#the bargainer

Since November I have read the following books for the first time:

Fourth Wing

Iron Flame

The Inheritance Games

The Hawthorne Legacy

The Final Gambit

Rhapsodic

A Strange Hymn

Emperor of the Evening Stars

Dark Harmony

A Court of Thorns and Roses

A Court of Mist and Fury

And I’m planning to finish ACOTAR before Onyx Storm comes out. It has been a delicious spiral into dissociation.

Anyway, my thoughts are that he is the 3rd in the Hylian/Demise triad, being where the Hero's Spirit originates from. I also hc that he created the Sheikah much like how Hylia created the Hylians. (So, if the naming conventions follow, his true name could start with "Shei" or "Sheik.")

Anyway, he's a god of war, the moon, heroism, & death. Which is why Link is always able to see spirits. He gathered spirits & fought or soothed Poes (the enemies) either by fighting them or playing the Song of Healing.

The Dark Clumps being pieces of the pseudo-flesh that spirits form to create Poes & the Depths Set being made from this pseudo-flesh.

Also, I hc that the symbols are actually ancient Sheikah script, which the Fierce Deity taught the Sheikah. And before losing or giving up his immortality, he tasked the Sheikah with taking his place, which is who delivered the spirits to the Bargainer Statues before Link.

This is part of the reason why the Sheikah are so heavily associated with death & graveyards.

As for who the Bargainers are, they are this thing called a bushin in Japanese culture, which there deities have the ability to split pieces off of themselves & create lesser copies that rule over certain areas, but are lead by the source deity. The same is said for the Goddess Statues. Basically, Hylia & Fierce gave up their immortality, but the statues are still being run by their bushin.

Stop me, I will literally talk you ear off if you don't.

Anyway, what are your thoughts??

.................................................... OP. My guy, my gal, my non-binary pal. Why did you drop this on my inbox? This needs to be its own proper post! This is a very fascinating take on the Bargainer and the other known deities in the Zelda world.

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Ngl, I haven't thought much about the Bargainer and their role is since there's so little in their lore. Other than "guiding lost souls into the afterlife without prejudice" and exchanging materials, weapons and outfit sets in return of Poes... (Kinda like how the Goddess Statue exchanges Blessings for Hearts, Stamina and Sage's Wills).

And seeing so many Poes in the Depths in a state of purgatory, makes me think that they are akin to the Grim Reaper of sorts. On top of the Yiga notes about how those "strange statues" would rip the souls out of fellow members if they come too close to it in the Depths.

I also imagine that the name "Bargainer" is a recent title when they were (re)discovered by present-day Hyruleans. And their true name had already been lost to the looooooong passage of time. And for all we know, the "Bargainer" was the god(dess) of the long extinct Zonai people.

That's about as far as I have for the Bargainer.

As for other deities like Hylia, Demise and the Fierce Deity, I don't have much beyond what is present in the games and the popular headcanons shared within the Zelda fandom.

I do have headcanons on how each race and clans interpret these deities and their own faith systems. For example, the Sheikah view Hylia as a "two faced" deity with "light and shadow" themes in their faith. Which is in contrast to their Hylian counterparts who have more clear-cut views on Hylia as the benevolent protector-goddess of their people (And why the Horned Statue exists and is shunned and hidden away).

(Though this is all part of my BotW-TotK Family and Legacy story.)

TL;DR I don't have a lot of ideas / headcanons on who or what these deities are. BUT I do have headcanons on how they are interpreted by different peoples/races.

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There's a new sub-genre of fantasy and a bunch of fantasy books are being relegated to this sub-genre. I'm not mad about it just a bit confused. The nearest I can figure if it a fantasy book has a romance plot it falls under this heading?

So all of SJM's books go under Romantasy?

The Flesh and Fire series by Jennifer L. Armentrout.

The Fate and Flame series by K.A. Tucker.

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (I bet she'd be surprised to find out her books are under this heading!)

Then there's The Bargainer by Laura Thalassa and let's not forget the new fantasy series I've been raving about for the past two years What Lies beyond the Veil by Harper L. Woods.

I have read or already have on my to read list:

A Touch of Darkness

The Bargainer series

Den of Vipers

Blood and Ash

Throne of Glass series

A court of Thorns and Roses

SPOILERS

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Wow, that’s one way to start a book. 😳

“That is one dead man” 🤣 then he goes on to say he’s not quite dead and it reminds me of The Princess Bride. 🤣🤣🤣❤️❤️❤️

Awww he doesn’t deal with minors. Good to know he has at least one line he won’t cross. Awww and then he does it for her anyway.

I get the feeling he knows something about her. Besides the fact that she’s part Siren.

322 unpaid favors! 😳😳😳 What the hell did she ask him for?!

“One day I won’t give you a choice.” Oooooo, ominous, foreshadowing. I like it. I also get the feeling that he won’t give her a choice because he already knows what he needs her for.

🤣 traded a bead for sobriety. I mean if she drinks in moderation I bet she’d be fine.

🤣 see, he even admitted it himself.

