#yes you can send me asks about historical romances

[sometimesrosy]

Do you want to share some titles of your historical romance?

Some of the books I love? Sure. I'll try. I'm not great with names and titles (they start blending together imo), but these historical romances often go in series anyway.

So lets say you saw Bridgerton and loved it and wanted more. Definitely read Julia Quinn. I thought the first season was a good adaptation of The Duke and I, but there was no reason to add that awful sister-love triangle. The book was funnier, more romantic and less soapy. Although the casting is amazing. I like all eight of the books but the third (which they are skipping out of order for some reason) is actually my least favorite. Cinderella story but just a bit boring imo.

My first reintroduction to Historical (I read A Rose in Winter by Kathleen E Woodiwiss as comfort reading when I was a teen. It's old fashioned by our standards) was Lisa Kleypas, particularly the Wallflower series (Devil in Winter is famous [maybe infamous]) The Hathaways, and the Ravenels, which is still going. They all share characters and a universe but the Ravenels is the next generation.

Tessa Dare is more of a romcom vibe and her books tend to be a little lighter. Spindle Cove is about a little resort village full of spinsters, bluestockings and scandalized ladies. (A Week to be Wicked is on everyone's favorite list.) Also Girl Meets Duke and Castles Ever After series. Tessa hasn't put out a book since the quarantine so we're still waiting for the next Girl Meets Duke.

Courtney Milan is also a favorite. She's half Chinese and an ex lawyer and famously shut down the Romance Writers Association for racism the month before the quarantine. She's very active on twitter. I loved the Brother's Sinister (especially Countess Conspiracy and Suffragette Scandal) and... oh look I haven't read the other series but I did read two other books.The Devil Comes Courting, set in China with a Chinese engineer heroine and The Duke Who Didn't, with a half Chinese duke and a Chinese woman living in a little village full of immigrants.

Oh. Right now my historical romance book club is doing a season of Cat Sebastian, who mostly writes queer romances. Not mostly. She writes queer romances. Even her m/f pairings are queer. Bisexual, non binary, asexual, etc. A good portion of them are MLM and some are WLW. One of my favorites so far was Unmasked by the Marquess, where a house maid dresses as her charge's dead brother so she can get her a good marriage and ooops. Falls in love with the pan marquess.

You know. I could literally go on and on with this. So let me just end with some authors. I'll mark if they're on kindle unlimited so you can try them out without $$$)

Lorraine Heath

Elisa Braden (kindle unlimited)

SM LaViolette aka Minerva Spencer (kindle unlimited)

Eloisa James

Beverly Jenkins (Ms. Bev, she writes Black american stories)

Joanna Shupe (she mostly write Gilded Age american stories set in NYC)

Mary Balogh (not quite as spicy, lots of trauma healing, welsh)

Stacy Reid (kindle unlimited and hit or miss for me but I loved her latest The Wolf and the Wildflower [tarzan H+h who dresses as a man to be a psychiatrist it's bonkers]) Stacy is black but her characters are mainly white.

Sarah MacLean

Kerrigan Byrne (kindle unlimited)

I hope that helps. :)

[starglitterz]

THE STARGLITTERZ GALA !

— a milestone event !

one fine day, you receive an embossed letter in the mail. on the envelope, your name is written in grand gilded letters, swooping cursive gleaming gold against the parchment. upon breaking open the teal wax seal, the contents slip out: it's an invitation?!

☆ 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐈𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍 : you are hereby invited to ‘ THE STARGLITTERZ GALA ’ , a monumental masquerade designed for our attendees to find love. for one night and one night only, you shall dance and make merry alongside others on our exclusive guestlist. we pride ourselves on making some of the most historic matches at our soirée, and we eagerly await more blossoming romance this year. do rsvp for a night to remember under the glittering stars – we hope to see you there ♡ 

☆ 𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐌𝐒 𝐓𝐎 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄 : this is a request event to celebrate reaching 5k followers! i will be taking 15 requests in total, one for each of the prompts below on a first-come first-serve basis. do send in the number of the prompt you want + the character, as well as two back-up prompts in case the first one is already claimed. you can also send in any extra details that you wish to be added into the fic, though their inclusion is up to my discretion. ( my inbox can be found here. ) requests will be closed once all the prompts are taken. all the prompts will be set within the fictional event of the starglitterz gala. the pronouns in the prompts below are interchangeable ( as in it could be either the reader or the character in either position ). this event is strictly sfw but may have suggestive content. mutual requests will be prioritised. i will fulfill the requests at my own pace. do feel free to send in an ask if you’re confused about anything. hope you have fun at our soirée ♡

☆ 𝐀 𝐌𝐄𝐒𝐒𝐀𝐆𝐄 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐒𝐒 : tis i, lady quill herself ! HAHAHA okay naur i can’t take myself seriously TT but anyways yes!! thank you all so much for 5k, i say this every time but this blog quite literally would be nowhere without my followers. i appreciate you all sm, thank you for being with me as i developed my writing and hopefully also grew a lot as a person :’) i hope you enjoy this event, i had a lot of fun putting it together :]

☆ 𝐈𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐘

#1 — meet me at midnight : your partner has to find you before the clock ticks twelve in order to kiss you at the stroke of midnight. -> WRIOTHESLEY

#2 — walk but in a garden : strolling through the lush gardens of the mansion, you bump into another attendee who also stepped out for some fresh air. -> NEUVILLETTE

#3 — drunk-dazed : someone’s had a little bit too much to drink and is a lot clingier than they were before. -> CHILDE

#4 — from the start : even with the mask amidst the sea of faces, they’d recognise you anywhere. -> NEUVILLETTE

#5 — slow dancing in the dark : though you may not be the most talented dancer, all eyes are on the two of you as you waltz through the ballroom. -> WRIOTHESLEY

#6 — one kiss : stolen kisses in the grand corridors of the mansion, hidden away from prying eyes. -> LYNEY

#7 — moonlight sunrise : the sky is beautiful tonight, but in their eyes you’ll always be prettier. -> GA MING

#8 — greedy : they want one too many dances with you, and only you, refusing to dance with anyone else. -> KAVEH

#9 — let’s skip to the wedding : love at first sight ends up with a ring on your finger by the end of the night and the promise of your dream wedding to come. -> AYATO

#10 — daydreaming : despite being in an arranged marriage, the two of you have attended this event together in the hopes that it will bring you closer. -> DILUC

#11 — something about you : you’re not really hoping for much at this dinner, but after flirting with almost everyone, it seems like you’ve caught this one person’s eye… -> XIAO

#12 — could this be love? : you’ve never had a relationship before, but you’re pretty sure the butterflies in your stomach as they whirl you across the dance floor is exactly what love is meant to be. -> GA MING

#13 — partners in crime : you and your ‘partner’ decide to crash the ball for no reason, but end up getting swept away by the festivities. -> HEIZOU

#14 — save your tears : when you bump into your ex at the gala, it spells trouble [ at least until a new partner steps in to save the day. ] -> SCARAMOUCHE

#15 — heaven sent : the soiree seems to be a blessing in disguise (not!), for you were able to bump into your greatest enemy and even share a dance. -> SCARAMOUCHE

© starglitterz 2024. do not repost or modify in any way.

[peachdues]

Hiya! For the ask game: 8, 14, 15 (😈), and 40?? Hope you’re doing well and taking time for yourself! Sending love ❤️

Hi my love!! I hope you’re doing well, too! It always makes my day to hear from you 🤍🤍

Putting my answers below the cut — (1) answers include insight into both current and completed fics (and a little tease at compass) and (2) because of potential discourse around realism in smut writing

8. Do you prefer the beginning, middle, or end of a story?

For writing — I definitely prefer an ending because usually, that means I have a good idea of where the story/chapter needs to go! As a reader, I love the middle 🤍 I love making connections and trying to predict what comes next

14. how do you write emotional scenes? Do you ever feel what the characters feel? Do you draw from personal experiences?

LMAOO okay, so most of my emotional scenes are brainstormed in the shower — and I sort of play it out like a movie in my head. I wouldn’t say I feel what the characters feel as I’m writing, but I often base emotions/emotional reactions on real life experiences.

As for drawing on real life experiences — YES. This has a range lmao. On one hand, the entirety of Phantasmagoria is based on different aspects of my life. The emotional toll and grief and experiences of Reader losing her mom is a direct retelling of my own mother’s death. There’s a piece near the end of Part III when Reader is telling Sanemi about the night her mom died, and she describes moving her mom’s hand over her hair again and again because she knew she wouldn’t feel that ever again. I did that the night my mom died. On the other hand, all of the partying and drug abuse was directly lodged from my college experiences — my sophomore year, specifically 😂

Then, you have the other end of the real life influencing art spectrum — in Netherwood, I had the idea to make Reader lose her eye after I got something stuck in my contact 😂

15. How do you write smut scenes? Do you get very visual or detailed? How important is it to be realistic?

Ooooh this is a good one! Most of the time, the smut develops around one very specific scene/image in my head. TMTS developed around Kyo eating Reader out. Compass’s first time smut scene was actually around the mental image I had of Sanemi picking her up and carrying her to her bed.

