#VIkus and Solovet

[originalwinnercheesecake]

So what do people actually think the background characters in the Underland chronicles look like

Just wondering. From all the (amazing) Fan art I have seen of Gregor , Lizzie, and Boots the fandom seems to have a pretty cohesive Idea on what they look like. Luxa also seems to have a pretty standard image in the fandom (Though wasn't she on the cover of the first design of MOS) with the only differentiation being how far along she is in puberty. Reminder if she was in the overland she would be in the sixth grade.

Other characters though Like really what do people think they look like. In my head Mrs. Cormaci is a plump/rounder women and I thought for years I had read that in the books until I saw fanart of her being drawn as more slim. Then I reread part of TPOB and was like Oh it never says what shape she is, I guess I just thought she was bigger because she is always cooking so much rich sounding food for charities. Then I remember seeing some one post once that what if she was Hazard's maternal grandmother. His maternal grandparents live in NYC, and Mrs.Cormaci is mentioned to have had a daughter.

Well that is bitter sweet because on one had that means that Mrs. Cormaci's daughter has been missing for years and in fact died without her mother ever knowing what happened to her (she also would not have known when her father died). Gotta then wonder if Mrs.Cormaci giving Lizzie her daughters old cloths is more than just her trying to help the Campbells while also declutter her house. But that also means Hazard has at least one Grandma who is really grand, if this relation was ever realized then maybe Hazard could come up to the overland for visits and stay with Mrs. Cormaci. Also she would probably have pictures of her daughter that she could show Hazard so he could remember what his mom looked like. Anyway I really liked this theory and wanted it to be cannon, but then i realized that since Hazard's overland features are his black hair and green eyes his overland relations probably have them to, and was like oh wow I never pictured Mrs.Cormaci having green eyes.

Another character I think about is Vikus. In my head the males in the underland Henry, Mareth, York all have short close cropped hair because they fight so much. Or in Howard's a short stack of wavy/curly locks cut just short enough to stay out of his eyes when wet. I do love the fan art I have seen of Henry with long hair though. But When It comes to Vikus , I guess since he seeks peace and is better relations, I usually imagine him with long grey hair and a long beard. to me he winds up looking kinda like men in biblical stories. Solovet however is muscled with a near shaved head. She is on the small side and slouches a bit when trying to appear as a gracious hostess and that plus her wrinkles make her seem non dangerous. When she is in planing/battle mode though she stands perfectly straight and those seemingly kindly wrinkles disappear, and she just looks completely terrifying.

Dulcet and Nerissa are other cases. Dulcet is described as being shy and very pretty. But as someone who works in childcare I can say with certainty that her hair is most likely a mess, her simple cloths likely have stains and crayon markings all over them. This girl is a beautiful mess. Then we have Neressa whom everyone knows is a mess. Since she is constantly described as wide eyed, tired, frail, to thin, and wearing her long hair a loose pony tail. But I don't often see it acknowledged that she canonically wears multiple layers of cloths at once or that her cloths never match.

I said most of the men in the underland would have short hair, could Hamnet have grown his hair out longer in the jungle, to try and make himself look different from how he did as a solider. Likewise I also imagine his lizard skin cloths being frayed and raggedy at the edges, much different from whatever military uniforms regalians wear. Anything to help hims see something different when he looks into the water. Can we talk about how when Gregor first meets Howard he describes him as tall and really strong, Then during his time with the plague Howard looses like 20 pounds and has scars wear ever he had bumps. Howard likely could not even fit into his old cloths after getting better.

What do Gregor's parents look like. We know they are both thin and tired. His dad's hair has gone completely white. Grace's cannot be to far behind with how hard she works and being in a state of constant worry for her family. Do fans still Agree with the theory that Grace is white and the Dad is black?

Also one more thing. Why does everyone think any of the underlanders that haven't completely greyed over have silver-blond hair. Like I know Luxa has that shade. Luxa would also probably be blonde if she has been born i t he overland. But it only specified that a silver tint was part of what distinguished the underlanders. Personally I always thought they could have any hair color (examples I imagine Howard being brunette and Mareth having black hair) but that it would always be paler than an overland counter part.

Like I know and respect that the characters descriptions are vague on purpose, and that the fun is that we can imagine them looking in so many different ways. But like really how do people imagine their favorites look. What little we get implies that the characters do not fall into the young adult novels trope of making them all look super hot. They are scared, beat up, anxious, and some are wearing cloths that do not fit them, some are missing body parts. To me that makes them infinetly more fun to imagine than most YA novel characters

So seriously if you have any strong clear/headcannons as to what you think certain human characters look like, please share them int he comments.

[twitchtips]

"Glad that's over," said Ripred. "Always some big scene with your family. You're miserable to have dinner with."

