#but also canon divergence

[therosefrontier]

DAY 3: SET UP FOR FAILURE

Title: I'm Not Quite Ready (to Turn to Bone)

Fandom: Yes, Your Grace

Character(s): Lorsulia (POV)

Placement?: canon, expanding on that moment where Ivo accuses Lorsulia of being a witch, plus recollection of everything leading up to that point

Word Count: 3407

+++

Lorsulia had known, for a long time now, that this marriage was not going to end well.

Their disaster of a wedding and Ivo’s reaction to it was her first ill omen, and the cold way he treated her right afterwards, even before they ever made it “home,” was her second. She knew that this was going to be rough, but at the time, that hardly surprised her, because she already had bad feelings about this before she even knew who she was going to be engaged with. She knew she was going to be married off to someone she didn’t know, even though her father had tried to assure her otherwise. He probably didn’t think he was lying when he made a promise he couldn’t keep, but Lorsulia knew. She knew her fate, and she knew that getting to be with someone she loved or was even merely friendly with would be purely a matter of luck. She was the eldest daughter of the king, and for that reason, everyone was going to want her hand, whether they had the faintest idea of what kind of person she was or not.

She knew, then, that she would be lucky to have a marriage that was anywhere close to good. The universe, however, had apparently deemed it fit to be much crueler to her than even her worst fears.

The first time Ivo raised his hand against her was a shock. The second and third and fourth times were just a nightmare. He hated her, and he hated when she spoke up against him, and he hated when he thought she spoke up against him. The best she could do was stay as silent and as distant as possible, and even that wasn’t enough. He still wanted her in bed every night, so she couldn’t avoid him, and she was still severely restricted in which parts of the castle she could be in, so she couldn’t flee. There was no garden or rooftop that could hide her now. She tried to tell herself that it would get better, eventually. Ivo was mad because his father just died, and he assumed Davern to be at fault for it. One day, he would cool off. One day, he would grow more reasonable and less prone to childish bouts of yelling at everyone. One day, he wouldn’t treat her like an object in their own marriage bed, forever taking his frustrations out on her even while they were supposed to be ‘making love.’

She always knew her hopes were a lie, though. She especially knew that to be true when she finally put the pieces together and realized the truth about King Talys’s murder.

In a way, parts of this really did align right with the worst nightmares her imagination dreamed up of back when she was worrying over the very idea of marriage, but even then, she was kind enough to herself to imagine a way out. She fantasized escaping and somehow running all the way back home, where her parents would regret ever giving her away. However, in the real world…that never happened. In reality, even when the nightmare had set in, she chose to lie, instead.

Her father saw the bruises and was outraged, but she lied and said that it wasn’t true; Ivo was good to her, just like her letters said. She knew that he wouldn’t believe her, but her point was clear—the truth wasn’t what they needed. What they needed was for this alliance between Davern and Atena to work. Even for all of her fears, and her rages, and her desires to be selfish, for once, Lorsulia knew she couldn’t do that. War with Radovia was on the horizon, and Davern was hopelessly outnumbered. Without Atena’s support, people would die. Thousands of people would die. So, she had no choice but to appease Ivo, even though he only grew angrier by the day. He was angry at his father’s death, angry at his mother’s continued sickness, angry at Davern’s supposed betrayal, and with all that anger, there was no room in his heart for anything else.

So Lorsulia tried. She tried and she tried to make things better, and she tried just to survive. Then, Ivo killed Dusty, and he told her to make him into a scarf. Lorsulia…couldn’t believe what she was seeing and what she was hearing, when it happened, and she marveled at how the killing of her cat filled her with more terror than the beatings ever could. Ivo had gone mad. He yelled and said that she paid more attention to “that cursed cat” than she did to him or to “her duties,” as if he ever truly wanted her in the first place and as if she was ever allowed to do anything besides sit there like an ornament. He spat off something about black cats being cursed with bad luck and being only suited for witches, and later, after Lorsulia’s horrible task was done, he sent that fur scarf to her family in Davern.

