#Sheltered Princess

[faejilly]

once upon a time I was doing a gift exchange for 7kpp and nothing I wrote work so I did a fanmix and made some TEA instead! (Did you like any of the tea, @awaylaughing? I don't recall) and then today, for no apparent reason, I was looping Hozier and feeling bad about how I keep wanting to write but then don't actually do it... and found a Sheltered Princess/Emmett thing from the POV's of the Chaperones in my WIP folder and finished it! Because Brains! Are Crazy-Cakes! (affectionate) Please Enjoy some observations re: Princess Wilhelmina Temperance of Arland and her Earl.

Emmett had known that he would see her.

Of course The Princess would be here. Even before Katyia herself, this is exactly what Arland Princesses always did. Who they always were.

He'd even known it would be difficult, was aware of his own weaknesses, his own flaws, but he hadn't realized it would hit him so hard, just seeing her walk into the Main Hall, seeing the Skalt Lady approach, watching other people see – her. See her, the way no one else in Arland ever had. The Princess was a wonderful young lady, of course everyone else would eventually see it too. It wasn't as if he didn't want her to succeed, didn't want people to know how amazing she was. He just –

It hurt, a little, to know that he would probably never have his friend by his side again, to know that there had never been a chance that he would, despite how fondly he remembered her, how much he'd looked forward to seeing her again, even if just at formal events at Court.

This was worse than Court.

This was going to be good-bye, and he hadn't even managed to say hello yet.

He was afraid that she'd see his worry and think he wasn't pleased to see her, wasn't always happy at the thought of her.

But then she came toward him, and he was glad enough at the sight of pleased recognition she didn't try to hide that he forgot about the future entirely and smiled at the present instead.

-

It was quite entertaining to realize that he’d been wrong about the Arland Princess. That didn’t happen to Woodly very often. But here she was, holding her own quite successfully through the formal introductions, alert and observant and with a smile almost as engaging as his own niece’s.

He’d dismissed her entirely at the Welcome Feast, convinced she was an even paler and quieter echo of her sister, the one who’d let herself be sold to Corval despite being smart enough to recognize how pleasant her soon-to-be-husband wasn’t.

To be fair, if Penelope had been of an age with Constance, the King and Queen might very well have tried to do the same with her, and Penelope would undoubtedly have agreed, despite also being smart enough to recognize a man who wouldn’t care a bit for her own preferences in the least. (Sometimes Woodly despaired of his sister’s sense, but that was neither here nor there.) Lisle would have fought it though, so it was well that hadn’t been an option.

But here young Princess Wilhelmina was, exquisitely formal with the one deeply unpirate-like Hisean, then listening to the Skalt Princess to call her Mina without looking the least bit upset by the informality. Penelope adored her, which required a bit of a gentle touch, and yet she was vibrant enough that neither the actual pirates nor the Corvali thought her dull. Even the Jiyel delegates were willing to converse with her, and Duke Lyon didn’t like anyone, and Lady Avalie only liked people she could play with.

She was singularly useless for any of the games Woodly himself liked to play, of course, but she was, nonetheless, a singular and effective delegate for Arland. Much more useful than that Earl, who refused to allow an unkind word about anyone, regardless of how much they might deserve it.

Would wonders never cease. An Arland Princess with a hint of a spine.

This Summit was certainly never boring.

-

Yvette thought her Princess deserved better. Such a bright young woman ought to be able to reach for more than her status as a gift Arland would bestow upon an ally who was willing to put up with her. (Perhaps they all deserved better than Summit machinations and noble politics, but that was a question for future generations to answer, not a single Duchess in her private thoughts.)

The Princess was quiet and polite, exactly as she had been trained to be. But she caught the eye, shone with her own inner light, a light that was already brighter than it had been at the Welcome Feast, and she’d handled that particular challenge with grace, deprecation, and a surprisingly charismatic and self-aware touch of humor, even when that young Zarad had dragged her into a highly inappropriate dance in front of everyone.

