#thousands of plans and a lot of hope || headcanons: mercy

[sunriseinsound]

tag dump! the tags are all lines from the books! (except my ooc tag, obviously lol)

[baddcop]

I’m gonna scream abt a few of my friends now bc I wuv them and this anniversary got me emotional a lil bit oop.

@urfaustus​​ / @fuckinurl​ !!! CYD !!!

Hewwo, we have been friends for like 7  years and I wuv u. I know you’ve been going through it recently and I’m really sorry about that, but I wanted to let you know I love you a lot and I love all the stuff we’ve developed on discord casually for these boys via short rp’s and talks in voice chat over a few games of Overwatch. (sidenote thank you for carrying me u_u I'm but a lowly Mercy main and I can’t Exist without u to protect me bc I suck at videogames) BUT!!! You’re always so much fun to write with, I like how we can casually shoot the shit and talk and develop muses casually and have short little rp’s with our three-thousand muses combined hsdjbfhsd. But seriously, I love you a lot, I love talking and playing videogames and watching movies together and I hope things get better for you soon. You’re the bestest thanks for putting up with me since 2013 ♥

@carbonandiron !!! MIDDY !!!

You’re one of the first people I’d followed and met in this fandom and you’ve always been absolutely delightful. I love you a lot and I hope you’re doing well, I love talking to you abt our boys and asking you headcanon questions and bugging you on discord and I’m !!! so happy for you and your comic !!! you work so hard and I hope now that the first issue is finished you can take a nice well deserved rest and get all the praise and attention you deserve for how hard you’ve worked. I have no idea how to manage comic book panels and make the eyes follow them like you did, seriously you’re so good, and your paintings and style are so well defined and recognizable and absolutely gorgeous. You’re doing amazing Middy, I love you and I hope you’re doing alright while on your break from Tumblr! ♥

@renzao !!! YZMA !!!

YOU !!! are absolutely so talented and I adore you ok. You’re a delight and seeing you on the dash makes me so happy, your writing is impeccable and so lovely to read and I love batting ideas back and forth with all our ships!!! I love how you don’t pull punches on how strong your Connor is, both mentally and physically, I appreciate the absolute vibe of power and sweetness he has and I wuv seeing you on dash. You’re super fun, you’ve got a wonderful sense of humor, you’re sweet and cool as hell, and your art is absolutely astounding. (srsly I can’t draw Connor for shit let alone any au’s for the mans how you do that op.) You !! are a delight !! and I appreciate you so much.

@deviatiions !!! SAM !!!

I wuv watching you stream and write for The Boy! You’re super chill and funny, absolutely a sweetheart and I love how much thought you put into Connor. He’s got a real vibe of having such tender spots while trying to remain strong on the outside, but he’s still got that sense of care and compassion and I love that for He. u__u I’m sorry Gavin bullies him I have no excuse it’s just Gavin being a brat. You’re super smart and a joy to talk to, I love the memes you send me !!! I’m bad at conversation and sometimes I’m sure it seems like talking to a brick wall but I’m just big ol shy but I wanted to say You !! are doing wonderful !! you’re doing amazing things working as hard as you are, and I’m glad you finally get a much-deserved rest after those finals!

@sgaradh​ !!! CLAIRE !!!

i !! love bugging youuuu and your Connor ok. Thank you for putting up with my prodding and curious questions. I worry I may bother you but I’m just interested in getting to know all about your boy! I adore your writing and portrayal, you’re a treat to see on the dash and I absolutely love the enemies to friends trope plan we got going for Gav and Connor. I see a lot of careful balance of his guard with his care for doing the right thing, and his slight nervousness that I notice in his demeanor at times. I enjoy that he’s got boundaries that he has hidden beneath the really in control calm demeanor he has, things that have to do with his intimacy that are really well written that would affect the way and speeds at which he bonds with others in that way. You put lots of care and love into him and it’s so very obvious by the way you write him and his character, plus you’re always an absolute delight to talk to over discord!!! I look forward to bothers you more about your portrayal with lots of questions and buggin you in discord with potential thread ideas and au’s for the boys to Bond™ in.

[foolgobi65]

meta re: figuring out how old bhadra is, and also when exactly bhalla got married and spawned a child lmao. (also some about the poor woman who had to be his wife.) under cut for length lol

hmm so i just saw a meta which puts bhadra as just a few months younger than mahendra which is interesting, and i can see that being possible given the two actors, but where i disagree is the part of this theory that implies bhalla is married when baahu and devasena are still together. i think if bhalla were to get married, baahu and devasena would have to be invited, just in terms of propriety. i think bhalla would actually enjoy the huge state ceremony that would serve to show how small devasena and baahu were now in contrast. i also think that at this point in the story, while baahu is still alive and married to devasena, bhalla has no interest in his own marriage -- he’s definitely not married (at least imo) at the time of their exile, and even if he wanted a child to compete for the throne at that point baahu’s kid would still be a good 6 months older regardless. i think bhadra must definitely be a few years younger than mahendra (who i believe is around 24ish years old.) bhalla’s obsession with devasena reads to me as about possession rather than a singleminded love or want to make her his real wife. the fact that we don’t see bhalla’s wife at all later makes me think that she’s either dead, or he never married and bhadra is bhalla’s child with a woman bhalla never married. i can see bhalla being obsessed with devasena his entire life, particularly as a transference of both his prior obsession with sivagami as the mother and queen ruler figure who in is mind loved baahu more, and also his obsession with baahu who was just better than bhalla at the things that bhalla wanted (primarily the easy adoration of the people and sivagami.) devasena, both as legal queen mother and clearly sivagami’s annointed heir at her last moments, and as baahu’s love, becomes the object of bhalla’s lifelong hatred and to me he tortures her daily as both substitute for sivagami and baahu who are dead and beyond his reach, and also for her own sake because let’s not underestimate devasena’s ability to piss off bhalla. i think on a surface level when he saw her picture he did feel lust, and so i think there is a very gross and terrible sexual aspect to his need to keep her in chains and under his grip. bhadra clearly states some very disgusting sexually tinged insults at devasena (calling her a whore multiple times) which is obviously a learned behavior from i assume bhalla and maybe biju. all this to say that for me, the main woman in bhalla’s life until his death is devasena. his last words are even to devasena, rather than mahendra who is the clear baahu replacement, and he tells her to join him on the pyre which is reminiscent of what this society demands of good warrior wives.

