#it's interesting to think about monogamy with them actually

[mortish-writes]

I'm considering adding another route following the first seven nights. I've gotten various requests over the past few weeks and this encompasses most of the types of story lines that have been requested. Each of these routes would come with a unique prologue and MC. I'll explain each one below.

M/F/M - Storyline where Valdricht and Serax aren't in a relationship. You can choose to be with both of them in an MFM relationship or split off with one. I think the trickiest aspect of this one is the MF options. Valdricht/MC would be a piece of cake, but if it's just you and Serax, it'll be really difficult to get him to engage with the epic gods and monsters story line. He'd rather laze about a brothel and tell stories of slaying dragons than actually slaying them. It might be kind of fun to write all the ways he attempts to avoid doing anything that will advance the plot. It might also turn into a brothel simulator.

Priest - You'd play as a male MC raised within the Elodari faith with a backstory that's pretty intense. Your overall story line would be similar to that of the Heretic route, except with the added struggle of adapting to the female body given to you by The Weaver.

Female Serax - Why does this need its own route? Can't we just click a button and make Serax a lady? Girl, please. It needs an entirely different backstory for Serax, Valdricht, and the MC. Tbh I've given this one the least amount of thought, probably because I know it would be the most fun and I don't want to distract myself. And by least amount of thought, I mean that I have a 20k word outline.

Cultist - Oh boy. Here's some BoS lore for you. This was supposed to be the original story route alongside the Heretic route. I'd planned to do a Light vs Darkness MC route where you could be raised in the Elodari faith as a vestal or raised by fanatical Duskweaver cultists. I realized that it would mean a lot more writing and I'd be significantly delaying the demo launch, so I scrapped it. But it's all still outlined and it's quite different. Rather than being a Cinderella-esque story, you're a venerated child and you're raised in a hidden place with the knowledge that you'll be the mother of a god. To sum it up, you'd play as a sheltered shadow princess.

Anyway, I'll run this poll again later. I think that your opinions might change as you get to know the characters better.

Night IV is coming along well. The intimate scene took some turns I didn't expect and came out even better than I'd hoped. I'm still playing with the Zealot route to see if there's any possibility for that on Night IV, but I don't think there's any scenario in which it feels like intimacy is something she genuinely wants, rather than feels obligated to engage in because of The Weaver. Having grown up on my grandma's stash of 70's bodice rippers about women getting abducted by hot pirates and highland lairds, I could easily write that sort of scene, but I think it would offend modern sensibilities. I'll give it some more thought once I wrap up the main route.

-Mortish

[likeiknoworsmthin]

HC, Bruce is in an On/off (if we're on the same geography location) relationship with Selina and Khoa (each independent from the other) and they're free to pursue other people in the meanwhile, so the bat kids are just wanting to hook up Bruce with Clark and Diana to get ride of Khoa towards the years

Dick "I'm fine with the multiple partners cycle and the on/off relationships, all cool, but I draw the line at fuckin Minhkhoa Khan." Grayson.

Dick (12yo): Supes would be a good boyfriend? don't you think? So nice and gentle, so much better than that bet-asshole.

Bruce: Lenguaje. And Clark is already in a relationship, ¿I thought you like Miss Lane?

Dick: Yeah, but she's a girl. He doesn't have any boyfriend, and you could get him, will be fun.

Bruce: *Horrified at what he has done to Dick's concept of relationships* Most people just have one partner at a time like your parent...

Dick "Circus kid": ¡Ja! You should come up with something better, nobody does that, my parents used to kiss other people all the time.

Bruce: *refrains the urge to facepalm. Of course. And of course, thinking about his family, he has no one to use as an example* I'm really not making this up, most people date a person at a time. Besides, I think he's straight.

Dick: *confused* That doesn't even make sense!

Bruce: It means that he does not feel attracted to men. At all. I'm serious, Dick, don't bother him.

Dick: *snorts* Yeah, sure, B. *Wanders off of the bat cave*

A few weeks later, being baby-sat by Clark.

Dick: So... I heard a rumour

Clark: ¿Yeah? ¿Something you want to share?

Dick: Is it true that you only date a person at a time or is just for one of each.

Clark: *FLUSTERED, too flustered to function* ¿Wha-...?

Dick: yeah so you can have a boyfriend ¿Right? Or aunty Lo is in a relationship with Clark, ¿No? So ¿Superman can have a boyfriend? B does that sometimes.

[Clark.exe stop working.]

Later Clark's going to yell at Bruce for what kind of dive he's raising a poor kid in. ¿What the hell is he taught him with all his "playboy" thing? Poor kid will be traumatized...

Jason "My father is a cheater and my mom has to sell herself for her dose. ¿What even is monogamy" Todd.

Jay(13): So you like cats? *Just after a very dramatic fight between Diana and Cheetah, while Jason is visiting for the new museum exhibit*

Diana: .... *Utterly confused* Yes, of course.

Jay: Not to rain in your parade, but that cat-lady is too... Unique for you. Don't cha'? Should try the Gotham, flavor, she's classy and include a bonus bat.

Diana: *Holding laughter* I didn't mean it like that.

Jay: Yeah, sure, keep telling ya that. *Stops here, but tries to bouch for Bruce and Selina every chance he has. Diana is too amused.*

Casandra "My parents didn't even teach me how to talk, not even mention what a "normal" relationship is like" Cain.

Cass (15): *Shoves the three of them under a mistletoe in a holiday Wayne gala (It's Bruce's gala, Clark is working and Diana is a guest)* Now, Kiss.

Tim "My parents each have multiple lovers outside marriage" Drake.

Tim (14): *pulls a power point* ¿Have you ever heard the benefits included in date The Bat? Could be a interesting offer for you both. First of all, money will not be a problem anymore....

Clark *fresh out divorced and forced to confront that he is, in fact, NOT straight and his "brotherly love" for his best friends has nothing of brotherly in it"

Diana: *Remember when Jason used to try to pull this out, so she's a little nostalgic and very amused*

Steph "Actually I have a good basis but my dad is an asshole and monogamy never did nothing for my mother" Brown

Steph (15): So, you're kissing with the boss

Clark: No...

Steph: then you should.

Clark: I...

Steph: ¿Why no? You're a cute couple.

Clark: ¡We're not...!!

Steph: c'mon, just a kiss...

Carrie "My parents are monogamous but I don't know them enough to make an affirmation about it" Kelley.

Carrie (16): So, Boss ¿When are you going to stop your stubbornness and admit that you want to eat their faces?

Bruce: That's very crude and I don't.

Carrie: then you want them to eat your face. Tomate tomato.

[pynkhues]

Really interesting point about Louis often minimising his actions and painting himself in better light while telling his tale. The problem is, that a large part of fandom tend to take everything he says at face value without critical thinking. Upon rewatching, I've noticed the disparities between Louis' voiceover and what's actually shown on the screen. The most jarring example would be Louis claiming he was being hunted and the next shot we see is Lestat looking at him with utter adoration lol. It's obvious that there was nth predatory about their courting.

There's one thing i can't stop wondering (and sorry if you talked about this before): in 1.03 Louis tells Daniel that because of his diet his libido was nonexistent and that was the reason why he wasn't having sex with Lestat and let his indulgence with Antoinette happen. However, later he was quiet eager and had no problem getting it up for Jonah. If he barely could hold a book how he was capable of having sex? I believe his libido was lower but he clearly wasn't impotent. Imo, the main reason why he wasn't having sex with Lestat- but did with Jonah- was because he was blaming him for "taking his life" and wanted to punish him by witholding sex and affection. He was also rejecting his vampirism and by extension Lestat.

I also wouldn't be surprised if once he started eating people again he also had sex with some of his victims like he did in S2, he just didn't mention it to Daniel. Apparently feeding flings are common for vampires and i don't think that neither of them would consider it cheating. Basically, I don't agree with the fandom opinion that Louis is more monogamous than Lestat and Armand. I think you're right and they all are sluts haha.

Lestat and Louis' courtship is definitely a good example of Louis framing something in a way that's both technically true yet articulated in a way that paints a less-than-generous picture. Like, I think there is a sort of element of a hunt in the way Lestat doggedly pursues Louis with the intent of getting him fall in love with him, haha, but it's a sort of hunt you'd probably use interchangably with the word chase or pursue. The use of the actual word hunt itself calls to mind a predator and prey in a way the other two don't, which isn't necessarily reflective of the dynamic that's happening on screen, like you said.

The word choice is such a deliberate one, and I think does a really good job of establishing Louis as an unreliable narrator. After all, the very nature of the interview being Louis recounting chapters of his life means that he's endlessly informed by everything that's happened afterwards. In a lot of ways, Louis needs to not just paint the picture that Lestat's a monster, but feel that he's one, because Louis needs to justify his own actions in the wake of that both to Daniel and to himself. He needs Lestat to be a predator so that he gets to be prey, and therefore blameless in all the carnage, because if that's not the case, if it's not their dynamic, then Louis is ultimately accountable too.

But yes! Agreed that the restricted diet / animal blood alone wasn't making Louis impotent - which Jonah is evidence of - although I do think it definitely would've impacted his sex drive. I agree with both your thoughts that it stems from Louis punishing Lestat, both for taking his life and I'd say for cheating on him in the first place, and as a manifestation of this rejection of his vampirism that Lestat is the physical embodiment of.

I'd add to it too that I think the withdrawal wasn't just a punishment and rejection of Lestat, but I think in some ways it was a punishment and rejection of himself too. Louis didn't want to open up their relationship initially, and I think the scene where he asks if he's enough is really telling of the deeper insecurity Louis has in his relationship with Lestat. Louis struggles with his sense of self, and at that point in the series had enormous issues of internal repression and external oppression when it came to both his race and his sexuality.

In a lot of ways, that feels partially aggravated by his relationship with Lestat, because their relationship being interracial adds - especially in that era, but arguably still now - its own degree of social taboo even outside of Louis being gay and Black.

In that sense, Antoinette, and Lestat's relationship with her, feels uniquely built to point out everything that's publicly quote-unquote 'wrong' about his and Lestat's own relationship. She's a woman, he's a man, she's white, he's Black, she's straight, he's gay, and together she and Lestat are a heterosexual, white, socially acceptable couple, while together he and Lestat are a queer, interracial, socially unacceptable couple.

Add to that Antoinette and Lestat having a shared language both in their whiteness and in music, which I talked about here, I think Louis withdrawing in intimacy and affection from Lestat was - on top of being punishing and a rejection - manifested by his own deeply held insecurities around what his and Lestat's relationship is. After all, if Lestat still wants her - if he still wants that - when he's with Louis, what's to say that he won't one day decide that the ease of that is worth more than the struggle of it with Louis?

I can absolutely see that having an impact on Louis' sexuality with Lestat, and I don't think it was coincidental that he's able to consumate with a man he shared his own language and identity with being both Black and gay, instead of with his white, bisexual husband.

[tossawary]

I think one of the keys to non-canon and rarepair relationships for me in fanfiction is that you have to respect the relationships that are already there. Not like in a "you have to do the canon relationships and then break them up first" way, because you can definitely make it so that the canon relationship in question never happened OR was never romantic or sexual if you want. But in a basic characterization issue kind of way.

For example, when I wrote a Shang Qinghua / Yue Qingyuan fic, I was looking at the ways to make that work given the Qijiu and Moshang situations. And I ended up making it so that Qijiu either never had or never fully developed any romantic or sexual feelings in this AU, but they're still inseparable as friends / brothers / platonic soulmates of a kind. You CAN'T write a Yue Qingyuan who doesn't care about Shen Jiu. It's just not on the table in terms of characterization.

