Something Y/n hated about being Dauntless was having to deal with unruly factionless. A group of Dauntless including Eric, Four and Y/n had been sent out to deal with a group of factionless that had killed multiple people.
It didn’t take long before they had gotten the situation under control. Y/n was walking around checking to make sure they could leave soon. When all of sudden she felt something run into her.
“Ooph.” Y/n looked down and saw a boy hugging her. “Hello there.”
“Where’s your parent’s?” Y/n asked after the boy didn’t say anything.
“Don’t have any.” he shook his head as he answered.
Y/n raised a brow. “What do you mean?”
“They were killed.” The boy mumbled looking at his shoes. Y/n noticed he had some dirt on him and a little blood but he didn’t look hurt.
“By them?” Y/n pointed to the group of factionless behind her. The group who had been responsible for killing a few people. The boy nodded ‘yes’, confirming her perceived thoughts.
“Stay next to me okay?” Y/n told him, holding him to her wanting to comfort the poor child who saw his parents murdered only hours ago. “Eric!”
Eric walked over with a confused expression. “What? Who’s this?”
“I’m Emmett.”The boy spoke up softly.
“That's a great name.” Y/n smiled down at him. Trying to show the child a friendly face after what he had no doubt seen.
“My mommy named me.” Emmett smiled up at her.
“Where is she Emmett?” Eric questioned the boy, he was wondering why his girl was with this boy in the first place.
“Gone.” the boy looked down at the ground sadly with watery eyes.
“Can you stay with my friend Four for a second?” Y/n knelt down hoping the boy would trust her.
“O-okay.” Emmett stuttered anxiously, not liking the idea of being away from her.
“You see that guy right there? That's my friend Four.” Y/n turned them to face where Four was and pointed him out.
“Like the number?” He asked with a smile.
Y/n nodded with a smile. “Just like the number.”
“Four!” Y/n yelled out causing Four to turn around and look at her. He sees the boy and nodd’s to Y/n in understanding. Emmett walked over to Four. Once he was out of ear chot Y/n and Eric turned to each other as Y/n stood back to full height.
“Where are his parents?” Eric asks with crossed arms.
“Gone. Dead. He said they were killed and pointed to the factionless over there.” Y/n explained to him what Emmett had told her.
“His parents were killed in the attack.” Eric sighed, getting even more angry that this happened at all.
“I think so. He’s not dirty, besides from hiding and there is some fresh blood on his clothes. But its not his, I checked.” She told him further.
“God dammit.” he huffed, pinching the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes.
“Eric, I don’t want to leave him alone.” Y/n spoke with a shaky voice worried to the boy who was no more than 6, having already grown attached to the kid.
“Be with him, We’ll deal with this.” Eric nodded understanding where she was coming from.
“Eric.” Y/n called his name as they walked away from each other. Effectively stopping him. “Make it hurt.”
Y/n referred to what they were gonna do to the murders in the factionless group. She hated that they made this poor boy an orphan.
Y/n walked over to Four and Emmett immediately latched onto her legs.
While Four walked over to Eric and the two watched Y/n and the little boy walked away.
“She’s already fallen in love with that boy. You know that right?” Four spoke up to Eric smiling at Y/n’s behavior.
“Yeah. I can tell. . . His parents were killed in the attack.” Eric agree’s before telling Four what had just happened to the said boy.
“Poor kid.” Four sighed feeling for the boy.
Once Four and Eric talked about what to do about the factionless situation Eric headed over to where Y/n and Emmett were playing tic tac to in the dirt.
“Ready to go?” Eric says as he approached Y/n.
“Yeah.” She nodded.
“Come one kid. You to.” Eric gestured with his hands for the boy to get up to go with them.
“What?” Emmett was confused.
“Your coming home with us.” Eric states, completely shocking the boy.
“Not that I’m not happy but why?” Y/n whispered to Eric so Emmett wouldn’t overhear her.
Eric looked her in the eyes. “He needs a family.”
It was more than that but they could talk about that later. Alone without listening ears.
“Are you serious?” Y/n was shocked but happy and also confused Eric doesn’t like kids as far as Y/n knew.
“He’s grown on me okay.” Eric answered with a shrug of his shoulder. Really what had grown on him was watching Y/n with the boy. How she was acting all motherly towards the boy. It did something to Eric watching that.
“Thank you.” Y/n smiled gratefully up at her man before kissing him on the cheek. Their little family.
Age: Close to 300 years old, he stopped paying attention after the 100yr anniversary of being made a Vampyre. Turned around a year after Sypher, just after his twenty-fourth birthday
Dislikes: Venatori, Tevinter Supremists, Slavers/Slavery, Rough/Garish clothing and Bad décor,
Random Astoriel Arida Bits:
Like others in his family line he was very focused on researching/exploring the Veil and the Fade and is very magically talented.
*Didn't want to get married and resisted so much that his father had to have someone retrieve him after he took off and then resorted to blood magic to get Astoriel down the isle and through the vows.
