#Up to you whether they get married in the elven way or just in the human way

[corsairspade]

Halenthir scenario where they get married for tax benefits (in a platonic good friends sort of way) and fall in love long distance via sending each other letters with ideas on how to best leverage their marriage for tax evasion.

[cybershock24601]

My most unhinged and for the drama post canon Rookanis scenario is where Rook accidentally gets pregnant post the first night she and Luccanis spend together because they're both virgins, Rook's not on any contraceptive, and the final battle is happening pretty much right after so remembering to take the fantasy morning after pill kinda gets lost in the shuffle and it basically results in Lucanis speedrunning ditching the Crows to become the Ultimate Househusband.

The way I typically imagine post canon Rookanis going down is Rook moving in with Lucanis and her relationship with Caterina slowly worsening over months and years because while Caterina probably starts pretty neutral on Rook, she just does not vibe with Rook's personality and considering she's a paranoid old woman, does not like the influence this outsider has on her grandson or the sort of support Rook has unintentionally built up amongst the Crows during the whole, let's kill these evil elven gods fiasco. Sure Caterina named Lucanis First Talon but its pretty clear a lot of the power is supposed to remain in her guiding hand and Rook is an unknown and chaotic variable fucking with her plans.

Rook on the other hand goes in ready to do her best to build a good relationship with Caterina for Lucanis' sake but starts souring on Caterina the more she learns about Lucanis and Illario's childhoods and is like, no wonder shit went so sideways, which combined with Caterina's increasingly passive aggressive behavior, Rook is only being civil because she is not willing to cause more problems in Lucanis' already fucked up family but its not like Rook is taking Caterina's jabs without getting in a few of her own.

On top of that, despite Caterina's personal dislike of Rook, she's also pushing for Lucanis and Rook to marry and start pumping out great grandbabies to repopulate House Dellamorte. While Rook is more then willing to marry Lucanis, the more Rook learns about how Caterina raised Lucanis and Illario and just about the Crows in general, she starts getting a lot of reservations about raising any child of hers in such a fucked up environment. Meanwhile Lucanis is aggressively Not Thinking About It because while he can justify the treatment he received growing up, thinking about raising his children the way he was would probably break his brain a little because its a little hard to ignore how fucked up and traumatic your own childhood is when you have to confront how much that would fuck up and traumatize someone else.

So instead of these issues growing worse and worse over the years until they completely bubble over, Rook and Lucanis have to pretty immediately confront the realities of raising a family in the Crows and by the time the kid is 6 months old Rook has enough of a grasp of what this kids future will look like in the Crows and Lucanis has had to confront continuing the cycle of abuse he was born into and they just mutually come to the decision that they need to GTFO now.

Also maybe throw in a rival Talon trying to smother this future First Talon before they have chance to grow for a little extra drama and to force Lucanis to confront the same choice Caterina did on whether the seat of First Talon is worth sacrificing his family and the answer is obviously a resounding No.

And this is all without accounting for Spite and how he would react to Rook being pregnant because I'm sure that's probably an insane concept for a spirit or how Spite would deal with this new tiny person that's half-Lucanis and half-Rook. Not to mention whatever inevitable over dramatic reaction Illario has to becoming an uncle while trying to patch up his relationship with Lucanis after the whole 'attempting to have Lucanis killed to take the position of First Talon' thing. Lots of room for comedy here to balance out how fucked up the rest of this story is.

Anyways all this ends with Lucanis and Rook traveling around for a few years to keep the Crows off their tail because I doubt Lucanis would be able to easily leave without some reprisal before they eventually quietly settle down in the Necropolis. Which serves as great security because I like the idea of magical semi sentient locations and I don't think the Necropolis would let any Crow assassins reach its Crypt Baby or Crypt Grandbaby

[inanshalla]

questions abt joyeuse and the kids!! okays so:

• what's their names? :D

• whether pregnancy or adoption or what have u. did she have them during inquisition time or after? before?

• how do the trevelyans react? or rly anyone joyeuse considers family, really :O

• what do they think of solas, given they're 10 give or take around veilguard?

• given they're still babies, what kind of little personalities have they developed? like is one more like joyeuse or solas, both of them?

• following from that, did the mark ever affect them in any way? like residual magic shenanigans? being in proximity to it, stuff like that

This is going to be LONG so its under the cut!

Been so hard to find names for them but for right now I basically just gave the two the default names of Trevelyan, so the daughter is named Evelyn nicknamed "Evie" and the son is named Maxwell, nicknamed "Wells" She had them after Inquisition. She actually was in the VERY early stages of pregnancy so she had no idea she was pregnant during the break up and neither did solas, so the twins were born several months after that. She was honestly surprised because she took precautions, they both did so when I tell you she was looking at the thedas version of a pregnancy test like that calculation gif she was lol

Her parents did not react well even though her being the inquisitor did cushion the blow. She may have been the fourth child and was never going to be heir BUT being the inquisitor and then having a child out of wedlock and the children having elven features had her parents pretty disappointed in her. She had always longed for her parents approval too. A bit of family trivia... Joyeuse is the fourth child but her siblings were born nearly two decades before she was and by the time she turned eighteen her siblings already have advantageous marriages and children so she grew up with her nieces and nephews. As for her siblings, nieces and nephews they did not have much of an issue and were rather supportive. It was a bit of a scandal but no so much so it tarnishes her legacy or anything like that. As for relatives outside of the main branch of the family, to them it seems more salacious. I think the inner circle were like ??? that's why Cassandra thinks she's getting married because she found out she was a mother in Trespasser lmao. Only Leliana, Varric, Vivienne, Cole (since he reads minds) and Dorian know who the actual father is. Varric knowing caused them to have a falling out a year before Varric started tracking Solas. Overall the inner circle LOVES those brats.

She doesn't talk about him at all, to them at least. She feels like if she spoke about him then they'd just ask more questions and she does not want to have to explain to ten year olds that their father is going to off them and hundreds upon thousands of others. It makes her angry just thinking about it, actually. As very small children they did not really care too much but the problems start when they get older... but far as Wells is concerned when they are older they might have just been made of clay. That is to say he doesn't care because he isn't with them and his mom and everyone else are good enough substitute for another parent. He really wants for nothing. As for Evie she is very much dying to know who her father is and what he's like, mostly because she's a dreamer mage and her mom isn't one and she feels a disconnect with her because of it unfortunately. She had always felt this way when young but it only gets worse as she gets older. In the Fade, since she's a dreamer mage, she often shapes what he might look like... unfortunately that desire to know who her father is makes her a lot easier to manipulate to the point where solas actively exploits that in a story I'm brainstorming. It's so messy.

Personality... Evie is curious and playful, kind of like how solas describes wisps in Inquisition as a child. She loves reading and learning new things. She also is the type of child that knows odd facts. She's mischievous and often played pranks on others in Skyhold with Sera before Sera left to rejoin the Red Jennies. EXTREMELY naïve and trusting. As for Wells he's sweet and more shy in personality. He played with his sister a lot, but because she often had to be tutored because she's a mage he was often on his own with other kids. He's a bit of a crybaby actually. He kind of outgrows this when he gets older though. As a child, he was often a sad victim of Sera and Evie's pranks but not on purpose he was just caught in the crossfire. Whenever Evie would get into trouble, he was always behind her because she would kind of bully him into whatever pranks she wanted to pull. Despite this, he's the first to protect his sister.

Joyeuse was actually afraid, especially a few weeks before Trespasser when her mark was acting up that she'd summon a fade rift her children would get sucked up in it. When the mark got too bad, she could not spend as much time with her kids as she wanted. In fact, she had the kids stay in Ostwick with their great aunt Cortanna. She also did this because she did not want her kids to be at the Winter Palace which turned out to be a good call. Though I did have an idea that she brings them and one of them Evie... gets lost in the crossroads lol In short they were so young when she lost it so they don't actually know much about it, not really remembering it. 

Thank you for the ask!!! Anymore questions I'd love to answer them

[tumblingxelian]

@aspiringwarriorlibrarian was having asks relating to fantasy species and I wanted to contribute but this ended up too big for an ask, so I hope you enjoy!

Speaking of that "Fantasy species as one note objects or too human, ETC subject there are two fantasy series I think did a rally good job of tackling this topic, I'll go with the faster one first:

Freiren is a series with several species but the one's to note here are the elves and the demons.

Elves are seemingly immortal beings who while capable of love and companionship don't strictly speaking 'need it' the way humans do. An elf can spend centuries in isolation and be no worse for wear.

But by the same token this also means their species doesn't really instinctively come together all that much. Even when encountering another elf when both thought their were the last of their species they just kind of hang out for a bit then part ways happily.

In the opposite sort of direction we have:

Demons who are what I call not "Innately evil" but instead are "Innately hostile" in the same way a parasite or disease is hostile, while lacking malice. Demons are evolved from monsters, creatures that prey on elves, dwarves and humans. Demons have evolved an advanced form of mimicry that makes their prey easy to manipulate.

An example being a demon calling out for "mother" when people grow wrathful, or a different demon quickly turning a situation regarding a vengeful father to his advantage by claiming humans killed his father. In both cases demons have zero idea what a parent is, they just re-shuffled the words they registered as important.

Demons aren't malicious, even the demon slayer main character doesn't hate them, but they are a predator/hostile species.

Meanwhile in Destron's travelogue is a fanfic but it is soooo goood!

In the story itself we actually see researchers discussing how the brains of sapient creatures are fairly similar in terms of capacity. But that they are radically different in terms of interpretation. Other biological factors get discussed as well, so some examples include:

Orcs, being carnivorous, are more aggressive than humans by default, but also more communal on an instinctual level. Sapience still rules the day, but the base temperament and needs are different.