At that point, Lorsulia knew that she was a fool for ever trying to salvage this. Ivo would never help Davern, no matter what she did. War was on the horizon alright, but not with Radovia—Atena was going to be the one doing the attack. So, she tried again and again to send messages to her family. She called for help knowing there was nothing they could do, but…she tried. Finally, her attendants helped her sneak a message out, and later, they said that Davern was mobilizing against Atena, as if they knew that was what she was hoping for, but…

…but it was too late for her. She knew it would be. She was playing a dangerous game just to be doing anything at all, even if that thing was ultimately pointless. She wasn’t smart enough or strong enough to try to escape from this hell by herself. All she could do was wait for what fate had in store.

But…even so, she never expected that the end would come quite like this.

“YOU…YOU FOUL WITCH! How dare you bring this sorcery into my house!? I should have known…I should have known you would plot against me! I trusted you, and this is how you repay me!?”

Guards grabbed Lorsulia on both arms before the books and charms flung from Ivo’s hands even hit the ground. Magical articles clattered across the ballroom tile, causing gasps to erupt from the many people around them. A moment of chaos erupted as some backed away and others grew closer, alarmed cries and whispers emerging from all of them as they watched the banquet get so crudely interrupted by this sudden ‘revelation.’ Ivo was making a scene, and Lorsulia knew that he knew it.

“The princess is…IS A WITCH!?” one of the court ladies cried out with a swooning gesture. “Say it isn’t so!”

“It’s true,” Ivo growled. “I found this in her personal belongings. She’s been hexing us…bringing disease and disaster on this entire kingdom.”

Lorsulia felt her throat grow dry. She was…shocked, and at the same time, she wasn’t. This was what they were going to accuse her of? She thought she might be blamed for the poison, but this was… “None of that is mine,” she spoke, her voice somehow steady even though she felt she might faint. She…she should do more. She should be reacting more. Shouldn’t she be crying and raging right now? Convincing everyone of her innocence? And yet, the very idea was laughable to her, like even that would be playing into the game. It was true that those things weren’t hers—she had never so much as touched a spell book before in her life—but also, magic wasn’t a crime in Davern. Yes, opinions on it varied, but for the most part, a good healer witch was respected for their skills. How was she supposed to declare herself innocent, when she didn’t even possess any strong feelings for what she was declaring herself innocent from? She would still be living a lie, just like she had been every day since her wedding day.

“LIES!” Ivo shouted at her, the young king’s face growing red. “Your actions have already proven yourself many times over! You brought a black cat into this court, and you refuse to participate in our religious ceremonies to the gods!”

“Refuse!?” Oh. Oh now she had something to feel strongly about! “You wouldn’t let me go anywhere! I was barred from every ceremony you had!”

“And that’s because I could see how you were plotting! You hate Atena, don’t you!? The cold look in your eyes every day makes it obvious! So, you use black magic against us!”

“I did nothing to you!” she yelled back in kind, with the last energy she had. It was over. There was nothing left to pretend for, wasn’t there? She was really going to…

“No, your guiles won’t work on me anymore!” Ivo shouted back, this time with a veneer of nobility as he turned to the rest of the banquet guests, as if to finish his performance with a speech. “I’ve had enough! I tried to help Davern; I really did! But they poisoned my father, King Talys, and that treacherous King Eryck attempted to kill us all through the demonic schemes of his eldest daughter, by giving her to me to wed under the guise of friendship! But no…today, we’ve had enough! We will fight back against Davern, with everything we have! The entire world will know of their sins! We will conquer them with the full might of Atena! Now, will you fight with me!?”

Many in the crowd gave their fullhearted assent, or at least, their best impression of one. Lorsulia’s eyes narrowed as she stood there helplessly, the guards gripping her tight enough to leave a bruise.

“Now, guards! Throw this witch into the dungeons!”

