#the lies of traitors // hc

[lclthlcved]

What kind of love are you?

Love as a Threshold

Your love does not ask for much. Your love does not take. Your love is free, and unquestioned, and here for wherever needs it. When you fall in love, it is as gentle as a breath in the night. It is quiet, and it is effortless. It is tender. If your love was a house, it would readily welcome all who come through. If your love was a hearth, it would warm the hands of whoever stopped by, whether for a day, a month, a year, or forever. When you fall for someone, it is without strings, without conditions, without need. You love for the sake of loving, for the sake of caring for those who need it. You love with a giver’s heart and a giver’s hands and are made so much stronger for it. Being loved by you is to always feel at home. Your love may not always be well-received by those unprepared to linger, but it is unforgettable all the same.

tagged by @notyetfixed and @necromanticdancer tagging: anyone who wants to do it

[car-o-line]

Can you do tpn hcs for a fem! reader that's extremely silent, very antisocial, and withdrawn and is a girl of very few words, but also intelligent on a terrifyingly dangerous level, and she often jump scares people due to how quiet she is?

A.N: I saw this comment on Isabella’s lullaby on yt and it said, “Gotta appreciate Ray for keeping his goth aesthetic despite the white clothing he wears all the time” and it was just really funny😭😭😭

WARNING: This has spoilers for TPN/ also fem!reader.

Tpn characters with a fem!reader of few words

Emma:

Sunshine and moon friendship for sure.

Though she was a bit intimidated by you at first.

She swore up and down that’d she’d make you open up to people more.

She doesn’t mind your silence really, she just wants you to learn how to express yourself!

And she also wants to hear you voice-

She’s probably only heard you voice a few times, but she cherishes them so much.

You probably spoke a bit more when Emma and Norman had found out the secret about the orphanage.

(You found out because Emma and Norman told you outside near the wall before they told Ray, but Ray was spying on you 3 so it doesn’t matter)

Your intelligence scares Emma tbh.

Like you’re probably on Mamas level of wits.

Honestly when you do talk she probably misses what you say because of how excited she gets when you do talk.

Sometimes she doesn’t even know that you’re in the same room as her, and it makes her feel really bad :(

Like sometimes you four will have a meeting and she’ll randomly be like,

“Wait, where’s y/n!? She’s part of the-”

“She. Is. Right. There.”

“What? looks beside her oh!”

You scare her so bad sometimes omg.

She has to constantly look around to make sure that you’re in or not in the same room she’s in.

Regardless she thinks that you’re the best sister ever, even with how quiet you are.

Norman:

You’re personal translator.

Somehow he knows what you’re thinking without showing it on your face, even if you tried to mask it. So after a while you just kinda relied on him to express what you’re saying.

It’s kind of scary actually.

He doesn’t mind your quiet nature, he thinks you’re calming in a sense.

When the secret was discovered he expected you to remain stoic, for an emotional y/n was uhm..unnatural.

In which you did, though he could see a bit of sorrow in those blank eyes of yours.

Like I said when you do speak it’s a surprise but he’s not like Emma where he’s too excited to hear you, he’ll think it’s nice to hear your voice but doesn’t make it a big deal.

Intelligence wise, you both are pretty head to head.

You both probably play chess a lot.

You like it because of the minimal interactions, he likes it because it’s a learning experience.

He’ll challenge you to more activities as well.

Especially tag.

Please stop scaring him though.

At least once a day he gets jump scared by you, during tag, in the halls, or even just standing he gets on edge.

So his solution? He asked you to tap his shoulder whenever you enter his vicinity.

It saves him lots of heartaches.

Ray:

Relates to you at a point.

You’re antisocial, he’s an emo. Same thing.

He wasn’t worried about your shipment coming early because you’re hella smart.

He honestly does not give af if you spoke or not.

Thought you were mute when you came into the orphanage but Isabella shut down that theory and simply told him that you didn’t like talking.

You give him heart attacks sometimes.

Like when everyone is playing tag while he’s reading, sometimes he looks to the side just to see you staring at him over his shoulder.

Please stop.

He loves you greatly but just stop.

“What are you doing, go play tag.”

“😐”

“I’m not reading to you.”

Honestly he’s surprised Isabella didn’t make you be the traitor.

But he wouldn’t want that burden on you anyway.

After Norman’s departure you became a little more talkative, not having someone to rely on translating for you anymore.

Don’t push it tho, a sentence per day.

“Emma, do you think I should wear a skirt or pants..?”

Those were literally the first words he’s heard you said since you found out the secret.

