#timelines? don't know her

[thewistlingbadger]

Now what we're NOT about to do is bring down roxanne just raise to maxley. We're not doing it! Bc y'all LOVE to do it in every fuckin fandom and I'm not taking it this time!

[fruitypieq]

I really do love following people who hate each other. I'll see some shit like "STOP POSTING ABOUT TAYLOR SWIFT SHE SUCKS SHE IS THE WORST" followed by someone else reblogging 5 Taylor Swift gifsets in a row

[cacw]

meet your maker

[farshootergotme]

One day I will finish reading enough comics to create my own Dick Grayson personal timeline based off canon except I will only use the canon that makes most sense to me.

[gwinverarrouz]

A timeline of Bisig!! Since I've decided her birthday was in July, I felt it was time for a little retrospective :>

Thought it'd be fun to see how the way I've drawn her has evolved over the years!

[sherwood-scribblings]

Sunrise on the Reaping theories + thoughts so far (pt 1)

here's a collection of the most likely and most interesting head-canons and stuff I've seen, both fandom-made and my own

NOT MINE BUT EXPANDED & CONNECTED BY ME:

• Tigress pov, as an audience member, maybe she's Haymitch's designer

• we got a tribute pov, a mentor pov, now we could get an audience pov because of the themes of propaganda she emphasizes... we could also get multi pov if she wants to do smth crazy and appease all fans

• Unreliable narrator, perhaps screwing with the reader's head on what actually happened in the games, capitol editing footage out

• Perhaps Tigress observes the games and originally starts off oblivious to the truth but the more she watches and helps Haymitch the more she begins to see the truth, and so the capitol punishes both her and Haymitch for it

• Lucy Gray is midnight, Haymitch/Maysilee is sunrise, Katniss/Peeta is sunset (symbolic of the progression of the games. Lucy Gray wiped out and forgotten, Haymitch the escaped glimmering sliver of change, Katniss the blazing fire and finale)

• Maysilee wore the mockingjay pin in the arena but the capitol edited it out of all the footage

• Themes of light vs dark, truth vs lies, the audience starts out unaware and conflicted but comes to see how things really are

• Katniss parents could appear??? Maybe we'll see Mr. and Mrs. Everdeen fall in love??

MY THEORIES + THOUGHTS:

• (canon) The arena is an illusion. Flowers, water, fruit, mountains, animals. It's beautiful, heavenly, too good to be true, it doesn't seem real... well, it's not real. Everything seems normal and like you know what it is, but the Entire Setting is actually poisonous and deadly. JUST like the theme of propaganda and lies, she says the book is about. The arena itself is a meta layer to things not being as they appear.

• the cover will have a mockingjay and a sunrise or sun-flare, gold against purple

• the "sunrise" in the title is symbolism, for a person and a theme, likely symbolic of Maysilee Donner because of her kindness and humanity and spirit casting light in the face of violence and war (the reaping). A light the capitol would've snuffed out, to hide the truth. (I have a whole essay on this + maysilee's importance pls check my feed)

• Maysilee is the real mockingjay, and very important, not just a random dead background character who passed down the pin to Katniss. We know how Collins' brain works. Look at TBOSAS. Look at how she foreshadowed Lucy Gray as early as the first book. 

• the mockingjay isn't just one person, but a symbol of resistance and goodness and freedom, that anyone can take on as a mantle, an idea rather than tied to one thing or person. Lucy Gray, Rue, Katniss, and likely Maysilee.

• a rebellion almost happened with the mockingjay pin and Maysilee and Haymitch and perhaps Tigress seeing the truth last minute, but the capitol snuffed it out and destroyed all the evidence of such a thing ever happening, including Haymitch's family and punishing Tigress, leading Panem and the readers themselves in the dark and at peace. Maysilee is the warm sun to bring the spark of a fire, her pin symbolically passes onto Katniss through her niece, thus passing on the resistance and legacy. ....symbolic of how the mockingjay had the will to survive, even when it was destroyed and wiped out.... It escaped and became stronger in the face of its enemies....

• ...for all we know, Katniss' dad didn't die in a coal mining accident, but perhaps was a rebel himself and the capitol planted explosions in the mines to get rid of him. we can't just blindly trust the narrative.

