#is for parents to get involved and an official wedding to be done

[itsahotminuteinbetween]

okay but like. what if the dca looked up henna patterns and designs so they could do some for you on eid. what then

[apomaro-mellow]

Part B

I just wanted a bit of Eddie losing control while protecting Steve and their unborn child and this word vomit came out.

“He’s making FOOLS of us Juliana!” 

Alric Harrington ripped up the invitation that had been sent. His wife sat in a corner, rubbing her round belly worriedly. 

“He gets himself kidnapped, then fornicates with this beast, IS CARRYING HIS SEED, and now...” He breathed in deep. After his outburst his next words were deceivingly quiet. “Now he is planning to parade under the legitimacy of marriage.”

“You don’t really think that he could be...that he could be carrying, do you?”, Juliana’s eyes were glistening. “It’s not possible. It’s-”

“Blasphemy. He has been a stain on the royal family for too long. And I have neglected my duties as a father.”

“My love-”

“I will do what needs to be done! For the sake of our name. So our next child can come into a pure world.”

-----------------------

The castle had been buzzing with activity. The kind that Steve would love to oversee. If only his groom-to-be could find it in him to let him go. 

“I would like to get out of bed sometime today”, Steve said.

Eddie growled against his ear, hands pressed protectively around his torso. Most of their mornings for the past month had been like this. Ever since they realized their coupling had taken and Steve was pregnant. With him only being a few weeks along, there wasn’t an official announcement but everyone in the castle knew which meant the rumor was probably flying outside the walls of their home as well.

The day they confirmed it, Eddie immediately went to the balcony and shouted it to the heavens for all to hear. He had been ecstatic, elated. And then horny. And then fiercely protective.

Usually, they were slow to get out of bed for more romantic reasons. Now, Steve couldn’t get Eddie to let him go until his baser instincts were satisfied and knew he and his child wouldn’t meet their end the moment they left the bedroom.

When he was finally able to leave, he was able to look on the wedding preparations. Steve couldn’t help but think about how he had started in this place. Stolen from his kingdom and sulking in a cold dungeon. Now he was a king in all but name.

Preparations went on and just a few weeks into them, Steve received a message from his parents. It was an official announcement. The birth of the new crown prince, Tristan Harrington. When Steve read through it, his hands shook. Eddie held them to ground him.

“They don’t deserve you, love. You don’t need to involve yourself with them anymore.”

“Eddie, it’s not about me.” He put a hand to his belly, thinking of their own future child. “They’re going to ruin him. That’s my brother, I can’t ignore that.”

Eddie kissed his knuckles. “What do you want to do?”

Steve separated the announcement from another letter. “This came with it. My father wants to meet with you.”

Eddie growled. The last time that man called on Steve, his carriage just happened to be accosted by bandits. Eddie still wasn’t convinced that wasn’t somehow his father’s doing.

“I think he wants to negotiate. Maybe, in his own self delusion, he’s seeing this as a political marriage. Which means opportunity for him.”

“He doesn’t get to use you like a pawn after he threw you away”, Eddie said, wishing he’d used softer words when he saw how Steve flinched. “I don’t have to meet with him. I am a king, he does not order me.”

“Eddie...if we play our cards right maybe...”, Steve sighed. What he was hoping for seemed so lofty but he just had to believe it. “Maybe they’ll let me be in my brother’s life.”

Steve knew what would probably happen if they didn’t try. His name would be wiped from the royal record, his brother would be left completely in the dark about him and grow up under the same oppressive hand as he did. Or things could be worse to keep him from going down the same road as Steve.

Any anger Eddie had dissipated when he looked into his love’s eyes. He’d do anything for this man. Eddie leaned over, putting their heads together. 

“I’ll talk to him. But you owe me~”, he grinned, starting to kiss at the side of Steve’s face.

“Oh? Pledging myself eternally to you and bearing your heirs isn’t enough”, Steve teased.

“Heirssssss?”

“It appears I’ve bedded a snake.”

“Steve, my light, are you...?”

“I’m barely showing. But Jeff is predicting twins.”

And then Eddie purred and Steve knew he’d lost him. He kept going anyway.

“Robin is saying it’s gonna be a whole litter but I know she’s just teasing like she does-”

Eddie pushed him to the bed and all conversation stopped right there.

--------------------------

Unusual for a royal procession, they kept their party small. Eddie didn’t trust the people they were going to. He kept their most loyal back at the castle. Both to keep up with the wedding preparations and to make sure nothing happened while they were gone. Robin had protested but she was the only one Steve trusted with his vision for his wedding day and he needed someone who wouldn’t rile Eddie up the whole time. He loved Robin, but she could be an instigator, which was why they brought Jeff. 

When the castle gates were in sight, Steve held Eddie’s hand and looked to him.

“Now when we get there, you have to promise me-”

“Anything, sweetness.”

“No theatrics.”

“Hm, almost anything.”

“Eddie.”

“Steve, I can’t not make an entrance, I have a reputation to uphold.”

“They’ll be less flexible if they see you as the literal incarnation of darkness. Just try and tone it down a little?”

Toning it down ended up meaning sending a very large horde of crows ahead of them to perch on the walls and rooftops of the castle. When Steve exited the carriage, he gave Eddie a very controlled look before seeing his parents awaiting them. It was the first time he’d seen them in months. Steve had hoped Tristan would be there, cradled in his mother’s arms so that he could meet him right away. But he wasn’t. If Steve had to guess, he was away in the nursery.

“The kingdom welcomes you”, Alric said, with a very obvious undercurrent of ‘but I do not’. His father didn’t even spare him a glance. “I’m sure you must be tired after your long journey-”

“I’d actually like to get right to business”, Eddie interrupted. “But I would like Steve to rest. Wouldn’t want to put any stress on your grandchild.”

Somehow they managed to keep from grimacing, but neither of his parents’ expressions could be called pleasant. Eddie was taken to discuss things with his father, while Steve followed behind his mother. Eddie had ordered Jeff not to leave Steve’s side, so he came along as well.

Walking down the halls that had housed him until recently, Steve felt very much like a child again, under his parents’ thumb. It didn’t matter that he had grown and changed and was even about to be a father himself. One stern look from his mother and all he wanted was to please her.

They came to one of the sitting rooms. Steve remembered spending plenty of nights here when he was very young and still loved in the king and queen’s eyes. Jeff stood at attention at the door while they were served tea.

“Congratulations on bringing my brother into the world.”

“It was an easy birth”, his mother said tersely.

Steve bit his lip. He knew the situation and the events leading up to it were unorthodox, but typically mothers were happy when their children were having children of their own. Couldn’t she look at him and smile a little? Offer up some motherly wisdom? Anything?

“Do you have any advice? For when it happens?”, he asked, putting a hand to his belly.

Her eyes narrowed at the movement but she was saved from answering when a nursemaid came in, holding who could only be his brother.

“We need to talk”, his mother said.

------------------------------

“You’ve written quite the essay here”, Eddie said, fingers brushing against the parchment Alric had presented. They sat across from each other. There were royal guards standing sentry all around, which was normal. But Eddie clocked how tense they were. “How about you just give me the broad strokes.”

“Your reputation for eschewing formality precedes you”, Alric glared.

“I find that people use decorum as armor. It means they’re trying to hide something unsightly. Just say to my face that you want to use your own son as a bargaining chip.”

“Are you not a king?”, Alric challenged. “You know as well as I do that we do not live for ourselves, but for our people. We are all bargaining chips from the day we’re born. Steven is no different. Neither are you.”

“And I suppose your newborn is just as expendable?” In fact, Eddie was willing to bet the queen was using the infant to get Steve to fall in line.

“He is the future of this kingdom. And I won’t let anything get in the way of it.”

Eddie laughed. “It’s funny. Had you done this months ago, we could have been over and done.” Having a sit down with this man had been all Eddie wanted. Kidnapping Steve to coerce him had been a last resort and not even that had worked.

“I’d say things ended up in your favor. You got a plaything in the form a crown prince.”

“Your son is more than a plaything. He’s more than a pawn! If you don’t have the decency to respect him now, when he’s the only thing holding me back, then we have nothing to discuss.” Eddie stood and more guards mobilized around them.

Alric crossed his arms. “That boy hasn’t done a damn thing to earn my respect. And neither have you. I could have declared war on you long ago. I didn’t. But playtime is over.”

Three guards tried to tackle Eddie but only managed to get him down for a second before he was shoving them off. But one had gotten a noose around his neck and tightened it. Others began to tie down his limbs.

“Get him to the dungeons for now. We’ll have a public execution in the morning. Juliana should be done with Steven by now.”

Eddie’s struggling paused and all he saw was red.

--------------------

Steve and his mother stood over a crib that had been brought to the room. There, Tristan laid, napping peacefully. 

“Can I hold him?”, Steve asked.

“Steven...this baby will be king one day”, his mother said in response.

“....I’m aware”, Steve said, a little confused.

“I intend to do right with this one. I don’t know where exactly I went wrong with you, but I did.” Her eyes began to wet as if she were truly heartbroken by what her firstborn had become.

“Mother, I-”, he stopped when she held up a hand. It upset him that the move still worked on him.

“I am not your mother anymore. I just can’t be. If any child of mine cavorted with a beast like that I would...” She shook her head and swallowed.

Steve’s own grief was starting to be tempered with anger. “You would what? Say it.”

Juliana moved away from the crib, turning her back to him as she took a deep breath. “I would take my own life, as penance. And if I thought, for just one second that you would turn out this way...”

Steve waited for her to finish. When she didn’t he walked briskly to her side. “You would what? Send me away? Disown me? You’ve already done that.”

“I would have slit your throat”, she glared.

She rendered him speechless. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Jeff tensing.

“Better to start over than allow a stain to spread. Steven, know that I say this with love. As my final act as your mother, to save your soul.”

“What are you talking about?!”

Steve got distracted when one of the royal guards attacked Jeff. Juliana got the jump on him and tied a cloth around his neck, pushing him down onto one of the many couches in the room. As his air was cut off, he thought about how easy he normally escaped something like this. But just because this woman had held the title ‘mother’ over his head, he hesitated.

Had he really been that spectacular of a failure? Was he so wrong for wanting to do right by them? If he just let her kill him, would that fix everything? Would they finally be happy?

Then the skies outside got dark. A screech rumbled through the castle as all warmth seeped out and was replaced by a chill. Steve pushed his mother off and while he was gasping for breath, Jeff came from behind and cracked a serving tray against her head. She fell limp onto the floor.

The air around them crackled and the shadows in the room got bigger. Something was clawing up the walls and Steve ran to the window right before Eddie burst through it. He was a mass of pitch black. Like he couldn’t decide what form to take. The only discernable parts of him were wild eyes, claws, and a maw of sharp teeth which had Alric’s body, slack and covered in blood.

Eddie dropped him at Steve’s feet, presenting. He gave a low groan, the only sign he was still alive. Steve heard his brother crying but had to tend to Eddie first.

“Jeff the, the baby”, he said.

Jeff went right over to soothe the infant while Steve reached for the darkness that was his love. Steve let it surround him, whispering things soft and sweet so that his king knew that he and their child were safe; that he’d done his duty and protected them.

-----------------------

Calling the royal council with such short notice was rare. But today was just the day for that sort of thing. They waited in the throne room to know the reason they had been summoned when two figures entered.

Eddie held Steve’s hand as they walked to the two thrones, meant for the king and queen. Eddie led his lover to the throne that was always meant to be his, and sat him in the king’s place. He bowed his head and kissed his hand, then sat next to him.

The council was stunned to silence.

“Alric and Juliana have committed a terrible crime against us, and are awaiting their punishment in the dungeons”, Steve announced. 

That got the men out of their shocked stupor and talking. Eddie wanted to rip out all their throats, but he let Steve control the conversation. Steve held a hand, prompting them to silence. It was as Eddie said, they were relying on decorum and rules to make sense of the madness before them. It honestly was the only thing keep Eddie from painting the walls with their blood.

“They attempted to assassinate King Edward and made an attempt on my life as well. For that, they have been stripped of their titles and any claims to the land.”

“Don’t tell me you propose to take their place”, one of the councilmen chortled. “You have no rights to the throne!”

Eddie growled and Steve rubbed his knuckles to soothe him.

“Fortunately, that won’t be necessary, as the kingdom does have an heir. I have no intention of stealing my brother’s birthright. But he is just a child.”

“Then the law dictates we should induct a regent until he is of age”, another said. “So if you will leave us to that-”

“The law dictates that we are well within our rights to march our armies and take you for all you have”, Steve said. “Do not mistake the grace I give for fragility. I know you all had a hand in that assassination attempt. I only keep you alive because appointing an entirely new council is not worth the hassle. That being said, you will see a decrease in your reach as the merge happens.”

“The merge?”

Eddie grinned, then looked to Steve like an angel of justice.

“Appointing a regent will only encourage infighting and problems down the road. Tristan will be king one day, if he so chooses. And will receive all the education he needs to do so under my wing. Until that day, these lands, which will one day be his, shall fall under King Edward’s rule.”

They were stunned into silence again and Eddie just couldn’t help himself. He was smiling so hard he thought his face might split.

“Welcome to hell bitches!”

Part 1 bc it’s a series now; Read on AO3

[harriet13lovely]

Lola- HS

Part 1- 6-7k words

Lola's whole purpose in life was to be the wife of the Don of the biggest Mafia in the world. Ever since she was a little girl she was told about Harry and how they would make the perfect couple when they got married later on life. Lola didn't know much about Harry himself, she had only heard story's about him and had had dinners with him and his family ever since she turned 15 four years ago. They were never allowed to talk outside of these dinners though, Lola was still too young and Harry was already too busy for anything apart from work.

Since she was to be Harry's wife, his family had always provided for her. They made sure she was placed in the best schools and had all the best pieces of clothing and makeup. Harry's mom would take her shopping once a month for anything she could want. Once she turned 16 she was given a credit card that was funded by Harry, it had no limit so she could spend as much money as she wanted. Lola rarely ever used it, her parents gave her money too so she found no interest in spending Harry's money.

Lola was as of three hours ago officially 19. She had been awoken by knock on the door at around 8:30. It was her mother and father, they had breakfast and a boquete of flowers with them. After congratulating her they talked for a while as she ate breakfast. At 9 her parents left her to begin getting ready, Lola took a shower and did her skincare. Once she was done she walked out of her room and took a look out her window. Her party was being set up outside in the garden of her house. She could see her mother talking with the party organizers and one of the contractors that had provide all the utilities.

"Come in." She said after hearing a knock on the door. She turned around as the door opened and found her little brother standing there. He was still in his pjs and looked like he had just woken.

"What's up?" Lola asks him but gets no response, instead he walks over to her and wraps his arms around her waist. He was only 8 and was incredibly affectionate. Still too innocent to the world they lived in.

"Happy Birthday." He says and looks up at her.

"Thank you." She bends down and picks him up. Even though he was getting bigger and taller by the day, to Lola he was still a baby. She was 11 when he was born and she very much saw him as her own kid. He wrapped his arms around her neck and legs around her waist.

"I heard that you're leaving." He whispers.

"Who told you that?"

"Dad was talking about it over the phone. I don't want you to leave." He hugs her tighter and it makes Lola want to cry, the last thing she wants to do is to leave him alone. But she truly has no choice, Harry would most likely propose to her at the party and she would have to say yes. After that she would have to move in with Harry and plan the wedding with him.

"I won't lie and say that I'm not leaving because I am. But I will be here every weekend with you, mom, and dad. You won't even notice I'm gone." She walks over to her bed and sits the both of them down.

"It won't be the same." James says and begins crying.

"James, I will always be your big sister and you will always be my baby brother. I'm always gonna be here for you Jamsie." Lola wipes the tears that where falling from James's eyes.

"Promise?"

"Promise."

Lola played him a movie on her TV while she got ready for the day. She had changed right after her shower into cream shorts and a navy blue jumper. She let James "do" her makeup in hopes it would cheer him up. And it did, he became a giggling mess after smudging a lot of blush all over her nose.