1. Suzanne Collins, The Curse of the Warmbloods / 2. Mada Hayyas, Parts of Me Never Left That House / 3. Sam Gordon, A Mother's Hate / 4. Elizabeth Lindsey Rogers, Questions About the Father / 5.  José Olivarez, Promises of Gold / 6. m.a.w AKA dvoyd, thoughts of a stray iii / 7. Unknown / 8. Unknown

[futuristiccreationzombie]

Happy 21st birthday to the Underland Chronicles!!

I literally haven't figured out how tumblr works so eeeh baby's first and very anxious post will be in honor of that fantastic book series!

Take this humble thing as a gift on this happy day (Solovet and Vikus from the underland chronicles..)

probably won't finish this so better post it now than never?

pls be nice i'm fighting throught art block rn and barely mananged to render the skin before the lack of motivation forced me to leave the rest ugly flat and just smash some scribbles on top of it (hoping that the texture makes a nice effect,,, like on those old half-restored oil paintings..for authenticity etc) -> EDIT the colors are crap now. will post better pic later if motivated enough :p

that's it, have a great day!!

[prophecyofgray]

blah blah blah the intricacies of vikus and solovet's marriage and the blatant yet beautiful allegory for peace and war as two contrasting, complementing, inextricable forces blah blah blah we all know this. i just think they might've had an easier time if someone in the underland had invented divorce

[deliver-the-light]

Some sketches of Judith, Hamnet & family. Def made myself sad while drawing these.

[haveihitanerve]

Vikus: so you clearly trust these kids a lot Ripred: I trust them about as far as I can throw them Solovet: I’m glad to hear it Ripred: don’t be. I can throw them very far. 

[yesthefandomfreakblr]

Speaking of hair symbolism in the series.

The fact that Luxa had to shear her hair before Solovet. Who we don't hear she ever did in the series...

[overandunderland]

WHY DO I NOT REMEMBER MAKING THIS

[paksenarrion-dorthansdotter]

and by "current establishment" we mean War Crimes Grandma

I love all the parts in the Underland Chronicles where you see things that were built during peacetime. The bridge in the rats land made of Regalian cut stone and held together win spinner silk. I love the glimpses of what can be done when the Underland when everyone works together, a glimpse of what's possible, of the future that Ripred wants.

Everyone says that there has always been war, but there a these monuments to cooperation everywhere that contradict it. The narrative of eternal war serves the current establishment.

[tigirl-and-co]

Parts of the underland chronicles that vex and haunt me:

-the vineyard of eyes. no explanation given for that. everything else in the underland is a fucked up version of an overland thing WHAT IS GOING ON WITH THE VINEYARD. DOES SUZANNE KNOW SOMETHING I DON'T?

-When gregor gets echolocation, it says he can 'tell the mug full of pee is warm' which is NOT how echolocation works UNLESS his piss was so hot it distorted the air around it. He never displays thermal vision again.

-HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO TWITCHTIP.

-were the lobsters ripred used giant, or did this seven foot long rat just convince a shitload of normal ass lobsters to attack the fount

-gregor having to take boots, who is two, on every deadly mission.

-DO FLYFUR AND SIXCLAW SURVIVE THE BATTLE. THIS IS IMPORTANT

-which fucking bat named his son ICARUS? like there IS a bat named Daedalus. did he have a son and was like 'I'm so sorry baby but we have this WHOLE THING with names. Blame your inevitable future death on your grandfather.'

-GIVE HAZARD A FUCKING BREAK GOOD GOD

-for all the greco-roman theming we sure literally never find out if any of these people and critters have ANY sort of belief system outside of some guy named Sandwich

-Luxa I'm so sorry you had to witness the most upsetting thing I've ever seen in a children's book, but did that mouse really let you name her son CUBE? is the only math word you know CUBE?

-out of spite for this I have a a mouse OC named Pythagoras, Pi for short.

-why weren't the stingers invited to the peace talks. the rats were invading their territory. i want a big scorpion trying to sit on a bleacher.

-solovet locking hamnet in the dungeon for a month? a month??? did vikus not fucking notice?????????

i'm sure there's more but like. hello?

[emerdoodls]

TUC au

hiii have my dumb doodles!!!

anyways heres the basics: howard nerissa and luxa all go to the same college, and share an apartment. hazard visits a lot (he lives with vikus bc im killing off solovet oops)!! howard ONLY owns silly scrubs bc he's in school to be a pediatrician :), luxa is on the gymnastics team bc why not, and nerissa is a history major specializing in origins of world religions!! hazard is trying to learn as many languages as possible even though he's like 9. thats really all the important bg for this au for these guys, i'll prob do gregor n his sisters soonish!! lmk if u have questions or ideas for silly things i can put on howard's scrubs

[rin-solo]

Something to think about

Hamnet:

Led an unprovoked (technically we don't know if that is true, but let's assume) attack against the rats in the garden

Used an unfair, war crime-coded tactic to win

Killed many innocents with it

= Narratively presented in a good light, has the background of his war crime told and explained (actually going too far because it comes across as though Solovet's abuse and involvement are supposed to excuse it, which it does not. Hamnet was an adult who is responsible for his actions; your tragic backstory is tragic but it does not excuse your war crimes).