• If Haysilee is a parallel to Everlark, what if Haymitch's girlfriend is a Gale figure? This isn't just because I'm a haysilee shipper I'm built to be a multishipper I'm FIGHTING not to be biased I'm openminded, but i feel the haysilee content in my bones and it's definitely a possibility

• the capitol (and Snow) believes that humanity is vile, that humans will always give into instinct and fend for themselves, that you can't trust or love or anyone lest it lead to your downfall. So... If Ballad was about humanity's corruption, perhaps Reaping is about humanity's goodness (the bond between Haymitch and Maysilee, Tigress seeing the truth despite being a capitol/audience member, perhaps the Capitol cut the footage of that bond to prevent a rebellion like Everlark's relationship later induces) 

• Most people are saying this book will be super depressing and focused on the capitol's propaganda succeeding to stop a rebellion, and I do agree, but, that doesn't cancel out highlighting themes of goodness and friendship but rather enhances them. Perhaps that very thing is what we're missing from the footage, what the capitol succeeded in covering up, raw humanity being the thing that defies their propaganda the most, and punished anyone who acted otherwise (Haymitch, Tigress...)

PART 2 IS COMING SOON to address the fandom discourse with my personal thoughts on whether this book will be about Haymitch and if we need more District 12.

and why Collins would logically choose to tell this story (regardless of pov because that could be anything at this point she'll upset someone either way)

[weylersource]

When Wednesday kisses Tyler for the first time at the Weathervane, she has a vision. Except it's not Tyler who is revealed to be Hyde that is murdering people around Jericho. It's his mother. // prompt by @persephoneed.

[imissthembutitwasntadisaster]

You don't choose to constantly defend underappreciated characters you watch season 3 of doctor who at a young age meet Martha Jones and it just happens to you

[sa1808fi]

Emmetstyle and their ways of showing love

Emmet is very big on dishing out his affection for others. He hasn't had anyone in his life care enough to stick around for long, so he's going to be the first one in his and Lucy's relationship to say 'I love you' to her.

Compared to Lucy, he's a very open person, finding it easy to show his appreciation and love for his friends through his words, actions, and gifts. So obviously he would have no problem showering his special best friend cough girlfriend cough with all the love he has.

He's going to tell her he loves her whenever he can. She helps him with the chores? Love gushing out of him. They go out on a 'best friend' excursion? Hugs everywhere. He is constantly wiggling with happiness when he's around Lucy.

Lucy on the other hand tends to deny her affection for others if she thinks it'll make her look weak and less tough (She was fine showing her 'affection to Batman because he's a super cool and tough superhero), therefore ruining the persona she's built herself around.

Though she does soften up around Emmet whenever they're alone. It takes her a long time to finally say the 'L' word to Emmet. Other than ruining her reputation, Lucy is also scared to admit her love for Emmet, because the last time she loved something with a passion and dedicated her life to it, it was warped into a cruel method to brainwash people.

After the second movie, seeing how hateful Rex became because he believed that his friends never loved him, Lucy became more determined to show her special best friend how much she really loves him.

During the rebuilding after armageddon, she does a lot of seemingly little things (but are monumental to Emmet) to show her love. She starts to hold hands with Emmet in public, defends him fiercely against hateful comments, and starts to gift him small things that she think's he'll like.

Even after all this, She still doesn't think it's enough. Because there's a difference between knowing someone loves you and knowing they love you. So, Lucy gets the others to help her come up with a plan to show their appreciation for Emmet (Since I like to think he's one of the people working overtime to fix all the destruction (Y'know... out of guilt and all)), and it ends up as this giant party with everyone to celebrate the rebuilding efforts.

Towards the end, she has this whole speech (I'm not going to go too in detail), and she ends it with finally saying the three magic words that she could never bring herself to say.

If we go over to dangerstyle in Rex's timeline, then it's going to be flipped. They swapped roles in the way they show affection.

Lucy is a lot more vocal than she used to be when she shows her love. This is mostly born out of her fear that the people she loves might end up disappearing and dying without ever truly knowing how much she cares about them .

In her eyes, she never fully reciprocated Emmets love before he disappeared. She never got the chance to finally tell him the three words that always got stuck in her throat.

Emmet died trying to save someone that Lucy believes never treasured him as much as she should have. And that guilt weighs down on her every single day.

Going onto reunion AUs where there's the big 'happy' reunion and reconciliation, have no doubt, Lucy is 100% going to try and drown Rex with the love she never showed when he was Emmet.

She doesn't do it immediately because they can all tell that Rex needs to adjust a bit. But after he's a bit more okay with being around them, he's going to get slapped in the face with all the care they're treating him with.

Lucy does say it as a way to thank him for things like how he used to do for her, but she also does it whenever he's going through one of those bad days. Where the memories become overwhelming and he just needs that little bit of reassurance that they do actually care.

