#the cthaeh

[incorrect-kkc-theories]

The Cthaeh is a Environmentalist with a bad rap.

Everyone knows it can see most manifistations of the future, and what small changes will lead to what outcome. But no one knows why it stays in the tree killing butterflies.

The answer, of course, is to prevent hurricanes.

A single flap of a butterfly's wings can (eventually) cause a thunderstorm. Knowing this, the Cthaeh found the tree with the most butterflies and kills the ones whose flight will cause natural disasters.

It started the creation war, as that lead to the separation (or creation) of the Fae realm, which is untouched by modernisation, and mainly wilderness.

All other 'Evils' are gross exagerations.

The Cthaeh is just a Tree hugging hippy.

(The being a dick to visitors is because one gets bored being alone for thousands of years when you are just trying to help the world)

[ardenrabbit]

Do you mind if I ask your top 10 favorite characters (can be male or female) from all of the media that you loved (can be anime/manga, books, movies or tv series)? And why do you love them? Thanks....

Oh!! What a cool question! Thank you :D

I can't be super precise because I love a lot of characters and don't want to hurt their feelings, but here's who comes to mind. In no particular order:

1. Uncle Iroh from Avatar: the Last Airbender. He's the only one I'm actually definitively saying is in a ranking. He's the best one. I love how unfailingly kind and loving he is, and that he demonstrates the beautiful ability to be silly and simply happy despite all the tragedy he's seen. Of course I also love almost every other character in the show, too, but Iroh is Best.

2. Elodin from The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss: This man is insane. He is eccentric and opinionated and owns it. He does not give half a fuck what people think of him and cares very, very much about everything else in the world. I want to know everything he knows. He is a trickster god I think.

3. The Cthaeh from The Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss: Same book series as Elodin but god they both deserve their own mentions since the Cthaeh is on another fuckin level from literally everything. No spoilers, but this thing is the absolute coolest monster concept I have ever seen in any form of media.

4. Makenna from The Goblin Wood by Hilari Bell: This was my favorite book as a kid. Makenna is a badass hedgewitch who befriends a goblin named Cogswhallop. She's violently anti-colonialism and definitely a communist. I literally want to name my kid after her. Write characters like Makenna.

5. Boromir from The Lord of the Rings, mostly referring to the Peter Jackson films because FotR is my favorite movie: I love him. I love him I love him. He was the Best Of Men, and everyone else in the Fellowship was some kind of magic so he was the only one who fell victim to the Ring's sway, but he never stopped being a good man with a noble heart.

6. Hua Cheng from Heaven Official's Blessing by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu: God. I love this author and maintain that she's a genius, and I love so many of her characters, but Hua Cheng gets the first honorable mention because he is The Most Unhinged. All my mxtx favorites are unhinged tbh, but Hua Cheng is on another level. He's made a hobby out of self-sacrifice and makes stalking look tragically romantic. He vacillates between sweet, heart-wrenching adoration for one (1) person and top-tier vicious snarkiness for literally anyone else. He is a force of darkness and a shy baby.

7. Zevran from Dragon Age: My favorite game series. My guy. He tries very, very hard to make you think he doesn't have depth but he's actually just a mastermind at deflection and his heart is behind like eighteen million locked doors. He's cheerful! He's not. He's deeply depressed and his loyalty shows up LOUD when you're not emotionally prepared for it. He's possibly the most devoted companion character in the game.

8. Cole from Dragon Age: He is my son. My treasured baby boy. He loves you. I read Asunder before Inquisition came out so girl I shrieked when he was announced as a featuring character.

9. Nezumi from No. 6 by Atsuko Asano: He's a dick. Pretentious deuteragonist goth boyfriend who quotes classical Western poetry, thinks violence is funny until he sees his Soft, Sweet protagonist engage in it, and commands swarms of bees. His dream is to overthrow the dystopian government.

10. Liu Jianghe from Saved the Public Enemy by Mistake by Liu Muqiao: I'm obsessed with this one lately. Shamelessly promoting this manhua on the Bilibili app. He's my profile icon rn. Unhinged. Not sure what he's capable of. Sweet boy. Keeps making it look like he's the bad guy but all of his decisions are specifically engineered to help the main character fix his life. Everyone is confused and this maniac is cheerful and pretty much lives on the brink of death. Please read it guys it literally only has like 6 fics on AO3 and I want to talk to people about it

[kevin-sedai]

"'I am no tree. No more than is a man a chair. I am the Cthaeh. You are fortunate to find me. Many would envy your chance.'

