#rogue protagonists

[joncronshawauthor]

Walk the Line of Morality: 10 Fantasy Novels with Thieving Protagonists

In the usual realm of swords, sorcery, dragons and direwolves, aren’t we all occasionally partial to a protagonist that’s a bit, well… shifty? I’m not talking about the big muscle-bound, honour-bound heroes that are as predictable as the British weather, I’m talking about the sneak-thieves, the tricksters, the rogues! There’s something devilishly enjoyable about a character that walks the line…

[deikshen]

One day, Shen Qingqiu comes from the city with a little baby in his arms. He says: "His mother died during childbirth and I am taking care of him." He names the child Shen Yuan when he is old enough to give him a name, and the child grows up in Qing Jing.

Everyone, absolutely everyone, believes that Shen Qingqiu is the biological father of that child. Only have to LOOK at them both and see the resemblance: the same eyes, the same hair, the same facial structure, the same lips, even the same angry pout. Rumors - Shen Qingqiu had a child with a prostitute who died and now he is taking care of him!! - are open secrets.

Shen Qingqiu, as usual, ignores them. He cares for his little one, raising him with the closest thing other Peak Lords can call love. Impeccable robes, the best meals, the best early education. Shen Yuan grows up as a polite, gentle, kind-hearted, sweet-faced child. He frees insects before killing them, isn't afraid to dirty his robes if he must go after someone, and has an avid interest in beasts and monsters beyond comprehension. The Peak Lords jokingly think: this child has taken his father's face and surely the good heart of his mother, may she rest in peace.

When he comes of age, he doesn't even have to dig a hole to be chosen for Qing Jing Peak - everyone knows that Shen Qingqiu has already made a place for him there. However, Shen Yuan insists on doing it on his own! He wants to earn his place. The Peak Lords respect him for it, and there are various interests, but he still ends up in Qing Jing Peak.

And Shen Yuan becomes Shen Qingqiu's clear first disciple. He is a skilled scholar, excellent martial artist who is not afraid to tear someone rude with foul words, but with an almost natural disposition to be kind, sweet and gentle with those who deserve and require it.

It is then that Luo Binghe arrives at Qing Jing Peak.

The Peak Lords hear of the rumors and they spread them like pollen in spring: apparently there has been a HUGE discussion between Shen Qingqiu and his spoiled son! Something involving a child with water burns, a beating, and a woodshed. No one understands what happened, but a day later, Shen Yuan completely disappeared from the Cang Qiong Sect.

And he has taken a young disciple with him.

Shen Qingqiu begins to act as if he never had a son - as if his whole life has been all about him, hostile and unpleasant. His mood is worse than ever and his cruelty is undeniable. No one understands what has happened between father and son, but these are rumors that even if whispered, bring the very bad faces of Shen Qingqiu. And no one wants to be behind Shen Qingqiu's wrath when it is unleashed.

(Shen Yuan had transmigrated. Into a baby! Into Shen Qingqiu's son! Yes, indeed his memories had been gradually unlocked, thank god. It would have been so weird to be a baby with the mindset of an adult... And he had believed, for a long time, that perhaps Shen Qingqiu could change. That loving him and caring for him would make him better when Luo Binghe reached Cang Qiong.

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

So, Shen Qingqiu can hate him for this reason if he wants! But Shen Yuan has to leave there and take Luo Binghe with him. He will teach him cultivation and do everything to make him become a powerful cultivator before his demonic seal is unleashed, he will do everything possible to prevent him from the Endless Abyss, and will prevent Shen Qingqiu from being turned into a human stick.

Probably, a single night of punishment and humiliation wasn’t enough for Luo Binghe to want revenge so hard. Actually?? He just would save the lives of all his martial uncles and his father in the process to kindly educate Luo Binghe and make him as powerful yet happy as possible. They should thank him!! He's sacrificing himself, his comforts, and his reputation to save everyone's asses!!!)

...