Rex is a lot more reluctant to share his affection with others compared to his past self. Or at least, he does it more privately and can come off as a bit of an asshole. The reason is basically the same as how Lucy didn't want to ruin her tough persona.

He's one of those characters that at first glance seems like a jackass- and he is, there's no doubt about that. But after a while the closer you get, you can't help but become fond of him. He's sweet in like a loveable asshole kind of way.

There's also the fact that his whole personality is built upon the trauma he endured in Undar, so any shred of Emmet that he has is buried really deep down.

Occasionally, if he's comfortable enough, Rex will end up slipping back into Emmet's habits in front of people. But whenever he does, he just ends up freezing up and backtracking, pulling away and avoiding everyone for the rest of the day as he goes to hide and sulk.

When it comes to actually saying 'I love you' again, well... it's gonna take a really long time for him to feel safe or confident enough to do it again. Rex is going to need to get so much therapy and validation from Lucy and the others.

Compared to when Lucy finally says the three big words, the way Rex finally does it again isn't dramatic, it isn't one big planned-out party with all their friends together and celebrating.

The way he finally says them again is early in the morning, with both of them wrapped in blankets, cuddling on the sofa, the TV playing some show in the background. Lucy will slowly detach herself from the arms firmly wrapped around her, careful to not wake up the dozing raptor trainer. But Rex still feels the slow change in environment so he whines softly, trying to preserve the warmth that's moving away from him.

It's in this moment when Lucy softly draws him back to sleep that he mutters a small 'love you' before falling into unconsciousness again.

(She cries in the kitchen)

(Rex doesn't even know he said that)

MMMMMMM, parallels

[bumblingbabooshka]

Harry Kim saying Naomi is lucky to be born on Voyager and that he would have given "anything" to have her life when he was a kid...

[crimeronan]

The worst timeline AU where Hunter comes to find Luz but when he arrives, he’s still badly hurt. He refuses to let Camila come near him though, so Luz has to be the one to convince him that she’s not a threat, he *needs* help, and Camila can help him. Nice way for Luz to in a way tell Camila she appreciates her as much as it’s possible in the circumstances

luz throws herself on hunter and he weathers it without any complaint whatsoever but after a few minutes she feels something warm/sticky on her hand n arm where it's wrapped around him & discovers he's bleeding through his shirt. from some apparent deep wound that he has not mentioned or told her to stay away from

luz calls out "mom? mami, please, please, mom, i need you," and it's, like. literally the first time she's ever directly addressed camila as such.

[sylvies-kablooie]

when sylvie rolls up to a branched timeline during the year 1982 in the middle of oklahoma in a random field, i am torn between the emotional potency of her experiencing a timeline that was destined to be destroyed like her own was, and how fucking weird it must have been for jack, the mcdonalds employee whose only priority is to graduate high school, to have encountered this feral creature rolling up straight from the end of all time. she's still in her battle armor and has open gashes on her face and she's asking for something that isn't a squirrel, possum or a rat, please. he adjusts his tie with a smile and says "okay!" when the woman with a machete asks to try everything. absolute king. customer service is just like that sometimes.

[transvampireboyfriend]

There's discussion of ronance under the cut! so if that's not your thing maybe skip this and the next part :)

part 1 - part 2 - part 3 - part 4 - part 5 - part 6 - part 7 - part 8

The sunset finds Steve sitting on a log, methodically breaking apart graham crackers and chocolate bars on top of a cooler.

Jonathan and Argyle are rolling joints beside him, sitting on a separate log and making light conversation with him.

Eddie's building a fire in front of them, a few feet away, just out of earshot. Steve loses the thread of conversation every now and then because he keeps getting distracted by Eddie's arms.

Some crackers and chocolate bars are unevenly split too. It's Eddie's fault that they're all wonky.

The taller boy (he will not let Steve forget this) is splitting a few dry logs into smaller ones using the cabin's axe.

He found and donned some leather work gloves, his tattoos shift as his arms flex, there are flashes of armpit hair every couple of swings, and there's sweat slowly dripping down his forehead.

Steve's doing his absolute best not to stare but it's very difficult.

When Eddie swipes the sweat off his brow and strips the gloves to bring out his pocket knife, Steve gets a coughing fit that Argyle has to bring him out of by clapping his back.

"Whoa there man, are you okay?" Argyle asks him,

Steve just franticaly nods as Jonathan snickers beside them.

Just as Eddie settles down in a crouch and starts shaving wood off the sides of the smaller logs, the girls come back from their walk.

