#NAGAFICAT

[albwreckt]

It was not difficult to hear the man speaking about his financial troubles. With how loud and booming his voice was, the true difficulty was avoiding it. But the story she overhears tugs at Deirdre's heartstrings. She does not know what it is to want for gold but she does know that she can help.

"Forgive me," her voice is soft, almost shy as she approaches him. "I could not help but overhear that you are in need of aid. If you would allow it, I would like to help." With a smile, she digs her hand deep into her pocket to retrieve a handful of loose coins with some interesting pebbles, a few dried flowers, and a hard candy mixed in. She reaches for his hand with her free hand, fills his palm with the assortment, and gently closes his fist with both her hands.

"Try not to spend it all in one place," she smiles softly. It is hardly the amount of money that could be spent in more than one place but she does not realize this.

"Allow it? Lady, I'd welcome it!" 

If there is one sound in this world that can truly captivate Balthus, it is the clinking of coins. They are a wellspring of hope, a promise of prosperity, and their clatter against the wood of his stall sends his heart into a flurry of– 

There are like, six. 

He frowns. He feels like he’s been swindled, somehow. “That all you got?” He asks, and worry not, Balthus is self aware. He understands that that’s a rude thing to ask–especially of someone with such kindness in her heart. And so he blinks really hard and waves his hands in front of him. “I mean don’t get me wrong, I’ll take it for sure, just… Uh…” 

Looking at it a second time doesn’t fatten the pot. As the meager amount enters his hands, he can’t help but wonder if Deirdre would need the money more than him. She looks noble enough, sure, but so does Constance, and she’s broke. Plus, what was that bit about not spending it in one place? Surely a joke. He couldn't save it even if he tried!

He turns over the wrapping on the candy, reading its label with the squint of his eyes. “...Got anything that tastes like mint?”

[yukyunotabibito]

🎄

mistletoe asks | accepting? (4/?)

"It is not everyday that one runs into such a lovely lady," Nasir has been in a good mood lately it seems, and the compliment slips easily from his lips with a smile. Not that it is not true, of course. Professor Deirdre is quite a lovely woman. Both seemingly in personality and good looks.

Not his type, but a man could tell when a woman was attractive, even if he himself was not attracted to her.

He notes the now familiar plant above their heads and kneels before her, grabbing her hand and placing a gentle kiss upon it.

"My honor, Lady Deirdre."

[nobilisseoblige]

🎄he deserves a mom kiss on the cheek

it occurred to him one day that he laughed a lot in her company. sometimes he'd laugh so hard he'd have a to wipe away a tear or two, stomach in happy knots and boughs of long-stemmed roses. Ferdinand found her presence strangely relaxing—and though many reported this almost magnifying draw to her, Ferdinand wondered if it was her laughter that they were drawn to. there were days where she didn't follow the rules and he would nag her in a way a child would, and days where he wondered what her own father was like? what her own mother was like? what kind of compass lead her, shepherd to sheep, to become someone so close to a dream he could almost feel like his eyes were closed when they were opened?

sometimes he'd see her through the window and know that she would wave back before he would even raise his hand. sometimes, he'd come by, having named every single lily, every single lavender, every single crysanthemum in her room. people who are afraid of the beautiful simply did not know how to get lost in it. but whenever he was around her, he felt right at home, lost in a way that felt like laughter. lost, with his smiles upon smiles over some silly, trivial, little thing (or another, or another.)

[ he is his mother's child, but he never talks about her. it's strange that he doesn't, though unstrange to say he loves her. she is the perfect mother, the perfect wife, the perfect noble, the perfect wallflower. he refuses to think her one-noted, but she blends into the rose-colored backdrop so well he's afraid to lose her. people who are afraid of the beautiful simply did not know how to get lost in it. maybe he was afraid? (maybe he was afraid.) ]

but with professor Deirdre, when he closed his eyes, he was already pink before her lips graced his cheek. with professor Deirdre, there was both anticipation and pay-off, there was the push and pull of a lullaby. she made him unafraid of what came next. because even upon waking, both his feet were still on the ground and even before he knew it they were already…

"hahaha!" pressing his hand to his stomach, he burst out in bright, bright joy.

did anyone ever ask why Ferdinand enjoyed fairytales? did anyone want to know?

he confesses: it's because he loves the relief of it. the happily every after. he loves the 'after' that's promised, every single time. it doesn't have to be perfect, but it has to leave him knowing there's more. like it was worth the walk down golden brick roads, and the changing of vases, and the nagging, and the waving through the windows, and the umbrellas when it rained.