(I mean, you could, I suppose, but then it's a case of, "Who the fuck even is this guy anymore? You undid his whole backstory and now he's a completely different person." I do think you can write interesting AU stories focused on character development in which Yue Qingyuan learns to move on after post-canon or in which perhaps Shen Jiu's treatment of Luo Binghe becomes an actual breaking point for their relationship, but even if things somehow get REAL BAD between him and Shen Jiu, I don't really think Yue Qingyuan will ever be able to stop caring completely.)

Likewise, I made it so that Moshang never fell into the master-servant situationship, and ended up as cooperative enemies / distant allies of sorts. But Shang Qinghua still thinks Mobei-Jun is sexy. That's his ideal guy! Airplane Bro still being a little weird about his favorite character is not really negotiable to me, even if he's in love with someone else. He has eyes! He can still look at other men disrespectfully! He just doesn't act on his attraction.

Like, you can totally just sidestep any romantic / sexual feelings and make it so they never existed, in order to pursue your pairing of choice. But you cannot easily deny, in my opinion, the basic fact of a character caring on a basic level about someone important to them. I think it gives weird "you're only allowed to care about your romantic partner / no friends allowed" vibes to just completely cut off all other relationships. There's not a hard line between "love-triangle-fixing polyamory" and "completely isolated from even friendships because maintaining friendships with exes is cheating somehow monogamy" as options here.

[rayveneyed]

continuation of this au

cw: mentions of cheating/infidelity/disloyalty; vague allusions to sex

“so, like, what’s his deal?”

two months into your relationship with sukuna ryomen, you’re personal-assistant-turned-friend carries a bouquet of a hundred red roses into your dressing room. they’re so large that they eclipse her entire top half, and she pants as she sets them down on the table, cursing to herself.

it’s the first night of your mini-tour, your first performance in a good few months, and you don’t bother pretending that the sight of the flowers doesn’t soothe your nerves immediately. there’s a little note attached to the pale-blue cellophane that hugs the flowers; in his chicken-scratch, a love letter. i already know you’ll knock it out of the park. blow their minds, baby.

you read it over and over again, mind flitting between the set list for the night and where you’d been just days earlier — in his home, in his bed, in his arms. he’d sent you off well and truly satisfied, called you almost every day since, and hadn’t missed a single good morning text. and now, this. you fight a swoon.

hair laid — 1940s pin curls — and makeup done (a deep, oxblood red lip, really selling the whole vintage aesthetic), you lift your head to peer at her in the mirror. karmen really would kill you if you got foundation on your neckline — the first dress of the concert is white, glimmering with rhinestones and embroidery, a more virginal jessica rabbit moment. you force yourself to hold your chin up and away from it. “hm?”

“you know.” unscrewing the lid of her water bottle, nina waves it in a vague shape in front of her. “sukuna. ryomen, that is.”

“is there any other?” you joke. she sends you perhaps the most unimpressed look she’s ever bequeathed you with.

“i just never thought he’d be your type,” she continues, casual. “like, real oil and water vibes. i don’t know. but the roses are a nice touch.”

you hum. you’ve known her long enough to not take offence to most of what nina says -- she's wonderfully blunt, and you value that greatly. instead, you pick up your phone and open the camera app, zooming in and out to snap a couple of pictures of your flowers. exposure up, down, up, down -- should you take one at an angle? “oil and water?”

“yeah, i guess." there's a moment of silence, and then: "like — you’re always talking about how you wanna settle down and get married and, like, be loyal to someone, y'know? and he’s just — look, i’m not saying that he’s not loyal to you, i’m just—”

she makes a noise of frustration, and you snort. "he's just, like, a little bit of a whore, right? sorry, i don't mean to be mean -- but has he had a serious relationship in the past 10 years? and all of a sudden he’s talking about you to anyone who will listen — allegedly. allegedly.” she pauses. “how are you taking this so lightly? i'm literally bagging on your man."

finally, you set your phone down, and actually take a second to heed her words.

in truth, you had been extremely cautious when sukuna first showed an interest in you -- sat beside each other at a fashion show, never having met before. you'd be stupid to call it mere coincidence -- nothing in this industry ever really is, and the organisers had definitely gotten the photo op moment they'd hoped for. you're almost 100% sure they hadn't expected for him to stare at you like an idiot, or for you to shoot him your most demure smile, or for the actor to pull out his most casanova-esque moves.

you're not stupid, and what nina says isn't wrong. you're not into hooking up, or one night stands, or being another notch on someone's bedpost -- you weren't before you got famous, and you sure as hell aren't now, when there are cameras around every corner and gossips at every table. and sukuna isn't exactly known for his long-standing relationships or his monogamy -- it's almost like a rite of passage, you think, for a girl to have a shadowy nightclub picture taken with sukuna. if not a shadowy nightclub picture, then a steamy pool shot, or a sensual beach picture, with his hands up her t-shirt and her's down his pants.

despite his general bad-boy appearances in the media, you'd heard that he was quite… kind, if that’s the word. brash, but kind. a little hardheaded, but hard-working, and not too difficult to work with. you've met music video directors that had sung his praises and trusted producers that had called him a good friend. maybe that's why you'd spoken to him when you caught him staring, instead of sending him a smile and continuing on.

"is this your first time at a mugler show?" because it had been yours, and you didn't know what else to say. you wouldn't call yourself shy, but you're certainly not the most adept at small talk -- and you're not ugly, but sukuna is intimidatingly pretty for a man. and the tattoos, and the hair, and those smouldering eyes and long lashes...

"not my first,” he'd replied, seemingly unbothered that he had been caught staring. "y’know, i don't think we've met before."

"no, i don't think we have.”

and yet, there’d been no need for introductions. you were both aware that the other knew who you were.

"you, uh — you doin' somethin' after this?" the question had come out of nowhere -- at least, to you it did. what you didn't know is that he'd been repeating the question to himself from the moment he'd sat down beside you. and while his face didn't betray anything -- his jaw set and his eyes in their usual half-lidded state -- if you'd reached out and placed a palm over his chest, his heartbeat would have rabbitted against your hand.

you had allowed yourself a smile, and tilted your head. of course, his reputation proceeded him — but you were nothing if not a risk taker. maybe that’s why, instead of outright denying his invitation, you said: “i don’t do casual, darling. sorry.”

his eyes had been almost piercing. that wasn’t a no. “who said anything about casual?”

you’d quirked an eyebrow. “really? you want to go steady with me?”

“why not?”

“you don’t even know me.”

“i want to.”

and fuck. it wasn’t the smartest decision in hindsight, leaving the show so openly with him — but you did, arm in arm, and he hadn’t yet broken your trust. perhaps stupid of you, you didn’t believe he would.

“y’know,” you say, snapping out of your memories. you’re back in your dressing room, clutching his card in hand, staring at your reflection. “i don’t know what it is. i don’t know why he suddenly changed his tune. i don’t know why it was with me. and — well, i know he won’t, but if one day he leaves me for some waify scandi model, i’ll know he didn’t really change at all.”

nina nods, slow, like she finally understands. “you’re going in headfirst.”

“yeah, i guess.”

“that shit’s scary.”

“yeah.” you lift the card to your face again, thumb smoothing over where he’d scrawled your name, the little heart where he signed his love. your cheeks feel hot. you know there’s a facetime call waiting for you when you’re back at the hotel, tucked into bed and sleepy. “it’s really not so bad, at the end of the day.”

[postcardsfromheapside]

Lol, friends if you weren't there for the Astarion discourse, I am so happy for you.

People were most often upset over the idea of being poly with Halsin, because they wanted and did project onto Astarion that he is unable to say no to Tav for fear of losing them (not only is he perfectly genuine about having an open relationship, but by Act 3 he is fully capable of saying no, even if he's just being a silly shit about something and doesn't actually mean it). The conversations about how “I would never cheat on him!” (ethical non-monogamy is not cheating) bleeding into “he doesn't actually like sex!” (not really relevant to the ENM, and certainly something we can discuss, but seems like you're upset at the idea HE might want another partner) were ridiculous and turned dramatic.

On a spawnstarion route, there's also a dialogue route in the graveyard scene I think where you can discuss the possibility of things changing (implying your relationship) and he expresses he's no longer scared by the possibility. He would probably be sad if it did, but he no longer feels dependent on anyone, so he's no longer scared of what life has to hold. Y'all when I tell you I saw people lose their minds over this - they didn't want to think about Astarion independent and not needing them, not needing their blood, not needing their magical genitalia, their “love” to make him feel whole. I saw so many posts about how they can never not romance him because how can they leave him lonely, despite the fact that his unromanced spawn conversations in the epilogue is one of the most healing and powerful sequences I've ever been through. He literally fixes himself. He makes himself happy, despite having severe limitations on his living experience. He becomes a *hero*. All on his own. And they can't stand it.

Astarion is the perfect vehicle for folks to lay the fantasy of a codependent relationship over, just as Lucanis is the perfect fantasy for them to “fix” an actually very nice guy who arrives with a “bad boy twin” with whom they can pretend to have a threesome.

I'm not against people working their fantasies or issues out through video games at all, I only get irritated when those things become externalized in the form of racism, misogyny, queerphobia, etc, which we see a lot in how people express their feelings about other characters, or how they frequently pattern their feelings onto the VA's.

If you feel the need to hide a pixel man away from a pixel woman, when both are programmed not to get together if you lock in the relationship with either one, at that point you actually need to get help. But more generally, feeling jealous because someone you are interested in has a life and friends and even crushes outside of “you” is something you should talk about with a qualified professional.

[bynux]

Imagine that board gaming is a very important and valuable interest to you. It's integral to the way you express yourself and share important moments with people you care about.

You meet a partner who's your dream person, but they only want you to play board games with them. It would be a deep breach of trust for them to find out that you've played a game with someone else. You enter the relationship, thinking "I love this person dearly. Board games with other people are something I can give up to keep them around."

Over time, you find a bunch of different two-player games and land on a few that you really enjoy. You start to play those games more often. Chess, checkers, UNO, mancala, reversi, pick your poison. Eventually it becomes a routine.

But there are only so many two-player games, let alone ones you haven't tried already. You start to realize that different people have different play styles that you'll never get to try your hand against. Your attention is drawn to three-, four-, even many-player games that you're missing out on. You're curious about Wingspan, Pandemic, Catan. You want to try games like UNO with more than just one other person and see what effect the Reverse card should actually have. Meanwhile, you and your partner continue to play the same three or four games, only occasionally trying something new. It feels…unsatisfying.

So you ask your partner if maybe you could try playing chess with another friend who you think might pose a challenge and offer a different perspective…and they're hurt by this suggestion. "Is playing with me not enough for you anymore? Am I not enough for you anymore?" You realize they're not going to budge, and you grow frustrated, or even resentful, that such an important part of your life has to be locked down for you if you want to keep this person you love.

A lot of people are perfectly content playing board games with just one person. But out of those who aren't, some resort to playing games with others in secret, especially if losing the relationship will create undue hardship (housing, finances, etc). Others leave their partners, amicably or…otherwise. Others still, arguably MOST, simply consider their need for other board games to be a personal flaw, convince themselves that they're being selfish, and continue to let the resentment grow.

Congratulations, you now understand what monogamy feels like to a non-monogamous/polyamorous person.

[deanbrainrotwritings]

— LIVIN IN YOU

SUMMARY : dean actually loves reading. it should have been obvious what he’d enjoy reading the most. he doesn’t hate all books. he likes fun ones, ones with spice and romance.

PAIRING : dean winchester x fem!reader

CHARACTERS : none

WARNINGS : nsfw(18+), smut, smutty thoughts, fluff, sub!dean, dom!reader

WORD COUNT : 4.9k

A/N : title from a song by radio company. I was doing research on erotic novels for this and Bared to You by Silvia Day was the first book that popped up so I started reading it as research and planned to read only one chapter. It was all I was gonna include but I ended up liking it, and finished it lmaooo X

Dean couldn’t sleep. His bed was too empty, too cold. He moved around trying to find a comfortable position to finally fall asleep in, before he groaned and stared up at the ceiling thinking of what to do to put himself to sleep.