Nancy walks to Eddie, offers a handful of dry pinecones and sets about arranging the logs.

Jonathan and Argyle announce they need popcorn and go back to the cabin to make some.

Robin has something trapped inside her hands.

She walks towards Steve, stands behind him and leans down to place her arms around his neck. Her hands remain closed, so that whatever is between them is now right in front of Steve's face.

"Guess what I got" she says, leaning her chin on top of Steve's head.

"That better not be a skunk, Bobbie"

Robin giggles "Have your ever seen a skunk, dingus? My hands are tiny!"

"A baby skunk, then" Steve amends, tone whiny.

Robin snorts, "Shut up. Look,"

As she opens her hands a tiny light shines out of them. Steve gasps.

"Hi!" he says, waving his index finger at the firefly,

"His name's Harold," Robin supplies.

"What? That sucks" Steve accuses, trying to look up at her, but only jostling her head a bit.

Robin gasps, "It's a perfectly good name for a firefly!" she protests, digging her chin atop his head.

Steve ducks his head and half turns in her arms, gives her a look and then turns back.

"How are the wife and kids, Harold?" he asks the bug,

Robin doesn't miss a beat, "He's gay, Steve. You should know better",

Steve can't help but laugh loudly at that.

Robin rushes to close her hands back up,

"Stop! you're scaring him!" she accuses, though there's a smile on her face.

Steve sobers up and puts down the two cracker halves in his hands to pry Robin's hands open again,

"Harold, I sincerely apologize." he offers in a gravely tone.

The bug turns around in Robin's hands.

"I think that means I'm forgiven" Steve says, looking up at her.

Robin chuckles and gently places the bug on top of Steve's left knee, moving to sit beside him.

Steve smiles at Harold before looking at her from the side,

"You having fun?" Steve checks in,

Robin smiles at him, throws her right arm around him and leans her chin against his shoulder.

"I am!" she answers "How about you?" she asks in return, half hugging him.

Steve presses his cheek against her in appreciation, just for a moment before he answers,

"Yeah, I'm having fun too" he smiles,

"Good. I wasn't lying earlier, when I said that suits you" Robin points out, drawing back without letting go of him, to look up at Eddie's bandana still on his hair.

Steve feels his cheeks start to burn.

"Shutup." he mutters defensively "he's-" Steve turns to look at Eddie, who's now fanning the flames of the fire he started and fanning himself every couple of seconds, making the few strands of hair that fell from his bun flap about wildly.

Steve can't help the smile on his face.

"Great. He's just great" he says honestly, feeling a little in awe of just how much he really likes Eddie.

Robin lets go of him only to jab her elbow in his ribs,

"See!" she says "I knew you had to make a move!"

"You were right." Steve concedes, "Not that I'm- I just mean he didn't seem put-off or anything when I tried flirting a little,"

"Of course he didn't! Steve!!" she protests,

"I know. I know," Steve says, reminded of the many times they've discussed his insecurities.

He relays his conversation with Jonathan then, and she listens, pointing out that putting it all together definitely makes it clear why Eddie hadn't made a move yet, and how Steve definitely has a chance.

"Yeah. I hope so," Steve says,

Robin rolls her eyes at his cautiousness and watches Harold finally fly away. Her eyes fall on Nancy, across from them.

Steve moves his eyes away to finish breaking off the last couple of crackers from the bunch.

Steve can admit he felt a pang of jealousy the first time he noticed his best friend laughing too hard at something Nancy said, but he quickly realized he was jealous of Nancy, he was worried she'd take Robin from him. An irrational fear that he also went through with Eddie, when he and Robin got close.

Whatever attempt Steve made at reviving the spark between him and Nancy in the upside down, got flipped right side up as soon as they were out of that hellish time.

Which was fortunate, because Nancy was still in a relationship back then, and Steve actually didn't feel like trying to woo the girl that broke his heart years ago.

Not to mention, they were different people now.

And he could admit now that he had freaked out. He'd seen the prettiest boy he'd ever known smirking at him and calling him metal and Steve had felt himself fall violently, far quicker than he was ready to.

So he'd grabbed on to whatever solid ground he could find, and he didn't have much of that.

It was just stupid. They hadn't really talked about it but Nancy had dropped by Eddie's room at the hospital a couple of times, she'd seen how devastated Steve was and she was never dumb. Steve could see the realization on her and luckily, the relief too.

Slowyly but surely they've arrived back to a place where Steve is glad to have her in his life again. He wouldn't hesitate to have dinner with her any day now, and every one of their friends know what they have is purely friendship.