I think most people would agree that I’m very detailed — I have to rein myself in sometimes lmaooo. I’ve realized with Compass 3, I get quite detailed about Sanemi and Reader making out, so I’ve gotta trim that back aslsmndmdksan. However, I’m of the opinion that not every smut scene needs to be explicit. I think there’s something equally drool-worthy about reading only a couple of sentences that really only imply what’s going on.

I think realism is a really broad concept when writing smut. On one hand, fan fiction is a form of fantasy, and it’s meant for both readers and authors to explore things they probably won’t irl (for example: I will never fuck a werewolf). I think it can be dangerous to start applying real world expectations/morals to smut in general (and fiction as a whole), because that opens a very slippery slope to censorship. Furthermore, romance (and smut) as been a woman-dominated genre, and is a primary way women have been historically able to explore their own sexuality. It’s okay then to exaggerate a bit, in my mind, or maybe to do things that aren’t necessarily possible in real life (like, repeated rounds of sex, cockwarming, etc).

On the other hand, there is a line. No one is hitting the g-spot every single time, cervix fucking is usually very uncomfortable, AND, virginity loss does have some degree of discomfort. For example, a virgin isn’t going to know how to do everything perfectly, and that is where I try to be realistic 😂 at the end of the day, I really try to find a nice balance in smut writing!

40. RE fanart — answered here!

Ask me :)

[hunting-songs]

Name / Alias : Erlenzeisig Are you over 18? : Yes/ No Honey, I was born in the nineteen hundreds – W R I T I N G – Are you selective about who you write with? : No (anyone) /Semi (most people) / Yes (some people) / Highly (few people) / Private (mutuals only).

Are you selective about who you follow? : No (anyone) / Semi (most people) / Yes (some people) / Highly (few people).

If your muse is canon, how much do you adhere to canon? : Not at all / A little / Some / Mostly / Strictly / Not Applicable. Listen, LISTEN- I did NOT STUDIED FUCKING GENERAL KNOWLEDGE TO TEACH IT AT PRIMARY SCHOOL (SPECIFICALLY WITH CHILDREN-EXPERIMENTS TO "SEE SOUND" THROUGH THE VIBRATION, as its one of the topics in the physics area of general knowledge before the subjects diverts into biology, history, and physics at the higher education schools) TO READ ABOUT SENRITSU THAT YOU CAN BLOCK HER HATSU BY COVERING YOUR EARS THATS NOT HOW VIBRATIONS WORK YOU FUCKIN HEATHEN- TOGASHI I HAD BEEN READING YOUR WORK SINCE I WAS THIRTEEN AND YOU BETRAYED ME WITH THIS WHY-!

What post lengths do you write? : One-Liners / Single-Para / Multi-Para / Novella / All of the aforementioned

Do you use icons and/or GIFS? : No / Gifs / Icons / Yes / Sometimes.

Do you write on other platforms? :No / Yes

What level of plots do you write? : Unplotted / Open-Ended Plots / Semi-Plotted / Fully Plotted Epics /All of the aforementioned

How quickly do you usually respond to threads? : Very Slow (more than a month) / Slow (3-4 weeks) / Average (1-2 weeks) / Fast (less than one week) / Very Fast (less than three days)

What types of themes do you like? : Adventure / Romance / Fluff / Angst / Violence / Tragedy / Domestic / Family / All of the aforementioned

What genres do you like? : ( Feel free to add! ) High Fantasy / Supernatural / Science Fiction / Historical / Horror / Comedy / Romantic / Drama / Action / Smut / Adventure / Espionage / Dark / Emotional / All of the aforementioned

Are there any themes you’re uncomfortable writing on your blog? : (Not triggers) No / Yes / Sometimes

Do you have any triggers? How do you request it tagged? : No. But there are young people following this blog, so I will tag properly and will gladly make you a tag if you send me a message.

– S H I P P I N G –

What types of relationships are you open to? : Romantic / Platonic / Familial / All of the aforementioned

What types of pre-established relationships are you open to? : Romantic / Platonic / Familial / All of the aforementioned

Do you have OTPs? : No / Chemistry Only / Yes

Do you have NOTPS? : No/ Yes

What is your muse’s sexual orientation? : Heterosexual / Heteroflexible / Bisexual / Pansexual / Homoflexible / Homosexual / Demisexual / Sapiosexual / Asexual / Still trying to figure it out / Depends on the muse you’re asking

What is your muse’s romantic orientation? : Heteroromantic / Heteroflexible / Biromantic/ Homoflexible / Homoromantic / Panromantic / Demiromantic / Sapioromantic / Aromantic / Still trying to figure it out / Depends on the muse you’re asking

Are you comfortable writing smut? : No / Selectively/ Yes

How early in a relationship do you ship romantically? : Autoship / During plotting / After a couple IC interactions / Several IC interactions / Slow burn / Plot dependent / Never

Are you open to toxic ships? : No / Selectively / Yes / I am not sure

Are you open to problematic ships? : No / Selectively / Yes/ I am not sure

Are you open to polyamory shipping? : No / Selectively/ Yes / I am not sure

Are you an exclusive shipper? :Never / Sometimes / Yes

Does crack shipping ever happen? : Nope / Yes/ depends

[vermillioncourt-if]

FAQ

(will be updated as time goes on)

What is this being written on?

ChoiceScript. I would try Twine, but my other game has a nice steady base on ChoiceScript, and I'd rather not move it over.

Can I make fanfic/art/etc? Can I show you my MC/fanfic/art/etc?

Yes! Please do! I welcome it wholeheartedly!

Do you have a patreon or ko-fi?

No, not as of right now. This will change later.

Is the rating 18+?

Yes. I'd say I believe the minimum age would be 17+, due to sexual content that can be fade to black.

Note: All sex scenes will be fade to black on the public demo. A private demo will be available for patreon or ko-fi donators when we get there which will include the explicit scene option (think ao3) and the "lite" version (think published smut).

How is the story formatted?

It will play out similarly to a dating sim/otome game. There will be 1-2 common starting chapters and then it will branch out into 6 routes for the ROs. All routes will have the same 6 key plot events, but will be different in how they're approached.

How many endings are there?

At least 6?

The endings will scale off of how many main events you succeeded in and the selected RO's relationship towards you. That means if you have a high relationship with your RO but have done poorly with the main events, you can still achieve a good ending.

Are there any poly routes?

Not as of right now. The coding for poly relationships is a bit too complicated for me to do right now. This may change as I get more comfortable with it.

Does MC have to romance someone?

Yes, that's the point of the whole game/story.

What are the characters ethnicities? Are they Chinese?

The world of Nian is heavily inspired by China and the Tang Dynasty, so the characters would be Chinese, but I don't assign real ethnicities onto them.

This isn't historically accurate!

I know. That's why I said it's inspired by China, fantasy period C-Dramas, fantasy period pieces, and romance manhwa/manhua.

How does magic work in this world?

As of right now, I don't have a lore post about magic, so here's a quick breakdown.

Everyone can use magic. Some people have Magic Aptitude, which means they have more ability than most people. Magic is classified into Elemental Type and Class.

Will XYZ be in the story?

Maybe. This is a WIP so it's possible.

How are WLW/MLM/Queer relationships viewed/treated in the story?

They're fine. No one is homophobic.

How are women viewed/treated in the story?

Everything is mostly viewed about the same, as in it's pretty much equal for a majority of people. But a few things have lingered on from tradition (i.e boys inherit over girls, etc).

Help! I can't pronounce the names!

I provide helpful pronunciations for the characters' names on the Side Characters page. There will also be pronunciations listed in the stat page of the game.

How are the names written?

All names are written in the LastName FirstName format.

If I write something like "Consort Huo", it's the equivalent of "Mr Smith". For those who understand, the last names are monosyllabic while the first names are disyllabic.

Does MC have a set name?

MC has a set last name (Nan), but not a first name. You can name your MC whatever you'd like.

I encourage using a disyllabic name, for immersion and the fact that it would be the most "accurate". I provide 3 examples of disyllabic names in the game, but you can ultimately name your MC whatever you want!

Can you help me pick a name?

I certainly can! Just send me a private message (not an ask) with the name of your MC, and I'll find a name similar in meaning or pronunciation. Please be sure to tell me which you want, similar meaning or similar pronunciation.

Does MC have a set personality?

A bit, although it's more traits, as of right now. They will never want the throne, they are a good sibling to their siblings, they enjoy social events, and they are well-educated and a little bit naive from their position.

Does MC have a set appearance?

No. MC's appearance is up to you.

Can MC be trans?

I'm planning on it. There won't be any references made to a transition, though, and it won't affect anything besides the sex scenes. You'll have an option at the first sex scene to set what your MC has.

Will MC become the ruler? Can MC overthrow their father/brother? Can MC hurt *insert person here*?

No. Male MC is 4th in the line of succession and Female MC is 14th in the line of succession. MC loves their family and would do nothing to hurt them. MC will not perpetrate any kind of excessive violence against anyone.