"Lo, Emma is here." Her mom said as she opened the door to her bedroom. Emma was Harry's mom, she had been involved in Lola's life since she was a baby. She cleaned off the blush from her nose and put on her shoes.

Lola walked downstairs to the living room and found Emma sitting there talking with the organizer of her party who looked rather stressed. She felt bad for the man, the pressure he must feel from her mom and Emma must be getting to him.

"There's the birthday girl!" Emma stands up and wraps her arms around the girl. "Happy birthday, Lola."

"Thank you."

"We need to get some last minute confirmation on the music you would like to be played." The organizer said and pointed to her notebook. Lola took a seat next to him and begin to list off some songs she would for sure want to be played. They spent half an hour doing that, after that she was directed outside to personally inspect the decorations in the tables and the food that would be served later on.

"Harry is coming, right?" She asked Emma as they where watching people put the flower arrangements together.

"Of course, he wouldn't miss it for the world." Emma gives her an encouraging smile and wraps her arm around her shoulder.

Lola continues to supervise the whole set up with Emma until she is sent off for lunch at 12. She eats some pasta and chicken and watches some TV with James and her dad. At 1:30 the crew that was doing her makeup and hair arrived to begin to get her ready for the evening. She would be having two different outfit changes, a pale yellow minie dress and a baby pink long flowy dress. The shorter dress would be used during the cocktail/ day side of her party, the longer dress would be used during the night time of the party. Both of these dresses had been chosen in between Lola, Emma, and Lola's mother.

The party would officially start at 5 but they wanted Lola to be ready by 4 so she could take pictures with her family before the party. Her hair was curled into beach waves and her makeup was mostly glittery and with soft pastel tones in the corner of her eyes. Her heels are plain white and had some pearls on the straps.

"You look perfect." Emma says as he looks at her. Emma was now changed and ready to go for the party too. Her blonde hair was put into a half up half down style and her sage green dress looked absolutely stunning on her.

"Thank you, you look amazing too."

"There is someone for you downstairs."

Emma had a cheeky smile on her face so that could only mean one thing, Harry. Lola walks down the stairs and in fact finds Harry in the living room talking to her father. He was wearing a dark blue, almost black, suit with a loose white shirt underneath. He had his usual cross necklace dangling around his neck and a pair of black sunglasses pulling back his curls. He stands up from his seat and walks towards her.

"Happy Birthday." He says to her and gives her a quick hug. Even with heels she was still shorter than him so she had to look up at him a bit to meet his eyes.

"Thank you."

"You two look so cute together." Anna, one of Lola's younger cousin's, said. This earned her a slap on the arm by her mother but that didn't take the smile off of her face. Harry's and Lola's "love" was something that people in the mafia looked up to. They were meant to be the perfect match, this was at least what they showed to the others. In reality, Lola didn't even know Harry's favorite color or ice cream flavor.

"Can I take some pictures of you two outside?" A man with a camera asked them. Harry nods and leads Lola to the garden.

Lola stands beside Harry as they take pictures. His right arm wrapped around her waist. They had never been this close before, the most they ever got to was sitting next to each other during dinner. They take a couple more pictures before Harry leaves to take a business call. Lola took some solo pictures and with her family before heading back inside so she can welcome the guests as they come in.

Lola doesn't see Harry again until dinner is served at 7. Harry took a seat next to her in the head table where only close family was sitting at.

"I like this dress more." He whispers into her ear, she was now wearing her pink dress. The dress made her look like one of those fairytale princess and Harry really liked that. Lola smiles up at him, she was hoping he would like her dresses.

"I'm glad." Harry shifted on his seat and that's when she saw it. Inside his pocket was a small white box, he really was going to do it that night. Lola felt her heart stop for a minute, she had been expecting it but now that it was really happening it scared her quite a bit. Once they got engaged the wedding would be close to come and as soon as that happens they would begin to try for children. Her duty was to provide Harry and the mafia with an heir. Same way that Emma provided Harry as heir she would too. It was all dawning on her too quickly to the point she begin to feel like she was suffocating. Her heartbeat was the only thing she could hear and the room felt too warm for her comfort.

"I'm going to use the restroom." She stands up and walks towards the house quickly. She manages to get to her room before she fully starts to hyperventilate. She sits on the edge of her bed and holds onto her mattress. She hadn't even noticed she was crying until a knock on the door took her out of her trance.

"I'll be out in a sec." She says to whoever was outside.

"It's Harry." He doesn't wait for any sort of response before opening the door and walking into the room. He had never been in her room before so this was a completely new environment for him. She had a lot of posters and vinyls all over her walls. He also noticed that the dominating colors where white and pink.

"Oh, hey." Lola says as she wipes her tears.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I'm just being stupid."

"You're not, and I can tell that there is something wrong."

"I saw it, the... the box."

"Oh." Harry doesn't really know how to respond, he thought it was to be expected for him propose that day.

"Can I see it?" She asks, Harry hums and takes the box out of pocket. He opens it before passing it Lola. The stone on the ring was large and shiny, something that would definitely make Lola stand out.

"It's beautiful." Lola says to Harry.

"If you don't want to get engaged today I can switch the date." Harry tells her but Lola immediately shakes her head and gives him the ring back.

"No, it's okay. We should head back down." Lola tells him and stands up. Harry follows after her as they walk downstairs. Right as they are about to walk to the garden Harry grabs Lola by the arm and pulls her back.

"You sure you want to do this?" Harry asks her.

"Yeah."

They walk back into the party, Lola putting on a big smile and Harry going back to his usual stoic face. They eat dinner and chat with the people around them, Lola stands up and begins to walk around the tables making sure that everyone is having a good time. At around 8:30 everyone was finished with their dinners. Lola was talking with one of her cousins back at her original table when Harry stood up to make a toast and called her over to the dance floor. It was go time.

"I would like to make this toast to congratulate my girlfriend on her birthday. You deserve the world and more Lola. I hope we have many more birthdays like this together. Because of that I would like to ask you something." Harry got on one knee and pulled out the box from his jacket. "Would you like to marry me?"

"Yes!" Lola almost yelled before jumping up and down. She was told by her mother to overreact if she had to but to look as happy as possible. Harry stood up and put the ring on her finger before pulling her into a hug. The guests all clapped and cheered for them.

Lola and Harry walked around the party together and accepted all the good wishes they received from members of the Mafia. They decided on cutting the cake after that so they could really party for the rest of the night. Her cake was of multiple layers and pink with gold stars all over them. The candles where pink with gold swirls and there was a candle in the number 19 in the middle. They all sang happy birthday for her and Lola was told to make her wish. She wished for her future marriage to go well, if it did, by her next birthday she should be pregnant or with her baby already.

Once everyone ate their cake they all took to the dance floor. Harry of course refused Lola's attempts at pulling him to the dance floor, saying that he didn't know how to dance as the main excuse. Lola however knew that was a lie, she had seen him years ago at parties when he was in his late teens/early twenties and he was always dancing with someone. Harry watched Lola and the rest of the members dancing for the next couple hours. Enjoying a few drinks here and there as a form of distraction.

"You sure you don't want to dance?" Lola asks Harry as she takes a seat next to him. Harry looked bored and she was just trying to make him feel more welcomed into the party.

"No, I think I'm gonna head out. Have a couple meetings early tomorrow." He says and stands up.

"Already? It's barely midnight." Lola tells him, was he really that bored?

"Work's my priority and like I said I have early meetings tomorrow."

"By meetings you mean drug deals or gun trafficking? I'm glad to know my birthday means that little to you." Lola says with a scoff.

"I would have expected you to have better manners considering how much money I have spent on your education." He says and begins to walk away. Lola is now feeling the bravery of the alcohol and decides to go after him.

"I would have expected you to care more about me since I'm your future wife after all."

"I do care." They where farther out in the garden and right outside her house.

"Whatever makes you sleep better at night."

"Lola I'm not going to argue with you right now."

"I wish you would."

"Why would you? Do you want to be on my bad side, is that it? Or are you just that much of an attention seeking whore that any sort of attention makes you feel good?" Harry says and gets up close to Lola's face. Lola however stands her ground, keeping eye contact the whole time.

"I just want to get to know you."

"We can do that some other time, I really gotta go now." He walks away once again, this time Lola doesn't follow him.

….

Lola and Harry had managed to avoid each other for a week before they where forced back together. Emma had suggested they visited Harry after having lunch together so they could begin talking about some details of the wedding. Lola had tried to convince Emma of not going but after some insisting on Emma's part, Lola gave in.

"Good evening." Collin, Harry's assistant, said as the elevator opened. Harry had a whole floor to himself and his close people. The building had over 50 floors, each directing a different branch of Harry's "business".

"Mr Styles will be with you in a second. Is there anything I could get you to drink?"

"Can I get some tea?" Emma asks him politely.

"I'll just do some water." Lola tells him and he nods before walking inside a different room. Lola watches him leave and come back with the two drinks. She grabs her water and thanks him. Collin walks back to his desk but stands back up after a beeping sound is heard.

"Mr Styles is ready to see you." He opens the big black door that leads to Harry's office. Emma walks ahead of her and sets her drink down before hugging Harry.

"Good evening, darling." Emma tells her son softly.

"Good evening, mum." Harry hugs her back slightly. Harry looks up and finds Lola standing just a couple feet from where he was. She was wearing a black turtleneck, white miniskirt and black platform boots. A black leather purse hanging from her right arm. Her hair was down and mostly straight. She looked stunning even in a simple outfit. The ring was however the most noticeable thing in the outfit, it was shiny and large.

"Lola." He said with a nod of his head.

"Hey." She takes a seat on the couch area in Harry's office. Emma walks over, pulling Harry along, and sits down in front of her.

"We are here to talk about the wedding." Emma says excitedly, Harry looks at Lola and they make eye contact. They keep it for a couple seconds before Lola looks away.

"You guys can choose the stuff, my only request would be that it's held in my house." Harry tells them.

"That's it?" Lola asks him.

"Yeah, it can all be to your choosing. It's supposed to be your day after all."

"It's not just mine, it's our day. Our wedding day at that." Lola was questioning if he even wanted to slightly get married at all.

"I know that, but the decorations can be of your choosing. If there is any input to be given from my side my mother or sister can choose it."

"So you really don't care about anything?"

"I'm gonna leave you two for a minute." Emma stands up and walks out the office.

"It's not that I don't care, I just think it's better if you take care of it." Harry says as soon as his mom closes the door to his office. Lola rolls her eyes and looks as far away from him as she could.

"No, you just don't care." She stares blankly.

"Okay, Lola. You can think whatever you would like. If that's all you were here for you may leave."

"Why do you have to be such an asshole all the time?!" Lola yelled.

"I'm not, this is just the way our marriage will work. I'm sorry if this is not what you wanted, trust me it's not what I wanted either." At that Lola felt tears brim her eyes, she never really thought he would outright state his dismay against the arrangement.

"Then choose another wife." She tells him and walks out of the room. Purposefully slamming his door in the process. Lola feels Emma following after her to the elevator. Once they got in and the door close Emma spoke up,

"I'm so sorry, darling." Emma hugged her side. "Know that I will be talking to him very seriously later tonight."

"Please don't, If he wants to move on with our marriage he can talk to me on his own. I don't want you to have to be a mediator between us."

"It's truly no bother but I respect your wishes. Just know that I will always have your back no matter what, I was once in your position after all."

"Thank you, it truly means a lot." Lola told the woman and hugged her tight. She doesn't know what she would do without Emma.

"Of course, darling. Let's get you home now, I think you've had enough for today."

Emma dropped Lola off at her house and they said their goodbyes.

"I'm home!" She yelled as she walked through the door and dropped her bag in the couch.

"Lo!" James yelled and ran towards her. Lola bend down and picked him up spinning him around the air.

"I missed you."

"I missed you more, Jamesie. How was football?" Lola asked him and placed him back down on the ground.

"Good! My coach said I am improving so much. I might be getting moved up with the older boys." James explained as they walked towards the kitchen together.

"That's amazing, I'm so proud of you. Do you want a snack?" Lola asked him and he hummed.

"Strawberries and Nutella?" He asked with puppy eyes.

"Sure, but don't tell mom."

"My lips are sealed." He 'zipped' his mouth and threw away the 'key'.

Once she made him his snack she guided him through a bit of his homework before going upstairs to get changed. Her outfit was getting quite uncomfortable and there was not point in wearing it anymore since she wasn't going out. She changed into a pajama bodysuit with long sleeves. It was one of her personal favorites, mainly because the patter was of little pink flowers. She washed of her makeup and brushed her hair. Once she was done she put on her Ugg boots and walked down to the living room.

"Almost done?" She asked James who hummed.

"Just have math left, it's what I'm working on."

"Confused or doing good?"

"I'm good."

Once James was done with his homework they went upstairs to the family room and watched some movies together as they played UNO. At around 7 their parents came back home and they all ate dinner together. Lola helped the maids wash some of the dishes and clean up the table after being dismissed from dinner. It was a bit of a normal occurrence for her to do so. She enjoyed talking to the girls who worked at her house, they where all quite a bit older than her but they where still pretty close. She was talking with Brooke, who was 25 and the youngest of the maids, when another one of the maids interrupted them.

"Mrs Lola, there is someone here for you."

"Who is it?" She asked as she dried her hands off and took off the apron she had been wearing.

"Mr Styles, he was quite persistent on seeing you." The maid responded her in a dreamy voice, it seemed that everyone was in love with Harry.

"Wish me luck." Lola told Brooke who gave her a thumbs up. She walked out to the living room and was shocked at what she was seeing. He was wearing dark blue jeans, a large orange sweater, and off white tennis shoes. She had never seen him look so normal in all the time she had known him. If she saw him on the street she would have never guessed he was the don of a mafia. To add more to the strangeness he had a bouquet of pink roses with white baby breath and a couple other kinds of pink flowers.

"Harry?"

"Hey." He felt his breath be knocked out when he looked up at her. She looked adorable and comfortable in her pjs.

"These are for you." He walked over to her and handed her the flowers.

"Thank you. Sophia?" The maid came out of the kitchen and waited for what she was going to be asked to do. "Could you do me the favor of putting this in water, please?"

"Of course, Mrs Lola." Lola handed her the flowers.

"Thank you." Lola waited until Sophia was back in the kitchen before turning back to Harry.

"What are you doing here?"

"I was hoping we could talk, in private." Harry told her and motioned towards the kitchen. He was sure the maids where overhearing the whole conversation.

"I trust them, but we can go to the library if you'd like."

"I was hoping we could go to your bedroom, it's a more familiar environment to you." Harry explained and Lola gave him a strange look.

"Uhm, sure. It's this way." She led him upstairs and to her room. She walked in, Harry behind her, and took a seat on her bed.

"I'm gonna close the door if that's okay."

"Sure." She begin to fiddle with one of her pillows as she watched Harry close the door and take a seat in-front of her.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"About what you said earlier, about me getting another wife." He explained and Lola felt even more confused then she was before.

"I'm not doing an open marriage if that's what you want." Lola said sternly causing Harry to immediately shake his head.

"No, it's just- if you weren't to be my wife, what would you want to do? Like a career or something."

"I'm not sure, perhaps study fashion design. In Milan or Paris, it was my childhood dream." She continued to pick on her pillow and avoid as much eye contact with Harry as she could.

"I can make that happen for you." Harry stated simply.

"How? I'm supposed to marry you in a few months and give you a kid."

"I would call off the engagement." Lola looked at him like he was a ghost.

"As great as that sounds, we can't do that. I can't do that to my family."

"I can, I am the don. I can change the rules if I want to, and don't worry about your family. They will still be under my protection for as long as they live. Including you too of course."

"But-"

"I can and will find a way around anything. But I will only break it off if you want to. I won't ruin your life like that, Lo."

"I- I don't know. I guess Paris sounds nice but I'm not sure I want that."

"I know it's hard but I don't want you to be miserable with me. And from what I can tell we aren't very compatible. Perhaps it would be for the best, you deserve a husband that lives up to your dreams, that will treat you like the princess you are." Harry places a hand on her leg and pats it. Lola felt a couple tears fall from her eyes.