if bhalla was married, it was a grand alliance where she was probably fabulously wealthy and beautiful and the marriage was conducted with lots of pomp and circumstance in order to distract people from the fact that baahu and sivagami were dead alongside mahendra, and devasena was in chains in the city center. biju found the bride, sent the single most annoying proposal on earth, which implied invasion if she wasnt promptly sent having tied the mangalsutra to bhalla’s sword. definitely wealthy, may or may not have military importance. definitely a beautiful woman, a quiet woman with no personality who was promptly destroyed by having to live under a cruel sadistic man who was obsessed with his dead brother’s caged wife. if bhadra didnt seem so old that he could probably be only max a few years younger than mahendra i would say that bhalla’s wife probably takes a few years to concieve: bhalla would probably be the type of terrible man to treat a woman so badly she would miscarry. but bhadra is pretty close to mahendra’s age, so bhalla’s wife must have conceived pretty quickly. as he desperately needed an heir at the time bhalla, once she is pregnant, ignored her almost entirely except for once a week when he had her carried in a palanquin to see devasena so that he could gloat about his impending fatherhood. the poor woman would by this point be of a sickly sort, even if she had been healthy at the time of her marriage, have a difficult pregnancy exacerbated by her sheer terror at the thought of having anything less than an exceedingly strong male heir. ( i cant imagine biju or bhalla would be anything less than extremely direct about the consequences if the child was born with a disability, or god forbid was a girl.) her entire pregnancy would be one folk remedy after another guaranteed to produce a strong, healthy prince, all eight months after the pregnancy announced to the public an empire wide endeavour to ensure the safe arrival of the prince to be. thousands of ceremonies across the kingdoms would be funded, each sending her the fruits of their sacrifice for her to eat. everything about her day would be micromanaged from the time she woke, to the clothes she wore and the direction she faced when she slept. devasena, who spent the last three months of her own pregnancy exiled in a mining community and yet delivered a strong child, looks at the queen who somehow seems to be weakening every visit and wonders at the great gods’ irony. 

one of my headcanons about the weird family strength is that these babies take a toll on their gestating mothers, and so only a particular type of woman is capable of surviving the pregnancy and birth -- sivagami and devasena are both of this type, and so they find their pregnancies relatively easy, and their births are normal and safe. you can either take this to be something physical or mental, or if you’re more into magical explanations for magical strength, its a (terrifying and horrible) way of the family line basically validating the queen: if she survives, she’s deserving of being queen mother.  baahu’s mother and bhadra’s mother aren’t sivagami and devasena, though they’re probably wonderful women in their own right. the pregnancies sap them of their strength and nutrients (kind of like a leech), and when they give birth it is a long, drawn out process in which the babies had they not had the family strength would have died. the mothers both bleed out. the kingdom barely mourns the queen it barely had a chance to know -- if she becomes pregnant so quickly after marriage, bhalla would never have risked her out in public. instead, there is a massive celebration to anoint the heir to the empire, and bhalla invests heavily in propagating a narrative that has bhadra solely his son: his wife the queen is erased from the stories entirely, it is almost as if bhadra sprung straight from bhalla’s skull, the perfect son. 

the queen’s death doesn’t break the alliance of her marriage, but it does downgrade them from slightly favored allies to just one with the rest -- there is a rumor that does not die no matter how hard they try that she died of a broken heart, that she grew so sickly in the heart of the empire despite the best of all medicine because she did not want to get better, or try to mother the son of her demon husband. (they are half right: the queen, delirious in her last moments, does not regret leaving her husband who happens to be the worst man she has ever met, nor does she regret leaving her disgusting father in law. she regrets somewhat having to leave devasena, whom the queen had nursed a slight hope of helping somewhat in the future when her place as the heir’s mother gave her a little more leverage. most of all, she regrets that she leaves her son, whom in her heart of hearts she had viciously wished to be a daughter, to the cruel mercies of his father. she was never going to be a strong woman in this palace, but even something might have been better than nothing, she thinks. just a little kindness, she hopes for someone to teach him, a little mercy. and then, thinking again of her burning hatred for her husband, whom she damns to all the hells that exist, the only true empress mahishmati has in 50 years dies. her first marriage anniversary will be in one month.) 

the other option for bhadra’s mother imo is that she’s a favoured courtesan of bhalla. for this i think its definitely possible that their relationship can be established even before mahendra’s birth -- there’s no reason they aren’t together even prior to the kalakeyan war. this might be a way to make it easier for bhadra to be closer in age to mahendra, where bhalla, despite being consumed with his obsession for devasena continues to visit and the courtesan becomes pregnant (whether she plans this after reading the room and realizing bhalla has ruled for 3 years and has no heir is up to you.) there is obviously no pomp and circumstance here for the duration of the pregnancy, almost no one is aware of the child’s paternity. many kings have many natural born children, and bhalla initially believes that this child will be like any other though unique in a sense for himself because it will be his first child at all. then, he thinks, realizing that he isnt really inclined to marry but requires an heir. within this option there is the possibility for a queen who simply cannot give bhalla a child (maybe she miscarries, whether because of bhalla’s behavior or on purpose because she doesn’t want to have his child) or just ... bhalla doesnt want to get married because he’s obsessed with devasena. the courtesan is sent a message, and under the utmost secrecy is moved to a chamber in the inner palace where her every want is cared for in the hopes of her delivering a strong, male child. she is treated as a queen for the eight months and when she gives birth she probably survives. she is definitely not allowed to raise the child -- bhalla announces that bhadra is his heir, his natural born son, and does not announce the mother. bhadra is raised entirely as bhalla’s son, never allowed to question his mother’s identity or to meet her. either she remains within bhalla’s palace, as a continued object of his favor or is allowed to leave mahishmati after a vow of silence regarding bhardra’s parentage. 