Also, not to mention, judged Gregor, a child, for an inborn talent he has, conveying that it makes him a bad person. Either way, he is supposed to be sympathetic and everyone buys it.

Sandwich:

Led an unprovoked (technically we don't know if that is true, but let's assume) attack against the diggers

Used an unfair, war crime-coded tactic to win

Killed many innocents with it

= Narratively presented in a bad light, has nothing about the background or circumstances of his war crime explained (we get like, what, one line from Vikus?), and yet that one line immediately makes him without a doubt or question a horrible, evil person and even an unreliable prophet (because your moral alignment absolutely is connected to the validity of your prophetic abilities, yes).

Also, not to mention, he is not responsible for the tragedies he's seen, and very likely only tried to help the Regalians and Gregor deal with them by trying to write his visions down and giving Gregor his sword. Either way, he's supposed to be unsympathetic and everyone buys it.

[twitchtips]

when sorrows come, they come not single spies, but in battalions

"Someday will come a time when Solovet does not hold such power over us." The mere mention of her name makes Mareth go cold. The day after Hamnet was confined, Judith made Mareth promise not to confront Solovet again. She said she wouldn't be able to bear it if he got locked up too. Mareth doesn't reply, but Judith goes on anyway. "She reigns at present because the war demands it of her, demands it of us." Judith puts a finger in Luxa's hand, and the baby squeezes it. "But lately I have been trying to imagine an Underland without need of her. An Underland in which my daughter may reign without relying on figures such as Solovet." Mareth isn't sure such a thing is even possible. It's hard to imagine—even harder to believe in. "We must have hope," Judith tells him. "We must allow ourselves to dream of a happy future." When Mareth finally speaks, he does so with a wry grin. "It is almost as if Vikus himself is in the room with us."

Rating: Mature

Relationship: Hamnet/Mareth

Characters: Mareth, Hamnet, Andromeda, Perdita, Solovet, Vikus, Hamnet's Bond, Perdita's Bond, Judith, Luxa's Father, Nerissa, Hazard, Background & Cameo Characters, Original Characters

Additional Tags: Canon Compliant, Pre-Canon, Mareth POV, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, The Jungle, The Dungeon, The Garden of the Hesperides, Abusive Parents, Canon-Typical Violence, Canon Character Death, Angst, Secret Relationship

Summary: Thirteen years before Gregor arrives in the Underland, Mareth joins the Regalian army.

Read on AO3: Part 2 / The Dungeon / Chapter 6 (Words: 5,575)

[originalwinnercheesecake]

Hearing about the Hunger games continuation and thinking about all the Story continuations/prologues I wish we could get for The Underland Chronicles

Gregor's dad

I want To know what Gregor's dad (Who I want a name for... Steve, Lee, Heidi... What is his name? ) first trip to the underland was like. How was he found and brought to Regalia? We know he met Vikus and Luxa's Parents, SO what did he think of them? The Books say he stayed in Regila for two weeks (During which time he was very worried about his pregnant wife, children, and mother) and that he took a BB gun from the Museum. So I am guessing he knew about the war with the rats, but his family was in hell and he felt he had to get back soon. What happened during his capture.

I don't really want to know about his torturous time with the rats, but I would like some on how he was able to keep both hope and his humanity, the interesting relationship he is hinted to have had with Ripred in book 3 (He says Ripred used to feed him sometimes. He also was not scared of Ripred, Even though he was a rat and was "pretending" to attack his son). And lastly I want to know what coming home felt like for him and why, unlike his wife, the experiences did not make him fear or hate the underland.

Ripred

Speeking of Ripred I want All of his backstory, being a pup and growing up with his litter mates. Going into battle and finding out he is a Rager. How this made him famous all around the Underland, but also made him hated by enemies, and feared by allies, unless they needed him. What was going on when He tried to "Take over the fount with an army of Lobsters"? Seriously the Rat's don't even want The Fount. It is surrounded by rapids and sea monsters! What did was your interest Buddy?

Also I want to see his Mate, their family, and how their loss first broke him then made him change his stance on the war. Him building his relationship with the human side. Going up to the Overland to visit Libraries. His view of his relationships with Gregor and Lizzie and how it feels to him to being taking care of kids again after so long.