Constance would have been so proud of Mina if she’d seen it. Not that Yvette allowed herself to consider Princess Constance too often; that led to worrying about how she was doing, trapped at Prince Aamir’s side.

Yvette swallowed a sigh, and made sure her hands stayed loose in her lap, no tension visible anywhere in her body, even as she had to fight not to squint against the light of a rising sun. She’d managed to place herself outside the stable before anyone else, but the chaperones and servants and delegates would be here soon for the ride, and she could not let her worry show. Not for Arland or the Summit, past, present or future, not for the Princess as Princess or simply as a young lady in a difficult place.

Most especially not for her poor darling Earl, who she knew was painfully aware that half the Isle could tell that he was hopelessly in love with his Princess, by far the least eligible match for either of them to attempt here at this Summit.

Katyia would probably have insisted they be matched regardless; this time Yvette had to swallow a smile at the thought. Perhaps, somehow, even without Katyia, they’d manage a small bit of happiness, at least for awhile.

Yvette’s smile escaped her control, that thought too sweet to entirely dismiss.

Perhaps she had more hope left in her bones for this Summit than she’d thought.

-

Falon thought the boat race was the least painful activity of the Summit. It required actual effort and forethought and tactics from the delegates, and did not require he make small-talk about things he couldn’t possibly know anything about, and wouldn’t want to chatter about even if he did.

A Hisean team always won it, of course, but it was interesting to watch what the other delegates decided to do. Did they choose to forego it entirely and network among the spectators? Did they back Hise and their easy victory? Did they put on a show of their own boat, costumes or decorations or fancy tricks to draw the eye? Did they fight for that second place spot, did they try and make Hise work for their victory?

It was fascinating, and a good way to see how all the different delegations were starting to relate to each other, an idea of who could work with who, who might be able to reach a hand across a bargaining table by the end of the Summit and have someone grasp it back.

He had never expected two of the Hise delegates to agree to back an Arlish Captain though. One who had somehow managed to entice his damnable Duke out of the library to participate! And a Wellin Princess. It was the most cosmopolitan ship in the competition.

And then it won.

Hise lost.

Hise lost the boat race to Arland.

Falon didn’t know what to do with that. He couldn’t figure out what it meant, it was too improbable to have even considered it as a possible conclusion. Falon was so disconcerted, he didn’t even manage to catch Lyon before he retreated back inside after the race. Not that it would probably have worked, but Falon didn’t even manage to try.

He did manage to congratulate the rest of the team however, and he didn’t think he sounded nearly as bewildered as he felt.

On the one hand, it was good that there were delegates with the strength of will and character to actually make things happen.

On the other, he had a feeling he was going to spend the next five weeks wishing he’d been assigned as Chaperone for a less interesting Summit.

-

Jaslen loved the Matchmaker’s breakfast. The only real chance anyone had to see what of the Matchmaker’s opinions she was willing to let be seen in public, and so close to the one banquet at the Summit that still held so tightly to Katyia’s dreams rather than everyone else’s fears; there was always something to learn about how well the behind-the-scenes maneuvering was going.

Plus the delegates were always so delightfully chaotic, the stresses of the Summit and the anticipation of the remaining weeks only getting worse…

When Jaslen had flitted through the dining hall prior to any of the delegates arriving, she’d thought placing the poor Arland Princess in between the Revaire Prince and that idiot Blain was uncharacteristically cruel of the Matchmaker. She had no patience for incompetence, but she didn’t usually twist the knife after (metaphorically) stabbing some delegate who hadn’t impressed her.

But then breakfast actually happened, and Wilhelmina was fine! Calm and polite even while her seatmates bickered and everyone stared at her; she even smiled at that Earl of hers without appearing at all self-conscious when she escaped after Blain’s unsubtle attack.