"Okay." She simply says.

"Okay what?"

"We can break off the engagement." She wipes her tears and looks outside through her windows.

"Are you sure?" He asks her and Lola hums before removing his hand from her leg and standing up.

"Lola, don't leave please." He said as he watched her walk towards her bathroom.

"I just need a minute." Harry stands up and follows behind her. He watched her rest her hands on the sink and look at her face in the mirror. More tears where falling from her eyes every passing second. Harry couldn't just stand there and watch so he did the next best thing. He walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her. This just cause Lola to cry more, in all honesty she didn't know why she was crying. She didn't love him but a part of her wanted for him to love her. She had this image in her head where once they where married they would both fall in love with each other, and just like that their fairytale would begin.

"Shhh, it's okay." He held her up and rubbed his arm up and down softly.

"I just- I- I don't know what I'm supposed to say or do."

"Sit down." He sat her down on the toilet and bended down in front of her.

"It's okay, just breath. In and out, in and out. You're doing so good." He held her hand until she started to breath more normally.

"Why don't you want to marry me?" She asked with a little sob at the end.

"It's for the best, Lola. Like I said, we are not compatible."

"So it's my personality?"

"It's not just you, it's me too. We clash all the time, you won't be happy with me darling." He ran his fingers through her hair softly.

"And you won't be happy with me either."

"I won't." It breaks Harry's heart to say it and Lola's heart to hear it.

"I'm sorry." She said and looked at him in the eyes for the first time.

"You have nothing to be sorry for."

"I do, my duty was to be everything you would want and I failed. I failed you and everyone else."

"You didn't fail me or anyone. You are a lovely girl, Lola. And I'm sure you will be a lovely bride one day but it just can't happen with me." He explained to her in the softest voice he could muster. He hadn't realized how fucked up this whole thing must be for her. He was taking away her whole birth purpose without any warning.

"Can I ask you something?" Lola asked him.

"Anything."

"Is there someone else that you are interested in? I totally understand if you are, I would rather know now."

"There's no one Lola, you've been the closest I've gotten to any sort of formal relationship."

"That's a bit weird, don't you think? I mean we barely know each other, I don't even know your favorite color."

"Orange and blue, those are my favorites. Thats why I'm wearing them right now."

"Pink and gold are mine."

"I sort of guessed that one by looking at your room." Harry laughed and Lola rolled her eyes playfully at him.

"It is kind of obvious." She admitted and Harry nodded. They didn't say anything for a couple seconds, the atmosphere felt warm and comfortable to the both of them.

"I should go now." Harry stood up and extended his hand for Lola to take.

"Okay."

"Come on, I'm not leaving you in the toilet." Lola took his hand and stood up. Harry lead her to her bed and lifted up the comforter so she could get underneath the covers.

"Thank you."

"It's my pleasure, go to bed soon."

"I will."

"And I will let my parents and your parents know that we are not getting married anymore."

"No, can we tell them together? Your parents have been in my life for so long, I love them so much too. I want to be able to tell them too."

"Okay, I'll organize a dinner for Friday. Invite our families and a couple close friends."

"Yeah, that works."

"I'll call you tomorrow for some other details. Take care of yourself, Lola. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

Harry walked out of her room and closed the door behind him. As soon as he made it to the stairs he felt his legs give out on him a little. He took a seat on the top step and rests his head on his hands. He felt so oddly empty, even though he didn't feel much for Lola, apart of a small attachment, letting her go stung his heart. She had been a comfort to him his whole life even though they had never had talked at all. When life got bad he always knew he would have her at the end, they where meant for one another. Now that was done and over with. No more Harry and Lola, the best match the mafia had ever seen, everything had been perfect. Until now.

"Are you a robber?" He heard the voice of a little boy behind him.

"No, do I look like one?" He asked the young boy.

"No, you look more like a pumpkin." The boy giggled and Harry chuckled

"You are James, right? Lola's little brother?"

"Yeah." He took a seat on the stairs next to Harry.

"Are you her boyfriend?"

"Yeah." He decided it would be better to not confuse the little boy on all the small details.

"Can I have a room in your house once you get married?"

"Sure, but why do you want a room?"

"So I can stay there all the time, have sleepovers like I do all the time with Lola now." James explained to Harry.

"I will make sure you have a room all for yourself then."

"Thank you, that works as great bribery to me so I officially like you now. I hate you for taking Lola away but I like you for getting me a room. I will like you even more  if you get me a new LEGO."

"New LEGO, got it. Have a good night James."

"Good night, Lola's boyfriend." James stood up and went back to his room.

Once walking down the stairs he made his way outside. His car was waiting for him in the front of the house. His car was red Ferrari and one of his personal favorites of his collection. The drive back to his house was of about 20 minutes, he used to be closer when he lived in his parent's house. His mom had advices him he bought a house close to Lola in case of an emergency but he had refused. At the time he was still incredibly against the idea of marrying Lola. He was only 24 and felt disgusted by the idea of marrying someone. Now that he was older he hoped he had listened to his mom, it would have been easier to keep and eye on Lola and his family. They where under his protection after all, he would rather die than have any of them be hurt because of him.

He drove up the long driveway, saying hi to his guards in the process. He walked inside the house and headed to his room right away. He wasn't in the mood to eat dinner or do any work. He took off his shoes and pants before laying down on his bed. He rolled around a bit before finding a comfortable position. Somehow he ended up with a pillow hugged to his chest. Harry buried his head deep into the pillow and closed his eyes. He would never admit it to anyone but he thought of Lola, the way she would feel as they cuddled during the night. She would play with his hair and he would hold her so close to him he would be able to feel every inch of her on him. If she was pregnant he would be rubbing at her tummy all night making sure that their baby was safe. That thought on its own sent him down a spiral. But now that can't happen, he had pushed her away too far this time. Their future was simply nonexistent.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

[lover-of-mine]

the fact that they’ve done multiple joint official interviews about buck and eddie’s “relationship” and zero about madney—who are getting married!!! this season!!!!—is genuinely INSANE

No, but I was thinking that, why are Jeniffer and Ken in pr jail this time? Madney are finally getting married, I want the thougths, where are they?? I'm guessing maybe that will come out later, closer to the wedding. Since we know the cruise obviously involves a lot of bathena we are getting a lot on Angela and Peter and one of the plotlines in the beginning is buddie + parental crisis, so maybe they focused on that to switch it up once the wedding gets closer. But who knows.

[4rainynite]

Cerise and Ramona should've been Cousins!!!!!

Hi, before we begin my rant this is just my opinon on how the Cerise & Ramona storyline should've been handled. I'm aware that Ever After High was a toy line to sell dolls but somethings could've been avoided. This is one of them!

I'll explain who's who in the Hood/Badwolf family, history, theories, and why Cerise and Ramona would've worked better as cousins.

Cerise Hood

Let's begin pre-Ramona introduction with Cerise Hood.

Cerise is the daughter of Red Riding (Ruby) Hood and an unknown father. Cerise spent her childhood in the Dark Forest near the outskirts of Hood Hollow where two families the Hoods and the Wolfs reside in a huge rivalry due to the 'Little Red Riding Hood' story.

When Cerise came of age she was accepted to attend Ever After High School a school dedicated in teaching the future fairy tale teens their destiny.

Despite being one of the most popular fairy tales Cerise was a loner. Raven thought during Freedom Year that Cerise would be friends with Cedar, Maddie, and her. Even though she and Cedar are roommates Cedar only knew that Cerise slept with her hood on and snores loudly. Despite Cerise's aloof nature she did interact with her future friends, but she was still a mystery to them. Cerise's peers find it strange that she wears a hood all the time and she explains it's a part of her story to wear a red hood, they accept it.

In 'The Cat Who Cried Wolf' ' not only is Cerise half-wolf she's also the daughter of Bad (Breaker) Wolf.

This explains why she's so muscular, athletic, and secretive - she can't have anyone knowing about her family secret.

After Legacy Day, Cerise becomes more open, confident, and gains friendships with both Royals and Rebels. Seeing how all she had was her father and mother due to her heritage, both parents are proud she has found people she can trust. Cerise gets involved in many sports teams and managed to become MVP something she wouldn't have done before.

The only people who know/maybe know that Cerise has both her parents' destiny are:

Raven: The leader of the Rebel's and the first-person Cerise told the secret to. Cerise tells Raven the truth about her family and Raven not only the did Raven swore not to tell anyone keeps it a secret but covers up, so Cerise won't be exposed. No matter what the other is going through they will defend each other.

Maddie: In 'The Secret Diary of Raven Queen' Maddie and Raven were invited to stay at Cerise's place during spring break and Maddie reveals the Narrators told her already in 'The Unfairest of Them All'. Seeing as Maddie is a sweetheart, she kept quiet about it until Cerise told her and called her wolf ears 'silly' so no one would know the truth. Also, her dad was Ruby and Beaker's marriage officiant in Wonderland so he may have told her afterwards.

Kitty: Kitty finds out during Cerise and Carmine's run through the woods and threatens to expose the secret in front of their classmates as a joke. This is before 'Spring Unsprung' when Kitty realizes that some things are not funny! The only reason Kitty never tried to expose Cerise was because she never does the same prank twice and after Raven used a speed spell on her, not worth getting a worse punishment. Also, I think Kitty's mom was a witness to Ruby and Breaker's wedding and may have told Kitty at one point in time, Kitty thought she was messing with her.

Cedar: Cedar is cursed to tell the truth and Cerise has one of Ever After's biggest secret. You'd think being roommates would make things very awkward, and they were at first but now the two are friends! Cedar did get hints of Cerise snoring loudly, but never seen her without her hood. She knows something is up with Cerise, but doesn't ask due to her truth curse. In my fanfic ' Way to Wonderland (Rewrite)' Cedar finds but keeps quiet about it.

Dexter: Cerise and Dexter seem to be on friendly terms even when Raven isn't around. Dexter found out about Cerise's wolf ears in 'Once Upon a Twist: Cerise and the Beast' and when they returned Dexter claimed he hit his head and forgot everything. He lied to protect Cerise and keeps a close eye on her to make sure her hood doesn't accidently fall off again.

Ginger: Ginger and Cerise are childhood friends so growing up Ginger may have noticed somethings about Cerise. Ginger respects Cerise privacy and Cerise will tell her herself, and Ginger will accept her no matter what.

Hunter: Hunter is one of Cerise's friends as both are Rebels and athletic. Hunter doesn't believe the rumor going around that Cerise is his half-sister, but he is protective about her when Ramona and Mr. Badwolf are around. Like everyone else, he'll gladly accept her (and be grateful that the rumors about his dad having an affair are over with)!

Justine: In her diary Ramona texted Cerise to save Ramona. This would seem strange to Justine since at that point Cerise and Ramona weren't so close.

Rosabella: Cerise is listed as Rosabella's friends, and she probably read Cerise's aura and saw a wolf spirit inside her. At first, Rosabelle thought it was Cerise's spirit animal.

Ramona: I'll explain how Ramona found out about Cerise in her section.

The History of Badwolf & Red

In 'The Cat Who Cried Wolf' Cerise shows a family photo in her locket of her, Red Riding Hood (Ruby), and Mr. Badwolf (Breaker) in human form. But, when a button on the locket is clicked it shows Breaker in mid-transformation.

I don't disapprove of Cerise carrying a locket with her family inside, but if a certain someone found it *COUGHMILTONCOUGH* that would be disastrous! Even a student like Faybelle, Duchess, Blondie (maybe not she does have standards), or Sparrow might find it and expose them.

Ruby and Breaker were students at Ever After High, with the Hoods and Wolfs rivalry this was probably the first time the two met. Breaker would hang out with The Evil Queen (Eagle), Dark Fairy (Darcy), and Candy Witch (Candy) as the bad kids. Breaker did seem to have a crush on Raven's mom before crushing on Ruby, and the Evil Queen and Ruby were roommates during Legacy Year (sophomore year) - so, you know that's kinda *cough* awkward.

In 'Class of Classics' Breaker and Ruby were partners in a school project for theatre class. At first, Ruby saw Breaker as nothing but a class clown and was worried about her grade. The two became smitten with each other and hit common ground on both their ideas for the project and started crushing on each other.

Years later Ruby and Breaker married in Wonderland by the Mad Hatter (Hatthew) as the marriage officiant with The Cheshire Cat (Catherine) and Maddie's mother as witnesses. Due to the strict rules of Ever After if Ruby and Breaker married there would've been a riot or something. After, they had Cerise and did everything to keep their marriage and daughter a secret out of fear of going off-script.

Since both Ruby and Breaker had a theatre class together if Breaker wasn't the General Villiany teacher he would've been teaching theatre. He was a class clown in his youth, but preferred to be called a performer and we saw his acting skills in 'Cerise's Picnic Panic'. But knowing how bias Headmaster Milton Grimm is he wouldn't allow it (Giles would)!

In 'Unfairest of Them All' Cerise had to reveal that Red Riding Hood and Bad Wolf are her parents to prevent both the Hoods and Wolfs from throwing Raven in the river to most likely drown. Once exposed both Hoods and Wolfs come together to - banish Cerise from Hoods Hollow. Grandma (Ruby's mother and Cerise's grandmother) holds a contest to see if Cerise stays or is banished. Long story short - Cerise wins and the Hoods and Wolfs keep Cerise's heritage a secret, but Ruby's people turned their backs on her and Breaker maybe did the same. The only people in Hood Hollow who probably still associate with them is Grandma and Woodrow Wolf (Badwolf's distant cousin).

In 'Next Top Villian', ' Cerise's Picnic Panic', and 'Class of Classics' Breaker is seen in human form which is a bad idea if you go back to the locket part above. I would've made him in his time as a student switch between human and wolf form. As he got older he spent less time in human from, when Ruby announces she pregnant and gets hired at Ever After High he stays in wolf form permanently so when Cerise attends school no one will see that they're related.

Ramona

Ramona first appear appeared 2015 in Justine's diary where it said she was Badwolf's daughter and Cerise almost called her sister. Ramona made her cartoon in the Dragon Games, Moonlight Mystery, A Big Bad Secret, and Epic Winter.

But, wait, where has she been all this time? Apparently, she in the Dark Forest Reform School.

Yeah, that -that was just wrong.

We spent years believing that Cerise would inherit both her parents' roles. Cerise even had a Cerise Wolf doll for crying out loud! All that buildup, angst, and hope for nothing!

No hate on Ramona or the EAH crews' character decision, but one character having two conflicting destinies sounded more interesting.

When Ramona was first introduced, she was tough- as- nails, rude, edgy, and sarcastic. She was looking forward to becoming the next Big Bad Wolf and showed it.

But she is also loyal to the people she cares about like when: she alerted Cerise when Justine left to stop Duchess from cheating on a dance show, pointed out flaws in Humphrey's tech, helped Justine find out why her shoes were damaged, and lightened up on her teasing with Cerise.

There was so much hype about Ramona, but sadly she never got a doll or diary (along with many other characters that have been around since chapter one, but that's another story) due to the series cancellation.

From what I can go by is she's interested in sports and will most likely join track and shield. She may have an artsy side to her due making a snow wolf and heavy makeup she wears that contrasts Cerise's natural look. There's so much we don't know about her!

If you notice in the photo Ramona isn't there. Ramona would've been besides Cerise and leaving Ramona out of the photo is just hurtful. In 'The Secret Diary of Raven Queen' Raven visited Cerise, but Ramona was spending the break with one of her friends. In 'Cerise's Picnic Panic' Ramona wasn't there for the family picnic, because she was in reform school at the time. When you get older you realize you won't be around for every family event. But, 'The Cat Who Cried Wolf' came out in 2013 & 'Cerise's Picnic Panic' came out in 2014 and Ramona didn't appear until 2015 in Justine's diary and 2016 during the Dragon Games, Moonlight Mystery, A Big Bad Secret, and Epic Winter. So, take that with a grain of salt.

I believe Ramona going to reform before the Royal vs Rebel thing happened, most likely Freedom year and it had something to do with Cerise. Blondie even asked Cerise if she was responsible Ramona being sent to Dark Forest Reform School due to rumors.