So when he noticed her half-flirting with Robin at their job again, Steve tried to communicate to her that same understanding and relief with the same look.

And Nancy seemed like she got it.

Steve's fairly certain she and Robin would be good together, he's told Robin as much, but she disagrees, denied that she was attracted to their friend at first, and now refuses to give them a shot.

When he looks back up Robin's still looking at her, her cheeks on the verge of a smile.

Steve, done with his task, wipes his hands on his jeans.

"Are you sure there's nothing there?" Steve asks softly, for maybe the fifth time since Robin and Nancy met.

Looking back at that time now, with his own feelings out of the way, Steve can see clear as day, that Robin was into her from the start.

Robin looks at him now, and her face falls into the same caught look it always does when this comes up. She sighs,

"Are you sure you wanna ask me that?" she counters

"Robbie!"

"Dingus!"

"I want you to be happy," Steve tries,

"Even if it means I make a move on your ex?" she asks, her voice bitter,

"She's my friend too, Robs!" he protests,

"She broke your heart, Steve,"

"Years ago! And-"

"Not that many," Robin interrupts,

"And!" Steve emphasizes, "We're different people now,"

"You were practically offering her six babies not a year and a half ago," Robin points out,

"And you and I both agreed that that was a little bit crazy of me and a clear lapse in my judgement." Steve reminds her, "She doesn't want that. And I don't want that with her. I don't want anything with her beyond friendship and you know it,"

Robin doesn't look convinced.

"I don't care what you say. It would be weird." she says,

"Not for me, if that's what you're implying," Steve tells her,

"You've said that about other things when you did mind!" Robin accuses,

"And you've called me out on it!" Steve counters, "And I'm working on not doing that anymore. And it's not what I'm doing now!"

"I'm not gonna put my happiness before yours," Robin tells him,

Steve turns to her fully, straddling the log between them,

"I'm not asking you to do that, Robbie. I'm asking you not to put MY happiness before yours." he says, "Not even!" he amends, "I'm asking you not to put my comfort before your happiness."

Robin grimaces.

"What if you do mind? Down the line?" she asks,

"You can't base your decisions on hypotheticals." Steve protests, growing impatient, "And especially not on hypotheticals about my feelings, Rob!"

"Don't be an asshole. You're important to me!" she protests,

Steve sighs.

He reaches out and takes one of Robins hands in his own.

"And you're just as important to me," he tells her, "but i don't need you to protect me Robin. I'm not made of glass." he looks into her eyes as he goes on, "Yeah, maybe I'll be uncomfortable at some point, but I've been uncomfortable before and I'll be uncomfortable in the future,"

"I don't wanna be the cause of that," Robin says quietly, squeezing Steve's heart.

She moves to stradle the log too, facing Steve.

Steve offers her a soft smile.

"I know." he says, rubbing her knuckles in an attempt to reassure her, "You wouldn't be. Even if I saw you and Nance happy together and it made me uncomfortable, it wouldn't be because you decided to be with her, or because you're happy with her, Robs. It would be because she's my ex and she broke my heart. That's not on you,"

Robin looks like she wants to say something else but then changes her mind.

"It would be weird," she insists half-heartedly.

Steve understands what she doesn't say,  that she wants him to let it go.

"Okay." He concedes, taking her other hand and lacing their fingers. "Fine then. I won't bring it up again. I just ask that you don't- Don't think of me as this, this responsibility, okay? I don't wanna be that, I wanna be your best friend." he says, tugging on her hands a bit.

"Idiot." She calls him with a hesitant smile, clearly still awkward with displays of affection.

Steve chuckles. She tugs his hands towards her,

"I love you" she says.

It's not lost on Steve how this requires effort from her. He brings their hands to his lips and kisses the back of her palms, one and then the other, making her giggle.

"And I love you," Steve tells her, he untangles their hands and returns to his previous position, reaching for the big bag of marshmallows sitting next to the cooler.

"Now help me roast these," he requests, opening the bag, "this is as far as I came when I was little"

"Oh, did you have a maid that roasted your marshmallows growing up?"