'Chance?' I echoed, trying to catch a glimpse of whatever was speaking to me from among the branches of the tree. A piece of an old story tickled my memory, some scrap of folklore I'd read while searching the Chandrian. 'You're an oracle,' I said.

'Oracle. How quaint. Do not try to pin me with small names. I am Cthaeh. I am. I see. I know.' Two iridescent blue-black wings fluttered separately where there had been a butterfly before. 'At times I speak.'"

-Wise Man's Fear, Patrick Rothfuss

[weboftigers]

"The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss 🍂

RedBubble Sticker Link

[autiezo]

KIM KITSURAGI -- "Officer, explain to me why the body has been hanging in the tree for 7 days straight."

HARRY D.B -- "Errrr... I forgor."

[EDIT BELOW:]

@coffinwoodx found this gem:

by cthaeh._ on instagram!

And lacefuneral found this GIF from iruiion (tumblr artist)

[coffinwoodx]

I FINALLY FOUND IT

I HAVE BEEN LOOKING FOR THIS GOD FORSAKEN IMAGE FOR MONTHS GOOD LORD 😭 FINALLYYYY

by cthaeh._ on instagram! (ofc it was on instagram, the one app i rarely touch 💀)

[bookcub]

The Cthaeh: "Do not try to pin me with small names. I am Cthaeh. I am. I see. I know. At times I speak."

Cinder: "Someone's parents have been singing entirely the wrong sort of songs."

Ambrose: “And there was Ambrose. To deem us simply enemies is to lose the true flavors of our relationship. It was more like the two of us entered into a business partnership in order to more efficiently pursue our mutual interest of hating each other.”

[sunlit-music]

Kingkiller theory post:

Denna has muscles. Like, serious muscles. From carrying her harp around all the time. Unless she gets people to carry it for her, which is possible but unlikely. 

Sim writes poetry. Really bad poetry. But it’s bad in an adorable way, not a creepy way. 

I agree with other people who helped make the Kingkiller wiki on at least one point: I think the four plated door has a route to where the Amyr live and books about the Amyr and the Chandrian. 

I’d like to know if there’s an antidote to the misfortune caused by the Cthaeh. If there is one, that’d be really cool. 

Fela is not Chandrian. Sorry guys. I love her too much. Plus the idea of her destroying a forge where Master Kilvin is even when there’s no one talking about her being Chandrian make the theories that she’s a Chandrian really weird. 

I don’t want to hear about the Chandrian. I want to hear about the Amyr. I think they’re way more decent than the Chandrian. I don’t agree with reddit bros that the Chandrian are the good guys. 

[kvothes]

sooo true about kkc. reading it was a life altering experience for me but also every time I think about the felurian bit i wanna commit a violence. like yes kvothe is special. it could've stopped at being able to play his lute with broken strings (which works bc he learned how to in a time of great misery). it didn't have to be that he could, as a virgin teenager, [redacted] [redacted] [redacted] the fairy of fucking who turns everyone insane and just leave her there with no obvious consequence besides a boost to his self-esteem bc now he is a special boy who also Fucks 😮‍💨

oh the felurian chapters are the worst yeah. and like… i don’t want to give rothfuss too much credit, but i do think there’s a certain amount of unreliable narration going on. like, kvothe is telling this story himself, and we know there are things he elides or speeds through. so that part of the book deeply annoys me but i think it’s a very deliberate move on kvothe’s part or continue this myth of how he wants to be remembered—especially since it is happening around this horrible, horrible encounter with the cthaeh.

and it’s so funny! because he does also, in his narration, admit to weakness and mistakes and doubt. we see him shatter over and over. but i do think stuff like that is meant to bolster his image in a really obvious way.

[cthaehart]

Updated my inprnt page a little :]

[doomed-prophetess]

What are your headcannons of siodonna?

