#oc: lucius caelus

[tragicbackstoryenjoyer]

💙👁️ for the asks please!

for this ask game. excerpt from blood of gods.

💙share a snippet where a character falls out of love a little

“No,” Leonarda said. “I’m not- I can’t be some little sidepiece, Lucius.”

“You won’t be. I won’t break my vows of marriage to Vesta. To the Ancestors.”

She stepped back, chest heaving. “So you’re leaving me? For her?”

“Who said anything about leaving? We can still talk, just as we always have.”

Leonarda chewed her lip. “No.”

“What do you mean no?”

She crossed her arms. “You’re a king, and I’m a maidservant. I cannot leave if you choose to stop me. But I do have the power to stop talking to you, save for professional concerns. Lucius, if you marry her, we’re never speaking like this again. I swear it.”

His eyes went wild with awakened fury. “Leonarda, don’t do this.”

“Marry her and lose me. That’s final.”

He searched her face, his stoic façade giving way to desperation. Then, he kissed her. He leaned in, hands at his side, not even reaching out to touch her. Leonarda received it with initial shock, and then melted into it. Leonarda reached her arms around him before being pushed away with a shove.

Lucius wiped his mouth and looked away. A tear fell across Leonarda’s freckled cheek. Then another. And another. She collapsed onto his bed, head in her hands, weeping. Lucius clenched his fist and looked away, refusing to even give her a touch of comfort. And she just kept on crying, face pink as a newborn’s and her voice rising in heaving wails, and she wouldn’t stop. It was all so pathetic.

“If it wasn’t for Vesta,” he said, voice hoarse, “I would never have married another woman.”

Leonarda’s sobs fell to silence. She raised her head from her arms, her expression cold as ice.

[tragicbackstoryenjoyer]

pirate for the ask game. gregorius vs lucius FIGHT

for this ask game.

PIRATE - Which of your OCs is most evil?

okay so i know you know who gregorius is, but i've been kind of dithering on making an intro post for one of the iron crown's two main villains

(mostly because, like several other important characters in TIC, he's based on two Real People Who Actually Existed. and it feels kinda weird to make an oc post about someone with a wikipedia article yaknow?)

and, yeah, he's a pretty awful person. crimes include kidnapping the 13-year-old king in order to rule as regent, tricking people into really unfair magically-binding contracts, canonically being responsible for the destruction of much of sappho's poetry (because writing hist fic means i can make highly unlikely historical hearsay canon), and committing arguable Pope Election Fraud. among other things.

but at the end of the day he doesn't really stack up compared to lucius, who (is highly implied to have) killed his family, was responsible for the massacre and later expulsion of a sizable religious minority in his country, assassinated the emperor of the neighboring country, declared a war that caused a massive death toll, committed at least one war crime, made use of torture, and worst of all was a really shitty boyfriend.

plus, at least greg has some fairly understandable goals he's working towards, like the separation of church and state! and taking power away from kings and putting it into the hands of himself elected officials! lucius on the other hand is just a religious extremist, even if he's far more earnest in his beliefs than gregorius is.

ultimately, TIC can have its net evil spread out between two opposing villains, each with their points and losses. when you only have one main villain (as in BOG), you kinda gotta make him count.

[tragicbackstoryenjoyer]

🩸Blood of Gods Character Profiles🩸

I made some character profiles for the Blood of Gods cast inspired by @aninkwellofnectar's! This has fun little pieces of information about most of the main cast of BOG save for Ivren, who I could not manage to find a good faceclaim or illustration for.

Enjoy!

[tragicbackstoryenjoyer]

Hey! Happy Blorbsday!

What advice would your OCs give a past person of themselves if they could?

@bloodlessheirbyjacques

ooh, I love this question! I saw someone else (I don't remember who off the top of my head, unfortunately) answer this as their OCs at the end of their novel, so I'll go for something different and answer as my OCs from the beginning of my novel. (and uh. sorry for the late response.)

Ashala

"don't ever feel too safe or let your family keep you naive. most of the world hates you for reasons that are out of your control and will never change. act accordingly, no matter how miserable that may make you."

Vesta

"prestige is not power, and knowledge is not wisdom. you cannot and will not save the world. do not aspire to be anything more than what your elders ask of you, and do not let your sister stray, either."

Lucius

"a Descendent does not a holy man make. you were put in this world to lead humanity in the light of the Ancestors, but most of our kin have forgotten our sacred duty. if you're not careful, any one of them will rob you of your bloodright."

Leonarda

"don't be so servile that you refuse to see when someone wishes to steal what is most precious to you. do everything you can to protect it."

Ivren

"enjoy every moment you have with your loved ones. although this may be the time the world decides to make it hard for you to stay together, you were lucky enough to be alive at the same time they were. appreciate it while it lasts."