It was such a nice surprise. Jaslen might have underestimated the Princess, but she wasn’t wrong about the Matchmaker, and that would have been disturbing, after all these years.

Watching Blain fumble his way through the Summit was excruciating enough for one year, she didn’t need to add an absolute failure in her usually impeccable people skills on top of that.

This really was the best morning. She wished she could be a chaperone for every Summit.

-

Jasper had been quite honored to realize he was assigned to Princess Wilhelmina of Arland herself. The Princesses were always such lovely guests, dutiful but seldom dull, young and hopeful and exactly the sort of people Katyia had most wanted to help.

He met his Princess and she was a joy to serve. Not just for the Summit or his duty or Arland, but for herself, complete and entire. He wished her well, and he saw her rise to every occasion, and for all he knew he could not take the credit, he was so proud.

But it was tinged with fear, not just for the Summit, or the Isle, and definitely not for Arland, but for her and her countryman, her childhood friend, Yvette's young assistant, Earl Emmett of Arland. He was as kind and dutiful as any Arlish Lord could have ever desired, and every time he smiled Jasper could see the Princess light up, and yet.

And yet.

They were both of Arland, and had been excessively well trained. Earl Emmet had traveled enough to be able to bring home a bride from anywhere and be kind to her in a way she'd understand, and the Princess. Well. The Princesses of Arland always left.

Always.

And then the night of the Matchmaker’s banquet he almost missed it, distracted by everything else that had happened (everything that shouldn’t have happened). He barely made himself settle before the Matchmaker stood, but he managed it just in time, standing quiet in his shadows as she began her announcement.

Which included the love match of Princess Wilhelmina of Arland to Earl Emmet of Arland.

There was an instant of total silence in the Hall, regardless of the number of people, regardless of servants and cutlery and food and conversation, regardless of high ceilings and the usual whispers of acoustics designed specifically to pick up everything so it would be almost impossible to overhear any one thing out of all the rest beyond one’s seatmate.

Arland to Arland.

Jasper’s eyes closed, and he didn’t know if it was joy or shock, horror or hope. He opened them to the much more familiar incoherence of a room full of whispering delegations, not a single person without an opinion on that match.

Arland to Arland.

He let himself smile, just a little, and let himself imagine it, a Summit that celebrated a match like that, Arland to Arland, for love and happiness rather than politics and duty.

-

Mina was sure she was blushing, but she’d noticed the shock after the Matchmaker’s announcement, heard the whispers a moment later, and she couldn’t quite contain it.

She also couldn’t hold in the lift of outright glee at hearing their names announced like that, one after the other. She had no idea how they were going to make this work, but oh, she didn’t regret a moment of choosing her best friend to be her partner, to be her future, no matter what anyone else thought of it. Not even her parents.

And she knew, every time she saw him, every time she thought of him, every time he smiled, or ducked his head, or pushed his sleeves up his arm as if this time they were going to stay, despite all the evidence to the contrary, that Emmett didn’t regret it either.

They only managed one quick moment before they were sent their separate ways, but she could live through a dozen more Summits, and she’d never forget the brilliance of his smile in that moment. Proof, if she’d needed it, that it was worth every effort over the next four weeks to keep him with her, to keep herself with him, to make it out the other side of this Summit

Together.

[elainiisms]

me watching two leaves fall into a puddle right next to each other: yuri.

[bberetd]

= Miraculous Shelter =

It’s been a while since I’ve written a proper story, so I’ve decided to come out of retirement with my faves!

Thank you @peaches2217 for helping me out with writing, @vulpixfairy1985 for giving me inspiration from your drabbles, and @silenzahra for keeping me motivated ♥️ you’ll also see some elements from your bookworm hc post, and @itsavee4117 from your Luigi artist hc post ;)

@kelbreyworshipper @supergay-64 @pepperycar @pinkcreamypeach @wahooitsamee and anyone else, hope you enjoy!

