Bathilda Waits



Bathilda, Freiin von Grimmelshausen, or better known as Bathilda Waits, is the next waiting-maid in The Goose Girl, the antagonist of the tale.

Given that her destiny involves a rather gruesome death sentence, no one would blame her for wanting to rebel. This is especially a given since she signed the fake book a good few years ago, and saw no other means of escaping her fate until the Fire Nation attacked a certain someone refused to pledge.

This isn't to say that she is spotless, however. With a plate full of sass and a passion for the performing arts, Batty would love nothing more than to become the most acclaimed actress in the land – even if it means taking over a kingdom without her Goose Girl getting in the way, if such measures must be taken.

Personality
The first thing one should know about the future maid-of-honor is that Bathilda is a take-charge kind of girl, and that she's almost never afraid to put anyone in their place. The von Ganse family and their court holds top priority in terms of servitude not that she won't pick and prod at her destined Goose Girl on occasion, but otherwise it doesn't matter whether someone has blue blood or blue feet from lacking the funds to afford shoes. She will insist of anyone, neat-freak tendencies aside, that she is not their flippin' maid. In fact, the role of a maid-in-waiting/maid-of-honor has nothing to do with maid-service – something that she'll make very clear to those who think otherwise.

Her assertive demeanor is both a blessing and an ear-sore to those in her presence, depending on who is asked. Most notably she can be quite flamboyant, possessing an aura of irrepressible confidence that would make anyone nervous about standing in her way. Having a sharp tongue backed by a thespian air, when the timing is right Bathilda has an uncanny tendency to "chew the scenery" among friends and strangers alike, so to speak.

Among the future villains' crowd, the senior student is known to be something of a tease – provoking students for the sake of shits and giggles; egging on her friends because hey, they don't mind, right?; even staff members have dealt with her mouthiness, a trait encouraged by her Advanced Villainy course. She is well aware that most to-be antagonists are more powerful than she, but this doesn't stop her from compensating with a touch of simple manipulation here and there. After all, given the school's population of naive princesses and guileless future heroes, it's not that hard to work her way around a system that traditionally goes against her.

Beyond her domineering outlook, one will notice that Bathilda is much more loyal to her friends and allies than the previous waiting-maid. In fact, the girl's actions aren't always self-serving in nature. She is someone who will stand her ground no matter the cost and while her tact may be questionable, her dispense of tough love has unofficially labeled her a "mom friend" among those she's warmed up to. In spite of her attitude and to the chagrin of certain members of the school board, she prioritizes her stance against transphobia and cissexism over obligations relating to her destiny.

...even when this means, though reluctant to admit it, she manages to be nice to MOGAI royalty every once in a while.

Appearance
At 6'2", Bathilda towers over more than a few students – not that she minds, her height suits her well and an added three inches from a pair of heels only compliment her looks. With fair, somewhat ruddy skin and an air of statuesque grace, her figure overall is slim and well-maintained by years of court duties and active attendance as a subject to her superior's kingdom.

Her squared face is framed by auburn brown hair that reaches just above her shoulders, naturally wavy though curled even further depending on the occasion. She often pulls it up part way or parts her bangs it to her liking, but more often then not they curtain just above her wide-set blue eyes.

Abilities, Hobbies, and Interests
In spite of what Bathilda says regarding her Magic Touch, any oath or promise pledged to her literally is bound by magic. After all, there's a reason why the Goose Girl had gotten her Happily-Ever-After: if an oath is kept after a certain amount of time, luck will start to come upon whoever made the promise, especially after managing to avoid breaking it under sticky circumstances (ex. the whole confessing-to-a-stove thing). If the oath is broken, however, the opposite befalls.

Her oath-bound magic magic isn't exactly god-tier, however, and most often come comes across as as random luck: finding a feasible amount of money on the floor, correct guesses on a quiz or two, last-minute things such as nabbing tickets for a concert/etc, stuff like that. The same applies to bad luck as well, though it may wear off after a while were Tilda to revoke/forget/not particularly care about the incidence after a time. Of those who are aware of this innate ability of hers, she may be referred to as "Lady Luck."

Aside from her Magic Touch, Bathilda was and is still being raised as a maid of the court/eventually maid-of-honor, and has been for at least eight years. During that time she's spent quite a deal learning the ropes on assisting court entertainment, at times being a step ahead of her Queen and the next Goose Girl. Whether she saves a group project from failing or needs to facilitate for the school's drama club, this makes her exceptionally organized in comparison to her peers.

Embroidery, dancing, voice lessons, piano practice that lead into her learning to play the hammered dulcimer, the future waiting-maid learned to partake in court activities just as much she did in facilitating them. Singing and dance in particular was eventually what fostered her love for musical theater. Along with ballroom dance and classical court ballads, Bathilda is into music produced by many of Ever After's pop divas and has a special place in her heart for rock operas.

As for her talents in sewing in particular, she's better at tailoring/fixing up outfits than actually creating her own dresses from scratch. Of the the times she's tried, they tend to either end up as failed attempts to bring back popularity in outdated costumes or, at their worst, make as much sense as Lady Yaga wearing a literal bubble-dress in the middle of a performance.