He hopes you’ll talk to HIM soon🙄

[hahahafangirl]

the failure of language

so im getting around to write some suonirei fanfic and, inevitably, got to Backstory Speculations activities. and now i begin to think about suo (windbreaker in general) and the failure of language -- when people, regardless of how much they try or how eloquent they find themselves to be, will find points where they are unable to give words to what they are feelings or explain some difficult emotions or circumstances to themselves or another person.

think, sakura going "how am i supposed to treat you now?" after hearing out umemiya's childhood story-- what is he supposed to say? to act in general? language, spoken or behavioral, failed him. umemiya redirected sakura to language: he did not expect sakura to treat him any differently. come back to the language you understand, he says. and now we complicated "language" to means "a vehicle of interactions and expression", which is functionally what language is.

well i did say that this arise from thinking about suo, most notably, thinking about how windbreaker expresses speechlessness and stillness very frequently from suo's silence. think the focus on suo's eyes at any moment where language are yet adequate to say what is happening: suo and nirei's response to sakura's solitary during sickness; suo's anger (in KEEL and shishitoren) occurring wordlessly; and, most recently (which sorta sparked this line of thought), this page

note the wordlessness. a lot of time, wbk starts out the responses to these sincere and vulnerable moments with this wordlessness, where characters ponder and reflect on the statement, often evoking their own memories and experiences, thus empathizing with the vulnerability in question. it is a reflective and thoughtful way to begin the process of empathy in silence. it feels ritualistic, even, like meditation, to begin connecting with other by a silence that could be taken to be a single-minded, pure focus -- on what is being put on the stage to ponder. maybe this is not quite a failure of language, depending on how we see it, but rather, a moment outside of language priming for its arrival. it is not time for language to enter the scene yet.

but then language always come, sooner or later. as awkwardly or curtly or roughly, sakura and nirei speak sincere words that come from the bottom of their heart. language -- thus connection and empathy -- then propel the conversation. suo, notably (at least without me combing through the manga again) often does not enter this realm of language the way sakura and nirei do it. when he empathize sakura's feelings when he was sick, suo did it where sakura cannot hear. the only(?) time he responded genuinely (please bring up examples or counterexamples if you have it on hand) was when nirei was feelings insecure about his inability to fight and ask suo for help. but even then, the response of "your self-esteem is all over the place" is not quite the personal, genuine approach sakura or nirei has. its quite measured and reflective -- responding to nirei's statements rather than clearly interjecting something to the conversation. many of suo's vulnerabilities are deflected by falsehoods (harmless jokes, not malicious lies), distractions, etc, etc. language seemingly continues to fail him, or he continues to evade it.

i am in a habit of not stating my Backstory Speculations, because a lot of times i want to stick closer to the texts. whatever Speculations i have will most likely manifest as fanfiction (oh boy is that an ambitious media to do this in). but anyway, from popular hc of suo being potentially a "traitor" or somehow entangled in a major and antagonistic organization, his failure to relate this to his friends and thus him hiding his past can be taken as another failure of language. perhaps languages continuously fail him in his childhood-- hence it has yet to learn how to succeed.

p/s: i should also say that im enjoying using different concepts and ideas to speculate/think about and analyze the text (wbk) in a different way. this is basically what comparative literature and literary criticism is, i think (lol). sometimes i feel like this is just me dressing up good ole literary theme in a fancier language, but whatever works works lol. hopefully as i continue to think of the "inability to express your true emotions" and "inability to be vulnerable" more specifically (or broadly) as a failure of language, more interesting insights will come up. its less about what the texts is literally and consciously say, and more about how we can think about the text using -- and extract from the text via -- various frameworks.

yep, this is probably gonna be a more complete essay at some point. i even pulled out the usual rccl register for this!

[the-unconquered-queen]

Non-exhaustive list of things I think we should have gotten to see/questions I think ought to have been answered in Blades 3 (which are part of the reason I want the wedding mini book, so we can tie up loose ends while we marry our LIs) (merged realms + living endings-based):

Exposing and deposing Arlan. How did the people take it? What is he up to now? How is Morella being governed? Are things actually any better? This is like the main point that should've been properly addressed.

Somewhat related to the previous point, who killed Aurinae? This and the implications, like potential traitors working within the palace or enemies of the State.

What's going on with the elves? During b3, they were closing their gates, and the finale showed they were back open, but what was the Process and how’s everyone handling it?

Has Aerin's name been cleared? What is the public perception of him now? He's avoiding being associated with his past, but since MC publicly hailed him as a hero, is he now free to live openly and out of hiding?

Man, I'm curious—does the Bladesverse have legal polygamy or are the weddings just symbolic if MC has multiple LIs?

Literally just any acknowledgement of MC being engaged to multiple people, even just an offhanded remark or joke about moving in together—it doesn't have to be anything too concrete, to still allow for hcs if players want them.

Anything else I'm missing?

[thimbleandakiss]

~Masterlist~

Requests are open!

Fluff - 💕 Angst - 💘 Suggestive - 💞

Harry Potter

Fred Weasley:

You Shouldn't Be Here - 💕💘

Summary: After a rough night, you sneak into Gryffindor Tower to bug your sleepy boyfriend.

Christmas Colors - 💕💘💞

Summary: Coerced into attending the Yule Ball, you expect to have a miserable time watching your secret boyfriend dancing and having fun. Little do you know; he already has some tricks up his dress robes' sleeves.

Serpents and Cinnamon - 💕💘

Summary: Ongoing Longfic! The eldest Malfoy once thought that she and a particular pair of ginger wizards would be fast friends, but when her parents inform her that she shouldn't fraternize with such blood traitors, she shuts them, and almost everyone else, out, becoming the cold, calculating daughter they want her to be.

But when circumstances push them back together, can she find the strength of will to keep them out? For their sake, not her own? Or will she find herself too drawn to the freedom they exude and get herself wrapped up in a tangled web of secrets, love, and lies?

