#And how he can't even turn to the brides for safety

[immediatebreakfast]

"The Count is the least dreadful to me; that to him alone I can look for safety, even though this be only whilst I can serve his purpose. Great God! merciful God! Let me be calm, for out of that way lies madness indeed." Jonathan Harker, may 16.

It's the realization, and the frightened fury of Jonathan when he finds out that Dracula is the only being who can protect him in the horrible cage that he himself has organized for Jonathan.

The fear of realizing that yes Jonathan, the man who is abusing you, keeping you trapped, and playing a sick game with your sanity is the only person who you can turn to feel safe. The only reassurance that you will not die today on his watch... unless you stop playing the role he wants you to play.

[quitealotofsodapop]

So how does courtnapping work??

"Courtnapping"; a mix of "courting" + "kidnap", is basically the demonic version of a proposal.

When demons were still scattered clans/prides across the mortal realm, it was very difficult for clans to interact without a lot of violence involved. Either because of competition for food, or because someone mistoke a glamoured demon for a mortal animal and starting biting.

What's a prospective lover to do if their beloved's family won't let them near without a fight? Easy; steal their lover away so that they can court them (among other things) in private.

As society grew; "courtnapping" became part of the demonic consciousness as a legitimate dating strategy. It was a loud way of announcing your intentions to the intended's family that you wanted them as a mate, whilst also showing off some muscle/magic.

However, demons are not animals. And if the kidnapped party rejects their captor's affections, it is considered polite to let them go. Only *uncouth* demons dare to lock their beloved away without contact with their family. And only truly vile ones (like Kui Mulang or Sai Tai Sui) keep them as forced spouses.

It's downright expected that a demon whisks away their future spouse - after all, who doesn't want to be swept off their feet?

Among wealthier Underworld clans who've adopted celestial/mortal practices, courtnapping isn't as common. Imperial China-style arranged marriages were the norm for the longest time up until a certain Bull Prince fell in love with an Iron Fan warrior, changing the desire among noble demons towards love matches. Courtnapping is considered a legitimate way of declaring "I object!" to an arranged marriage by giving the bride/groom a second option and a moment to rethink the arrangement.

Some wedding parties even hold a mock courtnappings between the new couple so that they can run off from the festivities and enjoy their honeymoon. Think how Spartan weddings involved the groom "kidnapping" the bride from their own ceremony.

Also because of some hilarious idea sharing with @soniclozdplove, we agree; People were kidnapped by demons so frequently in the Imperial era, not because of demon's eating them - but because of *marriage fraud*.

Think of it like this:

China is under strict Confucian and filial piety ideals. If your parent wants you to marry a specific person, you have pretty much no say in the matter.

Unless.

You just so happen to be kidnapped by a demon who wants to keep you as their legally binding spouse.

Human: "Oh no~ I'm captured by an hunky demon who wants to marry me! Guess I'm going to have to stay here and miss out on my arranged marriage." ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Demon: "And we can no-fault divorce at any time!" Human's Family: "We'll just take them back!" Lawyer: "Actually you can't. It's a legally binding marriage. Unless the captive expresses their rejection or wants to leave; it's legitimate." Human's Family: "Crap. Well, we'll just hire a mercenary or warrior to reverse-kidnap them back!" (*Later...*) Mercenary: "Avast foul demon! I have been sent to reclaim your stolen bride/groom!" Demon, turns to "captive": "Yay or nay, hun?" Human, looks at mercenary: "Ew. Nay. He's older than my dad." Demon, turning on dramatics: "LEAVE THIS PLACE YOU SOLIDER OF FORTUNE! ONLY ONES WITH PURE HEARTS SHALL TAKE THEM BACK!"

Heres a PortSherry comic I feel is very appropriate.

In more serious scenarios, a courtnapping can be faked to safety remove a person in an abusive home. Abusers can't control you if you're behind a giant lumbering demon with a prenup.

DBK got into this in the Tang-era when he and Princess Jade Face were "married". He was just helping her claim her inheritance, since her dad's will would only pay out if she was married (the Underworld Earth-Fox Clan are the "mimicking human/celestial"-trends types). PIF knew of this arrangement, but was still jealous af and nearly blew the whole of Thunder Mountain in her rage (it was how they learned she was pregnant with Red Son).

Zhu Bajie is an odd duck in this case; since he married Gao Cuilan the normal human way, but his instincts told him to steal her away when her family suddenly became hostile towards him. Cuilan didn't really object because she truly loved him, but was upset that contact between her and her family was cut. Even after the couple are legally divorced; Bajie still considers Cuilan his wife - because in a demonic sense, she's still his willing mate. Lots of stories written about the Pilgrims post-Journey have Bajie go back to her so that they can (in human sense) remarry.

Courtnapping still occurs in the modern day; just with a lot of pre-arranged consent involved. Racing, mock-battles, and the spat with between the lovers' parents - demons do love the thrill of the chase after all. But unplanned kidnappings of desired spouses do still happen.

In Red Son and MK's case; they've accidentally been courting each other for a long time. Mostly because they're dorks who don't realise what their rivalry looks like from the outside - especially during the Season 1 era.

Red Son, showing off his plans: "Here is my current brilliant idea for reclaiming our power! Step 1; We engage Noodle Boy and his friends in battle. Step 2: While you two are occupying Dragon Girl and his fathers, I capture Noodle Boy. Step 3: I keep him hidden in my old base in Fire Wind Cave. Step 4: I have full access to the Staff and all of Noodle Boy's magical abilities! It's foolproof!" DBK & PIF: (*share knowing smiles*) PIF: "Dear, I'm glad that you've finally developed an interest in romantic matters - but our current goals do not align with planning a marriage just yet." Red Son, confused: "Huh?" DBK: "And while it would be advantageous if you married Sun Wukong's heir, I feel that tensions between our families are too high to consider even a superficial union." PIF: "It's really sweet that you considered it though." Red Son: (*turns back to planning board, realises that his plan to capture MK resembles a traditional courtnapping*) Red Son, nearly magenta from embarrassment as he tears up the plan: "Err... never mind then."

In season 3 when Red Son saved Mei, Sandy, and MK from the dessert; DBK & PIF weren't mad that they had enemies at the dinner table - but because at a glance it looked like Red Son had stolen himself a spouse without warning them! And he brought some of his spouses family members to hammer out the details!

If the gang hadn't immediately brought up the Samadhi Fire; DBK's next sentence would have been asking them; "What are your intentions with my child? Do we need to provide a dowry? Is there plans for grandchildren?"

Red Son might have died on the spot. XD

[spooky-bunnys]

Diabolik Lovers x Vampire Knight Crossover

Arranged Marriage

If there was one thing the Sakamaki brothers could agree on. It was that the favorite brother was (Name). Sakamaki (Name) was the oldest Sakamaki brother. But sadly he was also the shortest. Which he got teased for constantly. (Name) was the child between Karl and a Vampire Princess of a different clan. Sadly she didn't survive the birthing.

But even though (Name) didn't really have anyone to raise him since his father's wives didn't care for him. (Name) always cared for his little brothers. He raised them and gave them love he wishes someone would've given him. He would always play with them and protect them from their so called mothers. (Name) even with his short height was always in control of his powers.

If he wanted to he could even take down his father. Thats how strong and in control he is. But (Name) never cared for fame or power. He only cared for his brothers. Which lead him to this part of his life. "No way!" yelled Subaru punching the coffee table in the living room. Their so called "Father" had came to visit. Which didn't fool any of them. They knew what his visits meant. They just didn't know what to expect when he visits.

(Name) was surrounded by his brothers frozen. "As much as I hate to admit it. But I agree with Subaru. I won't let you marry Aniki off like some princess." Laito stood behind him massaging (Name)'s shoulders. Trying to get their brother back down to earth. "The pervert is right! Oresama won't let you give Aniki away so easily!" Ayato yelled standing in beside the chair (Name) occupied.

Reji sighed pushing up his glasses. "Just what are you planning?" Karl was smirking. Sitting across from them on the couch. Behaving like it was his throne. "It's not up to you boys whether or not (Name) marries the Kuran boy. It had already been decided ages ago." (Name) couldn't wrap his head around what was going on. His father was selling him off as if he was cattle...Shu who saw the heart broken look on his brothers face turned.

Glaring at the smirking Vampire King. "You don't get to decided it either old man. Aniki is more powerful then you. He decides whether or not he'll marry the guy." Karl's smirk turned into a frown. He growled but then smirked even bigger then before. "But I know he'll agree especially to it. Especially since he knows what I'll do if he doesn't." The brothers flinched at the statement. The younger Sakamaki brothers knew exactly where he was going with this conversation.

"(Name) if you don't marry him I can't promise the safety of your brothers." (Name) stiffened before shooting a glare so dark it sent shivers down the others shoulders. Karl knew his brothers were his weakness. (Name) cared more for his brothers then he cared about himself. It'd always been that way. (Name) frowned deeply before he slowly stood. The brothers stiffened ready to attack if signaled.

"You bastard!" (Name) yelled his eyes boiling with anger. "You're always using them against me. Because you know if it weren't for them I'd have killed you years ago." He growled. Kanato knowing his brothers anger level was rising softly grabbed the back of his shirt. Lightly tugging it. (Name) forced himself to calm down. He didn't want anything to happen to them. "I'll marry him. On one condition." Karl laughed thinking he won.

"Deal. Now whats the condition?" (Name) and the brothers smirked. "Where I go" (Name) opened his arms and the brothers stood surrounding him. "We go." The brothers spoke making Karl smirk drop into a deep frown. "You can't do that!" (Name) laughed. "You already agreed! So when are we leaving?" Karl glared at them. "The wedding is in 4 months. You leave in two weeks."

Within the two weeks many things happened. Their father tried sending them a bride. Thinking the brothers would change their minds but luckily for them where they were going she could join. It was the night before they leave and (Name) was packing up his last few things. He looked around the room and frowned. It wasn't that he was gonna miss the place. He was just going to miss the good memories he had in it.

Like when each of his brothers were born. When he taught them to walk and talk. When he saved Ayato from drowning. Or when he saved Laito from being traumatized by his so called mother. God (Name) wishes he could resurrect her and just watch her burn all over again. That bitch had almost killed him on multiple acutions. Though it wasn't out of love. She thought he was in her way of being powerful.

(Name) smirked. Jokes on her she didn't even realize how she walked into their uncles trap before she died. He never loved her. Nobody did. They just liked how powerful her family was. (Name) shook his head removing the negative thoughts before leaving his room. When he made it to the full dining room he noticed how happy everyone was.

Well. (Name) turned to the pale bride who looked absolutely terrified. He sighed and took the place at the head of the table. The seat his brothers had carved his name in surprisingly. "Alright." He spoke gaining their attention. "Is everyone ready to go to Cross Academy?" The brothers nodded and he turned to the only female. "What about you, Yui? Have you finished packing or do you need help?"

She quietly shook her head. "N-No! I'm good." She looked like a trembling leaf. (Name) ran a hand down his face. He was only trying to help. Since she'd arrive all the brothers except him had drinken from her. He guesses she's waiting for him to "strike" as the humans called it. "Yui. You don't have to worry about me trying to drink from you. I don't drink from brides. It's seen as intimate in my mother's family."

She looked confused. "See my mother was a Princess from a strong Pureblood clan. In her clan drinking blood, especially from one's neck is seen as something only loved ones should do. Like husband and wife." Yui nodded slightly relieved. Though she couldn't help but wonder how he survived then if he didn't drink from the brides. "I've only drank from my brothers anyways." Her face grew hot at the thought.

"Oi! Pancake it's not like that kind of drink!" Ayato immediately cleared her thinking. "We'd let him drink from our wrists. It's seen as a more familiar kind of way. The neck is for spouses, while wrists are for siblings and parents. Damn your just as bad as the pervert over there!" Laito whined telling Ayato he was being unfair.

(Name) chuckled. Causing the others to slightly smile. They didn't know what was gonna happen when they arrive at Cross Academy. But one thing they agreed on was to stay by (Name)'s side. Not to let his fiancée think he could walk all over their brother. They wouldn't let that happen.

At Cross Academy Kaname had just gotten a letter informing him of his upcoming "guests". He was currently informing his followers of what was happening. "So I'd like your helping in welcoming them." The others just stared. Kaname was getting married? To someone he doesn't even know?!

"B-But lord Kaname! I don't understand why they are coming here! They're life style is the opposite of what you worked so hard for!" Kain groaned loudly at his cousin's antics. Ruka soon joined in. Complaining that he shouldn't be forced into an arranged marriage. "Oh but I didn't tell you the best part did I?" The smile on Kaname's face sent shivers down their spines. "My fiancee is the Vampire King's Eldest son. Sakamaki (Name)."

Pure silence was all that was heard. Kaname stood letter in hand walking towards the Moon Dorm entrance. "I'll be needing to inform the chairman of our "special" guests." Once Kaname was out of their sight the student slowly look at each other. The Vampire King was sending his sons here? Their Lord Kaname was being married to Sakamaki (Name)? They all shivered looks of absolute terror on their faces.