Gnomes & Goblins don't really suffer depression, which is not to say they don't suffer trauma, they just respond to it with a sort of... Manic infusion of energy that drives them to act. Which can be very useful to the point where Gnomes are rather dismissive of human and Dwarves penchant for misery. But also very damaging, as it tends to coincide with their ability to assess risks taking a nose dive & encouraging a rather callous attitude. Again societal attitudes and how one is raised influence all this, but it does give a different starting point.

Elves and other super long lives or un-aging species are also not really effected by boredom the same way other species are. Even often having an extremely loose grasp of time where meeting somewhere "In a few weeks" means actually waiting in that spot for several weeks.

Elven literature tends to spend much more time on good and scenery, with a very loose grasp on the narrative voice sending the reader back and forward in time on speculative memories and so on. Even the High Elves have this tradition where a couple to be married need to spend a decade separated from one anther to test whether of not their love will endure.

Though this is also noted to mean Elves and other long lived species tend to struggle with change and can even end up lost in their own memories, sometimes permanently. Elven depression is a trip.

There's a ton of stuff like this, with the Ogres being hyper tragic as a species more dominated by their instincts more than others to their own detriment. Or how the Tauren are so communal as a species being evicted from their community basically destroys their psyche near instantly. Or with the Draenei who are literal empaths and so on average are super happy and chill, but whose mental state can be directly influenced by that of other Draenei. With the emotion of joy being treated the same way as oxygen or food that needs to be protected lest despair or rage consume the collective.

All in all I find stuff like this really interesting.

Conclusion:

People are all people, but certain needs and perspectives and perceptions are different as a base-line. It doesn't utterly dominates how a species behaves, orcs can be loners, a Tauren can leave their community, elves can be impatient. But it does set a subtly distinct base-line for the psychological needs and instincts felt by these various characters that inform their behavior.

Even in Freiren with its demons, they aren't malevolent, they just 'are', we see multiple monsters that prey on humans and the different strategies they employ. Like a species that are basically a magic mirror for lost loved ones but they can't control what those reflections behave like. They rarely seem to enjoy what they do, or fin it upsetting, its just hunting and eating to them, instinct.

I feel like this is a fun way to approach the topic of alternate species in fantasy or sci-fi basically.

[anenlightenedwriter]

Ok I’ll try to explain Maedhros and Fingon. Let me put it like this: I see that you follow a lot of whump blogs that write about captivity, exploitation, rape, trauma and other dark topics. That’s fantastic (genuine!) those blogs are great and a great way to safely explore dark topics whether for catharsis, trauma recovery or just for fun or interest. I presume of course that you don’t think those things are ok in real life! Of course you don’t and neither do the writers of those blogs. It would be silly to think that they do and very insulting to you and to those writers

It’s the same for Maedhros and Fingon and similar ships. It’s a high stakes tragic fantasy world where characters frequently make decisions that we sympathize with in the story but that of course would not be ok in real life. People are drawn to the forbidden nature of the ship, the tragic circumstances, the narrative parallels with other canon romances, etc. that doesn’t mean any of them support incest in real life any more than reading or enjoying the story of Túrin and Niënor means that. Many people who ship Maedhros and Fingon don’t even necessarily think that the relationship is healthy for the characters involved

Regarding Whump:

I'm mainly there for the comfort after torture, I do not enjoy the rest of the Whump trope and whatnot. Most of what I post regarding whump is to rile up a reaction from my irl friend who follow this blog. (Which just leads to skull emojis and questioning of life choices)

Regarding Maedhros and Fingon's relationship:

I get the thrill and the appeal. Just not the logic behind it. I mean even if one says there was sibling incest in the Silmarillion, the elves treat the act as something precious since it brings them children and the elven population was pretty low in the beginning of the 1st age as only about a gross. Then again as an another ask states Tolkien based his world off somewhat our world history and there was a lot of incest amongst royalty back then so he based it off that. However, that misses the point, royals procreated with their siblings or relatives so that they can provide a child of 'pure lineage' so someone of the Noldor getting married and getting their hoohaa on with another from the same Noldor house that has the adequate reproductive system so that they can have children makes sense.

To conclude, I get the romance part of the ship, if that's your thing, go for it. However, I am not here to challenge that, I am here to challenge the technicality of the ship. When I say this, I mean to ask how does it line up with the nature of the elves according to Tolkien?

P.S. Before someone tells me that we don't know the reproductive system of the elves, remember that the elves are just man with blessed souls. There is a reason why man and elves can crossbreed. It is made possible by their similarity within the physical sense so the truth of the matter is that there is a big possibility that the elves have the same reproductive systems as man.

[mirawritesstuff]

The Cleric Pt. 1

"I hope we didn't kill 'er." A masculine, dopey sounding voice said from the darkness.

"It was jus' a little bonk on the head! We couldn't have killed 'er!" A more rough feminine sounding voice said back.

"Wait I think she's wakin' up!" The dopey one said again.

Enid groans softly as she tries to move, though she quickly realized she was tied up. She blinks a few times before realizing her eyes were covered by a blindfold. "Great." She thought to herself. Last thing she remembered she was traveling to the next town, hoping to meet back up with her party.

"What's going on?! Who are you?!" The cleric shouted as she struggled against her restraints.

"Oi calm ya tits! We'll take the blindfold off, just sit still." One of the orcs said. Begrudgingly, Enid calmed down and the orc removed her blindfold. "See? Was that so hard?" The orc asked.

"Unhand me this instant." Enid snarled, glaring at the two orcs watching her.

"Aw look at how cute the humans are when they're mad!"

"Oh shut it, Ug! Let me do the talkin'."

"Sorry, Brenna..." The orc named Ug said dishearteningly.

"Now, what do they call ya... A cleric, yeah?" Brenna asked.

"Why do you want to know?" Enid asked, her eyes narrowed. While her devotion to her faith wasn't exactly subtle, with her holy symbol hanging from her neck, she wasn't counting on these two to even know what a holy symbol was.

"Enough with the sass! We just have a request for yous. Or, our chief does at least. You clerics are known for blessin' stuff, and doin' weddings, so our chief wanted us to find a cleric for her wedding." Brenna explained, crossing her arms.

".... What?" Was the only response Enid could come up with. What did she mean? Enid knew very little of orc culture, though she heard that orcs "finalized" their marriage, not through blessings or romantic ceremonies, but through combat. The newly wed couple would spar in nonlethal combat and the stronger of the two became the primary leader of the tribe.

"You 'eard me. Our chief wants you to bless her wedding." Brenna repeated. "You're gonna do it whether you like it or not, it's just easier if you agree." She said, towering over the little cleric.

"Why does an orc chieftain want an elven cleric to bless her wedding?" Enid asked

"Well.... Our chief's marriage is a little.... Unconventional.." Ug said as he looked at Brenna, not really sure how to explain it.

"She's marryin' an elf." Brenna stated simply. "We don't get it either, but Chief Gavyn is the fiercest warrior in the tribe, we speak bad about her little elf, and she'll banish us." She said with a huff.

"An elf is marrying into your tribe?" Enid asked, still wildly confused about the whole situation.

"That's what I said isn't it? Are you daft?" The orc snarled.

"I just can't believe an elf would marry one of your lot." Enid snarled back.

"Your fragile lot would be lucky to marry into our tribe!" Brenna shot back.

"WHAT IS GOING ON IN HERE?!" Roared a new voice who had barged in.

"Chief! W-We found yous a cleric!" Ug stumbled over his words, nervously looking at Brenna and the elven cleric.

"Stand down, Brenna. You harm a hair on our guests' head, and I'll have yours on a platter." Gavyn snarled. "Now untie her! Me and Niamh have wedding preparations they need to go over with her."

"Yes Chief." Brenna said with a huff, untying the elf. "You're lucky you're the chief's honored guest." She grumbled.

Enid rubs her wrists as she glares at Brenna before looking back up at the Orc chieftain. "So, you're marrying an elf?" She asked.

"Yes, and that's why you're here, so that way my love can have some of her traditions represented in our wedding. Now come, we have much to discuss." Gavyn stated, motioning for Enid to follow.

Enid thinks for a moment, a bit unsure before she starts following after the chief. What the hells, she's already here so might as well.

She just hoped her party was fairing well without her.

You, a cleric, have been kidnapped by a wild orc clan. Why did they kidnap you? Because as a cleric you have the gift of blessing others in the name of your gods, and the orcs want you to bless their chieftain’s marriage.

[starwrittenfates]

VERSE ;; The Sun's Gift (Bg3)

☆ 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐟𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ☆

𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾:

Born and raised in the upper city of Baldur’s Gate, she is part of the noble elven family, House of Willowlight. She is the product of an unhappy arranged marriage between her parents.

Her father, Thalien, works as a magistrate. Despite being a Sun Elf, he tends to be cold, strict and harsh with his daughter. Her mother, Faelyn, is a powerful sorceress and a Sun Elf. When Synnove was a young elfling, Faelyn—unhappy with her marriage— ended up sneaking away in the middle of the night, leaving her family behind. She doesn’t make it far outside the walls of Baldur’s Gate, instead ending up found murdered.