How the heck does reform school work in the world of Ever After High? I mean we have Faybelle - who takes ever opportunity to be evil, yet was never sent away. Raven rebelled, Headmaster Grimm even admitted the only reason he didn't expel her was because of her story. He even threatened to expel Ginger. What the heck did Ramona do?

We never did find out if Ramona was a Royal or a Rebel but going by her gloves in the image above, she's a Rebellious Royal (if that makes any sense). But like Kitty, Poppy, and many others she's not listed in any group.

My Cousin Headcanons

Now, the moment we've been waiting for: my headcanon on why Ramona and Cerise should've been cousins. I'll explain who Ramona's parents are, the rivalry between the Hoods and Wolfs, and etc.

Like most siblings Ramona and Cerise have a rivalry due to keeping the who their parents are a secret until graduation.

In my cousins headcanon: Ramona has no clue that she and Cerise are related and picks on Cerise due to it's their destiny to be enemies. This takes place during Freedom Year so Cerise tries to brush it off, but Mr. Badwolf won't let Ramona get away with it. This confuses Ramona, why would her uncle (actually, distant cousin) being protective of the future Red Riding Hood. Time skip - Ramona is at Dark Forest Reform School before the end of Freedom Year.

Ramona returns to Ever After High School, but it's like after the first month of school to a week before Legacy Day so she can pledge with her classmates. Ramona is back to her old tricks, but Cerise has gain some confidence since she last saw her which almost startles her (almost). Ramona finds out about rumors of Raven not wanting to sign and Cerise befriending Raven Queen.

The day after Legacy Day which is called Yester Day when Headmaster Grimm makes the students talk to previous generations with similar destinies to see the importance of their stories. Ramona most likely visited Mr. Badwolf and was nowhere near Hood Hollow when Cerise revealed herself as a Hood and a Wolf.

Later, Mr. Badwolf tells Ramona the truth about Cerise being his daughter. It all makes sense now: why her uncle (distant cousin) has a 'World's Baddest Dad' mug in 'Next Top Villian' and why he defends Cerise. Not only is Ramona hurt by the betrayal that her uncle not only married a Hood but Red Riding Hood. And with the revelation of Cerise being her uncle's child Ramona realizes she may not have a destiny anymore if Cerise inherits it. Ramona stars acting out more and disrespecting Mr.Badwolf the only person in the school she ever respected and looked up to.

Ramona tries to antagonize Cerise, seeing her as weak for not letting her hood down and embracing her Wolf side. But Cerise is no longer the damsel-in-distress she was Freedom Year and can stand up to Ramona's words and paws.

One day things go so far that Mr.Badwolf sends both girls to his office. Inside Ruby, Raven, Grandma, and Woodrow are there to clear things up. Ruby, Raven, Grandma, and Cerise describe how the Hoods and Wolfs tried to throw Raven in the river, Cerise revealing her heritage to stop them, almost getting banished and the race. Woodrow and Ramona are shocked, they are aware both sides don't get along, but never have they tried to drown or banish anyone. Ramona realizes how dangerous Cerise's situation is and if Headmaster Grimm finds out it'll be even worse!

If the series continued Cerise's secret would've been revealed to everyone proving Headmaster Grimm's whole 'follow your destiny or you'll disappear forever' is a lie. Ramona will be one of many to defend Cerise if anyone tries to harm after the truth is revealed.

Once, everything settles down (or at least somewhat close) Ramona and Cerise form a friendly rivalry in sports and bond more with each other.

The reason I made Mr. Badwolf Ramona's uncle/distant cousin is because in 'Once Upon a Time' it said that Mr. Badwolf has a distant cousin named Woodrow Wolf, who owns Huff and Puff Glass Blowers and makes cups, vases, and delicate glass flowers in the same beach village Cedar Wood lives. Ramona is the daughter of Woodrow and a werewolf woman. Once, they find out about Cerise and Badwolf marrying Red Riding Hood their one of the first besides Grandma to accept them.

The reason Ramona was believed to be the next Big Bad Wolf despite not living in Hood Hollow is because she's the oldest of her cousins. There are many Wolf family members in Hood Hollow, but there might be an age gap since the Wolfs that were named: Cranky Wolf and Horribus Wolf are adults while Cry Wolf is a child.

So, in the final book/episode everyone can choose their destiny and Cerise can let her hood down and changes her name to Cerise Hood-Wolf (you can share both parents' last name if you choose), the conflict in Hood Hollow has ended, and everyone is one big happy family!

P.S. I can see Sparrow begging Cerise, Ramona, and Mr.Badwolf to turn him part wolf since he's family (distant cousin). They most likely howls enough with his music and doesn't need to be transformed and accepts that he's an honorary Wolf.

Well, I hope y'all enjoyed my headcanon, I plan to do more in the future, bye!

Images from EAHWIKI & ROYALREBELWIKI

[saint-starflicker]

Armchair Character Psychoanalysis of Peter Simmonds from Bare: a Pop Opera (Peter's Motivation)

I don't know the specific creative process that went into this show. Peter's parents being divorced could have been a detail thrown in there via spitballing, like Aaron Wells from fifth grade or the option to send Peter to Conversion Therapy camp. It could have been what details stuck versus what was cut depended on the vibe at the time to the power of what the rest of the show could get out of it—not necessarily that the choice of this detail was a deliberate statement or message.

I do want to say that I find a strikingly coherent thread that explains a lot about Peter Simmonds, if we read between the lines about his home life.

His grandmother is still alive and on chatty-lunches-out terms with his mother, if Claire is to be believed on that point, and in some versions Peter has a sister implied to be younger than him. I think that's the Holy Trinity that Peter thinks of as home, which is why his first prayers in the show and the plot-significant religious hallucinations are Marian venerations, rather than visions of Jesus like in the Putnam County Spelling Bee or Hamlet 2. (He switches to the Pater Noster prayer after the anachronistic and Roman Catholic Canon Law-breaking nightmare of a woman officiating his wedding, replaced by a priest officiating Jason's wedding. I think that symbolizes Peter's leaving boyhood behind and stepping into a role of maturity, that he's going to take initiative and charge on ahead completely alone instead of needing support and approval to get more approval and more support: "See Me" and "Absolution". But this is a tangent.)

If Claire's asides are anything to go by, it takes plenty of nagging to get Peter's father involved and as we can guess from "Epiphany", Peter might still feel that his father's rejection and absence in Peter's life is Peter's fault.

Unlike Jason (who provided "an escape grown from seeds that you planted" and slew all Peter's giants), Peter's father seemingly never provided Peter any reassurance or closure regarding the abandonment/divorce upheaval.

This point about what Jason did right—getting Peter to feel okay with his own gay even as they pray—is about to become very, very important.

Catholic culture rather prides itself on orthodoxy, so I would think there would be plenty of social stigma that Peter actually internalizes when it comes to being from "a broken home". Obviously he loves his mother, because he tells her almost everything, but there's things he can't tell her and I think that fact weighs in his heart right beside the concept of "divorced families are broken homes to the children" stereotype that pervades the culture of many Catholic communities.

Ever wonder what might fix that feeling? An idea that's just wild and crazy enough to work, and worth the risk to Peter? Because Peter still gets nightmares about his friends calling him out about his parents, his dad, and his broken home for some reason. Wonder what will ever undo the sense of brokenness that marred his life and sense of wellbeing for at least 10 years without relief?Wonder if there's anything that can be done to make this family be whole and complete, such that Peter won't so desperately need emotional validation from his dad anymore?

Introduce boyfriend to mom.

.

[stardustjie]

𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚟𝚒𝚙𝚎𝚛

for those who don’t know, i really love weddings and anything related to that event.

𝚠𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐

practical and realistic, sabine didn’t really propose to you. the idea of getting married has been on her mind for a while and when she asked the question she was more than calm about it. "would you like to get married?" and when you said yes, you were engaged. she might take you to choose the ring if you want one.

you plan a really small and simple wedding. around 60 people between your friends, her colleagues and your families. definitely not a fancy event, but it's cozy and kinda formal but not quite yet. she would like to get married with the snow and to have a reception with a fireplace, but since she can't control the weather she is open to other options.

she would be more focused on the pratical part of the planning and she is the one taking care of the expenses. she contacts the vendor, takes care of booking the venue and the reception and anything in between. when it comes to the more aesthetic part of the wedding she leaves it to you. the only thing she would want to be involved with is the menu, including the cake and the wine. anything else it's up to you but she is happy to give you an advice if you need it.

dress shopping is fun, actually. she sits on a chair and waits while you try on all the different options and pretend to be in one of those reality shows. she is pretty kind when giving advice, but she is honest and will tell you exactly what she thinks. sabine prefers long dresses with lace on the top and will suggest that style at some point but she will love any dress you'll choose

i think she would wear trousers. definitely not a suit, but she looks like the type of person who would wear a white button-down shirt and black business pants with black heels. elegant and classy but not overdone.

𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝

sabine suggests to get ready and walking down the aisle together. she is not big on traditions and doesn't see the point to have your parents walking you down the aisle or to wait until the cerimony to see you since she helped choosing your dress in the first place.

the cerimony is at 10am in a city hall. being a scientist, sabine doesn't look like the type of woman who would want a religious wedding so you agreed on a civil cerimony with your closest friends and family members. you get out of the car together, you see everyone outside and the you wait for them to come in so you two can be the last one to enter.

her vows to you are simple and short. a few lines were enough for her to express how much she loves you. she doesn't cry, but you see her eyes tearing up a little when you read your own vows. once the officiant declared you married, sabine kisses you on the cheek because she doesn't really do big demonstration of affection. the guests throw rice at you once you exist the hall.

the reception is simple but well decorated. she left the aesthetic part to you so you choose to add some green detail to give it a more personal look. the ribbons behind the chairs and the napkins to name some. the lunch is buffer style whith a variety of options and sabine chose the wine herself, both for the lunch and for the cake. you two chose the cake together, discussing various flavours and styles. at the end you settled on a classic white cake with baby's breath as a decoratios.

at the reception you didn’t plan that much of an entertainment. sabine doesn't really like the majority of the option and she was sure her colleagues would have done most of the job by themself and for free. you agreed on a spotify playlist and left everything else to your guests. by 5pm you were all at home.

𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚘𝚗

sabine didn’t have preferences for your honeymoon so you were open to suggestions from her colleagues. you ended up booking for a week in hamburg thanks to the lovely suggestion from killjoy. turns out there are plenty of fun things to do in the city, especially if you are not going to spend all the time in a hotel.

[whoahoney]

Hi, yes, it’s me, an Eddie slut girl, working on a Billy redemption fic, as requested by @samunson83 👀😏✍️❤️‍🔥😌

Picture this:

Billy Hargrove survives the mind flayer but must live as a ghost to all that know him. Leaving Indiana behind with California on his mind, when on the way he meets a teen runaway in desperate need for a way out of town.

Will Billy find his true self living as John? Will he actually give love a chance and use this new opportunity to change his ways and learn how to feel without shame?

Sneak peek below the cut 😏🤩

…He caught a glimpse of himself in the rear view and scowled yet again before running a hand through his curls, his new haircut not one he would’ve chosen for himself. His hair was longer on top and the sides and back were cropped short—his wild mane gone. He found himself often searching for the long hair at the back of his head to fiddle with when he was bored or anxious, and then of course became annoyed with himself upon remembering it wasn’t there.

Billy hadn’t ever been one to look inward, focusing on tuning out the noise inside more than making it stop for good—something he didn’t think to be possible. His mind worked too quickly, and very hard against him.

He took to loud music, drugs, alcohol, sex, work—anything stimulating enough to keep himself from addressing his inner demons.

But since he left Hawkins, he’d been forced to do nothing but. He’d been equipped with the basics; documentation and wallet with an ID, clothing, a bank account, and a set of flash cards covering his history. The officials at the lab made sure of it all.

During his stay, Billy befriended his night nurse, a kind old woman who doted on him like a grandson. She’d always give him the good snacks, sit and watch some soapy reruns, and talk with him for a while. Her name was Gladys.

Gladys took her time getting Billy to open up, mostly talking about her life with her family, stories of her grandkids that were ‘just about’ his age. Billy first found her annoying, but quickly found her endear when he realized she was the only person in the whole hospital not to treat him like a test subject or a villain. Of course, she didn’t know the full background of Billy’s injuries, but knew since the officials at the lab were involved it couldn’t be anything normal.

One night, during an especially emotional episode of Growing Pains, Billy confided in her about his relationship with his parents. His real parents.

He didn’t cry, though his voice was tense and low the whole time. Explaining the sickening dynamic between his parents and his ever-strained relationship with his father. The hardest part was talking about his connection to his mother.

Her name was Rebecca. She loved the beach, she loved the sun, and she loved Billy. She taught him how to surf young since it was something she’d done her whole life, meeting his father, Neil, on the beaches of Southern California one summer in 1965.

They’d fallen in love too quickly and too hard, landing them with a baby and a shotgun wedding that left Rebecca feeling less than hopeful for her future. But when Neil began drinking more and more with the pressure of his job and the impending war, he became even more hostile and bitter.

When she left, Billy was 9. She’d kissed him goodbye before school, watching him ride his bike down the street like any other day. She had practically vanished, no note.

Gladys shed tears for him, but kept quiet and a neutral face. Typically tears made him uncomfortable, but with Gladys he didn’t feel like it was pity. If anything he felt seen.

When he told her his idea about taking a trip to California to find her, she heavily supported the idea of going back home. The night before he was discharged, she gave him the gift of a leather bound diary.

Billy flipped through the pages tentatively with a questioning pinch in his brow. Gladys chuckled, knowing he’d be confused.

“I thought it’d be good for you to use this as a place to put your thoughts. The ones swimming around in all that busy-ness up there! The ones that wanna come out when you use your fists instead. Maybe write a little every day, one thing and how it made you feel to start—Doesn’t have to be anything ‘heavy’, dear.” She further explained when she saw the uncomfortable grimace on his face.

“Talk about how an angry driver flipping you off felt and why you think you felt the need to react the way you chose to, describe the interaction you have with a cute girl at the grocery store! You still have a life worth living, boy— a life worth feeling. This’ll help you do that.” She nodded.

Billy drank it all in, the idea not sounding so bad when she laid it out for him that way. He nodded, looking back down at it in his lap and running his finger around the perimeter of the cover. “Thank you, Gladys.” Is all he said.

“You’re welcome, Bill—er, John.” She chuckled, ignoring the tears glistening in her eyes, leaning forward and patting the top of his hand warmly.

That diary sat at the bottom of his backpack, still empty. He’d dug it out a couple times, opening it to the first pages but could never settle on anything to write about, his days feeling insignificant living as a ghost.

Or a man in a mask.

[vainglors]

greta  onieogou.     she / her.     cis  female.      ›    spotted   at   the   met   steps   ,   kemdi  o’daro   ,   most   likely   listening   to   cozy   by   beyoncé   with   their   airpods   pro   .   the   twenty - eight  year  old   gained   quite   a   reputation   ,   known   to   be   -intrusive   yet   +endearing   to   anyone   who   knows   them   .   you'll   easily   spot   them   when   you   hear   about   lining  a  mug  up  perfectly  so  the  label  faces  the  camera  in  a  selfish  act  of  promotion  ,  having  your  makeup  and  hair  done  three  hours  early  so  you  can  sit  on  your  phone  until  you  leave  ,  and  late  nights  that  end  with  falling  asleep  on  your  desk   ,   followed   by   their   bubble  bath  replica  by  maison  martin  margiela   .   latest   nepoupdates   article   talks   about   how  she  ditched  her  ex  at  the  altar  during  a  night  out  in  vegas   ,   but   i   guess   any   reputation   is   .   (   hazy   ,   25   ,   she / her   ,   est   ,   no  triggers   .   muse  t   .   )

𝐁𝐀𝐒𝐈𝐂  𝐈𝐍𝐅𝐎  .

full  name  :   kemdi  lena  o’daro  . nicknames  :   kem  ,  kd  . bday  :   august  20th  . age  :   twenty8  . gender  &  pronouns  :   cis  female  ,  she  /  her  . sexuality  :   bisexual  . occupation  :   late  night  talk  show  host  .