"I hate youuuuuuu" Steve complains, and throws a marshmallow at her head.

part 6

[saltydoesstuff]

Every Universe

"I love you." She uttered, barely above a whisper. "I love you in every universe." "Do we end up together in every universe?" He asked. "No," She replied, and the painful memories of those life times flashed behind her beautiful eyes as she reflected to the 'back then's. Yet, she smiled, "But I love you anyway, how could I not? My soul yearns for you, even before it had come to know you. It remembers, I remember." "Does it hurt?" She was silent for a moment, "A lifetime without you hurts more then a lifetime when we are not together." "I love you." He blurts out unthinkingly, desperate. He reaches out for her hand, taking it and holds it in both hands in a grounding grip. She looked down at their hands and smiled, relishing in the bitter sweetness. "I know." She confesses quietly. She held his hand tightly, trying to ignore the buzzing within her body- threatening to tear her apart atom by atom. "But you aren't mine. Not this time."

[nerevar-quote-and-star]

Okay, here are my current notes on the Markarth Incident. This is more of an evolution of thought rather than a final product, 'kay? 'kay. XOXO

4E 174 – The Empire recalls all Legions from the far corners of the Empire to participate in the final assault against the Aldmeri-held Imperial City. Every town and city not on the frontlines is left with a skeleton garrison. 

The Reachmen of Western Skyrim chooses to capitalize on this movement. The Reachmen populate an area of Western Skyrim, Eastern High Rock, and Northern Hammerfell. Although they appear similar to the Bretons of High Rock, they are wholly distinct, worshipping gods completely detached from those of Breton culture. During the Second Era, they once ruled Cyrodiil as the Longhouse Emperors; in recent history, they have lived subject to other races, primarily the Nords, who rule much of the Reach. More often than not, Reachmen are second-class citizens, though very rarely have they received decent though not preferential treatment from a Nordic Jarl.

When the Empire recalls their Legions, the capital of the Reach, Markarth, is left functionally undefended. A Reachman leader, Madanach, takes this opportunity to seize the city and install a Reachmen government in place of the Nords. Madanach declares himself King of the Reach and succeeds the Reach from Skyrim. Contemporary Imperial documents show that Madanach sent emissaries to Emperor Titus Mede II in an attempt to have the Reach recognized as its own Imperial Province wholly separate from Skyrim. Titus Mede appeared to have taken this into serious consideration, though he was unable to give it his full attention as the Empire was planning their attack on the Imperial City. 

Conflicting reports on the time frame of the Reachman takeover exist. Reports vary between the takeover beginning in Fourth Era 174 and 177 when the conflict was over. Contemporary Imperial and Forsworn documentation claim that Madanach’s rule was relatively stable, saying he was fair to the Nords, his people ousted from power, and allowed them to remain in the city so long as they recognized his government. It is said that live around Markarth continued in the same way as before, though under the Reachmen rather than the Nords. It may be important to note that Nord landholders who “mistreated” their Reachmen servants were put to death. 

The Nordic perspective (as shared by Jarl Igmund in Fourth Era 201) claims that the Reachmen takeover was violent, leading to a chaotic period in which Nords were heavily discriminated against and no civil cooperation between races. 

[Madanach’s version of events MAY be closer to the truth. N.B: During his rule, he seems willing to help a group of dissident Blades in exchange for a favor.]

The White-Gold Concordat is signed 11th of Sun’s Dusk, Fourth Era 175; Surviving veterans of the Battle of the Red Ring return to their homes, including large populations of Nordic legionnaires. Talos worship is outlawed. Talos temples are closed, though many continue to worship him in private. Ulfric Stormcloak takes offense to the banning of Talos worship, viewing it as a central aspect of Nord culture. His father, Hoag, the Jarl of Windhelm and Bear of Eastmarch, does not legalize Talos worship despite Ulfric’s religiosity. It may be that he wishes to avoid a conflict with the Empire. Jarl Hrolfdir of Markath, in exile by Madanach’s government, promises Ulfric and his supporters religious freedom should they take back the Reach from the Reachmen. This is in blatant disregard of the White-Gold Concordat. 

Ulfric leads a militia across Skyrim to the Reach where they took back Markarth. A few Reachmen leaders were imprisoned, though others were killed, along with most of their warriors, though some were driven off into the surrounding wilds. The survivors in exile began to call themselves the Forsworn. They attack Nords and the Empire indiscriminately due to anger and feelings of betrayal.

Most of the Reachmen leaders are killed. However, allegedly at the request of the Silver-Blood family, Madanach is taken prisoner and held in the depths of Cidhna Mine. The Forsworn claim that the Nords, under Jarl Hrolfdir and Ulfric Stormcloak, took back the city through an excess of unnecessary violence, putting to death or imprisoning anyone who had even spoken to Madanach or said his name. It is also said that the family members of those who were deemed to be against the Nords’ rule were imprisoned or killed, even down to young children. Purported Imperial propaganda puts forth that Ulfric himself killed everyone in Markarth who would not join his cause. 