In the years being raised by her father and grieving the loss of her mother, she does everything she can to get affection or praise from her abusive and neglectful father— something to show she has worth besides just being his heir he wants to marry off and get rid of. So Synnove takes up the deed of learning all she can and becoming a “Jack of All Trades”, whether it be trying her hand at magic, writing, music, or learning how to fight and heal. Along the way, she finds her desire to become a Bard. However, nothing she seems to do will ever please her father or make him regard her with care. After her father has declared he has found some Noble lord for his daughter to marry, Synnove decides to try to follow where her mother didn’t succeed and trying to find her greater purpose in life outside the walls of Baldur’s Gate, running away the day of her arranged marriage and breaking free from the chains of her old life.

Synnove manages to make it outside the wall, visiting taverns and inns and singing her songs in return for room and board, but along the way she ends up getting kidnapped by Mind Flayers and infected with one of their tadpoles. A stroke of fortune lets her escape her captors, but the tadpole in her head will still turn her into a mind flayer… unless she can find a way to remove it. And this is where Synnove’s story of adventure begins, running into other companions also infected with tadpoles, creating a story in the making that will be told in Faerûn for years to come.

More in depth about Synnove, including her personal quest, can be found: HERE

𝚂𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶: Baldur’s Gate 3 universe and plot (and DnD Forgotten Realms.) PLEASE NOTE — This is her main/default verse unless otherwise specified.

𝙴𝚇𝚃𝚁𝙰: Pretty flexible for how things go. Feel free to message me if you wanna talk it out.

[sungiftedbard]

VERSE ;; The Sun's Gift (Baldur's Gate 3 - Main Verse!)

☼ 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐆𝐢����𝐭𝐞𝐝𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐕𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐬 ☼

𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴 𝙸𝙽𝙵𝙾:

Born and raised in the upper city of Baldur’s Gate, she is part of the noble elven family, House of Willowlight. She is the product of an unhappy arranged marriage between her parents.

Her father, Thalien, works as a magistrate. Despite being a Sun Elf, he tends to be cold, strict and harsh with his daughter. Her mother, Faelyn, is a powerful sorceress and a Moon Elf. When Synnove was a young elfling, Faelyn—unhappy with her marriage— ended up sneaking away in the middle of the night, leaving her family behind. She doesn’t make it far outside the walls of Baldur’s Gate, instead ending up found murdered.

In the years being raised by her father and grieving the loss of her mother, she does everything she can to get affection or praise from her abusive and neglectful father— something to show she has worth besides just being his heir he wants to marry off and get rid of. So Synnove takes up the deed of learning all she can and becoming a “Jack of All Trades”, whether it be trying her hand at magic, writing, music, or learning how to fight and heal. Along the way, she finds her desire to become a Bard. However, nothing she seems to do will ever please her father or make him regard her with care. After her father has declared he has found some Noble lord for his daughter to marry, Synnove decides to try to follow where her mother didn’t succeed and trying to find her greater purpose in life outside the walls of Baldur’s Gate, running away the day of her arranged marriage and breaking free from the chains of her old life.

Synnove manages to make it outside the wall, visiting taverns and inns and singing her songs in return for room and board, but along the way she ends up getting kidnapped by Mind Flayers and infected with one of their tadpoles. A stroke of fortune lets her escape her captors, but the tadpole in her head will still turn her into a mind flayer… unless she can find a way to remove it. And this is where Synnove’s story of adventure begins, running into other companions also infected with tadpoles, creating a story in the making that will be told in Faerûn for years to come.

More in depth about Synnove, including personal quest, can be found: HERE

𝚂𝙴𝚃𝚃𝙸𝙽𝙶: Baldur's Gate 3 universe and plot (and DnD Forgotten Realms.) PLEASE NOTE --- This is her main/default verse unless otherwise specified.

𝙴𝚇𝚃𝚁𝙰: Pretty flexible for how things go. Feel free to message me if you wanna talk it out.

[invinciblerodent]

i swear, every time I play Iona for even the shortest time (just did the hag quest, it was done very quick), I get new feelings that I then don't fully know what to do with

(she probably relates to Mayrina in more ways than just the whole "being insufferably pretty (see above)" and "partner is undead and there's not much to do about that" angles)

And right now i'm thinking mainly from the "lost little girl married village boy far too young" angle, but there's also the "husband became someone you don't quite recognize" and the "shackled by duty to a relationship that is -whether literally or figuratively- no more than dead weight" aspects that have me wanting to eat aquarium gravel

I like to think that Iona; loveless as her marriage was; really WANTED to love Herric. For like the first decade or two; she wanted to love him so much, because, by all means, it SHOULD have worked well. They should have been a success story.

They were similar ages (though her slightly older), they were members of the same community, and, young as he was, he was also handsome enough- not to mention that, hidden as her real self was, everyone was saying that they were a good match. He loved her with the textbook puppy love of young men, and she -she supposed- liked the attention, and the safety marrying "Birchlight's boy" gave her, cementing her position in the community even despite her and her father coming in as outsiders, and as fey folk.

But that wasn't enough.

It soon became apparent that what they each loved wasn't the other, but the idea of the other: he loved the thought of having a docile, unremarkable, but unaging, pretty, and sexually available elven maiden wife (who'd give him many pretty half-elven children), and she liked being married to a kind dolt of a man whose "normalcy" could cast a wide enough shadow to conceal her as well.

Neither was anywhere near the truth.

I think this is why I love playing with honesty and dishonesty between her and Astarion so much, because while they both have ample experience leading people by their noses, when it comes to each other, they're both mostly aware of the deception from the first moment on. They know that what they're seeking from the other isn't love, they play at courtship, play this fox-and-pike game while masquerading as cat and mouse, and they both know it's fake very well, until it suddenly isn't, and they're both kind of left stumbling in the dark, trying to find each other.

This is why I love the headcanon I have that, following his act 3 romance scene, her own little scene (so her big character development moment) is them using the tadpole to meld their minds.

Until then, she never allowed anyone into her mind willingly and avoided using the tadpole whenever possible, but... it's such a gesture of trust, for her, to not just allow, but invite him in like that!!!! and not even with any ulterior motive, but just because she can't think of another way to show him that the her that's deepest in her mind, the most private, most well-guarded part of her, is one who loves him.

Just.

I love their fucked up love so much, man

[book-lover85]

Future/adult sokeefe headcanons

↑ tags from og post

I think Ro becomes queen like maybe 100-200 years after they beat the Neverseen, Sophie and Keefe visit Ro in ravagog at least once a month

people are absolutely shocked that the queen of the ogres came to the Sokeefe wedding - not only that she was a member of the wedding party (whether that's as Keefe's only family member or one of Sophie's bridesmaids is up for debate) or maybe another elven wedding role the Sokeefe wedding is absolute chaos Keefe follows through and has spiders come out from the seats like he said in book 2 but it's only his dad's chair Sophie was in on it the Dizznee triplets are like 100 and still causing chaos Sophie dips Keefe and calls him Foster (I've made a post about this)

Keefe designs a crest for the Fosters since they're essentially starting a whole new family line it might be a moonlark or something else symbolic

Sophie goes by Foster-Ruewen to make it clear who her parents are she also alternates between wearing her Foster and Ruewen crest (I could also see all of them being Foster-Ruewen)

They have their first kid like 10-20 years after being married she has brown eyes a lot of elves are judgy about it but Keefe glares all of them down (all of their children are probably blonde, the blonde genes run deep, honestly tho 3/4 grandparents being blonde is insane?? <- related why are there so many blondes in the Lost Cities)

Sophie becomes the leader of the Black Swan somewhere in between there (the Black Swan essentially exists as a precaution for the council/elvin government so there's never a purely trusting relationship between them) and also a high ranking member of the nobility (both as the leader of Black Swan and in general) so she's constantly overworking herself

Keefe basically has to drag her to bed when she's channeling her inner Grady with a million scrolls on the dinner table he can, will, and has picked her up and brought her to bed to sleep (she falls asleep in his arms before they reach their bedroom)

One of Sophie's first acts after beating the Neverseen was to fix the matchmaking system so that it doesn't matter what talent someone has or if they have one, completely abolished bad matches the matchmaking system is essentially a list of relatives you shouldn't date and you have to request to get a traditional list (which will now include talentless, you can't change this) so while many prejudiced elves will still judge what would have been or was a bad match, Sophie and Keefe were never officially ruled a bad match (or maybe they go out of their way make it clear they are/would be specifically to make a point about how flawed the matchmaking system is)

(the actual first thing Sophie did was definitely petition for talentless to be allowed in the elite levels ive also made a post about this)

the reason their little boy (no im not naming them) manifested as a teleporter so young is because since it's not a normal ability it doesn't tend to rely on puberty and instead is first triggered when the person is in a high adrenaline situation that feels like falling

Keefe and Sophie visit the Grove at Havenfield on their wedding anniversary

this is a super popular headcanon but the Fosters all celebrate each other's birthdays and on Keefe's Sophie always gets super heartfelt gifts and Keefe starts crying (it happens every year, their daughter has started rolling her eyes when it happens) Keefe makes Sophie a new art piece every year and she gives him a strangle hug just like she did when he gave her paintings for midterms

Silveny gives Sophie and Keefe rides on her back a lot especially when she looks into Sophie's mind and sees she's stressed (Keefe starts to notice this pattern and after it happens a couple times he makes her tea or hot chocolate that night and makes her take a break and do a movie night or something) their kids come sometimes especially and when they're older they start to ride Wynn and Luna on their own

Stay at home dad and artist on commission Keefe

[hellofeanor]

Fëanorian Quenya

Hey friends! Do you like elves? Do you like the Silmarillion? Do you like Fëanor and co? And most of all, do you like spending hours thinking about minor details pertaining to made-up languages??? If so, boy do I have a treat for you! Let’s delve into the weird world of Fëanorian Quenya and explore some history and mechanics of why they talk Like That.