𝐅𝐀𝐒𝐓  𝐅𝐀𝐂𝐓𝐒  .

host  and  founder  of  late  night  with  o’daro  ,  which  is  her  talk  show  that  airs  mon  /  wed  /  fri  with  specials  on  some  saturday  nights.  it’s  usually  around  11pm  and  runs  for  about  an  hour  ,  give  or  take.  it’s  a  bit  of  a  mix  of  things  (  think  snl  meets  fallon  /  clarkson  y’know  )  and  she  usually  has  guests  on  to  talk  about  their  upcoming  projects  or  latest  news.

trust  fund  baby  ,  daughter  of  a  famous  screenwriter  and  her  father  owns  a  good  chunk  of  beachfront  properties  along  both  the  east  and  west  coasts  that  he  rents  out  to  people.

she’s  been  …  unlucky  in  love  because  she’s  a  bit  flaky  and  tends  to  focus  more  on  her  work  rather  than  focusing  on  making  genuine  relationships  between  her  and  other  people  work.  cares  about  her  show  more  than  anything  in  the  world  and  prioritizes  it  over  everything  else  ,  including  family  functions  and  stuff  that’s  involved  with  her  personal  life.

although  she  works  hard  ,  she’s  a  naturally  endearing  person  and  can  talk  anyone’s  ear  off.  she  has  a  way  of  getting  through  to  people  and  uses  that  to  her  advantage  because  it  helps  her  gain  a  holding  point  against  everyone  else  –  just  in  case  she  needs  it  ,  the  ammunition  is  there.

as  you’ve  probably  gathered  before  ,  she’s  very  professional.  that  kind  of  front  comes  from  how  strict  her  parents  were  while  she  was  a  teenager.  they  practically  raised  her  to  build  an  empire  from  the  ground  up  ,  was  barely  given  the  money  she  needed  to  do  what  she  wanted  ,  but  also  grew  up  around  luxury.  she  has  a  complicated  relationship  with  her  parents  now  because  they’re  beginning  to  mooch  off  of  her  success.

her  subplot  includes  her  selling  info  to  nepoupdates  –  mostly  info  her  team  acquires  about  her  guests  and  whatnot.  

[  death  tw  ]  recently  (  about  a  year  ago  )  lost  her  brother  and  his  wife  to  a  climbing  accident  that  she  was  with  them  during.  while  kemdi  was  hospitalized  for  about  a  week  with  several  fractures  ,  her  brother  and  his  wife  did  not  make  it.  they  left  behind  their  daughter  ,  keziah  ,  who’s  three  years  old  now.  kemdi’s  been  taking  care  of  kez  ever  since  the  accident  and  has  official  custody  of  her  as  of  late  2022.  

keziah  is  the  only  thing  kemdi  cares  about  outside  of  work.  legitimately  the  only  thing.  

𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍𝐀𝐋𝐈𝐓𝐘  .

(  +  )   elusive  ,  endearing  ,  personable  ,  charming  ,  comedic  ,  confident  ,  inquisitive. (  -  )   indifferent  ,  loose  lipped  ,  selfish  ,  calculated  ,  dishonest  ,  wily  ,  overworked.

[kepamount]

Hiii! i freaking love you and all your work! i wanted to know when you’ll be posting the next part of blue moon (that is if you still are) and also do you think y/n and mason will be having a joint desi and english wedding and all of the rituals? and future kids😭

thank you lovely!! 🫶🏽

i think i might just finish blue moon where it is, i’m not sure i want to carry it on anymore 😔 i might make an epilogue at some point tho!!

omg yes y/n and mason will for sure we having a desi wedding and an english wedding! y/n grew up in england so she wants to have a white wedding as well as a traditional indian wedding

it’d start with the ceremony at a stately country manor house, y/n in a beautiful white figure-hugging gown with a train and mason in a black tux crying at the altar when she walks down the aisle to an instrumental of a love song that y/n wrote for him. they’ll both cry during their vows even though mason’s is full of stupid jokes, and then he’ll kiss her softly when the ceremony ends. then they’ll have the reception in a ballroom with florals and veuve clicquot and a string quartet. they’ll both have an outfit change ofc with their extra selves 😭 their first dance would be to an instrumental version of a bollywood song like maula mere maula 🥹 their loved ones will do speeches and toasts and it’ll be a classy night until everyone gets drunk on cocktails and they finally stumble into their rooms at like 3am

then the week after that will be all the events of an indian wedding but rather than the bride and groom being split, their families do all the events together (bc obviously mason’s white family don’t know what they’re doing 😭). they’ll have a maiyan with rangoli in the chelsea badge, and it’ll end with mason and y/n throwing the haldi paste at each other 💀 they’ll have a ladies sangeet with everyone getting their mehndi done(the boys will all ask for the chels lion or something stupid like that 💀), and mason’s gonna spend forever looking for his initials and his number 19 in y/n’s mehndi. he’s gonna be annoying and try to get involved in the boliyan that y/n’s aunties and grandmothers are singing, but he’ll be demoted to doing the tambourine. the jago night will be dance battle after dance battle, and mason’s stupid ass gets lectured by y/n’s bibi for nearly dropping the jago 😭

mason’s gonna facetime y/n on the wedding morning for her to check that his turban is on properly but steph and isla will answer instead so he can’t see her getting ready. y/n will be at the gurdwara early and she’ll watch the milni through a window, nearly crying at her and mason’s families greeting each other. when y/n walks into the hall in her red bridal lehenga, everyone will be gasping and mason can’t help but look even though he’s not supposed to, making him cry at the sight of her again. y/n sits beside him and he’ll crack some stupid joke before the ceremony starts, the two of them giggling like idiots. they’ll do the ceremony, mason so nervous about making sure he gets everything right, walking slowly for the four laavan so y/n doesn’t trip over behind him. when the fourth laav is done, they’ll both be smiling like idiots bc they’re officially married in both cultures. they won’t be able to help themselves from holding hands during all the hymns and when everyone finally leaves the hall at the end of the ceremony, they’ll get to share a cute little kiss.

y/n and the bride’s side will go back to her parents house, and when mason and his side arrive at the house, y/n’s sister and all the girls will be at the door, making him do stupid challenges and getting him to pay them a grand each so he can take their sister. y/n will cry as she says bye to her family, leaving the house as a married woman, and mason will have tissues for her in his pocket but he’ll also be trying not to laugh at her 😭

y/n and mason will get ready for the reception at his house, both of them in navy blue for the party, and they’ll do a big extra entrance into the hall with flashing lights and dhol players. they’ll cut the wedding cake, mason feeding y/n a piece and y/n smushing a piece into mason’s cheek instead. they’ll have another first dance, this time to an instrumental of Die For You, and then it’ll go straight into everyone joining them on the dance floor bc the dj’s playing classic wedding bhangra. they’ll both dance until their feet hurt and everyone will get super drunk with the free bar, and the whole thing will just be perfect 🥹

[fantasiesandfolklore]

The Phoenix Queen - Relta’s Reign [Part II]

Lunaruz has no legally official language despite it having its own alphabet (see previous part), as there are too many different cultures in the kingdom to have any language be the majority. Relta sets in place and educational program in all towns to learn the Lunaruzian alphabet and basic language so all peoples can communicate to get basic needs met. Her educational program is expanded upon by her successor, making it wide-spread for all basic topics to be taught until a certain age (twenty-one). Relta is credited as a champion for refugees and immigrants due to her starting this program.

The indigenous Lunaruzians are the royal family Relta belongs to, but other people - such as illegitimate offspring from past rulers - are also considered indigenous Lunaruzians and given a protected status due to their minor amount of divine blood. Relta puts into place a legal system based on a mixture of the Olympian judicial system and Celtic Pantheon’s judicial system to honor the parents of the creator of the kingdom, out of respect for their shared ancestors. She also increases protections for non-royal indigenous Lunaruzians, such as language conservation programs and hate crime laws. This took the majority of her reign to implement fully.

A holiday dedicated to Lord Ares and Queen Macha was implemented by Relta in her second year, dated on her parents’ anniversary, where a massive marriage ceremony in the deitites’ honor occurs, along with fertility blessings done by both the monarch and high priest/ess/ex. It is optional to celebrate.

Horses are holy animals in Lunaruz due to their connection to the goddess Macha, and a race is held between royals and whoever wishes to participate annually. Relta sets up laws to protect the animals further during her reign, as to protect horses involved in the races.

Wolves are also holy animals in Lunaruz due to their connection to the god Lord Ares. They have heavy protections set in place already, but Relta extends it to domesticated dogs as well during her reign in its early years. Hunting or eating wolves/dogs is illegal on the books.

Depending on which deities are worshipped by the parties involved, sex between people in love is considered a devotional act to their deities. There is a ritual, if consented to, where a priest/ess/ex of Queen Macha and a priest/ess/ex of Lord Ares have an intimate night together to reenact the events that resulted in the child who created Lunaruz. Priest/ess/exes of Lady Aphrodite also have ritualistic intimate ceremonies, where participation is optional and marriages are often also performed in honor of Queen Hera. Relta puts the “optional” part of these rituals in the legal books in the first few months of her reign, which caused a popular start for the queen.

Relta legitimized her younger, half-sister as a secondary heir to the throne even before her half-sister had heirs of her own or even being married. The two are close, and her half-sister is almost as popular as Relta is amongst the common people, making the move a powerful strategic start to Relta’s reign.

Anyone can become a priest/ess/ex of any rank regardless of class status of their parents. They only have to prove devotion through a series of tests based on the deity they wish to devote themselves to. Relta enacts this in the first six months of her reign.

Fae, known as the Sidhe or Fair Folk, are added to the main pantheon of the kingdom in a “secondary” status, being celebrated on the equinoxes (as opposed to the solstices). They too have places of worship and are given offerings. Relta includes them in the main pantheon as of the tenth year of her reign.

In return for her devoting celebrations to them, the Sidhe blessed Queen Relta’s reign and gave her a fertility charm to pass down through her family to guarantee a healthy heir. She gifted it to her younger half-sister as a wedding present, with the Sidhe’s consent.

The monarch, every decade, picks a champion to signify them on the battlefield. Relta dismissed this tradition in favor of the monarch going themselves, however she did not remove it from the books that a champion may be chosen. Lovers, however, are not allowed to be candidates for the champion.

After her coronation, Relta’s speech was akin to one actually given by Queen Mary I of England & Ireland, stating that she was wed to her kingdom and “mother” to the people. It was a widespread speech, repeated in even the farthest of towns, and made Relta a popular queen immediately - with the exception of misogynistic factions that opposed a feminine monarch and insisted either her son or future husband reign.

To squelch the radical factions early on, Relta stated her refusal to marry - repeating her vows to her kingdom from the day of her coronation - and send spies to disassemble the factions from within. She was highly successful in deposing of her enemy bloodlessly, and went down in history for this.

Similar to real life French Queen, Catherine de Medici, Queen Relta has a “fleet” of female spies in her court, many being courtesans devoted to Lady Aphrodite. They saw Queen Relta as the incarnation of Lady Aphrodite Areia (Warlike Aphrodite), and swore lifelong loyalty to her.

Despite her titles, “The Phoenix Queen” and “The Armored Queen”, Relta had an extremely peaceful 35 year reign, after the first five years of her reign that is. The only outright war to occur was in Relta’s first five years as queen, and was between Lunaruz and King Theodore’s country. It was known as “The Lunaruzian Queen’s War” due to King Theodore’s fixation on getting revenge on Relta. Army enlistment was optional, but due to widespread love of the woman, she outnumbered the king’s army tenfold in both numbers and skills. Relta rode to battle herself, leading her soldiers. It solidified her position as being viewed as Lady Aphrodite Areia incarnated.

[unitywedding]

The Groom

Photo by Abhishek Gaurav on Pexels.com It is important to understand that marriage is a partnership and assisting your “partner for life” is what you need to do to get involved and contribute. Going off getting drunk and showing up with a nice haircut on the day is “old news”. Formal Wear: After you select the date, you should select your best man, ushers, and choose what they will wear. The color accents should match those of the brides’ attendants’ dresses. Make sure your outfits are in order and ready to be delivered or picked up on time.

Your Bride:

You should give your input on the guest list and invitation announcements and enclosure cards. It is your responsibility to get the marriage license. It is important that you update your bride through the hectic planning stages and keep her spirits up and her happy. This lets her know that you care about this day that is important to her, and also is important to you. It can be very stressful and you both need to help each other through the process. If your parents are hosting a rehearsal dinner, assist them in planning it.

Travel:

Make sure all necessary documents – passport, birth certificates, etc. are in order for your honeymoon once you and your bride have decided on the destination. This includes: transportation, hotel reservations and time schedules. Make sure you have everything you need packed away for your honeymoon. If you are staying overnight at a hotel after the reception, be sure it is very comfortable and has a late checkout. Quite often couples stay at costly places where they get there late after their wedding and are unable to enjoy a hot tub bath or Jacuzzi before they must leave. Transportation & Accommodations: Be sure to arrange your transportation for the day and account for any special arrangements for out-of-town guests (accommodations and transportation) or give them options to book these on their own if they wish.

Your Best Man:

Your best man should be able to assist you with many things. It is necessary to itemize your plans so that he may understand his role better and what needs to be done. Make plans for your bachelor party in conjunction with your best man if you or he is giving one. Remember to buy gifts and small cards for your best man and ushers. If you wish, you can pay the Marriage Officiant ahead of the ceremony, but traditionally you should place the fee in an envelope with the Officiant’s name on it and have the best man pay at a convenient time. Make sure your best man and ushers are aware of their schedules and responsibilities.

House/Apartment/Personal:

Be sure your house and financial affairs are in order: adjust insurance policies; open any new checking or savings accounts you will need. This also includes any moving plans into a new house or apartment for either of you or both of you.

Your Wedding Day:

On your wedding day, it is imperative to arrive on time. Plan to be there at least 45 minutes earlier to consider traffic or untimely disasters. (flat tires, etc.) Be sure to arrange your transportation for the day and account any special arrangements for out-of-town guests. #WeddingPlanning #WeddingDirectory #WeddingTips #Weddings #unitytheweddingdirectory #unity #weddingdirectory #weddingplanner #weddinginspiration #weddingideas #thegroom #groom Read the full article

[libertysolicitors]

Is Hiring Bradford Family Law a Wise Choice?

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Leeds office

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Solicitors in Leeds, Bradford, West Yorkshire - Liberty Solicitorshttps://www.liberty-solicitors.co.uk

[solo-fandom]

Adrian waited patiently for my chance to sweep away the handsome elf while he was saying his hellos to the favors noblemen in attendance. Finally there was a small lull, Adrian snatched a glass of champagne from the serving tray making quick headway over to him.

"Hello, and happy birthday, Eylon," Adrian smiled at him. Eylon turned his body fully towards Adrian with a soft smile.

"H-hello, thank you, I'm happy to see that you've made it. It's quite a journey for you," Eylon was nervously wringing his hands together.

"Well, Cassandra owed me one when we went to her wedding in the arctic. Turns out dragon back is a very great way to travel," he chuckled. There was a loud laugh coming from the main table where the princess of Thalor and Dylan were chatting. "I see your brother is already making his way through the next princess."

"By the gods, he needs to stop, he's going to get in trouble one of these days," Eylon rolled his eyes before locking onto the spare glass of champagne. "Is that meant to be for me?"

"I know you can't have alcohol on duty, but I think there was a clatter in the hallway. And if there was then I could accompany you," Adrian smiled coyly at the elf.

"I-" Eylon looked around, seeming even more nervous. "If just to investigate." Adrain nodded in the direction of an empty hallway and they both quickly ducked into it. Once they knew they were alone, Adrian passed him the glass and they gently clicked it.

"To your 23rd birthday and your admittance to the royal guard," Adrian smiled as they took a sip.

"I'm really surprised you showed up," Eylon said softly.

"Why because I got angry and threw a snowball at your face the last time I saw you?" Adrian shoved down his anger.