Ended up in a short term triangle with Sypher and Alexi(Sypher's brother-in-law) due to Sypher wanting to get under Alexi's skin(Astoriel completely left Alexi for Sypher while Sypher continued to go between the two).
Randomly hums or breaks out in song.🎶
He is a bit of a klutz, especially in cat form.
Once he was able to tolerate actual food again, he started constantly snacking, stops just shy of making himself sick and then starts again once in the clear.
A few years after he was turned he ran into Sypher and they 'rekindled', then began an off and on again spree of debauchery/hunting together throughout the centuries(Sypher is a bad influence).
He will strip down to 'maybe' smallclothes before shifting and then stroll around the manor only to forget when he shifts back to grab something to eat, or gets told to shift so he can be talked to, so a lot of 'Oops, nekked' can happen
His favourite flowers are Ghost Orchids(He thinks they look like little people wearing big hats and it makes him laugh) and Jade Vine.
Randomly poofs for decades at a time if given the chance and has to be hunted down and brought back to the manor.
Might have accidentally turned a dwarf into a Vampyre.👀
6 Firsts Questions:
First Kiss: Age, 14. Seraphina Erimond decided to kiss him, with tongue, at her birthday party and found herself humiliated when he threw up in her mouth and down the front of her dress in response to the kiss.
First Time: Viren Tilani, while at the opera in the House Tilani private balcony seating after they both ditched the girls their parents were trying to match them with. They were not discrete and thus there was great scandal that ensued after.
First Love: Sypher Syrantus, though the feelings weren't even remotely returned(Sypher viewed Astoriel as nothing more than a fun bedmate and a way to get under Alexi's very jealous skin).
First Disappointment: That his first kiss was with a girl instead of the boy he liked(Viren Tilani).
First Heartbreak: *WIP - TBD*
First Loss: *WIP - TBD*
The Flowers:
The Dwarf that he might have turned into a vampyre: Lisile Dace
Speculation on The Sixth Faction and the Opportunity for Roth to Do Something New with Erudite
I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. I LITERALLY GASPED AT THE NEWS. THIS IS THE BEST NEWS I’VE HAD IN A LONG TIME. THIS IS INCREDIBLE—NEVER DID I THINK SOMETHING LIKE THIS COULD EVER EVEN HAPPEN. I THOUGHT THE SERIES WAS DONE WITH FOREVER!
Also, look at the cover. Blue is such a dominant color. The background looks like the wave-of-change motif/wave sculpture, but it's also circular like the other books' symbols and circular like an eye, with a pupil and iris. I know that the title probably implies a sixth, potentially new or informal/unofficial, de facto sixth faction (or the Factionless) in this alternate reality, but what if it's Erudite?! This may just be wishful thinking, but I really want Tris to choose Erudite this time because if there's an underground rebellion, surely not every Erudite would have sided with Jeanine. (And this could have implied the existence of an underground movement against corruption within the faction in the original trilogy.)
Plus, the sleek tech stuff—what if this book really leaned into the sci-fi/psychological angle? Would we know more about the simulation mechanics than we already do? If this book does any social commentary beyond something like individualism being the main focus originally, what if there's some sort of commentary on the American anti-intellectual crisis as of late? And even the original trilogy had themes of censorship in it. This has so much potential, and I feel like I can trust it will be great, even if it goes in a different direction than what I'm speculating it could be about. At least I feel like there could be something worth exploring/discussing on this front.
Any thoughts, or other ideas to add, anyone? Is my take plausible to you?
One final thought:
What if Tris has to survive the way the Scandinavian sailor in "A Descent into the Maelström" by Edgar Allan Poe has to in the cyclone/whirlpool by using her powers of observation and deduction, just like with the dog attack trial in the original aptitude test? Even if it's not the threat of drowning, this being more a book on outwitting the enemy over action/war as a soldier (typically from an active on-the-ground, limited-information pov) for once could be an interesting angle as well, diverging from other usual dystopian protagonists’ trajectories, like taking down Erudite from the inside (not unlike that arc wherein Tris cooperates for sometime locked in the fear simulation machine).
Instead of “fear wakes you up,” it could be some variant of: realizing something about your environment wakes you up. (Though that would be less catchy, it could still say something about the human brain acclimating itself to the nature of reality. Tris could be the metaphorical frog about to be boiled with the temperature only incrementally increasing so she can’t jump out, unless she wakes up to her situation all of a sudden before it’s too late.)
I made some portraits similar to the ones that the Original Panic Room has for its quests, but changing the frame detail and adding a little symbol. This symbol is related to their state as member of a faction or factionless.
Characters in order:
Puppeteer, symbol Factionless
John Fall, symbol Factionless
Isami Nakamura, symbol Apprentices
Alice Green, symbol Saboteurs
Jack Firewood, symbol Apprentices
James Firewood, symbol Saboteurs
Matt Stubley, symbol Factionless
Bill Gordon, symbol Factionless
I know the game's main detail is the realism, but to draw the detailed realistic version of these will forbid me from ever finishing it.
OG Panic Room: Nikita Online
Panic Room Twist Fate AU: Me / @michimi-maidenvelekblog / @official-twistfateau