Ferdinand could anticipate getting lost with her, but finding something worthwhile after.

[rafent]

🎄

🐉 𝐌𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐄𝐓𝐎𝐄 𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐓: accepting 🎄

"Not running? You really ought to be fleeing as fast as your legs can carry you." Rafal's pale pinched face surveyed his fellow professor, eyes upon woman, then upon the jaunty green branch hanging above them both. A threat beneath that mistletoe? Hardly. The matter spoke for itself.

The Fell Heir's acts of senseless brutality were greatly gone but even greater dubbed elsewhere. If he truly intended to snuff the life of another, there would be less words to hear for it, and infinitely more blood to see for it. At hand was merely due warning, as timely and fitting a precaution as 'sharks in the water!' and beware the slippery floor. In other words: fall victim to deathly occurrence at one's own foolish prerogative but exercise awareness over the dangers. Danger which a Fell Dragon was.

Steps in the woman's direction brought the natural hunter closer to natural prey, her fixed placement approached by the inexorability of a force born to butcher and who once readily had. Closer Rafal came, then close enough to brush his sweet breath against her cheek, a glimmer of his cold wine eyes at odds with the heat of his body. That very warmth of him—fated to pass by in an instant.

He tore away the sprig suspended at her head, dangled now by the scruff of its skinny wood and waved back and forth on his exasperated sigh. "There is danger even in such unassuming activities as these. Do you intend to stand by helplessly as you are trapped beneath the mistletoe with every manner of dangerous man and creature? Let this be a favor to you."

All to say that the worsts of Rafal were writ differently nowadays.

Killjoy, not killer.

[taguelbunnyboy]

🎄mom kisses for yarne

Yarne shakes his head, sighing as he looks up at the plant. He remembered these from Baldr's Bounty, way back when... wow, that was a while now, now that he thought about it. But he knew these had... some kind of romantic tendencies attached, but Yarne still didn't know what, fully.

He did know that he couldn't eat them, sadly.

"O-oh, uhm, Professor-"

It isn't one of his professors, but he has seen her around before, and there they are, and Yarne isn't sure what's going-

Yarne is tall. He know he is.

But he somehow ends up kneeling down and having his head absolutely littered with kisses - which... was a surprise.

Not a bad one.

"I... uhm, thanks?"

Yarne's red as a beet, but he's smiling like an idiot.

It was a nice feeling like home, like Ylisse. He hoped the rest of the festivities would feel as toasty as he does inside.

[dcggersedge]

🎄I think the Internet went weird so if you get this twice no you didnt

'tis the season | accepting!

She'd never actually been in a situation where mistletoe was a thing before. Well, it was still a thing, but she'd never been in a situation where actually following the tradition wasn't basically asking to get stabbed or mugged or whatever else might happen.

That instinct is still there. That's why she freezes when she realizes she's under one of those plants with someone she doesn't know. She's seen the face around, but she's got nothing besides that.

Every instinct screams to run.

"Hi!" Yunaka manages to squeak out. She puts a smile on her face that is definitely shaky at best and quickly puts her hands on her hips before they can start shaking or fidgeting. "Fancy running into you here in. Places. Where things happen. Yeah."

There's no way to just walk away from this and play it off as normal when it's something other people might just think of as harmless. Her mind scrambles for a second before an idea hits. She wipes her hand quickly on her side before reaching out (watching for any sudden moves or weapon grabs all the while) to take her hand and lift it up.

She presses a kiss to the back of her hand. Her eyes never leave hers the whole time.

Once done, she drops her hand quickly and grins. "Good talk! See you!" And she quickly scurries away.