I’ve seen a lot of posts joking about the Fëanorian lisp, which is about as funny as a joke about a speech impediment can be. 👍 It’s important to understand, though, that this IS a joke. No, they didn’t really speak with a lisp. Yes, they did pronounce some S sounds as TH. That’s the critical disclaimer here: SOME. It’s not a blanket pronunciation. There’s a lot of background research that goes into determining which words would be pronounced with S and which would be TH, and that’s what we’re going to look at.

So if this is something you’ve come across in fandom and you’re not totally sure on the details, or if you ARE sure and just want some more in-depth info, read on.

The stuff probably everybody knows already

For anyone who’s been hanging around the Fëanorian corner of the Silm fandom for more than three minutes, there’s about a 100% chance you’ve heard of Fëanor’s penchant for retaining an archaic TH pronunciation after the majority of the Noldor went ahead and started pronouncing this sound as S instead. You may also know that this sound is represented by the letter thorn (Þ) in HoME, but since thorn doesn’t exist in modern English orthography and it’s a pain to keep typing the ALT code, I’m sticking to TH here. Anyway, all this was due to the fact that Fëanor was a huge mama’s boy, and his mom Míriel Therindë (later called Serindë, which made Fëanor want to punch walls and possibly also fellow elves) was an outlier who retained the TH after it fell out of use. Her son Fëanor, in turn, kept this up to honor her. Now, whether or not he would have bothered if this sound hadn’t literally been a critical part of her name is debatable, but that debate is outside the scope of this essay.

Fëanor continued to use the TH pronunciation until his death, and required his sons to use it as well. Finwë, however, switched over to S after the death of Míriel and before his marriage to Indis. Fëanor, reasonable and level-headed as he was, took this as a personal insult and decided that anybody who rejected TH likewise rejected him. So presumably, his loyal followers would have obeyed his totally reasonable demands not to give in to the seductive S-shift.

Why tho

Why did the Noldor decide to alter their pronunciation from TH to S? Great question. Nobody really knows. For the hell of it? IDK. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But the important thing to understand is that elves, and especially Noldor, were really committed to making sure their language sounds cool. This is why it changed so much and so comparatively quickly for an immortal population: they were actively invested in changing it. They liked inventing new words and exploring new sounds and messing around with grammar.

So at some point some influential Noldo might have been like, hey y’all, let’s stop saying TH and say S instead! And everyone (except Míriel I guess, who was known for her elegant manner of speech and didn’t want to muck that up by changing pronunciation of a whole letter) was like, whoa, capital idea my good egg. And they went with it. Previous ideas along these lines included ‘hey y’all, let’s stop saying KH and say H instead’ and ‘hey y’all, let’s stop saying Z and say R instead’, and those went over swimmingly. Nobody could have foreseen the problem this TH to S business would cause.

Now here’s a fun fact. There was another change to Noldorin pronunciation that happened AFTER Fëanor’s birth, that he himself was involved in. This one was all about bilabial to labiodental F. And those sure are some words, so if you don’t know what I’m talking about (I don’t blame you), BILABIAL is a more whispery sound that happens when you say F using only air passing through your pursed lips, and LABIODENTAL is when you say F with your top teeth touching your bottom lip. Going forward I’m going to use PH to represent the bilabial sound, and F for the labiodental.

So F got on the radar of the Noldor via the Teleri, who used this sound in their language. And ol’ Fëanor figured it would be awesome to incorporate it into Quenya because he thought the PH sounded too close to HW, and the two were getting confused by lazy speakers. Why did he care? Because of his dad’s name and his own, of course. If people started to get lazy in their pronunciation, we’d end up with Hwinwë and Hwëanáro, which would be terrible and stupid and unacceptable. He accused the Vanyar of leaning down that road, and he wanted to stop that kind of shift before it happened to the Noldor. How to do that? Why, by instigating a different shift from traditional Noldorin PH to Telerin F!

“Hey y’all, let’s stop saying PH and say F instead!”

“Whoa, capital idea my good egg.”

Moral of the story: Fëanor is only concerned with Quenya pronunciation insofar as it affects his own name and the names of family members he likes. He does not care whether it’s staying the same or moving to a new sound so long as it personally makes him feel good and his name sound cool. Therefore the true way to piss him off would be to call him Curuhwinwë Hwëanáro, son of Serindë.

Okay so here’s how it works

Now that history is out of the way, let’s get back to how TH was used by the Fëanorians. As I mentioned earlier, TH wasn’t a blanket pronunciation. It all depended on the original form of the word, and whether the root had a TH or an S. And some very similar-sounding words come from different roots, so this can get tricky. A great resource that’ll give you this information is Eldamo: Quenya words where the S was originally TH are marked out with the Þ (thorn) symbol in the wordlist.

Some examples:

Súlë (spirit, breath) comes from the root THŪ, which means it would be pronounced with a TH. Silma (white crystal) comes from the root SIL, so it and related words like Silmaril would be pronounced with an S. No Fëanorian would say Thilmaril. Isil (moon), however, is a similar-sounding word that comes from a different root: THIL. Olos (mass of flowers) comes from the word LOTH, but: Olos (dream) comes from the root LOS. Fëanorian pronunciation would immediately differentiate between these two words.

While Fëanorians may have retained the distinct pronunciation of TH vs S, other Noldor can still differentiate between original S and S-that-used-to-be-TH in their writing. There are specific tengwar to use depending on the word’s original form. Silmë (the one that looks like a 6) is used for original S, while súlë (or thúlë, the one that looks like an h) is used for original TH.

Which other elves used this sound in their speech?

Fandom has really latched on to this TH as a Fëanorian thing, but it wasn’t that exclusively. The TH sound was actually ubiquitous in other elven languages, and in Valinor, only the Noldor dropped it. It was still used in Telerin and in Vanyarin Quendya. The Vanyar retained the TH not because of anything to do with Míriel, but just because they were a little more conservative and their language didn’t pick up on all the changes that the Noldor made. They also noped out of the Z to R shift the Noldor initiated, opting to keep the Z around.

When Indis married Finwë, she stopped using the normal Vanyarin TH and switched over to S as a gesture of loyalty to him and his people. Finarfin, however, out of love for the Vanyar and Teleri, switched BACK to TH. I like to think about how much it would have annoyed Fëanor that his snot-nosed kid brother was speaking correctly, but for the wrong reason. Go down one more generation, and Galadriel very specifically did not use TH. But this time it was absolutely a choice made as a glaring middle finger to Fëanor.

What this means for your fanfic or whatever

The big takeaway here: you can’t just have Fëanorians replace every S with TH and call it a day.

If you’re inventing names for your Fëanorian OCs or coming up with phrases for them to say, it’s important to look into the history of all Quenya S-words you end up using to determine if they should be S or TH. If Fëanor got mad about somebody saying Serindë instead of Therindë, he’d get equally mad about somebody saying Thilmaril instead of Silmaril and assume they were mocking him. Remember: this is a dude with no chill. (On the other hand, if you WANT somebody to be mocking Fëanor, Galadriel would 100% do this because she has an equally negligible amount of chill.)

It’s also important to note that the TH isn’t a true shibboleth, since pretty much all elves EXCEPT the non-Fëanorian Noldor use it. And even the S-preferring Noldor would still be able to pronounce the TH. Those who went into exile would go on to use it commonly in Sindarin, and those who remained in Valinor would still encounter it among the Vanyar and Teleri. So if you’re writing a scene where somebody has to pronounce a TH word to prove their loyalty… yeah, everyone can pass this test. And in the opposite direction, you can’t use TH to prove somebody’s an evil Fëanorian, either. They might just be Vanyarin or something. Or, like. Really Old.

Would the sons (and followers) of Fëanor keep using TH after his death? Oh hell yeah. This is an entire family unfamiliar with the concept of not dying on hills. They will keep using it unto the ending of the world. Actually, with Sindarin becoming the common language of Middle-earth from the First Age, probably not a lot of change happened in exilic Quenya. It became a lore language: a piece of living history. It would have been preserved as it was when the original speakers left Valinor.

(And then, thousands of years later, Galadriel finally returns home to Tirion like, Long have mine eyes awaited this most blissful of sights, and ne’er hath my sprit soared with such grace, for I am returned! And all the Amanyar Noldor stare at her like, whatchu bangin on bout, eh? Because they had nothing better to do in the peace of Valinor than push Quenya to brave and frankly questionable new horizons.)

Anyway, there you go: a somewhat brief history of Fëanorian Quenya. I hope you found this informative and useful, or at the very least not boring. Obvs this is super condensed and, uh, not particularly scholarly, but I promise I know what I’m talking about. I have a university degree! (Not in anything even remotely related to what’s written above, but I hardly see how that’s relevant. It’s still a DEGREE.)

Questions? Need clarification or want more info? My asks are always open!

[theworldbrewery]

over our last two sessions, I ran something a little different. Our cleric, Oggie, has a (complicated) relationship with this NPC, Elliot. Elliot is a gay half-elf man whose father is a politician and diplomat; Elliot’s father has decided that since Elliot has a criminal record (he was framed for treason) the best way to ensure he is provided for is to marry him off to another political family, neatly tucking him away where he can’t cause a scandal.

Now, his father isn’t too interested in Elliot’s desire for romance or attraction, so he’s arranged a marriage with a young woman from a prominent elven family. The party quickly decided that this cannot stand. They agreed to attend the wedding in order to prevent it from happening.