+++

Lorsulia had done nothing to give her a reason to be here. It was not, however, hard for her, trapped in this cold, slimy cell deep beneath the castle, her fine Atenan dress still shining in stark contrast to her bleak surroundings, to imagine why she was here. It was all a game, in the end. She was a pawn to Ivo and to Atena at the beginning, and she was a pawn at the end. Everything Ivo felt towards her was what he felt toward her family and her homeland. He kept her around because she was his ticket to the Davernian throne, but now, he was getting rid of her, because he decided he had no need for that pretense anymore. Maybe, it was because he simply didn’t want to look at her anymore, or maybe, the whole charade was just doubling as a fine blood-boiling story to sell to his own people to rally them to his cause.

So, in the end, why Lorsulia was here had nothing to do with Lorsulia herself. However, she almost wished that it did.

She wished that she was stronger or braver or smarter, so that as soon as things went wrong, she could be the spy in Ivo’s bedchamber, ready to plunge the knife in his back either metaphorically or literally. She wished that she could have smuggled information back home, rather than risking her life just to send nothing but a call for help. She knew how foolish it was, and her own self of a year ago would have scoffed at her for it, but…she really did wish that she could have done something, so that when they decided it was time to kill her, she could say that she chose her own fate and took her own risks that led to this. So that she really could give him something to be angry about.

As it was, however, Lorsulia’s new ‘change’ in fortune was really no different than what she was doing before. She left with nothing but to sit there and wait for her fate. She shivered against the cold and absently rubbed her fingers across the dark bruises that were always kept hidden under her sleeves, and she thought. She thought about home, and about how much she missed it. She hoped that they were still okay. She hoped that Cedani never found out about Dusty’s death, and that perhaps, she found herself a new cat by now. She always did love her pets, and she was very attached to Dusty. She was always so enthusiastic about everything…she deserves to still be happy. Lorsulia also wondered about Asalia, and how she was doing right now. Seeing the way she was getting into learning swordplay, she probably fancied herself ready to defend the castle by now, although obviously, she shouldn’t. Asalia was always so headstrong… but, she was a good sister, too, if it weren’t for the pranks. Lorsulia regretted fighting with her so much in those last few weeks she had with them—she started it, of course, but… Lorsulia would give anything just to see them again. Asalia, Cedani, and Mom and Dad, too. She wanted to just…be a kid, again. Just this once. She had always tried so hard to be the ‘mature’ one of the three even while she subtly dreaded growing up, but thinking about it now, she would love to go back to those old memories, before she became so stressed, if she could…

It was a useless thought, but useless thoughts were all she was left with. Lorsulia spent far too much time with those thoughts, although she might also say that the solitude was a blessing in disguise for the brief moment being, but she kept doing her best to make peace with herself and her fate. Until, that is, some indeterminable but also relatively short time later, when she got an unexpected change in her situation, yet again…

“My lady! My lady…are you there?”

“What…Yelana?”

It was…one of Lorsulia’s attendants, one of the Atenan ladies-in-waiting who had been assigned to her. Lorsulia blinked in shock, pulling herself off the ground to meet the young woman standing at the bars of her cell. What was she doing here!?

“Oh, thank the stars you’re still alright!” Yelana let out a large sigh of relief, although ‘alright’ was an extremely relative term, right about now. “I wasn’t able to come last night, but the others helped me get through tonight. We don’t have a lot of time, though. His Majesty is trying to rush a trial; it’s probably going to be today, my lady…”

“I…I see.” Lorsulia nodded blankly, thinking in the back of her mind that honestly, she would prefer that ‘trial’ sooner rather than later, so that she could die now and not drag the nightmare out towards its inevitable conclusion any longer, but the stronger part of her mind was still just reeling in shock that Yelana was even here. There was no way that they would have allowed her down here, and that meant she took a risk, just to…warn her? Or was she really…? “But, I’m sorry, what…are you talking about? ‘We’ don’t have a lot of time?” she echoed in confusion, because obviously, she was the only one with a timer here, and no one else would…

“My lady,” Yelana spoke even more seriously now, her hand gripping the bar with a fervor. “The king…he made all of this up. Everyone knows it. We’re too afraid to do much, but…my lady, they’re…they want to burn you. The penalty for witches is being burned alive. Don’t you understand? Your life is in danger! So, you have to leave! Now!”

“L-Leave!?” Lorsulia sputtered. “But, I can’t! You don’t mean…?”