anyways, i’m putting bhadra at 20/21 to mahendra’s 24, and if bhalla gets married he probably thinks about it a year after baahu’s death, gets married a year after that, the queen dies within a year of the marriage (all a space of 3ish years.) option 2, it’s been 3 years and bhalla keeps pushing off thoughts of marriage and then opportunity falls into his lap. in general this is in line with my belief that bhalla at a base level does not care about any woman except for devasena, particularly after he has her in chains. before this, his sole object was the throne, and if he married at that point it would be a political alliance to make him a more favorable candidate for the crown for sure. needing to get married doesn’t occur to him (and to be fair doesnt seem to occur to baahu until he falls in love.) as king he’d only consider marriage in terms of getting an heir, and he wouldn’t care about the woman he married at all -- he’d treat her horribly, probably venting all the anger and frustration he cant with devasena because she lives in the cage which in a sense protects her from the worst physical/sexual abuse. the only respite his wife, another woman entirely under his control, would have is probably becoming pregnant. a favored courtesan, particularly one who had a relationship pre the whole devasena obsession, would have a different dynamic with him, especially since she’s technically “his’ but also not entirely in the way a wife would be. less abuse imo for sure, and the significantly less scrutiny and pinned hopes on her pregnancy results in her general good treatment rather than the exhausting micromanaging characteristic of a wife/queen. 

both of these options basically result in bhalla and biju having total control on the raising of bhadra to be the Worst, and for bhadra’s identity to basically be “bhalla’s son” more than even regular princes who define themselves as their father’s sons. the woman is erased entirely from the narrative, and exists entirely to give bhalla an heir and then conveniently disappear, as distasteful as that is. 

as usual, any other ideas/opinions/complete negations are welcome!! please comment or reply i’m really interested to see what you all think!!!

@teammahishmati @teambaahubali

[friedesgreatscythe]

One of the NPCs in Jacob’s region said that The Peggies “used to be decent people.” Then they changed; they “weren’t themselves anymore.” And he says he hopes the Lord has mercy on them.

This is really interesting. It’s more proof that the Deputy et. al. clearly pushed them to extreme means and measures. They already had darker methods, sure, but I always had a headcanon that it was nowhere near as grim, grave, and dire as it is in the game. I figured that the cult had plans in case things got awful, but that they would essentially keep at a slower pace, probably until they had the set 3k some odd souls safely acquired (each Herald’s bunker can hold a thousand people. I’m assuming Joseph has his own? Though now I wonder where he planned to stay, since all his family’s bunkers are quite far apart. Did he not expect to stay with any one in particular? Though this raises questions about him having access to and knowledge of where to find Dutch’ bunker. Was he planning on going there?).

Anyway, sorry for spamming your dashes today. I just have a lot of thoughts.

[ayyyez]

Hi EZ! Thanks a lot for answering my request :D I would like to make an other one if it is ok with you. I was intrigued by this chapter in your fic, where Dei takes care of Sena after her encounter with Itachi and Kisame, and I was wondering what would have happened if Deidara had arrived while she was being interrogated. So basically I would like to ask for headcanons of Deidara stepping on Itachi and Kisame interrogating his S/O, and Itachi stepping on Dei and Sasori interrogating his S/O. Thx

HEY NONNIE! no problem, thank you for requesting! You may make as many as you like, I’ll try and do them a little quicker this time xD You know you caught me out right now because when I originally planned out that chapter I was going to have Deidara come back during but then changed my mind for various plot related reasons. I will definitely do these hcs for you though! (also thanks for taking an interest in my fic) x Kept the s/o gender neutral.

-Deidara hadn’t meant to snap, he really didn’t but his temper had gotten the better of him and he had to leave before he blew both of them up. He had meant to go out, let of some steam, cool off and come back. What he hadn’t expected was to come back to well THAT!

-The cabin they had been hiding out in was empty but all of their things remained there. Where could they have gone? Were they kidnapped? Did they DARE leave him? Deidara became frustrated and anxious. Until he remembered the secret room below. The one put there for the purpose of keeping prisoners and gaining information. 

-He swallowed. Hard. Hoping to god they were just exploring down there and other members hadn’t shown. 

-He opened the door to find Itachi, who turned around to face him with his usual stoic expression. Just mentioning the Uchiha made his blood boil but being here, with HIS s/o, that would set him off instantly. He entered the room pushing past the Uchiha with a grunt. It annoyed him even more not getting a reaction from Itachi tbh. 

-There his S/O was, chained to the wall and at the mercy of Kisame, someone who was relentless when it came to torturing. This was not going to end well no matter which way he sliced it. 

-That’s when Kisame turns back to him. ‘So this is your new pet, is it?’ Deidara cringes internally at that. He knows he has to play it cool. His S/O wasn’t a tailed beast meaning it didn’t matter to Itachi or Kisame if they died. And if he showed even an inkling of affection toward them then they were screwed. 

- ‘Yeah, what’s it to you? Can’t find anyone of your own to play with you have to come and steal my toys?’ That’s the best response he can muster, trying not to frown at the pain his s/o was clearly in but force himself to more offended. 

- ‘Did you know your “pet” is from the leaf?’ Itachi chimed in, in his annoyingly monotone voice. Deidara struggled to keep his cool now. 

- ‘Feeling sentimental are you?’ Deidara said through gritted teeth and Kisame laughed announcing he was going to say the same thing. Itachi merely shrugged but kept his eyes focused on Deidara. 

-Deidara couldn’t stand to keep looking at the Uchiha and turned back to Kisame, glancing at the large gash on his s/o cheek. ‘What are you trying to get out of them anyway?’ He crossed his arms. ‘What would they know?’

- ‘Information on the Leaf’s jinchuriki.’ It was Itachi who answered.

- ‘Scared I’ll get your tailed beast before you, hm?’ Deidara smirked. ‘It is your assignment, isn’t it?’ Neither of them answered. The silence was thick with tension and Deidara knew he had to do something. ‘Fine I’ll help you get the information but I will do it my way.’ 

-The others agree but only to wait upstairs outside the door. Kisame threatened to cut Deidara’s legs off if he didn’t have anything. He also mentioned something about taking his pet away and putting them to better use. Deidara rolled his eyes and mouthed off back. 

-The second that door shuts, Deidara is at their side cupping their cheek and undoing the chains. Whispering a thousand apologies and tends to their wounds. They snatch their hands away weakly and glare at him. ‘They still want information,’ they murmured. 