Upon arrival at the venue, however, a few key things were going to pop off. First, it turns out Oggie’s estranged family lives in the town. Second, the whole region is deeply haunted and extremely sinister. Third, messing up the bride’s life was a non-option, because when I introduced the character of the bride, a friend of ours came out of the bedroom where I’d stashed them and introduced themself as Gloria, the bride herself (an air genasi monk in a family of elves, another outsider).

this was already clearly a rousing success, but we still had to get through the wedding, and I had to run it in a way that felt dynamic and tense. People go from room to room and building to building, indoors and outdoors and making visits to the village. It’s the day of a wedding!

So I developed a method for running the Day of the Wedding, and I’m sharing it with you for any extended roleplay and intrigue encounters you want to tangle up in plot threads.

First things first: run it like a combat.

What I mean by that is when the party woke up on the day of the wedding, I asked them all to roll for initiative. Instead of a round taking six seconds, each round lasted one hour, enough time for a movement (go to 2 areas near one another or 1 place that’s a bit further away), an action (a primary roleplay scene or investigation), and a bonus action (a conversation with a fellow player character, a quick search of an area, etc.). As the DM, use your discretion to decide what constitutes a suitable bonus action vs action.

Now, unlike combat, this type of encounter should permit player characters to team up and act together. When a PC that is high in initiative order decides to do something, other PCs that rolled lower can opt to join them if they want to act in the same location or engage with the same NPCs. (This is a great option to keep the action moving and lets players work together more.)

In order to keep this situation rolling, I prepared a few key notes. I focused on regional effects; that is, the overall culture and vibe of the area. I decided early on that the region is haunted, and that the locals are suspicious, superstitious, and obsessed with cleanliness. These features are tied into the overall plot conflicts that would develop over time. I also chose to include the effects of the Haunted table from Tasha’s Cauldron to add some spiciness to my haunting. In essence, think of the tensions the NPCs in the region are already experiencing prior to the party getting involved. A recent assassination might make a court intrigue more complicated as they now distrust strangers, for instance, while a new trade war over tariffs can complicate a diplomatic mission.

Next, I considered my locations. In this instance, my locations included the inn where the party slept, various rooms in the manor house hosting the wedding, a handful of outdoor areas, and the chapel. I focused on creating detailed descriptions of the ambiance for each location.

Then, I wrote out a quick description of each major NPC - in this case, the wedding party, the family of the intended, and a few locals and guests. In a roleplay/intrigue scenario like this, it’s vital to include motivations, secrets, and goals for each of these NPCs, even if those goals are very simple. You’ll need them for the last step:

Create a round-by-round timeline. Write out your list of locations and pair them with the NPCs that will be there during each round (hour). In my notes, I added what the NPC was doing there or what they were thinking about--linking their motivation to their location. For example, a character in the garden was leaving an early-morning meeting with her lover, the new gardener, while the fathers of the bride and groom met in the library to discuss the cover-up they had just pulled off (a politician and wedding guest had died mysteriously at midnight, and to keep the wedding from being derailed, they had hidden the body and were intimidating the only witness).

Party members who arrived at each location were therefore entering existing scenes they didn’t have full context for. Each hour, the NPCs would move on to the next phase of their day, seek out other NPCs to interact with, etc. NPCs could still be influenced by the party’s actions, so each round you might adjust exactly what they’re doing or where they’ve gone--the beauty of improv!

Keep in mind that situations should still be developing when the party isn’t witnessing them. An NPC no one had spoken to yet turned out to have spent the morning searching for her missing father, which led the party to the gravesite that they’d spotted earlier in the game, while the gardener turned out to be a villain they’d met before who was acting in secret during the session! Use your best judgment, though. Just because you wrote content for an NPC doesn’t mean the party will engage with it, so follow their lead; sprinkle the clues, and then let the party’s focus drive which storylines get developed.

So long as every NPC has a goal or secret to influence their opinions and decisions, they will feel like nuanced actors within the roleplay scenario; the timeline you lay out in advance gives them a sort of “Artificial Intelligence” that can be influenced by the player’s actions.

Personally, I also recommend setting a natural deadline for the party. If my players didn’t stop the wedding by 1pm, for instance, the ceremony would go forward and they would either be forced to object in public or let the marriage take place. Thus, they only had 5 total “rounds” to disrupt things enough that the wedding would be called off.

You can create similar deadlines depending on the central goal of the party. A vote on whether to pass a controversial law could serve as one for a court intrigue arc, while a crime-solving arc might have a threatened time when a kidnapping victim will be murdered (”You have 24 hours to deliver the ransom”, for example). The sense of a ticking time-bomb gives the players a much-needed urgency. The round-by-round timeline also helps to ensure that you won’t have to continue prepping rounds ad infinitum; instead, you need only prepare up until shit pops off and the deadline is reached.

You may find you won’t reach the deadline, though. In this arc, the party discovered the corpse of a major politician who had died in the night and was secretly buried by the gardener. They used the cover-up as leverage to blackmail the parents of the bride and groom into calling off the marriage, which was helped along by the ranger revealing that Elliot’s father was concealing Elliot’s criminal record to keep the marriage arrangement intact. They managed to prevent the wedding with an hour to spare.

However, as Alice the sorcerer went downstairs to announce the cancellation, she spotted a person who looked just like her weaving through the crowd to leave the manor. She followed, and discovered that she was tracking the semi-villainous NPC who had crossed paths with the party a few times before, disguised as Alice. The NPC, Florian, had been playing the role of the gardener, and blackmailed the bride’s father into giving up a precious family heirloom in exchange for concealing the body; now that the cover-up has been revealed, they’re getting out of Dodge with their prize. This revelation serves as the plot hook for the next dungeon!

[dreamingofaizawa]

A Dragon’s Bride

Dragon Prince! Bakugo Katsuki x Fem! Fae Princess! Reader

Fanstasy AU

***18+ Fic***

If you are not 18 years old, you are not old enough to ride. Please exit the line and find another. Thank you and have a good day.

Warnings: Arranged marriage, smut, soft to rough sex, light fluff. Characters are aged up, Bakugo and reader are the same age.

Word Count: 4.7k

Author’s Note: So I had this idea after reading other fantasy AU fics, and I just really wanted a soft Bakugo. I know he’s an angry moody mf but idgaf aight? I didn’t wanna get super descriptive with the smut, just cause I wanted it to be more like ‘lovemaking’ than just sex, you feel me? Sorry if the pace is a little weird, I didn’t spend a whole lot of time on this lmao. Anyway, here’s dragon boi Bakubitch.

Enjoy the read~

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As the youngest daughter of the Fae King and Queen, you knew it was only a matter of time before you were put in an arranged marriage. Your eldest brother had taken his Fae wife and would ascend to the throne in due time, and your older sister had already been married off to the Elven Prince Shouto.

Despite knowing you’d need to marry for political ties, you hadn’t expected to be sent off quite so soon. Your 19th birthday had passed only a few days ago, and that was when the news was broken to you. You were to be married to the Dragon Prince Katsuki Bakugo, soon to be the Dragon King, for his parents had expressed their wish to step down as royals rather early for Dragons of their age. 

The journey was rather long, even as you flew with your guards in a beeline to the lands of the Dragons. Throughout the weeklong trip your nerves were building and the mild fear settled into your bones. The Dragon Prince was infamous for his temper and short fuse, his anger always taken out specifically on Izuku Midoriya, the Fairy Prince from his  childhood. Your kingdom had not tied itself with the Dragons in centuries, and this alliance meant the Fae’s history of stubborn seclusion and independence would begin to diminish. This was a mission you could not afford to fail.

The final night camping was the worst. Sleep seemed to fear you, and you tossed and turned, attempting to settle your nerves. But it was to no avail. The sky began to lighten into a dull gray, signaling the coming morning. The guard came to wake you up, and soon you were bathed and back in the sky. Not having slept was of no concern, you’d gone days without sleep before and were just fine.

By midday you’d reached the edge of the Dragon kingdom, and were landing in front of the mountain castle just before sundown. The castle was gorgeous on its own, the face of it being the only exposed piece of the structure with the rest of the castle buried inside the mountain itself. The entrance was large, a platform that no doubt acted as a landing pad for the royal Dragons. Warm light poured from the large arched doorway as the huge stone doors opened as you approached.

You were greeted by the King, Queen, and the Prince himself. You sank before them in a low curtsy, pitch black wings spread out and flattened to your sides in a display of reverence. The King and Queen themselves bowed their heads toward you as a sign of respect, and when the Prince looked away indifferently, the Queen forced the boy down into a bow by grabbing his head and shoving it down, leaving you shocked. 

You were of lower rank than he, so there was no reason for him to bow his head to you. Noticing your confused state, the Dragon Queen spoke. “Rank is of little concern here, child. My son must learn a grain of respect if he is to be King.” With a small smile, you nod in understanding, too afraid to speak. Your nerves were bound to come through in your voice, and you refused to show signs of weakness in front of Dragons powerful as they.

Tonight was one of rest, and there were rooms for your royal guards to rest for the night before they had to make the journey back to Fae land. The Queen insisted you call upon a maid should you need anything, and personally escorted you to your room. Once alone, you took the time to bathe. A warm indoor spring was not something you were used to. Waterfalls were the bathing pools of choice in the Fae kingdom, though the warm water was welcome after your long journey. Soon you were in a nightgown and fast asleep in a warm bed of furs.

The next morning a maid came to wake you, and you were dressed by several handmaidens. The gown you wore was simple. A soft grey, long and flowing, with the fabric bunched at your shoulders in a sleeveless style and a low-cut back to accommodate your wings. You were escorted to the dining room, and you took the time to memorize parts of the castle.