Okay, if she hadn’t already dumped Eli’s ass this is where I’d be screaming for her to do it. Awww he rescued her.🥰

Interesting. Okay, so she’s asked him for 322 favors, but he can pick and choose how many beads a favor costs and how many beads he cashes in for what he asks her to do. So my question right now is, did he choose to give her a bead for every little thing he did for her on purpose so he had a lot to cash in later on? Because she even mentions that he normally doesn’t let anyone get more than like 3 or 4 and she has an obscene amount more than that. Did he have an alternative motive for allowing her to collect so many beads?

It sounds like they hung out a lot during her first year at the academy, haven’t quite gotten to when things ended, but she wracked up her 322 beads in a year if I’m understanding so far. And now after 7 years he’s back to collect, and I get the feeling the first few were just to warm up and that the big ask, at least one is going to be to help him solve what’s happening in his kingdom.

The past makes me feel like she had a crush on him, obvious she even admits it, but it also seems like he enjoys being around her. I’m wondering why.

“Who do I have to hurt?” Awwww 🥰🥰🥰, he’s gonna bust someone’s balls for hurting her

Awwww he comforted her AND he went after the guy who abused her. 

WHAT DID THE PIXIE SAY?!?!?! I NEED TO KNOW!!! Wait…they perched on the crown of her head. Is that hinting that the pixies asked if she was going to be his queen?!

Also does he call her cherub because she was a minor the first time they met? I can’t think of another explanation. At least not yet.

Thief of Souls, sounds ominous, but would explain the catatonic like state of the babies and women. At least I think it would. Only afraid of Des, but only because he’s not unstoppable yet. 🤔🤔🤔

Well that wasn’t at all creepy. So, the children are all connected. The Thief of Souls now wants Callie, and somehow she’s been taken to him? Not sure yet.

Awww he didn’t want her to stop fighting 🥰🥰❤️❤️

Okay so it was just her mind that went to the Thief of Souls. Guy with antlers is a clue for Des? Also he seems very, like VERY protective, maybe possessive of her right now. Which gets me thinking about other books I’ve read where the male acts like that when the girl is his mate. So I’m thinking they’re this worlds version of mates. I’m super glad that he reigned in his anger to make the wise decision to take her home instead of forcing her to stay.

Do Sirens have feathers? The only ones I’ve ever heard about were always in the water and feathers wouldn’t make sense. So what’s with the feathers? Unless there’s something else to her, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something even she doesn’t know since she doesn’t know who her father is.

Also Des mentions she’s been under his protection for a very long time. So even after he left her she was under his protection? He cares SOOOO MUCH!

Okay so somehow they have a deeper connection if he can sense her nightmare. Or maybe it’s because he’s the King of night and that includes dreams/nightmares. 🤔🤔🤔

Ummm, is this hundred-thou client Temper is talking about, possibly the Thief of Souls trying to get to Callie???

OH. MY. GOD. He’s too much. I don’t think I can take any more adorableness from him. He felt like his soul was ripped in two 😭😭😭, and the 7 years were a nightmare. Then the thing he has always wanted to do with her is finish the Harry Potter movies! 🥰🥰🥰 He calls her love. This whole scene just makes my heart giddy. ❤️🥰❤️🥰❤️🥰❤️

Not me imagining later on when Des will make that oath to Callie and make her his queen. 🥰🥰

Well that wasn’t creepy or anything 😅😅😳😳

Awwww he kept sketching her, wait no go back, ignore the knocking, keep looking at the sketches, nooooooo ❤️

Awww he asked her to take him to the ball 🥰🥰

How the hell did Eli find her?

Okay I don’t hate him as much now.

What’s with the nod and the staring at the wings and the I didn’t know the situation? WHAT SITUATION? WHAT DIDN’T HE KNOW?

OH. MY. GOD! How are they betrothed? Like when did that happen? 

OH, OH DAMN. Not betrothed, soul mates. Does that count as me being right? And is it soul mates from his side or from both sides? Is that why she’s so comfortable with him even though he’s “scary”?

So, did he know eight years ago when he started hanging out with her that she was his soul mate? Is that WHY he did it? Because he admits that he couldn’t stay away. Why did he look horrified and in wonder after she said the binding thing? Does that have anything to do with the soul mates part?

Well, damn. If she hadn’t made that final wish maybe they would’ve gotten together sooner. Her wish and his magic kept them apart for 7 years as payment for the wish to come true even though they were already soulmates, and he knew it the whole damn time, but he didn’t want to force her. Where have I heard that before?

And just as everything is right in love land the other shoe drops. Is he the Thief of Souls or just the guy trying to get her to work for him? Des is gonna be so pissed when he finds out she’s be napped. That guy’s gonna be in big trouble.

“Fuckity fuck” Funny, that’s exactly what I was thinking. The King of Fauna is behind all of this? Really? I guess he is mad.

He is the Thief of Souls. He’s gross. I’m curious to find out why his magic either isn’t working on Callie or working differently on her

Holy shit! She’s got claws, scales, and wings now?!

YAY!! Des found her!!

Well shit. He aint gonna be in the next book.

The other women didn’t wake up. Interesting. Does that mean that the King of Fauna was only a henchman and that the big bad is still out there?

More importantly why did it take Des so long to find her? She literally had a nightmare of the antler guy who I’m assuming Des knew was the King of Fauna so why was that not the first place he went to find her? 🤔🤔🤔

read in 2021 – Rhapsodic – the bargainer, book 1 – by Laura Thalassa ★★★★☆

“I’ll be at your side, till the darkness dies.”