They know how powerful not only the king is but according to rumors. (Name) suppresses his father power by well a lot. "What are we going to do?!" Ruka was panicking. The ruler of their kind was sending his children to their school and they couldn't do anything about it. They looked out the windows surrounding them. They hope (Name) isn't power hungry or manipulative like his father.

[stayinhellevator]

Parallels

"I love you but not in that way"

Synopsis: Love had found its way into Seokmin's heart, yet a different kind of love, unrequited and unspoken, lingered in yours.

Pairing: DK x fem!Reader

Genre: Soulmate AU/Angst/Unrequited Love

Word Count: 1890

Warnings: none (I think?!)

Playlist: Not In That Way ~ Sam Smith

<Equation 1> <Equation 2> <Equation 3>

"You may now kiss the bride."

A thousand times you had imagined this scenario; a thousand times you had planned your wedding with Seokmin; a thousand times you had wanted to be the bride that he was now holding in his arms and kissing so gently as if even a little pressure would break her; an uncountable times you had wished to be his soulmate. And you had spent almost half your life thinking about all the possibilities, all the outcomes and all the calculations of 'what ifs'.

Yet nothing could've prepared you for this moment; the final showdown. There were cheers of congratulations around you as the newly weds bowed in gratitude; everyone was happy; heck, even your parents were applauding in happiness but you couldn't.

God knows you couldn't. You didn't even know how you were able to conjure up the energy to go through the wedding when there was a bile building up in your throat. The weight of an invisible stone on your heart was dragging you at a rapidly growing rate and all you wanted to do was run away and hide in your room but right at that moment, your infuriatingly gorgeous and oblivious childhood best friend, Seokmin waved his hand in your direction, giving you his infamous bright smile that held your heart in a chokehold ever since you began to understand the concept of love and soulmates. A hand that you noticed was entwined with his soulmate's; nevertheless you did what you had managed to perfect around him and ignored the pang in your chest, smiling back at him.

As you watched him exchange pleasantries with the guests, alongside his wife, a tear finally managed to escape the confines of your eyes. This felt like an unfavorable ending of your favourite book; the one that you desperately wanted to change. Alas! Destiny, the author, wouldn't even let you appeal your case for you were never meant to be the main character of this story.

You had known this when your soulmark appeared on your tenth birthday and it seemed different from Seokmin's. You remembered crying in your mother's arms for, to the ten year old you, it didn't make sense that Seokmin and you weren't soulmates because of course you were; after all you were attached to the hip ever since you were born and you both loved each other, didn't you?

Turns out, you were the only rider of that romance train for Seokmin was happy that you two received your soulmarks and that there were people out there waiting for the two of you. He didn't seem to be upset that you didn't have identical marks; he never was. And that's when he first broke your heart.

But God were you unable to stop loving him when his very essence brightened up even the darkest corners of your mind. Even now, you weren't able to move your eyes off his figure, as he practically buzzed with joy, an energy you'd never seen in him; his eyes brimming with adoration towards his wife; his smile brighter than all of the chandeliers in the venue; his steps light and bouncy as if he was the wind itself.

Later in the night, in the safety of your room, when you're empty after pouring your heart out, you'd be disgusted at yourself for wishfully staring at a man who belonged with someone else, a married man, someone's soulmate but right now, you can't stop. You want to paint his picture forever in the back of your mind, for one last time. Then, never again.

Your heart constricted with all the love you had for this man, your best friend, the love of your life who had already put his heart in someone else's hands. How were you ever going to forget about him and move on?

"You alright?"

A hand placed itself on your shoulder and without even turning back, you knew Hansol's otherwise indifferent face was twisted with concern for you because he knew; had always known how down bad you were for Seokmin, even though he joined your duo years later. He always expressed his surprise as to how Seokmin could not know about your feelings; he was even convinced that Seokmin was aware but chose not to acknowledge it but who knows? You were never curious for the answers after all. It was embarrassing enough that even a stranger could detect your feelings for him but he couldn't.

"Do I look okay?"

An exhausted sigh was your reply as if he understood and matched your desolation and quietly stood beside you to watch the newly weds have their first dance. A constant throbbing in your head made you want to smash your head against a wall and knock yourself out but you stood quietly, fisting your palm, as if trying to ground yourself.

"Why does fate gotta be so cruel? It's even hurrying the time against us. It must really hate us huh?"

A nonchalant chuckle escaped him as he tried to sound unaffected but you knew him as well as he knew you, if not more and you turned to face him, a tick in his jaw as he tried to stay stoic.

"I've had all the time in this world with Seokmin, at least as much as I could've had, until I couldn't cheat the fate anymore but you have one last night. So, go on, don't waste it on me. I'll still be there in your life but she won't."

His head snapped towards you as his eyes suddenly watered, making you smile at him with all the empathy in your heart for the third of your trio. Who knew better than you how much he was hurting? He gulped his emotions down before nodding at you in something that would always remain between the two of you and you watched him escape the hall with his lover on his toes.

At least, one of you was having a good night.

"Did you really think you could escape the dance with the man of the hour? I'm really hurt."

Oh if only he knew what hurt was.

You could only follow him as he held you and guided you towards the dance floor, both of your movements as naturally flowing as they could because everything was easy with him. You two worked like two peas in a pod, like bread and butter.

"The man of the hour was too busy tonight and I didn't want to gatekeep him."

You swallowed the lump in your throat before replying to him, not wanting to ruin the happiest day of his life. His playful eyes shone with mirth, before twirling you and bringing you back around.

"I could never be too busy for my best friend, you should know that."

Ah! Of course, you should know that, shouldn't you?

Blinking back the building moisture in your eyes, you nodded in agreement before pressing your lips in what you could only, a smile.

"Are you happy Minnie? Was it everything you ever dreamt of?"

You asked gently, wanting a confirmation to appease your broken heart, though you knew, his answer would be futile, because his shining eyes already gave you the answers you were looking for. And just like that, his face broke out in a breathtaking smile that used to be your home, your refuge.

"I'm on top of the world, like I don't even have words to tell you how I'm feeling right now. If I went on to describe how happy I am today, it'll probably take years for me to accurately put my feelings into words."

His eyes moved from yours to his soulmate, as if unable to detach from hers as yours to his face, a cruel magnet truly; and his voice softened with so much love that you had desperately wanted for yourself all these years.

"She's so pretty, so divine, that I feel unworthy of her. I can't believe I get to love her as my soulmate. I can't imagine a life without her. How have I ever lived a life without her in it?"

The tears that you were holding back ultimately started flowing down your cheeks as you heard him. If only you could have half of this devotion, you'd be delirious. He loved her so much. God, how were you ever going to recover from his words that were permanently going to scar your memories.

"I don't even wanna find out. I have her and that's more than enough for me. She's everything that I've ever dreamt of and more."

He shook his head, as if bringing himself out of a trance and faced you, only to be concerned on seeing you crying. He cupped your face, wiping your cheeks, a small frown on his face and you immediately hit yourself in your head. How could you be so selfish and worry him on his wedding? Your feelings are yours alone and not his concern.

You broke your heart loving a man destined to love someone else and it was your burden to bear not his.

"Hey! What happened? Why are you crying?"

You shook your head trying to both shake off his concerns and mustering up some courage to answer him without breaking down in his arms.

"It's nothing I'm just so happy for you. I got emotional seeing you all grown up and married and so in love. I'm so happy that you're happy Minnie."

His eyes softened at your words and he immediately pulled you into a hug, still softly swaying to the music.

"I hope you find your happiness too. I'll be right there when you find your soulmate and get married and have lots and lots of kids with them."

"I hope so too."

You really did, it was wishful thinking but you really hoped for his words to come true. You pressed your face on his shoulders, hiding your cries and you tightened the hug just a little before taking a deep breath and patting on his back and stepping back from his hold.

"I've taken a lot of your time. Now go back to your wife."

You watched how his frowning face smoothened before he gave a small pat on your head and walked towards his wife and pulled her into a kiss.

You found comfort in the fact that even though Seokmin was not meant to be yours, he'd never truly be away from you. He might not love you but a part of you would always love him and your love for him was enough for you.

You took a shaky breath as you realised you were about to close a big chapter of your life and put a lock on it, only to never open it again.

Seokmin and you might not be soulmates but you were platonic soulmates and it was the one thing no one could snatch from you.

You gave a half hearted smile to your mother, who looked at you with a knowing look on her face, before walking out of the hall, content with the bittersweet truth of your life.

You could always love him from afar and that's a privilege no one could ever take from you. It was your burden to bear alone after all.

©stayinhellevator: Please don't repost, translate or copy my work on any platform.

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[slaymitchabernathy]

To Have & To Hold

"Do you, Coriolanus Snow, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife? To have and to hold? To love and cherish in sickness and in health as long as you both shall live? To be a beacon of safety and stability, to care for her and the children you shall gift her?"

Coriolanus feels a smirk tugging on his lips before he answers.

"I do."

It's amusing how easy it is to slip the wedding ring onto his fiance's finger, binding her to him forever. Her hands shake slightly when she slips his ring onto his own finger. She's nervous.

He can't blame her. It's been a whirlwind of a year. For both of them that is. Coriolanus Snow became President of Panem at the age of twenty-six and he needed a wife. Sure he could've married someone he knew, someone he grew up with. But that was such a risk. He needed a girl who knew nothing about him other than what she had been told.

That's how he found Soarynn Nightingale.

He'd been giving a speech at the Academy, the school he graduated from, encouraging the youth of Panem to see themselves as the future of Panem. He'd droned on and on, reading from the cards that had been written for him when his eyes drifted to a blonde head of hair sitting in the front row.

He got a better look at her once his speech was over and he was allowed to mingle with the Professors and students. He shook some hands and took some photos and just as luck would have it Professor Clay was introducing him to one of his star students.

Soarynn had been so quiet. A shy, timid little thing. But she was beautiful, and clearly well educated if she was attending the Academy. Both things that were important to Coriolanus.

He'd gone home and read every little thing he could find about the Nightingales. Her father was Glen Nightingale, a widowed man with one daughter. She would turn eighteen in exactly one year. So his plan began.

It wasn't hard to schedule a meeting with Glen Nightingale and it was even easier to convince him to marry off his daughter to him. After all, Coriolanus was the President of Panem, he'd be doing Glen a humongous favor by marrying his shy little daughter. He kept his distance from Soarynn, didn't visit her, didn't send her gifts, nothing. Her job was to focus on her studies and to stay out of trouble. Stay pure, for him.

He had several tests run on her, bloodwork, the whole nine yards. The results came back and she was perfectly healthy and so very fertile. It was perfect.

Yesterday she turned eighteen and today, she was getting married. He realized how bad it must look in the eyes of the public. She was practically a child bride. But he didn't care, didn't need their opinions of him. He was President of Panem and nothing was in his way.

"You may now kiss the bride."

Soarynn looked entirely too nervous as Coriolanus cupped her face and leaned down but he didn't care as he captured her lips in a kiss, cheers going up in the room. When he pulled away he couldn't help but whisper something in her ear.

"Welcome home Mrs. Snow."

꧁ ꧂

"President Snow your last meeting of the day was canceled."

Coriolanus looks up at his assistant Eudora Trinket who has her trusty binder in her hand, "Alright. Thank you Eudora, I'll see you tomorrow." Eudora gives him a nod before leaving for the night. Coriolanus does most of his work at home, in the President's Mansion and this meeting being canceled gives him time to have dinner with his wife.

His little wife.

He finds her in the gardens, playing with the kitten he got her in order to make this adjustment a little bit easier for her. He hadn't noticed anything off about the girl until Eudora brought it up. How lonely she must be.

Coriolanus didn't see it that way of course. She was the richest woman in all of Panem. She could buy whatever, eat whatever, and yet she spent most of her time in the Mansion's large library, pouring over the books that sat on the dusty shelves.

So he got her a cat. Petunia, she named it. A white little furball who had quite the attitude but Soarynn adored her so Coriolanus was already the hero in this situation.

He waits for her to notice him but her back is turned to him and she's enamoured by the cat. Coriolanus clears his throat and it's adorable how she scrambles to her feet, her blue-gray eyes wide as she turns and looks up at him. She's barefoot which for some reason irks him. She's the First Lady of Panem, not some common District girl. Her closet is full of shoes and yet she refuses to wear them it seems unless she absolutely has to.

"I see you've foregone your shoes," he notes, "imagine my surprise."

Soarynn looks down at her feet before looking back up at him, "I...I didn't know if..."

"Tell me Soarynn, do your shoes not fit you?"

"No sir."

"So then you'll begin wearing your shoes am I correct?"

"Yes sir."

He nods, glad that's settled. They'd been married for a month and yet their conversations have been lacking. Thankfully she knows how to pose for the cameras, smile at everyone, be the perfect Capitol wife. But behind closed doors, she's so skittish.

"It's time for dinner," he says, looking down at his watch, "the cat can't come."

Petunia is currently rubbing herself against Soarynn's leg, purring up a storm. Soarynn is wearing a pink dress, it falls about midthigh and is rather plain. She must've brought this one from home. it's not that he doesn't like her clothes, how youthful they all are. That's why he married her, for her youthfulness. But he hates how childish she can be sometimes, how all rules fly out the window wherever she's concerned.