The table itself was shorter than you expected, with only three seats on the longer sides and the usual single seats on the ends, already occupied by the King and Queen. Prince Katsuki sat to his mother’s right, and you were led to sit on her left, directly across from him. For the first time, you got a good look at the boy. 

Unruly ash blonde hair framed his face, which was chiseled and defined. His deep red eyes seemed to burn and glow like embers, and you had to look away from the intensity of his gaze on you. Your eyes were drawn to the exposed skin of his arms and collarbones, the muscles rippling underneath. You’d be lying to say he wasn’t incredibly handsome.

Through breakfast the Queen asked about your kingdom and its customs, and personal questions on how you felt about this alliance. You gave simple answers, having been trained to respond to such questions. She then walked you through the day, explaining how you’d be spending a lot of time with Katsuki not only for today, but all the way up until the wedding, which was set to take place in six months. The Prince scoffed at the idea.

“Why the hell do I even need to marry her? Why can’t I go find someone I like? I’m sure she’d rather marry someone she likes.” The Queen let out a low growl that could only be from a Dragon, directed toward her son. Her voice boomed through the hall. “Hold your tongue, boy. This alliance is important to both our kingdoms. You’ll do well to remember that.” He went silent with a snarl. She then turned her attention to you with a soft smile, the harsh edge gone from her voice.

“My apologies, dear. He can be...difficult. I hope your union can teach him some humility as well as respect for others.” With a soft smile, you nod. “I understand, my Queen. I pray I am not a burden to the Prince.” She chuckles and shakes her head as if you’d said something extremely amusing. Breakfast was soon over and you were left to spend the day alone with Prince Katsuki.

It was a rather difficult day. The Prince refused to speak, only voicing any irritation or anger he had for something he’d noticed. You were mostly quiet, in fear of angering him and possibly spoiling the union. He didn’t address you at all, and most interaction was awkward, but that was to be expected. You didn’t know each other. The King and Queen left the kingdom on a trip that was to last up until the week of the wedding, leaving you alone in the castle with the prince.

The first few weeks were relatively the same, little conversation between you and the Prince, silent meals, him angrily grumbling about one thing or another. You began to wonder if this was how life was going to be with him. It’s been nearly four months now, and he only ever addressed you briefly when he commented on one thing or another, though he was less angry lately. Tonight you lay awake in bed, stressing over whether or not you’d end up ruining this alliance. 

Sleep refused to come, and you decided rolling around in bed would do you no good. Silently, you stepped out of your room and padded through the castle aimlessly. Eventually you ended up on a lone balcony at the face of the castle, far above the entrance and off to the side, jutting out from the cliffside. The chill of the night air made gooseflesh pebble your skin, but you welcomed it. It had been a while since you’d flown.

Wrapping your night robe tight around your body and stretching your wings, you stood on the railing and leaned back, falling into the open air and sailing into the night sky. You missed the wind rushing past your feathers, whipping through your hair. It was cold, but it made you feel free and light, away from the pressure of the marriage and alliance. Little did you know a pair of red eyes were watching you from a more hidden balcony.

____

You were absolutely beautiful to him. Katsuki watched as you floated on the air. Your dark feathers barely catch the warm light from the castle, giving them a slight glint as they ruffled and moved. He watched as you darted up into the clouds, pulling your wings in and spiraling up through the thick barriers, then falling back downward with your wings stretched out below you.

You were mesmerizing, and he hated how quickly he’d grown fond of you. At first he thought you were some stuck up princess, like the Elf Prince Shouto Todoroki. But he was proven wrong rather quickly. You were intelligent, your opinions sound and logical, the complete opposite of him. He was rash and emotional, and he knew it. He soon came to respect you, though he couldn’t figure out how to speak to you for the life of him. He was always more a man of action. Words were not his forte.

But as he watched you in the night sky, he couldn’t help but be drawn to you. He wanted to fly with you, to dance with you through the air. He wanted to touch you, your skin, your feathers, even your horns. He’d never seen a Fae before, only drawings from books. Though those images were put to shame next to you. Your grace seemed unmatched, even compared to his mother, who was just as rough around the edges as he was.

He’d be embarrassed to say he observed you more than he had intended to. The way you walked as if you were floating, how you held yourself around others. Your posture was regal, poised, and yet full of humility and compliance. You looked like you understood your place in this world, like you knew why you were supposed to marry a Dragon in an arranged marriage instead of being able to choose who you loved.

His thoughts drifted as he watched you, and he found himself wanting to fly with you more and more as time passed. Unlike you, he could sprout his wings whenever he wanted, and soon his large leathery wings were fully formed, ready to lift him from his perch. And that’s exactly what he did.

____

You were so distracted with the rushing wind you didn’t notice the figure approaching you until you felt the air whoosh behind you unnaturally. Swiftly, you turned, and found a pair of glowing red eyes focused on you. Both of you stayed there, flapping softly in the wind to keep steady. He was the first to break the silence.

“It’s a bit late for you to be flying, Princess.” His unusually soft tone of voice had heat rushing to your face. You sputtered out your response, partially from his words, partially from your nerves. “I, uh, I’m sorry, my Prince. I had no idea that…uhm… that I wasn’t allowed to fly this l-late.” A deep chuckle rumbled in his chest, clearly amused. ‘Cute’ he thought to himself. “I didn’t say that, Princess. Just that it was rather late for you to be awake.” More heat flooded your face at his teasing tone.

He tilts his head, indicating for you to follow him, and he flits away, landing on the balcony you’d leapt off of. You were close behind, and landed next to him as his wings vanished into his back. A large hand was extended toward you and you took it, a bit hesitant, as he’d never engaged this much contact before. His warm hand enveloped yours, and he pulled you alongside him through the castle.

You cleared your throat quietly to speak. “Apologies, my Prince, but where are we going?” A small smirk graced his lips as he turned to you. “It’s a surprise, Princess. But I promise you’ll like it.” You gave a small nod and allowed him to guide you through the halls of the castle. He led you deep into the mountain, down corridors you hadn’t explored before, and soon you were walking down uncarved tunnels lit only by torches every few feet.

After a few minutes in the tunnels, the torches came to an abrupt stop, and you began to feel uneasy with the looming darkness. As if sensing your hesitation, the Prince turned and squeezed your hand in his. “Don’t worry, I promise I’m not dragging you to the dungeon.” His voice was playful, something you’d never heard from him before. Despite the mild discomfort of the underground depths, you trusted him and let him pull you into the darkness.

Once your eyes had adjusted, a faint glow came from somewhere further inward. He kept walking, further and further down the tunnel, and the glow consistently strengthened until you were sure you’d find the source behind each turn you took. Then he stopped, and turned to look at you over his shoulder. “You ready, Princess?” You nodded almost excitedly, and he pulled you with him around the corner. The sight before you stole the breath from your lungs.

The source of the cool glow was a gigantic cavern, the walls and ground littered with white, green, blue, and purple crystals, all glowing in the darkness, illuminating the space. The high ceiling was dotted with them as well, almost mimicking the night sky. In the center was a deep pool that reflected the light, the crystalline water perfectly still and undisturbed. Your wings ruffled as you took in the sight before you, the reaction involuntary.

In your wonder, you failed to notice the Prince had disappeared from your side. He called out to you once he had sunk into the water, and your eyes snapped over to him, heat rushing to your face in the realisation that he was naked. He seemed to sense your shyness, and let out a chuckle. “Come on, Princess. Won’t you join me?” Slowly, you made your way over to the pool, eyes focused on the steam rising from the water, and away from the very naked Prince.

You sank down to your knees a few feet from him, your wings wrapping around you slightly. From the corner of your eye you could see his head tilt at you, and you were sure he was smirking at your flustered state. With an amused hum, he turned his body away from you, giving you privacy to undress and dip into the water. Once you were in, you settled onto the ledge and hugged your knees close to your chest, your wings hiding most of your body. 

“Y-you can t-turn back around now, my Prince.” He shifted back to his original position, leaning against the edge of the natural pool and resting his arms up on the ledge, relaxing into the hot water. You were still a bit tense, not having been naked around a man before. His deep voice was playful as he spoke. “Relax, Princess. We’re to be married. I’ll see you eventually.” You could hear the teasing undertone and you hugged your knees in closer.

His eyes were now fixed on you. With a small sigh, he moved, and you squeaked as his arms wrapped under your wings and around your waist. He lifted you with ease, and positioned you to be straddled on his lap, face inches from his, strong arms holding you close. His eyes were glued to yours, and you couldn’t hold his gaze. It wasn’t the same intensity as the first time you’d looked at them. This time was a bit different, the burning in his eyes was not from anger.

A hand came up and cupped your cheek, shocking you from the gentle touch. His voice was just as gentle, soft as his eyes trailed over your features. “You’re beautiful, Princess.” Your wings puffed up slightly at his words, and his eyes snapped to them at the movement. “Can I touch them?” The question shocked you a bit, but you nodded, not trusting your voice. 

The hand that was on your face reached out and pet your feathers, gliding down your wing gently. Nobody had really touched your wings other than you, and it was only to clean them. This was a new sensation, and your wings shook lightly as your shoulders tensed a bit. Katsuki’s ministrations froze, and his voice turned slightly serious. “What is it? Did I hurt you?” 

You blinked at him before shaking your head. “No, no of course not. It’s just...nobody has ever touched my wings before…” He seemed to relax at that. Still, his hand pulled away from your wing in favor of holding your waist. He held you closer, and your breath hitched slightly at the close proximity, your noses inches apart. His breath was warm on your face. “You have no idea how bad I’ve wanted to hold you close like this, Princess.”