(Although Shang Qinghua had wanted to give Shen Qingqiu a son - a magical pollen pregnancy between Yue Qingyuan and Shen Qingqiu, which Shen Qingqiu would NEVER tell Yue Qingyuan was his child until the very last moment - for the drama and secondary revenge and angst 7/9, that had been a damn draft!!! He didn't even get to develop the background of Yue Qingyuan and Shen Jiu!!! And now that son ran away with his Protagonist!? System, what's going on!? Why do HE make sure the Endless Abyss arc be completed!? He doesn't even fucking know where the protagonist is!!! System have mercy on AND HELP!!!)

[stealingpotatoes]

What do you think of Jyn Erso?

she's my best friend she's my pal. she's my homeboy my rotten soldier she's my sweet cheese. my goodtime boyy

[dead--star]

Calix von Fellner was a study in containment, a Margardian noble whose disciplined surface seemed perpetually at war with the primal echoes of his world's strange genesis.

His face held a stern, aristocratic handsomeness, all sharp angles and controlled lines seemingly carved by duty and Margard's harsh climate. Yet, the intensity in his gaze was often unnerving, hinting at depths rarely shown, underscored by the heterochromia viridum of his eyes – one the warm brown of fertile earth, the other the flat grey of Margard's perpetual cloud cover.

Starkest of all was the 'Fellner Moon,' a shock of pure white hair slashing down from his hairline to temple across his dark hair, a mark of lineage some whispered was blessing, others a taint. His frame, favouring the lean, tensile strength of a hunter over brutish bulk, moved with a coiled readiness, an elegant predator's grace held firmly in check by iron discipline.

His voice was typically low, level, words chosen with pragmatic care. He moved with disciplined economy, his posture reflecting the rigid hierarchy of Dominus-Law, his performance of the Kith-Sign salute precise and conveying rank without unnecessary flourish. Only the occasional tightening of his jaw or a brief clenching of his gloved fist might betray the storm beneath the calm exterior.

Outwardly, Calix embodied the virtues expected of his lineage, said to descend from Saint Valkorian the Stern. He was duty-bound, disciplined to a fault, viewing the world through the harsh but ordered lens of Dominus-Law, which he initially upheld with dogmatic fervour. He respected proven strength, demanded competence in himself and others, and offered little warmth beyond a closed circle.

Yet beneath the ice lay the fire of his warp-touched heritage – a controlled, hidden ferocity that could erupt with shocking speed and brutality when truly challenged or pushed past his limits. His initial faith in the Law hid a pragmatic, analytical mind, capable of cold calculation when survival or duty demanded it.

Shaped by Margard's mists, its unique biological legacy, and the unforgiving tenets of Dominus-Law, Calix was a product of isolation and harsh necessity. He was the Hand of Fellner: a blade honed by duty, bound by law, yet forever wrestling with the echo of the beast within and the shadows of truths that threatened to unmake his world.

[forestwhisker-designs]

#18 Blackstar

A huge white tom with huge jet-black paws, one of which has six toes, black-rimmed ears, and amber eyes.

[andorerso]

let's get one thing straight, I will block anyone who says Rogue One isn't Jyn's story, or has been reframed to be about someone else, or that she's not the protagonist anymore. you cannot seriously be that dismissive of one of the few female leads in Star Wars. I say this as the certified biggest Cassian fan in the world, but y'all need to shut the fuck up. it's still Jyn's story.

[flythesail]

Can he stop talking (x)

[saltyfilmmajor]

Thinking how Lane’s descriptor of Ethan being a Gambler sticking for the rest of the franchise

[jyndor2]

something something those of us who believed in cassian being a fantastic choice to base a story around also being the ones who will have the hardest time enjoying his show because of our love for this character 🤡🤡🤡🤡🔪🔪🔪🔪

[arcandoria]

my dopamine week shout out of the day is going for the novel that stole my brain and my heart written by someone who's inspired and given me encouragement to write, @holylustration ❤️

MKSD is just such a succulent thing to seek your teeth into. I'd never expect an arranged marriage / knight pilot au Heinrix to have such a grip on me.

Holy has crafted such a complex and solid interpretation of Guisorn III, its customs and culture - a very solid blend of feudal and 40k as it should be. Between a bride plucked from her planet armed with just her wits and kindness, and a messy Heinrix badly dealing with his self-hatred and burdened by his obligations, this a beautifully explored slow burn. And there's Imperial Knights! And cats!