"That and I believe the words 'I can't believe you chose this life' were said." Eylon nervously sipped his drink.

"I still can't," Adrian said plainly. "You said you were set on this and the next thing I know I get you announcement that you've officially joined Andrel's Royal Guard. Sworn to service everyone else except you."

"This is a selfless thing I'm doing and you act as if the world has ended-"

"My world has ended, Eylon!" Adrian caught himself shouting. He finished his drink and placed it down on a small ledge. "I don't even know where to start! You tell me you love me and then you're wearing the armor. What is so bad about coming to the Isles? Who cares about your parents? You're a budding kingdom, your family was chosen by everyone to have this land."

"You answer your own questions, Adrian. We were chosen to rule these lands and care for those out there. We all saw Cass marry a women she does not love and the woman does not care for her because Cassandra needed to start her queenship training. We all make sacrifices, this was mine." Eylon sighed heavily, pausing for a moment. "If I could run away with you I could."

"I'm not asking you to run away, I'm asking you to accept a marriage proposal to the second eldest son of the Islet," Adrian said flatly. "You were supposed to wait, you- you were supposed to wait for me."

"I know, but you knew that this is what was best for me," Eylon was swirling the last little bit of his drink in the clear glass. The air was thick between them with words left unsaid.

"Your plans should've involved me."

"Not everything is about you."

"But you need to make things about yourself for once," Adrian snapped back. "I don't know the next time I'll get to see you is. I came here with no dignity left and I am this close to begging on my knees to get you to come home with me." Adrian got close to Eylon, trying to make no gap between them. "I will beg, I am not above it."

"I'm telling you not to. What's done, is done, Adrian. I appreciate you coming out here, but there nothing you can do," Eylon said softly, cupping Adrian's face. "I can do one thing for you..."

"I doubt that." Adrian laughed bitterly, trying to bury the feeling of disappointment.

"My room is the furtherest away from everyone else's," Eylon started to say. "No one will notice if I'm not in the barracks."

"I don't want to be a love you cradle under the eyes of moon," Adrian shook his head.

"It's all I can offer but I want to give any little time I have to you. Adrian," Eylon tilted his head so Adrian was lookin into his eyes. "I know it's only tonight, but I want you."

The following fan fiction is inspired by Dragon's Revenge on wattpad and this is what I imagine the ballroom to look like.

"From the Avia Islet, Prince Adrian!" The crier announced at the ball. Andrel was hosting another dreadful ball and while Adrian usually loved the fanfare of it all, he was here to help scope out suitors for his sisters. The only fun he could really see himself having was getting to scope out which family members were secretly gay. A more common fact than people thought.

This was the first ball hosted for all the kingdoms since his best friend Cassandra had gotten married last spring to Alana. While Alana wasn't unattractive, Adrian felt bad for his friend who had gotten married to someone with the personality of a wet napkin.

Scoping the party he was fashionably late as always, so he got to see everyone who was already here. Adrian found his way to his table where he was surprised to see his hunting group, sans Cassandra and Eylon. He was only vaguely paying attention when he finally saw the man he had been pining over for a few years now.

Eylon was looking nothing short of gorgeous. He was in full armor, showing that he was now officially in the King's Guard. In Andrel, their symbol was a seahorse since they were right on the coastline. Their halls were decorated with the banner and the seahorse on Eylon's chest felt like a weight on Adrian's. Adrian and Eylon had shared a brief kiss on their last hunting trip in secret when everyone was asleep and they had split a bottle of wine and the latest gossip.

Adrian's attention was brought back the front when Dylan tapped his glass, making the hall quiet.

"Thank you all for attending mine and my brother's birthday ball," he started with a large smile on his face. He was so much different than his brother. He was a huge scaredy cat, didn't know how to fight and was much too brash. "My brother, Eylon and I are turning 23 this year and I know the question on everyone's mind is when am I getting married?" There was a chuckle of agreement through the ballroom. "I hope that will be rectified very soon. There are many a lovely ladies here in attendance and I can't wait to dance with you all. Thank you all again for coming, and let's dance!" There was a polite applause across the room and the music started playing loudly.

Tonight, Adrian was going to make Eylon his.

[cinnamonest]

Will any of the yandere boys try to put a ring on their darling and even have an official marriage or is keeping them locked up good enough for them? 👀

Ooh I like this concept! Not really an AU but kinda sorta AU-ish, basically Teyvat being more accurate to the time period it's roughly based on than the actual game, and thereby more... traditional if you get me. Traditionalist hyperconservative restrictive judgemental societies add flavor 👌

I also added the ones least likely to be into marriage, so this list goes down a scale of most likely to least likely to want to marry. There’s a few not in here but I think this is most of the boys, I may make another one later covering the rest. For some I did the idea of it being forced upon darling, and for others that darling is the one wanting it just to make it work.

I'm also blessed to have this opportunity to return to the Xingqiu reverse shotgun wedding agenda so thank you anon <3

//mentions of stigmas around premarital sex, mentions of a character being young-ish, fem reader, pregnancy mentions for some, slutshaming, some traditional wife stuff, forced (fictional) culture/identity erasure, the usual for this blog

---

Okay so you have some who are very into the idea of marriage and insist upon it, some who don't care, and some who actively dismiss the idea. Even between those that would be willing to, there's another significant divider between "would initiate getting married" and "would never think about or bring it up, would require you to initiate."

Marriage can also be a good idea on your part -- if you're the one to initiate such a commitment, you may just find yourself significantly decreasing the likelihood of ever being fully confined, if not escaping the risk entirely. Several would-be kidnappers would feel comforted by a legal bind such as marriage, and may be able to use it to their advantage.

We're going from most likely/insistent on marriage, to least.

---

Ayato is probably the most insistent out of anyone. It's largely an upbringing thing. That whole upper-class lifestyle really emphasizes the importance of marriage, and upper-class parents such as his were tend to be very traditional when it comes to such matters -- nobility are very strictly taught to be married at a fairly young age, and the "no sex before marriage" thing is likewise heavily hammered into their heads. For such people of high economic and social standing, the thought of a premarital sex scandal is heavily frowned upon, especially if, gods forbid, it results in pregnancy.

On that note, he's also the most patient, willing to actually wait until marrying you to actually have sex, since that's just the proper way things are done. He does things the "normal" way too, seeing as he's the type to strongly prefer a relationship that mimics one two normal, well-adjusted people might have. No unseemly, brutish things unbefitting of himself like forcefully abducting you or anything of the sort. He would consider himself to be above such acts, he has too much of a sense of pride and dignity to resort to it. After all, doing that would imply that he can't win you over with ease on his own.

Which he puts every effort into doing, that much isn't hard. He's good with words and has a natural charisma, and even if that's not enough, constantly spending money on you will make you feel grateful, no? The proper way of doing things involves a period of courtship, and that will provide enough time to earn your affection too. So it will be easy to assure that, when the time comes to bring the matter up to you -- which isn't very long, only a few months in -- you will answer in the affirmative.

Just in case, though, he takes certain measures to ensure it.

He makes sure to ask you on the matter in front of a large number of people. Presents you with gifts of astronomical monetary value in the moment. Ensures that he's spent all the time leading up to the moment carefully, slowly taking control over every aspect of your life, rendering you dependent. Making you need him. First you lost your job with no warning, then there was a fearsome incident so close to your house that you just had to find somewhere to stay for a few days, then one of your family members was seriously injured in some sort of freak accident, and who was the one who covered those expenses when you couldn't? Gave you so many gifts you didn't have enough space for it all in your home? Ensured you were always safe, walking you back to your home at night?

So even if there was a moment of hesitation in your mind, the feeling of indebtment inevitably weighs down. And you don't have a particular reason to say no, now do you? So just as planned, just as ensured, you say yes.

Oh, and don't worry. He'll take care of everything, or at least, delegate someone to have everything taken care of. He'll still do the choosing, though, and just have someone take care of actually doing the contacting and reserving and mailing and the like.

He'll choose everything. The expenses, the arrangements for everything needed, a list of invitees.

And which members of your family will come. What date it will be. Where it will be. What you wear. What you'll say as a vow. How any hair and your face will be made up. He'll take care of all of those things... so just accept what he does. It's only fair, he is paying for everything.

Oh, and if you're from one of the other nations, don't expect to include anything of your own. It would be... unseemly, is all. No wedding dresses traditional of one of the other nations, he'll get you one that fits Inazuma's traditions. Likewise, anything you find perhaps a bit unnerving will be dismissed as a cultural difference. Yes, it's very normal to get married to someone you've known for a short time.

This is such a happy occasion and all... surely you won't spoil the atmosphere and excitement by making any negative comments or questioning his choices, right? And if you should begin to express second thoughts, if he gets the sense that you’re trying to back out of it all… well, maybe you just need reminders about everything he’s done for you. And if that doesn’t work, perhaps a more direct method of telling you what could happen to you if you try to back out will be more effective.

Come on now, don't be like that. It will be perfect. You'll see.

---

Diluc has every intention to do the same when it comes to marrying. He was raised to believe it's important and good, that it's right, and his father always told him it reflects how you view the person you're with too. That if you don't marry first, it means you don't have respect for the other person. And more importantly, if people find out, it will be frowned upon.

However, he has a bit less self-control than Ayato, so he's more likely to end up giving into impulsive, heat-of-the-moment urges, thereby making a "mistake." And besides, he has a lot less charm to his personality, so he wouldn't know how to smooth-talk his way back into another opportunity like Ayato would, and instead leaps at the chance to have sex because his typical sternness doesn't do him many favors in terms of winning affection. 

He doesn't need a pregnancy scare to get the metaphorical wheels turning. The most likely case scenario is that you sleep together once, and the moment the post-nut clarity sets in, it's full force. Guilt and panic come crashing down. It's one of a few times you'll actually see him very blatantly anxious.

Okay. It's alright. Don't worry. This can be fixed. He can have an ordained minister come by tomorrow evening -- no, that's not soon enough. He'll just go grab one of the horses and make his way to the city and go ahead and knock on the door of the church until someone answers and get it arranged right now. Okay? Okay. Easy. He'll leave right now, just, uh, put on clothes and--

...Why are you looking at him like that? You have this bewildered expression on your face.

You sort of stumble over your words, in part due to not wanting to offend and in part due to sheer confusion, but you manage to get out that it's... it's not necessary to do that...? Isn’t that, uh, rushing things a bit? You don’t really know each other that well, you say…

He sighs. You’re very particular about how things are done, you must want to take time to make sure it’s all perfect or something. That makes sense – he doesn’t really care about such things, but you must want a big pretty wedding or something and need time to prepare… Okay, so then how long do you want to put it off? A week? A month?

You stare straight ahead, blinking all perplexed and uneasy. You take a moment before you speak again.

We don’t… have to do that at all, you know…? Why would you…?

He can't really conceive of how you could possibly be okay with this arrangement. It goes against his social programming. Why not?? Don’t you want to? At first he’s just confused… but then as he thinks about it, he starts to feel… hurt. Why don’t you want to? That’s clearly the expectation here, is it not? You wouldn’t have done this with him if you didn’t intend to marry, so what made you change your mind?

Eventually, as you go through a rather awkward exchange, you have to get the message across to him that the two of you seem to have… different conceptions of how things work. That you weren’t… implying anything by spending the night like this. That’s a pretty harsh blow, but he tries not to let that show.

You get the sense, though, that this conversation hasn’t deterred him much from the line of reasoning that it’s not a matter of if, but when, and that your rejection is actually just a matter of putting off something that will happen. You come to see him again, albeit a bit hesitant… but when he’s so persistent that you come back (approaching you in the middle of town, asking why you haven’t come by since then, eyes a bit too wide to the point you feel uneasy), you figure that he’s over the matter and you want to give him another chance. He’s nice enough, after all.

Once when he ran into you in town, he made a displeased face, leaned over and fastened an extra button at the top of your shirt, claiming you shouldn’t walk around with that much of it undone. Little aspects of control, as if in his mind he already has the authority over you. And he still seems to feel a lot of guilt whenever you spend a night there and inevitably end up sleeping together again. Still, he doesn’t say a word, doesn’t bring it up… but you can feel a sort of desperation in the way he keeps an arm wrapped around you.

While he has some restraint as well as self-awareness when it comes to his own internal feelings, he’s actually rather low on self-awareness in the sense of gauging how his actions are perceived at times. He doesn’t realize just how overbearing he’s quickly becoming. He avoids using the exact words or blatantly addressing marriage itself, in fact he hasn’t brought the word up since the first night… but you feel the pressure nonetheless.

But even if he doesn’t realize it, you’re acutely aware of the behaviors, and if anything it all makes the prospect more frightening. If he’s like this now, how much more controlling would he get when he actually has a piece of paper tying you together? You’re starting to think you don’t want to ever find out… and you’re very worried about how he would react to that sentiment.

---

Tighnari really likes the idea of marriage, because in his mind, a legal bind is the closest thing he can get to making sure you experience the same need to remain together as him.  Recognizing that you don't share his hyper-monogamous nature puts him in a very vulnerable position.

At the same time, he knows the same is not true for you. He's seen plenty of couples get together, stay with each other anywhere from weeks to years, only to split up and break apart and go to someone else. That frightens him. He can't fathom such a thing.

He tries not to think about what all that really means -- you don't need him like he needs you, and no matter what, with your human nature, you can never be as attached to him as he is to you. That... hurts.

You may get a wandering eye, even if you never act upon it. You may get tired of him. He may do something that upsets you to the point you no longer feel you want him. You will never experience the same unyielding need. It's painful, and it's frightening. It makes him feel vulnerable, anxious, paranoid that you're going to slip away from him forever.

Marriage is thus a very useful tool to him. Without it, it would be easy for you to leave him. You wouldn't have to hesitate. But if there's something legally binding you to him? You'll be much less likely, you'll hesitate more. And being willing to marry is a sign of commitment, which is comforting, because if you agree to it then that means you can at least envision the two of you being together for life, right? He fixates on the concept, spends a lot of his time as he goes about his work thinking about the matter.

He's still afraid of rejection, though, so he hesitates to bring it up. He has to balance the deep desire to latch onto any conceivable way to tie you down to him, and trying to abide by societal conventions of normalcy and appropriateness, such as not getting married to someone you've known for a week. He would like that, but he knows it's not normal, that suggesting it would make you feel uneasy and potentially drive you away.

So while the thought is constantly lingering in the back of his mind, he holds himself back. He does obsess over that thought though, spends at least some time each day contemplating. He's started going through a calendar, marking dates to determine how long you have known him, internally debating with himself as to what day is suitable -- maybe 100 days in? Can he push it a little closer? Maybe 80? Or maybe be safe and make it 200? How is he supposed to know? And more importantly, no matter how long he waits, you could always say no anyway.

He ends up trying to gradually ease into it rather than asking outright. Asks you about your plans for the future, for your life as a whole, subtly trying to gain information and gently nudging you towards certain choices -- no, probably shouldn't move far away, sticking around here would be a lot better in the long run... you don't need to pursue something big like a really good job or higher education, it would be better to focus on building a future where you're happy with someone else, right? You wouldn't want to end up all alone because you focused so much on work or study that you never made time for anyone else and drove people away, would you...?

Once he can actually get you to agree to it, after all that effort and gradually, so painstakingly slowly moving towards this moment, he considers it all to be worth it.

---

Xingqiu has the same upbringing as Ayato and Diluc, but due to being younger, he has a lot less self-control. Of the "rich family" trio, he's the least likely to actually wait to be married before giving into urges, so to speak, what with those teen boy hormones and all.

Besides that, there's a few key differences between him versus Ayato or Diluc. One, he has living parents, who will inevitably be involved. Two, he's several years younger, and most people would consider him to be a bit below the normal marriage age, whereas the other two are right around that age where people start asking and expecting them to find a spouse. Especially among nobility -- the men marry later, they spend a few extra years acclimating to the world of higher-up business and political figures before “settling down.”

His youth becomes a problem when he's also the least likely to take preventative measures, doesn't have a very good sex education, and consequently ends up inevitably getting you knocked up within a fairly short time.