She needs a set of rules.

꧁ ꧂

Dinner was quiet as ever. Coriolanus doesn't always have dinner with her, sometimes he's busy with work or has a dinner to attend with some associates. Soarynn hasn't had any complaints about it from what he's heard.

When they get into their bedroom she heads for the bathroom but he stops her, "Come here," he says, stopping in front of the bed. For a while before their marriage, he'd considered giving her a bedroom of her own but that was too generous. She was his wife, not his roommate.

Soarynn slowly walks towards him hands clasped behind her back. Coriolanus smirks when she stops, taking it as an opportunity to circle around her like a predator to prey. Soarynn keeps her eyes trained on the floor, not daring to look him in the eye.

Coriolanus doesn't like that. He slips his finger under her chin, lifting her head up, "How have you been finding this marriage Soarynn?" He asks, watching as she tries to formulate an adequate answer. She swallows, "I've been finding it quite well sir," she whispers.

Another thing he doesn't like, she always whispers.

How many times has he wanted to yell at her to speak up? To look him in the eye?

He never does, can't have rumors going around that President Snow yells at his perfect little wife.

He hums, his other hand grabbing the fabric of her dress, pinching it between his fingers. "I think we need a set of rules." Soarynn's face slightly scrunches in confusion, "Rules?" He nods, letting her go and walking towards the fireplace, "Yes. I think setting out some rules for you would make this marriage much easier on the both of us."

He folds his hands behind his back, thinking about all the things she's done in the past month that have pissed him off in one way or another. It's not entirely her fault, she's learning, he knows that. But there's a certain expectation that falls on your shoulders if you want to be Mrs. Snow.

"First, no getting out of bed before me," he starts, "no man should ever wake up to his wife missing from their bed."

Soarynn has the decency to look slightly guilty. Since the day they got married, she's slipped out of bed before he's woken up and that's saying something considering how early he has to wake up. He nods, what a perfect first rule.

"Secondly, I expect a kiss every morning before I go to work and every evening when I come back from work. It's not easy running a country and it's even harder when your wife refuses to show you the smallest bits of physical affection."

If it hadn't been for all the cameras they've faced he's sure they wouldn't have kissed since they stood at the altar.

A frown graces Soarynn's lips but he's on a roll now.

"And your wardrobe needs some attention," his eyes land on her current attire, "desperately."

Soarynn looks hurt by his words and her bottom lip trembles, "What's wrong with my outfit?" She asks softly, tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Well, now Coriolanus feels slightly bad, critiquing every little thing about her. Not everything about her needs fixing, her physical beauty for example is perfect. He's only caught a few glances of her semi-naked form in the mirror and it's been enough to make him wonder about her sweet little virgin cunt.

Because Soarynn is a virgin.

Her father was quick to reassure Coriolanus but he wasn't taking any chances, men lie all the time and he wouldn't put it past Glen Nightingale to put his precious little daughter on some holy and untouched pedestal just so he could pass her off to Coriolanus. So he had her visit his personal doctor who further inspected her and confirmed that her hymen was still intact. A virgin.

They hadn't had sex on their wedding night. Mainly because Soarynn had been trembling and he wasn't able to enjoy himself with her in that fragile state. He heard her crying when she thought he was asleep. In her eyes, the world was ending, all her freedom was gone in the blink of an eye. He wanted to take more of it as he looked her up and down, wanted more tears.

"Well it needs to be on the floor darling," he says matter of factly, not missing the way her eyes widen in surprise. Coriolanus has always been a rather straightforward man so he finds no need to hold back his desires for his wife. He snaps his fingers when she doesn't immediately begin undressing, "On the floor Soarynn, now."

Soarynn swallows and her hands tremble as she slips off her pink dress, letting it pool around her ankles before stepping out of it. She's wearing a light pink bra with panties to match. He had after all bought her an entirely new wardrobe of lingerie. Because he's so thoughtful.

She looks so small standing in front of him, so young and naive, so pure. "Crawl to me." He might as well get her used to what he expects in the bedroom. He should come up with some rules for that too, make sure she knows that his word is law.

Soarynn looks mortified but she doesn't argue as she sinks to her knees, getting on her hands and crawling towards him. Coriolanus takes a seat in the leather armchair behind him. He often sits in it while nursing a glass of whiskey after a long day of work, watching Soarynn play with her cat. And now she's crawling towards him like one.

Once she reaches his feet she pops up on her knees, looking quite unsure of herself and what to do next. "Never touched by a man before," he sighs, cupping her small face with his large hand, smirking when she slightly leans into it. He's sure she's as touch-starved as he is, somewhat lonely. "It's time you learn how to be a good wife," he tells her, going to unzip his pants, his cock already hard. Soarynn's eyes narrow in on his impressive bulge and she gulps, "I've never..." Her voice dies off and he chuckles, "Never what? Never sucked cock before angel?" Soarynn presses her lips into a thin line when he mentions what she's about to do, "Never seen one before," she whispers.

Coriolanus raises his eyebrows, this girl truly is a virgin. Perfect for him to corrupt. He pulls his cock out from his boxers and Soarynn visibly pales at the size, looking up at him, at it. He grabs a fistful of her hair, pulling her further up on her knees, "Don't worry," he says, "you'll learn to worship it by the time I'm through with you."

Soarynn whimpers and he instructs her to open her mouth, pleased when she does so without hesitation. "Now lick the tip angel," he tells her, watching her small tongue lick up and down his tip, doing do good already. Coriolanus groans, "Good girl, now up and down the length, lick all the way up from the bottom." Soarynn furrows her eyebrows but he's quick to yank her head to the bottom of his shaft and she licks his length up and down, up and down until he's ready to truly fuck her throat.

"Now open wide," he says with a sigh, "and watch your teeth or I'll pull every single one out." He doesn't mean that but what she doesn't know won't hurt her. Soarynn slowly takes his cock in her small mouth, squeezing her eyes shut when he begins to slide in, filling her to the brim. Coriolanus lets out a low moan, "Just like that," he mumbles, "now move your head up and down, just like I showed you babydoll."

Soarynn's a fast learner to her credit because she does just as he instructed, stimulating him perfectly albeit she struggles to handle his size. Coriolanus is proudly large in both length and girth, making a blowjob quite difficult if you're the one giving it. But he loves seeing her take it and doesn't hesitate to buck his hips up every once in a while, punching the back of her throat, listening to her gag.

"Right there," he moans, tilting his head back, getting closer and closer to his peak. He throws out all regards for Soarynn's comfort as he begins to fuck her throat, holding her hair so tight that all she can do is take it. "Look at me," he orders, looking down at his pretty little wife who's mouth is full of his cock. Her eyes find him and they're filled with tears. "Perfect," he mutters, "made just for me."

He thinks about finishing just in her mouth but he needs to add an element of humiliation into this, letting her know exactly who she belongs to. "Keep your mouth open," he grits out, pulling his cock from her warm mouth. He cums right then and there, ropes landing both in her mouth and on that pretty little face of hers. Soarynn closes her eyes but stays put, letting him do whatever he pleases with her. Once he finishes he drops her hair and Soarynn sinks down further on her knees, blinking away the tears and sniffling.

"You look so pretty when you take my cock Soarynn," he murmurs, running his fingers through her soft blonde hair. Soarynn shakily nods, "Thank you, sir." Her voice is scratchy, something Coriolanus proudly notes before sitting up straighter, "Now it's time for you to prove yourself worthy of being my wife."

His cock is still hard and ready for her cunt to be wrapped around it. Soarynn glances over her shoulder towards their bed and he tuts, "No babydoll, you'll take me right here."

The look of sheer panic and fear is enough to make him cum again but he holds back, "Get up here and don't make me repeat myself."

Soarynn pushes herself from the floor, her knees shaking as she climbs onto the chair, her knees on either side of his thighs, her cunt hovering over his cock. "I...I'm scared it'll hurt," she admits softly. Coriolanus tilts his head, looking her up and down in her current state, cum on her face along with her tears. "Every time you take me it'll hurt," he says, his fingers slipping under her lace panties, ignoring the way she flinches, "but you'll take it like you should, am I understood?" Soarynn gasps when he rips her panties clean off and discards them onto the floor, "Yes sir."

Soarynn whimpers when he grabs her hips, pulling her down towards his cock, "Shouldn't, shouldn't you prepare me?" She asks, her voice breathless. Coriolanus shakes his head, so fucking ready to feel her tight cunt, "You've been preparing for this your whole life."

He pulls her down and Soarynn cries out, her entire body tensing and her hands flying to grab his shoulders. Coriolanus pays her no mind and keeps pulling her down, feeling how warm and tight her cunt is. "So fucking wet for me," he whispers. And she is wet, even if she isn't attracted to him, her body certainly is. Soarynn whines as he grips her hips tighter, "I can't," she gasps, more tears falling from her eyes.

Coriolanus shakes his head, finally pulling her down, completely bottoming out. "You will. You'll take my cock every fucking time Soarynn. It'll be the only thing you think of once I'm done with you." Soarynn's still crying but Coriolanus begins to move his hips up, his tip pressing against her sweet spot. Soarynn lets out a soft moan, "Oh," she gasps, "oh."

There it is.

He knew it would take only a few thrusts into that sweet cunt of hers to get her addicted. She'll learn to take it like she should, however he wants, whenever he wants. "There you go," he praises, thrusting into her at a rapid, punishing pace now, "finally turning into my little fuckdoll huh?" Soarynn can't even verbally respond anymore, all she can do is make pitiful little noises while she takes it like the cocksleeve she is.

He slaps his hand on her ass, hard enough to leave a bruise, "You'll take every drop of my cum too," he pants, "even when you're swollen with my child you'll still take it like you should." He can picture it now, Soarynn's stomach so much bigger, his heir inside of her, her lying on her back while she takes him over and over again.

Soarynn throws her head back, "Please sir, please it's too much." Coriolanus grabs her throat, squeezing it hard to cut off her airflow, "It can't be too much for a fuckdoll like you," he drawls, pulling her in for a heated kiss. Her lips are so soft against his, so delicate. he bites into her lower lip, drawing blood and tasting it. "You can deny it all you want but you love it," he says against her lips, making sure to drill into her sweet spot, make her dumb with it, "you love being full of my cock Soarynn, love being my good girl."

Coriolanus can feel her cunt beginning to squeeze him like a vice, she's getting closer to her peak and he can't wait to watch her fall apart, his dumb little fuckdoll. Her eyes are rolling to the back of her head, her legs shaking as she takes whatever he gives her. He can't wait to fuck her from behind, from above, in the shower, in his study. He'd fuck her on national television if he could. But she's his and no one will ever get to see her like this.

"Give it to me," he commands, his hand slipping down from her throat to play with her clit. Soarynn lets out a strangled scream the second he touches it, clearly overstimulated already. He'll have to play with her, find what makes her tick, fall apart, cry. "Be my good girl and cum."

It takes one swift pinch to her clit to get her to cum all over him, her walls fluttering around his cock as he continues to thrust into her. He's right behind her, his cock pumping her full of his cum. "Take it," he grunts, fucking it deep into her cunt, "take it like you should." Soarynn collapses against him while he slowly thrusts into her, making sure nothing is wasted. She's panting hard, her entire body trembling and he wonders if he should give her some words of encouragement, maybe wrap his arms around her.

He wants to see her dripping with his cum though.

The aftercare can wait. He grabs her waist and slowly begins to pull her off of his cock, groaning at how tight she grips him. Soarynn moans and her hands grip his shoulders. It's a heavenly sight to see her cunt dripping with his cum, running down her thighs. It's slightly red and there's a bit of blood covering his cock signifying the loss of her virginity. "Well, well, well," he croons, "looks like you fully belong to me now doll."

Soarynn gives him a look of indifference but he knows she's affected by it. She'll be terribly sore tomorrow but he'll take care of her, bathe her, clothe her, help her remember all the rules and then some.

Because she's his. To have and to hold.

| tumblr oneshot/drabble |

[pessimisticpigeonsworld]

There are a lot of people claiming that people are hating Alicent because they "can't handle a complex female character". And I'd agree with them, if Alicent was a complex character.

Alicent is someone HOTD is obsessed with making sympathetic, part of that is that they altered her motivations massively. In F&B, Alicent is motivated by ambition and resentment for Rhaenyra. Through this lens, her actions make a lot of sense. She factionalized court by demanding Aegon be made heir, she suggested Aegon be betrothed to Rhaenyra she spread rumors about the Velaryon boys' legitimacy, she raised her sons to despise Rhaenyra and her family, she forced Helaena to marry Aegon at 13, etc. All theses actions were to put Aegon on the throne, no matter the cost to her other children, Rhaenyra's innocent sons, and the threat of war.

In the show, by removing Alicent's ambition and making her solely motivated by wanting to protect her children, Alicent comes off as a hypocrite and an idiot at best, delusional at worst. Her turn from wanting to go back to being Rhaenyra's best friend after marrying Viserys to declaring war on her at court is jarring to say the least. Alicent apparently decided to believe that Rhaenyra could execute her half-siblings with no evidence other than that she didn't tell Alicent about her sex life. That's not a complex decision, that's just stupidity.