And if Heinrix or AUs are not your type of cake, you can check Predator & Prey for some Marazhai goodness (which, full disclosure, I haven't myself but knowing Holy's beautiful wordcraft, I plan to in the future!)

[thatswhatsushesaid]

it’s always so interesting to me when people state that they just “didn’t trust” jin guangyao from the very first moment he appears on screen as meng yao in cql because like

do you not recognize how your suspicion of a sex worker’s son on sight, before he’s done anything at all except endure humiliation during the cloud recesses welcoming ceremony, is the exact same attitude shared by the rest of the cultivation world?

[erasedcitizen2]

Now that we have those lil veilguard backstory things based on the faction you pick from the character creator and we've seen more of the gameplay... do y'all have any plans for your first rook already? what class/faction/race are y'all thinking? do you already have thoughts about their personality or backstory?

For my first playthrough I'm leaning towards an elven rogue antivan crow right now I think but it's really hard to pick

[teecupangel]

Had the sudden thought of somehow Desmond was dropped kicked into Dragon Age/Thedas, specifically the Inquistion and received the glowy mark of doom. And on one hand, it's all here we go again, and on the other hand, someone keeps a leash on Desmond because he keeps trying to run away

Well, we can’t really blame him considering he just got booted from being a chosen one to another chosen one in a different world where he knows nothing at all XD

And in a world where one of the major faction is called the Templars?

He’d be wary of them from the get go, that’s for sure. XD (not that the mages wouldn't send alarms all around his mind)

Honestly, he’d probably go his own way and travel the new world he finds himself in, trying to understand the geopolitical status of the world.

Well, that seemed like a tall order so he would probably focus on Thedas first.

He’d also build his own Brotherhood along the way.

In his defense, it’s less building it and sorta accidentally setting it up because he kept saving random people during his travels and feeling the need to help them.

He calls them travels.

Leliana calls them ‘Desmond running away again’.

The funny thing though… he’s just traveling but he gets roped into the power struggle all over Thedas and gets railroaded into the original plot.

Not that he knows this.

Perhaps it’s simply fate.

Perhaps the Calculations is still at play.

Perhaps… a certain ‘hedge mage’ is at fault.

Desmond definitely isn’t sure.

He’s just trying to live his life in this new world he finds himself.

.

Oh.

And because this is the kind of curse Desmond is given whenever he gets isekai’ed to another world/game/franchise.

Yes.

The companions and advisors want to bang him.

The people he recruits for his Brotherhood though thinks of him as a mentor and more of a parental figure.

[dead--star]

sent to enforce a Law built on secrets

[dreamof-butterfly]

Philemon design for Rogue Law AU, made with this picrew and edited by me

[defire]

Ghost of Seattle Chapter 77

Prev

Content: Child soldier, supernatural mild horror, rogue stealth mission, fear

"The shades that stick to you will tell you things you don't want to know. Things you can never forget."

Ghost figured out why the machete, fast. In the areas he'd normally needed to go inside the city, the brush could be ducked through and cut through by a knife if you had to. 

The 10 years of blackberry overgrowth surrounding the mobile home camp made it like a fucking fortress. He cut through for awhile, but the cuts had to be scarce as he got closer. He started moving the vines aside into each other, with the back of the blade, as Kiraba had shown him.

Hacking in roughly was going to be loud. His main advantage was his silence, so as he got close, he focused on hearing everything in the terrain. He heard the grass behind him, the creaking of the huge vines supporting each other ahead. The wind rushing around creaking mobile home walls, but it died down just as fast. 

The windows rattled with it. He was so focused on listening for people that he almost missed the sound of tension in front of him. Tension in a cord, probably stretched across the path. Probably set to trigger a shotgun blast.

That said 2 things.

This was a way in, because it was trapped, and there was another way in that wouldn't have something so risky to get past.

Tunnels through the brambles maybe...

But he heard no sounds of people.

He went around and found that on the far side of the camp, a turn off the road let straight up to a gate. The gate had been kept clear for awhile, but there was fresh growth from last summer.

Breathing slow, Ghost took his time getting through the gate. He had to stop and pull bramble hooks out of the thighs of his sweats. He twisted them tighter around his legs. Maybe he'd be better off wrapping them down. He stepped silently down the road that led through the middle.