Y/N was out really late with Cas and Jack getting dinner since Cas and Jack went out on a hunt together and succeeded. Dean had just showered and eaten when they came back and Jack was starving so Y/N kissed Dean goodnight and went to take Jack and Cas for a late night dinner.

He chuckled shyly to himself as his brain suggested something. He looked around for his headphones and then searched in his box where he had his porn. Y/N didn’t look inside because she wasn’t interested in it—having him and all that was her reasoning. He hasn’t looked at his porn in years but he still liked collecting it anyway and Y/N didn’t mind that he did.

He finally found what he was looking for at the bottom of the box, beneath the Busty Asian Beauties magazines he had. He was paranoid and embarrassed about the thought of Y/N finding this out. It was a book he hadn’t read when he first got it. He and Cas had gone to the library years back and he was looking for something to teach Cas about sex while Y/N and Sam stayed back at the Bunker, cooking.

Dean led Cas to the erotic novels sections at the bookstore in town and he started to pick random books for him to read, from LGBTQ+ to heterosexual couples, monogamy to polyamory, BDSM, and more. Even Dean learned a few new things and they made him realise how right Rowena was when she said he was “sheltered”.

Dean sat, cross-legged, in the middle of his bed and kept his sheets on his lap to keep him warm. He plugged his headphones into his phone and let Led Zeppelin play quietly as he tried to focus on the words of the book. He was shy about reading it, so he was barely on chapter six of the book titled Bared to You. It was intense and straight to the point while all at once being a slow burn.

The main character, Eva, reminded him a little of Y/N with her wit and stubbornness, while the love interest, Gideon Cross, reminded him of himself if he were rich and more intense.

He wanted to skip straight to the sex scenes, but since it was surprisingly good, he decided against it. Once he’d started reading it—thinking he’d fall asleep quickly a few days ago, he found himself enthralled and captivated page after page as if he hadn’t had much more intense and creative sex with Y/N at least every night and morning.

He enjoyed the book more by imagining it was him and Y/N as Gideon and Eva. It could at least explain the blush that flared up his neck to his ears and cheeks, and the way his cock stiffened and swelled inside his black boxers.

He never touched himself, he just kept reading the fucked up relationship between Eva and Gideon, grateful that—as fucked up as he and Y/N were, they didn’t have something as complicated or toxic as them.

He wasn’t very good at talking about his feelings or his troubles, but he got there eventually as he processed events. Y/N didn’t push, she was just there—waiting for him, and never complained. She trusted him and she was kind, which helped to make her trust him. It was easier since she knew how to handle her own emotions despite how powerfully she felt them. So much about her made him feel safe enough to feel whatever he was feeling without being judged, invalidated, or forced to talk about it.

He didn’t always tell her he loved her in the traditional sense—through words, but he hoped—when he kissed her, when he made love to her, when he cooked for her, when he held her hand, when he smiled at her, and everything else he did—that she knew it was his way of saying it when it was too much to say out loud.

The book wasn’t very long and it was occasionally real to him. He sometimes related to Gideon and Eva, to their trauma, the feeling of being undeserving of love, the fear of vulnerability and intimacy, the inadequate feeling self-hate caused, disgust, and using sex as a coping mechanism. Now, when he had sex, it was because of surges of love and lust from how kind and tender Y/N was with him.

He didn’t feel used or objectified by her, he didn’t feel good about himself only during sex. He felt loved, worshipped, beautiful, and worthy with every press of her lips on his freckled skin, with every movement of her hands on his body, with the adoring words whispered into his mouth, against his skin. He felt it outside of the bedroom when she gazed at him lovingly when he talked about anything at all—and there was a special little glint when he gushed about cowboys. He felt it when he ate and caught her looking at him already with warm and amused eyes, when she cooked and fed him, praising him and complimenting him for looking cute as he ate. He felt it when she listened and kept her eyes on him like he was the only one in the room worth looking at, the way she hung on his every word, and how she was kind to him despite all the hurt she’s felt. She was everything. There wasn’t a single moment he’s spent with her where he hasn’t felt it.

So, even though the story did stress him out sometimes, he liked comparing Gideon and Eva to himself and Y/N. It made him feel proud of their relationship and good about himself because Gideon was really frustrating to him—and yes, Dean was aware how he keeps stuff to himself as well. However, he had never inflicted such anguish on Y/N by doing so, and he can’t keep it inside very long when Y/N makes him open up like a flower when it’s kissed by the sunrise. It’s not forced, he’s not pressured, it's just natural that he does so, bending to her tender will.

He already knew, years ago, when he started to love her. But the moment he actually let it take him over was when he was fresh out of hell, when they stood by his car in the cold, outside that barn where they hid Anna from Uriel and Cas. And he knew he was done for when she looked at him like he was everything, even as she confessed to knowing what he’d done in hell, when he realised that it didn’t alter or affect her feelings for him.

His walls were obliterated as if they were hit by a meteor when she kissed him, when she stole his breath for the first time, when she touched him so tenderly. When he felt her naked skin against his for the first time, and she quietly chanted his name over and over when he claimed her inside the backseat of his car. He was devastated by the gentle caress of her touch, by her soft panting breaths as he teased her, by the taste of her, by the way she tasted him. He felt beautiful—like a star after its death—when he was inside her that night for the first time, when he’d made love to her like he’d never loved anyone else.

He’d always known she was the only person he’d truly love after that Djinn made her his girlfriend in the wish-dream many years ago. When he told her he loved her in that dream-state and as he said them, he thought to himself that those words were only for her, he swore to himself that he’d never say them to anyone.

He’d gotten to chapter thirteen in a breeze and he was still invested in the story. There was so much drama going on between the characters and he was blushing—not just from how hot the sex was, but because he was embarrassed that he actually liked the book.

Just as he got to another sex scene he shuddered when he felt a little draught and he jumped when he looked up and saw Y/N standing with the door open. She looked like she’d been caught, she was frozen and blinked at him with confusion and surprise.

Immediately, he closed the book and turned it onto its back to hide the cover, then removed his headphones. She relaxed and smiled softly at him, “I thought you’d be asleep.” She stepped forward, her eyes filled with love as she reached out for his face. He stared up at her with a deep blush on his face, he was anxious to be discovered by her, but he closed his eyes when her fingertips gently brushed across his cheeks.

“Couldn’t sleep without you,” he murmured and opened his eyes, glancing up at her through his thick lashes. Her smile widened slightly and she cupped the side of his jaw, letting him rest his breathtaking face in her soft palm.

“I’m here now,” she whispered. He smiled softly, lifting his hand to hold her wrist and moved it to his mouth so he could kiss her pulse. “Let me get cleaned up, I’ll be right back.” He nodded gently, closing his eyes when she leaned down to kiss his forehead. He leaned into her with a content smile, then offered his lips to her when she pulled away. A single press of her warm mouth on his made his lips tingle, but he let her walk away, and licked his lips as he watched her leave his room. He let himself bask in the aftermath of her tenderness for a few seconds. He just stared at the door she exited from, his eyes drifting away little by little as he bit his lip, deep in thought. Thinking of her—naked, mostly.

Shortly after, he made quick work of hiding his book where it had been and returned his headphones to where they were before as well. He sighed and threw his phone on the wooden bedside table carelessly. He felt a bit of adrenaline at the thought of being discovered and arousal from having been fantasising sexual encounters with Y/N.

Still, he innocently returned to his spot on the bed. He moved beneath the warm sheets of his bed—sitting, and rubbed his eyes when he heard his bedroom door opening again. Y/N was standing there for a while, smiling at the way he rubbed his eyes before she entered. She quietly closed the door behind her and walked towards him, “what were you doing before I interrupted you?”

He stared at the black shirt she wore. It was his Led Zeppelin shirt with a grainy black and white image of a zeppelin and orange coloured words. He smiled at how big it fit her—like a minidress. His adoring, honeydew eyes fell to her bare legs and her blue ankle socks with white clouds, to the grey slippers on her feet.

She climbed onto the bed and he bit his lip, shyly looking at his hands, “listening to music and reading some book about wraiths. It was interesting, so, uh, I couldn’t fall asleep after all,” he lied and she chuckled. She still raised a brow as she inspected his flushed state, and moved the sheets to straddle him, unaware that he was hard. He exhaled shakily when she sat back on his thighs and his hands flexed on her legs as she rested her arms on his shoulders. “How’d it go with Jack and Cas?” He cleared his throat and held her hips, hoping to change the subject even though he only wanted to pull her onto his cock.

“Good,” she murmured, “Jack wanted a burger, milkshake, and some fries.” She smiled down at him, then kissed his lips softly oblivious to the way it only fueled his lust. His eyes fluttered shut and he hummed softly. “Cas was just sitting there all stiff, but he relaxed a little when Jack started to ask questions about how all of the food they served was made.” She cupped his face in both of her hands, feeling his ticklish stubble on her palms and the heat of his blush. “You’re warm, are you okay?”

She sounded concerned and she brushed her lips against his forehead to see if he was sick. He only nodded to reassure her he was fine and captured her lips with his in a needy kiss. He brought her hips forward, finally letting her know what was going on down south. She gasped against his mouth at the friction against her clit and he groaned softly at the sound of it, tightening his grip.

“A book on wraiths made you hard?” She teased breathlessly, her eyes fluttering shut when he kissed the corner of her mouth. Her heart rate picked up with excitement and her skin started to get warm with the rush of blood through her body.

“Shut up,” he murmured, kissing across her jaw, nibbling gently on her jawline. He trailed his opened mouth down her neck, his tongue sliding against her soft skin, tasting her and breathing in the fruity scent mixed with the aroma of flowers in her soft hair. “I was thinking of you,” he told her, his voice deep and husky, it made her pussy quiver.

“What about me?” She whispered, her fingers buried in his short hair. He slowly moved his hands up her back beneath the shirt she wore and brought his mouth up to her lips, but he didn’t kiss her.

“The first time I was inside your tight, hot, wet little cunt,” he growled, taking a moment to see her reaction.

“Dean,” she gasped, her stomach fluttering with excitement. Pleased with her response, he pressed his lips against hers, passionate and thrilled with a newfound confidence. He pulled the shirt up and off her body quickly. Her hands returned to his hair to tug at the short strands, drawing out little grunts from him that went straight to her clit. He didn’t give her much time to catch her breath, instantly returning to her lips once he removed the shirt, not that she needed air as she robbed him of his own oxygen with the depth and passion of her returned kiss.

He gently prodded at the seam of her lips with his tongue and she opened up to him swiftly, a sudden neediness controlling their actions. He could taste chocolate on her tongue when he licked into her mouth, savouring the flavour of the milkshake she must have ordered as his fingers toyed with the hem of her panties. He felt his skin electrify when she moaned at the gentle strokes of his hot tongue.

“I wanna make you come,” he whispered against her lips. He pulled her closer, her breasts squeezed against his broad chest which was covered in a black Henley. The cotton rubbed against her breasts deliciously and made her nipples tighten. He turned her over onto her back with his arms around her waist and he watched her chest rise and fall with each breath she took.

He looked down at her, seeing her shiver now that she wasn’t warmed by his body heat and took a moment to admire as she laid naked beneath him. His eyes drifted away from her pink cheeks to look at her full breasts, down her slightly concaving stomach, and finally her pink underwear. His hands flexed on her thighs, slowly rising to her hip bones where her underwear was resting.

“Take me,” she whispered, reaching over to lift his shirt up off him as well, “however you want,” she told him quietly. He groaned softly at her words, quickly taking his shirt off to do as she clearly wanted him to. She stared up at him with wide eyes that swallowed him whole like beautiful, hungry black holes.