[tacitanis]

Deirdre remembers when she had been the only professor assigned to the Black Eagles house. It had been lonely and overwhelming. She felt highly unqualified but, as more and more professors were hired, Deirdre's own confidence as an educator grew. With each new colleague, she feels as though she owes them her thanks. At the very least, she at least owes them a cheerful welcome.

"Good evening, Professor Iago!" She does not knock as she enters the new professor's office carrying an encouraging bouquet of black-eyed susans in her arms. "My name is Deirdre and I am so delighted that you will be joining me in teaching the Black Eagles house! I look forward to getting to know you better!"

iago is surprised by the reception. while this is his first official teaching position, he has been in the position of overseeing instruction before. nohr's sorcerers sometimes needed a guest lecture or two from a military mage, and he had occasionally obliged. he hopes that this will be... much like that but longer-term.

he accepts the flowers regardless ( such a pretty but impractical gift, that tells him a fair bit right from the jump about its giver, more than anything, and he wonders if she happens to know how illuminating it is ) and sets them on his desk.

"deirdre, what a pleasure it is to meet a... lovely lady such as yourself. i am iago of nohr. i do hope we can get to know one another."

[ulircursed]

♡ ok but I'm actually genuinely curious as to what Andrei himself would think of how his situation would change in this situation KSHDKDB

from this picrew!

a new child in jugdral-verse? yup, but hold tight, this au is my wildest one yet. there's another child too, but i'll talk about the other kid when it comes up

cw for rape

unlike the other jugdral asks where i just went crazy on my own, a few sensitive details were discussed a little with erica bc of the topic at hand. so deirdre and andrei have a precanon thread currently going on, where the two of them meet and have a meal and it's their first time hanging out just the two of them. in it, deirdre thanks andrei for, and i quote, 'dealing with one of the men who killed [her] father'. that's ring! andrei freaks out internally, of course, though he is able to salvage the situation to an extent

now, what if that meeting went well enough (in deirdre's mind) that they had more meetings? andrei is on one hand extremely uncomfortable with her, but on the other hand, this is exactly what he wants!! think about what it does for yngvi's reputation if the duke has a direct and personal friendship with the princess and future queen of grannvale!!! this is excellent and great and he cannot possibly refuse this. so he agrees to every single meeting, and talks to her, and they form some sort of friendship thing. at this point andrei's mental health is a mere thread away from utterly insane by the way. surely this will end well, right?

(oh yeah, at this point, andrei does already marry antares and have scipio. scipio is not involved in this mess and is the exact same as he is in canon)

it all comes to a head at one meeting, where deirdre confesses to him that she is ready to have children with lord arvis. she thinks she's ready, finally, thanks to the support and friendship of those around her, including andrei! she mentions something about ring again, and andrei snaps. i've mentioned it before, but andrei resents arvis for (as far as he knows) heading the conspiracy plot, because without it none of this would've had to happen. and so, upon hearing that arvis is about to get what he wants with the woman he loves, andrei forces himself upon deirdre

he comes to his senses after the deed is done, and apologizes profusely, begging her for his life essentially. he says that he will die if word of this ever gets out, and deirdre agrees to keep it a secret. and she does! until. she gets pregnant. i won't go into detail about when/whether she and arvis would've consummated their marriage at this point, but as erica points out, deirdre is not good at hiding her emotions and will eventually tell arvis about it as soon as he asks, so even if being pregnant was potentially expected, the secret would've gotten out at some point during the pregnancy

for his crimes, andrei is publicly executed and yngvi falls into disgrace. antares, already not a noble (this is purely my hc but andrei married a non-noble claiming to have minor ullr blood to have scipio), gets kicked out of yngvi along with scipio, and they go live their non-noble lives somewhere else

anyway, deirdre is pregnant! with twins! manfroy is kinda frustrated, bc he wanted her to have kids with arvis, dammit. but she's of course gonna keep the babies, so they are born. julia is still julia, just with major naga and minor ullr instead of fjalar blood. but her older brother, get this—

name: julio

gender: male (he/him)

class: prince > master knight minus bows and sword

minor ullr, minor loptous

tiptoes around his 'father', whom he's aware isn't really his father. has developed some chronic people-pleaser tendencies because on some level, he feels like his and his sister's existence broke something in this household and that he's not meant to exist. good at charming the staff! very polite for a noble scion