Alicent spends the entire gap of the ten year time skip abusing and undermining Rhaenyra and raising her sons to believe that the Velaryons are beneath them. If she was truly concerned about her children's safety, making a massive wedge between Rhaenyra's family and her own (which only endangers them more by removing familial bonds) is the dumbest decision ever. To add to that, Alicent is constantly telling Aegon that he will be king, which is treason. If any servants hear her telling Aegon that or him talking about it to her or Aemond, he could be executed or exiled. How exactly is that protecting him? She also teaches her other children treason, by constantly repeating that Rhaenyra's sons are bastards. Again, if anyone overhears Aegon and Aemond saying this, they could be executed, exiled, or tortured, as we see in episode seven.

Alicent refuses to actually do anything about Aegon bullying his siblings, only warns him to do it in private. Again I ask, how is that protecting her children? She refuses a marriage alliance that would raise the probability of, at the very least, Helaena's survival. I understand concerns over Helaena being like a captive, but again, this concern stems from Alicent's own doing. Rhaenyra has given her no actual reason to believe she'd commit the worst taboo in Westeros, but Alicent has driven a massive wedge between their families and has declared the political war she's so concerned about. Again: Alicent is the cause of the danger posed to her children.

Instead of agreeing to Rhaenyra's offer or betrothing Helaena to literally anyone else, she forces Helaena to marry Aegon when they are still children. This decision is completely hypocritical. Alicent expresses disgust by the Targaryen marriage customs back in episode five, now in episode seven, she is forcing her children to marry each other in order to strengthen Aegon's claim. Aegon despises Helaena and already has an alcohol problem by the time of the wedding, how is that a safe environment for Helaena? The show also made Alicent a child bride, which makes her decision even more confusing. Alicent went through the same struggles she's forcing on Helaena, yet she still forced them to marry so young, thus putting Helaena into the same misery she felt at the beginning of the show.

Changing Alicent's motivation to try and make her seem more "noble" makes her into a hypothetical idiot. Had the show kept in her ambition, she would be a complex antagonist. A woman who plays the system for her betterment and even pushes aside her children's well-being for it is an interesting character, much like Cersei. However, unlike Cersei, Alicent has a lot of control at court and over the king, making her an even more interesting rival to Rhaenyra. But in the show, Alicent is someone who refuses to better her life, despite having more than enough power to do so, and sacrifices everything she cares about in the name of those very same things. People pointing out and complaining about the inconsistencies and hypocrisy of Alicent is not them being "unable to handle a complex female character". It's them being rightfully irritated by a hypocrite who the narrative is constantly pushing as the ultimate victim.

[shmowder]

In a small town like in pathologic, the topic of divorce is taboo and never brought up. Instead, people bottle their emotions and endure their unruly spouses until death do them apart. It's just how it always been, this isn't the Capital after all.

This is why it made the judge himself pause when you marched into his workshop, demanding to nullify your marriage with none other than Artemy Burakh.

The news spread like wildfire through the gossipy town, from the Crude Sprawl to the Atrium. Even those residing at the outer steppe camps caught wind of the menkhu's misfortune.

How much of a toll it took on him, his broken heart worn on his sleeves with a hardened glare in his eyes. The man looked as if he was withering away by the day whenever you inevitably crossed paths with him in the streets.

Your now ex-husband who looks at you with pleading eyes, conversation taking an awkward turn as he doesn't bother hiding his emotions. Asking if you're happy on your own, if you need his help around your new apartment... if you really stopped wearing your wedding ring.

He never stopped wearing his own.

It's especially infuriating how people act like the two of you are still married. Staying willfully ignorance anytime you try to correct them when they refer to him as your husband and ask for his whereabouts. When the kin treats you still as the menkhu's spouse, marriage is sacred, and a simple signed paper can't erease the love and bread you shared together, or so they claim.

How Artemy does nothing to quell these talks, if anything they fuel his conviction that you're just in a mood and you'll definitely come back. A glisten in his eyes as he still tells you about Sticky and Murky's days, emphasising how much the kids miss you and are asking about you, so how about you come back home... at least just for dinner? He'll cook the meat and you can cut the vegetables, he misses the taste of food coming from your hands.

You wouldn't want to disappoint the kids, would you? It's just one night, is it really so horrible to spend time with him again?

Ex-husband Artemy who subconsciously reaches for you whenever you're close by. Touching you has just become second nature to him. Placing his hand on your thigh while sitting together, holding you by the hips when standing behind you, his big hand guiding you by the small of your back when on a walk.

Who still slips sometimes and goes back to these old habits, even as he becomes aware, he waits for you to point it out before pulling his hand back.

He is trying... a little. He keeps his arms crossed against his chest or still by his side just to suppress his urge to pick you up in a bear hug like he got used to doing each day he came back home.

If you start frequenting the broken heart pub in an attempt to signle how you're single now to other people, it doesn't take more than a day for your ex-husband to start showing up around the same time. One of the herb brides having told him about you no doubts.

He doesn't try to be polite or mask why he's here. Artemy's clearly pissed and distraught that you'd rather spend your nights at some basement bar rather than your own family back at the safety of the home he provides.

Fine, have it your way. He's not arguing with you. He will just stay here and wait it out. Sitting directly on the stool by your side with an angry glare, his sheer size alone intimidating all those who think of approaching you.

Who in their right mind would mess with the ripper's spouse? And they know he isn't above starting a fight if someone is stupid enough to hit on you in front of him.

Yes, yes, you are single and free to flirt with however you want.

Just like how his fists are free to break the jaw of anyone who replies back.

Do you really think he is above it? Do you think his shotgun is just for show? No matter what, he will fight to have his family back, which includes you now, ever since the day you married him. obligation and love will always drive him.

For Boddho's sake, he gave you a house, two kids and and a place amongst the kin. He provides for you and puts food on the table. He helps with chores and runs errands. What more do you want?

Date nights? Personal time? For him to give you a kiss without being drenched in the smell of post-surgery blood?

He'd sigh, shaking his head. These are shallow things in his eyes. He's plenty affectionate! at least he thinks so. Romantic words didn't come easily to Artemy, he can offer wisdom and advice only a menkhu is capable of but he doesn't know how to write a valentine's card to save his life.

Ex-husband Artemy who doesn't want to be this way. After a drink or two, his legs take him to your new home.

Knocking on the door with a sheepish look. Expecting you to slam the door in his face but pleasantly surprised when you invite him inside.

Even if it was a merey courtesy polite invitation since he knocked in the middle of the night. His heart interprets it as a clear sign of you wanting him back, too. A clear declaration of love, of missing him.

Caging you with his arms against the wall, burying his face at the top of your head, pressing his body intimately close against yours until you can feel the drum of his heartbeat.

Ex-husband Artemy, who starts whispering in your ear how much he desperately wants you back in his life.

Please, what did he ever do wrong? He doesn't understand. He thought you were happy with him.

He'll fix it, he will stich it back together he promises. So please take his hand and come back home? The bed is cold without you, the house is quieter and he can't stop staring at the empty chair at the breakfast table.

You must want him back, too, right? You know he loves you, and he knows you love him too. So why complicate things?

[acourtofthought]

what do you think about elain being a shadowsinger?

“Elain stepped out of a shadow behind him, and rammed Truth-Teller to the hilt through the back of the king’s neck as she snarled in his ear, “Don’t you touch my sister.”

Be prepared because you're getting more than you bargained for 🤣

I definitely don't think it means Elain is a shadowsinger. Shadowsingers are rare (so two characters with the exact same power in one small group of people would be overkill) and nothing about Elain's personality fits the shadowsinger imagery, she wants light and Az shadows are scared of the sun. Not to mention it's noted they often vanish around Elain.

I do think the excerpt is hinting at something because we still have no idea how Elain made it all the way from the safety of the camp to Nesta and Cassian.

No one would have winnowed her, if they had, they wouldn't have had her face the king alone.

So where does that leave us?

If Gwydion / the Starsword is based off the Sword in the Stone than King Arthur also had a dagger (TT is the twin to Gwydion)

I think one possibility is that TT itself is somewhat responsible for Azriel being cloaked in shadows to the extent he is.

I'm not fully sold on this because Cormac seems to have shadows around him as Az does and he's not in possession of TT.

My second theory is one I love and I love it so much that at this point I can't tell if it's completely farfetched or plausible (anyone who has followed my blog for awhile is probably groaning right about now because they know what's coming 😂).

Did Elain really come out of the "shadows" and shadows alone or did she creep up behind him under the shadows of the trees?

Nesta again dodged and retreated through the trees. Leading him away—away from Cassian.

Her power sent him flying back, trees snapping under him. One after another after another.

Her power had stopped hurling the king across the forest. He now stalked toward them, brushing off splinters and leaves from his jacket—

The King of Hybern stepped into that clearing, dark power wafting from his fingertips.

But as a black blade broke through the king’s throat, spraying blood, I realized someone else had. Elain stepped out of a shadow behind him, and rammed Truth-Teller to the hilt through the back of the king’s neck

The king stepped out of the forest, right into the clearing (so he wasn't in the middle of the clearing at this point) and Elain came up directly behind him with his back facing those trees.

Same question as above but how did she get to the forest so quickly? Second, how did she even hear that Nesta and Cassian were in trouble right at that moment? We need a solution that explains all those things, how she could move quickly and quietly and how she heard so far.

The reason I initially came up with this theory is because SJM pinned a photo of Blodeuwedd under Elain's name.

Blodeuwedd is the Welsh Goddess of Spring, made out out of flowers to be the most beautiful female anyone had seen and created by the hero's (Lleu aka Lucien) uncle Gwydion in order to give him a wife (finding a way around the curse that had been placed upon him). However, Blodewwedd wasn't happy at being made for someone and she ended up having an affair with Gronw (aka Az), scheming with him to kill her husband. They were caught, her lover was killed, and her punishment was being turned into an owl.

Notice any similarities there?

Elain is "the most beautiful female" Lucien had ever seen, not to mention "Spring had been made for someone like her". She's angry at being given a mating bond and she ended up almost kissing Az on Solstice who doesn't seem all that bothered at the thought of killing Lucien in a duel.

SJM gives fairytales happy endings so of course she's not going to punish Elain for nearly kissing Az, she and Az aren't truly plotting Lucien's death, Az isn't going to be killed by the "hero" Lucien, and Lucien wouldn't have his "bride" betray him in the end.

(side note, I do find it interesting that the sword in Sword in the Stone and the dagger that cloaks it's user in shadows are connected in mythology, the "Starsword" is connected to Az's dagger in ACOTAR and SJM named that sword Gwydion, a name used in the Blodeuwedd fairytale which seems to be connecting to Lucien and Az).

But still, the only thing missing from this fairytale right now is that Elain doesn't shift into an owl.......

Fun facts about owls:

The "stealthy hunting hypothesis" holds that owls fly inaudibly so that prey CAN'T HEAR THEM coming"

Owls are known as SILENT predators of the night, capable of flying just inches from their prey WITHOUT BEING DETECTED.

All owls possess extremely sensitive hearing, allowing them to hear low-volume sounds that are relatively far away. But beyond that, many owls also have the uncanny ability to hone in on the exact location of a sound source.

An owls night vision is anywhere from 35 - 100 better than a humans. Not only that but they can see great in the daytime too. However, there is a drawback. Because they're far-sighted, they can't see objects up close. Finally owls have three eyelids.

So we know owls can see far away and really well at night. They have extremely sensitive hearing, they are silent predators meaning their prey can't hear them coming (aka the king?), and of course we all know a lot of owls fly under the cover of night and shadows though some are active during the day and some are active at dusk and dawn.

Mercifully, Elain QUIETLY approached me at breakfast.

Elain was again at my side. I HADN'T HEARD HER steps.

Elain PERCHED SILENTLY on the couch nearby.

Elain spoke from the doorway, having appeared so SILENTLY that they all twisted toward her, “Using me.”

“You came,” Elain said behind her, and Nesta started, NOT HAVING HEARD HER sister approach. She scanned Elain from head to toe, wondering if she’d been taking lessons in STEALTH either from Azriel or the two half-wraiths she called friends.

she shook her head, blinking twice.

but Elain peered up at Cassian, blinking twice.

Elain blinked and blinked,

Elain cocked her head

“Could you have done it? Decided to take a male form?” “Then why did you pick this body?” Elain asked.Elain asked, “And once you were in this body, you couldn’t change?”

“I can hear your heartbeat—if I listen carefully. I can hear her heartbeat, too.”

“I can hear the sea. Even at night.". It was an effort not to glance to Nesta. Even the town house was too far to hear anything from the nearby coast.

“When I sleep,” she murmured, “I can hear your heart beating through the stone.” She angled her head, as if the city view held some answer.

“I can hear her—crying.”

How long have you been working on this?” A one-shouldered shrug. “Since dawn"

But Elain, it seemed was as sleepless as me

Elain had walked in halfway through. She’d been toiling in the estate gardens since dawn

Elain moved fast enough that I could barely keep up.