Siodonna is one of the few countries that managed to resist Obelia's colonization

they are military not very advanced but they had a skillful marriage policy and knew how to make allies of their neighbouring countries

it also helped that they were located far away from Obelia which would make a conquest much harder

they are the only ones that still believe in the old gods (the world tree) but their religion split up into different sects

some say the world tree is the only true god, some say the world tree merely serves as a messenger, other's claim that they have seen fairies around the world who are the true servants of the world tree, then others speculate that the fairies or a creature that lives in the branches of the tree are the ones performing the miracles and not the tree itself

when a Siodonnian citizen dies they will plant a tree on the grave, it's symbolic to a ladder to heaven

instead of "go to hell" there is a similar phrase which roughly translates to "go find the world tree/chase the world tree"

many young men and women travelled the world to find the world tree or find themselves, it used to be a ritual to mark the passage between childhood and adulthood

there is the belief that when you find the world tree it will grant you three wishes: "I can grant you a wish or tell you a truth. But not both"/ I can forgive you a sin or permit you a wrong. But not both."/ "I can give you back something that you've lost, or I can remove something you wish to have exercised, but not both."/ "Once you choose, you have chosen. Once I speak. I have spoken. Choose carefully, for no matter what you choose, you will almost certainly pay more than you realize." (I recently read the wish bridge and I fell in love with this concept.) I also like the idea that there is an evil world tree, maybe planted by Aeternitas with the intention to destroy their faith, that pretends to be the real world tree and also grants wishes but always twists them for their own amusement and more often than not it leads to the demise of the traveller. Or even a domino effect that could destroy a nation. (Similar to the Cthaeh in Kingkiller Chronicles).

Siodonnians are famous for their great scholars

memory stones are mined in Siodonna and the formula to engrave memories in the gems was created by Siodonnian magicians

other things they have invented: hydraulic engineering, mass produced pottery, high-quality dye and new colours like tyrian purple

if Diana was an illegitimate princess, I'd headcanon that magenta eyes are rare and the trademark of Siodonnian royality, if she was a commoner I imagine that magenta eyes are very common in Siodonna,

Diana was part of the entourage of the princess who was meant to become part of Claude's harem but Claude fell in love with Diana instead

the princess was Diana’s childhood friend and was in love with her (she was the Felix to Claude’s Diana)

all the Siodonnian dancers were basically a peace offering given to Claude after the Siodonnian Emperor or Empress heard of the dynastic revolution that happened over there. They did not want to risk a war with Obelia.

the massacre of the Ruby Palace put a strain on the relationship of Siodonna and Obelia, the Siodonnians demanded justice for their murdered princess who had been quite popular among the common folk despite being one of dozen illegitimate children of the Emperor but the council thought it was not wise to make such a rash decision based on emotions alone. So they waited.

Athy's death was the last straw and they declared war on Obelia in Claude's moment of weakness, other countries that have been colonized rose up and joined their troops

Siodonnia has a head of a state but they also have a council that has much more power in government affairs than Obelia’s council, half of the council is chosen by the ruler, the other half is voted (they get picked from a privileged group and not everyone can vote but it is an improvement in comparision to Obelia where their monarchy rules absolute)

[incorrect-kkc-theories]

The Ritual that Bast does at the Lightning Tree before answering questions and dolling out favours links him (unbeknownst to himself or any other Fae) to the Cthaeh.

Granting him a touch of knowledge and insight, along with an extra helping of malice, and allowing the Cthaeh to influence him subtely but directly.

Think about it:

Fae at a Tree, Answers Questions, all Fae magic is either illusion or making something more of itself. So since no illusion occurred, and the most powerful Fae that answers Questions by a tree is the Cthaeh, to make the situation a greater version of itself, it must be more Cthaeh like.

[suttttton]

Rereading kingkiller and it's very sweet how Bast is devastated to learn that Kvothe talked to the Cthaeh

But it's also funny because Bast is nearly in tears like, "But that means this story can't have a happy ending, it can only be the worst kind of tragedy ;___;" meanwhile Kvothe is like "Um. Yeah? This isn't exactly news..."