Prologue

The Dementor

Worries and Wounds

You and Your Bloody Chicken

Hair Dye is Better Than Therapy

Powder Trip

The Smell of New Books

Black Ink

When Hedgehogs Fly

George Weasley:

Luck on Our Side - 💕

Summary: Being an especially talented potions student, you run a lucrative black-market for brewing. One evening, a near-disastrous heist on Professor Snape's personal stores leads to a run-in with a tall, handsome, ginger wizard.

Luna Lovegood:

Love's Good - 💕💘

Summary: Luna Lovegood reassures you when you have anxiety about being the only Slytherin member of Dumbledore's Army

Cedric Diggory:

Midnight Snack - 💕

Summary: You woke your boyfriend up to come to the kitchens with you because you're hungry. No other reason. Obviously.

Arcane

Vi:

I'll Take Care of You - 💘💕

Summary: You find Vi wasted in a bar after the Pits. It's been almost a decade since you were the unofficial medic of your little group, but that doesn't mean you care about her any less.

Sketches and Scotch - 💕💞

Summary: You've had a crush on Vi for ages, following her to her favorite clubs and bars, just to have a chance to be in her presence. And, to fill your blank pages with more images of her, of course.

Old Wounds and New Scars - 💘

Summary: At the party Piltover throws to welcome the very first councilor from Zaun, Vi and Sevika talk about Jinx.

Sevika:

Old Wounds and New Scars - 💘

Summary: At the party Piltover throws to welcome the very first councilor from Zaun, Vi and Sevika talk about Jinx.

Pretty Little Lady - 💕

Summary: Sevika finds you in the stable, brushing your horse an hour before schedule.

Sweet Like Me - 💕💞

Summary: When a craving for your favorite childhood donut arrives, you ask Sevika to go grab some. Sevika says "We have donuts at home." Problem is, you don't know the first thing about baking.

Pegasus (Kate O'Hearn)

N/A

Percy Jackson

Will Solace:

Lyrics - HC

Nico di Angelo:

Lyrics - HC

Luke Castellan:

Lyrics - HC

Annabeth Chace:

Lyrics - HC

Hazel Levesque:

Lyrics - HC

Frank Zhang:

Lyrics - HC

Throne of Glass

Fenrys Moonbeam:

Live - 💘

Summary: Fenrys Moonbeam had heard plenty about the mating bond from Rowan and Aelin. He just never thought he'd feel the pull of his in the middle of war.

Or that it would lead him to a golden-haired witch in a field of death.

Aelin Ashryver Galathynius:

Painless Paradise - 💕💞

Summary: In a world where Erawan is never awoken, and the Galathyniuses settle their differences with Maeve long enough to allow her to visit Terrasen, and later train Aelin under the skillful hand of Prince Rowan Whitethorn, how different would things have turned out?

Sacrifice - 💘

Summary: You’d never told her. Never said how you really felt. And now that some stupid vote condemns Aelin to a fate worse than death, how can you live with yourself if you don’t at least try to fight for what could have been?

Rowan Whitethorn:

Painless Paradise - 💕💞

Summary: In a world where Erawan is never awoken, and the Galathyniuses settle their differences with Maeve long enough to allow her to visit Terrasen, and later train Aelin under the skillful hand of Prince Rowan Whitethorn, how different would things have turned out?

My Little Pony

N/A

Peter Pan

N/A

The Dragon Prince

Astrid:

Beautiful - 💕

Summary: On the anniversary of the day Astrid first removed her blindfold, she takes you into the woods to show her the first thing she ever saw.

The Hunger Games

N/A

Fourth Wing

N/A

How to Train Your Dragon

N/A

Warrior cats

N/A

[maranigai]

character ask: ornstein?

(also unrelated, i would like to hear if you have any thoughts about dragonslayer armour)

Honestly, my only thought about the Armour is that its original owner was that one dragonslayer from the Sacred Oath item description (you know, the guy who presumably served NK and Ornstein) and was probably executed by Gwyn after NK's betrayal, but I never had any deep headcanons about them.

Unlike Ornstein, heh, the man has been my favourite DS paper doll for ages, so...

favorite thing about them

His relationships with NK, but as far as I know, my perception of said relationships is... not exactly common in the fandom. You see, I hc that NK was everything to Ornstein before his betrayal. The master, the tutor, the god - an entire life in one person. And then he left without taking Ornstein with him, leaving him alone to deal with Gwyn's rage and the consequences of betrayal. This was what broke Ornstein as a person, entirely - and what he never forgave NK for. So yes, even after the betrayal, Ornstein still saw NK as his only true lord, the person he had sworn his soul and flesh to - but he hated him with passion, for the lies, for the abandonment, for that damned sacred oath and the impossibility of getting freedom from it. Ornstein had hated NK for so long and lost so much to this hatred that when he finally met NK, finally learned that he was genuinely sorry for leaving him... to Ornstein, it didn't matter anymore, because nothing really mattered. And even when NK freed him after all, it still didn't matter. To me, their story is one of caged loyalty, hollow love and betrayed trust without redemption; I admit this is a more tragic take on them, but I love it this way.

least favorite thing about them

Ornstein as a character consists mostly of my own headcanons, so obviously I like them all lol. But what I don't like is the lack of a normal one-on-one bossfight against him and no, Old Fanservisslayer from ds2 does not count. I mean, come on FromSoft, he's the bloody captain of the Gwyn's four knights, he could easily be on the same level of a fight as Gael or phase 3 Friede, and he's a recurring character in every game of the trilogy, you could easily fit him in as a proper boss somewhere in ds3! Pls sign my 8 year old petition to replace the Ancient Wyvern at the Archdragon Peak with Ornstein.

favorite line

The man doesn't have any lines in canon, so I'll reference my own fanfiction because I can.