Does MC have magic? Can MC do magic?

As mentioned before, everyone has magic. MC does not have Magic Aptitude, however, so their magic is on a normal level.

[canonicallypolyamrecs]

welcome!

this blog is a side project built from my own frustration at how hard it is to find creative media with canon polyamorous relationships represented. i wanted to create a repository of what i find and consume. this pinned post will serve as a rec list, with links to my reviews as i complete them.

books

Iron Widow by Xiran Jay Zhao | F/M/M

A Novel Arrangement by Arden Powell | F/M/M | review complete!

The Companion by E. E. Ottoman | T4T(4T) F/F/M | review complete!

True Love Bites by Joy Demorra | F/M/M | review complete!

Silver Under Nightfall by Rin Chupeco | NB/F/M

Consort of Fire by Kit Rocha | F/F/M | review complete!

Imperial Radch series by Ann Leckie | polycule of 4 but it's complicated

Books of the Raksura by Martha Wells | F/M/M V + society with normalized polyamory

Honorable Mention: The Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells | several background polyamorous relationship + their families

movies & TV

Professor Marston & the Wonder Women | M/F/F (historical fiction based on Wonder Woman creator/s)

The Expanse | polycule of 6

Black Sails | two V's F/F&M and M/M/F

video games

Hades | F/M/M

When the Night Comes | M/M/player's gender (x2)

Honorable Mention: Boyfriend Dungeon | polyamorous romance options that are acknowledged/supported within game and implied some romance options interact with each other as well.

graphic novels & comics

Muted (webtoon) by Miranda Mundt | F/F/F | review complete!

Love Me to Death by Toonimated | F/M/M | s1 review complete!

podcasts

The Penumbra Pod: Second Citadel | M/M/F

to read/watch/play list

about the reviewer: i'm a 28, white, bi, nonbinary from the u.s. my pronouns are they/them and you can call me A. i have a mfa in creative writing, which might peak through in how i review things. my favorite genres are science fiction, fantasy, romance, and mystery which will bias my reading habits. [credit for profile pic] you may find me writing romance under the penname Willow B. Sullivan.

faq

q: can i send a rec?

a: yes, please! if there are major trigger warnings i'd appreciate them, but they aren't a requirement. my only ask is please don't send anything where pregnancy or incest are a large part of the narrative.

q: can i submit a review?

a: not at the moment, but i may reconsider as i get this more put together.

q: will you cover x media which has a really popular ot3/ot4/etc.?

a: no, though i may do a special edition posts on some of my favorites. probably the biggest debate was Leverage/Leverage: Redemption but sadly at present i don't feel i can count among "canon" (though i will be popping the biggest bottles if it ever does become fully canon). i may rethink the "word of god" type canon later, but for now, that's where i land.

[londonspirit]

Avast ye, Monkey D. Luffy! Our Flag Means Death creator David Jenkins has arrrr-rated words for you and the rest of the One Piece-hunting crew that's headlining Netflix's blockbuster live-action version of the long-running Japanese manga and anime series. "We got there first," Jenkins boasts to Yahoo Entertainment about his own fan-favorite pirate series, now entering its second season on Max. "One Piece is jumping on our bandwagon!"

Before you One Piecers send Jenkins some poisoned Devil Fruit, be aware that he's only joking. "There's room for plenty of pirate shows," the writer says with a smile. "It's funny — I was never into pirate stuff before this series. I was like, 'Only 8-year-olds like pirates!' But now I love it when I see people dressed up as characters from our show. It makes me so happy that it makes people feel cool."

It helps, of course, that Jenkins can lay claim to having two of the coolest contemporary comic minds aboard Our Flag Means Death. Thor: Ragnarok mastermind Taika Waititi is both an executive producer and star of the series, playing legendary 18th century plunderer Edward Teach, aka Blackbeard, while Flight of the Conchords scene-stealer Rhys Darby portrays another famed seafarer Stede Bonnet, aka the Gentleman Pirate. In real life, the duo terrorized the Caribbean for roughly a year until Bonnet met the Grim Reaper at the end of a noose in 1718.

But nothing so grim happens in Our Flag Means Death. Instead, Jenkins's series offers a fractured fairy-tale version of a pirate's life that makes room for plenty of romance... especially between Stede and Edward. It's no accident that the series has become colloquially known as "the gay pirate show" among its passionate fanbase since its March 2022 premiere. That's an identity that Jenkins is proud to embrace.

"To me, it's just a pirate show, but if you want to call it the 'gay pirate show' or 'the pirate rom-com,' I love it," he says. "Whatever you call it, as long as you're celebrating it and it makes you feel seen, then it's such an honor."

As Blackbeard and the Gentleman Pirate set sail to continue their love story in Season 2, we asked Jenkins three questions about overseeing one of the streaming era's most viral hits.

1. Rhys Darby and Taika Waititi aren't gay in real life — did you have any concerns about casting them in the series amid the ongoing debate over straight actors playing gay characters?

It's definitely something we talked about going into the show. I'm not gay, either, but one of the things we discussed was: "What does the writers' room look like?" And "Are we listening to them?" So I have to credit our writer's room, because they are so diverse and they serve us wonderfully.

The Stead and Blackbeard relationship has always been the core of why I wanted to make the show. Historically, it's clear that these guys seem like they were together [as a couple], but the descriptions of it [at the time] made it seem like they were just hanging out. In making the series, we're able to zero in on those little micro-moments of "they're growing closer!" And the chemistry between Taika and Rhys is is really lovely. They've known each for 20 years now, so that chemistry is very real. When you see them playing a scene together, it's excites all of us and it makes us realize, "I want to see these two people fall in love."

Also, we don't know what spectrum of queerness Stead and Blackbeard fall on as characters. Do they see themselves as gay? Does it matter? You'd have to ask Rhys and Taika how they're playing it. But I think one of the values of the show is that it's less about their individual queer identity and more about their love for each other. I think we can tell these stories, because we all know what it feels like to want someone and be wanted back, and allow ourselves to be vulnerable and scared of being rejected. As long as that's at the core of the show, that's what's gratifying.

2. You've said that you have a three-season arc in mind. Do you think you'll get to tell it?

That's way above my pay grade. If Max feels like they'd like us to hang around and would be kind enough to grace us with a third season, that'd be fantastic. And if not, I think we leave Season 2 in a place that people will be happy with. Nobody owes us a third season — the fact that we go to make two of these is a joy. I mean, we got to make two seasons of a weird pirate show where we put on costumes on played on these sets!

But it was clear to me that this story could only be three seasons, and I was shocked that Taika wanted to do it, because I know he's so busy. What was important for me was to present a very emotionally young couple in the first season and what happens to them, followed by a more mature couple in Season 2 who are learning to ask: "Are we a thing? What do we want to be?"

And then the third season would be about what happens when the couple is a little bit older and maybe they try to run a business together. How does that go? How do they keep the relationship together? Seeing stuff like that in a fantasy setting between these two characters would be great, because there's a lot of naturalistic stories you can do in this comedy world. I want to see them hang onto each other as they movie into a different phase of their lives.

3. Our Flag Means Death has one of the most dedicated fanbases around and they're also extremely online. Do you and the writers ever worry that you're giving them what they want a little too much?

Well, we're all fans of the show in the writers' room, too, so there's not much of a difference. It's funny when people call things "fanfic" because it's all just "fic"! If you're sitting there writing pages, it's fic. So it doesn't feel like we're looking at things online and going, "What will the fans like?" We know what we like in the room and if there's a development we can hit on that we're excited about, we all kind of sit up. We like the world that we're building.

In the course of making the show, I've met fans individually and I think the overwhelming thing I've come away with is that when somebody tells you that they now have the language for themselves that they otherwise never would have had, it's such a great feeling. Or they say that they can watch the show with their parents and enjoy it. That's a credit to our non-binary writers and performers that are able to put that on camera in a way that made somebody feel safe. I almost don't know how to respond to it. I mean, the only response is, "Thank you." But there's no greater compliment than that.

[more-than-a-princess]

Hi! Love your sonia characterisation and from your ooc posting, I see your tastes are great~ Can I ask the mun: do you have any recommendations for books or TV series? c:

Hi anon! Thank you so much for your kind words regarding my IC content and OOC ramblings, that's really nice of you to say. I'm happy to recommend some things (I admit I did a 'Stitch laughing maniacally on a pile of wreckage' when I got this ask because anon, I am not sure you know what you have asked to unleash!).

However, I wasn't sure if you were asking for recommendations for books/TV series that have directly inspired my Sonia portrayal, or recommendations of things I enjoy in general. With that in mind, I'm going to be sharing a long list of books, TV series, manga/webtoons, and story-based video games that I just happen to like.

If you're looking for media that has directly inspired my portrayal though, please send another ask and I'd be happy to narrow it down for you!

In order not to keep the dash tidy, everything is under a cut, with notes (some important, some just me making jokes) beside a few of them. I hope you find a new favorite book/series to enjoy!