“Whatever you say, angel,” he murmured, looking away from her blushing face fro a few seconds just to remove his boxers. Like him, she’d looked away from his face to watch him strip completely, her little tongue dipping out to moisten her dry lips at the sight of his stiff cock. He looked up at the right moment, caught her quite literally salivating at the sight of his dick leaking at the tip. “Wanna taste?”

That was usually her line, when he’d stare at her glistening folds debating on whether to fuck her already or eat her out. Unlike him, she’d say it bashfully. She’d move his attention away from between her legs because she was just like that sometimes. He adored her to pieces with every fibre in his body.

As she crawled over to him, he sat back on his legs, his hands stretched out behind him as his cock bobbed with excitement. His eyes were on her, right where they belonged, watching her lower herself slightly and very teasingly dipped her tongue into his slit, tonguing away his precum. His breath hitched and his hands fisted the sheets, his hips instinctively moving upwards.

“Yummy,” she said playfully, moving up his body. He stared at her with parted lips, panting as his cock ached for attention, but her hands slid up his thighs and stayed there.

“Please,” he moaned impatiently. She blinked at him once, a little smile on her face making her even more irresistible. She shifted slightly, but his eyes were glued on her as she slowly trailed her fingertips up his cock. She became flustered and averted her gaze to his lips, leaning forward just a bit when he became a little too intense to stare at. Dean felt his lips tingle as they brushed against hers, but he let her have control, let her tease him by refusing to just kiss him senseless.

Her touch was teasing, light and slow as she moved her hand up and down at last. Her thumb swiped over the slit, spreading the warm precum that had started to bead out, her mouth watering at the sight. But instead of continuing to tease him, she moved onto his lap, pulled away from his face to guide his cock to her soaked entrance. And just with the sensation of her warmth around the tip, he whined.

The sound made her insides quiver and she cursed under her breath, a little smirk tugging at her lips. His hands clasped her thighs painfully, the tortuous way she slid down the length of him made him roll his hips up impatiently. The breath she took had caught in her chest at how good it felt to be this close to him once again.

Her lips were on his again, at last, swiftly aiding the passion that made her tummy warm, that made his body burn with so much heat he felt like a sun had started to burn inside of him. He loved it. Being loud on purpose. Losing himself in her completely and giving in, letting her take control and please him the way only she knew how to do.

A loud moan slipped past his lips, into her loving mouth when she sat fully on his lap. The way she tightened around him after each sound spurred him on. His hands moved up her sides, grasping tightly at her hips, hoping to mark her skin as he tugged her forward, fervently giving himself pleasure.

“Just wait,” she murmured against his lips, pulling away to push his shoulders until he was lying down on his back. He whined in response, bratty—cutely refusing to stop. His head tipped back, letting his body relax into the bed while he lifted his hips up, his lips parting to vocalise more of his pleasure. “You’re so fucking pretty,” she chuckled breathlessly, staring down at him—utterly enraptured by his impatience and his determination to make himself feel good.

“Need to cum so ba-Fuck!” He screwed his eyes shut when she lifted herself up and roughly slammed back down. She smiled and laughed, slightly amused and then leaned forward to kiss him, his eyes barely starting to open, only to flutter shut again when he got lost in her kiss.

“You’re so fucking desperate, D,” she teased, her lips brushing against his hairline. A whine from him at her words showed her that he liked it and she moaned in response, continuing to ride him as eagerly as he wanted her to.

His eyes were fixated on hers, heavy with lust, pupils dilated with both love and desire. The way she lifted herself with such agility tore more sounds of pleasure from his throat, deep and rumbling groans that came from within his chest and made her smirk smugly at him. It was so hot, it drew so much arousal from her that lifting herself up and down was embarrassingly smooth, the squelching sound of her pussy being filled by his cock echoed around his room and made his moans get louder.

His grip on her hips tightened, blunt nails digging into her flesh, his back arching from how rough she was fucking him, giving him so much pleasure he thought he’d explode. “Fuck, baby, ‘m so close,” he moaned. His mind was hazy, his skin burning hot and sensitive so that even the way she dug her nails into his chest added to his pleasure. He loved being on the bottom, more than he’d like to admit.

“I could cum just listening to you, Dean,” she panted, leaning over him slightly, one of her hands clutching the pillow his head rested on. She changed the angle of her hips, her clit rubbing against his pelvis, her other hand slid up his chest, wrapping around his throat and squeezing gently.

“Shit,” he gasped, his hips bucking upwards.

“You’re so kinky,” she chuckled, “how about you just cum already, D?” She clenched around him, a gasp slipping past his lips. He shook his head, his teeth digging into his plump bottom lip to hold back another moan, his stomach tightening as he tried holding back his orgasm. “Fine,” she chuckled, grinding down on him to stimulate her clit until he was whining, bringing herself closer to the edge as he squirmed beneath her.

“Oh… fuck,” he moaned loudly, his orgasm washing over him before he could even stop it. An arousing look contorted his face as he came, quick curses and whispers of her name puffing past his parted lips that left his mouth and lips dry, making him look so beautiful.

“That’s right, D,” she chuckled, biting her lip to muffle a moan when she felt the warmth of his cum inside her. She started to lift herself up and down again, hard and fast until she reached her own orgasm, her velvety walls squeezing him tightly, and he took it despite how sensitive he was starting to get.

He let her finish, his fingers bruising the flesh of her hips until she stopped shuddering completely. Her entire body turned to jelly, a little smile growing on her lips, gazing at each other in the slight darkness of his room. Only one lamp allowed him to see the state she was in, flushed and a little sweaty like him.

Her gentle eyes swept over his face, watching neutrally as he sat up tiredly, a languid smile on his face when their breaths became normal again, “I didn’t expect that,” he murmured hoarsely, brushing her hair to the side and kissing her cheek. She relaxed in his arms, placing a little kiss on his lips before resting her cheek on his shoulders.

“Y’know I don’t believe you, right?” She mumbled against his shoulder, smirking when his hands stilled on her back. He recovered quickly, his hands continuing to venture up and down her spine, ignoring the feeling of their cum oozing out of her.

“What do you mean?” he chuckled deeply, “I didn’t plan on us having sex tonight.” He knew he sounded unconvincing, but mostly he knew that she wasn’t talking about that at all.

“What were you reading?” She asked, pulling away to analyse him. He swallowed nervously, licking his dry lips as he thought about what to say, but he still felt dazed from his orgasm that no lie to get himself out of the situation came to his mind to rescue him. “Tell me, if it gets you this worked up, I might have to give it a read,” she teased, lifting herself off him.

“Fuck,” he hissed, smacking her ass when he saw she was purposely lifting herself up slowly. She plopped down next to him, rubbing her thighs together as her pussy continued to throb with. He bit his lip gently and admired her, dragging his hand up her soft and warm thighs to reach between her legs where she was completely soaked. “I’m too embarrassed to tell you,” he chuckled, gently massaging her sensitive clit.

“That’s okay because I already know,” she whispered, moving his hand away from between her legs so she could return to his lap. His lips parted, a look of confusion and embarrassment turned his face red, his lips parting with no words being formed. “I clean your room, D, it’s not just magically without dust all the time.. Plus I’m curious about your porn, okay? Some of those ladies are crazy fine,” she chuckled, kissing him passionately.

He pulled away from the kiss, giving her a dirty look that made her laugh. “I’m going to throw them out if you say that again,” he pouted, his fingers mindlessly caressing her thighs.

“Don’t be jealous of them, you know you're my only girl, Dean,” she teased, burying her fingers into his hair and tugging him forward to give him one of the best kisses of his life. He moaned softly, his hands flexing on her thighs, instinctively bringing her closer so her body was pressed against his. He whined against her mouth, pouting at again. Her teeth dug into his plump lower lip, seductively pulling it before she let it go and smiled down at him.

She snickered when she saw the confused look on his face. “I don’t even know what that means,” he mumbled cutely, tracing a few freckles on her legs. She sighed dramatically and grinned at him, getting up to clean herself with a random hand towel he had in his drawer.

He watched her naked body move itself away from him with another pout on his face, waiting for her to look back at him. She did eventually, smirking and shaking her head. He blushed, becoming a little shy, he turned over onto his side to watch her but also to stop himself from doing things to get her attention.

She turned the water on in the sink and leaned against it to clean herself up, letting him see his work. He held his breath, heat spreading over his face like a fire in the forest, his hands clutching his pillow. His eyes were fixated on her every movement, inspecting the way she spread her folds open to clean herself thoroughly despite the sleepiness that made his eyes heavy.

“Enjoying the show?” She smirked, glancing up at him. His eyes snapped up to her face and he shrugged with a little laugh.

“Always.” She stood normally and walked towards him again, into his soft bed until she was right next to him. The towel was slightly wet, and she folded it to use a clean part on him, carefully taking his soft cock to clean him. He hissed quietly, watching her face at first, and then watching how gentle she was with her hands, reaching down to his balls to clean where their cum and her arousal had dripped down. “Round two?” He whimpered and she smirked, pulling her hands away from his dick.

“As horny as I still am, you need to sleep, baby.” Her shoulders shook with silent laughter and he nodded, a lazy smile growing on his lips. He loved this. She moved out of bed to place the dirty towel somewhere to remind herself to wash it tomorrow, and then to wash her hands before she made her way to his drawers to pick a clean pair of boxers for him and clean panties for herself.

She slipped the Led Zeppelin shirt on again and handed him the Henley he’d been wearing, but he childishly put it on the nightstand, “no, I want easy access in the morning,” he whined, stopping her from taking his boxers to him. She laughed softly, then returned their underwear to the drawer neatly.

“Does that mean I’m the little spoon tonight?” She asked, amused, taking his shirt to fold it neatly and placed it back in place. He nodded, fixing the blanket so she could join him beneath them. “Okay, pretty boy,” she murmured, smiling as she made her way to him beneath the sheets, kissing him softly and mumbling goodnight against his lips before turning around. His arm slung over her waist, a happy smile growing on his lips, snuggling closer to her warm body as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

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[mysterycitrus]

favorite headcanons about roy harper and/or barbara gordon?

my two fave bitchy gingers who have kissed dick grayson on the mouth. i wish they interacted more in canon because babs is a lot like bruce in some ways but with none of the bat baggage and roy is capable of being very annoying to any bat he meets. also, their most notorious appearances in comics are both groundbreaking for different reasons (killing joke + snowbirds) but also portray their ability to overcome hardship and become something so much greater.

my favourite hc vein for roy is his dynamic as an adult with the other titans. one of the persephone sequels is about this cause i think it’s so much fun — especially with garth and wally. in titans99, despite his history of leadership and experience on the team, roy is still very much considered secondary to dick. wally “i picked a favourite child” west explicitly says he doesn’t want roy in a leadership position. roy is a dedicated single father, but garth “sees his kid every other weekend” gives him grief for being a goof. all the titans love each other, would die for each other, but that doesn’t mean they’re an incredibly well adjusted adults. they’re so messy, and i think roy as an emotional rock for them is an under-utilised part of the relationship. roy was the only thing tethering dick to the mortal plane after donna died!! he’s actually quite emotionally intelligent when he wants to be!

same kinda deal with babs — her network is so much more interesting when u divorce her from the cave. she’s so mean, and can be so terrible, but it all comes from a place of such deep caring. i really really want her and vic stone to hang out more because they have so much in common — a total lack of autonomy for something out of their control, then regaining their power through technological connection. it’d be a great narrative about disability! i don’t like when babs gets too entrenched in the titans in favour of ignoring vic’s spot on the team, so this would be a good counter balance

but more than that — i want roy to know that babs and dinah are fucking (engaging in ethical non monogamy) and i want dinah and babs to know that roy knows that they’re fucking (engaging in ethical non monogamy) and i want there to be a series of very awkward brunch dates with dick where everyone talks very loudly at each other and no one makes eye contact