It is true that there was bloodshed and death of innocents during the retaking of Markarth. The factuality of this claim can be traced to those Reachmen who survived the incident, sharing their experiences twenty-five years afterward. 

Jarl Hrolfdir was assassinated during attempted peace talks with the Forsworn after the retaking of Markarth. It may be that the incident only grew violent after this point due to Nordic retaliation. 

Why would Ulfric and Jarl Hrolfdir use that much unnecessary violence and brutality against the Reachmen if they intended to negotiate with them afterward?

Perhaps Igmund instigates the brunt of the violence against the Reachmen following his father’s death.

Jarl Hrolfdir was marked for death by the Dark Brotherhood. It is unknown who performed the Black Sacrament on the Jarl. It is possible someone from outside the conflict placed the contract on Jarl Hrolfdir’s head as a means of sewing chaos between the opposing sides (it could have been Igmund or Raerek [crack theory; maybe the brother was trying to Lion King his way into power and failed miserably? Or one of them opposed making peace with the Reachmen], or perhaps it was the Aldmeri Dominion?). Regardless, the Jarl’s death is the probable instigator for the deaths of many of the Reachman remaining in Markarth. 

The Imperial Legion shows up not long after the city is retaken. They are seemingly thankful that Ulfric’s militia took back the Reach. When Ulfric lets them into the city, he asks that they recognize the free worship of Talos that Jarl Hrolfdir had legalized in the Reach; otherwise, the Legion would be fought off. The Imperial Legate (or general?) present at the time okays Ulfric’s request, effectively breaking the White-Gold Concordat. Again. Not long after, the Thalmor discovered this and took issue with this breach of treaty. They give the Empire an ultimatum: disband Talos worship in the Reach or prepare for the Great War to be renewed. 

Ulfric and his followers are arrested and imprisoned by the Empire as Talos worship is again banned. The Empire must crack down on cases of Talos worship across the province. In consequence of the incident, the Thalmor gain access to Skyrim for their Justiciars through an Embassy. This is allegedly to enforce the terms of the White-Gold Concordat after it had been broken by the Nords in Fourth Era 176/7, but on an underground level, this allows the Thalmor to hunt, capture, and torture suspected Talos worshippers. The coming of the Thalmor Justiciars to Skyrim is technically a domino effect caused by Ulfric’s demand for free and open Talos worship.

Jarl Hrolfdir’s assassination happens during Ulfric and his supporters imprisonment. It may be possible that it was Ulfric OR one of his men who performed the Black Sacrament (though how could they do this while in an Imperial prison? Ulfric had to smuggle out his eulogy for his father’s funeral – what is the Imperial prison smuggling system like? Could any of them have had access to a dead body? Smuggled in or that of a fellow prisoner?). Whoever performed the Black Sacrament on Jarl Hrolfdir is the root cause for the retribution killings of the Reachmen. (Perhaps it was Thonar Silver-Blood?)

Ulfric is an uncooperative asset to the Thalmor, not because he ever cooperated with them in the first place, but because he is the (unintended) reason they have such a strong foothold in Skyrim now. 

[the-priestess-of-dawn]

Been thinking about a postgame scenario that goes in a direction I don't think canon would ever take in a million years, but like... I think it could be really compelling...

And that's the idea of Chrom becoming Plegia's king after Grima's defeat. And specifically giving up his claim to Ylisse's throne to do it (leaving it to Lucina when she's old enough).

Because here's the thing... The game ends with Grima's defeat/Robin's return in the sacrifice ending. It doesn't address what happens to Plegia at all, and while I personally maintain that Aversa is the most qualified candidate to rule, her canon ending provides that she goes back to the village she was born in. So, fine. Let's give her that.

But SOMEONE has to do SOMETHING because realistically, Plegia is in dire straits. Validar, the king and the leader of the Grimleal, is dead. He gave, like, ALL of Plegia's resources to the Ylissean League (well, okay, we don't know how much, if any, he left in reserve, but... He really needed Walhart gone and it's not like he had any reason to think that anyone would need resources once Grima was running around, so... chances are good there's little to nothing left in the wake of the averted apocalypse). And the population has been utterly devastated, because not only did people (exactly how many is unclear, but presumably it took more than just a couple) have to sacrifice themselves to renew the fell dragon's power, but Grima was also spawning Grimleal onto their back at the final battle. Their losses are so immense...