Hamnet

Up Next is Hamnet. Solovet and Vikus son, the beloved twin brother to the wife of the King/Queen, Brother in Law to the King (recently reread has me thinking they had more of a business relationship than a familiar one), the Regalian Army's most skilled soldier, and for a long time he was Solovet's heir to becoming captain of the Army, because everyone thought he was just like his mother. This is what everyone thought, but they thought wrong. Unlike Solovet Hamnet felt guilt. Guilt that drove him to speak against his mother in a war meeting to which she locked him in the dungeon for a month. When he was finally let out he went back to being obedient to her and buried his grief down, let it eat away at him, until one last horrible act (As a solider) destroyed him.

But give me Hamnet's complete story. Show him being a ruthless soldier and a fearsome killer on the field of battle, then coming home to be a loyal son, good friend, loving brother, and doting Uncle; becasue that is how many soldiers have to be. Show me him not being Okay but doing his best to hide that because that is all he could do. Then show me when everything went to far, and when he decided to leave Regalia, everything he knew and loved and run to a place that he and all his allies feared, for good reasons. Show me him missing his former friends and family. But also show me him meeting Frill and her deciding to take a chance and help him, him also taking chance and letting her (The books generally imply he wanted to leave his old life but did not expect to make anew one). Give me him learning about life in the jungle. How the animals there do not attack each other and instead employ a method of survival where first you hide, then you try to give a warning, then run. fight last. Show me him finding an overland women lost in the jungle and helping her. With the pair eventually forming a relationship and going on to have a child. Why did she never return to the Overland? Hamnet is a good father to Hazard, but you cannot tell me that he wasn't terrified during the entire pregnancy. Anything about Hamnet has to end where he ended. Having to once again fight in a pointless battle on behalf of Reglia, that the city once again brought on itself and got nothing out of. Our tragic beauty

Ares

Speaking again of Tragic Beauties I want Ares to. What kind of Stuff did he get up to to earn the reputation of a reckless, rule breaking, ...thrill seeker?...strength tester? To where he bonded with Henry to be able to get away with more. What were things like in the time HE and Henry were together. I don't think it was all bad. The Books clearly state that what hurt Luxa, Ares, Aurora, Nerissa the most was that they had loved Henry and could remember good things about him. Things that no longer felt the same after he betrayed them, and things they struggled with only becoming memories in the wake of his death. But the also show me his side of his and Gregor's bond, of him coming to love Gregor like he once loved Henry, and how their friendship helped him move on from the Trauma Henry put him through.

Nerrisa

This last one will never happen because its not really Susanna Collins style, but since none of this will happen, I want more Nerissa. What is it like for her loving her family and people so much, but knowing with her frailty and the Kingdom consistently being on the brink of war she cannot protect them. Show me what her visions are like for her. Note whatever we learned about Sandwhich I do believe Nerissa is an actual visionary. Her Visions of a bad and mysterious fate happening to Henry, Hamnet living for 10 years and building a diverse family, and Gregor being secretly being hidden away in the dungeon by Solovet...all came through.

Knowing that I have another question: Did she know suspect that Sandwhich was a fraud? Nerissa spends more time in the Prophecy room, analysis them than any other character. Many of the "misunderstood translations" are later "explained" by Nerissa. She got Gregor and the other questors off death row by replacing Boots with the Bane as the aforementioned "Baby" in the prohpecy and telling everyone: "they actually did complete the prophecy, you are are safe from the imaginary threats Sandwhich illueded to. Let them go and let's get back what's actually going wrong." When Greogor sobs about not understanding what the point of the journey to the jungle was (It had no point) and how him fulfilling the prophecy did not make everything better, Nerissa twist the prophecy to being about a war for the cure and reminds Gregor that because of what they discovered in the Jungle the council was forced to give the Gnawers the cure instead. Lastly she loves the one Prophecy that suggest hope for peace, even though its title is the only suggestion of it. On the day of the surrender she knowing her cousin will want to make the wrong choice about how to end this. So when she see's Ripred marked himself with an X (If Gregor and Luxa knew he did it himself there was no way Nerissa did not, she was always smarter than the pair of then) she decided to lend him a hand in getting everyone to believe he is the peacemaker, and they need to have peace. I really love the theory that Nerissa had realized what Sandwhich and the prophecies were and spent the books studying them, so she could try and mitigate the damages they caused.

[prophecyofgray]

maybe it’s a little on the nose (metaphorically speaking) but man. solovet dying and vikus surviving—fragile and changed, but alive—just really gets me.

[deliver-the-light]

Hamnet always had a gnc vibe in my head :) look at who raised him. Vikus gives off elf vibes and Solovet is orc for days. Are they t4t or just gnc? Hrmmmmmm? 🏳️‍⚧️💜

also now that I’m fully out of the closet (yay!) I don’t have a fear of my parents finding my socials and knowing I’m queer. So all of the gay headcanons I’ve been holding in for years are leaving the draft folder 😂

@prophecyofgray