Basic Summary
The tale of The Goose Girl begins when an old queen has her daughter go on a journey to a far-off kingdom, for the young princess is betrothed to a prince that lives there. Along with sending gold and silver finaries, a talking horse named Falada, and her most trusted waiting-maid to attend the trip, the monarch also gave her daughter a lucky kerchief containing three drops of her (the queen's) blood. As one would expect, she tells the princess not to lose it.

Throughout the trip, the princess asked the waiting-maid to fetch her a cup of water between stops. The maid frequently defied the princess's orders, however, telling the girl to go fetch it herself each time. The third time this this happens, the princess loses the protective kerchief-charm by the waterside from which she gets her drink from. Upon noticing the waiting-maid seized the opportunity to take control of the princess and her goods, and forces the poor girl to switch places with her. She makes the princess swear an oath to not speak a word of this, or else she will be killed. From then point on, the maid pretended to be the princess while the princess had to act as her servant

When the two arrive at the palace, the princess-disguised waiting-maid had Falada slaughtered. Meanwhile the servant-princess is assigned to guard the geese with a boy named Conrad, thus the title of "goose girl." Throughout the next few days, the Goose Girl talks to her horses' decapitated (who replies with "Alas, Alas, if your mother knew, her loving heart would break in two") because that's totally normal, and causes Conrad's hat to blow away whenever the lad wants to pluck a lock of her hair because that's totally not a creepy thing for him to do. Upset, Conrad goes to tell the king of the girl's actions, who responds via hiding by watching over the goose girl's actions the next day.

He ordered the goose girl to see him once Conrad's observations were proven true, only for the girl to say that she can't tell him her story as a result of the oath. The king then says to tell everything that's happened to her to the stove in the kitchen,. Following his orders, the goose-girl crawls into the stove and confesses to everything that has happened to her. He overhears her as planned, and introduces the real princess to his son/the prince.

The next night, the real princess was given a much more befitting dress to wear to the king and prince's court. There the false pride/waiting-maid was asked what she'd do were she to be subjected under the circumstances that the real princess went through (no names were given and the maid didn't recognize the princess, for some reason), who then responded saying that the perpetrator should be stripped naked, stuffed into a barrel lined with nails, and that the barrel should be dragged around by two white horses along the streets until dead.

The waiting-maid unintentionally declared her own death-sentence, and the true princess-bride happily married her prince.

How Bathilda Ties Into It
On one hand, it's true that some fairytale villains can manage to escape their untimely story-bound death. Unlike the the escape door in the Candy Witch's oven, or even the smoke bomb that granted Mr. Badwolf's escape from the huntsman, the previous waiting-maid wasn't lucky enough to turn away from her untimely death. To spare the details on why, let's, it's kind of hard to "escape" a nailed barrel in the first place. To put it lightly.

However, whether served by those in the scullery or by an esteemed lady-in-waiting, no kingdom would be able to run without an entourage of loyal subjects. Therefore the role of the next Goose Girl's waiting-maid must be selected under these circumstances: of the Goose Girl/Queen's young female subjects, the one who is deemed most loyal is the one who gains admission to Ever After High. Years prior to the decision being made, members of the school board disguise themselves as court attendees to the Goose Girl's kingdom in order to observe, all to effectively determine who is fit for the role.

The very first waiting-maid was in fact a lowly servant. However, over many generations, the role has been continuously given to anyone with "maid" in their title, such as a maid of the court or a maid-of-honor. One of these maidens was the daughter of a Freiherr or Baron who came from a long line of nobles. Similar to the Charmings, they fulfill the roles of court nobility in any Grimm-descended story that needs one. Essentially they're backgrounders with more esteem than the average non-destined backgrounder.

The nine year-old was sent to the Goose Girl's kingdom to avoid her extended family's wrath, as it was one of the few kingdoms close by that would accept her in the first place. She was confused at first, why she was told that her aunts, uncles, and grandparents would look down at her name/the freiin title-change, but she soon grew fond of being taught court dances, tending to the Queen's little princess, and being tutored by some of the finest nobles in Ever After.

Unlike home, the maid of the court could finally be herself. Even better was that the Goose Girl's daughter was a lot like her in some ways: a trans girl, high-class, and dealing with family troubles.

She still missed her family, though. For a few years the girl thought that if she work hard and show that she was the best of the best in the Queen's court, that maybe, just maybe her parents would take her in again. If her court lessons were meant to make young girls lady-like, then maybe she'd prove to the rest of the von Grimmelshausens that she was just as much so as any court maiden. The little maid focused on schooling, her service to the royal family, piano practice, court theatrics, and lessons on embroidery and royal dress repair – all things that that awakened her once latent Magic Touch, all while showing her loyalty to the now ruling Goose Girl.

Even had her family accepted Bathilda then, they wanted nothing to with her once she received a certain school's admission letter. Forced into a role she wanted nothing to do with, this is how she became the next waiting-maid.