Your eyes widened at his words and he laughed a bit. “I’ll admit, Princess, you’d captured my attention rather quickly. I never quite knew how to talk to you. But I am impatient, and couldn’t wait to hold you.” You were giddy from his confession, and you leaned forward, burying your face into his neck and pressing your body into his. 

Up until now, your focus had been on the marriage and the alliance and making sure it went well. But now, knowing it would work out, you allowed your feelings to come into play. From the beginning you��d been taken with the handsome Prince. Within the first month you were no doubt falling for him. His attitude and personality was rather brash, but he was never aggressive toward you. Sure, he didn’t speak to you, but his actions spoke much louder.

He was a gentleman more often than not, holding doors open, escorting you to and from meals, even occasionally gifting you gowns and jewelry. You’d kept your emotions in check, though you knew by now you’d fallen head over heels for the man. Now, his arms tightened around you and you breathed in each other’s scents. His fingers massaged the skin in between your wings, and your body shuddered. It felt...good. Really, really good. You mewled into his shoulder, enjoying the new sensation.

You could feel him smirk into your neck as his fingers dug into the fluffy feathers at the base of your wings. With a gasp, your wings extended out behind you and fluffed up, all the feathers ruffling as you pressed your body tighter to his. A warmth began to build in your abdomen and between your legs, and you squirmed a bit, unsure what the feeling was.

His hands released your feathers and gripped your hips with a low hiss. “Quit your squirming, Princess. I don’t think I can control myself right now.” His voice was deep, and slightly strained. You lifted your head to look in his eyes, and his pupils were dilating, red irises now small rings. “What do you mean, my Prince?” His eyebrows raised slightly before his lips curled into a smirk. He brought your hips down, grinding you down onto him. 

That was when you felt it, his hardness rubbing against your thigh. A small gasp escaped your lips and heat bloomed from your chest up to your cheeks. He watched as your pupils matched his, irises disappearing into blackness. Leaning forward, he pressed his lips onto yours in a passionate kiss. When he finally let go you were both panting, and he leaned his forehead against yours. “Angel. My Angel.”

His eyes burned into your own as he spoke, his voice almost pleading. “Let me take care of you tonight.” You barely managed to nod before his lips were on yours again, this time hungry and wild. His tongue prodded at your lips and you let them part, let him explore your cavern in a mess of tongue and teeth. Without breaking the kiss his hands grabbed your thighs and began to lift, and your arms wrapped tight around his neck as he lifted you both from the warm water and walked.

You had no idea where he was taking you until he leaned and placed you down on soft pelts. Surprised, you pulled away to look around. The bed was situated behind a mass of towering crystals, hidden from the entrance. The blue glow illuminated the blonde’s face as he hovered above you, highlighting his features. You took a moment to admire just how beautiful he is, before his lips were on yours again.

His hands wandered freely now, groping the flesh at your hips and thighs, fingers massaging the soft skin there as his lips trailed down your neck and along your collarbones and shoulders. A thick finger found its way to your dripping core, and you let out a gasp at the feeling. You’d never laid with a man before, however you had to learn how to please one through books. You wondered briefly if the Prince had any real experience, before your mind was brought back to the moment as his finger pushed into you.

It wasn’t painful, and the mewl you let out let the blonde know you enjoyed it. His tongue attacked your pert nipples as distraction as he pressed another thick digit at your entrance, pushing it into your tight walls. A hiss escaped you from the slight burn, the stretch something you weren’t used to. Nothing had ever been inside you like this, the feelings foreign but pleasurable all the same.

His fingers maneuvered inside you, scissoring and curling and pumping until you were a panting moaning mess beneath him. His thumb dipped down into your wetness before reaching up to rub at the little bundle of nerves, making you flinch with the sudden jolt of pleasure, your wet walls clamping down on his fingers. A tightness built quickly in your abdomen the longer he kept his ministrations, and he leaned up to whisper in your ear. 

“I can feel you gripping me. Cum for me, sweet girl.” His mouth attached to your neck and sucked, adamant to leave a mark. It only took a few more moments for you to fall apart around the man’s fingers, legs and wings trembling, moans echoing through the cave. When you had come down from that high, he pulled his fingers from you and licked them clean, a deep groan pouring from his lips. 

Wrapping your legs around his waist, he lines himself up with your core, grasping your hip in one hand. “Are you ready for me, Angel?” Grabbing at the furs underneath you, you nod. “I’m ready, my Prince.” Slowly, he pushes himself into you, panting and growling, jaw clenched hard. The stretch burns, but only slightly, and soon you’re moaning and mewling beneath him. Finally fully seated inside you, his head drops to your shoulder and his arms wrap around you, holding you tight against him.

His breath is hot, blooming over your shoulder and neck, lips and tongue attacking the skin there. He holds his hips still, flush against yours, giving you time to adjust to him. When your walls relax around him, he begins to pump into you, shallow thrusts grinding himself into your walls. As he moves, his hands crawl up your back, fingers tangling into the base of your wings and massaging gently, making you moan out and wrap your arms around his neck.

He keeps his pace steady, but you can hear the strain in his breathing and feel his jaw clenched tightly. He’s holding back, and you don’t want him to. “Please, don’t hold back. I want all of you, Katsuki.” His movements stilled, you never used his name before. Pulling back, he peered down into your eyes as your hands held his face.

“You can have all of me, Angel, if you’ll be mine.” You leaned up and kissed him sweetly, “I’m already yours, my King.” A deep growl rumbled in his chest at your words, “Then you will have all of me.” He pulled his hips back and snapped back into you, setting a quick pace. Your breath came in pants and moans, the pleasure wracking through your body stealing the air from your lungs. The sound of skin slapping against skin filled the cave, along with moans and growls and the smell of sex.

His arms held you tighter, fingers continuously digging into your feathers, lips latching onto your neck between heavy breaths. “Mine. My Angel, mine, mine. I love you my Angel.” You moaned out, your voice soft in his ear. “I love you my King. I’m yours, all yours forever.” His pace became erratic, and a hand came between your bodies to rub at the little nub between your folds. Only a few tight circles around it had you cumming and clamping down hard around his length, and he thrust into you hard. 

A few more thrusts and he stilled himself, letting out a deep guttural moan as he spilled his seed inside you, holding your body tight to his. He rolled over, laying you on top of him without removing his length from you. Your wings stretched out behind you, falling limp at your sides once they were relaxed. Katsuki peppered kissed along your hairline, whispering sweet nothings as your breaths calmed.

After a long, comfortable silence, he spoke. “Are you alright, Angel?” You smiled and kissed at his chest. “Never better, my King.” He hummed, the sound vibrating through your body. “We should get back to the main castle. The maids will panic if we’re missing.” You giggled at the thought of the maids running around like headless chickens searching for the two of you. With a nod, you sat up, and he lifted you off of him.

You swung your legs over the side of the bed and pushed up, but your legs were weak and gave way to your weight. Katsuki caught you easily, and scooped you up like you weighed nothing. After bathing in the pool once more, you both dressed and he carried you with him to his chambers, and you fell asleep in each other’s arms.

The next couple months you spent nearly all your time together. You sit side by side during meals, talk regularly, and spend free time alone on a balcony or in the crystal cave. As you spend time with him, you notice things about him you never would have guessed before. He’s extremely perceptive, smarter than his angry demeanor would lead most to believe. He hates lying, hates secrets and deceit, which showed through when he explained why he was so against the arranged marriage at first. 

The news was sprung on him only hours before you arrived, and he was angry that his parents had kept it secret from him. You noticed he was rather protective and liked skin contact, holding you tight to his body whenever he got the chance. He was thoughtful, his gifts were never useless, always something he was sure you would use and appreciate. Your favorite was the many custom jewels he had crafted for your horns. Some a delicate array of dainty silver chains and gems that glittered and swayed as you walked. Others golden wire, mimicking vines and leaves that twisted around and hugged your horns.

That was when you noticed his infatuation with your horns. He’d touch them often when your head was on his lap, tracing the intricate texture with his fingertips. He didn’t find them grotesque or intimidating like most others did, instead he found them beautiful and magical. He never tried to cover them, always adorning them with sparkling gems and glittering metal to accentuate the deep ebony.

He was curious, constantly asking questions about you, your home, and your customs. You grew to love the man more and more with every passing day, and as the wedding came and went you had no reserved feelings about the union. You loved Katsuki, the Dragon Prince, and he loved you, the Fae Princess. He was your King, and you were his Angel, and neither of you would have it any other way.

[that-angry-noldo]

I Watched the Rings Of Power so Here is My Absolutely Important Opinion™ on It

(that was sarcasm by the way! this post is just me spilling all of my thoughts in clear words because I Just Might To Explode if i don't share them!!)

Okay so I watched a final episode of RoP and I Have Thoughts. The thoughts can be summed up as,

"This show is so cool when showing big picture but it becomes Absolutely Surreal if you focus on the small details"

before you sink your teeth into my skin, let me explain: the show has both positive and negative sides, and I will go through all of them.

Positive sides

The visuals

Okay, I'm gonna say this: the visuals are cool. It's just - I love it! I love the colors, and the lights, and special effects too! I'm not sure about all the "bringing back the middle earth thing" but i don't really care about it. I enjoyed both LoTR and Hobbit, and I don't really remember any visuals that would strike in me that special nostalgic feeling. I loved all the city designes, Numenor & Lindon especially (even though Lindon, at times, really appeared as if the creators were like "look! this is elven! we use so much -traditionally- elven motives!! elves here elves there and some over that hill too!!!" but i'm not complaining).