Some oaths can only be broken by death, master. And I’ve been walking here for too long.

brOTP

Two of them, actually. The first one is Artorias, who once saw the broken ruin of a man consumed with paranoia and hatred and decided that screw it, this guy is friend shaped and needs an emotional support (cheers for him for at least partly restoring Ornstein's faith in people after NK's betrayal). The second one is Gwynevere, who was there when her brother first brought his new apprentice to Anor Londo, and remained by his side throughout the ages, untill the final days of the final apocalypse in Lothric kingdom. So yeah, Artorias was the one who helped Ornstein not to fall into the despair, at least for a while, but Gwynevere was the only one who actually knew him as a person.

OTP

Surprisingly, Ciaran, in some unhealthy "enemies with benefits" type of relationships. Ciaran doesn't trust him and thinks he's a traitor like his liege who somehow gained Gwyn's forgiveness only to betray him later, but this also means she doesn't care much about Ornstein as a man with actual emotions, and doesn't feel guilty for using his company to distract herself from her own tragic unrequited love for Artorias. Ornstein himself appreciates her brutally honest approach and, frankly, is lonely and broken enough to accept even this surrogate of intimacy. So yeah, if you think this pairing is some sort of fucked up angst, you're correct, it is.

nOTP

Gwyndolin. I hc their relationships to be cold. Very, very cold. For Ornstein, Gwyndolin is a boy who's trying to play for his master without having any actual right to it - and Ornstein is sick of having masters. For Gwyndolin, Ornstein is a dangerous beast on a very thin chain, basically uncontrollable and unpredictable. So when Ornstein left Anor Londo, it was a moment of relief for both of them.

random headcanon

Ornstein was a ringed knight before NK noticed him and took him on as an apprentice. For this reason, he was always out of place in both Anor Londo and human lands, even before NK's betrayal.

unpopular opinion

I believe, my hcs on his personality in general? My Ornstein is cold, paranoid and bitter man with no trust in people and very little personal devotion to the gods of Anor Londo. He's not a completely emotionless monster of course, but he's still far more morally dark than most other versions I've seen in the fandom.

song i associate with them

I failed to pick only one, mea culpa.

Лора Бочарова - О Магии и Предательстве (but I couldn't find this thing on youtube in remotely descent quality, so without the link, sorry)

Мельница - Рукописи

Мельница - Кащей

favorite picture of them

This art by azotho

[no-shxme]

i havent talked much about the new wr talon skin(s) so i will just say that i likeee his base, dont like his prestige much at all, and his bio overall disappoints me.

(splash + bio for reference):

Stargazer Talon: It takes only a slash of the blade for Talon to shatter the fate of a sphere. Unlike the bookish scholars in the Order, Talon thinks nothing of the destruction of dimensions, for his allegiance lies with the very threat that causes it.

this is a fine bio. more good than bad. better than primal ambush for sure imo. but like, i hope this won't be a trend of 'making him a traitor' after the kat comic. i think that's why im a lil more wary of this bio off the bat. it better not set a trend bc oh god no. i would've loved at least a hint of something extra, that he was being manipulated or smth. yanno, more tie ins if we're going that route instead of just painting him as evil. but whatever.

and i DO like the fact that they mention bookish scholars as if talon ain't one of them, fits my hc very well. and the note that he doesn't care about anything else (though i dont like the implication that he doesn't care just bc he's 'evil,' instead of not caring just bc he doesn't give a shit)

overall though i find the bio a missed opportunity for talon. his whole character centers around control/the loss of it. and stargazers is a skinline focused on fate and futures like.... that's a gold mine of interesting conflict rather than just talon being a boring traitor. but alas.

[nuranalknowsall]

Me, a Chinese Canadian ranking the EA members of the losh in no particular order

disclaimer: i like to assess characters based on potential in order to cope with the shit that occurs in canon. This means, this entire thing is mostly how i would write them rather then a critique on how they are written in canon.

1. harmonia li: lol harmonia li seems like those rich, hard core chinese classical members of the benevolent chinese society while also having a love-hate relationship the local diasporic china town for being 'unclean' and unauthentic enough. What i'm trying to say, is harmonia li is a v textbook of what a chinese person is supposed to be, and uhhhh distant in terms of relatability... Paul levitz probs did some shallow research regarding her 'previously studying w/ confucian,' (which I hc she had to cross dress for that shit, knowing that confucian is sexist af). I think she does have potential as an immortal, and as a time traveller, to be a random easter egg. I would also like her to be a potential avenue to explore 31st century china. Like, china is old af. Another millenium to us, is nothing.

2. dragon mage: uhhh he is annoying im sorry... the western perception of chinese dragons , much less designs of chinese dragon themed characters, was/still is so crass and ugly. That being said, I do want more magical systems based upon traditional chinese knowledge, and I think harmonia li and dragon mage would be great for that. do we get that tho? no. Are we going to get that any time soon? probably not.