protective of his sister, mostly because of the above reason. the twins grow up really close! julia is the only one that julio feels he can show his true feelings around

they stay in the velthomer household as part of the family upon deirdre's insistence, which isn't terrible because they get a loving mother growing up, but also isn't great because they have to interact with arvis. arvis isn't abusive or anything, but everything about these kids brings back his trauma re: victor so his mental health is just not great in general. they try to avoid each other wherever possible

he's set up to become the duke of yngvi, or whatever that territory is gonna be called if that whole house ends up being dissolved. he works really hard in his youth, but doesn't pick up the bow because he can sense that his 'father' is really really not ok with that. forgoes the sword too, while he's at it, because his 'father' doesn't seem too pleased with that either. he knows how to fence and stuff, but not horseback sword usage. he learns magic though, magic is a-ok in this household

deirdre isn't blamed for this incident, because andrei was the one who initiated the whole thing, and the twins are... yeah, they're bastards, but they're the blood of the legitimate royal family, so it's not like they can be killed or anything. anyway, at this point, sigurd gets to belhalla and arvis cooks him twice as hard as in canon because at this point he's pissed off at anyone who's ever had kids with deirdre, but it's not like anyone can tell because no one knows how hard he cooked sigurd in canon so they just think wow his meteor spell is that strong

manfroy urges them to try again, and tbh azmur wants fully legitimate grandkids too, so according to erica, they do! because deirdre loves arvis and everything. but you know, holy blood weirdness and all that, their kid (let's call him julius) is born with fjalar blood and naga blood but not loptous blood. manfroy, extremely frustrated now, tells them to try AGAIN, and this time, uh, deirdre dies in childbirth and the child doesn't survive. listen, this is kid #5 ok i don't think health care was that good at that time. as an extra screw u to manfroy, maybe this kid would've had major loptous had they survived. but they didn't

manfroy's plans fail! julio becomes the new duke of yngvi and arvis just tries to avoid looking at him. julia is married off to one of the neighboring countries (i had to google what happened to illegitimate children of nobility/royalty and the answers were... this basically). julius becomes duke of velthomer and the heir to the throne. seliph can come in and fix some things about this, but loptous isn't one of his problems for once. everyone is either happy or dead! if julio ends up fighting febail, he will die to febail and his cousin will become the new duke of yngvi, but he doesn't have special dialogue with any of them because who tf are these people. the end.

bonus: thank u to erica for suggesting this route btw

[vallitemaiden]

♡

fankid meme // neka.cc // not accepting

unlike her mothers, Eithne is not cursed with a cruel fate, only with exceptional beauty

despite her serene looks, she is very fiery, not afraid to tell others off if need be and speaks her mind ardently. she's an excellent archer and, somewhat to Mikoto's amusement, is a terrible singer. she cannot hold a note for the life of her

Eithne was outside A Lot as a child and constantly getting into things and playing pretend with her mothers, who doted on her constantly and indulged her desires

most of all Eithne is a free spirit so good luck getting her to do anything she doesn't want to do

she also a propensity to falling in love very fast with pretty girls she meets

[viridescent-lance]

♡ crylaugh

Oh, man. You want a recipe for a martyr to rival Jesus? Because this combination is how you get that.

Forsyth considers Deirdre to be one of his closest friends. He's not romantically attracted to her or women in general, but she's absolutely someone he would do a great many things for. In some world, some circumstance, that would include having and raising a kid with.

This circumstance almost certainly necessitates Python's death. Forsyth really loses a lot of his drive and purpose, here, and if something of a similar caliber of tragedy happened to Deirdre (which, well. lol. but also if something worsens especially) I could see them developing a very strong codependency.

When Python dies in canon, Forsyth moves to a border village and takes a wife where he otherwise wouldn't. Again, I don't think he is attracted to Deirdre but he would be okay with her projecting whatever she needed onto him. And having her in his life would urge him more in the direction of drowning himself in knighthood disease combined with starting a family.