[tragicbackstoryenjoyer]

hi!! for the 100 oc questions... 5, 14, 31, 79! maybe you could talk about some of your Blood of Gods characters? :3c

For the 100 OC questions. Thank you so much for asking!

5. What is your OC’s patience like? When waiting for something, are they able to sit still or do they fidget? How do they fidget?

Leonarda is incredibly patient. She has no choice but to be. Having spent her entire life in service to various aristocratic families, she is very familiar with both waiting on others and waiting in ways that make her as unnoticeable as possible. She does not fidget, but stands still as a board. You'd barely be able to hear her breathe.

14. What is your OC’s speech like? How loud are they usually? Do they have an accent or a stutter?

Lucius is a very powerful, charismatic speaker when in front of many people. However, when it comes to smaller, one-on-one conversations, he often lets that persona of strength and charisma fall, if only a little bit. His natural speech pattern is somewhat stilted and awkward, but not unpolished. He has the flawless accent of the most refined of aristocrats.

31. What inspired the creation of your OC? Any specific things, a general aesthetic or idea, or something completely random?

Ivren Vasari (who I have not made an intro post for yet, which is really a shame considering how important he is to the story) has been an OC of mine for a while. (I think he's been around since BOG was a historical romance novel?? WACK.) However, he's definitely gone through some of the most changes as a character. Initially a conniving, roguish rebel, he now has quite a different personality and role. After seeing Sean Astin's panel for AwesomeCon 2022, I was reminded of how much I love the character of Samwise Gamgee from LOTR. I had also watched Everything, Everywhere, All At Once recently, and was incredibly moved by the character of Waymond Wang. The world and the characters of BOG are quite dark, so I decided that the story needed a staunchly empathetic and kind figure, determined to be the good in a world with so much hate in it. He's not naive, nor stupid- this is simply a choice he makes to cope with a meaningless world.

79. For what reason would your OC turn into a villain? And if they’re already a villain, vice-versa?

Ashala would make an excellent villain. She, in contrast to Ivren, is an extreme nihilist who believes the world and the people in it to be beyond saving. If it meant getting revenge on Lucius, she'd be willing to kill whoever it took to do so, even in innocents.... in theory.

In reality, Ashala is no killer. Not even close. Deep down, she's a very kind and empathetic person who has been far too traumatized by the things she's seen to actually be able to enact them onto other innocent people. Even if that wasn't the case, she doesn't have enough power to do any damage on a wide scale.

[tragicbackstoryenjoyer]

Blood of Gods Character Playlists

Ashala av Khilaya

my chemical romance - i'm not okay (i promise) elton john - the king must die mitski - a pearl

Vesta Corvinus

halsey - castle mitski - me and my husband poppy - i disagree

Lucius Cato

i don't know how but they found me - choke mitski - the only heartbreaker my chemical romance - destroya

Leonarda

taylor swift - better than revenge olivia newton-john - hopelessly devoted to you mitski - i want you

Ivren av Khilaya

the oh hellos - thus always to tyrants mitski - i will regina spektor - two birds

[tragicbackstoryenjoyer]

WIP Introduction: Blood Of Gods

a dark, sapphic, adult political fantasy novel

Blurb

Ashala av Khilaya is a Mystite; one of the last followers of humanity’s ancient religion. When noblewoman Amata Ambrosius is murdered by foreign infidels, the king declares a holy war and violently expels the Mystites. The act leaves Ashala orphaned and forced into hiding, nursing a dream of retribution. Alas, a dirt-poor peasant like her could never touch the high, holy king.

But when Ashala finds Amata’s corpse hidden in the wilderness, she finds no evidence of foreign involvement. Instead, all signs point to Vesta, Amata’s twin sister and the king’s betrothed. Desperate to keep her deception hidden, Vesta strikes a deal that changes Ashala’s world forever.

In exchange for her silence, Ashala is knighted. Gifts of fame, fortune, and the king’s audience are promised to her. All the while, she finds herself further drawn into Vesta’s dangerous and captivating web of intrigue. However, if Ashala fails to hide her past amongst her oppressors, a death worthy of a heretic awaits her.

In order to exact revenge, Ashala must first survive- lest the bloody politics of the king’s court kill her before she gets the chance.

Themes

revenge, forbidden love, religion, oppression & solidarity, grief, and war.

Excerpt

Ashala reached a hand under her straw-filled pillowcase and procured a single copper coin. Enough to buy her a single meal, maybe more. Even in her starved state, she had no intention of spending it. For on the coin’s face was minted a profile of King Lucius Caelus. She no longer prayed. Instead, every night and every morning, Ashala would stare at that coin and fantasize about choking him out as he begged for mercy. She drew a fingernail across his neck, imagining the heat of his blood spilling out upon her hands.

