#although her feelings ab it are not as complex as the others' might be bc there is simply no way she would accept being tethered to a human

[fideidefenswhore]

the downfall and execution of a tudor queen (2023) / the boleyns: a scandalous family (2021) / the king's pearl: henry viii and his daughter mary (2017), melita thomas / anne boleyn (tv miniseries 2021) / the mirror and the light (2024) / elizabeth (1998)

[bayofwolves]

I’ve been obsessed, obsessed, obsessed with Raisha for a while now. I know you’ve said little things about her in the past and i want to know what’s up with her/Gerathon if you’d be willing to talk about it.

I really like Raisha as a character, too! We know so little about her, but in my opinion, she's one of the most fascinating characters in the series. Unfortunately, she meets a sad end in A Revised History of Erdas.

All we know about Raisha post-infection is that she was present at the final battle in The Burning Tide, still under Zerif's control and in pretty bad shape. She vanishes off the grid after that, never mentioned again, not even in the concluding montage of Great Beast summoners reuniting with their fallen spirit animals. My retelling offers some closure, but not the good kind.

In my version of events, Raisha is flanking Zerif when he emerges from the ship with his Great Beasts. Zerif, in an act of cruel irony, saw fit to keep Raisha by his side even in her mindless, infected state. Shane, up in the archers' keep with Abeke, hardly recognizes the girl who helped steal Halawir months earlier. Later, she reappears to restrain Abeke when Zerif brings the defeated Redcloak forces to the Wyrm. When the Wyrm is killed and the parasites lose their power, though, Raisha collapses to the ground and doesn't get back up. The Wyrm had pushed her finite body to an extent that it couldn't recover from. Many people and animals in Zerif's army are the same; their possession eventually killed them. The Wyrm was a child playing with toys, the mechanics of which it couldn't possibly understand. Thankfully for it, its parasites could go on controlling a body in the event of an untimely death. Indeed, Stead raises the possibility that Raisha had been dead for some time, and the parasite was only animating a corpse.

Like I've said before, I didn't do this out of dislike for Raisha or anything like that. She was ultimately another victim of Zerif -- a young, lonely, impressionable girl he took advantage of -- and didn't deserve anything that happened to her. I'll always support AUs where she is alive and well. In my eyes, though, her story was always meant to end in tragedy. By the time she realized her mistake and reached for the light, it was too late.

Gerathon, after reemerging in southern Zhong and feeling the loss of her human partner, disappeared into the brush and is currently at large. She is only an adolescent cobra at the moment, hardly a threat... but the Great Beasts are growing, and Gerathon's time will inevitably come again. (I like the idea of her becoming a maneater as she slowly regains her former size and power, terrorizing the locals and gaining a place in their legends.) Who knows how she feels about losing Raisha. I expect, under the excruciating pain that may one day drive her to madness, there is a sweet sense of relief.

[vijinxx]

hello! :) just wanted to say that i read "monsters in the night" and i loved it, you captured vi and jinx's dynamic so well and i can't wait to read more of your fanfic in the future!!

also, hope you don't mind if i rant a bit in your inbox since you're one of the few vijinx shippers i'm aware of.

i only finished arcane a few days ago and, being completely emotionally destroyed from it, decided to search out as much fan content as possible. i liked the cait/vi dynamic well enough in the show, but it was really jinx and vi's relationship that drew me in, that i was the most emotionally invested in, that was the most well-written imo.

i've never shipped anything taboo before, actually, and of course i don't condone incest in real life. but something about vi/jinx is just really fascinating to me?? it's not like i ship them bc they're sisters and i like incest, but more because their dynamic is just so complex and twisted that i can't help wanting to see more of them together even if they happen to be sisters, i hope that makes sense? like idk i think i would still ship them even if they were just close childhood friends and their relationship was still written the exact same way.

anway, although i doubt vijinx would ever really be 'canon,' i am slightly worried about how vi's character and her relationship with jinx will change in upcoming seasons due to caitvi? i like how vi is the most important person to jinx and in turn, jinx/powder is the most important person to vi, and i really don't want jinx to just be replaced with cait. i really hope vi doesn't give up on her sister and i hope she doesn't just completely change her ideals and beliefs because of the time she spent with cait. i've heard that in lol (which i'm not familiar with) vi becomes an enforcer with cait? which seems completely opposite her character? like i don't want her to just forget about the atrocities that topside has committed against the undercity, how the problems that exist in zaun were caused by systemic mistreatment by piltover's government, the classisim/class warfare, etc. so i just hope that if arcane goes that route (which i assume will happen) it will be a natural progression of vi's character that doesn't lose who she is in the process.

i guess for me, the ideal arcane progression would still be vi and jinx utterly devoted to each other as sisters, even if vi and cait are dating in the background.

thank you sm for this lovely ask!!

i get where youre coming from completely, and dont ever apologize for shooting me things in my inbox. i really identify w where youre at rn and from one taboo connoisseur to another (jokes) i can agree w the fact that its more layered than it makes itself out to be.

i also don’t condone incest irl. i feel like there is a separation you have to establish to yourself — and even more so publicly — when you start appreciating tricky dynamics in fiction like this. arcane wasn’t my first rodeo w fictional incest i.e sibcon i.e siscon (wlw version), i’ve been quietly enjoying content like this for roughly four years but had never outwardly expressed this except to Very confidential (internet) friends until last month to save face.

precisely what you said ab the dynamic being captivating bc it’s twisted is why i think it works. i don’t go searching for content to consume just bc they fit that niche of taboo, but i do find myself appreciating stories like that just bc of the forbidden love aspect of it (and the whole can’t stop type of thing. and the descending into mania is chefs kiss)

finally someone who agrees w vi’s story as an enforcer. i think it might be too hard to swallow personally? there’s so much opportunity for an amazing story to be told in regards to vi & jinx’s dynamic— and i’m NOT saying that just bc i ship them. i mean narratively— and i hope the writers don’t squander it in the name of fan service even if it is representation.

pls pls pls shoot me a dm or join the server if you wanna talk more — or, continue to send me lovely asks like this one 🤍

(also. don’t be repelled by the scary hate comments lmao. i only promote/respond to them bc i love clout and making people look moronic)