They have two daughters, not twins though. The first kid, Julissa Sigfrid (middle name after Sigurd) takes heavily after her father. She's constantly getting into fights, she's desperate to prove herself and she wants to change the world to be fairer. She's incredibly defensive about not having inherited holy blood, but instead of trying to prove that she's just as capable she's also decided the way to fix this is to just stop holy blood from mattering altogether.

She decides to become a knight, and while she favors her father's lance she also wants to heal like her mother. She overworks herself greatly, throwing herself headfirst into danger.

Julyn Apodora (so named after Python) is a strange, quiet child. She did inherit blood, but it is the minor blood of Loptyr that flows through her veins. She's rather sullen and clings to her mother. Julissa is wildly protective of her.

Julyn is a momma's girl, but she also greatly admires her father. She's developed a burning resentment for the world that makes so many innocent people suffer, and she's wont to take some...covert actions, to make it a better place.

Julissa would likely die young, but Julyn does everything she can to make sure that doesn't happen. If any of her family dies, and they are likely to, she'll go down a dark path...

[deamare]

♡ ˚·  @nagaficat asked:

kissing the top of their head as you hold them . "Oh you poor dear!" Deirdre first notices the little girl's tears then her eyes travel downward to the large scrape on her knee. The poor thing must have tripped and fell playing in the gardens with the twins. "Come here, it will be alright." She pulls little Ishtar up onto her lap and holds her close while one of her maids rushed off to fetch a healing staff. It is instinct to run her hand through the girl's hair and press a gentle kiss to the top of her head. Anything to soothe her in this moment. "Now, let me see." With a wet cloth, she very carefully cleans the area before reaching for her staff. "This might feel a little funny but do not worry. That just means it is working and your body is healing." There is a warming light and skin knits back together good as new. "Is that better? I do not have a spell to mend torn stockings but I am sure we have an extra pair of Julia's that you may have. Perhaps a cookie, too? Sweets always cheer me up!"

Lady Deirdre has always confused Ishtar.

The girl is quiet while she is comforted, unsure as the woman holds her. She had presented plenty of scraped knees to Mother, and for each she was dismissed to a maid for it to be knitted back together. Sometimes, when they are small enough to hide beneath her skirts, she would wipe at her tears until her face was all dry and not tell Mother at all.

But Lady Deirdre does not send her away to be treated by someone else, and when she touches her it is not in the same unnatural way that the maids at home always do. It is gentle, she is gentle, and Ishtar does not know why her tears do not seem to stop even after her knee has stopped hurting.

The offer seems to puzzle her a moment, like she does not know what she is supposed to say, and that troubles her. Mother says she should never decline a gift from Prince Julius or his family, as that would be most improper, but then she also would be beside herself were she to hear her daughter had been so foolish as to require spare stockings. Ishtar frowns a moment and then, slowly, nods.

"If... if that is okay..." Timid gaze flickers to the woman's face, always surprised by how she is smiling. A careful one of her own tugs the corners of her lips. "Thank you, Lady Deirdre..."

[berglietz]

* a kiss on top of a band-aid, to make it feel better

kiss day 2024!

Caspar squirms away from the kiss, hand curling in on itself around the small bandage. It's a paper cut, for Cethleann's sake! He'd only agreed to bandage it in the first place in the hopes that he'd get fussed over a little less!

"Oh, come on! I'm not a little kid, Professor!"

He'll have to be more careful when carrying books for Professor Deirdre in the future. Getting punished with an embarrassment like this is just too much.

[reprisalet]

cont. from here.

an empress? that does make reyson's eyebrows raise very slightly. he inclines his head toward her ( she would outrank his title of ' prince ' but only if he cared about beorc titles and their hierarchy ) and offers her a slight smile. she still seems so apprehensive, but...

well, maybe it's with good reason. it sounds as though she's had a lot to think about, and not a lot of support. he does not ask why that is, instead he just nods. "you're not asking for too much. i offered, didn't i?" it's simple. at least for the moment.

"reyson. you can just call me reyson. i don't see the need for titles," he says, surprised at the way she just takes his arm, but catching up quickly enough that he begins leading her in the direction of the greenhouse. "i find it relaxing to be among the flowers. and at this time of day, there likely won't be anyone there for a while yet. you can tell me about what ails you on the way. your heart is... heavy, isn't it?"