3. threeboot shrinking violet: i have such mixed feelings about shrinking violet? like fuck yea her opening scene is so fucking funny and badass, and the concept of her being a team meme and her own teammates not really knowing if she's even real, is hilarious, but like... the concept of an asian girl who can shrink is not very ground breaking and by not v groundbreaking i mean... what is up with white ppl's fetish of asian girls having shrinking powers and being small? like do yall not like us taking up space? does it make you uncomfortable? Also, the whole worldbuilding aspect, of her (asian-coded) people worshipping brainiac 5, a white coded character, because he introduced them to uhhhhh taking up less space... how do i say this? racially charged? is it racially charged? am i overanalyzing this? probably. do i care that im overanalyzing this? no. that being said, on the 0.000000000000000001% chance threeboot!shrinking violet makes a comeback, i would totally want an pulpy action stand alone issue ft her exploring the microscopic world all by herself.

4. bendis boot cosmic boy: finally some fucking food... oh wait did the monkey paw just move? damnit. look, i get that it's a new reboot, hence new stuff, but i think we can all agree that bendis did not do much research, much less, put in much thought, about what makes cosmic boy cosmic boy. the fact that he's a wrestler of metal animals instead of a prodigy at magnoball kinda says a lot about how bendis's understanding of the entire losh was super shallow. ie) bendisboot cosmic boy being a stand-alone wrestler and being used to the spotlight instead of a prodigy team player and how that affects his leadership skills, and potential to recognize his teammates skills and delegate their weaknesses while excelling individually... im screaming... i'm mourning. Where are my representation for asian team athletes? we exist you know?

5. karate kid: Ok. I read karate kid's first appearence by jim shooter, and the fact that the entire legion suspected him of being the spy/traitor despite the fact that he is just a prodigy at martial arts, and thus will have some physical limitations in committing the crimes that occurred making him highly unlikely to be the spy, just recks of microagression to me. i'm sorry i had to get that off my chest. I do think it's v important for karate kid to be an interracial child, bc i do think we need more mixed race characters esp for stories set in the 31st century... there does have the potential for karate kid to have nuance, like for example, there could be an arc where he was raised by his white mother, while estranged from his asian father, and his only connection to his culture was through martial arts. IDK i just feel like karate kid's heritage has gone unaddressed despite having a lot of potential. Hell, fricking chameleon boy has more arcs addressing his durla side, then karate kid's mix heritage. (if you're mixed asian btw, feel free to chime in, and talk about anything missed regarding karate kid, bc i feel like mixed asian ppl's voices are often lost and go unspoken).

6. golden lantern: I was told he was supposed to be filipino-coded or something? idk i'm still a little confused about his powers tbh, but i am all for a asian character who's power is being happy while not being treated like luk duk dong aka a racist joke. The fact that he's blind makes him more interesting to me, because afaik, being a lantern character is v visual based, and i would like some rep in the future about how the 31st treats ppl who possess different senses.

7. reboot!nightwind: you should have been a hijabi girlie... like i do like how you looked like a EA girl, but you should have kept your hijab /hj (she doesn't actually don a hijab in canon, but she may as well i mean have you seen her previous designs?)

8. dragonwing: aside from the whole, wow western designs of chinese dragon themed characters suck, why is she so pale? she looks like 31st century ronald McDonald the clown cause she's so pale w/her red hair.. i will not lie tho, her clothes are p cool. I'm just a little confused about her powers tho? she's got like??? super spit??? what? good for her ig? idk man... why not just call her spitfire at this point?

9. chemical kid: i could not care less about this character. you cannot make me care about him.

conclusion: if you're a quantity vs quality person, you could probs call me spoiled bc of the number of chinese members of the losh, compared to every other EA nation. But quality of the chinese characters is... not good. anyways, if you're non-asian and you have questions about whatever, feel free to ask. if you are asian, and you have different opinions then me, that's expected, we aren't a monolith contrary to what the west believes; feel free to vocalize your opinions here too.

[daleelahwrites]

Got any Hc's or ideas if Bertholdt was born on Paradis? Maybe even a Berusasha AU where Bertholdt and Sasha were both born on Paradis?

Hello anon!! Thank you for the ask!! 🩷

I swear someone already sent me an ask about a headcanon like that, but I can't find it... If I find it, I'll come back and update this post!

Now, my idea? Lemme se...

I think Bertholdt, Reiner and Annie's would be from somewhere in Maria, just like EMA, but their stories would still be about their parents: under pressure from his mother, Reiner wants to serve the king to try to bring his family together; Annie is also on this path because of her abusive parent, and Bertholdt is with his friends because he wants to save his father. They all known about the truth and the world outside and have to keep it a secret if they want to reach their goals. There's no time to bond with anyone; no friends, no feelings.

But well, we already know what happens...

Sasha is still this childish and confused girl who doesn't understand the importance of uniting with people, defending their land, seeking freedom. She just wants her life in the forest back. She doesn't understand why her father sent her to be a cadet. She just wants to go home. And who can blame her? She's thirteen! Until then, the only world she knew was Dauper; she doesn't know what to do now that her world grew a lot.

I think they end up getting closer naturally during training, and Sasha's growth is just like in the manga.

