjoram

[meganwhalenturner]

Pub Day!

Thank you @Hodderscape for another beautiful book

[tealfoxarts]

*grandma voice* Prince Farron? Oh yes, such a handsome young man. And so kind! That headstrong brother of his could learn a thing or two from his example. He's got a bright future ahead of him—just you watch and see.

Still versions under the cut:

[doylldonmagar]

Eugenides, right? But what if, for Gen and Irenes anniversary or something, he has a set of wine glasses made that say "you've been poisoned" at the bottom. These glasses will only be used on particular occasions, for instance, when gen and Irene have private dinners, just the two of them; private dinners with Helen and sophos; or dinners to welcome new ambassadors

[tenebrius-excellium]

Help the way Sophos literally saves Gen in A Conspiracy of Kings...

The way in which the thief in Eugenides didn't necessarily die, but the way in which Attolis slowly, excruciatingly strangled him and buried him alive because he thought Gen could never see the light of day again after he'd promised to be king...

The way Gen believed he would never get the chance to be his true, most favorite self again because he couldn't afford it... that he thought he could never laugh carefree because he'd have to be ruthless like Attolia and measured like a ruler at all times...

The way he was so afraid that he hardened himself against his former friends and family, in case he'd have to wage war against them in the future... the way Eugenides was dying unhappily, fading away, deeply withdrawing into a shell, and only the husk of Attolis remained.

In comes Sophos and calls him what he knows he is. "Gen". Just Gen.

It's Sophos who proves that one can trust some people in one's life, not Eugenides, despite the latter's efforts to restore people to himself earlier, such as Relius, Costis and Teleus, because he despises killing. But Eugenides isn't good with trust either. He's good with isolation, trickery and mistrust. His relationship with Attolia still seems fickle because they're both not used to trust. Their relationship is a thin, fragile fabric of an exception.

Sophos, however, trusts blindly. The conversation at the end of ACoK shows it. Eugenides is like "how did you know my reinforcements would be there?" and Sophos is like "because we're friends and I trusted what you said."

And Gen is surprised. Humbled. Eugenides might be the glue that keeps the triumvirat together, but Sophos becomes their rock, their reassurance of everyone's generally good intentions. Sophos is the opposite of a backstabber, and every ruler of the Little Peninsula needs his naive, kind, and innocent presence as their friend to keep believing that there's something good left in this world of theirs where they have to form a never-before-seen alliance against the Mede.

They need someone safe who they can all rely on, and that rock is Sophos. My heart weeps for Gen. He really doesn't have it easy, and he is so, so alone without someone who knows his full heart.

Without Sophos turned Sounis, Eugenides could not have been the proper king everyone needed him to be in the later books. Godgenides would have brought terror on the land because he would have lost his connection to where he came from and who his friends were. Eddis sold him. It was important to have someone else from his past there who meant well. It's also beautiful to see how Sophos causes Eddis and Attolia to slowly open up to one another, and how relaxed Attolia gets when the burden of wariness falls off her shoulders. They all shed some serious armor around Sophos.

So yes, Sophos saves Gen - him, but what's more, he saves all of them - and it's the most important thing.

"Maybe the real treasure is the friends we made along the way" but threatening as in "if we are not friends, our kingdoms will tumble" - what a twist to that trope...

[rarepair-competition]

Round 1, Matchup 1