Also, Silba the goddess of Healing and Gentle Deaths is symbolized by an owl and the color lavender.

Elain not only wears various shades of purple in SF, is bothered by death and cruelty but there might be hints that she was the one to heal Cassian in ACOWAR:

Graysen standing on the edge of camp, calling to her, promising her love and healing. (I wonder if this could be a clue as to Elain's future minus the Graysen part)

The Cauldron purred in Elain’s presence as the King of Hybern slumped to his knees, clawing at the knife jutting through his throat. Elain backed away a step.

Elain rushed to Cassian, but the warrior was panting—smiling grimly and panting—

Nesta was watching them when I reached her and Elain at the tree-lined outskirts. Had she done some healing, somehow, in those moments after she’d severed the king’s head? Or had it been Cassian’s immortal blood and Azriel’s battlefield patching that had already healed him enough to manage to stand, even with the wing and leg? I didn’t ask my sister, and she supplied no answer as she took the water bucket dangling from Elain’s still-bloody hands, and I followed them both through the trees.

And finally, if Elain is meant to restore Spring as High Lady or interim High Lady (depending on what SJM is doing about Tamlin), then a known power of the High Lord of Spring is shape shifting and an owl would fall right in line with that. Not to mention it would give Elain the freedom to travel as she's always wanted to do.

So to sum up your original question, I don't think Elain is a shadowsinger 😂

[neiptune]

Hi there! First off…yay fellow Swiftie! So my request is going to be Demon Slayer (sorry, but I don’t watch the other two animes,) in particular, for Gyomei Himejima. The lyric/prompt I would like to use is: “All they keep asking me is if I’m gonna be your bride.”

Thank you so much! Also, this seems like an amazing idea…I may just have to do this for all of her albums.

gyomei himejima x all they keep asking me is if i'm gonna be your bride

a/n: i'm so sorry for being this late, tysm for sending in your request! i've been very happy to write it for you <3 i hope you enjoy!

One thing about Gyomei and his presence is your life is the lightness of it.

He's everything, everywhere, all the time. Sunlight filtering through tree leaves, comforting steam rising up from a cup of tea, softness of freshly laundered linen, safety and warmness and kindness found in a world so harsh, cold, unfair.

Gyomei wants to give, incessantly: it sure took some time to convince him he's worthy of receiving as well. That's why you ask for very little and not so often. Still, he just can't help but give give give.

Sometimes it scares you. His I love yous can throb with hints of definitive farewells, you can discern the shakiness of his hands embedded in the letters he sends you whenever he's away. Ever the gentle lover, on occasion he'd turn desperate, kisses burning and grip almost bruising as if scared you will break apart and slip through his fingers like the golden sand you love so much if he doesn't hold you tight enough.

And, sometimes, you scare him as well. Gyomei knows you're crazy (in love) enough to face a demon should it mean keeping your little household safe, reckless (courageous) enough to quite literally fight Sanemi Shinazugawa when he's being particularly cocky, obsinate (smitten) enough to leave the room each time he'd try to initiate the maybe you'd be better off without me, you should be free to pursue a normal life discourse, not willing to listen but not willing to start a fight either. Because you couldn't even fathom such an impossible, unfair suggestion. His hinting at a normal life, as if you could ever have a life to live in the first place without him in it.

Gyomei is busy, often away, so you certainly do your best to keep your requests reasonable. A little just five more minutes grumbled at dawn, as soon as he gently tries to untangle the arms and legs you keep stubbornly wrapped around him; a soft let's take a walk even if you know he's tired and would much prefer to stay in, the fluttering touch of your fingertips across his cheeks, brows, bridge of a perfect nose as you let him know that it's your turn to make dinner. He'd huff a laugh and you'd smile in anticipation for the inevitable you claim to love me and yet you enjoy torturing the both of us because Gyomei can lift rocks and move mountains and mitigate Sanemi's temper but he can't, for the life of him, cook.

But today's different. Rain is falling heavily enough to be bending the leaves of the plants in your garden but the sound is so soothing you don't mind, not as you sit on the tatami floor of your bedroom, nestled between strong legs as equally strong but gentle hands pat your wet hair with a soft towel. Gyomei had met you a few yards away from your house, rushing right away to cover your trembling figure with the big red umbrella he'd grabbed before heading out.

Why'd you head out in the rain?

I didn't want to be late.

But you know I'll always come get you.

Well, we met halfway, didn't we?

You know he's not really annoyed, he never is. Just worried you'll catch a cold, as indicated by the warm bath he'd prepared right away as soon as you got home.

And now, as you sit with your back pressed to his chest, you're left wondering how to introduce a topic that's been sitting heavily on your tongue for the past months. It's something you have both thought about, joked about even, but never properly addressed.

“Are your siblings doing well? I wish to visit your family soon, we should go together next time”

“Of course. They talk about you all the time anyway” you don't have to turn around to know that he's smiling. Your parents have been showering him with respect and affection since day one and your siblings still can't quite believe someone as important as a hashira would materialize in their garden, sit at their table, be able to discern their amazed yet timid gazes and meet them with a smile each time, the youngest almost always sitting on his lap by the end of every lunch, dinner, breakfast, cup of tea.

“And that concerns you because?” of course he'd catch the way the tenderness in your tone conceals the tension. Or maybe it's the stiffness in your shoulders that gave it away.

You turn around to sit more comfortably and confront him, cross-legged and a bundle of nerves as your stomach flips at the mere thought of opening your mouth. God.

“My love?” he inquires, brows furrowed in confusion.

“There's something we discussed today. It's not the first time, actually”

Gyomei nodds, urging you to keep going. It takes a deep breath to allow the next words to slip past your lips.

“All they keep asking me is if I’m gonna be your bride”

Now his shoulders stiffen, a reaction you expected but that doesn't hurt any less.

“I'm sorry, I don't mean to pressure you” you're quick to add “their expectations shouldn't define us”

Gyomei stays silent for so long you curl your fingers in your lap, the veil of uneasiness settling on the room ever so silently as rain keeps drumming on the roof and wind howls outside the windows. He knows you want it just as much as your family and he can only hope you know just how much he wants it too. He'd marry you in a heartbeat if it wasn't for the weight of not being able to grant you a normal, safe, balanced life curving his shoulders each morning as he wakes and each night as he presses your body against his own.

“I don't blame them for having normal expectations” words come out attentively, voice so low it's barely a whisper. Your heart squeezes a little.

“It's just—” he takes a breath and palms close tightly around his knees “I can't ask you that. I can't promise enough to ask you that”

“You can't promise you'll love me?”

Gyomei is offended by such a question, you can see it in the in the displeased line of his mouth.

“In every world, in a hundred lifetimes, in any version of reality, I will love you. Do not mistake my hesitation for doubts about my feelings”

You reach for his hands, they feel hard and calloused in yours but they're also warm and familiar.

“I know how this goes. You're scared something will happen to you, you hate the thought of hurting me, but what about what I want? Is that less important, somehow?”

“I certainly wish you wouldn't make this so hard for me”

You crack a smile, thumb soothingly running across the back of his hand.

“And I wish you'd let me be your spouse. I wish you'd stop thinking you have to face the world on your own. That is, if you want me. A silly, useless woman who can't fight but at least doesn't risk burning the house down when crackin' an egg”

Gyomei scoffs as he reaches for your hips, dragging you all the way to his lap, and you indulge in a chuckle, legs and arms finding their way around him as his cheek presses to your shoulder. He's so big and yet manages to fold on himself whenever he hugs you like this.

“You talk so much nonsense” he playfully groans and you shrug with a smile that grows in size as his lips graze your exposed neck.

“I guess I'd be the luckiest man to ever live if you'd let me listen to it for the rest of my life”

[lemonhemlock]

bg3 anon, answers under the cut for ease of scrolling! 🤝

Anonymous asked:

"you’re right. i think i’ll perhaps do it as a safety check because i don’t intend to be respectful of the bloodsucker twink lmao. i put him in a ridiculous looking outfit and it’s so hard to take him seriously AT ALL i’ll see how it goes. he’s currently leaving me on ‘Seen’ with an approval rating of 3" Darling (pun intended, sorry, couldn't help myself) it's going to be a problem starting his romance if you're still at 3 approval. I would suggest checking the BG3 wiki, it has most of his approvals and disapprovals listed so you could farm them, but that would be way too immersion breaking to be fair as it goes against the beauty of role playing, at least if you are the type who truly immerses oneself like I am...sometimes I can't bring myself doing things I personally want to do it in a game because it would go against the character I am playing...it's super weird lol.

If romancing him doesn't work out maybe you can go with Gale instead? Or why not maybe Shadowheart will grow on you haha By the way I don't know if I mentioned this but to successfully romance the bloodsucker, you need to sleep with him at least once in act 1. You can't start his romance later.

As for ridiculous looking outfits…here's a suggestion you may want to keep in mind: at the start of act 3 there's a circus where you can loot a clown outfit and buy clown makeup. I put everything on Gale personally because why not? However, sadly the only clown in this whole affair was myself considering I spent 5000 gold on making Astarion a fucking statue, which stayed in my camp for the remainder of act 3. And he didn't even comment on it!!! Well at least I didn't go for the naked version of it, but next time I'm definitely choosing to make a statue for my Tav lmao.

"well the wives are the reason i’ve started to play actually, as counter-productive as that sounds 😂 i have a friend who explained the lore to me, so i know most of astarion’s background and what happens with him, though i don’t remember details, of course. she told me how delulu they are in excusing every thing he does, even his insane decision to become the no 1 ascended vampire boss. how they deceive themselves into believing astarion becomes in love with them if they act like complete doormats and go along with whatever fuckass thing he wants, even if the 'detect thoughts’ option clearly indicates that he thinks badly of them :))"

I didn't want to mention the possible ascension because of spoilers but since you know a lot about him already thanks to your friend…yes, it's all true. The ascension wives are the most unhinged subsect of the Astarion fandom. If you let him do it he even becomes abusive if you are in a romance with him and you'll even have to agree to let him turn into his vampire spawn otherwise he'll break up with you (some of the wives 100% believe he turns you into his vampire bride, but obviously there is nothing in the game confirming this, on the contrary, the evidence is quite flimsy). The craziest thing is the wives think YOU are the abusive one for not letting him sacrifice 7000 souls (including children) in a diabolical ritual, a deal with a fucking archdevil in order to let him ascend, because how can you condemn pookie to a possible life without the sun while still feeling a vampire's hunger? They think you are robbing him of his own agency and infantilizing him. Not to mention that once you get rid of the tadpole, he won't even let you break up with him anymore. Like, at all. You have no choice anymore. He outright laughs at you and says "your future is mine to decide." Also, if you break up with him just before he's about to turn you into his spawn he admits he would've used your love for him against you until "you were nothing", that he appreciates you for doing this, saying he didn't think you had it in you (breaking up with him, that is). Oh and since you mentioned playing the game for meme potential, well, here you also have the option to kick him in the balls when he says "on your knees, darling" to your Tav, before he's about to transform them into a vampire. But be careful, he breaks up and leaves the party permanently after doing this to him lmfao (like any Real Man™ would).

But no, the wives won't hear any of this, in fact they blame you for only choosing the confrontational dialogue options and say that if you are nice to him, he doesn't turn abusive. What??? That's not how this works lmao.

Yes, he has all that power, glory and money if he ascends, but at what cost? He totally loses himself and any positive character growth he had is totally gone and nullified by the ascension. Like yeah he does push for ascending, but does he really need it? There is a difference between wanting something (for all the wrong reasons imho, he can be safe and free without doing this as his good ending proves it) and needing something and you as his friend or lover should know better rather than have him give in into his worst impulses. Tbh I think many of these wives genuinely believe that if he says he wants something, you have to do it because how can you deny your boyfriend this "but he said so!!!". Loving someone doesn't mean agreeing with them every single time, that's not how actual relationships work. That's not to say one can't enjoy toxic relationships in fiction, but that's not what these people are doing here, let's be real. He actually approves and genuinely thanks you if you talk him out of ascending, by the way. He says he was not himself back then when he was just about do it and although he did not appreciate it at the time, is now grateful for saving him from himself, that you saw and believed he is enough just way he is, that now he is "truly and honestly free". The game couldn't be more clear about this, the parallels, the foreshadowings are all there from the very beginning but everything completely flew over these people's heads. Sure, he gets sad when he loses the tadpole and can't be in the sun anymore but eventually he embraces the shadows (in a good way this time) and realizes he can be free and happy like this as well.

Did your friend mention the fact that the wives also harassed and stalked one one of his writers for calling this ending the bad one for him? Because they did this. (tbh personally I do think that writer unprofessional in how they expressed their opinion but they still didn't deserve to be harassed for it…and it's also not like the text itself doesn't confirm what they said).