[pendwelling]

hi I had a question about a section of chapter 221 in twsb

When discussing the island of pleasure (where the admiral Emma corleone is) (not too sure about the accuracy of the names from mtl),

they talk about how things like polyandry polygamy are allowed there, and how they allow morally wrong things under the principle of free love.

most importantly, they say that monogamy is deeply rooted among continental people.

however, the history of Riester as a continental nation has the taking of multiple life partners with the practice of the Emperor taking a religious and a political partner.

anyway, I am confused as to why characters we generally align with morally (duhem) refer to things like polygamy (which also implies (i think?) a disapproval within Riester of polyamory as a whole) as morally incorrect with the blatant queer undertones of the main characters, as well as among side characters.

is the author trying to highlight the religious nature of Riester and the specific and at times contradictory nature of their religion or possibly religion in general? Marriage within religion (especially Christianity) is seen primarily a unity of people in god’s eyes. We saw yeseo officiate(?) someone taking a religious partner (I believe, it was a while back) and it was similar in nature, with asking for approval from the god of this world itself to be religious partners, with it giving them the thumbs up or down with the ceremony.

the largest difference with these two is that wasnt romantic in nature. So are the rules that as long as the partners aren’t romantic in nature, then the political/religious partnership is acceptable, and romantic marriage is only acceptable among two people? If these are true, what about her majesty for example? I genuinely cannot tell you whether her, Aurelie, and alexandre were all romantically or platonically involved, which think was on purpose on the author’s part. I believe that only alexandre and frederique were married, but once alexandre died, Aurelie became Cedric’s godmother, but was she as involved as a parental unit in Cedric’s life before alexandre died? Were the three of them raising him together his whole life, or was it mainly frederique and Alexandre until he died and aurelie became more present in Cedric’s life

idk man, is author trying to point out the potential conflict of the mcs’ mix of a queer platonic and (i think?) romantic relationship, especially among the judgemental nobles?

you don’t have to answer all the questions posed here btw!!

I know you probably can’t answer every question here (especially the ones about the authors motivation) I am just curious as to what your thoughts are about this as you are an expert with twsb lore/character, if you don’t feel like answering at all that’s also totally fine lmao okay I’ll stop yapping now

"You don't have to answer all the questions posed here" WHO DO YOU THINK I AM do not underestimate the sheer depths of my insanity over this novel (/J /LHHHH)

(On a more serious note now—) haha I will for sure do my best!!!!! You actually raise some very very interesting questions and that made me quite excited to think about because there are actually quite a bit of different factors to take into account here 👀 (intersectionality, if you will). Thank you for sending your question in 🙇‍♀️ I'll do my best to answer!

I would also like to preface this by warning you (and anyone else who might be reading) that my answer will at times require that I use context from way further into the novel, thus might spoil certain revelations and big mysteries (particularly regarding the nature of QPB and TWSB's religion!!!) In other words,

BIG SPOILER WARNING!! (200+, JUST THE ENTIRE NOVEL AND EVEN ENDING)

I'm not sure if you would have rathered a more spoiler-free answer, so I apologize in advance 😭 Apologies as well for any typos that might possible arise. This took a while to write LMAO

(With that said, we should first start with the world's religion!!!)

The Church of God is a religion practiced mainly in the Divine Kingdom of Venetiaan and the Riester Empire (though more so in the former rather than the latter). A huge aspect of this religion is how it sort of influences the behaviours of its believers, particularly around the main belief that if one lives their life in an interesting/exciting enough way and endures hardships, they will one day obtain the gaze/adoration of God, which is something that the beings of this word (at least, the ones who believe or fear God) will yearn for until the day they die [295]. A sort of greeting that believers even use is actually: "May the Lord be pleased with your life ('주신께서 당신의 생애에 기뻐하시기를.')" Later on as you read, it becomes increasingly obvious that the entity that is "God" would refer to either the author themselves, or the readers (in some ways, it is both). But in the larger case, the one the people of QPB yearn for the attention of actually that of the readers, thus, YOUR gaze—or rather, the ones who would be the target audience for a Romance-Fantasy genre story like "I Quit my Job, then I Became the Princess Bride" (QPB), (and then later on, "When the Third Wheel Strikes Back").

This is where it gets kinda(?) meta. Knowing that QPB is an All-Ages, G-Rated, non-explicit novel targeted primarily toward teenage girls and young women (think, Jung Eunseo), it's only natural that a country outside of the premise of QPB (Corleone) would be free from any expectations of said God(s), and thus, will act outside of the "genre". Therefore, what's being highlighted in an understated way is that a country like the Empire of Riester where the main cast of QPB primarily act will be constricted by the conventions of an R-15/G-Rated RoFan genre—but a place like Corleone can break free from the genre and be a full-on R-19+ and more explicit than it wants.

People openly show intimacy out in the open, gamble and play games on the streets, are more promiscuous(or maybe sexually liberated is the more correct term?) and freely flirt, casually dress sensually, and commit "crimes in the name of free love"—and crimes here refer to how, with Corleone being so open with how they regard love, their going-about with relationships and marriage is different, and could lead to people, say, as they put in 220: "kidnapped, proposed to, or forced into a (arranged) marriage" etc. Though notably, these extreme worries were directed towards Yeseo, whom no one in the party at that time believed would be able to fend off the love-enthusiastic people of Corleone (they pretty much indirectly call Yeseo somewhat of a doormat/someone who innocence/inexperience could easily get him roped into trouble... 😭). And on a grander scale beyond just the main characters, this all somehow manages to be played in a somewhat comedic light haha—even though Corleone is outside of God's gaze, it still has to stick to the overall more lighthearted genre in some way, right? If not QPB's, then TWSB's wkkwkkw (this surrealism/idealism, in some way, also has some meta merit to it, too, actually.)

So while Corleone's atmosphere may seem like a harsh and rowdy place, the culture there is just... how to say. Very enthusiastic and extreme about the idea of "romance". In a sense, it's almost as if, though this is a "land abandoned by God", the importance they place on the theatrics of Romance is interesting when considering how the original setting was a Romance story itself (though a different genre of one). I think I should also highlight how this arc takes influences from the Commedia dell'arte, whose conventional plotlines included themes of sex, love, jealousy, etc (amongst others). As such, the theatrics of Corleone—inspired by elements of Italian culture (like how Riester and Venetiaan have French and Dutch influences respectively)—maybe aren't that surprising. Looking back on the Italian Renaissance, we can note the abundance of works with increasing interest in lewd subjects, attributed in some way to the emerging secularization at the time. Boccaccio’s "The Decameron" is notably a rather anti-clerical, at times erotic, and witty work about different stories involving Love, and in the context of its time (following the emergence of the Black Death in Florence) would therefore be a document of an emerging worldview: a desire to be liberated from the control of the Church and eager to explore the world on its own terms (though, it did get banned by the Church for a while for its explicit nature LMAO)(but recirculated after being revised since it was so popular). Other Italian/Tuscan poets at the time were also finding enjoyment in writing funny, satirical, or even downright insulting poems, many of which also took on sensual subject matter, some more explicit than others. ((Just noticed I'm going on a tangent wkfhjdkd sorry for bringing up what I learnt in my Italian Renaissance class out of the blue haha, but I find that it is interestingly relevant to the portrayal of the Principality of Corleone and its theatrics/sensuality.))

SO CORLEONE. Italian Renaissance, Commedia dell'arte. Romance, Sensuality. Comedy, Theatre. Satire, Anti-clericalism... anti-clericalism within this context can refer to Corleone's rejection from God's gaze. The "genre" and "rating" Corleone is presenting is not what She wishes to see, thus, is "morally incorrect" in QPB's original worldview because it doesnt align with the larger genre expectations.

Anyhow, I had to reread this arc and some others, and from what I can remember and what I've seen in this reread, I don't think Marquis François Duhem ever calls out polygamy as a whole, specifically, for being "morally incorrect"—I'm more so inclined to believe they are referring to the blatant absence of TPO (haha), and the over-the-top actions and behaviours that the freedom and enthusiasm for romance sometimes lead to, but even more specifically, the carefree and spontaneous treatment around love and marriage. I don't believe sensuality is necessarily and solely portrayed in a completely negative/puritanical/critical light in this series (there are different ways sexuality is portrayed throughout the series with different sets of characters), but in this case, I believe it might come off as a bit critical because François is directly affected by personal circumstance: after all, in this same arc, when Admiral Emma Corleone was propositioning for François (and later on Jesse) to become "partners", was not exactly doing so for pure-hearted and genuine romantic reasons, but with the underlying tone and intent of the Admiral bedding them for certain gains, and nothing more. François, of course, doesn't exactly appreciate this kind of attention from the Admiral and is openly guarded while around her, evidently not receptive to the idea of becoming her second spouse (after kicking out the rest—which speaks to how lightly she treated those relations in the first place), and thus kind of projects an additional layer of negativity to this. (And I'm assuming you might? have already read further ahead by now, but François does have some genuine reasons to feel put off by Emma, particularly because of their history, and Emma's implied interest in François stemming from the despair he wore back when the Duhems' parents passed away. I think it's understandable that one would feel apprehensive towards someone who is one-sidedly attracted to your misery haha...)

Of course, outside of these specific circumstances, that isn't to say that people don't frown upon having more than one legal spouse (in Venetiaan, this is especially the case, but Riester too), but there are just multiple different factors involved. I think it's very fair to compare it to real-life Christian morality/belief of one-spouse-only, but of course, those who aren't fervently religious and/or are more open-minded will regard polyamory/gamy in a more welcoming light. In particular, we've seen characters before who've expressed outright opposition to the idea of their spouse having another lover, but this is of course different from polygamy—in Prince Consort Werner, Queen Christanne, and Priest Michael's case, it was not a balanced relationship between three people, but an individual cheating on their legal spouse with someone whom she actually loves (their relationship is quite complicated, but we won't be getting into that now haha, but point is—)

The act of cheating and having more than one lovers is seen as bad, without a doubt, but curiously enough, the people of the Divine Kingdom of Venetiaan actually show quite a positive reaction towards the Queen's relationship with the commoner priest Michael. "The Romance of a Century", I believe it was called, and despite this Leary being a case of infidelity that resulted in a child, why isn't the Queen's infidelity seen as completely negative? Well, it can absolutely go back to religion. Despite Venetiaan being the most religious country in the story, it seems very receptive to their Queen's story, and yet simultaneously it is this very religious fervour that makes it so. After all, the child born from the Queen's extramarital relation was born with golden blond hair and purple eyes symbolic of the Lord's love and divinity, therefore the existence of this child itself can be taken as a blessing from God, Herself.

So, is cheating bad? Yes. We've seen this before with Duke Sarnez who was once caught by his own daughter and her friends while he was intimate with an Imperial attendant in an office. Yet, we also see it with Queen Christanne towards her own legal spouse, but the reaction is different, because of the "blessings from God".

So, is having multiple consenting lovers in an equal-levelled relationship, bad? No. The story does point out that the ruler of Corleone, Lorenzo Corleone, has multiple concubines, but he isn't portrayed in a negative light, either. In fact, he is actually portrayed as a typical person—"an old gentleman" [665] he is actually described as. Courteous and rather kind, both to Yeseo and other known characters such as Aurélie, and actually becomes a great supporting character during the later war. Him having multiple legal wives isn't symbolic of him being a morally bad character, nor do Riesterian character treat him poorly for his cultural differences or marital affairs, either, and it is just that—cultural differences.

So is polygamy/polyamory wrong? No, but, the cultural differences and reservations about marriage/love between different countries will illicit different reactions depending on whom you ask.