If this story is all Eldians from Paradis, I think the RBA plot would revolve around what would they be able to do to gain their positions alongside the crown, what and who they would sacrifice to achieve their goals and the lies about the walls. This objective ends up fluctuating as they get to know the other cadets, whose stories are so similar... And none of them even suspect the truth.

Seeing how optimistic Sasha is, clueless about all the lies, ends up making Bertholdt feel guilty. At first she likes the idea of joining Sina, have a comfortable life, unaware that Paradis has built his reign on lies. He feels terrible about having to lie too.

But Sasha changed her mind: she now wants to be a scout, and fight for freedom alongside their friends. She secretly wished he was at her side, too. :') It's when they go their separate ways, with feelings letting behind.

That's when the truth comes out to Bertholdt: his father had died. How? When?! Didn't they promise that his father would be cared, the best medicine, the best doctors?! Does not matter; they didn't tell him. They really don't care. Lies, lies. It was a lie all along. While Bertholdt dedicated his life and lied to the people he grew closer, his friends, his loved ones, Mitras continued lying. That's when he rebels. But with the truth and all the lies and corruption uncovered, who becomes the traitor? Would he remain undercover, or would he join the scouts? Would having hidden the truth from the beginning make Sasha feel betrayed too?

Wow, that answer was longer than I expected haha I don't know if it's what you have in mind, let me know what you think~

Thanks again, and sorry for the late response. Even if I take like forever to respond 😅 I swear, I really appreciate your messages. :) Wish you a great week! 🩷🩷

[gwidien]

hc: loyalty. i think about how nobody in camp thinks trelawny is trustworthy or, at least, that there's some serious doubts as to his loyalties. how, really, this is understandable��trelawny does appear like a mysterious rash and does disappear just as mysteriously. i think about how, ultimately, they're wrong.

charles: you think he'll talk? arthur: 'course he'll talk. he'd sell his own sister to save a train fare. he don't know how not to talk.

when trelawny is taken by bounty hunters and beaten, battered, and threatened to divulge information about the van der linde gang, he doesn't squeal. he could have if he had no loyalties—it's like he said, they didn't come for him, so it's logical to assume that by being a traitor, he'd spare himself potential death and further pain. why not spill? but he doesn't. he lies about being an intellectual looking for work at a university near rhodes. he takes the beatings not knowing if he'd die for not cooperating. when they storm his caravan and pummel him until he leaves a trail of his own blood, he doesn't break. when they drag him to the cornfields teeming with armed men, he doesn't throw them under the bus. trelawny gave nothing away about the van der linde gang at no benefit to himself when the very opposite would have. that's loyalty.

arthur: thanks for disappearing on us during that sean business, by the way. trelawny: i'd done my part. each to their strengths, dear boy.

the thing is that trelawny, at the end of the day, is sensible. he didn't stick with the gang during the "sean business" not because of a lack of loyalty, but because of pragmatism. he knew he had nothing more to offer. he isn't a gunslinger or a fighter. there really would have been no reason for him to be at the shootout. this may look like disloyalty because it seems like he's true to them only when it's convenient, but it's less that and more that he played his part, and for him to stay would have been to the benefit of no one. loyalty, perhaps to arthur and the rest of the gang at this moment, is being there and by your side 24/7, but that's not how trelawny views it. as he proves with the bounty hunters, he's loyal when it counts.

similarly, this is partly the reason why he leaves the company of the van der linde gang for good. by this time in chapter 6, trelawny is fully aware that the group has broken down. dutch is not the leader they remember. the law like the force of an army is bearing down on them. they're not just fighting that, either, but each other, dividing and hostile. why not leave unannounced? he has no reason to stay and nothing more to offer them. dutch and micah, and to a lesser extent, javier and bill, are belligerent and antagonistic towards anyone who displays even a shred of doubt. trelawny could have done the thing he's good at and simply slipped away and spared himself the headache, but he doesn't. he packs up, uncharacteristically antsy, and tells arthur face-to-face that he's leaving despite his own trepidation. he gives arthur that respect and courtesy not knowing what the reaction would have been, if the others would have been tipped off, or if he'd gotten heat for it. he tells arthur despite these uncertainties, and not just because there's no point in him staying on a sinking ship, but because he considers arthur his honest-to-God friend.

i'm sure everyone already probably thinks all of this about trelawny, but the thought has been taking up prime real estate in my head and i had to put it down into words.

[cafe-melanion]

-cracks knuckles-

Do I have this one covered! After months of being silent about my own headcanon have I got a tale for you!

Talia's story and personality differ quite a bit from the standard 'canon' ideas and concepts (incl the above gif):

An essay overview of my Azem's story lies beneath yonder cut:

She and her younger brother Themis had their initial run-in with Venat/Azem after trying to defend the theater district of Amaurot from a wyvern attack (in my hc a brood came to settle on the continent south of the capitol city), which is also where she met Hades and Hythlodaeus for the first time (who were out that day celebrating their one-year wedding anniversary).

Once the wyvern was dissuaded from attacking, Venat began to chat with the three of them (Themis was injured and in the hospital) and after several months of consideration Talia decided to join the Words of Azem. Hades and Hythlodaeus became her first summons partners (and later dearest friends) and she stayed in that position until Venat announced her intention to step down. This kicked off the Trials where interested Words would compete against each other performing a variety of tasks until one emerged as her protegee. (Only the Seat of Azem selected their successor in such a fashion and Hades had a lot to say about that). When Talia passed the final test she became Venat's successor and trained under her for several more years before accepting the mantle.

She worked well with most of the Convocation since the position overlapped with many of the other concentrations, but before her brother and friend (later husband one of two) joined she would often turn to her friend Gaia to help navigate Convocation politics. Talia corresponded with the group often although much of her work was done abroad as she accepted jobs and missions from the Speaker who had sorted through help requests submitted to the ruling body from the general populace. Lahabrea did not often approve of her methods but he could not deny that she was good at her job.

But the biggest difference with Talia's Azem from the story is that she did not oppose Zodiark.

Talia and Themis had familial sonic magicks that allowed them to cast the spell asking the Star to save them from the Final Days (which I hc as being more of a creeping doom slowly eating its way across the planet). She is the one who (reluctantly) turned her brother into Zodiark. She had tried to hold out her support but she watched her world fall apart and, after watching her own Words almost die to defend her, agreed to the Project.

After the summoning she was so depressed that Hades suggested she travel in order to see what Themis' and Hythlodaeus' sacrifices had done to heal the world (Hythlodaeus having snuck away to join the collective before they could stop him and before Zodiark's actual summoning. A procedure had been developed to harvest the Sacrificed's aether and store it in crystals that were gathered together to fuel the actual summoning).

She organized a trip with Venat and took their children along with her, Hades arranging to join them when he could step away from his Seat. His daughter begged him to come with them at the outset and not stay behind. He had to gently refuse and her tears haunted him for the rest of his life.

When the Second Sacrifice was announced Venat appeared to submit Azem's "resignation" and tell Hades that she had "taken the children and left." A short while later she was declared a traitor to the Empire and the Seat was dismantled.

But no one ever saw Talia again--and no one discovered the truth--until Emet-Selch was at last able to read her memories when Malady ventured into Amaurot.

Talia never left.

She had discovered Venat's plans for the Sundering and tried her hardest to stop her, to save the world and people that she loved so much, her world and people--and paid the ultimate price.

‪#WOLpromptAday‬

‪July 26, 2024‬

‪Tell us about your Azem! What happened when they were asked to join the convocation? How often did they report in? Who is their go to of the 14? Why did they disagree with the plan to summon Zodiark? Did they support Hydalyn? ‬How are they similar now to who they were then?

[lclthlcved]

Also if anyone wonders, the back of her armor has a lil spider on it, that also works as a place to hook her shield onto when she's not holding it.

the skeletal looking things on the front of her armor is actually the spider's legs as if they're wrapping around her and holding her/protecting her/possessively :)c

[car-o-line]

can you do a tpn scenario with antisocial, terrifyingly smart, very quiet fem! reader of few words, when she reveals her secret plan that she created all by herself to Mom, Isabella is terrified of her when reader refers to her as her real name and is even more scared when she realizes that reader outplayed literally everyone and that she manipulated and orchestrated Sister Krone's shipment so that Isabella would think she won and when asked why she would do this, reader answers with a chilling smile and answers "Because I could. Thank you. This was so much fun!" and disappears as quickly as she appeared

A.N: y/n needs to relax🙄✋ I wasn’t sure if this was a supposed to be a one shot or hcs so I just did hcs

WARNING: Spoilers for Tpn/and fem!reader.

Isabella with a quiet, and terrifyingly smart fem!reader(did one with the trio so part 2??)

She’s used to antisocial children, I mean Ray is literally he son-

At least you’re not emo.

You’re definitely apart of Emma’s group and are well known in the orphanage.

Isabella thought it was adorable.

Everyone thought you and Norman were head to head in intelligence but it was actually much more than that.

You were very smart. More than Isabella herself even.

So you probably figured out the secret before Emma and Norman, Ray noticed you did. Somehow.

He confronted you about it and.. you didn’t speak on it.

“You know the secret about this place, right?”

“😕”

“This is serious-”

So you both had secret meetings, a one sided meeting actually.

You make Ray seem like an extrovert tbh.

This went on for a bit until Emma and Norman found out.

Then when they found out Ray was the traitor he revealed both of you’re secret meetings(Emma shook ur shoulders while yelling at u, Norman stopped her but was displeased)

Then Sister Krone arrived, another enemy.

You didn’t like that, and you didn’t even find her likable. But that’s not a valid reason.

And as always, you had a plan.

And you always get your way.

Apparently Krone had information about the orphanage, and you used that towards your advantage.

But you had to speak with her, ew.

She figured you as her trump card. A way to become a mother and get Isabella fired.

But your goal was to just get rid of her, while keeping Isabella at bay.

Were you going to tell Norman, Ray, or Emma?

Pff! no.

You later gained Krone’s trust and she started to rely on you for certain information.

To which you lied to her, making normal things that were true seem false.

It went one for a few weeks before she started to lose it.

Krone started to act out of order and started going past the guidelines of being a sister.

Soon enough Isabella had enough of her behavior.

So she got rid of her, or “eliminated” her.

Isabella thought she won, that she got rid of a nuisance, that was until she realized the last words Sister told her.

“If you have anyone to blame it’d be y/n! AGH-”

She thought about it for a bit before calling you to her room.

“What did you say to Sister Krone?”

“Hmm..?”

“I asked you. What did you say to Sister Krone.”

She was a bit nervous to say to least.

A child planning a shipment for a Sister was a worry she had planned.

“Isabella..?”

“Huh?” “Do you..think I did something bad?”

Unfortunately that answers her question.

And calling her by her real name was just the cherry on top.

“Why…why would you do this?”

“Because I could.”

A small sweat went down her face.

Because you could? She could do many things. You’re just a child, no, your meat.

“Thank you. This was so much fun!”

Then a smile, something your friends would pay to see, appeared on your face.

Isabella just stared at you, her little girl. All grown up.

Then you never talk for 100 centuries ever again🤪

[soulsxng--a]

Goddammit tumblr: The Original

[notthatalex]

This is actually the biggest road block for my effort of making accurate/logical baf family trees. Bc Simon explicitly states that Charlemagne is his dad. So now I have to figure out how I can make this work haha

The 2 times Simon stated his age could have been wrong. But for Simon to be Charlemagnes son he had to be atleast 30+ in his first episode. And he clearly isn't. His body at least.

Up until right now I assumed that he stopped aging in 1729 (ep 3). But I think to explain this away, I am going hc now that he had a deal with devil long before that year. And just lied up until the point of his traitor reveal and then kept his age lie up for some reason???

Idk. Every solution is messy. The only thing would be to say he isn't Charlemagnes son and just lied about that. But I like that option way less

And I thought the O'Brien mess was my biggest problem.

also i know this was 100% just a mistake but i dont want to abandon my logic i have been using to make the other family trees so far

I am crunching the numbers and am taking notes on all of the death and birthdays of the baf legacy characters (where it is possible, I.e. know when died and gave Age at some point to calculate birth year)

Charlemagne Bootles died 10 year before Simon was born... ups.

[josnhoes]

@lulubs24

I don't really know where I am going with that story idea. But I can give you some of my non-linear plot points and ideas.

HCs below:

Achilles is actually filled with more guilt over the reader then he is Pat. He's still drowning in grief with Pat and that situation but there were way more layers of who to blame. He can only blame himself for abandoning reader. Couple that with the fact he'd seen you when you arrived and you hadn't even glanced his way before being taken away to Elysium just showed how angry you were at him.

Anger he had to learn to accept. He was mad at first thinking you didn't care for Pat as much as you had claimed and were selfish in not wanting to avenge him. But over the *many* years he figured out the truth.

When he and Pat are reunited by Zagreus he has to come clean and tell Pat everything. Patroclus was *pissed* not only because Achilles had meddled in the afterlife and chosen something for him with out his permission, but he abandoned *you*.

Pat finally understands now why after all this time you never came looking for him. Even if you didn't blame him for his death, something he knows you'd never do, he was now a reminder of such a betrayal that all he would do is remind you of what happened. He knew how you thought, likely you went back to viewing yourself as an extra in their pair. An extra that had no place.

Pat had worked so *hard* to make sure you knew he and Achilles loved you as much as they loved eachother. He'd reassured you plenty of times when others had made comments on you being a third wheel. Some were far more cruel and crass but the theme was you didn't belong with the pair. Pat wanted you to know that wasn't the case at all. But Achilles actions had destroyed all of that.

I stead of staying in his little corner of Elysium all the time he now ventures out on occasions to look for you. Never for long; the stranger and Achilles needed him. As mad as he was with Achilles he still loved him.

Zagreus ever the busy body buts in on the entire situation. He wants the people he likes happy after all. So he keeps his eyes out for you with every run. And he knew that once he found you and earned your trust he could begin fixing things.

You weren't happy in Elysium, the sound of battle only dredging up memories you long wished gone. As a battle medic you'd seen and heard more then enough fights. The blood and gore you had to deal with as a healer wasn't the memories. Though you hated think on the lives you'd failed you hated the memories of Pat and Achilles.

If it wasn't for the fact the only thing keeping you, you was your pain of the betrayal, the burn of the many lies you had believed about belonging; you would have thrown yourself into the river lethe and been done with everything.

Despite the hurt some traitorous part of you hoped that they would come looking for you. That the pair cared enough to seek you out and make amends. But as you expected, they never came. You figure the soldiers had been right, you never belonged with them; you were just a useful toy.

None of that is obviously true, but being in the state you were, that's what you believed. It was easier to think they never loved you at all than to think they would abandon you.

Your first interaction with Zagreus is brief. He tried asking your name and strike up a conversation. After all it was rare someone *didn't* try to fight him. You tell him nothing and simply tell him to leave you. It's not until he fights his father that he realizes you were the one Pat and Achilles were looking for! Now that he knows you are around he begins the task of tracking you down until he can get you to open up.

It doesn't go well, Zagreus so used to winning people over fairly easily assumed you'd be like Pat. It seemed like it at first. You'd tell him to leave you be and ignore him. But Pat had a different form of sorrow then you. So the same method would not work.

He tried jokes, he tried gifts, he even tried to fight you a few times only to end up back in the house. Which was terrifying. When you fought, it was something that somehow shook him to his core. Zagreus couldn't help but wonder if maybe you were a Keres or one of their children. He'd have to ask Nyx. Because really a mortal shade shouldn't be so utterly terrifying when provoked.