I HC That Ripred Is Only Hard On Gregor Because He See's Himself In That Kid. Like, Ripred Is A Dick

I HC that Ripred is only hard on Gregor because he see's himself in that kid. Like, Ripred is a dick to everyone, I know that, but I think he keeps on putting cold, hard facts in front of Gregor, like how he's stuck with his rager abilities, because he just wants the kid to be ready and you know, not dead. I only realized this when reading this post about Ripred and Gregor's relationship, but it makes a lot of sense. Why else would Ripred tell Gregor about his disbelief in the prophecies and no-one else? Because he doesn't want his younger, human, more innocent counterpart getting caught up in that madman's bs. Ripred even promises to protect Gregor's family in the last book, because he doesn't want him to lose them the same way he lost his.

TLDR: Ripred has a tough-love thing with Gregor, but he only does it because he want's Gregor to be strong enough to handle his Warrior responsibilities (that he never asked for.) Not because he views Gregor as a political pawn, but because he sees himself in him and wants him to be happy.

gregor and ripred GREGOR AND RIPRED!!!!!!!

obviously ripred protects gregor. not in the same way he does lizzie or even luxa, but i'd say from the moment ripred saw gregor's horrified expression when henry was about to run a sword through him, he knew gregor was special. he told twitchtip to not judge gregor like she would other humans. he speaks softly when gregor is mourning. he teaches him life-or-death echolocation. he can't even tell gregor that the kid's gonna die in the prophecy of time. the "oh, tell me you didn't" to solovet after she locks gregor away. he promises to keep gregor's family safe, from one rager to another. he sees so much of himself in that kid and it's awful. the scene in cotw where ripred talks to gregor about being a rager (right after the frogs) will forever stick out to me. just. his peptalk to gregor before the final battle. ripred cares.

and so does gregor! gregor has so much respect for ripred, the rat, what has been the enemy for nearly his entire first journey in the underland, because he notices the pain in his eyes. he tells him "fly you high" when they first part ways, which is echoed by ripred when they last see each other. just the immediate relief that gregor feels any time ripred steps in. the way gregor messes with ripred, popping bubble gum after ripred insults him, joking about the prophecy at the end of book 5 ("time is turning back!" ripred - "shut up!"). in book 4, gregor sends the questers to busy themselves so ripred doesn't have to be vulnerable in front of so many. when gregor's in trouble, it's ripred's advice ("what's your plan?") that he thinks of. the section in book 5 where they all think ripred is dead and gregor is as upset by it as he is ares, that he "maybe even loved him." gregor looks up to him. just. the mentor/protege duo ever

On the topic of Ares being the Warrior:

Our life and death are one, we two.

With vampiric underlanders

*whispers* werewolf!gregor au

This series is canon, as far as I'm concerned

Something I decided to cook up to celebrate the completion of the AHS 1 edit (YES THE FIRST BOOK HAS BEEN OVERHAULED AND IT'S SO MUCH BETTER NOW GO REREAD IF YOU LIKED IT PLEASE!! I PROMISE IT'S WORTH IT!)

Ripred & Henry are one of my favorite dynamics to write in AHS 3 and I adore how far they've come and where they started.

That and Henry in general. This is your AHS 1 vs AHS 3 Henry comparison as well (yes, ALL the text here are actual quotes from the books.)

Honestly, Ripred should start to consider paying rent with how much he and his words of harsh but wise truth live in Henry's head 🤣

Could you just imagine Top Gear, but with Gregor, Ares and Ripred?

Ripred: How, in the name of all that is holy, did you manage to do that

Gregor, holding a baby Bane: ...well it's quite interesting, isn't it?

Ares, looking on with a look of mild apprehension/fear: Yes, it is

Ares isn't an incel. He's just a sigma male (or just straight up depressed.)

WE ARE SO BACK! In tomorrow’s episode of Return to Regalia, Oona and Nate analyze the first three chapters of The Prophecy of Bane, in which Boots gets kidnapped by cockroaches.