“Yes. I do,” Yelana said with startingly surety. Lorsulia stared back at her with disbelief. Yelana and the others…they had been kind to her, this whole time. They helped her smuggle that message back to her family. They told her information, and they covered for her, when Ivo was upset or when the more hostile attendants and court staff were trying to accuse her of something new. Lorsulia…wasn’t sure how that happened. She was glad for their companionship, in spite of how bleak things were. She just never thought they’d go this far. This was madness!

“We’re going to help you,” Yelana continued. “It’ll be difficult, but Maggie already got a hold of the keys and gave them to me. We just need to get you out of here and out of the castle, and you can run for the mountains!”

“Wait…no.” Lorsulia shook her head with a horror that squashed down her new unexpected flash of hope. “No, please, Yelana, I can’t ask you to do this! It’s dangerous! You haven’t even known me for long! Please, you have your lives and your jobs to think about. I won’t…”

“It’s okay.” Yelana shook her head with a sad smile, and distantly, Lorsulia realized that she had an accent which somehow never showed when they spoke before. “I promise, it’s not just for you. We…want out of this, too. His Majesty has grown mad. You’re…you’re not the only one he’s lashed out against. We want to leave, and we talked and supposed that it might as well be now. And as for me, well…I was taken from my village, a long time ago. I was captured and sold off, and I’ve never seen my family ever since. So, you see, my lady, I would really like to see them again, if I can.”

“Yelana…” Lorsulia said, feeling only even more breathless, now. She assumed that everyone here had been hired normally. She never would have thought… “I had no idea. I’m…sorry that happened to you.”

“It’s okay, my lady.” She smiled wider. “I’m just here to ask you about you; you don’t have to worry about me one bit. Because you see, you’re right. I could escape on my own much more easily. However, I want to help you. I haven’t forgotten your kindness to us. But my lady, it’s up to you. This is going to be a risk, and it might still end in disaster, but, what do you say? Do you want to try to escape, just this once?”

Lorsulia stared into Yelana’s smiling eyes, and she thought about it. She still felt whiplash over how quickly this just happened, but also, she was…happy. She was thankful and honored that they wanted to help her, even though the idea was a terrifying one. What if all she did was get everyone killed? She didn’t know what to do, and she wasn’t a leader. She wasn’t the master of her own fate—that was a thing only for her fantasies.

But…she could try.

Lorsulia…didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to give up. Still, she didn’t know how this would end. The final result could still be the same, or, her choice could mean something, this time. It wasn’t a choice she felt she could claim for herself, since it came only through the kindness of someone else, but, it was still a choice she could make. A thing she could do that wasn’t decided for her.

Because maybe, just once, just this once, Lorsulia wanted to let herself be selfish enough to decide her own destiny.

Lorsulia’s hands trembled in a way that didn’t happen when she got arrested. She felt already so numb then, but now, the color was pushing its way back into her again. “Thank you,” she said, truly meaning it with everything she had. “I don’t know if I could ever find a way good enough to repay you, but, I will try. Just be careful. Please.”

“Of course!” Yelana smiled again, and she looked completely out of place with the surroundings around them. Perhaps, they’ve both gone crazy. However, maybe, just maybe, that would still work for them. At least, they had to try. Whether she died or lived, Lorsulia would just have to try.

[alexxuun]

Somewhere in another timeline… another another timeline. Jayce survived, but at the cost of losing everything.

I’ve been haunted by thoughts about the other universe Jayce that we never got to see. As much as I believe he died in that universe, I can’t stop thinking about a what if where Jayce did survive. Headcanon stuff below⬇️

-Jayce survived the explosion in some miraculous way, injured but breathing. The explosion killed Vi and injured Cait.

-Jayce’s trial sentences him to exiled, losing his house name and all his research to be destroyed, as well as stricter rule implemented within the academy on research.

-No undercity search as a kid from the undercity died and the council would rather swept the incident under the rug.

-Jayce successfully jumped from his lab but wake up in the hospital with his lower body paralysed.

-after recovering and losing functionality in his legs, Jayce move to (soon to be) Zaun with Ximena, despite his protests for her to stay in Piltover.