Anyway, I hope I'm getting across my thoughts properly haha bc I think I'm sounding like a convoluted mess, but I'd also like to note that there have also canonically been conversations about queer relationships in the story itself—particularly between Princess Cornelisse and her would-be religious partner Isle Roosegaarde, whom Cornelisse promised to make her consort when they're older [670]. In this conversation, Isle remarks that she can't possibly be made Cornelisse's consort because they are both girls, but Cornelisse casually retorts that not even the Royal Family has such conservative and outdated views (which I think is kind of hilarious in retrospect, because it implies in a way that Werner, despite being a horrible person, at the very least doesn't discriminate on people's sexuality to the point where his own daughter is educated with this same view)(of course, unless you're Jesse, which means that everything about you is worthy of Werner's ire LMAO). BUT ANYHOW, point is, historically it seems that more conservative/traditional values have existed at some point, but the current reality is notably much more open-minded. It is fair to say that Monogamy and Polygamy co-existing in Corleone but not in Riester or Venetiaan might have something to do with each country's respective histories, as well as how strongly each nation respectively believes in the main religion (and how it would influence their beliefs). And when you take into account the context of whom the God of this religion is, we can also assume that the typical young QPB RoFan reader would not want an explicit environment where the people (characters) you love would be existing in a setting reminiscent of gritty, sensual harem genre (there is even MORE meta to be said about this, and that involves the "Creator" (writer) or the world, and their intent toward the Gods (readers), but just know that an adult theme is definitely out of the question when it comes to what appropriate subject matter to the target audience, or more specifically, a certain target reader 👀)

Anyway, I bring up historical conservatism and the more-progressive/liberal nature of the TWSB universe because the idea of polyamory in Riester actually, in a funny way, is kind of? accepted...? it really, really just depends on context.

For example, there have been quite a few occasions, actually, of either friends of Cédric, Yeseo, and Christelle (CYC) or the general public themselves, alluding to or actively believing that the three of them are in a romantic relationship. One of these people was actually Marquis François Duhem himself, and he's funnily enough supposedly quite aware of the rumours floating around their relationship and at some point reaches a conclusion along the lines of "wow!!! so the rumours are true, you three really are like that—!" [468] (hahaha I do not think that he has any strong averse opinions on polyamory at all (Emma Corleone bugging him to be her next husband being a whole different case)). And earlier on in the story, we've even seen gossip tabloids who've placed immense interest on CYC's relationship, though this can of course either be interpreted in romantic or platonic lenses haha. Oh, and another notable person who even outright called CYC "lovers" was Jibril Diop, Cédric's 2nd cousin and a later addition to the main cast (more specifically, while talking with Yeseo, Jibril refers to Cédric and Christelle as Yeseo's lovers and asks him if he broke up with them since it's rare to find Yeseo all alone haha) [465]! But either way, it seems the opinion on having multiple lovers depends on a variety of different factors, from personal opinion, to religious beliefs, country, etc etc. Jibril Diop himself is actually someone whose character aligns more with Corleone's values and interests rather than Riester, since he's very free-spirited and loves dating and flirting and hates stuffy clothing, and is well-known in the Riesterian Beau Monde for his social affairs and activities in the different salons in the capital. He's even reportedly dated multiple people at once before, though it's unknown if these were open relationships or otherwise, so I can't really tell you any more than that haha. (If you haven't met him in the story yet, please anticipate his arrival. He's such a great character, I adore him greatly. He's sooooo fun as a new addition to the main cast hehe)

Anyhow, I'm sorry if I haven't given any clear-cut answers so far but rest assured!! It gets even more complicated!!!!!! 🙌🙌

SO!!! Knowing that different countries, cultures, and people regard Monogamy and Polygamy different, where does the Riesterian custom of having a Religious and Political Companion come into play? Well, in the first place, the tradition of choosing these two partners is solely a Riesterian custom, one that is also reserved for the Imperial Family (and collateral lines). A POLITICAL COMPANION to help the Imperial ruler politically, financially, or in any other diplomatic/transactional needs, (typically with a renowned noble family, or even a wealthy and affluent merchant family); and then a RELIGIOUS COMPANION to help guide the future ruler spiritually, an emotional and religious guide. Neither of the two roles are necessarily romantic, and the position as Political Companion does not require love—it is a political match first and foremost, though rulers such as Frédérique and her mother before her, Céline, were lucky in that they were able to marry people who they loved. The marriage is merely a formality so that the ruler could have an adequate spouse who fits all the requirements needed to support the ruler and fulfill the duties required of by a consort. Love is not a requirement, but it is still a legal marriage, thus a degree of respect for the arrangement is still expected.

So, what does that make a Religious Companion?

Religious Companionship via Covenant/Holy Contract Ceremony is special in that it requires the two individuals involved to swear their souls together and have them joined for eternity. This connection is beyond romantic or platonic love—in fact, a lot of the sentiments between the Master of the Covenant and the Patron Saint is very queerplatonic. It is metaphysical, it is something integral to the people involved, it is something only they alone can truly understand. It is hard not to regard the sharing of one's soul with another as not being romantic, as the very nature of the Holy Contract is intimate and requires, in the first place, a deep trust in the other person.

I believe the in-universe romance novel by Benjamin Giradin, "Reason, Emotion, and Divinity" (as the title is translated by the official webtoon team), displays a common trope regarding the complex arrangement of the main character (Heathcliff) who is caught up in a conflict between his Political (Jane) and Religious (Catherine) Companions [78]. It is noteworthy that, although Heathcliff is in a physical marriage to Jane, he is in a spiritual/mental marriage with Catherine and is the one whom his heart lays with. We can see, here, that this is an example of a relationship that is not equally "polygamous"—there is a lack of sincerity on one party's part towards the other, and the "spiritual marriage" is seen in a negative light as it is not fulfilling the role it should be. It's a very dramatic circumstance however and of course, is only one (fictional) example of the extent of the depths that a Religious Companionship might lead to, but we can take another example, too—this time, one from Riester's very history, told to us in Chapter 195:

Basically (recapping for anyone reading who might not know), roughly a thousand years prior to the current timeline, Empress Arianne Riester proposed that the Cardinal Phillipe (who had been her ally in unifying the fractured Empire following Venetiaan departure) become her second companion. Knowing that Arianne was already married at this point and was also not romantically in love with Philippe, the Cardinal rejected her, unwilling to take on a role similar to that of a concubine. But despite this rejection, Philippe did harbour unrequited love for Arianne, and gave in to her sincere proposal, though not without requirements. Philippe gave her tulips and said that even if they were not legally tied to each other, he was still and would still always be her ally, and the Empress wished for his formal companionship that strongly, then it would only be so if the Lord blessed their union and affirmed that it would be okay. The blessing later came in the form of the blossoming of never-before tulips. Since purple was a deeply religious symbol and tulips of that colour had never existed beforehand on the continent, the people took this as a religious sign, thus, a blessing from the Lord Herself. Thus, the two joined together and their union was the start of the tradition of the Religious Companionship in the Riester Empire for generations to come.

Interestingly, it is noted that every single Religious Companion of every Imperial Riesterian ruler to come after Arianne and Philippe, all died single [256]. In a sense, this is truly a marriage no different than a political one, and perhaps even deeper than that. While Philippe genuinely loved Arianne (one-sidedly), not all Religious Companionships are explicitly romantic, either. But again, it is undeniable that the Patron Saint in the Holy Contract is the one who holds the most power—if they do not sincerely wish to form a Covenant, it would not happen. So naturally, all Religious Companions feel strongly about their respective Master of the Covenant, and this intimacy could absolutely stem from love, or result in love.

SO, what can we make of Empress Frédérique's relationship with her Political Companion Alexandre, and her Religious Companion Aurélie?

Just like how the different examples of Political and Religious Companionship that we've seen above are different, Frédérique, Alexandre, and Aurélie (FAA) are also unique in their own way. Frédérique and Aurélie's relationship was the first to form, with Frédérique being the first to "fall for" Aurélie for the clarity of her ether and her sincerity in her tasks as an Imperial Priest. They were childhood friends following this and naturally grew very close, but the one who Frédérique later explicitly romantically falls for was Alexandre Blanquer (notably, she fell for him at first sight, similarly to how she did with Aurélie in the confessional hahaha. Frédérique is really the type of person who knows what she likes and strives to obtain them). FAA are truly special because all three of them managed to form very strong connections, not just with Frédérique, but between Aurélie and Alexandre, as well.

Frédérique and Aurélie note on numerous occasions how much Cédric's growing relationships remind them so much of their own childhoods and younger years back when Alexandre was alive, and it is very clear that they all loved each other. Perhaps this might not be the clear response you'd like from me? but I do not think it matters whether or not their relationship was romantic, sexual, or platonic.

Just the fact that they loved each other immensely, to the point of Aurélie even almost sacrificing her own life if it meant she could trade it for Alexandre's (which ultimately failed, though deteriorated her eye in the process, which is why she wears a monocle) [600]. Aurélie and Alexandre were not physically married, nor did they share souls and emotions like how Frédérique and Aurélie did, but despite this all, they managed to form deeply intertwined bonds despite at surface-level glance Frédérique being the "only link" between them. From the very start, they were all together a 3-person parental unit for Cédric the moment he was born, and Aurélie, though not his blood parent, was pretty much his second mom right from the get-go (in the official webtoon translation, he calls her "Aunt Aurélie") and naturally had been made the godmother since his parents are pretty much her partners, too. They were so close that Cédric's conception dream was actually dreamt by Aurélie—prior to his birth, she dreamt of being visited by a sun who came into her bedroom, before falling asleep together. It was reportedly a very cute dream, and I think it's very indicative of how close these three were for Aurélie to be the one to have the conception dream instead of Cédric's own parents. From the very very very start, they had always co-parented and cared for Cédric, and would have done anything for him. Their relationship is untraditional for the typical two-parent family unit, but they were true in this together right from the start, from every step of the way. During his childhood, Cédric was only awake for very short hours of the day, but whenever he was, Aurélie, without fail, always came and visited him in the mornings to read him stories, just because he liked it, and Frédérique and Alexandre would also join them for whatever small moment of family time they could get, when Cédric wasn't sleeping [600]. They raised, cared for, and loved this boy greatly, you cannot distinguish a difference in their love on the basis of whether they're Cédric's parents or not. They love him because he's their precious child, and that is that.

I like what you mentioned about how you were unable to figure out if their relationship was romantic or platonic, and how you said it was perhaps intentional on the author's part. Sookym never mentions queerplatonicism at all in their work, but the queercoding of this universe by mere virtue of the existence of all the implications brought forth by the lore and magic system itself allows for very queerplatonic/queercoded messages to saturate the work in its entirety—all due to the very nature of TWSB alone. I think QPR is the best way to describe Religious Companionship, and all the other very special and metaphysical bonds that appear between several characters throughout the entire novel. In FAA's case, it is clear that Frédérique loved Alexandre very dearly, and that their marriage was not even a necessarily political one (they practically eloped without the permission of Alexandre's family, and the Blanquers also disowned him when he went through with the marriage, so there was hardly any political gain there, other than Alexandre hinself being a 9th-Grade Mage), but it is EQUALLY CLEAR that Frédérique loves Aurélie, too. You will understand as you continue reading, but there are some incredibly intimate moments between these two that are both emotional AND physical.

The biggest example that comes immediately to mind is right after Frédérique and Aurélie had to be separated for a long time during the Riester-Venetiaan war, upon reuniting, the two of them immediately spent the night together, and the morning after has Frédérique hugging Aurélie around the waist while in bed [850], and the scene is played completely naturally, as if this is a routine that isn't unusual for them and that has probably happened before. Of course, this happened because being apart for too long is literally physically painful for Frédérique, so being physically close to Aurélie and receiving her ether in the most direct way possible would remedy that, but in the first place, if they were not incredibly close, the physical nature of their relationship would not be as crazily intimate—to the point of sharing a bed and being in semi-states of undress, and physically touchy with each other in a scene epitomizing domesticity. They love each other and that's that. They are literal soulmates and partners, and we don't need to know anymore. The love they have for each other is something only they themselves would understand, and the love they had for Alexandre is something that also belongs to them.