- ‘Do you know anything?’ Deidara asks, cupping their face. His s/o looks away. ‘You do!? Why didn’t you tell me?’ 

- ‘You didn’t ask.’ 

-Deidara whispers a list of expletives before yanking them into his arms. ‘You tell me and do it quickly. I don’t know how else to…just hurry and tell me, hm!’ 

-Following this, like in the fic, they tell them the information that was given to them as a cover and it is enough to satisfy Itachi and Kisame. 

-In the fic the scene probably would have had a few punches and cuts from kisame while Deidara was talking with them but yeah that’s the basis of how it would have gone, hope it was what you were after!

[nightblink]

Blink Reads Oathbringer - Chapters 112-113, Interludes 12-14

Yep, everything’s blowing up in their faces.

Chapter One-Hundred-and-Twelve – For the Living

Still nothing solid on who that ninth Unmade could be from Hessi, though she wonders if she's “conflating two Unmade into one”. Possible, but mmmmm...

“Kaladin remembered a woman's kiss.” That is not how I was expecting this chapter to start. But! MORE TARAH INFORMATION. GOOD. She's still basically an unknown at this point, so more info is always good.

Cultural note: dresses of an old-fashioned Thaylen style – an apronlike front with straps over the shoulders and skirts that ended right below the knee; a buttoned shirt underneath, often in a bright colour

HUGS. SHE'S HUGGING HIM AND HE'S COMFORTABLE AND HAPPY, AAAAAHHHH

It would take forever for tall-and-skinny beanpole Kaladin to find a spear long enough for him to wield properly.

'Slightly plump, with a round face and firm build, Tarah's beauty was a subtle thing. Like an uncut gemstone. The more you saw of it – the more you discovered of its natural facets – the more you loved it. Until one day it struck you that you'd never known anything as wonderful.' Um hello yes snagging this happily to add to my demi-romantic!Kaladin headcanon, along with general note of Tarah's appearance

Haaaah. She has to follow her own path. She won't stick around just to be with him, just as he wouldn't do so for her. She has a point, too - “Maybe someday you'll learn how to be there for the living, not just for the dead.” Kaladin continues to carry the weight of those deaths; he did throughout his time as a slave, in Sadeas' warcamp, and still shoulders it now. He's got such a gentle, soft, caring heart, and it doesn't heal easily when it bruises or breaks, especially as he refuses to let go of the pain of those deaths.

I'm- I'm glad this is ending amicably; I was wondering if she'd end up just another name on the list of those who died/Kaladin believes he failed. THANK YOU FOR NOT FRIDGING TARAH FOR THE SAKE OF MANPAIN, BRANDERSON.

More really cool Shadesmar trees: 'taller, more statuesque ones with deep crimson trunks and limbs like burnt-red crystals that, at the ends, burst into a small collection of minerals.'

Kaladin's still attracting windspren every now and then. What is it that they're drawn to about him right now that's causing them to pop over even a little from the Physical Realm?

So the uncorrupted Oathgate-spren look like a matching pair of salt-and-pepper shakers – one iridescent-black, one prism-white, as opposed to the corrupted black-and-red that we saw back at the Kholinar Oathgate.

And there's an army in their way. Of course.

Chapter One-Hundred-and-Thirteen – The Thing Men Do Best

'Dai-Gonarthis' is our possible last Unmade, then, and maybe one that packs immense destruction as its main ability – perhaps even as much as to destroy Aimia?

“Did you really think that you belonged here? That you were native to Roshar?” Oh come on, Stormfather, why would they think otherwise, when all they know of their history has been here? They didn't even know much about four thousand years ago, much less anything before that, and after the destruction of the Desolations? After the continuing apocalypses that would wipe out 90% of the population? They'd lost all knowledge of what came before, much less so early as that. At least their originating from Shinovar makes sense to believe from their point of view – but complete aliens?

Where. Did. The. Humans. Come. From. Between the Rosharan System blurb in Arcanum Unbounded and the main SA series itself, we know that they have to be genetically distinct, and everything else in the Greater Roshar System screams 'deliberately created this way'. There are spren on Ashyn, aren't there? Were Rosharan-humans originally created by Adonalsium rather than by Shards or transplanted from Yolen, and put on Ashyn instead of Roshar?

“It was not only the truth of humankind's origin that caused the Recreance. It was the distinct, powerful fear that they would destroy this world, as men like them had destroyed the one before. The Radiants abandoned their vows for that reason, as will you.” Okay, that makes a lot more sense. I'm still shocked that it was enough that they would kill their soul-bonded spren to do so, but they essentially looked at themselves and went I have the power to physics-nuke a planet and that's more than enough to shake anyone to the core.

[winces] And the bridgemen get it. “Invaded by people trying to reclaim their homeland. Storms. I'd be mad too.”

Except they've been co-opted by Odium, their fellows transformed by the Everstorm into mockeries of the Radiants – powerful, but still mockeries, and ones that consume the soul of the body that they inhabit, and in the end, they and/or Odium will destroy Roshar so that there is nothing left for either Humans or Parsh/Dawnsingers.

Their unwavering faith in Kaladin is beautiful and heartwrenching at the same time. Dalinar, on the other hand… he's losing hope that Adolin and Elhokar will ever return. 'No news is good news' doesn't quite count when the city they were in has fallen to the enemy and no information was coming out of Kholinar before that anyway.

!!! So- what the Vorins call the Tranquiline Halls could in fact be a reference to the origin of the Rosharan-humans?

Honor sounds like he was going a bit loopy before he died, though even before that, he was egging on the Radiants, perhaps pushing the war even when peace might have have been brokered and Odium's power over the Dawnsingers broken.

“They tried to protect the world. I blame them for their weakness, their broken oaths. But I also understand. You have cursed me, human, with this capacity.” Character development even from the Stormfather, greatest of spren of Roshar. Who would have thought?