Dark windows. 

Every house had dark windows, about half with shades that pushed the feeling of "leave me alone!" He looked away quickly and moved on. Tonight, he didn't want to know what it was going to be like to be dead. 

One shade's presence pulled him in. This was the only one that wanted him to come inside, and he could almost make out a black grin in the shadow's chin. 

He tried to pull his gaze back to the road, but he couldn't. His eyes were locked on, wide, seeing too much. He saw what its death was like, running from her son, whose eyes were wide with rage and grief, then pain as he struck her. A horrible, sticky feeling thrilled into his gut as he felt how she had enjoyed her son's suffering. Its grin split bigger. He nearly gagged with disgust and bit his lip. The pain helped him turn his eyes away.

He winced, blinking, finding himself out of breath. Why were they so horrible now? It was like the stories about shades, the ones he'd laughed at. It was like he was beginning to instinctively reject death. He didn't feel like one of these shades anymore.

Skipping that one, he searched the mobile homes, without making a sound. Most had been cleaned out, so he was just looking for specific things. Camping and cooking gear, lighters, penlights--for some reason those often still worked, after all this time.

He put a few things in his backpack from each house. There wasn't much, and there was no food. At about 5 minutes, he did hear something--the worse something. A dog, and a chain. The chain would be nice, except that meant the owners were feeding it, probably. He heard its breath about 10 feet from the other side of the wall. Heard the chain as it perked its ears up. It sensed him.

Dogs are different from people, but they share certain instincts. 

"Don't see me." Ghost thought.

Keeping his hands out, he guided himself over moldy clothes piled on the floor by the line of the dresser. There was a bed to his right, which he touched momentarily, to keep from losing his balance. His hand fell on something hard and also somehow soggy.

He flinched and drew back when he realized what it was. Part of a corpse. He clenched the fist that had touched it, lifting his chin and head to suppress a shudder. He let his breath out as smoothly as possible. The dog moved its head outside.

It was harder to hear with blood rushing dizzily into his head. He stopped and tried the "don't see me" thing again. It was a lot harder now, and might not work. 

The dead never used to scare him like this. He always felt like he was the same as them. Tonight, he wanted to not die.

He moved softly to the closet, half-expecting to come face-to-face with another corpse in there. He breathed, calmed down. He had to reach his left hand into the closet sideways, but he felt something of the right texture.

Every house had a Random Cupboard, and this was where you found things like camping supplies, extra cups, tablecloths, those tiny round wooden platters in stacks--things people back then seemed to keep, but not really use. 

He squeezed the door and gently pushed on it. Rusty. He gave it more effort. At that, something crawled onto his upper arm. A spider.

"I'm not gonna hurtchu." He breathed.

He gently nudged it, and it crawled onto the wall.

He gently lifted whatever the nylon thing was, and snuck out of the house. He let himself take a gentle breath.

The dog perked up its head and made the softest growl in its throat. 

Ghost's survival instinct kicked in fully as he went dead quiet. 

He slipped his essence away, letting his breath come and go as the night breeze did.

He retreated toward the gate. The dog didn't react. 

This time, Ghost made sure to look out where he was retreating to--he didn't ever wanna get snuck up behind on, in an enemy compound, like happened in the Cult. 

Buddy was at the gate, watching him shimmer along the path like a puff of mist. He knew he was difficult to see because, someone that close should be making some kind of noise, and he wasn't.

Even Buddy, who was used to him, still got confused by the not-breathing thing.

He smiled at her, and she relaxed.

They crept out back toward Kiraba. 

"What'd you get?" Buddy asked.

Ghost put a finger to his lips.

A bark came from the compound; they jumped and jogged into the darkness.

Kiraba was waiting for them under the shade of a bunch of trees. He reached toward Ghost's arm. When Ghost didn't flinch back like he used to, Kiraba wrapped an arm around his back and squeezed gently.

"I thought something happened." Kiraba's voice trembled slightly. "It took so long." 

Ghost had stiffened momentarily, interpreting this as a grapple, but let himself feel Kiraba's arm for a moment before he let go.

"Uh... I saw a spider." He said.

"You saw?"

"I felt." Ghost corrected. In the dark, feeling was just like seeing. "I felt a spider." 