I do feel bad for those who do like his evil ending for what it is without trying to whitewash it because they often end up catching strays thanks to the crazies, like people telling them they'll be abused in real life by their partners because they like this version of Astarion…which is not a nice thing to say to someone even online. On the other hand these wives claim they are genuine villain fuckers, that they love Astarion as evil as he can be, they also claim to love dark romances but then they totally dumb down the toxic elements of the relationship with him and turn it into uwuuu loving evil power couple. Come on…they genuinely insist his bad and evil ending is the GOOD one! Most characters have a good and evil or bad ending yet fans of other companions don't pretend the bad ones are secretly the good ones "for reasons" or "but they said so, they said they wanted it". I've yet to meet a Shadowheart fan who genuinely thinks her bad ending is in fact her good one, for example. Or a Lae'zel fan.

______________________________________________________________

Darling (pun intended, sorry, couldn't help myself) it's going to be a problem starting his romance if you're still at 3 approval.

i shot up to 28 now! 🤙 without basically doing anything evil, apart from letting him feed on Gandrel (but i kept him alive, at least) out of curiosity, i'm going to go back and see if that gained me any approval points or not

I would suggest checking the BG3 wiki, it has most of his approvals and disapprovals listed so you could farm them, but that would be way too immersion breaking to be fair as it goes against the beauty of role playing, at least if you are the type who truly immerses oneself like I am...sometimes I can't bring myself doing things I personally want to do it in a game because it would go against the character I am playing...it's super weird lol.

oh, i am so tempted, but i'm trying to maintain at least a semblance of unpredictability and candor! i totally get not wanting to do smth if the character would be against it

If romancing him doesn't work out maybe you can go with Gale instead? Or why not maybe Shadowheart will grow on you haha By the way I don't know if I mentioned this but to successfully romance the bloodsucker, you need to sleep with him at least once in act 1. You can't start his romance later.

good to know, soldier! 💪i am not refusing any of his (most likely) cringe sex proposals if i can get them 🤡

As for ridiculous looking outfits…here's a suggestion you may want to keep in mind: at the start of act 3 there's a circus where you can loot a clown outfit and buy clown makeup. I put everything on Gale personally because why not?

LOL i have a mod that gave me a clown outfit and i put it on shadowheart 😂 but gale sounds hilarious, too

However, sadly the only clown in this whole affair was myself considering I spent 5000 gold on making Astarion a fucking statue, which stayed in my camp for the remainder of act 3. And he didn't even comment on it!!! Well at least I didn't go for the naked version of it, but next time I'm definitely choosing to make a statue for my Tav lmao.

i was in tears when i read this :))))))))))))))))))) anon, i'm so sorry :)::):):)::):):):):) i can't imagine

i'm fine with letting astarion drain my blood, but i draw the line at spending so much money on his ungrateful arse 😂 priorities 😂

The ascension wives are the most unhinged subsect of the Astarion fandom.

the stories i've heard reveal such a fascinating level of delusion :)) like you said, not being able to accept the distinction between vampire spawn and vampire bride: he tells you (or least i chose that dialogue option) how one can become an actual, full-blown vampire and that no vampire would create a competitor! straight out of his mouth

Not to mention that once you get rid of the tadpole, he won't even let you break up with him anymore. Like, at all. You have no choice anymore. He outright laughs at you and says "your future is mine to decide." Also, if you break up with him just before he's about to turn you into his spawn he admits he would've used your love for him against you until "you were nothing", that he appreciates you for doing this, saying he didn't think you had it in you (breaking up with him, that is).

to think!! i would crawl straight into the depths of the mariana trench 😭 no way is this loser going to pull this level of insolence on mirta

Oh and since you mentioned playing the game for meme potential, well, here you also have the option to kick him in the balls when he says "on your knees, darling" to your Tav, before he's about to transform them into a vampire. But be careful, he breaks up and leaves the party permanently after doing this to him lmfao (like any Real Man™ would).

i puked a little in my mouth 💀

There is a difference between wanting something (for all the wrong reasons imho, he can be safe and free without doing this as his good ending proves it) and needing something and you as his friend or lover should know better rather than have him give in into his worst impulses.

yeah, that's what i was talking with my friend about, that you'd be out of your mind to accept for him to ascend. and, like you said, it would negate any kind of character growth he might have had until then. so far, my friend was able to talk him out of it and he was grateful, whereas my boyfriend didn't have a good enough approval rating so he had to kill him off. very different outcomes!

but neither of them have managed to fuck him so we'll see on which shores the tides of love take us 🤡

Tbh I think many of these wives genuinely believe that if he says he wants something, you have to do it because how can you deny your boyfriend this "but he said so!!!". Loving someone doesn't mean agreeing with them every single time, that's not how actual relationships work.

very well said!

also, i think that maybe in another game, it would matter more towards making him "happy" if you just went along with everything he says, but the game mechanics here are a little different and it's obviously telegraphing hard that this is Not A Good Path

That's not to say one can't enjoy toxic relationships in fiction, but that's not what these people are doing here, let's be real.

exactly, there needs to be a level of awareness here of what the dynamic actually is, not a senile denial of basic power imbalances

Did your friend mention the fact that the wives also harassed and stalked one one of his writers for calling this ending the bad one for him? Because they did this. (tbh personally I do think that writer unprofessional in how they expressed their opinion but they still didn't deserve to be harassed for it…and it's also not like the text itself doesn't confirm what they said).

not yet, i don't think! she just mentioned that they're very weird with the voice actors as well. she sent me a very long and lachrymose tumblr post, bemoaning that his actor showed his discomfort with ascended!astarion fans during a livestream, how unprofessional and hurt they were by this very normal reaction

on a different note, she showed me the post with the life-sized astarion sex doll someone commissioned

I do feel bad for those who do like his evil ending for what it is without trying to whitewash it because they often end up catching strays thanks to the crazies, like people telling them they'll be abused in real life by their partners because they like this version of Astarion…which is not a nice thing to say to someone even online.

of course, you can enjoy even that ending. i can see myself playing with my friends and making the most idiotic choices, howling with laughter. every one has a kind of setup that allows them to revel in the silliness or (why not) the kink-factor of these situations. it's the "convincing yourself this isn't abusive" part that's the issue

On the other hand these wives claim they are genuine villain fuckers, that they love Astarion as evil as he can be, they also claim to love dark romances but then they totally dumb down the toxic elements of the relationship with him and turn it into uwuuu loving evil power couple.

i wanted to highlight this because it's so true and something i've seen in more fandoms as well. i would say that aly$m0nd was a similar case, where a lot of shippers refused to engage with any potentially problematic aspects of their relationship and just pushed a sanitized true love narrative.

I will address the rest all at once without quoting separately since it's faster. Hopefully I didn't miss anything important:

The spear you found in Withers' place is okay for Shadowheart momentarily but it will soon become obsolete as you will find a much better weapon for her just before entering act 2. It's a mace called "The Blood of Lathander" and is located somewhere within the Githyanki Creche (you will have to go there as it's part of Lae'zel quest). Just deal with the giths first and then go and search for the weapon. It's super good for clerics especially and it's one of those weapons that is effective even in act 3 by the end of the game.

I heard about this mace! I will keep an eye out for it. Add it to my list of items I need to find while still in Act 1.

Entering turn based mode is also a good idea when stealing from merchants.

Yeah the weightless consumables mod is a must have. It seems useless now but when you start collecting all kinds of arrows, potions, scrolls, gold you will become encumbered really, really quick.

I'll see how much longer I'll mentally last with loading and unloading all of the crap I pick up. :))

I think you can sneak past Ethel's masked servants, some players managed to do it (perhaps you could try and make everyone invisible?). Personally I fought them as I didn't want to complicate myself by trying to sneak.

Oh yeah, I go more in detail in my last post about my Ethel adventures.

The Ethel point, if not used on your character, might very well go on one of your companions as I may have said in one of my previous asks. If anyone's main stat is still 17 use it to get it to 18. Then use the ability increase feat to even other odd ability points left? Mayrina will be angry with you no matter what you do so don't worry, it will pass.

So, I requested an INT +1. And my plan currently is to summon the ogres when I go to the goblin camp, make sure they die, if not felled by goblins, then by my hand, and pick up the Circlet of Intelligence or whatever it's called. It pumps INT up to 17, I think? I can then dump all of my INT numbers down to the minimum of 8, add Ethel's +1 and I'm up to 18. With a lot of points free to distribute someplace else. If I can get my hands on the Gloves of Dexterity, too, I can almost turn Mirta into a tank. I feel that secretly she longs for the bloodsong of the battlefield, but is keeping real quiet about it. :))

Nice that you persuaded the ogres to fight for you!!

You got the necromancy book? That's great. Buuuut you might have wanted to take Astarion with you as he has an interest in it. Giving it to him will also grant A LOT of approval (10 points I believe?) which is desirable since you want to romance him. And no, he won't do anything funny with it, the book will be safe in his hands. I mentioned in a previous ask about trusting and agreeing with some of his less insane suggestions, well, this is one of them.

Thank you so much for this suggestion! I wouldn't have known otherwise. There are a lot of details or paths in this game that you could easily miss, some of them very random!

As for your latest incident I should've mentioned that trusting him to NOT drain you dry isn't a good idea lol. I'm sorry once again however it's still extremely funny what he did to poor Mirta. At least she punched him!!

She's in her emo princess era currently. No time like the present to bust out the intense eye makeup!

After you are done with all the side quests in the area you can go to the goblin camp and do what's needed to be done there without needing to kill ALL of them. Rescue Halsin if you want to (he is a nice guy but a boring character overall and the bear sex stunt turned me off his character a bit I fear) and kill the goblin leaders. Not sure if you know, but one of their leaders (Minthara) can be recruited later in act 2 if you knock her out. So no killing - so don't use spells and ranged weapons on her if you want her to survive and have her in your party eventually.

Yeah, the bear sex I honestly find hilarious. I'm going to try to recruit as many as I can, because free labour and help? Why not? Though I'm not sure I can have both Minthara and Halsin in my camp (apparently they can't stand each other?). My bf said I had to choose, but I wonder if I can't get those two crazy cats to get along with my high CHA.

You may want to expose Kagha and the shadow druids before doing the goblin camp.

Good to know, thanks!

This is weird, when it comes to dialogues you should have the possibility to select the Friends cantrip in the bonus section before you roll the dice. It should be there near Shadowheart's guidance. Once you select it two dices will show up on your screen, then the dice with the higher number will be taken into consideration. You may have a bug if it doesn't show up. But yes other than dialogues, there's not much practicality for it.

You're right about that, I will reconsider the Friends cantrip later on maybe. I imagine I get more cantrip slots as I progress.

Also, if you want access to the Guidance cantrip, there is a necklace that grants you this spell so you won't need to drag Shadowheart around you. (a short video with the location so I don't have to explain it to you: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_abMisavwU )

This would be so useful, thank you very much!!! V excited about this!

Yep, Dancing Lights disarming traps and vents is apparently a thing which I found out quite late in the game. I always threw stones and random weapons at vents to cover them and then I had Astarion disarm them and any other traps.

As for lightning and ice spells or cantrips: Shocking Grasp and Ray of Frost are the only cantrips available, but you may want to look into spells. I know the temptation is to not spend your spell slots and focus on cantrips since you can cast them endlessly but trust me, sometimes you'll have to use spells. Once you hit level 5 you'll begin to have access to other cool lightning and ice spells. Lightning Bolt and Glyph of Warding (this one lets you choose the type of damage you will deal and both ice and lightning are available - Shadowheart as a cleric will also have access to this spell) and on later levels there are even more cool ones. You probably missed this one but on early levels there is also Chromatic Orb which is similar to the Glyph.

Oh, yeah, I do use spells, too, but you never know when you might need an elemental cantrip you can cast without limit.

The only items Gale can eat will have a text written under them that should say something like "Gale can absorb this item". He has standards, he won't eat just anything!

Too bad I didn't figure that one out sooner, but no real harm done!

Not you giving Gale the Dancing Lights amulet. You are right that it is redundant but it has sentimental value since it's from Arabella's parents. How could you???

The bard hat must be worn by a bard, even if you gain that ability from Alfira it won't work on your character. Bards, depending on their current level, have a number of "Bardic Inspiration Poins" which are similar to cleric's Guidance cantrip and will grant other party members bonuses when they roll their dices. Some of their attack actions are also dependent on this system and may cost bardic inspiration points. If you don't intend to respect someone into a bard or use multiclass (a feature that's not available on your difficulty level anyway) on a party member, then the hat will be useless and Gale can eat it.

Oh.... Well, it was worth a shot. I did look goofy while wearing it. Gave it to Gale after all.

Gloves of uncommon power? Did you mean gloves of power? They are fine on Lae'zel or maybe even better on Astarion due to the Sleight of Hand +1 bonus. You could give them to Gale and then buy the Gloves of Thievery for Astarion from the Zhentarim merchant (I think you need to deliver the shipment from the caravan to them without opening it in order to have access to them and other cool items from full inventory).

These names sort of blend into each other after a while. :)) I'm writing down the Gloves of Thievery, thanks. :))

thank you for the Magnus Archives podcast link!

You're very welcome, I hope you liked the episode!