Here are some doodles to go with it! The cake in the drawing is the one Luigi and Peach make for Daisy in the story, and then on the right, I was too lazy to draw the Toad-equivalents of Sarasaland (2 brain dead to come up with name) 😭 so imagine them looking like the children from the Grinch movie.

[buttercreamery]

I'm feeling nostalgic for all the webtoons I abandoned after 9th grade

[annthehumanarts]

Meet Barrett!

I’m a bit late to party about this guy since my friend, @regularassgrass has already been making drawings and stuff of him on their page. But life has been hectic with me getting a job and all other crazy stuff I’ve been trying to work on, including the blog rebrand. But he’s here now and hopefully I’ll be able to draw more of my anxious dire wolfbeastman and his adventures at RSA along with the world around him.

[applegreenrunnerbean]

help someone described williams-era nicomark as an arranged marriage and now i Cannot stop thinking about the 1880s lesbian princess cake bildungsroman this has inspired within me in which girl!nico is forced by her poor-but-aristocratic family to marry up-and-coming industrialist mark for the fail-marriage of all time and is seduced by mark's girl bff nineteenth century It girl jenson

[salty-an-disco]

Hero would be the kinda guy who sees a stray in the street and simply cannot resist bringing them home.

And Contra, being the chaos and fun-loving gremlin that he is, would be like “sounds good to me!!” and enable any and all animal-gathering behavior.

Then their house is suddenly filled with Too Many Pets, way too many for the both of them to properly take care of, and they’re like, “Oh No. The consequences of our actions. Oh no, I’LL have to be the responsible one about this, aren’t I? Oh noooooooooo.”

it’s a STRUGGLE and against everything they stand for to look Hero in the eye and tell him they should probably send some of these animals to a shelter, where they can find someone that’ll take good care of them, but if something happen to any of these animals because they were too overwhelmed to keep up with all of them Hero will be DESTROYED so they need to go through it.

[cellarkitty]

  ⠀ ⠀   ⠀ ⠀   ⠀ ⠀   ⠀ ᦏ♡᪔

[cak31ssuperi04]

fun fact: Them

[thaliajoy-blog]

Princess Arete is so good & fun. A locked up little princess who yearns to learn & do useful things is controlled by her father & his councillors and ends up kidnapped by an evil wizar ; she escapes from him & realizes the wizard has big time self-loathing problems.

[theshadowrealmitself]

Once again thinking about Naruto (because it’s just making me sad that I’m not dating a sweet extraterrestrial who can hold me while I’m sick) and scenarios only I like:

Kid Naruto finding out he has chakra chains and mokuton but instead of getting to use them to be a badass ninja, he quickly gets caught up in politics because Tsunade’s like “fuck yeah” and makes him her ��heir” (because she doesn’t wanna hear anymore of that “continuing the senju line” shit from clan elders)

So now they just have this overpowered kid doing incredibly mundane things like learning “tea etiquette” or whatever clan stuff they got and making him regret that he unlocked these wild magical ninja powers

Also I really want this because nothing’s funnier to me than the idea of people suddenly treating Naruto the same way you’d treat a sickly sheltered princess (because you just know they’d be worried about assassination and kidnapping attempts) and the whole time it’s just. Naruto. still acting like himself. and is now overpowered.

[elainiisms]

need a constant steady flow of yuri content or i will wither up and die

[crimeronan]

This makes no damn sense but compels me: runaways Vee, Hunter, and Luz in their Boxcar Children era in Gravesfield. Somehow managing to avoid both any adult intervention and any reasonable form of shelter for months. Stealing clothes off clotheslines. Being the subject of many irate Facebook and Next Door posts. Do you see my vision

I FULLY GET YOU AND THIS IS WHAT'S MOST COMPELLING TO ME TOOOOO. like. can i make it make Sense that nobody notices any of these three kids very clearly having no guardian very little shower access and stealing everything they own from all over town???? probably not. do i WANT the three of them to sleep in the hayloft of a barn during the bitter connecticut winter with vee shapeshifting into a wolf to snuggle up n keep both luz and hunter warm???? (do i want hunter to insist he's fine and that she should focus on luz until she gets fed up and just drags him over by the scruff??)

god...,. you know it..... more than Anythingg.....