@nagaficat

[aimlessarchery]

🥂 "Look at them," Deirdre's eyes are full of love as she directs Python's attention to their knights now chatting together. "Already talking about sparring!"

Python follows Deirdre's gaze and fails to withhold a choked laugh at the sight before him. There's stars dancing in Forsyth's eyes that he hasn't seen in this magnitude since the man was promoted to lieutenant by his personal little hero back in their Deliverance days.

"Looks like I got it wrong. I don't think you're the homewrecker I should be worried about here."

[splinteredash]

Deirdre had found Professor Thrasir to be a bit intimidating but Professor Lif is something else entirely. Still, she does not let his large stature or glowering demeanor deter her. In fact, it only serves to make her wish to befriend him more.

"Good afternoon, Professor Lif!" Deirdre all but sings as she enters his office. A vase of delphiniums is set on his desk and she smiles when she sees how it brightens up the dreary room. "My name is Deirdre and I look forward to our new friendship!'

Deirdre... He knows that name.

It's migraine-inducing.

There was once a time when he spoke with a Deirdre, and read of her homeland's tales as they were chronicled in Askr's grand library. Confusing at first, the story dawned on the boy after having experiences with some of its characters. Though that place is a graveyard of splotched ink and tattered pages now, there are a few fine details he remembers.

Deirdre and Sigurd had their fate altered by Arvis.

Tragic though she may be, he remembers envying her children. He remembers wishing he had a second father, whenever the burden of expectation would grow too great.

What a fool Alfonse was.

"If you have need of a third dead husband, seek someone else," he ripostes, tonal sharpness throbbing in tandem with the pain in his head. An elbow props his arm up against his desk, which rubs his temple for some sort of alleviation. Lif is too repulsed by Deirdre's offer of friendship to notice that he let slip his greatest secret.

A few moments later, he would realize, but shock would not color his eyes. Deirdre shan't tell a soul, lest she wish for the whole world to know she isn't any better.

"I am not interested in growing close with you. Nor do I care for your plants." Her gift is an even greater twist of the knife, reminding him of all the things he is unworthy of. With a sigh, he brushes it aside--sliding the vase just an inch away from spilling onto the floor.

'The dead cannot provide for the living,' he wishes to say, but some small part in him finds that lesson too cruel to teach.

[aurheatum]

@nagaficat sent:

Deirdre makes her way to the tables to find her seat. It is not difficult to guess where she will be sitting. As Sigurd's Lady, her spot should be just to the right of his. But she notices the Archbishop in her place. She does not think much of it. Rhea is probably just taking a moment to chat with the others in that area until Deirdre arrives.

Deirdre smiles and gently taps her dear friend on the shoulder. "Pardon me, my lady, but..."

Then she notices it. The place card reading Archbishop Rhea placed neatly on the table. Her heart sinks like a stone and she glances frantically around trying to find her name nearby with it nowhere to be found.

"Oh dear. I had thought...but if Lord Sigurd is there then..."

Rhea had indeed been conversing with those around her, particularly the Lady Ayra, after she had taken her assigned seat. Sir Sigurd had been kept busy greeting guests, and continues to be so that she hardly had the time to ask why his wife was so far away from him during this time of celebration.

(She knows Arvis Velthomer has returned and something has changed but in passing the change has only ever seemed to invigorate Deirdre.)

As Deidre’s gaze passea Rhea’s face to fall upon her name card the lady of the forest seems to positively wilt; opal eyes turning dark rather than glittering like the clear forest pond as they usually were. 

Again, just as she had in the garden, Rhea wishes to hold her bur she is aware of what they both represent her and the many eyes open them (young seliph was just yonder; has he noticed his mother’s sudden change in disposition?)

“Lady Deirdre, please come with me for a moment,” Rhea says, taking her hand and leading her from the crowd; “I am sure it must have been some miscommunication between the two of you. Planning such an event as this takes a great deal of mental focus after all. When was it you and Sir Sigurd last spoke?”