-He lived as a dead man walking. His dream gone and his guilt eats him up every day for killing a kid, nearly killed a kid he knows, whether intentional or not.

-He goes to make amend with the family of the kid he killed, in anyway he can helped. Powder was resentful of him but seeing something familiar within the broken man reflecting back at her, a bond was form between the two. (An explotion,a jinx)

-Jayce live in the shadow within the newly formed Zaun as a prosthetic & disability aids specialist, built his own wheelchair and whatever needed to make Zaun more accessible.

-No passion, no dream. The only thing that keep him alive is wanting to be helpful.

(and of course, 10 years after the explosion, someone from the academy seeks him out. A wrist band with a stone imbedded and a journal with the Talis house symbol in hand.)

Edit: also hugely inspired by this fic that basically gave me every ideas for this. Please check it out if you want some post-canon Jayvik.

The saved and the damned by Lapsi

[sboochi]

*sips tea* it's dumb crossovers time

I guess here King Arthur was a real dude who became legend after his death (in which demons and angels might have been involved). Our heroes now have a mystery to solve, with the help of a certain sorcerer.......

Part 1 >> Next

[laikabu]

transhet t4t AU sorry im just playing w my touys in my dollhouse pls don’t get mad at me look away if you dont like

[hiddenmoonbeam]

After a year of admiring amazing art and fics, I finally started drawing them too. So why not share, yeah? :')

[bnnywngs]

i feel like, actually, i know that wei wuxian is definitely the more serious parent between him and lan wangji - not as in personality, but in the way they treat their kids' needs (like studies, personal belongings, etc)

the last word deciding anything to do with their kids is wei wuxian's, he's the one everyone looks when they ask for something because as much as a fake teary eyes works wonders with lan wangji, it doesn't matter because if wei wuxian says no then it's a no

a-yuan: dad, can i go out with my friends this weekend?

lwj: ye- *looks at wwx calmly drinking his gourmet coffee* yes, you can

jingyi: dad, can i have this famous luxury brand's shoes?

lwj: *taking off his phone to buy it* *looks at wwx who's looking at him very seriously over his custom mug* ...no, you can't

[captaincrowe]

Anyway, after watching the Wicked movie again, I think my ideal outcome of the love triangle in a canon divergence scenario is "Gelphie and their free-range boytoy Fiyero who comes and goes as he pleases."

[demaparbat-hp]

Almost

[kat1nkulta]

I can’t stop thinking about Loop. Imagine doing everything, anything, to get out of a traumatic situation but the price is you. Your body is gone, your name is gone, your family doesn’t recognize you, you feel like most of your memories of them are gone too anyway. Suddenly you’re denied your identity. It’s like YOU never existed… and someone else took your place. You, whose biggest fears are forgetting and being forgotten in turn. You, who’s hesitant to change and now you’re forced to. You can’t even really blame anyone else because you did get your wish, right?

It’s explained clearly in the game, but the implications of it just hit me extra hard sometimes. Siffrin is as much of a study of Loop as Loop is of Siffrin. They share(d) their fears too so mal du pays words essentially becoming the truth to Loop is just… 🪨🪨🪨🙁🙁🙁💥💥💥💥

What do you do when all you have is ripped from you, all your worst fears come true, and youre forced to just… come to terms with it?

[blanze]

It feels good to be back.

(A more risque version under the cut)

[tinyetoile]

I drew this for a timeline thing for my original zelda story but TBH that's coming along pretty slowly and this is funny enough to post on its own.

[nibbelraz]

Post-Canon Shang Qinghua thinking he's done with all the systems bullshit but marrying Mobei reawakened it to add more missions and plot but now it involves them both

[reineyday]

can't stop thinking about how cute a tangled au is for bloodweave. we've got the rakish, charming, swashbuckling, thieving rogue in astarion, and a magical, long-haired, interested-in-learning and extremely purple-coded wizard that's been sequestered in a tower for various reasons and has an animal sidekick in gale!!! it's perfect.

[half-a-life-left]

LOYALTY (PART 6/?)