Books: 

General Notes: For book series where the first book title isn't the series name, I've indicated which book to start with, save for the historical romances because that's easier to find online and there's a lot of them. I hope that helps! Additionally, for all romance series, assume that there is some mention of sexual content in various degrees of description, aka. "spice." Depending on your comfort level of literary sex, I highly recommend checking out each title on https://www.romance.io/ for their spice level rating, at the very least. The site will also show you tropes found in each book as well as reviews.

Contemporary Romance:

The Time-Travelers Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

American Royals series by Katharine McGee

Crazy Rich Asians series by Kevin Kwan (way, way better than the movie! It's a trilogy, followed by China Rich Girlfriend and Rich People Problems. I'd highly recommend this if you are writing a modern wealthy character of East Asian descent. Yes it's romance, humor, and contemporary family drama, but it gives what's apparently a very accurate look at high society)

Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (if you are looking for contemporary romance with plus size heroines, you want to check out Olivia Dade! Also Mary Warren and for young adult romance, Kelsie Stelting)

Modern Royals series by Aven Ellis (start with A Royal Shade of Blue)

The Royal Runaway by Lindsay Emory

The Royal We by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan (and its sequel, The Heir Affair)

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston (this was better than Red, White, and Royal Blue, IMO)

Fantasy Romance:

Throne of Glass series by Sarah J. Maas

A Court of Thorns and Roses series by Sarah J. Maas

Crescent City series by Sarah J. Maas

A note about SJM series: I highly suggest reading TOG or ACOTAR first, with the understanding the first three or so TOG books and the first ACOTAR books have a slower pace and are more about worldbuilding than anything else. Read Crescent City after these two (CC 1 is also a big, long worldbuilding book). You must read ACOTAR to read CC, but you do not need to read TOG to read CC (though you'll miss some of the references/easter eggs!). 

The Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros (Start with Fourth Wing)

The Shepherd King duology by Rachel Gillig (Start with One Dark Window)

The All-Souls Trilogy/series by Deborah Harkness (Start with A Discovery of Witches)

Historical Romance:

Don't Want You Like a Best Friend by Emma Alban

Love by Numbers series by Sarah MacLean (start with Nine Rules to Break While Romancing a Rake. If you finish this series and like her writing, move on to the Bareknuckle Bastards series and the Rules of Scoundrels series)

Spindle Cove series by Tessa Dare (start with A Night to Surrender. If you liked this series, move on to the Castles Ever After series and the Girl Meets Duke series)

pretty much anything by Lisa Kleypas (Bridgerton fans? This is how you get over your hangover/wait between finishing the books and/or Season 3. start with the Wallflowers or the Hathaways series, then move onto the Ravenels and the Bow Street Runners series. This is mostly historically the chronological order with crossover characters between the Wallflowers and Hathaways. Bow Street Runners is chronologically before Wallflowers but it's disappointing if you read it first, trust me!)

everything by Jane Austen. Just everything. 

Series/books I'm in the middle of/currently on my TBR list so I can't recommend them fully yet but I'm actively reading them:

The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black (start with The Cruel Prince)

Letters of Enchantment duology by Rebecca Ross (start with Divine Rivals)

Crowns of Nyaxia series by Carissa Broadbent (Start with The Serpent and the Wings of Night)

Hades x Persephone saga by Scarlett St. Clair (Start with A Touch of Darkness)

The Shadow and Bone trilogy by Leigh Bardugo (and Six of Crows. And everything else: I've yet to dive into Bardugo's series) 

A League of Extraordinary Women series by Evie Dunmore (Start with Bringing Down the Duke)

Royals series by Rachel Hawkins (start with Prince Charming)

Infamous by Lex Croucher

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V.E. Schwab

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Legends & Lattes by Travis Baldree

Deliciously Dark Fairytales series by K.F. Greene (Start with A Ruin of Roses)

TV series:

Downton Abbey (my love for this show runs deep. It changed my life!)

The Gilded Age (Carrie Coon deserves an Emmy for this at some point I s2g)

The Crown (Claire Foy is the best QEII, Elizabeth Debicki is the best Diana, Josh O'Connor is the best Charles)

Gossip Girl (original 2007 series, not the remake)

The Royals (the E! show)

Succession (Come for Brian Cox emotionally and verbally harass his children, stay for Kieran Culkin, Jeremy Strong, Sarah Snook, Matthew MacFayden, Conheads, and a Ludicrously Capacious Bag.)

The White Lotus (Tanya is ICONIC.)

Miss Scarlet and the Duke

Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries (If you like Miss Scarlet, I can almost guarantee you will like Miss Fisher. And vice-versa.)

All Creatures Great and Small (the remake)

Sanditon

Black Mirror

Skins (UK series only)

Sex Education

The IT Crowd (the creator is an ass. The show is eternal.)

The Great

The Sopranos

The Empress

The Fall of the House of Usher

Midnight Mass (arguably the best Flanagan series. Fight me.)

Marie Antoinette (2022 TV series)

Dickinson

Euphoria

Stranger Things

The Tudors

Versailles

Unforgotten

Endeavour (you don't need to have seen Inspector Morse beforehand but it helps contextualize where some of this cast ends up in the future! Endeavour is the best murder mystery show ever written, IMO. Unforgotten is a close contender for second place.)

Outlander

Sherlock

Mad Men

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

American Horror Story (earlier seasons are way better than the later ones)

Gentleman Jack

Ted Lasso

Emily in Paris

Pride and Prejudice (the 1995 miniseries with Colin Firth)

Books and TV (that is, read and watch both!):

Bridgerton (books by Julia Quinn)

Magpie Murders (books by Anthony Horowitz. One of my few book recs that isn't a romance! Horowitz is a wonderful contemporary mystery writer)

Webtoons/manga:

(Because some people prefer manga/webtoons to novels! I have read all of these on MangaKatana. Mostly fantasy romance and contemporary romance, several have been made into J or K-dramas)

Under The Oak Tree

See You In My 19th Life

What's Wrong With Secretary Kim?

Like Wind on a Dry Branch

Marriage of Convenience

Father, I Don't Want to Get Married!

We Are Not Ourselves Today

An Hour of Romance

Innocent (The sole historical drama over here. Every sex and violence trigger warning you can imagine applies to this manga. It is also one of the most beautifully-drawn and intriguing stories I've ever read. Rose of Versailles fans, this is for you: this is your fave but darker.)

Marry My Husband

Video games with excellent storytelling:

(mostly. These are primarily otome games, mystery visual novels, and horror visual novels):

Zero Escape: The Nonary Games (there are three games in this series: 999, Virtue's Last Reward, and Zero Time Dilemma)

AI: The Somnium Files (There are currently two games in this series, AITSF and AITSF: Nirvana Initiative. Zero Escape and Somnium Files are basically required to play after Danganronpa. I said what I said: the storytelling is better)

Code: Realize (The best storytelling of all otome games, hands down. Do not watch the anime: it sucks. The first game is the best and really the only one you need to play. The other two games have okay side stories and are mostly romantic continuations of the first game's routes)

Collar x Malice

Cupid Parasite (mostly for the last two routes, though: if you're using a walkthrough guide. Generally much lighter than your usual otome...save for the last two routes that serve to break you.)

Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (you could watch both seasons of the original anime if you really want to, but the games are better)

Umineko no Naku Koro ni (Note: please keep in mind this was written 10+ years ago in Japan, especially when you get to the Big Reveals in the final game. There are Some Takes that would go over poorly today. Like Code: Realize, do not watch the anime: IT SUCKS.)

Spirit Hunter: Death Mark

Spirit Hunter: NG (You don't technically have to play Death Mark first but it makes one of the endings far more impactful if you do!)

Honorable mentions:

Hakuoki (so many routes, so very long! But if you like Japanese history around this time, you may like this)

Olympia Soiree (good on the more mature content, bad on some of the LIs giving me pause like 'this is not a good romance idea')

Amnesia: Memories (I'm not a fan of the female main character or two of the LIs. At all.)

Piofiore (Similar complaints as Amnesia.)

[tleeaves]

Hi! I’m trying to befriend my favourite mutuals so I’m asking a bunch of questions to get to know you all better

What was/is your favourite subject in school? Were/are you good at it?

What country do you live in? What do you like/dislike about it?

Are you currently writing/planning an original story? If so, what is it about?

What genres of media do you usually consume? What books would you recommend to people?

What is your favourite poison?

what is your favourite method of murder (both to read about and what you would actually use)?

What patterns do you usually notice in the people that you hang out with?

Can I message you?

Hi, darling!! Love these questions, thank you so much for sending them through 🥺 Honoured to be considered a favourite mutual.

My favourite subject was absolutely English. It was my top subject when I graduated as well, and I was definitely good at it. I wasn't always though. I actually had trouble reading as a kid. I didn't even really like reading until I got to around 10 years old. And I had a few rough years in high school where no matter how hard I tried in English classes, I could have sworn two teachers in particular were out to give me a hard time for a couple years (to the point where I was nearly averaging on a D in their classes, whereas all other years I was a straight A student in English, including my final years, so the contrast is still weird to look back on, considering nothing substantial actually changed in my learning between those years).