The story as a whole

I'm gonna go more in depth with this one in the negative section, but if we're looking solely from narrative side, then yes. It's written fine. It has a clear start, culmination, and an end (of sorts); all of the threads are neatly tied and are opening possibilities for the next season. That, I think, is good.

The (somewhat) exploration of war

That really got me, honestly, due to current events. The way the Numenorians never were at war before and their first battle was so devastating. The way they walked in in search for honor and glory and walked out questioning whether they really needed honor and glory. The way weapons show no mercy to civilians; the way hope is quietly snatched away.

(I saw someone saying RoP forgot that Tolkien's message was "war bad". I'd like to argue: war is clearly not shown as something funky here.)

ABSOLUTE POWER CORRUPTS ABSOLUTELY

Okay I might be a bit biased here but look. i love that trope. i love characters knowing that too much power can bring them to a deep dark. i love characters getting a hold on that power and rarely putting it away. i love the "free or conquer? - i don't see a difference." characters!! this sgow had delivered me few of those lines and i picked them up gratefully.

Negative sides

Lore.

Lore as a whole.

This show absolutely cannot do lore.

The whole "First age explained in the 2 minutes" thing. The whole "Finrod has died hunting Sauron" thing. The whole "FOR SOME REASON A TREE CAN NOW FIGHT A BALROG (rip laurelin and telperion but it's built different)" thing. ABSOLUTELY THE WORST "Elves need a permission to sail to Valinor" thing. The short hair thing. The things that make my silm heart bleed. The smallest little things that make you cry and wail under the table.

Lore changes

Celeborn being absent so Celebrian not even being even in plan yet (Elrond is supposed to marry her, by the way)

Elves being absolutely not aware that Sauron's a maia and physically can't die.

The elves being suddenly dependant on the Light of the Valar?? Like?? Since when?... Y'all were literally born in the night! The light of the valar is like a bonus! It's not vital??

I can go on and on and on.

Mischaracterisations

I know Galadriel was already picked apart and sewn back together - there really isn't much need to tell something about her, so let's take a look:

Celebrimbor and Gil-Galad.

Not only was Celebrimbor done dirty (he does not look like a 25-yo, whatever you might think) (why doesn't he have DARK HAIR), but his entire character was butched.

They made Celebrimbor a Feanor fanboy.

Celebrimbor, a man who rejected his father after realising the horrible things he's done, was anything but Feanor's fanboy. That's much I know, that much will I say.

Gil-Galad-

Look, looking at rop!Gilgalad, i don't really think anyone would write a gil-galad was an elven king, of him the harpers sadly sing poem. He was... reduced to... being an obstacle. Constantly pushing other characters around. Demanding something of them, noone knows what. Dismissing them. Not being able to listen. (In a way, he suffered the same way as Galadriel).

The creators better give him the character growth or else.

-

Before someone comes at me with "well, they did changes to the lotr trilogy too, i don't see anyone complaining," i want to say:

i know!! i don't care!!!

lotr, sadly or not, never was as big of a part of me as silmarillion is. i grew to love the silm. i grew to love the characters. i grew to love the lore. i grew to love the little silly discusions about elven hair color or the manner of speech.

so really, the mischaracterisation of gil-galad bugs me more than the absence of glorfindel

-

thanks for coming to my ted talk! see you around!!

[ceescedasticity]

here is the thing that may or may not be going into the un-doom not-a-fic, I can't deciiiiiiiide

Maedhros returns to Himring to discover that in his absence— Well. Let's back up.

Sealing alliances by marriage is something Men do. Some Edain have hinted at it, from time to time — Fingolfin gently deflected more than one inquiry involving Fingon. But they don't ask often, because elves are otherworldly and not necessarily marriage material, and anyway elves always say no.

Wel the Easterling is relatively new here. (Wel the Easterling has already been nicknamed Ulfang by some dwarves he got on the wrong side of, but no one is SUPPOSED to be calling him that anywhere he might hear about it.)

Wel's suggestions of an exchange of brides were categorically refused, earlier. 'Elves do not marry Men,' he was told. It didn't make him any better disposed to the elves, but whatever.

But you know actually, with these new rumors coming in, it looks like they DO, what do you know! He wants an exchange of brides.

Caranthir tells him elves only marry for love, and anyway elven princesses are all either warriors or sorceresses and any man who marries one will never be the ruler of his own household. Have you paid attention to these stories at all?

…All right now that someone mentions it that does sort of seem to be a theme. Maybe he doesn't want an elven princess.

But that doesn't mean he couldn't marry his daughter to an elf! He has several beautiful maidens to offer…

I SAID elves only marry for LOVE—

That's not what I heard. I heard your brother wanted to marry a girl for an alliance.

Technically he wanted to marry her for a claim on her father's throne, Caranthir doesn't say. He doesn't think Wel wants a law-son after his position, and Celegorm wouldn't want that anyway.

But, actually. Celegorm did just go and make things harder with Nargothrond and probably Doriath. Would it kill him to make things easier with the Men? How long would it even be, like fifty years?

He says he has to consult his eldest brother.

But Maedhros is off to Hithlum and then Nargothrond, so he puts it to all his other brothers first.

Celegorm is NOT amused.

(Certain other family members may be amused.) (Just a bit.)

Celegorm asks if Caranthir is putting him in the same category as the Arafinwioni, now. Caranthir says WHY NOT.

Those are fighting words. It's all Huan, Maglor, and Curufin can do to break them up.

Amrod and Amras are laughing too hard to help.

Curufin suggests maybe THEY should marry Easterlings.

Maglor thinks: What would Maedhros do? Try to understand what's going on! He goes and consults Marce-not-yet-Bór about this.

Marce… doesn't quite understand what the trouble is? He can understand not wanting to marry a daughter or sister to Wel, but if Wel's the one who offered a bride, then that's a fast easy way to tie him a little closer. The man's not the most reliable.

What Wel is hoping to get out of it? A powerful grandson, and a guarantee that he'll have a voice, and acknowledgement as an equal.

Thank you, that's very helpful.

Maglor comes back to the still-ongoing argument. He says HE thinks if they're going to do this probably one of them should marry one of Wel's daughters and one of them should marry one of Marce's daughters, for fairness. It's not like it would have to be a REAL marriage, and Men don't live THAT long. But of course he's not saying they should! That's up to Maedhros.

Oddly enough that doesn't really improve the situation.

Celegorm says if it's not a REAL marriage then Maglor and Curufin should be eligible, too, since it's not like their wives are AROUND. This also doesn't improve the situation.

Maedhros gets back finally and is like you guys. What the HELL.

(This isn't WORSE than Celegorm and Curufin's Nargothrond stunt but it is WEIRDER.)

Caranthir is like you said keep them happy I am TRYING TO KEEP THEM HAPPY.

Maedhros says forcing Celegorm to marry an Easterling would not, ultimately, keep the Easterlings happy. (Celegorm doesn't know whether to feel pleased or insulted.)

Caranthir isn't sure about that, he's not sure Wel actually cares about his daughters' well-being, let alone happiness—

Shut up.

Maedhros can't believe he's considering this.

Maybe it's not too late to go back and let Finduilas drown him in the Narog.

(So like. Am I ACTUALLY going to do an alliance marriage or two and possibly some peredhil? I cannot decide.) (Probably, this is self-indulgent as hell anyway.)

[time-to-write-and-suffer]

Where did you get the idea for this story? (Blood elf / human one) what inspired you

Someone in one of my servers mentioned a book series called Elven Alliance and I was like "oh cool finally some proper elf shit and none of that fae nonsense" (ironic, I know) but then it was kind of mediocre as hell and had none of the conflict or drama that I expected from the premise (marriage alliance between the elf and human kingdoms). Like the hero had PTSD but they cured it off-screen just so they could talk more about fuckin ... college applications. The heroine had literally no flaws. The cultures weren't different enough for my liking and the culture clashes between the main couple felt more comedic than them genuinely trying to understand each other. The elves and humans basically had the same political and societal structures and it felt weird. The heroes were married for politics but fell in love a few weeks later anyway seemingly without any effort to get to know each other. It felt hollow and almost as if it didn't understand its own tropes in a way.

During that time I was also reading another series of novellas all based around human women marrying/being abducted by fae or elf men, some of them through marriage alliances. One had a princess as a heroine, but a few other had superpowered farmers or other magical women. I was frustrated with some of those novellas as the women often ended up either as healers or not liking their power in some way or another.

So I was like "ok let's take all of these building blocks and figure something out." I didn't want to write a straight up prince/princess cuz it's a bit boring, so Teddy is technically a commoner who's loved by (most of) the royal family but often left out. I also didn't like how generic the elves often were, so I tried to come up with a fun and unique culture for them. Same with the humans as well, I wanted them to be different enough for the main couple to actually have something to discuss and discover, ya know? Like the elves are spiritual but the humans are religious. What's the difference there?

As for why Roel is a vampire ... that's just sexy innit. I also thought that it would be fun to have a love interest who's actually not in line for any throne and isn't a king or a crown prince or anything. Like a prince in name only. Like what if his status as a prince was actually a burden more than anything. Like they're both being used as pawns in a way, even if it's well-intentioned on the elf side of things. Roel having to figure out whether his being a blood elf means he also must be a warrior and can't be anything else is another thing I wanna explore. Like does he have to deny that part of himself in order to give up being a soldier? If he's not fighting, then is he a wasted blood elf?

Idk, again it's not super unique, but I just thought I could try my hand at a simple concept and see if I can do it good? Who knows!