She had spent enough years blaming herself for what happened. It just happened to be that Lucius Caelus was the one to carry out such divine injustice, all to earn quick money to fund a war with the Saarun Empire that had been fought a hundred times before.

But when Ashala had saved his life all those years ago, King Lucius had inadvertently incurred a debt. A debt of blood; a debt that only he could pay to her. She had given him the gift of life, and it was her right to take it back. She could never reverse the fates of his countless victims, nor could she reverse her own. But she could reverse his. If only she knew how to.

Status

4th draft/beta reading

Taglist (ask to be added or removed)

@sir-galahadnt @dropsoftheuniverse

[tragicbackstoryenjoyer]

Character Introduction: Lucius Cato

27 years old. muscular, shoulder-length black hair, light skin, hazel eyes, a short beard, and a mask that always covers the top half of his face. the antagonist.

Excerpt

“It wasn’t until I was a young prince, on what I thought then might have been my deathbed, that my Ancestors came to me," King Lucius spoke to the crowd of adoring citizens. "In the hazy land between the material realm and the Ancestral Halls, I was shown a vision. One hundred golden forms, blindingly brilliant, commanded unto me: ‘be righteous, and live by Our light, and you shall be the one to reconquer your ancestral kingdom of Aweria, so that you might banish the infidels that corrupt its lands. For you shall be a great king.’ When I woke up, I was entirely healed.”

Ashala could have laughed if it didn’t make her so angry. Bullshit.

“Henceforth, I have lived a life of piety. I sleep only from sundown to midnight, so that I may spend the remaining hours of the night praying. I have abstained from the imbibement of alcohol, and have remained uncorrupted by carnal sin. I am a testament to the purity of both body and soul. As soon as I took this throne, I knew what I had to do and set out to prepare for it. I had no idea that I would be forced to take action so soon."

Description

King Lucius Cato is the last remaining direct Descendent of his namesake, a god and and member of the holy Hundred Ancestors. As he is such, he lives his life in dedication to them. While he uses his power order a great holy war to reconquer the Saarun Empire for the worshippers of the Hundred Ancestors and expels the religious minorities of Salisia, make no mistake: he is no hypocrite.

Abstaining from sex, alcohol, and even sleep when prayer is more necessary, he believes the strength of his rule comes from the purity of his self. Beloved by his people, he must now win his war against the much stronger Empire, and produce an heir to his kingdom. When one is as pure in spirit and breeding as he, how could one fail?

Taglist (ask to be added or removed)

@sir-galahadnt @dropsoftheuniverse @ladywithalamp @ashen-crest @laufire-writes

[tragicbackstoryenjoyer]

Shen, Bruce, and Yokai, for Lucius?

Shen: Do they become a self-fulfilling prophecy, or break the cycle?

This man's a self-fulfilling prophecy if I've ever seen one. He believes that there are two fundamental threats to his power: so-called heretics (Mystites and Serafens, namely) and other Catos who would kill him to inherit his power. He acts accordingly, believing that by hurting himself in the name of the gods he worships, he has the right to hurt and kill others. But ultimately, his actions piss a few select people off. You can probably guess who.

Bruce: How likely are their chances of a successful redemption arc?

Ooh, this question's a complicated one. Simply put: I think it's possible, but highly unlikely. He has twisted the tenants of his religion to excuse the violence he enacts so much that convincing him that he's in the wrong would probably require a visit from the Hundred Ancestors themselves. (And whether or not the Hundred Ancestors actually exist is really up to how any given reader interprets my worldbuilding.) Perhaps if he was positively influenced by someone with unorthodox beliefs about accepting the beliefs of infidels, he would have turned out better. But he also might have turned out dead.

However, assuming this takes place within the events of Blood Of Gods, it's probably too late for "redemption." He's already launched a war that has killed tens of thousands of people, and he's already ordered the conversion of thousands of others at pain of expulsion or death. Once we get into the later events of the novel, he takes other actions that are unambiguously morally black. It's certainly enough for me to say that I'd never forgive him, but I suppose it's never too late to start doing good.

Yokai: Was the hero familiar with them before they become a villain?

For Vesta, the deuteragonist, definitely. He was her crown prince before he became her king, and they certainly would have crossed paths. I doubt they ever would have interacted much, as she was nothing more than the daughter of a minor noble then, but they would have been aware of each other.

For Ashala, the protagonist, all I can say is yes, they personally knew each other. Anything more and I would be getting into spoiler territory. ;)

Taglist (ask to be added or removed)

@sir-galahadnt @dropsoftheuniverse @ladywithalamp @ashen-crest @laufire-writes