[winces] The coalition alliance is cracking along every seam it has. And Taravangian has the sheer gall to say that he's sorry, when he's the one who orchestrated all of it! ~~FUCK OFF, YOU MANIPULATIVE OLD TURDBUCKET~~

“I tried my best to hide this.” “So we could continue living a lie?” “It is, in my experience, the thing men do best.” I… I would say something along the lines of 'fucking ouch', but- but instead I'm reminded of that one Terry Pratchett quote from Death in Hogfather – the one about needing to believe the little lies so that we can believe the big ones: 'JUSTICE. MERCY. DUTY. THAT SORT OF THING.'

That's not what Dalinar or the Stormfather sees, of course, but at the same time……

End of Part Four

Interlude Twelve – Rhythm of Withdrawal

The Fused's/Odium's plan for Venli stumping for them now involves her forced into a hermit cave, an essentially 'primitive' existence, and I'll bet it's to help the image of how they want to portray her – the last of a people that had held out against humans for centuries, millennia, now but a dying predecessor to those who will rise and fight.

Oh, no more individual talks? You're right, Venli; Odium probably doesn't want you and your people to realize their history of long ago as Dawnsingers, or how close the world has come to complete and utter unlivable destruction in Desolations past.

!!! She's going to the assault on Thaylen City with the rest of them? OOOOO. Sanderson please let her meet Dalinar in person that'd be great

Yeaaaaah, the Everstorm's sent to push them onward – maybe even awaken new Fused on the way there (especially since Rine says that the “strongest and most skilled of [their] number have yet to awaken”, which is… oooof.)

Interlude Thirteen – Rysn

RYSN RYSN RYSN!!!

Who is very much not happy to be confined to a desk, no matter how 'important' the job may be. Someone needs to invent a kind of wheelchair stat so she can have some freedom of movement.

That Thaylen Gemstone Reserve is going to be important. This is the second time they've mentioned it in only the last few chapters.

That 'Wheeeeeeeeeeee.' has me cracking up istg

She still has her grass! And her insectoid gift from Relu-na! Chiri-Chiri is an adorable name for the larkin; it sounds like an onomatopoeia. Her own tiny iridescent not-axehound!

“You just ate.” Thank you branderson for somehow capturing the exact exasperated tone of voice that all pet owners everywhere know by heart.

Vstim is past seventy! I'd originally though him early sixties or something when I read their WoR Interlude. By Earth calculations, that would now make him… at least 77, and still sauntering around the world to trade up until taking this position. Damn, he's spry.

I love that she has her own little guardian crustacean. Chiri-Chiri: U WILL NOT HURT MY HUMAN

Hmm. Looks like the Growth Surge can't heal wounds that are past a certain point. Hobber's paralysis healed, but he did that by taking stormlight in himself, not receiving healing from an outside source.

Ohhh, Rysn bowed out of going on further expeditions herself- you and Renarin need to have a long talk together on disability, I think.

W A N D ER S AIL

Vstim, you are a gem of a mentor and friend.

“a stuffy meeting with old Kholin and his soldiers” - which in the end turned out to be anything but dull and stuffy, but fair enough.

All of the security – and the assertion that the vault has never before been robbed save through embezzlement – makes me all the more certain that we'll see a robbery happen in this interlude.

Oh, so she does have some sort of wheelchair…? Sounds like it needs a bit more optimization in order to get her into and through more places, though.

!!!! 'The King's Drop' – like Honor's Drop, I believe was the one mentioned earlier? A perfect gemstone that would never lose light? Which would explain why it's still alight after two hundred years without ever being taken out to refresh its light. 'The size of a child's head' daaaaayum but that's a big gemstone. But… I wonder what the other, more mundane objects in there are being kept for, if they're important enough to be secured in the same area as the King's Drop?

“They say it's a chunk off the Stone of Ten Dawns.” That's more mythology and one we don't know about what is the Stone of Ten Dawns tell us Sanderson-

“The queen's guard killed Tlik.” WHAT. JUST. SO CASUALLY STATED. WHAT. Oh no oh noooo, Rysn's knocked to the floor and he's going after Vstim I hope Vstim ends up all right oh noooo

Aw shit, whoever the thief is, they're ignoring the damage – another Radiant associated with Taravangian, perhaps?

Smart decision to use the rope and tie the ruby to her, and if the one killing everyone really is a Radiant, then reducing the available amount of stormlight via Chiri-Chiri will actually be a good thing.

Alone in the darkness, men dead and dying around her as she realizes that there's no way for her to step to load the crossbow, the thief-murderer advancing on her, but at the same time-

“Yes. Yes, I care! I want to sail my own ship!” YEEEEESSSSS

!!! It wasn't a Radiant but a Fused? There's a type of Fused that have the ability to use a Voidbinding that's equivalent to Lightweaving? UM. This is the first that we've heard of that. Also, Chiri-Chiri can feed off of voidlight as well as stormlight.

Odium and the Fused want the King's Drop – or at least one of the perfect gemstones – but for what?

Interlude Fourteen – Teft

TEEEEEEFT. Last POV we had from you, you were falling back into moss-addiction, to the point of selling your Bridge Four coat for money. Sounded like you were stabilizing a little bit there for a while, given Kaladin and the rest of your support group, but then started sliding back again recently.

[winces] Then again, I could have been reading him 'maybe getting a little better' as him just being functional, as outlined here in such viscerally honest terms.

Looks like there's someone who we saw last time who still hasn't given up on him, though. The honorspren is still there, still standing at his side. Has he- has he sworn Oaths already? And how many?

Oh shit. They've got trouble at Urithiru too?! SHITSHITSHIT THEY GOT ROCK AND TWO OTHERS AND THE HONORBLADE-

Rock and Bisig are still alive thank the Heralds but they may not be for long unless they get help, and Renarin was still in Thaylen City, though he left the audience chamber-

An unfamiliar man – who could have been anyone from one of Taravangian's spies to one of Ialai's to maybe even a Fused, now that we know there's a kind that can Lightweave – ...and they were wearing Teft's coat.

He's never going to stop blaming himself for that.

[karenhikari]

The Ones Who Wander-1. A Place to Stay

Alright folks, I came back from the dark abyss of school to invite you over to this advernture. I know, you're probably asking what I'm talking about. Well, you see, the chapter you're about to read is the first one to a massive story.

If you've been my reader before (which I'd be very thakful about) you'll know that I rarely write long-fics and, well... this is going to be the exception to the rule: this story will be humongous work, so I thought I'd let you know.