"Oh..." Kiraba said. "That was it?"

"No, there were people." Ghost said.

"People?" Buddy whispered, gripping both of them by the arms, and they both cringed in pain. "Get the fuck out of here! While you're cozyin up with your precious spider friends, these muh-fuckers get ready to blow your ass with a shotgun!"

As she spoke, she pushed them in front of her, finishing completely out of breath. Her sentences got weird when she panicked.

"Buddy." Kiraba pushed at her hand gripping his arm. "Buddy. Stop."

She let go, hyperventilating.

"The way we need to go is that way." He pointed into the woods. "And--that was my dislocated shoulder. Come on."

"Fuck. Sorry."

The polyester package Ghost had found was 2 hammocks. 

Buddy stayed up to watch for Yellowcap people, she said. At 6pm--per her toy watch from when she was 8--she nudged them awake. 

"They just passed. Do you wanna tail them, Kiraba?"

"Uh..." Kiraba sighed. "I'm freezing."

The bedding Ghost had looted was just barely warm enough to let them sleep a bit. 

"Kiraba." Ghost said, swinging his aching legs out and staggering to get his balance. "Get up." 

"What?" Kiraba moaned. "Why?"

"Get up." Buddy said. "Why are you still relaxing in your cocoon?"

"Because it takes a minute to wake up." He said, peeking out at them with glazed-over eyes.

His eyebrows raised at Ghost, who was pulling the hammock, with all the stuff inside, over his shoulder.

"How the--huh. That's a good idea. Fast and lazy." Kiraba took forever, like, 60 seconds, to get out and bundle his. "How'd you think of that so fast?" 

"I planned it last night." Ghost said. "In case we need to scram."

Kiraba looked at Ghost for a minute.

"You got eye circles." He said.

Ghost shrugged and moved to get back on the path.

"Let's keep up with the Yellowcaps." He said. "We don't want them doubling back on us."

"The Yellowcaps?" Kiraba said, hurrying after them. "What?" 

"Were you not listening when I woke you up?" Buddy said.  "They just passed us. We gotta keep tabs on them. Weren't you listening?"

"You expect me to be fully alert, the second I wake up?"

Ghost and Buddy looked at each other. 

Kiraba scoffed.

"That's crazy." He looked at them. "What the fuck happened to you guys?"

"I'm guessing you didn't get dragged out of bed by the hair if you slept in," Ghost said.

"...No," Kiraba said, horrified.

"Never found someone creeping up to your bed at night?" Buddy said.

"What the--" Kiraba paused with his mouth open.

"Fuck." Ghost finished. "Right?"

"...I guess I get why you curse so much." He said. 

Ghost shrugged.

"It helps." 

They came to a long, long road that went up through the trees. Something about the trees and the worn track said "driveway".

They smelled smoke.

"We'll need to take a side path." Kiraba said. Then he lowered his head, disappointed. "Actually, we should just follow Dad's tracks. They're burning what they can't loot."

"Your dad leaves special tracks?" Buddy said.

Kiraba turned back to them, and Ghost was surprised to see him wiping tears off his face as he nodded.

"Yes. Well, he has certain idiosyncrasies." Kiraba said.

Ghost and Buddy looked at each other, not sure what that meant. Kiraba misinterpreted that.

"I just--my family house is burning. I'm never going... Home."

Buddy sighed, reaching an arm around his shoulders.

"I get that."

Ghost looked at them, wondering what it was like to have a home you missed. 

Kiraba sighed and walked several steps down a trail to the left.

"Here," He said with a gesture of the machete. "See these cuts? Yellowcaps bash brambles. Dad cuts them with his machete. He leaves them hanging so they don't fly into people's way as he goes."

"Like this one?" Ghost pointed to a cut blackberry vine. 

"That was cut with a knife." 

"How do you know?" Buddy asked.

"The cut isn't all the way through, and it isn't shoved far out of the way." Kiraba said. "Come on, let's go this way. I'll get us there."

Tag list: @joyjoygorl @cepheusgalaxy @little-rat-dragon @turtlesnap1 @atomicsandwichprince

Let me know if you want to be tagged!

Kindle book: Masterpost: Next: