#this is the first instance of showing off my favourite headcanon for shadow which is him randomly talking in third person to look cooler

[rooniearts]

some auntie amy content for all you dadow au enjoyers <3 she would do literally anything for that boy

[offtopicoverload]

alright, i was on the fence about the oc weekend idea, but fuck it i have a bunch of shit made why not? block “oc weekend” tag if you don’t care cuz same

so have some cleo (and nia) headcanons to kick whatever the fuck this is gonna be off

super long cuz i have a serious problem

So her starting skills were bow, charisma, and wildlife, then woods lore, then blade, medicine, deception, brawling, seduction

She made some money hunting, which is where the bow and animal skills came from

With being an elf, her and Kade were orphaned together in a massacre and taken in by a local farmer

Absolutely got into so much trouble, usually Cleo getting a bad idea and dragging Kade along, but could always talk her way out of it, hence the charisma

MC canonically has relationship experience, right? I think she had a short term partner, maybe some flings with travelers or something, but never really got invested in relationships, just wasn’t her thing

Especially in RIverbend, where everyone knows everyone and it’s awkward if you break up

She’s pretty similar to canon MC, wild and goofy and somewhat reckless

But also really determined and caring and sweet when she needs to be

I adore her if you can’t tell

The first time she saw Nia, totally tongue-tied and a flustered mess, she’s smooth when it’s a joke but incapable of any coherent words when it turns real

She’s pretty awkward, definitely stiff at first, but slowly loosens up as she gets closer to Nia, letting her goofy side show

She for sure pines and gets made fun of for it by Kade, then Mal and Imtura every time she gets flustered 

And Threep likes to rub it in too, occasionally threatening to say something unless he gets snacks he does the same to Nia askjksdf

I’m also in love with the idea of Mal and Imtura playing matchmaker and constantly trying to set them up in situations where they have to be close, and the two of them losing their minds when Cleo and Nia get stuck in that pit

The night at the cabin in the Deadwood was the first moment Cleo realised that there could be something real there, like it just never clicked until Nia was straight up telling her she liked her

From then on things definitely change, and Cleo starts being a lot softer, like at the masquerade and stuff

But the argument in the cabin always sticks out in her mind, she defended Nia’s right to spend her life as she chooses, but she doesn’t necessarily like it

She always tries to find work arounds for Nia using her light, like using her own before Nia can get the chance

She for sure nearly decked the High Priest, just for all his bullshit, and was very happy to get that tracking orb from him to make sure they would be safe she had some plans already

So I don’t accept MC being cool after Nia straight up gets yanked into the Shadow Realm, Cleo absolutely was about to jump in after her until Imtura grabbed her and jerked her back like “what the fuck are you doing”

Cleo was about to snap the entire time they were working their way through the Shadow Realm, definitely wrecked Vonstratz on Nia’s behalf

I also don’t accept the “single tear” line when MC fucking KILLS Nia, Cleo would be bawling her eyes out and refusing to let go of her when she dies

There not being an ily felt kinda weird to me, and cuz Cleo’s a sap, I feel like she’d either say it before stabbing Nia or during the diamond scene where they’re looking out at Whiterun

In the first instance, it’s more for her piece of mind, that Nia knows what her sacrifice means

When Nia comes back, Cleo whispers it a million times into her shoulder as she hugs her, until she sounds like a broken record

For the second one, it’d be a bit spur of the moment, she’d just be looking in Nia’s eyes as the words spill out, but she wouldn’t even care cuz it felt so right

And now I’m going to ignore book 2 and make up my own shit

So immediately after, Cleo and Kade go back to Riverbend to pack up their lives there, Kade in order to stay in Whiterun cuz King Arlan made him a librarian or something, idk but he’s in Whiterun at the royal library and archives

Cleo ends up running a few odd jobs out of Whiterun for a while, helping Mal out quite a bit as Nia ends up with a lot of responsibilities at the temple after the High Priest gets axed

Cleo ends up quite well known as a good adventurer/travel mate by the time Nia ends up quitting the temple

Before they leave on their first trip as just them, Cleo takes her up to that terrace overlooking Whiterun after taking her to the market

They stare out at the city for a while, until the sun’s setting along the horizon

Cleo pulls out a ring from her bag, fiddling with it as she shifts on her feet nervously. She’s wussed out like half a dozen times already, and this is her last chance to do it somewhere so special

Nia figures out something’s up and starts prodding to figure it out, poking her and stuff and laughing the whole time

Cleo’s kind of found out, and turns to her blushing the ring held between her thumbs and index fingers as she avoids eye contact, “So, um. You wanna get married?”

Not what Nia was expecting at all and she kind of just 👁👄👁 for a while, until Cleo starts trying to back out of it, thinking she fucked up

And then it’s Nia’s turn to stumble over her words something along the lines of, “No, wait! Okay, um, no, so - No, I don’t mean no, just - Yes! Of course!” 

The ring’s super basic, like plain silver without even a gem 

I feel like Cleo found it on a trip with Mal, and immediately thought of Nia and proposing and freaked herself out a bit, but that’s why she didn’t look for another cuz shes a sap

They travel around the realm a bit, stopping in Undermount so Cleo can look into House Nightbloom, and getting rides from Imtura when Mal gives them a tip on a relic or something

All the while Nia’s trying to spread the Light in small villages, using her magic for little things as Cleo works favours again

At some point they get a cottage a ways away from a village, I’d say not too far from the Deadwood and things slow down for the most part, only the occasional trip for the temple

It’s a really cute house, small and surrounded by flowers and huge trees, Cleo builds a swing on one

The others visit occasionally, Kade and Threep the most often, and I almost want to say they take in an orphan, but I can’t decide if Cleo would trust herself enough for that

Though I feel like Nia would love to have pets at the least cleo always compares threep to the cats to annoy him

Elves canonically have longer life spans than humans, and Nia’s is even shorter from using her Light, so I’m sure you can tell where I’m going with this

Nia passes in her sleep before anyone else in the gang and it really fucks up Cleo, like the way she wakes up to it and can’t even stop it

And the worst part is that she’s always hoping just a little bit in the back of her mind that it’s like the first time, and Nia’s just going to wake up or knock on the front door

The gang meet up all together for a funeral, and Cleo plants the flowers from the bouquet from the end of book diamond scene

She ditches the cottage cuz too much of it is Nia, and is just kind of aimless for a little bit, staying with Kade in Whiterun, but ultimately hates not having a purpose

She moves to the old elven cabin in the Deadwood cuz shes a sap cuz it’s one of her favourite places

She devotes herself to fixing it up and making it better, helping travelers through the Deadwood cuz I feel like Tyril would open Undermount up

Everyone’s stayed in relative contact and tend to invite Cleo on adventures if they don’t hear from her for a while, just to keep her from isolating herself in the woods

Mal works with the monarchy to make things better in the Nooks and Crannies while still thievin, and especially when he’s older settles down more

I feel like he lives pretty long, but ends up sick and passing away, second to go and he kinda laughs about it his mum was sick right? and he jokes about the irony to feel better?

I doubt Imtura really accepts being a princess, I think she keeps captaining and fights it as long as she can until she really doesn’t have a choice

But she’s not like her mum, actually leaving Flotilla and like working with the guard and stuff

I think she’s third, dying in battle like a badass and saving her crew. She’s honored by the clans, and the monarchy and even Undermount declares her a hero or something idk how it works there

I feel like Kade would keep to stories, but maybe spend a while just moving about the realm, stay in Undermount to explore it and stuff, builds up his name as a bard

He dies in his sleep too cuz he deserves it, he passes when he’s visiting Riverbend again, he’s buried there and like the whole village shows up

I feel like Tyril’s significantly older than everyone else, but being an elf hides it

He always gives Cleo tips on artifacts, or asks her to escort travelers through the Deadwood or around the realm if they’re important to keep her busy

He’s not the head of House Starfury, but he’s still pretty involved in elven politics, mainly focused on opening up Undermount, educating people on the elven empire and spreading the wealth and stuff

He’d go before Cleo, just running out of life force after all his magic

After Tyril passes, Cleo’s just done, he was the only thing giving her purpose, and she’s spent decades cleaning up the Deadwood as best she can

Threep’s joined her after Tyril’s funeral, staying with her for a few days and how following her out into the forest

She walks out to the clearing they saw the unicorn at and stops right on the edge, sitting down and setting up a purification ritual

She’s known how for years, she learned after Nia passed so she could spend some of her life completing one of her dreams like a sap

She clears out the darkness from a lot of the Deadwood to drain the last of her life force, stumbling over to a tree and sliding down to the ground, her back pressed against the bark

Threep flutters into her lap, her nails scratching behind his ears as he licks her chin comfortingly, a final goodbye

Her breathing starts heavy, growing slow as her chest feels far more hollow than it did a moment ago, and her eyelids slowly grow heavy

A breeze brushes her hair, stirring her awake. The lake’s shimmering before her, bright and magical as she stumbles to her feet, Threep gone from her lap

The Deadwood’s healed, more than she could possibly have managed on her own, and she has so much more energy now than when she fell asleep

She trips through the trees, running for what feels like hours until she’s back at the cabin, the stone bright against the trees as it sits, whole again after all her effort

She shoulders the front door open, freezing when she sees the fireplace, or rather, what’s before the fireplace

Nia’s there, her back to the flickering flames as she smiles, cheeks redder than the curls falling down her shoulders

And Cleo doesn’t stop running, tackling Nia into a hug and squeezing with all she is, tears dripping down her chin as she laughs, carefree and disbelieving and happy. So, so happy, for the first time since she last saw that smile