Also, I can't promise I'll update constantly or that I'll have a schedule for it, because once vacations are over I'll become a hostage to school. I mean, that's just how it goes for me.

What I can promise, though, is that I won't abandon this story. You see, these are my children and I am very, very excited to start this, so please rest assured that I will finish it. I'm so completely in love with this story and the character growth you'll see through it that I don't think I can properly express how thrilled I am to share it with you and I really hope you'll love it as much. I'm pretty sure you will because there will be a little of everything and a litle for everyone, so here it goes.

I'll try to post as many chapters as humanly possible while I am still enjoying summer vacations, so please feel free to suscribe and bookmark.

Now, to make this story possible I needed the help of some people. First of all, I want to give a huge shoutout to geminalupus, who has kindly promised to keep up with me and who will be the official beta for this story.

There's also a very special friend of mine who was part of the behind-the-scenes work and helped through the planning, the drafting, the research and the whole bunch of headcanons that will become canon for this story... Hotema, shoutout for you!

And last but not least my very best freind in the whole world, my first beta ever and a huge support in every aspect of my life, Cris, will also be helping me through this, so if you actually like this story you have these people to thank to, because they're the ones making it awesome.

PS: this story won't be taking in account neither the second book nor the second movie because, when the planning for this monster began we didn't even know if we'd get another movie, so... Yeah, I've been planning this for more than a year, you know why I'm so excited now.

Alright, after this very long introduction all I can do now is step aside and let you enjoy...

Ginny Gothel was used to a lot of things. For starters, she was used to the sour coffee of the goblins that always left her with a bitter taste dancing in her lips, to the winter-y coldness that took possession of the island during all four of the seasons despite the scorching sun above them, to the feeling of an empty stomach, not only because there was not much to eat in the Isle but, more importantly, because she still held on to the mild hope that, one day, if she was thin enough, made up enough, graceful enough, Gothel would turn to look at her. Talk about heedless thinking.

Of course, living in the Isle of the Lost one had to get used to some things.

However, there was one thing that she would never, try as she might, get used to, and that was Gothel ways. The reason for it was simple and no, it was not that she was not yet ready to accept the fact that Gothel would never change. It was the complete opposite: what made it impossible for her to learn and resign herself to her so-called mother's ways was the fact that they kept changing.

At the moment, all Ginny wanted was to get her out of her hair. Literally.

"It's time, it's finally time!" That's what had woken her up, just before Gothel's long fingers found their way to her curls and dragged her out of the heap of dirty rags she called her bed.

"What are you talking about? You're hurting me!" Ginny screamed back at her, trying to make her mother let go of her hair. Old as she was, Gothel had a strong grip and, what was more, a crazed gleam in her eyes that had only worsened with the years she'd spent in the Isle.

"Ha! It's finally time, finally time! After sixteen years of being trapped with you, useless child, I'll finally get a chance to come out of this place and be young again!"

"What are you talking about, Gothel? It won't work, let me go!"

"Sixteen years, but it will be over soon, very soon!"

"It won't work, let me go!" Ginny repeated, already feeling tears prickle in the bottom of her eyes.

This wasn't something out of place, dare she thought about it that way. Gothel had been "working" on a way to leave the Isle long before she was even born, though those last "sixteen years" Ginny had become nothing other than her guinea pig. Well, that and the one responsible for her stretch marks and even more premature aging process. Not that Ginny would have been born to her if she'd had been given the option.

"This is stupid, Gothel, let me go!" Ginny cried, knowing full-well that it was stupid to try to reason with her mother, but knowing, as well, that she was not above it.

"I've waited long enough, idiot child!" Gothel laughed, her iron grasp around Ginny's locks seeming tighter to the girl once she stopped fighting back and allowed her mother to haul her out of their deteriorated hut.

This wouldn't work, Ginny knew that. The barrier wouldn't come down even if she bled to death and her hair was cut and washed away by the sea. No, Gothel wouldn't become younger even if she bathed in Ginny's tears and she transfused Ginny's 'purer' blood into her body. And she had tried all of those things.

No matter what Gothel did, Ginny wouldn't become a blonde, willowy girl with huge emerald eyes and a hair so long it wouldn't fit in their shack.

No, all Ginny had to offer to her mother was a skinny daughter with waist-long curly hair and chestnut eyes. All she was could be summarized in raven hair and 'not enough.'

Yet, Gothel wouldn't stop trying to get her 'poor flower' back. She wouldn't, for the life of her, accept the fact that beautiful, innocent Rapunzel was gone and all that was left behind to replace her was the maiden she was dragging towards the woods, the maiden with eyes darkened with blood and sleepless nights.

"Hickory, oak, pine and weed, bury my heart underneath those trees*," Gothel started chanting, unheeding of Ginny's huffs. "And when a southern wind comes to raise my soul, spread my spirit like a flock of crows."

"It won't work!" Ginny shouted once again. "You will never see Rapunzel again!"

That was when Gothel's fingers let go of the girl's hair, and despite the fact that Ginny had thought that to be the one thing she desired, the gesture wasn't as she'd pictured it―instead of simply letting her free, Gothel shoved her against the trunk of a tree. Before Ginny even had time to scream in pain, Gothel's jeweled fingers were already in her cheek, the strike of her slap strong enough to make Ginny's neck crack as it was forcefully turned.

"You have no right to speak her name!" Gothel roared. "My baby is out there, living with thieves and monsters and meanwhile I'm trapped in this dumpster with you and your pitiful attempt of being her!"

"I will never be like her!" Ginny managed through the blood that dripped from her mouth.

"That I know," her mother spat, gripping the neck of Ginny's dress so she could pull her closer to her as she spoke. "And that is why I need to get rid of you to get her back."

Gothel was crazy, that was all Ginny knew for sure. She became crazier by the second and nothing, magical, medical or mundane would give her back the sanity she had lost centuries in the past.

"Old heat from raging fire, come and light my eyes. Summer's kiss thru electric wire, but I'll never die!"

Ginny had heard that song a thousand times, as seasons changed, as she became older, and it could only mean one thing: Gothel had come up with another way to reach immortality and de-age, which, in return, could only mean one thing―Gothel had a plan to torture her so she could recover her own youth.