Australia! I like the environment here, generally, not just in terms of vibes from folk but also nature. I do like that where I am in particular they seem to try and incorporate more greenery into built up areas. I dislike our education system deeply and the fact that geographically we're split off from much of the world.

Yes, I am! Both writing and planning (have done so much planning over the years, vaguely, went to write, and realised I needed an outline, and I'm still finishing that up so I can continue the writing part). It's about the sacrifices we make to protect what we care about, essentially. It's also what I would consider high fantasy (though it's technically a blend between high/historical fantasy and low fantasy). Also, horror and romance elements because it's not my work without a bit of horror and some romance at this point (sue me, this stuff goes hand in hand so well sometimes).

Genres of media: dark fantasy (so not outright horror but also too dark to be purely what you might just call fantasy), historical drama, aaand romance (but it's usually mixed in with something else because I struggle to read straight up romance). Books I recommend people are usually tailored to what I know of their interests. Will usually try to squeeze in something by V.E. Schwab though.

Ooh. Good question. Assuming you're talking about actual poison and not just a drink (drink: mocha) it would have to be mistletoe. It's not suuuper effective in small doses, I know, but hear me out: it's a hemiparasitic plant and there's been debates over whether it can be considered a carnivorous plant because of how it feeds off a host plant (tree). I can't remember whether it was argued that it could have been a passive or active trap, though I guess it doesn't really matter, because in the end it's really not carnivorous at all. Still! Toxic to consume. Vomiting and so on. Possible death etc.

Hmm, favourite method. I love poisonings, actually, because they're interesting to orchestrate in stories and can make for dramatic symptom reveals and realisations (and I've written them before too, but reading is just as fun). And, to be honest, I'm pretty shitty at writing other sorts of death scenes BUT oh you know what goes hard?? A good old fashioned stabbing where Character A leans into it and Character B to whisper one last thing -- usually something that holds a lot of weight. THAT is brilliant. I have one of those planned to write. Really excited for it.

People I hang out with are massive nerds. Okay, more seriously... I don't know. I hang out with a variety of people, because I also have a wide array of interests and so I tend to meld into different groups at a time. That's why I say nerds. I like to be around people who care a lot about Very Specific Things. Oh, well, they're also often neurodivergent, so there's that. I find it difficult to get along with people who are so chill about everything and give off the vibe that they have no personality and or passion.

Absolutely you can message me!!

[thevagabondexpress]

Hi! I’m trying to befriend my favourite mutuals so I’m asking a bunch of questions to get to know you all better

What was/is your favourite subject in school? Were/are you good at it?

What country do you live in? What do you like/dislike about it?

Are you currently writing/planning an original story? If so, what is it about?

What genres of media do you usually consume? What books would you recommend to people?

What is your favourite poison?

what is your favourite method of murder (both to read about and what you would actually use)?

What patterns do you usually notice in the people that you hang out with?

Can I message you?

i. it depends, if you're talking elementary & middle school then english & lit hands down, but in high school it was the natural sciences: earth sciences, biology, ecology. i had great teachers for science in high school and i liked the way we did the classwork so i pulled good grades. the material itself was interesting too (i got to run around in the grass chasing butterflies with a net! we had microscopes!) and it didn't hurt that i had half the football team at least in my class and i somehow managed to get Gangsta Points(tm) with these kids for having lived on the south side of chicago as a little kid, so i managed to be cool for once.

ii. currently i live in the united states. there's so much to hate here; i'll list the one that's been dragging us most lately: privatized healthcare. as for things i like though, living in a corner of the country bordered by cryptid legends to the north (point pleasant's mothman) and west (the kelly-hopkinsville and hellier goblins), and the above-zero-fahrenheit winters, those aren't bad.

iii. i am currently working on some original projects, yes. i have three different main/major ideas but the one i'm focusing on most right now is the savage stars, which is book one of a duology i'm calling crater of grace. it has a series of short stories on ao3 if you want to check it out. it has holly black-inspired urban fantasy elements tucked into a grungy solarpunk space opera setting; i like to describe it as, "imagine if six of crows and star trek had a baby."

iv. i love sci-fi, fantasy, historical, murder mystery, and spicy queer romance. i especially like it when you get two or three or more of those genres combined. i do also love a good gothic horror novel. the books i'll always push at people are shirley jackson's we have always lived in the castle, heidi heilig's the girl from everywhere (as a standalone, the sequel is dead to me), kj charles's a charm of magpies, freya marske's the last binding, and any of anne perry's thomas pitt or william monk mysteries: anne is a classic in the victorian gothic crime novel genre.

v. i like Amanita phalloides, otherwise known as the death cap mushroom, purely because merricat blackwood does too and she is to me what hannibal is to a lot of other people. for legal reasons i do not mean this seriously.

vi. curse. definitely by laying a curse. send the hat man after this dude. literally kill him with the stuff of his own nightmares. but trapping him in a bell tower with the bells as they ring a la the nine tailors wouldn't be bad either.

vii. most of my friends are either queer or nerds or neurodivergent or all of the above. i have a surprising number of friends who are catholic. i do not know nearly enough goths which is a shame.

viii. yes. so long as it's not weirdly sexual or to plot a crime other than piracy, yes.

[cha-melodius]

🤯, ✅, 🧐?

🤯 What's a genre you struggle with as a writer (ex. romance, action, etc.)?

IDK if this counts as a "genre" but anything established relationship. I can write getting together fic after getting together fic, but once they're together—like, solidly together, not 'there's unresolved issues' or 'they don't think the relationship means the same thing'—I kind of lose interest? And that goes for established relationship fluff, along with established relationship drama. I can do it for short fics, but anything longer than probably 3–4k becomes like pulling teeth.s

✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?

I feel like I have so many 'tells', from plot points to turns of phrase, but of course I can't remember the best ones when asked directly. There are certain character tropes that end up in there whether I mean to write them in or not, like Napoleon's fears of being "too much", Illya's struggles with self-control, Gaby and Napoleon having a lovingly-roast-you best friend relationship (it's easier to pick on the TMFU crew because I have so many fics for them, so the patterns are more obvious). I know I write about "silence stretching between" two characters a lot, and characters doing something "in a way [they'd] rather not examine too closely." Relately: a character "trying and failing" to look nonchalant/unaffected/etc. Anyway, I'm sure there are a lot more. (Actually—the people to ask would be all the ones who clocked me immediately in the gift exchange, lol.)

🧐 Do you spend much time researching for your stories?

God, yes. I research all kinds of things. Recently I was researching schedules of film festivals for a fic. Did I need to have real film festivals for them to attend, given that they played no other purpose than a section heading? Clearly not, but I did it anyway. One of the funniest bits of research I did was pouring over actual blueprints of museums in Berlin in order to plan a 'realistic' fictional heist. The most research I ever did for a story was for Love is a Losing Game, and you can tell because of the huge amount of historical notes in the endnotes of that one. I read SO MUCH about chess and chess tournaments in the 60s. Lucky for me there are a lot of chess nerds on the internet and all of those historical games are preserved in online databases, not to mention that all the back issues of Chess Life magazine have been digitized as pdfs. You don't want to KNOW how much time I spent reading Chess Life magazine. I'm amazed I didn't come out of that fic knowing how to play competitive chess.

Thanks for sending these in! (Fic Writer Emoji Asks)

[strelitziareginaee]

MEET THE MUN!

name — Ghost/Ghosty

pronouns — she/her

preferred comms — Discord (Ask for Discord!) and Tumblr IMs

name of muse —

Main Muse: Strelitzia Side Muse: Cinderella

experience in RP — A long time. I've been rping since the Myspace days! Then I bounced around a lot. Left Tumblr for a few years and recently came back.

best experiences — I used to be a part of the Kingdom Hearts community back when Tumblr was really thriving (in the early 2010's), when rping in groups rather than independently was a big thing. I roleplayed Vanitas and made some really awesome friends in that group! We called ourselves the KH Crack Crew, lol. We would all talk every day on Skype! Those were good times and sometimes I still think about all of them. We just sort of drifted apart when we started to explore other fandoms, and yeaaaaa.... I still miss my KHCC squad sometimes, though we're all still friends on Facebook!

pet peeves / dealbreakers — Godmodding. I can't stand it. Even if it's something as small as assuming what my character is going to do next. If you want to have the scene go a certain way, there's a way you can write it and if my character does deviate from your original plan, you can take the story elsewhere. That's what can make rp really fun! The only times I'm willing to let it slide is in drabbles, lol.

My other pet peeve is taking what my character does way too personally outside of character. Like, ya'll know this is fake, right? lmao. At the end of the day, we're just writing our silly little characters in our silly little worlds. If it's ruining your day that badly, please go outside and touch some grass.

muse preference ( fluff, angst, smut ) — So I'm actually a huge sucker for romance plots. Romance, fluff, smut, slice of life. Also omegaverse, hehehe. I'm also a huge historical romance nut (think Bridgerton, lol)!