With all these different presentations of love, affection, and queerplatonicism between different characters, I do not think there is actually much conflict that CYC themselves would face in becoming partners. Everyone in Riester and in other nations as well understand that the bond that Empress Frédérique and Cardinal Aurélie is integral and important, and there is never any criticism there on Frédérique's intimacy with Aurélie, even when it is well known that Frédérique wildly loved Alexandre. The only issue, in fact, that arises about CYC's potential partnership, was Yeseo (as Jesse), being from Venetiaan, and then later on, was mostly internal doubt and dilemma from Yeseo himself. Outside forces never disapprove of the three of them having any sort of relationship, and whatever criticism they ever face is not because of any romantic conflict or say gender bias (like I said before, homophobia doesn't exist in the widespread view, and if it does, it happened in the past as is now seen as stupid WKJJJK), but because of the requirements that the position of Political Companion and Religious Companion require, respectively. But Christelle Rambouillet and Jung Yeseo are probably the only ones that can fit the requirements of these two symbolic and physical positions the best, with Christelle, even after discarding the ducal Sarnez name, obtaining military achievements and notable contributions to the Empire and becoming the "Star of the Navy", and her incredibly positive public image and reputation as a national hero within the Empire will undoubtedly dissuade any criticisms of her worthiness of being a Political Companion. Yeseo, meanwhile, (again, sorry if you didn't want all these spoilers in this reply 😭) is the renowned Palace Lord of Juliette, the Marquis of Sérénité, an Incarnation of God and an Angel of the Lord, and is His Holiness the Pope, himself.

Yeseo and Christelle become some of THE most accomplished people in the Empire, and anyone who tries to push their sons or daughters into the symbolic roles of Religious and Political Companions for the Crown Prince of the Great Riester Empire, will have to compete with these two reputational behemoths hahaha. At the start of the story, the conflict between CYC's potential Companionship has always been political, with the question of who could possibly fit these roles the best and aid Cédric, once he inherits the throne. Politics and schematics have always been the question here, and you could even say that emotions have very little to do with this decision—in fact, we've seen before that Cédric would have gone with anyone Frédérique and Aurélie would have chosen for him, since that's what it means to be a Crown Prince and fulfill his duties. Of course, that isn't to say that FredAu would want Cédric miserable, but it is clear that politics always take precedence, unless extraordinary circumstances arise enough to the point of being able to discard traditional political moves.

Initially, Christelle de Sarnez was the best candidate for Cédric Political Companion because not only was the Sarnez Family a (now formerly) reputable family and strong supporter of the Empress, but the marriage would also bring with it the Blessing of the Azure Ocean, which Cédric had needed at the time. Of course, this initial setting falls flat, but Ham Ga-in, as Christelle Rambouillet, later makes an enormous name for herself and becomes even more renown that she would have been as a "Duke's daughter".

As for Jesse Venetiaan, while his ether was the more noble and pure, and his divine power was incredibly notable, his biggest flaw in the eyes of Riester-Venetiaan politics was that Jesse was a foreigner from the opposing country. This flaw, however, is immediately rectified once Jung Yeseo separates from the identity of Jesse Venetiaan (and there's a LOT more context, but it'll take way too long to explain) and becomes the "Moon of the Empire", rather than that of the Divine Kingdom. Once it is made known that Yeseo's allegiances and loyalty are clearly with Riester, the political doubt, implications, and hesitation on him being Cédric's potential Religious Partner naturally fades, all most if not all Riesterians are extremely enthusiastic about their potential union (in fact, many characters are often surprised that they haven't already officialized it, or haven't done it earlier LMAO).

In short, it's always politics, politics, politics. Riesterian nobles ultimately don't place much importance about whether or not CYC are romantic, platonic, queerplatonic—what matters in their eyes is always POLITICS and if the candidates for the future Emperor's Companions will be fitting of the roles they will have to play. CYC's own feelings are their own and whether or not they, in this Companionship, become romantic or platonic, or remain heavily queerplatonically coded, is their own personal affairs, so long as each of them are able to accomplish their respective duties. Of course, there will always be an interest in the nature of their relationship because gossip and curiosity in any country is unavoidable, especially when it concerns such important people like CYC, but the nature of it, in a political lenses, has little to do with whether or not they are fitting as partners. I personally believe that in any way one can spin it, CYC will still be the perfect pairing regardless, and Cédric choosing candidates that do not understand the depths of his soul is unfathomable to me—Yeseo and Christelle are, quite literally, the only ones (in a meta sense, as well). And on the topic of politics, the question of heirs will also naturally follow, and I am very!!! glad to say that this question gets very masterfully solved by the author haha! I am very content with it and it's a bit humorously in retrospect how it happens, but ultimately was a very smart move that allows for this question to be resolved (without having any of the MCs contradict whatever we might think of them!) and allows for readers to naturally conclude whatever outcome they prefer best after the main story ends! (But if you or anyone reading this is interested in knowing more about the Heir Question, feel free to refer to this post where I go into depth about it!)

Anyway, this response has really gone on for a....... very very long time. It took me a while write this out and make sure I got all my facts right LMAO, but I hope I was able to answer, even if only in some way, your questions and help your curiosity!!! 🥹😭🙌🙌

[jamethinks]

Chapter 111... let's talk about it.

Firstly, that is not Anya's real mother. That is her birth mother. Biological if you want to get technical. While I don't think anyone is going to turn their backs on Yor as Anya's mother, language is still important. Resist the nuclear-monogamy family propaganda. No hate no shade but this is touching on very triggering territory for me and I am weary of what I will have to suffer through. The batfam fandom has been pissing off as it alright. Wrap it up.

Now for the actual chapter

Died 852 Born in like 1950s/1940s. Welcome back Eren Yeager

Theory: Anya's mother was experimented on during the second war (during WW2 we say a lot of unethical practices and experiments going on so who's to say). At some point she would have gotten pregnant (likely not on purpose) and had Anya. Then she would have broken Anya out or something.

Questions: Can Anya's mom read minds? We know Anya can and that the scientists were interested in this ability but also there does not seem to be any interest in finding her. No easter eggs or discussions. Seems rather odd to just let something like go unless you had something more interesting/valuable in your possession ie Anya's mother.

Alternatively, given the nature of the story it is possible nobody gave a rat's ass until. And by nobody I mean Endo. This could be the intro into unraveling the story behind Anya and finally going into the actual mystery of the story. I guess now that they have decided what that mystery is we will look into it. But it would have been nice to have a few easter eggs but have it your way

There is a way this could work. They just thought Anya was dead. Her mom killed her setting her free like a butterfly and stayed with them so her daughter does not have to go through that torture anymore. Granted she didn't actually kill her but that is what she wanted them to believe hence why they never looked for her.

One of Ashe's powers was the ability to make people see illusions. Within the context of the story they are treated a truthful premonitions. If we assume her mother had these abilities then that would make for a lot of interesting possibility regarding Anya's escape. Would also link her to Bond but who cares.

Farfetched theory: she is a clone and that woman is her mother but also not really get freaky with it idk

The existence of an adult telepath does open up an alternative possibility. In one of my fics, Anya's mother is a Russian spy who would use her telepathic abilities to help the country advance in war and such and Anya was created in hope of giving Ostania access to that ability. I think that may be what happened here as well. Anya's mother was used as a tool by the Ostanian government to help sniff out spies and shit. Given the high rates of espionage and distrust, it does seem likely that they would want a telepath in their bank to advance their own war efforts. This could also explain why Donovan may seem like he can read thoughts. He could use her to read the thought of people he suspects or whatever and report back to him. It's a farfetched theory but anything to prove he can't read minds.

Lastly, it seems Melinda's delusions are affecting Twilight a bit. The way he reacted to Yor seemingly reading Anya's mind is interesting. Even though he may not necessarily believe Melinda it does seem like it made him debate his understanding of reality. He's a skeptical man by nature so I think he might just become more observant of the people around him. As if he himself is debating the existence of telepaths and mind readers. This not only puts Anya in awkward position but also Yor. Even if he doesn't devolve into a paranoid man convinced that everyone can read his minds, it will make him question her more and possible bring those early day suspicions of who Yor truly is.

Besides he's also getting close and attached to them. It won't surpise me if in defense he starts making up insane scenarios and explanations to forcibly detach himself from them. One trait he has always shared with Donovan is paranoia and distrust of others. Of course we have seen what that distrust can do to you.

(Side note: Yor immediately clocking his confusion and clarifying for him is so cute. Like she knows her paranoid little man. Granted, it will come to bite her in the ass if he starts to spiral out of control)

[strapped-and-beheaded]

Love interest ranked on how well they'd do polyamory

I think nearly none of these people should even be in any relationships, they should all be in therapy, but I'm ranking them on how many chapters of a fic there has to be before I'm convinced polyam works for them

starting strong with Black wolf, their route is just the pack's route and the pack is just a huge commune polycule, they all fuck you, they all care for your kids, you're their beloved alpha cumbucket, monogamy would be harder actually even.

this is just vibes but I think Robin could do well, you need to tell them what polyamory is tho, but like the lunch event where Sydney kisses you while leaving and Robin kisses you as well? kinda fun and flirty, kinda playful.

I just get good vibes I think Robin would have fun with it if you had a good talk about it and made sure you were all ready. yeah just vibes.

Whitney doesn't know what that is also, they don't care about gay shit like that(ignore that they are gay and have gay sex with you) but if they get multiple sluts that's awasomesauce, they're chilling, they tuned out the rest of the explaination after the part where you get to have awasome threesomes.

they see it as solely a sex thing for a while then one day realisation this is very romantic hits them square in the face and kills them on impact

Alex... ngl all I can think about is Dolya's homestead au. I think if you were dating he plans your futures together as a marrried couble on the farm growing old together with kids so he gets super averse to open relationships or hearing out polyamory, but if you start poly he'd be fine.

I can see him getting two attractive farmhands who are dating and he's trying to be normal about then you offer poly and he's not complaining. or just a ragtag group of 19 year olds working the farm fighting intruders and having to share rooms together at night until it gets really steamy and romantic... yeah homestead au supremacy

pure Sydney not in a million years. corrupt Sydney, very slowly. so many things they gotta unlearn about how they view love and life. if they were the one who had multiple crushes and lead through it I think you can slowburn that shit, harder if you wanted to date someone else.

but like I wouldn't be a Sydney fucker if I didn't wanna slowly queer up this repressed little church boy/girl more and more until they're near unregonizable and happier then they could have imagined. also it's canon my pc and my friends pc and my other friend's pc are all dating sydney and they are all in love and together rn it's canon

mid point honorable mention Avery. the fuck is a polygon or whatever you just said? they're not even actually dating you mono style. take off your clothes, take your money and leave.

Great Hawk does not understand what polyamory is, that is a bird, you're their spouse why do you need other people are they not providing enough support to you? why would they look at anyone else when they have the best spouse in you? they are grumpy because you brough the topic up but can be easily calmed, not changing their opinion tho.

alright you know what it is, Kylar active murder suicide risk. just for bringing it up they'll probably kidnap you. if you end up in a polycule by some miracle that relationship is a ticking time bomb baybeyyy. great if you get off on seeing Kylar suffer and want the risk of murder to spice up your life. which I do.

I got attacked by bees on the way to Eden's cabin once and she kept me in a dog cage for a week for cheating on her before I reloaded an earlier save because cage life got boring. genuine death wish.