"It won't work, it won't work, it won't work," Ginny whispered, a plea so notorious in her voice it would have been painful, had they not been in the Isle of the Lost. Gothel, however, had long in the past turned a deaf ear to whatever her daughter said.

Ginny closed her eyes and let her tears run down her cheeks freely, careful, nonetheless, of biting the inside of her cheek to prevent a scream from coming out once the pain began. She didn't get to see the dagger that shimmered in Gothel's hand, neither did she take note of her mother's triumphant smirk. What she did feel, though, was the acute end of the weapon as Gothel stabbed her chest.

"Sycamore, ash moss and loam, wrap your roots all around my bones. And when they come for me, when they call my name, cast my shadow like a bellow's flame."

She didn't have time to cry in pain before Gothel made her next movement: dragging the knife across her skin, first vertically, then horizontally, up again and then from left to right, as if she were marking something, typecasting it into a squared box of blood and flesh.

True to her word, Ginny didn't scream, and it wasn't only because she had a reputation to live up to, but rather, because she was too horrified to even utter a witness to the agonizing convulsion that pierced through her body.

"You can bury my body, but I'll never die! Hickory, oak, pine and weed, bury my heart underneath those trees."

"M-Mother…." Ginny managed through her trembling lips, surprised even in her state that Gothel didn't correct her.

Gothel, to not break the habit, ignored her and continued with her newly invented ritual, this time, letting go of the dagger, which fell, blood-stained and harmless, to the ground before her fingers, with nails so long they seemed a crow's claws, entered the ensanguined cavity she had just created in Ginny's chest.

To be honest, the girl didn't even feel the pain anymore, she didn't force herself to choke down sobs or a plea for mercy. What she did feel, however, was the warm liquid that exited her chest and was soon tainting her torn-up dress with a bright red, brighter than Ginny had ever seen, warmer than she had ever felt.

It was only a few seconds before Gothel found what she had been looking for and, with hands that dripped blood and vengeance, took Ginny's still-beating heart out of her chest.

"Sixteen long years, that's how much I've waited for this!" the old hag laughed, bringing the blood-soaked organ to closer to her face. "Sixteen years with you, a useless nobody, tugging at my sleeve and twenty years of torture away from the mainland! That's how much I've waited!"

Thunder roared in the distance, and either Ginny's vision was clouding or there was really something magical in Gothel's actions, as the unforgiving sun of the Isle was suddenly covered by a veil of clouds as gray as her mother's hair.

"M-Mother, please…" Ginny let out in a shaky whisper, knowing full-well, that Gothel would ignore her. It didn't matter, she would think later, since her voice had been so low she couldn't even remember if she'd actually said the words or just thought about them.

She must have been delirious, Ginny thought as she saw Gothel prepare to chew on the heart that she taken out from her body, heart that she could still feel beating loudly in her ears, heart that, if the crimson lines that marred her vision didn't deceive her, was still connected to her body.

The ground started shaking. Cracking. Disappearing.

Who knew, Ginny thought dizzily, perhaps it had worked. Perhaps, this time, her mother's spell had finally worked. And through all of it, the only thing that she was certain of was that, be it that Gothel recovered her long-lost beauty or not, at least, at least it would be too late for her. She wouldn't recover from the gap in her chest or the blood loss. At least, for her, it would be over.

Soon, soon enough, in a jiffy, and what an irony it was that she thought of her death in so mundane words.

Suddenly, there was a scream in the distance. Or had it been close to her?

Numbly, Ginny opened the eyes she hadn't noticed she'd closed and was even more flabbergasted than she was already at the bizarre sight that greeted her: a humanoid blue figure towering over her mother, boney fingers making wide gestures.

"And I've spent twenty years listening to you idiot mortals lament over what you lost when that stupid beast put you here!" the newcomer exclaimed in disgust.

Whatever her mother answered ―if she even did― was lost for Ginny. In fact, she must have lost conscience all together, because the last thing she recalled thinking was: he must be Hades, Lord of the Dead.

And, by her train of thought, that could only mean one thing―she was, as she had predicted and even desired, dead. Dead, there was no more to it. No more scolding from her mother, no more cuts, no more anything. She was dead. Funny, Hades was another villain and through her hazed state all she could think of him was that he was her savior.

Hades, despite having spent the last twenty years trapped in the Isle like all the other villains, was rarely seen. He didn't like to mix with those commoners. Dirty mortals, that's what he called them.

"Oi, girl, do you plan to lay there the whole day or stand up?" a murmuring voice questioned her limp body. Ginny didn't even stir, so Hades sighed. Mortals.

Tracing the girl's sweaty forehead with his ice-cold fingers, he finally managed to make her eyelids flutter. As soon as Ginny's eyes focused on him the scream she had been swallowing for oh-so long found its ways through her lips.

"What are you doing?" she let out hoarsely as she tried to gather the rags of her torn dress and cover her breasts with it.

"Oh, no fancy introductions?" Hades smiled with his pointy teeth. "No 'Oh, lord Hades, I am so fortunate to have you here, thank you for saving my life'?" he questioned. "It's a shame, you mortals are losing your manners."

"What do you want?"

"Quite some things, actually. To get out of here, to conquer Olympus, to see my wife, but then again, none of them can be granted by you, can they?"

"What?"

"Oh, girl, how is it you're called? Gin?"

Numbly, she nodded, despite the fact that no one had ever called her that. She had always been Ginny, nothing more, nothing less.

"Alright, so, Gin, if I wanted to take away your innocence and your ephemeral life, don't you think I would have done so already?" he inquired, pointing at something in the ground.

That was when Ginny noticed it―the unconscious body of her mother, sprawled on the dry grass as an open wound on her head bleed.

"G-Gothel!" she whispered. "Is she… is she…"

"Dead?" Hades offered. "Ha! She is as dead as you are, and by that I mean very much alive!" He laughed, nudging Ginny's side as if to question why she wasn't cracking with laughter as well.

"What did you do to her, you monster?"

"Oh, here's what I get for saving your life," Hades said, a smile much more sinister than the one he'd sported until then plastering his lips. "This is why I'm not a hero, it would have been much easier to let you die, if you prefer that I can disappear and leave you to the tender mercies of your progenitor."