[kevin-sedai]

10 Characters ~ 10 Fandoms ~ 10 Tags

Tagged by @darkfeanix, thank you!😊

1. Rand al'Thor, Wheel of Time

2. FitzChivalry Farseer, Realm of the Elderlings

3. The Cthaeh, Kingkiller Chronicle

4. Aragorn, LotR

5. Goku, DragonBall Z

6. the Others, ASoIaF

7. Murtagh, Inheritance Cycle

8. Gideon Nav, The Locked Tomb

9. Finnick Odair, The Hunger Games

10. Jasnah Kholin, Stormlight Archive

I tag anyone who sees this and wants to give it a go!

[acicueta]

The Cthaeh by Dejan Delic

[teccams-socks]

Laurian and the Chandrian

“Since you asked so sweetly, Cinder is the one you want. Remember him? White hair? Dark eyes? Did things to your mother, you know. Terrible. She held up well though. Laurian was always a trouper, if you’ll pardon the expression. Much better than your father, with all his begging and blubbering.”

My mind flashed pictures of things I had tried to forget for years. My mother, her hair wet with blood, her arms unnaturally twisted, broken at the wrist, the elbow. My father, his belly cut open, had left a trail of blood for twenty feet. He’d crawled to be closer to her. - The Wise Man’s Fear, Chapter 104: The Cthaeh, pg 757

____________

       Kvothe’s graphic description of his parents’ murders, finally given to us in Book 2 thanks to the Cthaeh’s taunting. Sorry for bringing it up again.

It’s obvious here that though both were killed horribly, Laurian was tortured prior to her death, and Arliden was not. He was given one fatal gut wound, and though he died slowly, like Alleg later in the same book, he was dead as soon as he was wounded, “he just hadn’t stopped moving yet” (WMF, Chapter 132: The Broken Circle, pg 961).

Maybe Cinder tortured Laurian just because some people like torturing women more. That’s what I assumed when I first read it. But Haliax went with them on that escapade. Haliax stopped Cinder from tormenting young Kvothe, saying, “This one has done nothing. Send him to the soft and painless blanket of his sleep.... You are too fond of your little cruelties. All of you. I am glad I decided to accompany you today. You are straying, indulging in whimsy. Some of you seem to have forgotten what it is we seek, what we wish to achieve” (NotW, Chapter 16: Hope, pgs 128-129).

Haliax was there enforcing their goals, which means torturing Laurian had a purpose other than cruelty.

Kvothe tells us his parents were writing the song about Lanre together. Everything Arliden knew about them, Laurian knew as well. So she was not tortured for information about their sources, or anything to do with the song. (Unless the Chandrian assumed she would be more likely to talk than Arliden, which is unlikely, because with seven of them there, they could easily have tortured both of them at the same time.)

So Laurian knew something that Arliden didn’t know (or the Chandrian thought she did).

It’s pretty widely accepted that Laurian used to be Natalia Lackless, the missing Lackless sister (there are a million posts about it on reddit, and it’s even in her Wiki page).

So the Chandrian found a Lackless heir unprotected, in a place where no one would ever know she was dead, and seized their chance.

The most likely thing they wanted information on: the Lackless Box.

Whatever theories you subscribe to about what the Box is, what’s in it, and how to open it, there’s no doubt that it is Important. A secret as old as the Lackless family, that they guard closer than anything else.

If the Chandrian were trying to get information about it from Laurian, then it’s a secret that has been kept even from them.

The Cthaeh says she “held up well.” Does that mean she told them nothing before she died? That she told them lies? That she held out for a while, but then gave in? We can’t know yet.

But, it means the Chandrian are coming for the Lacklesses. Finding out more about the Box serves their purpose. Which means the people who know about the box: Meluan, Alveron, Aculeus (possibly), and Kvothe, are all in their crosshairs.

Maybe they can’t go after the prestigious Lacklesses because they are protected. Maybe they’ll try, and there will be some upheaval in Temerant. Maybe that’s why Cinder was trying to destabilize the Maer. I could talk maybes all day, but there’s one thing we know.

Kvothe has none of the protections of money and power that Alveron and Meluan have. And now he knows about the Box. True, the Chandrian don’t know yet that he knows, but it’s only a matter of time. After all, he was in the company of Meluan Lackless, and shortly thereafter started researching Yllish story knots. Why would he do that? Not even Yllish people know Yllish anymore.

TL;DR

The Chandrian are after the secrets of the Lackless Box. Now that Kvothe knows about it, they will come for him. And it’s likely he will find out that his mother was a Lackless.