[cognitohazardous]

its interesting to watch poly v monogamous discourse proliferate to the point that straight (derogatory) has become monogamous (derogatory). like i saw a post saying "monogamous people must be stopped" with a screenshot about some woman getting a gift from her husband saying "im sorry if you dont feel secure in our relationship my heart is yours" after looking thru his phone and was thinking about how, a few years ago, that wouldve said "the straights need to be stopped".

I saw another post about fears regarding the loyalty of one's partner inherently stemming from biphobia, which i would argue is entirely untrue, though maybe i simply misinterpreted the post because that's quite a bold claim to have gotten >5k notes.

i havent considered the broader topic much and havent actually seen much genuine discussion about monogamy and also i don't concern myself with sexual sociology but it seems that monogamy is becoming shunned as an antiquated/traditionalist relationship structure. My initial reaction is that this feels a bit unfair and pointlessly divisive. I know monogamy is the long-predominant western relationship structure so it's recognized as being tied to heterosexuality, but to diminish gay/bi monogamy is counter-productive when it comes to liberating intimacy. It seems that a lot of poly people view monogamy as inherently possessive and jealous, though that is not true. Of course there is much to be said about monogamous people's misconceptions about polygamy, but that's another soapbox that I am not equipped to stand on.

My view is that monogamy is a very personal preference and oaths of loyalty should be respected as individual choices rather than outright castigated. this comes with combating abusive and possessive relationships and loyalty-related insecurities, though these are not by any means issues intrinsic to monogamy.

This also comes with the normalization of polygamy, though. Both of these are personal preferences that should be readily available to those wanting to pursue them and both of them come with the potential for specific forms of unhealthy relationships.

I think my overall point is that I worry about polygamous people falling into misplaced criticisms which would lead to arbitrary conflict. And again, there is much to be said about the other side of the coin but i'll leave that to someone else so that I can read it. This is not a topic with which I engage much at all but I wanted to think aloud in the hopes that I can learn from any opposing viewpoints presented.

[maedelin]

THIS JUST IN!!!!!

Apparently Rogue's character is "ruined" for being interested in Magneto and for not lovin' Gambit the "right" way while he also has previous love interests and an ex-wife in XTAS *blocks and side-eyes blogs like remylebeaugambit* Makes me embarrassed to be a Remy fan rn.

If so-called Rogue fans are so uncomfortable with legal adult Rogue being attracted to Magneto in various media , maybe they should read a Kitty Pryde comic instead or stick to just watching that (actually pretty good ngl) high school AU that is X-Men: Evolution.

Heck, even Sid the sloth from the Ice Age movies gets less slack for dating the much older Brooke who also got magically de-aged just like Magneto. And nobody's saying that Sid is a victim and Brooke is a groomer because the Ice Age fandom is more normal than Rogneto antis and so-called fans of Rogue and Gambit's characters.

Agreed and well met, Traveler! I loved X-Men: Evolution as well. I'm fine with characters having many ships. I'm fond of calling it an armada. :) And my own personal cry is: Monogamy? In this economy?!

I agree with you: the age discourse is just awful. It's so upsetting to me. It's the most basic, reductive, simplistic argument. You can count the years but you add no value or depth to them.

It's not about Rogue being ruined it is about Rogue being ruined for *them*. Reading literacy and comprehension as well as looking at texts dialectically (at the least) is on the wane. You couple this with a strange "purity of concept" that seems to permeate our media, and we get this issue.

If you like a character, then that character is a statement on *you*, *your integrity*, *your morals*, *your ability* to be right. Therefore Rogue doing something against the perceived norm of the story (a story with low stakes, mind. We're less comfortable living in a state of unknowing even more these days) is not only an insult to Remy, but it is also an insult to them, their viewership, their expectations of the character, and ultimately a reflection of themselves.

We see then the knee-jerk reaction to distance, define, and denigrate. Suddenly, we're as obsessed with purity of character and dictating their "best practice" motives. They have to find a way to explain away the fault. Sometimes it's pushed back on the writers (especially if the writer is female...thinking Rebecca Sugar here and the SU writing pool) but often (especially for female presenting characters) the blame is shifted on a literal thought concept. It's insane!

X-Men is a soap opera with powers. Also, the most important thing to remember in my book is the main core of it: the X-Men are people. Not gods (sorry Krakoan Magneto, still love you, baby) but human beings who wish to coexist with you.

With laser beam eyes.

[not-poignant]

ok so I saw that you dont get many asks about this so i've worked up the courage to finally ask this but for Anton and Flitmouse in TGATNW, have you thought about how it would develop in that universe compared to UTG. Tbh, I was originally actually interested in them bc Flitmouse wants monogamy and has self-worth issues about himself while Anton is confident and has fucked just about everyone and likes it that way. But in UTR that kind of conflict doesnt really work the same way and seems to be heading for a different route. Would Anton have dedicated himself to Flitmouse (like in UTG) or would Flitmouse have grown to be less insecure about it all?

Btw, I love them both lotss, and they were the pairing that got me to read the rest of the UTR series <3

Tbh one of the reasons I stopped writing the story in The Golden Age that Never Was is because I knew it would never have a truly happy ending and I struggle to commit to stories like that.

Like, Flitmouse is mortal, Anton is immortal. Flitmouse is highly jealous, and Anton is immortal literally because every mortal he knows and loves will die and that grief kills him, for decades upon decades. Flitmouse knows Anton's love for him will do this and that Anton will then go on to have sex with lots of other people, and Anton knows that this breaks Flitmouse's heart and refuses to compromise because Flitmouse isn't a golden warrior.

In Underline the Gold they still get to have a happy ending. Because Flitmouse can be jealous or possessive but Anton is committed to him literally through their job. I can touch on an age discrepancy without having one literally live forever.

I do think in All The Loose Threads Flitmouse would have eventually adjusted, but I still think he would have always been a bit bitter and cynical about it in a way that's like... I always imagined his last years alive as an old man being quite painful for him because of it. After a while I was like 'I...can't write these two characters in this specific format because I love them so much and I want them to have a happy ending.'

It was just hard to imagine that without thinking of the weight of Flitmouse's and Anton's knowledge that it would all end in a level of heartbreak for Anton that we can't imagine for ourselves, because we're not immortal.

[lostyesterday]

My top ten favorite B7 scenes

B’Elanna/Seven is my current favorite Star Trek ship, so I wanted to make a list of my personal favorite scenes featuring the two of them in Voyager. These scenes aren’t necessarily good (although I do think some of them are), and they’re not necessarily the scenes that provide the best “evidence” for B7 as a ship (which isn’t something I care about all that much to be honest). These are just the scenes that I personally enjoyed and have thought about the most.

10. Someone to Watch Over Me

This episode is terrible, but given how much I’ve thought about this particular scene, I couldn’t not include it. This is the Voyager scene that most clearly demonstrates how obsessed Seven is with B’Elanna and particularly with her romantic relationships. To me personally, this screams oblivious gay crush taking the form of jealous obsession. Obviously, B’Elanna is right and Seven is stepping way out of line here. This is probably the worst thing Seven ever did to B’Elanna and she’s so justified in being mad about it.

9. Survival Instinct

I really enjoy this scene because it’s an example of both B’Elanna and Seven trying to change the adversarial nature of their relationship. B’Elanna is trying to help Seven here even though she has difficulty with her. Seven immediately regrets her defensive response to B’Elanna’s attempted helpfulness. I think it’s interesting to see how the two of them have fallen into a pattern, responding defensively to each other because they’re used to their dynamic being adversarial, when they both theoretically have the capacity to understand each other better than most other people understand either of them.

8. Infinite Regress

The infamous cheek bite scene. Is this scene good? No, probably not. Has it lived in my head rent free since I originally saw it? Yes, absolutely. Technically, you could call this the only intentionally sexually coded Seven/B’Elanna scene in the show. Mostly, the thing I can’t stop thinking about is the two of them joking about it afterward. B’Elanna jokingly asking if this qualifies as their second date… I will think about that line forever.

7. The Voyager Conspiracy

I love everything about this. Seven immediately calling B’Elanna as soon as she thinks she’s found a problem with the ship’s systems regardless of how early it is in the morning. The tone of B’Elanna’s response implying this probably isn’t the first time this has happened. B’Elanna actually investigating the problem even though she’s rightfully irritated at Seven for being so annoying. I love them.

6. Course: Oblivion

It’s so, so easy to interpret this scene as Seven being jealous of Tom’s relationship with B’Elanna. Me when the person I have a crush on just got married: Monogamy is stupid, and it would make way more sense and be better if everyone (you) would have sex with anyone they want to, whenever (me, right now).

5. Human Error

Ignoring my issues with this episode, it’s so interesting how one of Seven’s major attempts to become “more human” is to try to connect to B’Elanna in this way. I think she chose B’Elanna here because she’s someone Seven genuinely wants to connect with at this point in the series, but she still struggles with how to make that connection. Also, I cannot stop thinking about Seven thinking in detail about how B’Elanna does her hair. Given the rest of the scene, I think it makes sense to say that she didn’t choose this question/compliment/terrible flirtation randomly and has genuinely just admired B’Elanna’s hair a lot. Which sure is something. And of course I love B’Elanna’s confusion here. She can tell Seven’s trying really hard to be nice, which is so not like Seven that she can hardly believe it.

4. Message in a Bottle

I love how these two scenes represent both the adversarial tension between B’Elanna and Seven, and the potential ways they could relate to and understand each other with time. B’Elanna is clearly deeply frustrated with Seven, and yet she still tries to explain to Seven why people (not just B’Elanna) are reacting negatively to her. And B’Elanna can obviously relate to being perceived by others as rude, which makes her statement that she doesn’t expect Seven to change overnight, with the subtext that she understands deeply how difficult this situation is for Seven too, really fascinating. Seven initially appearing to ignore B’Elanna and then later saying thank you to her compliment is also great. Also, B’Elanna’s reaction to Seven shocking that guy is so fun.

3. Extreme Risk

This is a short interaction, but it’s so interesting. Seven initially tries to engage in their ordinary adversarial back and forth, but when B’Elanna doesn’t respond in the typical way, immediately asks if something is wrong. I love that Seven is the first person in the episode to notice that there’s something wrong with B’Elanna. It’s so interesting that Seven seems almost disturbed by the lack of any hostility in B’Elanna’s responses and by B’Elanna immediately putting Seven in charge of something she was going to do. I think that, in a way, Seven has grown comfortable with her adversarial dynamic with B’Elanna because it’s familiar. Maybe B’Elanna has grown comfortable with it to, to a certain extent, and her lack of willingness to engage in the typical verbal sparring of their relationship in this episode comes from the same place as her lack of desire to participate in the normal routines of her other relationships. I guess I’m suggesting here that maybe Seven and B’Elanna are both more important to each other than the show explicitly portrays.

2. Hope and Fear

The iconic “we’ll be outcasts together” scene. This is probably the single scene that best illustrates the parallels between Seven and B’Elanna – how both of them have been treated like outcasts and deep down expect to continue to be outcasts forever. How both of them feel deeply ambivalent about belonging – desiring it desperately and yet pushing away from it because they believe they can never have it. Also, B’Elanna’s defensive excuse that she was “joking” two seconds after she realizes she was accidentally way too vulnerable is so good.

1. Imperfection

Thinking about this scene makes me want to scream incoherently, but I’ll try to summarize my main thoughts concisely and analytically. This is probably the scene where B’Elanna and Seven genuinely connect and relate to each other most strongly. B’Elanna understands better than anyone else in this episode what Seven needs, and Seven trusts B’Elanna of all people to ask these questions to, to be vulnerable with in this way. B’Elanna saying that Seven’s made an impact on every member of the crew is… a lot. B’Elanna truly listening to Seven here and understanding what it is that’s bothering her and saying the exact right thing in response. The whole framing of this scene with the close-up shots on faces, the softness in B’Elanna’s voice. Fuck.