Anonymous asked:

"lmao anon don't worry! i genuinely did it for the lols at least i got him to an 18 approval rating for me, more than karlach, lae'zel OR gale somehow (motherfucker, and this is AFTER i gave him an artefact to consume)" Thanks the gods lol, I was surprised a bit since most players did not genuinely trust him to not do something stupid. The fact that you have options to make him stop is enough of a warning imho, the game is pretty much like "are you sure about trusting him, hmm?".

Tell me about it, but you can't really think clearly with vampire fangs down your neck, right? ☠

And how did you manage to have fucking Gale at a lower approval lmao, now I feel stupid for suggesting in my other message to go for him instead if you can't manage to romance the vampire. Gale and Shadowheart were the only ones I managed to have much high numbers compared to Astarion, and quite early on. Karlach was the hardest for me, followed by Lae'zel.

I'll have to check how I stand with them in this post-Ethel administration! 💪 Shadowheart and Wyll are quite keen on me.

"i'm glad he's fucking "happy", what can i say 🤡 maybe now we're not going to fail every perception check in ethel's cave at least. we're going TODAY so i can benefit from this bonus (i did work my arse off for if after all!)" From now on up until the end of the game you can use his bite ability on enemies when in combat and he will gain the "Happy" condition each time, including the +1 bonus. Alternatively, you can also have Mirta become his willing blood bag and invite him to feed on her each night or so lol & the following morning he will gain the condition that way as well, but I think letting him feed on enemies is better.

Yeah, I can imagine the blood bank fics, 😅 but, unfortunately (or fortunately for the sane ones amongst us), Mirta would wake up with some of her abilities depleted at the cost of Astarion's boosts. And that doesn't really work for her since she's discovered her own penchant for dueling after her brush with death. How can she take all that damage enemies frontload on her in combat otherwise? 💬

A fun happening which I forgot to mention previously but there is this Rha*nicent fan art that's been living rent free in my head ever since I saw it back in august (link: https://x.com/kknoahh/status/1825991659835867357) with short haired Rha*nyra, who I genuinely thought to be…Astarion at first. I was like who the fuck started to ship Alicent with him lmao, like can you imagine this crackship.

Oh my goodness, Rhaenyra really does look like him. 😳 Alicent really out there catching all strays and being shipped with anyone with the slightest potential of becoming psychosexually obsessed with her. :))

Have fun at the birthday party!!

Thanks so much, it was nice to go out and see my friends!

Anonymous asked:

Well, Gale isn't in a position to criticize Astarion for hiding his true nature, to be fair. You'll find out soon enough when he confesses the full truth about his condition and why he really needs to consume all those magical artefacts. I don't remember if the rest of your companions have something to say each time after you give items to Gale to eat but after you feed him for the third and final time they should have something to say if you click on them, at least those who are in your active party at the time (again, no exclamation mark will show up above them).

This tip has proven very useful and I always make sure to check on them at the end of the day and after I hit long rest. Most of them did comment on Gale some way the other, but NONE of them had ANYTHING to day that the leech spawn KILLED ME. Forsooth!

Astarion will be like "who would hide something like this from his friends? you can't trust anyone this days", which is quite hilarious considering Gale was more understanding lol.

This line is even funnier if you think he's being self-aware while saying it. :))

I may offer you a hint that won't spoil anything: make a quicksave to be sure just in case and then use Astarion's bite ability on Gale. You'll see that something is wrong with the guy… ;)

He did ask me whose blood I'd suck, which was quite hilarious, and insisted I'd answer. :)) I picked Gale for the lols, hoping it would trigger what you said, but nothing happened. I guess fang boy abides by our deal and keeps to hunting animals? Who would have thought? But maybe I'll try to bite Gale tonight, to see what he does.

Unfortunately, backgrounds don't matter so much, Tav is pretty much a blank slate. You get some specific skill proficiencies and maybe some unique dialogue options here and there but other than that? Pretty much nothing, except for also receiving inspiration points. It's really a missed opportunity and one of my main criticisms of the game, there are plenty of occasions in the game where your background could've been taken into into consideration. You actually gave a good example about perhaps being allowed into spaces common born people aren't, but unless I missed something, nothing like this happens. You even meet Baldurian nobles in act 3 and you have no dialogue options with any of them when normally you should've been familiarized with at least some of them, being a noble yourself. Two of your possible companions, Wyll and Minthara, are of noble birth as well and you can't have a noble to noble conversation with them (you have a noble dialogue option with Minthara but only if you play as a drow noble, other races aren't acknowledged and as far as I can recall, Wyll has no specific dialogue for other nobles).

That's unfortunate. It would have been a great addition. Like, I imagine noble characters could start out with more coin in their pockets or that common-borns could have streets smarts (survival proficiency) or knowledge about the local flora or fauna or small settlements. I sometimes have dialogue with people about aspects my tav should already be aware of, even general world-building stuff, like fellow races or just current events. :))

Also, it's rather annoying to be playing a Baldurian character but they're seemingly unaware of anything going on in Baldur's gate. For example, Mirta should have been aware of Cazador, I feel? At the very least that there's a coven of vampires in her home city and that no one is doing anything about it. :)) Or just generally question Astarion's magistrate background.

Good luck with Ethel!!

Thank you! Whole other post below on my hag struggles. :)

[dross-the-fish]

In your post about how vampires are drawn to their victims you mention Dracula and Mina but not Jonathan. Arguably Dracula has more attachment to Jonathan since he kept him prisoner for 3 months, right?

eeehh could be but I didn't personally interpret it that way. The way Dracula behaves with Jonathan and the way he behaves with Lucy and Mina are extremely different...partly because sexism but also I think it should also be noted that there's a point where we have to stop thinking of Dracula as a character and consider what he is as a metaphor/narrative tool. He is meant to play on 19th century xenophobic stereotypes, particularly the fear of foreigners coming in and displacing white English men and converting or assaulting white English women. That was a big trope back in the day and Dracula as a novel leans heavily into it with no subversion.

That explains on a meta level why Jonathan never gets fed off of but I often wonder why Drac never fed off Jonathan on a textual level, and I've kind of come to the conclusion that Jon doesn't actually mean that much to him. He's just some lawyer guy who Dracula needs to use to secure property in England. Dracula enjoys tormenting him but he'd enjoy tormenting any human because he a sadist and a dick. At best it's possible he considered Jonathan a candidate to be another Renfield. Someone to be kept as a thrall and then disposed of. This isn't to undermine or minimize Jonathan's trauma but I tend to feel like Dracula doesn't care about him personally until Jonathan escapes. Dracula wasn't even planning to feed on him directly iirc just lock him up until he starves or let the brides have him. In a way that could almost make it worse, that Jonathan went through all that and it wasn't even personal, it was just for Drac's amusement. I think you could argue that when Jon escapes that's when it becomes personal because I can see it hurting Dracula's pride.

Lucy, Dracula preyed on and eventually turned, possibly to add her to his harem of brides but with Mina? That was personal. Mina he wanted to hurt because it would be the biggest blow to the whole group. I'll admit in my AU I do tend to favor Dracula vs Mina as opposing forces because there are points where he's literally inside her head and she can sense him. He has a fixation on her that is built on a deep seated mutual hatred and he feels slighted because he came so close to beating her down and breaking her resolve the first time.

Jonathan and the rest of the group got to fight Dracula on the physical plane but Mina? She had to fight him inside her own mind, that's a horror Jonathan will never know and a violation that my version of the character never recovers from. It cuts her off even from her loved ones because the scar runs so deep under the surface. What Dracula did to Mina was a rape of mind, body and soul. Dracula took so much more from her than he did anyone else, he took Lucy, he took her peace of mind, her dignity, her sense of safety and he almost took her very humanity. I feel like of all the characters there was no one hurt more than Mina and the fact that she kept fighting him and won speaks to the strength of her character.

And when he comes back in the AU she keeps fighting. Mina has an unshakeable conviction and no matter how he tries Dracula can't kill it. It's a characteristic she passes on to her son Quincey, though it grieves her that he lives in a world where he needs to be that strong.

[hadesknockedupintheunderworld]

Okay I know I know obvious joke "they just got back together but of course divorce is looming again" but like

Like this isn't a confontation you don't expect. When I first read this I thought "Oh, Snively is undermining him and trying to bring back the Iron Queen". It's not hard to come up with that one. After all, Robotnik knows Snively (and the other grandmasters) are all conspiring against him. In fact, he finds that enjoyable. So he only calls one of them out when an assassination or plan of usurping him fails (like when he caught Snively in the act of tampering with one of his Metal Sonic's).

But it turns out Mr. Eggman over here is being...dramatic. Yeah that's one word for what's happening.

Because...the only proof he has that Snively is being "treacherous" and not "falling back into line" are tapes of his conversation with the bride of the Raiju clan. And what did Snively do? He just asked how the Iron Queen was doing and where she was imprisoned (he did love her after all), and he rightfully gets exasperated at the idea of him calling the Dragon Kingdom proving his treachery. Sure, the signs are there if he wants to retrieve the Iron Queen, but he clearly hasn't yet done so. And she's not going to be as powerful as before even if he did, so what's Robotnik afraid of?

He can’t be afraid of the Iron Queen taking his forces again.

So he's afraid of...what?

Mr. Flynn. Sir. Is Robotnik afraid of Snively leaving him? He's the one always telling Snively how he knows he'll come back, how he can't resist trying to use Robotnik to take power.

But before now, even if Robotnik was right—even if Snively does always come back to save his own hide, to get the power he craves, because he just can't help coming back to this little relationship—there is a new variable now. Hope, his only family? He'd ensured her safety, so Snively had no problem joining back with his uncle then. But Snively has fallen in love with someone else. Whether the Iron Queen was using him or not, he loved her. He believed she would allow him to achieve his dream of ruling without putting up with his uncle—a man who'd been neglecting his forces and losing their trust, neglecting the battle over his territory at hand, neglecting everything but his personal fight against Sonic, neglecting him (Snively), all because he couldn't handle one of many losses to Sonic the Hedgehog. Robotnik, purposely or not, pushed Snively away. And Snively opened himself up to love with Regina (the Iron Queen), because she wasn't neglecting him, she would say nice words to him and appreciate his assistance, she made him believe she loved him too.

And I cannot understate just how much his secret thing with the Iron Queen prior to her taking over was treated...almost like he was cheating. Dimitri even threatens to expose his romance (and their talk of treason) to Robotnik before Snively assures him that Regina can help out the Dark Legion.

(Note the end usage of "your very violent uncle finds out about your little love affair" rather than the focus on Snively conspiring against Robotnik)

This is all to say that the new variable in our equation is that Snively had fallen in love with the Iron Queen.

And this is a threat to Robotnik—to his control over Snively, and to being able to keep him.

I implore you to go back to the third image I posted in this post.

"Say it's over. Say that your little romance with the Iron Queen is over. Give her up. Here. Now."

It's hard to also not interpret this as jealousy. It would be enough to keep them apart, to keep telling Snively the proof of how the Iron Queen was just using him. It would be enough to tell him that it's over and expect him to follow orders.

But this "little love affair"? He wants Snively to prove it to him that it's over. He wants Snively to prove, right in front of him, that he'll only be loyal to him (and perhaps that he'll only keep trying to take power through him).

Jeez he's like a jealous partner demanding their date never goes back to their ex ever again and in fact denounces their ex so they can feel assured that their date will be devoted only to them (because they're also insecure and demand control)

But...I think this panel makes it clear that Robotnik doesn't have Snively as he once did. Their little game of Snively trying to usurp his seat of power and him foiling that plan and Snively running away to save his hide before running on back for the comforting familiarity of working under dear old uncle? It'll never be the same again. And it's clear to Snively that making him denounce his love completely, as if he's not allowed to even live with that love, even if he never betrays Robotnik or saves the Iron Queen, is crossing the line for him.

I'll be interested to see how this next divorce unfolds.

ㅤㅤ

If you're still reading after that, I only created this readmore so I could scream over...this

I don't have much to say it's just...packed with so much

The comedic timing of Robotnik freaking Snively out.

Snively, once again, getting to laugh and go on about how pathetic his uncle is (oh how the tables have turned).

Snively trying to lord over Robotnik just how much better his life is now with Regina compared to him.

Robotnik not only telling Snively that Regina is playing him and his feelings for a fool, but doubling down and asserting that Snively cannot love purely, because he's a coward who cares about his hide.

To Robotnik asserting again that Snively will be back, because he always comes back.

[themculibrary]

Steve Rogers + Female Pairings Masterlist

an unexpected engagement (ao3) - thedrih steve/natasha M, 208k

Summary: Natasha Romanoff has a huge crush on CEO Steve and decides that the company’s Christmas party is the perfect opportunity to win him over but she ends up exaggerating and after several disastrous events she wakes up in Steve’s bed without remembering how she got there. And the most surprising thing is that he makes her an unusual proposal: that she pretend to be her fiancée!

Steve Rogers is a workaholic CEO who, in order to escape the family’s insistence that he have a serious relationship, invents a fake bride. And when the family shows up by surprise and catches him with the employee he brought home drunk and passed out last night, he decides to make her a proposal: that Natasha pretend to be his fake bride.