I've sort of moved on from fandom muses and now focus more on OC's (I really only rp on Discord these days, and 9/10 times it's M/M. I do have a F/F historical romance plot that I adore rn tho). Strelly and Cindy are the first muses I've picked up in years, and started rping on Tumblr again. So sometimes I feel rusty playing an established character I didn't make myself. But I'm trying! 〒▽〒 Anyways, give me that romantic nasty shit!! And make it gay as hell!!

plot or memes — Both! I think it's fun to meme and get into a character's mind that you normally wouldn't get a chance to play out. Or just being silly gooses. But I'm also down for always plotting and making something deep and personal!

long or short replies — Either, or! It depends on the plot, the situation that's happening in the story, or what length my rp partner sends me. I'm pretty good about matching the length of a partner's. Unless I got nothing else to say, then it'll be on the shorter side. Like, if our characters are just chatting and there's no action involved, of course it's going to be short.

best time to write — In the mornings! I do rp replies in between slow periods at work. I work from home, so I can get away with it, lol. Which is why you'll see me online for a good part of the day. It's also when I have the most energy. I'm an early bird and I'm burnt out by the time the evening rolls around. Sometimes I can write in the evenings, but that's very rare. So I try to knock out as much as I can in the mornings.

I'm rarely RARELY available on the weekends. That's when I'm the busiest~

are you like your muse —

I'd say yes. Although I don't have a green thumb like Strelitzia. I can't keep plants alive for the life of me. I have a lot self doubts like her too, and I struggle to make friends since I'm incredibly shy and struggle to connect with others on a personal level. ಥuಥ Me and Strelly be fighting for our lives out here!

Cinderella though, I resonate with her a lot. I grew up in a household where I was the cleaner and cook, and I just... know exactly how she feels, LOL.

tagged by: No one! Stolen from Litoredeem. Tagging: Feel free to steal!

[suzannegabrielle]

about me!

hey!! welcome to my blog. i'm 28 years old and currently writing *drum roll please* my first ever fantasy young adult novel! gah! exciting, i know.

i'm happy to share some stuff about me and my current wip below:

i DEVOUR books. what started with historical fiction when i was younger is now fantasy, sci-fi, crime, romance, thriller, whathaveyou. i love the power of a good story and immersing myself in a different world.

i'm a huge music nerd. i mainly listen to (prog)rock + (symphonic/proggy) metal. think pink floyd, led zeppelin, yes -- but also muse, black sabbath, TOOL and other less well-known bands (any ayreonauts out there??) my guilty pleasure involves violently headbanging to cheesy powermetal in my car

when im not writing im usually binging films & shows (anything really -- right now i'm addicted to the office but if i had to pick a favorite movie it would definitely be lord of the rings)

i get extremely excited talking about one of my (current) obsessions. so if you share anything or -- better yet, have any recommendations you think i love... get ready for a rant ♡

other stuff i love -- in no particular order:

(podcasts about) d&d

my orange cat hannibal

peanut butter(!!!)

here you can read more about my wip:::::

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

To Redeem a Soldier

~ a Loya Cinder Story

‘To Redeem a Soldier’ follows 22-year old Loya Cinder, one of the few Gifted Soldiers in the land Asiri - but if you ask him, cursed is more like it. With the Soldier's Gift he can hurt and even kill with just a touch. Feared and hated by the rest of the community, he makes his living by working for the police, using his Gift to extract valuable information from important suspects. Over the years, he has learned to don a mental armor to hide from their screams.

When he is offered a dangerous job to take down the most criminal family in the town of Sina, he doesn’t hesitate to take it, hoping to redeem himself and his deeds by doing something good. But it requires for him to get close to the eccentric but charming son of the godfather: Elias Veste.

How much can he give away without revealing who he is, and without Elias seeing through the careful armor he has donned? And can he decide his own path and redeem his sins, even though he is a feared Soldier?

~ themes of the book include

☆ family ☆ legacy ☆ expectations ☆ choosing your own path ☆ right and wrong ☆ morally gray heroes ☆ redemption ☆ coming of age

lmk if you're interested so i can send you a little bit of the first chapter!

[jiuwi]

PROLOGUE ; THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING

SYNOPSIS (of chapter): The clock is ticking, your heartbeat is raising. The race to find a suitable husband is extremely urgent and you must marry before the next full moon arises.

GENRE : romance, historical au, contract marriage au

WORD COUNT : 891

WARNINGS : mentions of arranged marriages, slight angst (w/ comfort)

NOTE : aaaaaah first series !! i decided to post this early so that i can focus on the next chapters >:))

TAGLIST : @kazucafe , @iiyumii , @imnikki , @pearlywritings , @hamdehlesmis , @jjgukkiesvrp , @bambambunny , @kalncallily @nejibot , @ping-pongmach1ne, @miulxx, @genshinparty, @zlsluv, @zhonglis-wifey, @dreamyxflurres, @local-mr-frog, @deimmortales99, @luvablkwomanfrominftoinf, @astrxealis, @hamburguer-estragado, @kazu-topia, @lattebabie, @kujuo, @lunaflvms, @haiiiiiiiyaaaa, @nxwxie

(feel free to send an ask or comment if you want to be added to the taglist !!)

SERIES M.LIST | GENERAL NAVI.

prev. — chapter one

God, you never should have come to the breakfast table and hear all that nonsense they’ve been speaking about. The thing you’ve always avoided and dreaded to experience, the very own concept of marriage.

“Y/N, the Second Prince of Fontaine has sent a marriage proposal.” Your father, the king, spoke once you sat down on your chair. “Pardon?” You queried with wide eyes. Did you hear that right? Like a quick flash, you get the gist of what this whole conversation is all about. “He eagerly wishes for your hand in marriage.” You almost drop your fork when you hear your father’s jolly tone. Marriage? To the second prince? No way.

“Surely you must jest, father! I can’t possibly be... oh.” The atmosphere around you suddenly gets chilly and you shrink back down to your chair. Your mother interrupts with a cough and speaks in a calm manner. “Y/N, please, we have done enough for you for the past years. Refused the ideas for early engagements, allowed you to choose your partner as you pleased, and even gave you freedom!” She states the several excuses that they have made just for you to be a happy, young teenager. “Now you’re no longer a child, the least you could do is to accept this proposal, please.” She lowers her head slightly as if begging you to think rationally about your decision.

Unlike the other kingdoms where parents decide and arrange a childhood engagement for their sons and daughters, yours is different. You grew up in a free household. You still needed to attend to your duties as a royal princess, but when it comes to other matters that involved marriage, your parents gave you the freedom to marry out of love and not through a kingdom strife or agreement. They, too, got married that way. That’s why they’ve wholeheartedly supported you whenever you’ve made a decision, only this time you’ve went too far.

Being a lady of marriageable age, you’re obliged to marry sooner or later. But absolutely not to Fontaine’s second prince! You’d absolutely die if you marry him. He is very infamous for his insatiable lust for women and his insane personality, he’s a lecherous jerk who hops from one bed to another; being that man’s wife is an absolute disgrace for you.

You sucked in a breath, looked at your father and pleaded with tightly shut eyes. “One month, father. Please give me a month to think about it.” He lowers his glass and wipes the corners of his lips with a napkin. “Very well.”

Ugh, now what? Make a man magically appear in front of you? If only it works that way, then you would’ve been happily marching off to your father to greet him with exciting news. While you were stuck in pondering about what to do, suddenly, a warm flick touches your cheek and you yelp in surprise. “Earth to Y/N, come on, what’s troubling you?” Koen, your elder brother and heir apparent, comes up from in front of you after finishing his swordsmanship training. Oh right, you were watching him practice.

“Don’t tell me, was it because of earlier?—”

“Yes, brother, thank you for reminding me.” You interrupt him before he can go around saying anything else. You slump against the sturdy trunk of the tree and your brother sighs apologetically, then he takes a seat beside you. “You know, you can always confide in me whenever something is troubling you. I won’t tell mother or father.” He assures you. He could tell by a glance that you’re not so happy by the news. You rarely share anything with him and just keep it to yourself, masking away your sadness by putting up a front. Sometimes he, himself, hates that side of you.

You drag a finger across the mat where you are sitting and speak in a low, quiet tone. “It does bother me. A lot.” The last part sounded like a whisper but it was loud enough for him to hear. He says nothing and instead, he listens to your worries with a calm state of mind. He admits, it hurts to see you this way. You bottled up all these emotions at a young age and seeing you shed a tear as you continue to speak is enough for him to take you in his arms and soothe the aching feeling inside your heart.

Safe to say that when you both got back to the palace, your eyes were puffy and red. The servants’ faces were indescribable really. When you finally finished taking a bath, you saw a pile of letters gathering atop the table. With a turn of your head you ask Jia, your personal maid, why these letters are stacking up like bricks. “Oh? Your Highness, those are letters from prominent families.”