[dumbdomb]

NO: lurkers, likes only, inactive, empty, or blank blogs. DO NOT LIKE MY CONTENT. DNI. ♥️

Read my pinned post BEFORE you interact: like, reblog, reply, dm, ask, or follow. Must be over twenty-five years of age to interact. 25+ only.

thoughts about being a fucked up experiment person or monster and my resilient handler... which could also be an important royal heir trained to survive, and their protector, etc.

READ MY PINNED before you interact! 25+ only.

still obsessively in love with the idea of owning a submissive, service handler. like, sure it's their job to protect and care for me, but they don't have to keep crossing these lines and caring too much and doing things to me that could get them fired (and, potentially, executed). the job never required being emotionally involved with me, especially when doing so could become a danger to them. risking it all to make sure i'm safe and comfortable and, occasionally, being used to let off steam. whether it's my pent-up nerves or feeling like i'm in heat, they're always there for me. personal body guard, punching bag, and biggest, softest teddy bear ever. they would be anyone and anything i wanted or needed, as long as i wanted and needed them.

Read my pinned before you interact! 25+ only.

NO: lurkers, likes only, inactive, empty, or blank blogs. DO NOT LIKE MY CONTENT. DNI. ♥️

[marigoldbaker]

briar listening to skie's plan to join the flaming fist without her father's permission like :D that sounds great! go live your best life, girl :D

[help-help-i-need-an-adult]

Geralt and Yennifer: *arguing*

Geralt: hey Jaskier, isn’t it true that SpongeBob lives in a cucumber?

Jaskier: what?

Yennifer: for the last time, he lives in a fucking pineapple!

Geralt: no, it’s not. 🎵who lives in a cucumber under the sea? SpongeBob SquarePants🎶

Jaskier, internally: ah. Geralt is fucking with the witch. Excellent!

Jaskier: it’s a cucumber.

Yennifer: *looking betrayed and confused*

Geralt: Ha! Told you!

Yennifer: it fucking isn’t!

Jaskier: no. Geralt is right. It’s a cucumber. Correct number of syllables for the song and I can assure you, it’s a cucumber.

Yennifer: *stomps off*

Geralt: *leaves triumphant*

Jaskier: *goes back to his book and forgets all about it*

(Jaskier, Geralt, and Ciri are watching TV and SpongeBob comes on)

Geralt, angry: you lied to me!

Jaskier: um… about what?

Geralt: ABOUT THE CUCUMBER!

Jaskier: …

Jaskier: darling, I really don’t know what you’re talking about.

Geralt: you told me and Yen that SpongeBob lived in a cucumber under the sea. You lied!

Jaskier: *suddenly remembering and realizing what’s happened*

Jaskier: *laughs*

Geralt: hmm!

Jaskier: you… haha! You were serious?! Bahahaha!!!

Geralt: of course I was serious!

Jaskier: I thought you were fucking with Yen!!! Bahahahaha!

Geralt: hmm?

Jaskier: and I… hahaha!! I thought I was helping you with the prank!!!! *dissolves into a laughing puddle*

Geralt: I was asking for your help and you thought I was joking?

Jaskier: Everyone knows it’s a pineapple, Geralt! Except maybe Yennifer for being too old and stuffy to have watched SpongeBob!

Geralt: hmmm!

Jaskier: I assumed you knew because Ciri and I watch it and you’re there. But no! You thought it was a cucumber!

Ciri: Shhhh!!!!

Geralt: *storms away*

Jaskier: *realizes how mad Geralt is*

Jaskier: Geralt. Geralt, I’m sorry. I truly didn’t mean to mislead you! Come back!