[fycoren]

what if I.. shared these fellas

I have many lore and thoughts for this AU man help

[gothamite-rambler]

"You are not dying for me!"

Penguin (smirking, waving his gun between Red Hood and Nightwing): Who do you choose?

Batman tapped his chin, his mind racing as he considered the right choice before making a resolute decision.

Batman (steadfast, voice steady): Shoot me.

Nightwing (eyes widening in disbelief): What?

Penguin (taken aback, blinking in confusion): What?

Red Hood (enraged recognizing Batman's intention): For Christ's sake, no! No! You're not taking a bullet for one of us! Shoot me! Seriously, turn the gun on me! Don’t you dare aim that gun at him!

Penguin turned between Batman to Red Hood, unsure of the best move to make here.

Batman (determined, voice firm): Don’t listen to him. Shoot me! I can take the bullet. I’m sacrificing myself!

Red Hood (furious, disbelief flooding his tone): Motherfucker, did I ask for that? You're not becoming a damn martyr! Penguin, shoot me, not him!

Nightwing (interjecting, voice rising as he tried to diffuse the situation): I’m quickly requesting that you not shoot me or any of us.

Penguin (confused, scratching his head): I… feel like I'm not in control of whatever this is.

Red Hood (frustrated, shaking his head): It's simple! Just shoot me in the stomach. That’s it!

Batman (voice low, threatening): If you shoot him, I will break your hand so badly that you’ll need to get it amputated.

Penguin (eyes widening): Got it, not shooting you.

Batman (exasperated, throwing up his hands): Let me get this straight, man I raised and gave a good life to: it's wrong to not want you to get shot and I should let you get shot?!

Red Hood (biting back, anger simmering): Yes! Man who had a son with an assassin because he thought a wallet condom could do the job, BITCH!

Batman (glaring): Don’t bring that up! That is not relevant to this conversation!

Red Hood (defiant, cutting in): Neither is you taking a bullet! It's Sophie's Choice, not The Prize!

Batman (snapping back, incredulous): You’re quoting media at me?! I want to die for you and you're throwing out media titles! Nightwing, let Penguin shoot me!

Nightwing (hesitant, voice shaky): I—

Red Hood (insistent, glaring at Nightwing): Nightwing, tell Penguin to shoot me!

Nightwing (looking away, voice strained): I don't want to— That wall over there looks really interesting…

Nightwing walked off with Penguin stopping him, realizing the crime lord felt it was better to step back now that he had lowered his gun.

Red Hood (clenching his fists, frustration boiling over): You know what you're doing! You’ll get shot, and with your last dying breath—or in some letter or video you set up—you'll tell me not to kill anymore. You dying would prove that!

Batman (avoiding the truth, silence lingering): …

Nightwing (disappointed, pacing past the group): Tsk, you were actually going to do that.

Penguin (mockingly): You would do that too.

Batman (snapping, voice harsh): Hey! You’re not part of this conversation, jackass! Shoot me already!

Red Hood (glaring, voice bubbling with rage): If you shoot him, I will bite your fucking nose off!

Penguin (raising his hands in surrender, voice calm): I’m just going to let you guys argue this one out. Both of those threats aren’t worth shooting either of you.

Batman (frustrated, voice firm): Let me do this for you!

Red Hood (voice rising, hurt evident): You know what? Fuck you! I’ve forgiven you; I’ve accepted you! I’ve let you pay me to not kill! I befriended Orphan, who is way better at her job than you, and through all this shit, you think you’ll take a bullet for me?

Batman (defensive, glaring at Red Hood): Who do you think you’re talking to?!

Red Hood stormed past Penguin, who merely nodded, amused, pulling out a small book to read as the argument continued.

Red Hood (shouting over his shoulder, furious): I’m talking to you, you bat-wearing, Star Wars-loving nimrod!

Batman (matching his intensity, voice rising): The prequels are good!

Red Hood (scoffing, eyes narrowing): No, they’re not, bitch!

Nightwing (sighing, feeling exasperated): I feel like this isn’t about me at all. I’m just going to deal with Penguin while you two have your father-son talk.