Family
As one can likely deduce, relations with her parents – Freiherr and Freifrau von Grimmelshausen – are strained. Sure, they both cared enough to allow Bathilda to transition, but in the long run they're more concerned about respectability and reputation than maintaining healthy familial bonds with their firstborn daughter.

The first and most obvious of this behavior was sending their daughter away and keeping her transition a secret from the rest of the Grimmelshausens. While they had good intentions, this only made Tilda's family ties sour when Bathilda was selected as the next waiting-maid, and even more so when her book-signing had been broadcast during her second year of high school – essentially outing her to her relatives in the worst way possible.

They direct blame on Tilda's "choice" for her role as an antagonist, and even her mother and father were embarrassed when her letter from the Headmaster mentioned "The Goose Girl" as her designated story. Her poor excuse of a family have cut ties with her completely, only bothering to pay for for school tuition and arrangements at the Ganse castle.

And in The End, no one blames her complete and unadulterated antipathy towards the rest of the Grimmelshausens.

Miraspella die Hexe
As soon as Bathilda met her roommate on Orientation Day, it became obvious from the start that the two villainesses were kindred spirits; uniquely dramatic, cutting in speech, and destined to trick their heroines' future love-interests. It was Spella's enthusiasm, pluckiness, and (literal) magical flare that won the waiting-maid over, however. Serving as the "L" to her "T" in her and Bastion's BLT "Villain Sandwich so to speak, the pair (and trio when Bas is around) can simply get together, chillax, and be themselves in solidarity with other MOGAI future antagonists.

Bastion Fanfarinet
It was Spella who introduced her to Bas one day during a meeting at the Dead Epics Society, which formed what then became their Villain Sandwich. Her first impression? She was impressed by his air of suave calm in spite of the nerve-wracking feeling that comes with joining a group of soon-to-be dead people. They don't quite know each other as well as they know Spella but they've shaped up to be pretty shill friends. As one can assume, he's the "B" in BLT.

There's something that Tilda just can't seem to put a finger on, however. Maybe it was the tremor in his hands when she first heard him speak, a dissonance of pressure paired with an otherwise chill demeanor. Or maybe she's looking too much into what she's learned about body language that came with her acting lessons. Either way, she hopes that Bastion can open up beyond. After all, her knack for snark and instigation was a defense mechanism too at one point – until her jerkass facade made her a jerk with a heart of gold, that is.

Barley
When the future waiting-maid came across the next Scarecrow of Oz, Bathilda didn't intend on having a soft spot for the young scarecrow. Then everything changed when, once again, the Fire Nation attacked, or specifically after tricking him into doing her clothes shopping. When the two arrived at a boutique at the Book End plaza, the conversation that followed went something like this:
 * Tilda: ~jokingly~ So anything you'd buy yourself?
 * Barley: Weeeeeell, I really like those dresses! But I think those are girls' clothes. Not that I can think, but-
 * Tilda: Well who told you that? :I
 * Barley: Uhh... ~scratches head~ I 'unno. But all the girls wear dresses at school and in the magazines, not the guys. Girls are just really lucky. :v
 * Tilda: Well, don't just believe it just because you see it. Folks can wear can wear whatever the spell they want, right?
 * Barley: I guess so... ~shifts uncomfortably~
 * Tilda: Hey, you gonna go in or what? You look like a guy with th-
 * Barley: Nono, that's it! I know I'm not a girl, and I'm supposed to be a guy, and maybe I am a guy and I need brains to see it, but, ~beat, lowers voice~ I 'unno if I feel like it.
 * Tilda: Hm?
 * Barley: ~beat~ ...Just. Welp. I don't feel like anything. I'm scarecrow and I'm nothing and I really don't like being either or, but, what if it's all me and I'm just too brainless to know what I am? ._.

Cue the maid-of-honor, who happens to be a trans girl, trying very hard to maintain her bossy, domineering attitude despite her sudden reason to empathize with a socially dysphoric MOGAI scarecrow. Instead of leaving Barley at the boutique to finish her shopping (as was the plan), Bathilda went in with him and helped to deconstruct his internalized cissexist views. She even offered to buy some cute dresses and feminine-labeled accessories for him and herself. They've made ties ever since, and although Tilda tries to be covert with their friendship (a transgender villain-girl hanging out with a non-binary protag might make the latter a target), Barley nonetheless sees her as something of a role model given that she was the very first person to validate his (lack of) gender. Along with shopping, the two often gush about the performing arts and humanities.

Airmid Valerian

a fellow trans umbrella nerd who's destined to die like she is u_u

Yŭ "Feather" Xiang
even batty can't help but adore featherbby

Florence Linden
she has no time for his problematic bullying and honestly she's embarrassed that he shares the same grade with him

at least Airy and her are saltmates when it comes to his problematic bootyhole (lenny face)

Romance
r u kidding me

Basic
never gonna gIVE YOU UP

Legacy Day
NEVER GONNA LET You down

Thronecoming
never gonna rUN AROUND AND DESERT YOUUU