“Really? What for? I don’t recall any special occasion that I have to attend this month.” You reply with a curious hum. “Your Highness, if I may be so bold to add, they are asking for you to be their partner during the upcoming ball.”

An idea flashed through your head and you thank Jia for her incredible wisdom — so you speak. That’s right, you do have a chance in finding your prince charming by attending the royal ball. Let’s hope that things can go fairly well.

© telemi, all rights reserved ! please do not copy, edit, or repost on other writing platforms :))

[kriz-fics]

The Sword’s Legacy

Series Summary: As the heir of your father's lands, you have grown up knowing that one day you must wed to your House's advantage, and there's no better catch than the younger son of the Magister himself. Meanwhile tensions within the king's court are set to come to a head at any moment - it just needs that spark to send everything ablaze. Now in a court more dangerous than the one you entered, you find distraction and joy in the company of the beautiful boy with the beautiful eyes. You can only hope to weather the storm you can sense brewing in the horizon.

Masterlist

Chapter Eight: Fire and Rain

Pairing: Eren Jaeger x Female Reader

Genre: Royalty AU, Historical Fantasy AU, Romance, Politics, Warfare, Eventual Smut (future chapters)

Length: 10.3K

CW: None for this chapter

“Here, I can help you with that.”

Eren stiffens then looks away, feeling his earlier good spirits curdle like sour milk, the lumps of it settling heavily in his stomach. “I don’t need help from the likes of you.”

He does not like the sentiment behind this offer of aid. It tastes too much like condescension for his liking. He has been a squire for six years now and has been rolling cleaning barrels without support ever since he had traded his thin little boy’s arms for ones that have grown strong enough to bear the weight of sand and steel. He does not need any help, least of all from one such as Jean Horseface.

He hears the Kirschtein boy tut irritably, and moments later, the barrel Eren has been rolling on the ward’s rough stone flooring surges forward a foot.

“I said I don’t need help,” Eren snaps, leaning down hard on the keg to stop it moving any further. “Why are you even here? Bedding down for the day? The stables are over there, pick a stall and leave me alone.”

“Gods, you can be such a stubborn jackass! The work will go faster with us two, don’t you want it done as soon as possible?” Jean snarls back, face reddening with rage as he attempts to push the barrel into motion once more.

“What, have you come to gloat, is that the way of it, Kirschtein? Lord it over the reckless, stupid boy who-” Eren breaks off sharply, horrified to feel the hot sting of tears prickling at the corners of his eyes. He blinks them back, furious. I thought I was recovered from that. Apparently, the past day or so he had spent crying in the presence of his friends and master has not truly relieved him of the crippling guilt he still feels about the Lord Commander. Why did I expect anything different? But it is one thing shedding tears in front of those he had and another showing such vulnerability to Jean Kirschtein.

“I’m not here to gloat.” Eren quickly glances at the other boy, not expecting the solemn look on his long, horsey face. Jean stares down at the wooden slats of the barrel underneath his hands. “I think you needed something of that magnitude to give you some perspective. I’ve always thought you brave, envied you for it even- yes, I actually do,” he affirms at Eren’s disbelieving snort, “but I’ve just come to realize how thin the line between bravery and recklessness really is. All those times you did something I thought brave… looking back, I think you really skirted the line most every time. It’s just that there were no consequences to them then.”

Jean shifts a little, as though to straighten up, but seems to think better of it and remains hunched over the barrel. “So, I suppose it’s a lesson for you. A hard one at that. And the cost…”

You paid the price, make it worth the blood you paid.

Blood that isn't even mine. “Why didn’t you tell her?” Eren finds himself asking, as he starts to roll the barrel once more.

Jean frowns a little at him as he pushes along. “Tell who what?”

Eren mutters your name and adds, “Why didn’t you tell her that… it was my fault, the whole mess with the Lord Commander…?” He keeps his eyes fixed on the rolling keg underneath him and listens to the sounds of Sir Levi’s mail tumbling around within the shifting sands in the cask.

Jean hums thoughtfully at that. “It’s not my place to say. She needed to hear it from you and you alone. And something that scandalous coming from me seems too self-serving, what with our… notorious relations.”

Eren huffs out a laugh, despite himself, and there is nothing more said between them as they roll the barrel to the opposite wall and back again. Standing the cask upright proves an easy feat with their joint strength, and Eren pries open its lid, taking out his master’s chainmail hauberk and shaking out the sand that clings to it. He is pleased to see it come out nice and bright, with not a spot of rust in evidence.

Jean moves off then to see to his own mail. Eren glances after the taller boy, silently struggling with himself, before following Jean and proceeding to help him with the barrel. Jean does not remark upon this sudden act of consideration, which suits Eren just fine; the silence is better than any unnecessary and clumsy attempts at conversation.

He takes his leave of the other boy soon after and heads toward the Hall of the Sentinel carrying Sir Levi’s well-cleaned mail, which he has carefully wrapped in oilcloth to preserve it from further rust.

Eren cannot quite believe the encounter he has just had with the Kirschtein boy. It seems to him that five years spent consistently antagonizing each other should not have given room for a conversation such as theirs but there it is. He does not know what to make of the other boy now, nor how he is to deal with him when next they saw each other. But some part of him is starting to entertain the idea that maybe, maybe the horseboy isn’t so bad after all.

The Hall comes into view moments later, and Eren feels a light finger of embarrassment brush over him at the prospect of seeing his master once more, especially considering the circumstances with which they had parted earlier.

The picnic yesterday had helped ease the heavy weight of guilt he had been forced to carry for the better part of a month and had, as Jean said earlier, given him some perspective on the matter. It was as though the dark sentiments festering inside him had all flowed away with his tears, and he had gone to bed a great deal more hopeful than he had ever been the past few weeks.

He immediately sought out his master earlier this day, intending to make amends - long past due - as best he could. He had not counted on bursting into tears and groveling at Sir Levi’s feet. The memory still shames him and puts lead weights around his ankles, yet the way his master dealt with him then - quietly, (dare he say gently) with not a trace of heat or chill in his voice - gives Eren much cause to be reassured. As it is, he will bear any amount of indignity to atone for what he had done. What little pride he has left should be coin enough to pay for this transgression. I can get it back, I will learn from this and come out the better, they’ll see.

Dropping off the hauberk proves less mortifying than he had anticipated. Sir Levi had given him one of those cool, enigmatic looks he does so well and simply said, “Make sure you don’t disarrange anything in that chest,” before returning to his book. Eren leaves his rooms feeling more as if he can be confident in his standing with his master, tempered though the feeling may be.

Finishing all of his day’s duties early leaves him with plenty of time to spare before dinner. He wonders if you have finished with your own tasks, ministerial and royal both. The yen to see you guides his passage to the Rhyzkov apartments.

He feels no trace of the embarrassment he had carried to Sir Levi’s quarters as he makes his way to your rooms. By all rights, he should have; but crying before you was more of a relief than anything else, and you had certainly not shamed him for it, for which he is glad. He still can’t quite believe he had received an embrace, along with another kerchief, for his trouble.

Eren feels himself flush a little at the memory of your warmth and your scent, that sweet and heady fragrance of your essence, apples, and winter roses. For that is what that flowery scent is, he has come to realize. He has always thought the floral notes to your perfume seem familiar somehow and cannot quite place where he had smelled it before. The past season gave him the epiphany and more reason to look upon the flower with renewed fondness.

Yet your warmth and your scent were nothing to your gentleness and the way with which you had handled him then. He had been shocked to his soul when you took him into your arms, and suddenly, there was nothing else but you, only you, only you. He had wanted to melt into your embrace and stay there forevermore, where everything was right in the world and nothing could hurt him. But you had let go, and the moment was gone.

He truly has a deal to be grateful to you for.

Her and Armin.  

Guilt once again gnaws at his insides, and he can almost groan at the very much unwanted feeling. It was hard, living through the past few weeks with it and regret hounding his very being; in that time, he had never felt so trapped inside his own head, wishing for things to have gone differently, wishing he was somebody else, somebody else cooler, calmer, more collected. Speaking to his friends both about everything that had plagued him during the campaign was like drawing poison from a wound and yet… He can still recall the hot, scorching feeling of jealousy that had arisen inside him like a monster from the deep at the sight of his betrothed and his closest friend standing together outside his door, a heavily unpleasant indication that the both of you had been spending plenty if not most of your time with each other the past month, without him in attendance.

The sentiment was only made worse by the sheer devastation he felt about the Lord Commander, and it awoke once more the dormant feeling of personal inadequacy inside him that had been born from that one game of qaxan, that feeling of being behind and beneath his own friends… And worse, some part of him wanted to latch onto that monster instead just to forget his massive bungle. For anger is always, always better than guilt and regret and tears.

Eren sighs to himself glumly, remembering the way the blond boy had flinched back from his glare. Armin doesn’t deserve his rage just because of the doubts he carries about his own person, especially where it concerns his standing with you.