…Whoops. 

You see his eyes go wide and he freezes up when you tell him. No, no, he's happy! He has to reassure you of this, because his face looks like he's in abject horror. It's just that... well... his parents... um, they might not be… super overjoyed about the matter… In fact, even though you offer, he insists it’s… best that you’re not there when he tells them. You can tell how nervous he is, even if he tries to act otherwise.

They’re still polite to you when you next see them, although you sense a strong disdain. You smile and try your best to talk to them, say it’s not a problem, you won’t tell anyone, you won’t cause a scandal…

But they seem almost perplexed by your words. Of course you won’t cause a scandal. Sure, people will talk a bit, but as long as the marriage is taken care of quickly, it will all be fine.

They say it very casually. As if it’s not a big deal, as if it’s expected, as if you already understood that this was the plan. You find yourself blinking, mouth open, processing what’s being said as it continues… have to get this and that prepared and arranged… make sure certain important people are aware of the occurrence… and you, make sure you’re trained in certain etiquettes to ensure you don’t cause embarrassment with your... lower-class upbringing and all.

It all goes very fast. You never get time to interject. You never get the opportunity to speak up. You might have questioned it, might have objected or tried to slow things down, but before you really get the chance, there’s someone dragging you over this way to go measure you all over, another person dragging you over somewhere else to pick out various aspects of the whole thing. It’s too much, too quickly. If you try to bring the matter up to him – if he feels like you’re about to express some kind of dissent – he changes the subject, interrupting you, talking over you, anything to avoid letting you voice your thoughts.

It all feels like a blur, and suddenly the day comes and your choices are essentially gone. You know that if you were to act up now, cause a scene, they could ruin you and your family. And his parents, at least, probably would. You know that. It keeps you quiet.

People do make comments. In fact, it becomes almost immediately obvious that everyone... knows. They all acknowledge that there's only one real reason why he'd be getting married so young, why there was such little time between the announcement and wedding itself. They think there's only one reason why nobility would marry so far down the social ladder. You see a few judgemental gazes, looking you up and down with some vague feeling of condescension, eyes occasionally fixating on your lower stomach. You hear choice words.

Some are kind. Oh, being so dedicated so young, how... sweet. There’s an edge to their voices, though, an insincerity. Most, however, are not kind even in the slightest.

…sure didn’t waste any time…

…not visible yet… probably wanted to get it done before it became too obvious…

…just some commoner, too… parents must be furious… their own fault for not raising him right…

...not a prostitute, though, right? Surely not...

If he hears it, too, he doesn’t let it show. Maybe he’s just ignoring it. Maybe he’s too happy to care. He’s too happy for you to voice anything. He’s so, so happy. The thought of taking that away makes you feel so horrible guilty. The thought of the consequences of not going along with everything… you don’t want to think about it, both out of guilt and genuine fear.

Words come out of your mouth without you really thinking about it, mechanical and rehearsed, when the time comes for you to give your affirmation. You can almost feel the consequence and weight of it, like the click of a chain locking around you as you condemn yourself. Nobility don’t get divorced, either, you know, it’s simply not how things are done. You don’t like to think about it, but you know you’ve sealed your fate permanently.

---

Perhaps surprising to see him high up on the list, but Kaeya would actually be very enthusiastic about marriage... and rushes into it. Due to his inclinations to act on those pesky subconscious abandonment issues of his, marriage is a very comforting concept.

He's one of the fastest to suggest so, too. He's actually a rather impulsive person sometimes, despite having a composed demeanor. He's made a lot of regretful decisions based on going with what he feels like in the moment without thinking it through. Alcohol significantly increases the likelihood of making such decisions, though.

Impulsive binge drinking on a week night, leading to him wasting his allotted vacation days in bed with hangovers. Impulsive unnecessary purchases, impulsive potentially dangerous decisions in battle, impulsive 3 a.m. walks through the empty streets.

And, perhaps the biggest issue, impulsively developing attachments to people to a degree that is inappropriately disproportionate to how long he's known them or how well he knows them. He's had to learn to reign that tendency in over the years, learned how to hold back in his teen years and has practiced it pretty well ever since. It gets a lot easier with time and maturity… but sometimes one can fall into old tendencies, under the right conditions. You just so happen to meet him on one of the nights where he's feeling especially depressed, self-restraint barely held together by a thread that will break with ease by you being so, so nice.

It doesn't matter if you met last night. It doesn't matter if the only conversation you have had was inebriated. He's already financially and logistically planned out the next ten to twenty years of life together in his head while you were still asleep. And added some leeway for variations based on what type of house you want or how many kids you were thinking of having, he’s not particularly picky on that matter.

He’s actually rather daring, though, in that he might as well take a chance and try something, even though he makes sure his wording could be interpretable as not serious.

Hey, you wanna get married?

He sort of chuckles after saying it, trying to make it sound like more of a lighthearted, playful joke. Just direct enough that if by some miracle you were to say yes despite having known each other for less than 24 hours, he could immediately jump at the chance, but just playful enough that if you were to laugh in response or show some sort of displeasure he could easily pull a haha, I’m kidding, I’m kidding.

He gauges your reaction and responds accordingly, most likely leading to the latter of the two possible scenarios… and a bit of hurt disappointment, although he doesn’t let it show, and tells himself he really shouldn’t have expected any different.

He takes it pretty well, actually, as he’s fairly rational on the matter and, more importantly, believes that it’s just a matter of time, he can certainly win you over.

Which he does certainly try to do. He can be patient. And he’s willing to put in a lot of effort.

That being said… the longer you go seemingly not growing attached to him as he anticipated, the more desperate he starts to become, and while he’s normally very good at hiding such things, every now and then the frustration becomes evident.

Eventually, if you’re taking too long to do exactly what he wants you to do, or gods forbid start going for someone else or otherwise try to distance yourself from him, he’ll probably just decide that kidnapping you is easier. 

And at that point, not really much of a need for marriage… although in particularly spiteful moments, he may use that against you. You could have been so happy, could have done things the normal way, could have had one of those nice weddings people dream about… but this is the way you chose instead, so you have no one but yourself to blame.

---

Thoma is in a position where social expectations to be married are not nearly as big of a deal as it would be for higher ranking individuals like those above, but he still has somewhat of a public image to maintain, can’t afford scandals as it would reflect poorly on his superiors.

Not that he’s opposed to it on a personal level, no. The only reason he hasn’t asked at this point is to not drive you away. You've known each other for what, a few weeks? If he asked now, you'd probably get weirded out and break things off entirely. He certainly would after a matter of time that feels sufficient, though, as soon as he feels what he’s gauged as the socially acceptable amount of time has passed to not be rejected. Even then, a more short-term scenario wherein you bring up the matter after knowing each other a short while is an entirely different situation.

Thoma would leap at the opportunity. All things considered, even though he’s grown wise on matters of politics and exchange in the scope of his work, he’s still very, very naïve when it comes to things like romantic love. He would jump in without a second of hesitation, euphoric and overjoyed with the belief that you must really love him.

He makes a big deal out of it, too. Takes every opportunity to tell people, often more than once, to which others usually get annoyed and remind him that yes, they’re aware, he’s made sure to tell everyone he knows that he’s getting married five times already… The boundless eagerness is quite cute, really.

That being said, if you prefer something quiet and small, he’s fine with that. Or if you want something big and extravagant. He doesn’t really care! Whatever you want is what he wants.

Unless, of course, he gets this… subtle feeling like maybe you’re losing enthusiasm for it. You don’t seem as excited as you did before. Whether or not this is a genuine and accurate observation, or just him being paranoid, is up to you. Regardless, if that’s the case, well, he starts to need your reassurance. You do love him, right? You do want this, don’t you?

The first few times, you think he’s just having a normal level of insecurity that everyone has, but then it begins to grow in intensity. He starts to want more than just words. You love him, right? So you’ll gladly walk around in public holding hands. That one is, of course, easily filled, but it starts to get more intense. Perhaps a bit more uncomfortable. You’ll kiss him in front of people. You’ll spend the night as his place every night. You’ll remind him you love him. You’ll let him touch you and hold you and cum in you – even if that’s something you haven’t done together before.

It’s okay because you’re getting married anyway, right? Should you disagree, though, he might just take that as a sign of hesitation, and then he might need to take more drastic measures to ensure you remain his…

---

Albeit raised in a sort of pseudo-nobility environment (even fallen clans were still once of higher standing, and thus still preserve their typically traditional values and all), social expectation is not necessarily Kazuha's primary reason for wanting to get married. Sure, it's up there on the list of reasons, and he does have it ingrained into his mentality that it's a necessary in the long term, but more importantly, it's very practical to have a legal bind for all sorts of reasons… and, well, he just likes it.

Really, it’s just the kind of person he is. Romantic at heart, hopelessly so, sentimental and so very head-over-heels in the intensity of his affections. The concept of unity and lifelong togetherness between two individuals has been one of fixation by humanity for centuries, and with good reason, he thinks. It’s a beautiful concept in a profound, poetic sort of way.

Thus, he gets very excited on the matter and would jump at the chance. If you two actually have a mutual, shared feeling, it’s actually very cute, in addition to how overtly affectionate he is in general. He has the kind of affection people roll their eyes at, goes overboard with the pet names and constant reminders and gestures, it’s so sappy and sweet, but highly endearing.

If the sentiment is not mutual, however… well, he’s perceptive enough to sense that, and he won’t push. He knows that pushing for it will only turn you off to the idea. This applies even if you’re already in the “non-consensually dragged along with him under not-so-subtle force/threat” stage you two eventually enter (don’t want to make you resent him even more than you already do…).

So he doesn’t bring it up, but subtly tries to make certain implications, taking every opportunity he can. You struggle with some sort of legal matters when trying to cross from one nation to another, due to you not having certain necessary documentation that he didn’t exactly think of getting before dragging you away from your home. 

Ah, what a headache. It would be so much easier if we could just have one set of papers. The rest left unspoken would be that, of course, in most of the nations, a married couple can have only one set that counts for both. So on and so on, little hints like that.

On another note, for the sake of social conventions and avoiding any stigma – swear that’s the only reason! – he does lie. Every time you take shelter for the night in an inn, every time you run into other travelers. Introduces himself, and then—

—and this is my wife. Gives them a soft smile as he gestures over to you.

He asks you not to get angry for him saying so. He tells you he’s just saying it because some of the innkeepers and patrons, particularly the elderly ones or ones in certain areas, wouldn’t take kindly to the two of you staying and traveling by yourselves if he were honest. Might be given judgmental glares and the like, some particularly pretentious owners might even deny you the right to stay. Besides, it’s quite the inverse when he lies – people find it so sweet, they smile and say you’re so cute together, wish you the best in your travels.

And he’d be lying if he said he didn’t also take into account the aspect of an actual contract of marriage being a legally binding force. Going back to practical purposes of marriage, being married entitles him to certain privileges… the most important of which being, that if you were to “go missing,” go running off and far away in hopes he can’t find you… well, he can always go to whatever law enforcement exists in the current nation you’re in, and they’ll help.

If he were just some random guy who claimed to know you or be a lover to you, they’d be suspicious and likely not keep him well informed. But of course they’re going to be more than willing to keep a rightfully concerned, loving husband updated as to every little detail about his missing wife. They’ll gladly tell him that someone claims to have seen you, that there’s record of you making a purchase at this place or that, and from such clues he can easily get a good idea of where you’re going, and more importantly, to be sure he knows where to intercept you. As it’s often said, marriage has little perks like that.

---

Childe would, actually, be the one to initiate, but only after a very specific point.

Not that he doesn’t like the thought of it all, he almost just kind of… forgets you’re not married. After forcefully dragging – rather, escorting you away from your home, you’ve been traveling with him and all the various attendants and grunts that travel with each Fatui mission with you, and he’s sort of just started treating you like a wife anyway.

You’re pretty sure he referred to you as “wife” to several people already. When he politely and very sweetly asked you to sign a paper so that you could get a proper passport necessary for entering some regions, after getting over your initial refusal (and warning squeeze to your thigh that told you that if you keep being a brat in front of these people you will regret it later so just sign the damn thing), he had you sign it… but made it clear to use his surname and not yours.

Complicates things legally, you see. As he’s been going about signing for this or that, reservations for places to stay and documentation for travel and the like, he may or may not have already been lying and claiming you to be a married couple on all the documents. He even specifically checked a box to indicate such a few times. And registered you as having his surname. So, uh, play along, don’t make things unnecessarily complicated.

But despite all of that, he kind of… forgets to actually get it done. In order to get married, you have to obtain it from a specific place, and different nations sometimes don’t recognize certain certificates under certain circumstances, so he thinks it’s best get one that will be recognized back home. And because, unfortunately, the one in the nation you’re currently staying in requires both of you to sign and that’s a big issue… anyway, problem is, he hasn’t gone back home yet to find someone legally authorized to do it.

By the time it becomes relevant, he’s almost forgotten he’s never actually legally married you.

But, see, he insists you meet his family. He is a family-oriented guy and it means a lot to him, so after acquiring you he's very determined on getting you to come home with him the next time he visits family... and to make sure you're compliant and broken in enough that he can trust you to be good for such a venture beforehand.

It’ll be so great! You’ll do this and that, he’ll have to show you this or that thing, meet this or that person… he spends the night before your arrival rambling on and on about it, slowly turning to quiet murmuring, until he starts to drift off to sleep, with you doing the same…

Until his eyes snap wide open, and he bolts upright in a sudden motion of alarm.

Oh no.

Oh no.

His parents are going to kill him.

You're not actually married!! He's mentioned you more than once in recent letters, and divulged the information that you're coming back with him. The way he worded things makes it obvious you've been spending a lot of time together, and that you're traveling together, which would obviously make it likewise evident that you’ve been… well, you know.

And, uh, he... may or may not have embellished a bit and said you were married? Like, word for word, non-interpretable any other way, specifically used the phrase “got married”? Complete with lots of details and a specific date to make it believable?

Listen, he just knew that it would make them happy, and he totally intended to do it, he just forgot! Don’t give him that look. You just have to also go along with the story he told them. It’s not like they’ll actually want to see the certificate.

…Or maybe they would… he can’t say with certainty that they wouldn’t… he can just lie, right? No, that wouldn’t work, since there would be no reason to have left it anywhere else, and they’d be pissed if he said he lost it. He definitely needs that. Oh no.

As to why it’s so important, well, it’s just one of those cultural values things. Rural area, very traditional people and all that. Word travels fast in small rural places. What would all his relatives and all the local elderly leaders and all his parents' friends think?? They’d all see it as if he had committed some kind of transgression against you.

Besides – most important of all – if you're not married, they'll disapprove of you sleeping in the same room!! They'd probably force him to sleep on the couch and let you take his bed for the entire three days and he can’t have that. If he can't whip out proof of marriage the moment he walks through his front door, he'll never hear the end of it.

This can only be resolved by getting married immediately. Good thing he has the authority to force an entire ship to make a stop in a major city for the sole purpose of dragging you out to the nearest judicial establishment. Easy. Solved. He’ll just, uh, have to grab a pen and tweak the date written on the bottom to the best of his ability.

And you, well, you just have to play along with what he tells them. Don't you dare tell them the truth. Seriously, he's begging you. Besides, now you’re really married. Isn’t that great? Sure, grabbing a paper from a courthouse in a fifteen-minute dash might not have been the ideal way you pictured your future marriage, but he’ll make sure to get you a bunch of nice stuff as a celebratory measure. Don’t ruin the joyousness of it all by getting him skinned alive by his parents. Please.

---

Bennett and Chongyun are, as you might expect, a fairly nice middle ground due to having some degree of higher patience than some and far less forceful about the matter.

Well... in some ways.  They both lack the gall to be physically forceful or threatening to get you to agree to it, and that's simply not in either boy's nature anyway. Why would you want to scare someone into it? Then it wouldn't be sincere, and who would want that? Likewise, they lack any financial or social status power to pressure you into the matter.

But despite consciously wanting it to be genuine... that doesn't necessarily mean they might not subconsciously act on urges to give you a push. In both cases, they utilize family.