So first of all, Chrom is definitely responsible for taking all their resources and setting half of them on fire (Now to be fair, Flavia and Basilio are also responsible, but... Idk, I kinda feel like they'd bicker with each other over who has to do the crappy parts of the job and then agree that they should just ask Chrom if he can do it. Like "Haha, if you didn't want to deal with thieves ambushing the Longfort to steal construction supplies, you shouldn't have gone and beaten me at the last tournament!" "Oh, shut up. Let's see if Chrom can send his thief friend over to talk these guys down. Or kill them, whichever." I mean, Chrom is always going to be their guy who knows a guy.) There's just no way Chrom would abandon the surviving Plegians who need help anyway, but especially not when he knows the war with Valm would've ended before it could begin without them.

Of course, there's the historical hostility between Ylisse and Plegia to consider, but... If anyone's protesting, it's probably the Ylisseans. Because the survivng Plegians, uh... probably were never Grima's most devoted followers in the first place (if you really wanted to give Grima your life, you'd rush to the front of the line at the Dragon's Table, right?) and even if they used to consider themselves true Grimleal, the religion's leadership is destroyed, and—for the purpose of this scenario, I'm considering it post-sacrifice ending—the fell dragon is gone and not coming back. These people narrowly avoided becoming Grima's breakfast or Grima's meat shields. They all almost certainly know someone who wasn't as lucky. And the one who saved them... Well, it was Chrom, wasn't it? Because he believed in humanity enough to challenge the concept of fate, a fate that the people of Plegia were surely taught was inescapable. Despite their history with Ylisse, it's hardly unreasonable for them to see Chrom as a savior to them specifically. The second coming of the Hero-King who ought for the lives of all humans, really.

And yeah, I'm going here... Chrom is Marth's descendant. Marth was Altean. Former Altea is is modern Plegia, so technically, the people can argue that he's actually theirs.

Doesn't it sort of make sense, even? Plegia is ruined, the god to whom the theocracy was devoted killed. "What we need is to restore the glory of ancient Altea!" And who better to help them than Chrom, Marth's successor in blood and in spirit?

But Chrom would frown and say no. Of course he's going to help them restore their country to prosperity—or at least to independent, peaceful functioning. But king? Sheesh, that's going too far. Come on guys, you don't really want that. Besides, he's already ruling Ylisse...

Except, he's not ruling it as Exalt. At least, not at first he's not. He forswore the title when he started his rule and in canon he is only official welcomed as Exalt after Grima's defeat. But what if he just... continued to not accept it. It's not like he ever wanted to be Exalt. He only has the right to rule because Emmeryn died—because he failed to protect her. It has nothing to do with any of his successes.

But if the Plegians made him their king, then it would be because of his own accomplishments.

And in a way I also can't help but find it heartwarming, because it was the Plegian people who got him to truly understand Emmeryn's ideals. He wanted peace, he wanted to follow her path, but it wasn't until the Plegians took her sacrifice for the peace offer it was and refused to continue fighting Ylisse that Chrom was finally able to comprehend what it meant that Emmeryn believed that all people wanted the same thing, that peace is something for everyone and not just purehearted saints like her who would never hurt a fly. So wouldn't it be sweet to expand on that existing connection? For the people who once bore a grudge against him and his nation to say, actually, our home is your home and you belong with us... For Chrom to reach back and decide that these are his people and that he will protect them...

Especially because that's what he's always done for Robin. Your father doesn't get to determine your path for you, your past doesn't dictate your future, you always have a place beside me because we are two halves of a greater whole. This AU is definitely a chrobin AU, because when Robin gets back I want them to rule at his side (after all, I do have feelings about Grima's loyalty to a people who have been praying to them to end their suffering for a thousand years).

Now, I do think that Chrom would never leave Ylisse while little Lucina was still growing up, but... Honestly it would probably take quite some time to establish a castle for Plegia's new ruler anyway (especially if they go super hard on the Altean revival theme and want it to be IN former Altean territory, which has become the "border wastes" and undoubtedly needs some help... But EVERYWHERE in Plegia needs help, so what better time to give the land some attention?) So when Lucina is an adult she can take over as Ylisse's true Exalt, and Chrom can focus his efforts on the other side of the border. I think he'd still be awkward about the whole thing, approaching it like "Well, I guess I'm here if you all still want me..." but Robin's there to give him confidence and the people there are SO excited for their hero to come and live with them and together they all usher in a new era of peace and prosperity as Ylisse and Plegia themselves become like two halves of a greater whole.