#kirsi

(45) do not underestimate the diabolical strategy i--I MEAN SILAS cooked up for the league

♥ Welcome to the very first Lettie Fit Friday, Tumblr!! ♥

This is my Suitor Armor OC: Charlette "Lettie" Lighthelm. ♥ She is (to be) the royal seamstress, and is an elf who is disguised as human. Lettie is designed to go along with the main events of the story who grows up alongside Lucia and Kirsi as the adopted "middle sister", thanks in part to her mother Althea's standing as Kirsi's seamstress.

Here's a birthday gift for frogletscribe ! The design was fun to work on, especially the haircut !

This started as me just wanting to flesh out Talon and Shadow’s backstory. But as it turned out, they ran into Drina during the war, who has her own subplot hunting talismans with Devin to keep them out of Kirsi’s hands.

And then, when the war ended and chaos ensued, Talon, Shadow and their (girl)friend Swift attempted to track down Shadow’s brother, Alix (aka Stead). But he’s now got his own mini plot line with Shane, Anya and the first few Redcloaks from before they caught up to him.

Anyway. It’s a lot.

Not sure if this counts as a proper theory, but I was talking about Suitor Armor with one of my friends and we were talking about Kirsi and how her story is going to play out.

The biggest question being, of course, is she going to be redeemed, or is she going to continue as Ricon's tragic puppet queen? But then I thought of a secret third option and oh my god. This might be a winner.

Full-blown corruption arc.

Hear me out.

Right now, Kirsi is still under Ricon's influence. However, she's starting to grow in confidence and step into the position of queen in her own right.

(Look at this badass)

I'd been hoping, initially, that this would be the beginning of a redemption arc. Perhaps as she regained agency within her own life, she would gain sympathy for - and AWARENESS of - others whose agency is still quite limited. i.e., the faeries.

But with every passing day, that dream seems farther and farther from being realized. Reimund's murder haunts her, and Ricon's influence only makes it easier to sink into this headspace of anger and vengeance. Even the "tender" moments with "Aurora" are . . . less than ideal. Let's take a look:

But I digress. Since we've taken a look at where Kirsi is right now, let's talk about where she could wind up. This is going more off of vibes than concrete evidence so bear with me.

What if she goes full-on Evil Queen mode? And no, I'm not talking "Ricon controls her and makes her do bad things." Because yeah, he's manipulating her. He's molding her. At this point I think a lot of us are convinced that he's the one who killed Reimund to turn her fully against the faeries. And yes, she is vulnerable.

But she's finding her feet. She's learning what court rules to bend and which to break outright. She is drawing her line in the sand and backing it up with steely resolve. And right now, part of her effectiveness is because of Ricon. But, over weeks or months or heck, perhaps even years, what if she starts to claw her way up to Ricon's level? What if, without him even noticing, she begins to surpass him?

What if evidence of his treachery finally comes to light and she, at the height of her power, is able to destroy him?

But that won't change her stance on the fae. She's been too focused on destroying them for ages now. Even if she, intellectually, knows that the faeries aren't the ones who killed Reimund, in the depths of her mind that's still what she *believes.* And even if the faeries didn't kill him, there's still centuries of bloodshed she can use to justify her beliefs.

And where are Lucia and her faction during all of this? Let's say, to simplify matters, that they've gone north, found the faeries, and Lucia has had a whole training montage where she learns/earns/fights her way into the role of Monarch. (God only knows where Norrix ends up because at this point he would likely be seen as a traitor in one court and a war criminal in the other)

Lucia takes her place as Monarch. Kirsi rules as a vengeful Queen. The war begins again in earnest, and for the first time in a long time it truly is *war.*

The humans have lost many of the advantages provided by Ricon's brutal techniques. The faeries are regaining momentum (and a willingness to engage in direct combat) with their Monarch reinstated. And the bloodshed will be horrific on both sides.

When Kirsi hears mention of the alleged faerie queen in her morning briefs, she is skeptical. Then she is enraged. She never suspects that she could know this shadowy figure, let alone that they were ever friends.

On the other side of the battlefield, even when all signs point to the contrary, Lucia can't believe that Kirsi - her Kirsi - is the one doing all of this. She must be under someone's control, she must be confused. It never occurs to Lucia that she might be doing this entirely of her own volition.