"What?" Ginny uttered. And that was when she remembered―the dagger, the knife, the blood. Forgetting about her inhibitions, she stopped trying to cover her naked breasts and instead dropped what was left of her dress to inspect her wound.

There was dry blood prickling at her skin and some of the liquid was still warm in the fabric of her skirt, but, where she should have had a deep gap and an empty chest all that was left was a scar. A prominent, notorious, worm-like scar but she supposed that was better than bleeding to death.

"You did this," she let out, more a statement than it was a question.

"Wrong again, sweet pie, I didn't do that," Hades laughed. "I put your mother to sleep, but you? You're not my problem."

"Then how…Why?"

"Oh, sweet children like you don't stand a chance in the outside world, do you?" he continued. He had a smile that made Ginny uneasy, and not precisely because it was vicious, but rather because it looked almost… nice. Kind. Those were not things you encountered in the Isle. Suddenly, his snicker turned darker. "The barrier around us does not only keep magic out. Far from it, there's magic inside the Isle as well, though it's not one we can bend and use, it has specific instructions. For example, no one can die inside the Isle. How else do you think you children haven't died after your parents drink too much? How else do you imagine villains haven't killed each other in a battle to gain power."

"What?"

"But, darling, I'm a god, and the silly magic the fairies possess is no match to my powers. Fairies die, gods do not, girl, remember that," Hades continued, not paying attention to Ginny's interruption, much like Gothel had done. "The barrier, however, is becoming weaker. Soon enough, there won't be a barrier anymore. Strange things are happening in Auradon, and it's just a matter of time before they start happening here as well. Hide from Gothel, there's nothing more she can take from you and don't trust I'll have your back a second time. Hide and wait for whatever will happen to happen. This will be over, and despite the fact that I cannot see the future, I foresee it won't be as bad as you expect."

"What?" Ginny whispered, her head throbbing.

The earlier fog seemed to reappear as her mind whirled, the forest around her seeming to tilt on its axis as she tried to comprehend all she'd been told. The barrier? Weakening? One day… to fall? That was… that couldn't happen. Thinking it could would be like hoping the sun would fall off the sky or that one day her mother would start treating her like the queens from Auradon's corny shows did their daughters. It was, simply, something that wouldn't happen.

"What are you waiting for, girl? An invitation," Hades taunted, the sand under his feet turning to a blueish smoke that was soon swallowing his figure completely. "Get out of here, Gin, before I regret having come out of my house for you."

Ginny ran. She didn't remember raising to her feet, she couldn't conjure the last image she'd seen of Hades or of her mother. She ran, that was all she knew. And in the distance, louder than the waves crashing on the shore, all she could hear was Hades' maniacal laugh.

She arrived to the place she'd called her house and packed. She changed her dress and tried to wash the blood away. She tried not to flinch whenever the wound in her chest sent waves of pain through her back and arms.

The only place she could think of to "hide" was the old church of the Isle. The fact that they had an emaciated replica of the Cathedral of Notre Dame had been hilarious until then, mostly because the majority of villains were god-less and the their descendants didn't want anything to do with a compassionate god when they had only known the opposite of that in their lives.

She didn't arrive to the cathedral, panting, because of what it represented to the believers. She only went there because Claudine Frollo, the only girl she had some kind of relationship with, lived there.

They weren't friends, of course, there were no friends in the Isle of the Lost, but they had spoken a handful of times and she had defended Claudine from the Gastons on a couple of occasions. Claudine had fed her in return.

This time, Ginny didn't want food, she didn't even want clean water. All she would ask for was a place to stay.

Well... this is the first chapter and I am so eager to know what you think,oh my gods!

Okay, first things first, the * goes for the song. It actually exists and, of course, I didn't write it. This was "I Will Never Die" by Delta Rae. I absolutely love the band and you should too because they're amazing.

Also, I have a confession to make: I'm as passionate about reading fanfiction as I am about writing it and my favorite story for this fandom is "Nothing In This World But Myself to Protect Me" by thatoneshippyblog. If you can check out this account and read that story, please go ahead and do it. If by any chance you end up enjoying my fic, then I beg you go and check hers out because, really, I'm no match when it comes to that story.

And I am giving you this long-winged paragraph about that story not only because it's flawlessly written, but also because it's so wonderful that my mind has immediatly taken some of the things written there as facts. One of them is the idea of the magical barrier keeping magic inside too so the villains didn't kill each other. I'm sure there will be a lot of other details like that that I won't really remember are not canon, so... this time I can point you out to the master mind behind it, I'm not sure if I'll be able to tell apart canon from thatoneshippyblog later, and that's why I want to apologize and to let you know that, if you want to separate thatoneshippyblog from Karen and canon you must read that story.

This is all for now and I'll post the second chapter as soon as I can!

I really hope you enjoyed!

[sunriseinsound]

@hopeful-hugz​ asked: 8. someone they view as a role model (For Mercy?)

8. someone they view as a role model

As a role model?

That gave Mercy pause, her light stuttering for just a second. She was a Tenebrous, a creature of wills and change, and for most of her existence, so was everyone around her. How could you admire, look up to someone who was as malleable as you were? When your existence was hidden away because the creatures in your world who remained sane enough for thought would want nothing more than to use you against your father?

And her father was nothing but what remained after his heart was scooped out. Nothing to look up to, there.

So she didn’t have anyone like that.

Ah. Except -

Denizen Hardwick, I suppose, she said, voice light as a spring breeze. The mist of her body curled gently around her black iron core like a smile. Not exactly, but he’s admirable, and the closest I can think of.

He has a legacy, just like I do. Frightening parents - it’s the thing we have in common. And he didn’t crumble when it was suddenly thrust upon him, but learned, in time, now to make that legacy his own. His duty is different than that of Vivian Hardwick, but no less important.

She giggled, and now it was summer, refreshing and heavy with affection. He was the first human in millennia to willingly help out a Tenebrous. He saw me for what I am right up until the end, understood that duty is rarely pretty, rarely clean, but is no less necessary.

Putting your desires to the side for the sake of your people - that’s duty. That’s legacy. It’s what he’s been doing from the moment we met, and it’s what I strive to do as King.