#but basically Lea and the hunter are both desperate for different things at the moment

[northern-passage]

If I remember right, we have to be the ones to bring up Keld with Lea? Like if we don't do that those two don't have a conversation about wanting to be better during the campfire scene. When you were writing that scene, did you ever think about having Lea bring it up without the Hunter needing to initiate the conversation, or were they always the stubborn, "I'd rather bottle all this up," Handler that we've come to know?

Lea actually used to have a completely different personality at the start - they really were meant to be "calm and collected." the original character that Lea was created from was also a part of a duo, and he was always the calm, slow-talking voice of reason - still a little stoic, but far more in touch with his emotions and far more sincere. i'm not sure what happened when i started writing tnp, but it is true what they say about characters having a mind of their own....

and you're right, they do only directly bring up Keld if the hunter brings it up first - otherwise they always just comment about it "being nice" which is basically them just saying "it's better than Keld."

however, Lea is the one to push about wanting to talk later at the tavern, quite literally forcing the hunter to agree to talk later in some variations. (or if you avoided the argument and agreed to be partners at the first choice, they mention wanting to talk after shaking hands)

actually it's potentially spoilery under here, i've avoided hinting at this for a while but 🤷 so i'm going to put it under a readmore. i'm not really sure how many people, if any, have thought too much about this lmfao

who is to say if Lea plans on keeping their word about having any kind of talk.... Lea knows they fucked up pretty badly in Keld, but they're not quite ready to admit that, not directly - and there are a few secrets they've been keeping for a long time. while i do think Lea likes the idea of the two of you talking it out, it's something that will be really difficult for them, and choosing to talk "later" was both them trying to convince the hunter but also themself - and give them time to figure out what the hell they're doing. to be clear, Lea does want the two of you to be better, they really do want to stay paired together not just for their reputation but because they genuinely want to make it work - i think i've made that obvious in a lot of the asks i've answered about them. but that still doesn't make it easy. i think i've also made it obvious that Lea is very stubborn, and is in a very difficult position (that they put themself in....) and they're trying to claw their way back out; and once they're out.... there's no guarantee they'll have changed.

for the talk to actually happen, i think it depends entirely on how the current job goes for them. this is Lea making a desperate gamble for two reasons: they know they fucked up at Keld, and they know there's something wrong with the hunter. they're anxious you're going to ask for a reassignment if this job doesn't go well, so they're propositioning you ahead of time in an attempt to keep it together (though they're too late for some hunters who ask for it anyways)

soooo..... to answer your question, Lea would not bring up Keld themself if they didn't have to. but due to how things are going with the hunter, they feel a bit cornered, so it's a bit of a hail mary - and we don't know how it's going to play out yet.

#i mean I know how it's going to play out. but you dont lmfao #Lea doesnt either. im the hand of god grabbing them by the scruff of the neck and shaking them around #but basically Lea and the hunter are both desperate for different things at the moment #and both of them are really just trying to get thru it one day at a time #anyways sorry this is kinda vaguely spoilerish. ive actually tried really hard to avoid implying any of this previously #it's kind of hard on the blog. and with a project that is like Actively developing #i think i end up contradicting myself sometimes bc im trying so hard not to spoil things. lmfao #lea chen #spoilers #ask #anonymous