What Steve doesn’t realize is that Natasha has much more elaborate plans for him, making him a very malicious counterproposal!

as safe as houses (ao3) - DizzyDrea maria/steve T, 25k

Summary: Senator Steve Rogers (R, NY) is a decorated war hero who has a deep and abiding desire to serve his country, which may or may not include someday running for President. Maria Hill is a veteran Air Force pilot working in the private sector and bored out of her mind. When Steve finds himself needing a private security detail for a trip to France, he hires Shield Security and Maria becomes his constant companion. They grow closer as the trip progresses, but can they survive what’s coming to find out if their Paris sojourn could turn into something real?

Can't Blame Me For Secretly Hoping (ao3) - agentx13 sharon/steve G, 21k

Summary: After Natasha tries so hard to set them up, Steve and Sharon decide to get one over on her and prove once and for all that they aren't meant to be together. Naturally, not everything goes according to plan.

Counterfeit and Counterpart (ao3) - Frea_O maria/steve M, 28k

Summary: Five times Maria Hill doesn’t understand Natasha Romanoff, and why she might be better off that way.

dearly beloved (ao3) - Hollyspacey darcy/steve E, 21k

Summary: Darcy has 99 problems, and her first assignment for SHIELD is, like, 98 of them.

As if going back home to deal with all of the people who made her childhood miserable wasn’t bad enough, she’s also stuck in holy matrimony with a surly supersoldier who can’t even deal with her under normal circumstances.

Delightful Delicious De-Lovely (ao3) - Wandering_Swain gamora/steve G, 2k

Summary: Gamora is on a mission to Terra with a personal objective of great importance.

fill out the form first (ao3) - flowermasters peggy/steve G, 3k

Summary: Peggy and Steve meet in the most mundane of ways. That is, of course, before the bank heist.

Floral Engagement (ao3) - ABrighterDarkness, NachoDiablo pepper/steve T, 5k

Summary: The cute blond florist keeps gifting Pepper flowers. She's determined not to read into it. But she really should.

flowers (ao3) - includewomeninthesequel steve/peggy E, 91k

Summary: She was light, warmth, and life.

She was everything he wasn’t, and everything that he didn’t know he wanted - needed - until this moment.

A Steggy love story inspired by the myth of Hades and Persephone, with more than one twist along the way.

how to measure distance between two points (ao3) - frostian jane/steve T, 63k

Summary: Dr. Jane Foster and her assistant, Darcy Lewis, have arrived at the Avengers Initiative compound in Upstate New York for personal safety. To everyone’s shock Dr. Foster reveals she has finally succeeded in not only opening up the Einstein-Rosen Bridge but controlling it, essentially creating a human version of the Bi-Frost that would allow visitors from all Nine Realms and beyond.

This unforeseen success will no doubt attract the attention of both AIM and Hydra, one of which succeeded in kidnapping the women only weeks before. Captain Rogers, still at odds with the powers-that-be about his friend, Bucky Barnes, will have to use not only his military prowess but cunning and intelligence in order to ensure the women’s safety. Because, as it turns out, the good doctor and her assistant have a knack for creating havoc all on their own.

i've seen the future (and it looks an awful lot like you) (ao3) - em_a steve/peggy T, 12k

Summary: In the 1940s, Peggy finds a way to move on.

In 2023, Steve makes his way back.

They meet somewhere in the middle. (And they finally get that dance.)

just between us (ao3) - LiandravZ steve/natasha G, 43k

Summary: Two years had gone by since they last saw each other. The big question is: how do you talk to someone whose heart you’ve shattered?

Does it ever begin with a, hello? hey? Or Hi, how have you been? She doesn’t have a fucking clue.

las vegas (ao3) - elcapitan_rogers steve/natasha E, 219k

Summary: Steve was freaking out over his own wedding and the gang decided to take him to Las Vegas to unwind him.

love alight like electric touch (ao3) - dioncchusmic steve/natasha, steve/wanda G, 71k

Summary: Liberal lawyer Natasha Romanoff is doing everything that she can to prevent the community ballet center from it’s destruction, wherein the said ballet center is bought by SHIELD Industries, aka Steve Rogers’ company.

They come into an agreement that he won’t destroy the community ballet center as long as she works for him as his Chief Counsel, what happens when Natasha agrees and finds out more than what she’s bargained for?

My Heart Was Never Pure (ao3) - agentx13 sharon/steve/natasha G, 15k

Summary: how Natasha came to believe she might be worth being loved after all.

oh no! (ao3) - grimeysociety darcy/steve, pepper/tony E, 89k

Summary: Tony Stark is running for President, and he wants Darcy Lewis to run his campaign. She must navigate the new world of dirty politics and grandstanding, with her rival campaign manager Steve Rogers complicating every part of her professional and personal life.

radio silent (ao3) - hecklesyeah maria/steve M, 77k

Summary: “I shouldn’t be doing this.”

“What, stuff yourself with breakfast food for dinner?”

“I haven’t even decided which pie to have for dessert. No, this,” she says and gestures between them. “I shouldn’t be doing this. And yet here I am.”

- - -

Alternately: the one where Maria and Steve navigate a relationship and where Tony and Bucky figure out how to move forward from a murderous elephant in the room.

the guest (ao3) - orphan_account steve/darcy, jane/thor, bucky/sam M, 113k

Summary: “Darcy…?”

Her focus snapped back to Steve, fear now dominating her face. “Steve, I’m going to ask you something and it’s probably going to be…strange.”

He nodded, already having an idea as to what she may be getting ready to ask.

“When, am I?”

“It’s September 30th, 1942.”

Darcy hung her head, hiding her face from him and Steve as her shoulders shook. It was only a couple of moments later that she righted herself, hiding her shock and heartbreak behind a wry expression.

“Well, fuck me sideways. I’m not really sure how to go forward from here.”

tonight, we are young (ao3) - thebrightestbird peggy/steve G, 4k

Summary: “I might have made a wish on the Tesseract that could have had something to do with Peggy getting younger.”

Steve and Peggy get a second chance to live a lifetime together. There are a few details to work out first.

What Lies Within (ao3) - Steggy peggy/steve G, 7k

Summary: It's Christmas. Brooklyn is blanketed in snow, and as the brunette agent peers out the window, tea in hand, she ponders the day to come, the surprises in store, and most of all, the soldier asleep in her bed.

[escortingsecrets]

Send "gun tilt" for sender to tilt receivers chin up with a gun. // don corneo

Violent RP Prompts | Accepting

Shivan hated these monthly visits with Corneo more than anything else in his life. It was the one thing he dreaded, no matter how long it had been going on for. The Don had made him a bride years ago- the only reason Shivan had managed to get out was because he was able to bring in money at the Honeybee. But that didn't mean Corneo was willing to let him just return completely. He didn't let anyone out of his grasp that easily.

No, that would have been too easy. If anything the tight leash that Corneo kept on his honeybees was even worse for Shivan when he'd returned to the inn. All of his pay was given directly to Andrea, who sorted everything out. At the end of every month, Shivan was to bring Corneo's cut to him. If it was a correct amount, he would be leaving the next day. If it was short...

He barely reacted as cold steel was put under his chin, simply letting his head be lifted. He was sure a few days had gone by at the least since he'd been tossed down here. In the basement, it was hard to tell. There were no windows, and there was never a schedule for anything- it was done on Corneo's whim, when he decided and for however long he deemed it necessary. Shivan had a hunch that was part of his schemes. If Shivan couldn't count the time at all, he would have no idea when anything would be coming next, or when he would be allowed to leave.

Hazel eyes stayed firmly downcast- outside of here, Shivan was playful, flirty, and outgoing; a social butterfly. But in this building, he was nothing more than Corneo's plaything and followed the strict rules given to him. His spirit had long since been broken down by the Don's cruel hand in the past, he didn't dare trying and argue anything done to him. No matter how much he wished he could fight back.

The gun slowly moved, the metal sliding across Shivan's jaw, turning his head slightly. "I told you what would happen, if you didn't pay me, kitten. I was so disappointed in you. Do you think you've learned your lesson?" The words were said in a soft tone- one that Shivan had hoped in the past meant he was off the hook. He knew better than to give an answer at all, staying silent. "I'll have to add this onto your debt, I'm afraid. I can't let you get away with it- even if you are my bride. That wouldn't be fair to the other bees, now would it- You won't be late again next time, will you?"

Shivan's jaw clenched, holding back to the scream that bubbled up in his chest. Added to his debt. Of course Corneo would make him go through this to teach him a lesson, and then add the missing amount on top of his already ridiculous debt. He hissed out the breath in his lungs as the gun pressed harshly into his jaw, forcing his head even higher and Shivan was forced to make eye contact with Corneo.

"I said, bitch, you won't be short again, will you?" Corneo growled, the smell of cigar washing over Shivan as he spoke.

"No, sir. I won't. I swear." He whispered, head falling forward as the gun was pulled back. A shiver ran through him as he heard the safety click, the sound seeming to echo in his ears. His gaze once more returned to the floor, as the Don left the room. Once he was sure he was alone Shivan didn't hold back the tears that spilled over, sobbing quietly into the dark basement. Corneo owned his life- and no matter how hard he tried, he only became more entagled in the man's webs, caught and unable to escape.

[theheadlessgroom]

@beatingheart-bride

"Pa," Randall began, just as surprised as Emily was by what his father said, but before he could say anymore, Wilhelm raised his hand to stop them both, saying gently, "I know, lad, I know. I remember what you said the other night about you being engaged, and...you both have our blessing-both Junie's and mine."

"We want our son to be happy," June said, giving a tender smile in turn. "And we want you to happy too, Emily, and we've seen for ourselves that you two are at your happiest together, and...it would just be wrong of us to keep you apart! We know that now, and so, if being together makes you happiest...well, then who are we to argue?"

Like any parents, they wanted to ensure the safety and happiness of their child, and it was very clear to the Paces that not only was Randall happy with his bride-to-be, he was also safe with her-and the same could be said of Emily; she felt secure enough around their boy to confide her true nature to him, and was very clearly over the moon to be with him. To try and keep them apart as they did before...it would deeply unfair of them.

"And even beyond all of that," June confessed shyly, speaking now to Emily. "We...we'd like you to have not just our boy in your life, but us as well, if you'd permit it. Wil and I...we can't imagine what you've been through, and how lonely you must've been, and for so long, and...we'd like to change that, and be a support to you, if we can."

[aotopmha]

Now at episode 26 of Revolutionary Girl Utena.

I'm starting to see it all come together.

In the most simple terms, I think the series is about the impossibility/possibility of seeing beyond your own conditioning and personal experiences and the conditioning the world you live in might impose on you.

It's about growing to understand you can choose how you act and how you aren't unconditionally tied to your personal experiences or the standards the world might push on you when choosing how you act/live, no matter what kind of lessons life teaches you.

You can choose to do harm or do good.

Anthy can't see she has a choice to not be the Rose Bride. And neither can any of the duelists. And in turn Akio is the one taking any possibility they might understand they have agency away from them in the first place via manipulation.

So how do you grow to understand you have a choice?

Seeing outside perspectives, of course. And Utena is the outside perspective here, even if she, too, is shaped by her memory/experiences.

If you are suffering what can you do to get better?

Do you hurt others to feel better about yourself or find the root of the issue and eliminate it?

The idealistic image of a prince Utena holds in the highest of regard because that prince gave her purpose when she had none.

Mikage's love for Tokiko and the idealised image he grew to have of her because she was the first person he truly grew to care about.

Jealousy, the need to be special, the need to feel powerful, the need for closure, the need for eternal safety, happiness and comfort, the desire to never be hurt.

All of these are very human reactions and Akio uses the humanity of absolutely everyone to get what he wants (including the preliminary antagonists to him, Touga and Mikage).

Akio manipulates everyone to perfection using the worst and best in them to get what he wants, which is eternal life – eternal happiness for only himself because of also probably personal trauma, I assume.

He's a horrendous human being, but I absolutely bet he is just as driven by memory and personal experience as everyone else.

There's still 13 episodes left, so much is yet unclear, but seeing the mysteries and character arcs starting to come together at this point is so far the strongest part of the story to me.

I find wording my thoughts on this story difficult on the micro level – there is so much nuance to all of the characters that I find deep diving fairly tough, but I'm the most grateful for the basics being fantastic and pretty straight-forward.

When I first went into this story, I feared the abstraction might get in the way of the emotional core, but I'm glad it is slowly being peeled away in favour of the feelings behind it.

The story is about so much more than just the idea of asking and exploring the agency of humanity, but I'm glad I can summarise it as such because I think that's the biggest pitfall a story so based in mystery and abstraction can end up having.

It works as an abstract piece of art just as much as it does a pretty straight-forward one.

You just need to keep with it – I now see specifically this detail as the struggle point where the story ends up alienating the broader audience – not just the abstraction/presentation of the story itself, but also the slower burn nature of it coming together as a narrative.

But as I've said before, as someone who loves this kind of storytelling as much as any other, I'm living.

I thought it was great at episode 12 and I think it's still great at episode 26.

And I very much look forward to the rest of it.