Bennett was also raised to value the concept of marriage, albeit not as much as wealthier, higher status families. Still, several of his fathers had advice for him, plenty had stories about how they met a wife... several more bitter individuals had cautionary tales about their ex-wives, told him to be careful. Still, he was raised to be very optimistic towards the idea.

Bennett is also rather good at emotional manipulation, whether or not he realizes it. It’s what he’s always done – you often hang around with him more than you’d really like because you feel bad for him being so disliked and avoided by others, you slept on his couch overnight because he seemed so worried about an injury and you wanted to ensure he was okay. His happy demeanor in and of itself creates an inherent guilt; you don’t really feel comfortable being alone, but he was just so excited when he invited you to go on an outing in the forest that you would have felt terrible for saying no and disappointing him…

What he ultimately ends up doing is creating an expectation that you would feel guilty for not following. See, several of his dads are older, don't have the sharpest of memories anymore, get confused on some things sometimes. One of them seemed to have gotten something mixed up and was under the impression you were already married. Oh, haha, he just laughs it off awkwardly… but later tells you not to tell him otherwise, he’s just confused is all! Don’t worry, he’ll forget the whole conversation, no big deal.

It seems to happen more and more often… almost as if they’re being fed the idea from somewhere, that leads so many of them to getting “confused.” He says he’s not sure… but it’s kinda sweet, isn’t it? Haha, they must really think it’s in your fate… or something like that, you know? He drops the topic as soon as he sees you get an odd look on your face… but brings it up again the next time it happens. And again, and again… hoping that maybe it will lead to something. If not, he can always try getting a little more direct, but this slow conditioning to the normalcy of the idea is certainly helpful even if he reaches that point.

Similarly, Chongyun’s clan family has, in the past, worried about his prospects, seeing as he has his energy-related issues and episodes. That could turn some potential partners off.

So they’re very, very excited to meet someone he has supposedly been spending a large amount of time with. He actually doesn’t have to do much of the work – he knows his family is pretty insistent on trying to persuade you, so he doesn’t have to ask them to do so or anything.

They’re so nice. You’ve never been given so many gifts by essentially strangers. You’ve never been so warmly welcomed to a new place. It’s… almost a little creepy. Still, he doesn’t make any effort to get them to stop being so forward and overbearingly eager to talk to you, so it must be normal for this family, right? Maybe they’re just naturally really affectionate.

It does strike you as odd that they seem to be talking about the future quite a bit… mentioning things that seem to be getting way too ahead of themselves, things like where you’ll live and what you’ll be doing long-term… all as if they’ve already decided that the two of you would be together in the long-term. You wouldn’t want to disappoint them, then… or so he hopes.

He’s very awkward about the matter himself, though, and get flustered just thinking about it. So likewise, he takes indirect methods of bringing the matter up. Largely things about the future, what you want out of life and all that… he listens to your answers, gauges exactly how he can best project the idea that being with him forever is the ideal way to meet those goals. And if, unfortunately, they turn out to be very antithetical to the idea of getting married in general, he will, as slowly and subtly as possible, try to steer you away from those plans and dreams and towards ones he finds more favorable.

If you still don’t give up, though, he may just be able to convince himself to take certain measures to ensure that whole career of yours or whatever doesn’t work out. And then, you’ll need someone to take care of you, right? Such is his logic. That’s just an added bonus. You’ll surely agree to it then… hopefully.

Notably, these two are also very much exemplary of being able to deter someone from worse actions with a compromise. Both could be easily persuaded that kidnapping you and invoking resentment from you is not worth the risk, not when you’ve already agreed to be married. They’re both relieved enough by your agreement to be married that it will deter them from taking any measures that might ruin the tranquil and mutual feelings between you two, so getting married is actually quite a wise choice if you prefer a legal document to... you know, any one of far worse situations you could end up in.

---

Now we get to the ones who, at least initially, actually would be against marriage.

Xiao just finds it pointless. Why would he bother to emulate humans?

It's dumb anyway. He's seen weddings, stumbled across a few happening at random over the centuries, and some people have even held weddings at the inn. He's watched them out of curiosity, hidden in a high vantage point looking down below. They have these big noisy get-togethers and eat tons of food and be loud. There's usually a part where they talk and drone on for a long time and you have to sit there and wait for it to be over. How boring. What's the point.

...No, seriously, what's the point? He's always sort of wondered. Why do they do this? You would know, you're human. He asks you with genuine curiosity.

You say something about commitment, the desire to display love to others, an act of symbolism of the bond... it ties two people together, you say.

He just looks at you with eyebrows furrowed in confusion, glazed-over eyes. Symbolic gestures are pretty much lost on him. He sees no point in getting the law involved regarding commitment, he doesn't doubt his own commitment. And you don't have a choice anyway.

What's the point in a legal document to "tie you together?" Metaphorical wording like that is so strange... how does a piece of paper "tie" you to anything? If he needed to tie you to him, it would be much more effective to just use a rope. But even so, he can't afford to be tied together, he has things he has to do. So rather than tying, just keeping you locked away in this room is better suited for your situation. A piece of paper doesn't prevent you from walking away, but a locked windowless room certainly does. His way is more effective. The humans should take note.

It's a way of showing everyone how much you love someone.

What's the point in that? Do humans truly believe that if you don't want to show your relation to someone off, it means your feelings for them are somehow less genuine? That's ridiculous.

There's social stigma if people have sex or children without being married.

Huh? Why would he care?

Eventually he just gets frustrated with any further dialogue on the matter. He has cemented in his mind that it is a pointless waste of time, like so many other human traditional practices, that they perform for reasons he will never comprehend and are most likely dumb reasons anyway. He’s perfectly content keeping you inside.

He gets frustrated the more you bring it up, staunchly refuses and insists it’s pointless. But… oh, now you’re mad at him. You’re being cold, you won’t talk to him. This has to be remedied.

When you go back later an envision the events that must have taken place after that conversation, it’s quite amusing to picture – the poor thing must have been very awkward, going into some building, having to talk to someone (and did he even know what to ask for? Or did the person have to take time to explain how the documentation process works?) but in the end, a day after you discussed the matter (while you’re still sulking and giving him a cold shoulder), he comes back with a piece of paper freshly obtained.

This is what you wanted, right? Or so he thinks. He sees it as a very simple formula wherein obtaining this thing you wanted will make you happy and love him and will fix everything. The thought that you might have wanted the whole package, so to speak, with more than just signing a legal document… well, that didn’t cross his mind. This should fix you. Come on. Sign it.

In truth, he never goes on to take it to a legal agency to certify and approve or, nor to really do anything with it, just stores it away in the inn somewhere. He just hopes it will at least win back a bit of your favor. Just love him and go back to being nice.

----

Albedo's relatively low position here is solely for a specific reason: a deadset intention of eventual confinement, and an incapacity to be deterred away from that course, from day one.

For most, kidnapping is sort of a somewhat gradual process, even for those that do it very quickly. The thought pops up a few times, they push it away out of paranoia and not wanting to accept that there's something wrong with them for thinking something so abnormal, realistic acknowledgement of potential consequences, or merely a moral compass. The vast majority who do end up kidnapping you and/or locking you inside do so spontaneously, after a specific occurrence or something that sets them off.

Likewise, as previously mentioned, a lot of the boys above who might have otherwise kidnapped you, could be placated into not doing so by marriage – after all, if you're willingly loving them, there's no need to lock you away, especially not if it could potentially upset you. They're content if they feel their affection is fully returned, or if they feel marriage alone is enough to bind you to them to a degree that is satisfactory.

He qualifies under none of those. He's one of a few who would very willingly "ruin" a fully consensual relationship through this means – keeping you hidden away is preferable to a somewhat normal life. Even if it makes you upset or resentful, even if you were fully willing to marry and stay by his side forever, that isn’t going to change anything. 

There’s no guarantee you would feel that way forever, so why take the risk when he could… not? Why have to deal with the frustration of knowing you’re outside interacting with others on a daily basis when he’s not there, when he could rest assured knowing you’re locked up in a dark room for him to come back to? He simply doesn't trust you enough. It's easier to not trust you. Why leave that proverbial window of opportunity open, when you can keep it shut?

Additionally, his is much more well thought-out and determined ahead of time, rather than spontaneous or on impulse after trying to fight the urge for a while. He knows from the beginning that that is what he will eventually do, and has no reservations; it's not a 'what-if,' but a 'when.' He just takes a sufficient amount of time to plan every aspect of it before acting upon it. Consequently, the notion of legal marriage is... problematic.

After all, when a person goes missing, and that person happens to be married, who is the first person that authorities usually look towards as a suspect?

Exactly. There lies the issue.

And you, well, you are a soon-to-be missing person, even though you're certainly not currently aware of it. Having a written record that ties you to him could potentially come back to bite him. The authorities would be right to suspect him, and they’d likely find you.

If you say something about it, he just sort of goes on a quiet slow mumble-spiel against the idea. It's an arbitrary concept, you know, essentially just a social institution created for community status and taxation benefits, and by no means does it actually reflect the quality or intensity of the bond between two individuals and—blah, blah.

He’s conflicted – on one hand, it’s incredibly pleasing and makes him very happy you want that, but on the other hand, it puts him in an awkward position in which he has to essentially reject you (and feels very bad about it, wishes he could explain that it’s not that he doesn’t love you, it’s just that he loves you more than that even). He’s worried, too, that you’re hurt by what you perceive as rejection… which just means he has to hurry. So basically, bringing it up is actually just going to accelerate the speed that he executes his plans and reduce the amount of time you have left in which you see the sun regularly.

He can explain it to you later, which will hopefully make you feel better. He still loves you, you know. In fact, he still goes out of his way to go get you a ring, hoping it will make you feel better. Gets one for himself, too. The sentiment is what's important.

---

And at the very bottom, is Razor.

You would have thought that that wouldn’t be the case, based on your experience with him so far. He likes mimicking a lot of things humans do, and he does so at every opportunity when it comes to expressions of affection. The first time he saw a couple walking down the street holding hands and inquired about it – it’s because they love each other, you had said – he practically wouldn’t let go of your hand in public places from there on out.

He’s always quietly observed people, often staring out windows even while you do your own tasks, and has taken it upon himself to spontaneously recreate the things he sees. He brings you flowers (complete with dirt still hanging off the roots, crumbling all over the floor). He made you food (once, but with the resulting disaster left behind you’ve tried to steer him towards other creative outlets). He brought you (read: stole) jewelry he saw sitting on a display by one of the local stores (since no one was watching it anyway, so they must be okay with him taking it).

So you’d think he would be on board with any means to express or display affection, but as it turns out, marriage is different. He doesn't directly admit to it, he's very wary of anything involving written contracts due to his own illiteracy.

He's become less and less naive in recent days, the more he interacts with people and, well, learns just how horrible they can be. He experienced someone who caught onto his lack of monetary knowledge and effectively swindled him, there was a time you lied to him and he found out (poor thing couldn't even conceive of what a lie was prior to that), and so on. Consequently, this has made him more and more paranoid. He's come to learn what "truth" is: it's when someone says something, and what they say matches what actually happened or when the thing they say is actually the way they said it is. But when people say something, it isn't necessarily "true." Sometimes they say things that aren't true – these are "lies." It's all very confusing.

Animals don't lie. He's not used to having to consider the possibility that someone could be telling him something that isn't true. It makes him very paranoid.

Granted, Varka managed to teach him how to write his own name, so he's capable of signing things (and Miss Lisa even let him practice signing off on packages that arrived for the library!), but he would have no idea what the paper he's signing says. Sure, it can be read out loud to him, but... what if you're not telling the truth, when he asks what it means? What if there's something you leave out, like something saying you can leave him at any time? That's no good. He can’t know for sure.

And there's so many big, weird words. 'Matrimony?' 'Cherish?' ‘Fidelity?’ What does any of that mean? You can try to explain it, but you can tell by the expression on his face that it’s like talking to a brick wall.

It’s not even necessary though, right? Humans do this thing, but wolves don't do it and they're just fine. In fact, wolves stick to each other even better than humans. Wolves will stay together in their mated pairs no matter what. Humans have divorces and leave each other, so clearly, their ceremonies and rings and stuff don't actually mean anything. No point.

There’s… not really much of a point in pushing it, if you were even the one that wanted it in the first place. He’s too wary. He’ll get you things that have symbolic meaning to you – you wanted the “marriage” because you wanted this or that thing, right? He can get you that. But to actually, legally have it done, is simply not going to happen, and he just gets frustrated if you continue to try. He can’t fathom the cultural significance or importance of the matter, so to him it’s like you’re just continuously asking for something with no real meaning.

[wikiangela-fanfics]

Fictober22 - 27. That's not why we're doing this

Fandom: 911

Ship: Buck/Eddie

Summary: Eddie's family is stressing him out during wedding planning, so he talks to his fiancé about it.

Ao3

Words: 635

Note: I keep saying it but like, seriously: buddie plagues my mind lmao I had a different idea for this, for a different fandom, and then I took a shower and let my mind wander… and here we are 🤷😂

***

“I’m so done.” Eddie says as he comes out of the bedroom after a video call with his family. He flops down on the couch with a heavy sigh. “We should just elope and tell everyone after.” he says, as Buck comes to sit down next to him. “It’s so hard to fucking keep everyone happy.”

“You know that’s not why we’re doing this, though, right?” Buck gently runs his hand through Eddie’s hair. Ever since they announced they’re getting married, people have been offering advice and help, and it’s all good until it gets too much. Eddie’s on great terms with his family, but honestly, they get too involved. “We’re getting married and having a wedding, because we love each other and want to celebrate that with our loved ones.” he repeats what they already talked about when they got engaged – they agreed that this is what they both want. “But it’s our day, so really, we’re the only ones who have to be happy. The rest of them can suck it.” he grins, and Eddie smiles weakly.

“Can you say that to my mom? And the rest of my family who go fucking crazy over this wedding?” he sighs again, wrapping his arms around Buck and hiding his face in Buck’s shirt. “I’m just so tired. It’s supposed to be fun and exciting.”

“Well, you know I’d do anything for you… but that. I’m sorry, but I don’t wanna get on my mother-in-law’s bad side. She loves me and I wanna keep it that way.” Buck laughs, his hand soothingly rubbing Eddie’s back. Eddie’s mood slightly improves. He loves Buck’s laugh. “Anything in particular today?”

“Just the usual. Everyone has different opinions and they start arguing with each other, and don’t even ask me what I think. And I didn’t even bring up the wedding, they did.” he grumbles, pulling away to pout. “Is it too late to take just Chris with us and elope?” he asks again. He genuinely considers that as an option at this point. He knew that planning a wedding would be stressful, but it’s just… overwhelming.

“I think our 118 family might have objections.” Buck grins. Eddie agrees, he doesn’t want to do it without them, either – besides, Maddie and Athena would kick their asses, for sure. And he is excited, more than he’s been in a while, it’s just that sometimes it all gets a bit much. He’s so thankful he has Buck.

“I just want to already be your husband. Officially.” he smiles, not yet believing this is happening. Everyone’s been telling them they’ve been like a married couple since before they even got together, and that may be true, but now it’s going to be official and legal, and Buck will adopt Christopher, and will be legally his parent, too. Eddie tears up just thinking about it. This is all he’s ever wanted.

“Soon.” Buck leans in to peck his lips. “And it’s gonna be the best day ever, no matter what.”

“Yeah.” Eddie nods. “It’s gonna be perfect just because I’m marrying you.” he says, looking at his wonderful soon-to-be husband with awe. He loves him so much, it’s insane. “I just wish everyone would fuck off and let us do it our way.” he adds grumpily and Buck laughs.

“We’ll figure it out. There’s still a lot of time.”

“Yeah.” Eddie sighs. He gives Buck a look, and even though he really wants the wedding, surrounded by all the people he loves, even those who annoy him at the moment, he jokingly asks one more time: “So elopement is completely off the table?” 

Buck laughs again, and Eddie smiles widely. This is what he needed. His partner can always make everything better, just by being there. He really can’t wait to marry him.