Movement ahead catches his eye, and Eren looks up to see Armin walking down the corridor as though summoned into existence by his thoughts. The other boy, cradling one of his customary massive tomes, seems to not have noticed Eren as he turns to enter an archway that leads to what Eren knows to be one of the palace terraces. He hesitates for half a heartbeat and calls out, “Oi, Armin!”

You can wait; the night is yours both, after all. The desire to make up for yesterday’s unpleasantness overrides all else at the moment, and he is sick unto death of guilt; it is all he seems to be immersed in these days, and he wants to be free of it at last. Begging Armin’s pardon should help, surely.

The boy himself pauses by the archway and turns to look at Eren. “Oh, hey, Eren.” His tone, while friendly, seems wary somehow to Eren’s ears. Or perhaps it is the guilt coloring his senses then. Yesterday had ended with them parting ways on good terms, yet Eren knows he has to address the matter of his… nastiness in some capacity.

Armin lifts (or attempts to, at least) the stone slab that passes for a book up in his arms a little. “I was just looking for a quiet, airy place to read that wasn’t the gardens for a change. Would you like to join me?”

Eren agrees, immensely relieved at this turn of events, and follows the other boy through the archway and down a short staircase to the terrace proper. This particular terrace is one of Eren’s special favorites, for it opens up to its own series of steps that lead down to one of the deepest vaults of the castle, where one can find a massive giant’s skull half-melted onto the ground.

As it stands, this terrace is also one of the more favored spots of his own circle of squires who often frequent it for drink and leisure, mostly in the dead of night. Connie had been seized one night by a sudden curiosity to see where those steps led, and the whole lot of them were treated to a sight that was horrifying yet wondrous to behold.

The giant face was melted and blackened and withered, its preserved, dead flesh redolent of turtle hide, and had covered most of the broken stone floor of the cavernous crypt. Its mouth and jaw had vanished, stretched out onto the ground in long, leathery swathes, leaving only two gaping nostrils that led up to a long bridge of a nose which in turn led to two deep black pits that were once its eyes.

Armin claimed that this is most like to be the giant Klesvar the Keeper, who was the guardian of the ruins of Silvercross Castle, seat of the extinct House Schroder whose line had been ended long before the Reisses first set foot on Lovaya.

Berthold Reiss, the one they call the Great, first Reiss king and architect of the Lovayan Annexation, had fought the giant for the right to claim the old - and famously wealthy - Schroder lands. It had been a battle between giants, the histories say, yet in the end, the stalwart Klesvar proved no match for the other human-like behemoth that was the Titan. Berthold, possessed of the blood of Ancient Eldia, had been his generation’s wielder of the Titan they called the Founder, the first and most powerful of three in the keeping of the three Eldian Houses that had left their motherland seeking sanctuary from the Sundering that they claimed foreknowledge of. Berthold had built his own castle on top of what remained of the Keeper’s skull, that he might be laid to rest in the lands he had protected for so long, a tribute of sorts to an enemy well-fought and respected.

Eren has always thought that a good piece of history and wonders if you have already seen the skull. Perhaps he can show you tonight if you haven’t… something this monumentally historic is something you will surely appreciate.

He and Armin soon reach the bottom of the archway’s steps and emerge into a wide circular terrace. Five wooden benches line the balustrade; at the crest of the terrace’s arc, the balustrade opens up to the steep stone steps that lead to the vault below. Armin chooses the bench next to the one situated on the leftmost side of the terrace and sits down, Eren following suit.

“I’ve chosen a history book today,” Armin starts, opening Chronicles of the Warrior to his marked page. “It details the lives and feats of the most famous knights and military commanders Lovaya has ever seen. Karl Arlert the Kraken, lost his leg to a stray curse when he was younger, became the terror of the seas in his time. Arend Jaeger, the One-Eyed Falcon, who was the best commander of the Swans in the War of the Rivers. They say the Swans’ loss was due in large part to his death, and I’m inclined to agree. Sir Eren Grice, Ironhand, lost his sword hand in the Battle of Rybikhna and continued to serve as Lord Commander of the Royal Guard for another thirty years.”

“All right, I think you’ve made your point,” Eren Jaeger laughs. Warmth seeps inside him, made all the more potent by the darker feelings it replaces. He can see the place where Armin’s perusal comes from and greatly appreciates the effort. It is this more than anything else that further encourages him. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Armin blinks at him, yet there is something almost knowing about the blond boy’s gaze.

Eren hesitates, pondering. “For… any unpleasantness I might have shown you yesterday. I didn’t mean any of it, truly.”

Armin smiles. Any wariness that may have colored his expression vanishes. “I thought it was the guilt about the Lord Commander that fed that sentiment, so I understand.”

For a moment, Eren thinks he will continue but whatever else the other boy has to say did not come. The knowing look on his face seems to take on a new cast. Eren puzzles at it but does not pursue the matter. He turns his attention to Armin’s Chronicles. “Which warrior are you reading about now?”

“Sir Gerald Kirschtein.”

Eren almost laughs at that. His earlier dealing with another Kirschtein comes back to him then. The horseboy has a ways to go but with some work, perhaps that one will make a scion fit for such noble stock. Perhaps.

“Of course, no account of Sir Gerald’s life would be complete without the usual allegations,” Armin says matter-of-factly, as he turns his book’s page.

Eren frowns, irked. “The bastard rumors? I’ve always hated those. He’s one of the most honorable knights there ever was, he’d never stoop so low as to bed another man’s wife, least of all his king’s.”

“I suppose people would rather believe King Arthur was his bastard and not an abomination born of the incest between Berthold VIII and his sister. Arthur III is a much-beloved figure,” Armin answers fairly, glancing at him over the massive tome covering the entirety of his lap.

“But those rumors came from his true father who wanted to disinherit him, and I don’t put much stock in the words of the sisterfucking madman that Berthold VIII was. He wasn’t called the Grotesque for nothing.”

“Gerald and Cressida did love each other, though.”

“Courtly love, and unconsummated.”

And all at once, they are boys again, lounging in the large, airy sanctum of Seamont Castle in Lenberg and poring over one of Armin’s many books. One day, it would be a history; the next, an account of the exploits of some adventurer from some faraway kingdom. It was the best way Eren had come to learn about these matters, and it remained with him longer than the deadly dull dronings of some boring old Prior. It has been too long since last they’ve done this, and the reminder of what once was is pleasant. For now, at least, guilt and shame are distant things, and far away.

“The old lawyer’s been summoned to court?”

“He’s expected to arrive in the capital within the month for his audience with the king. At any rate, he should be able to catch the court before we leave for the summer progress.”

Hunts have always been something of a dicey subject in the Jaeger household, and the irony is not lost on Zeke Jaeger.

He had been much too young to have accompanied his parents to that fateful hunt and had not been close to hand to witness the accident that took his lady mother’s life. Even now, he sometimes still tries to put an image to his father’s account of that day and cannot quite grasp the enormity of it. It is hard to reconcile the mother he last saw alive and well to the bloodied, ruined mess of a woman his father had spoken of. His memories of her remain unmarred and intact, though; Death’s Hands spared them all the sight of her broken body as she lay in state for the funeral, covering her with a banner that featured the black chimera of House Fritz on its golden field quartered with the silver falconer on green of House Jaeger.

Hawking is another matter entirely, however.

Whatever else they might say about us, no one can claim we aren’t living up to our sigil. As it stands, this is the only sort of hunt that suits both Zeke’s and his father’s palates; broken saddle girths are less of a threat when you spend the entirety of the hunt afoot and looking after your own fowl. Eren, being Eren, is not as partial to the family custom, preferring the activity and adventure of a traditional hunt. Yet even he cannot deny his own excitement whenever his peregrine, aptly named Lance, fells its chosen quarry.

“Do my ears deceive me or is our youngest finally taking an interest in matters outside the sparring yard?” Lord Grisha walks over to his sons, having just deposited the hare his favorite kestrel had caught to a waiting attendant. The unnamed bird perches on one gloved arm, one sharp eye trained on the men before it and its bespectacled handler.

Eren frowns slightly, jerking his head back a little as Lance stretches and flaps his wings, buffeting his master’s face in the process. “Why shouldn’t I be interested in the Northern Matter? Like as not, I’ll be there to help finish it. I should know something about it, at least.”

“Well said, son,” Grisha laughs. “It’s just strange to hear you speak of such things. And about time, too, I say! But I suppose some of the fault lies with us… If you lack the acumen and interest in political matters, it is only because we coddled you too much, now that I think on it.”

That we did. But then, most second sons are subject to such treatment, it seems to Zeke. They are insurance, a failsafe to guarantee the continuation of their respective lines if the firstborn dies too soon. But more often than not, they are never brought up to shoulder the burden of the responsibility they may still yet receive one day. It is no wonder that some of their sort make for terrible heirs; some, not all, but some is more than enough.

Zeke hopes they hadn’t blinkered Eren too badly to the wider workings of the court. However, the older brother in him, the part that had always wanted a sibling to coddle, reigned supreme; he supposes their father had similar sentiments once his youngest had been born. They nurtured the boy’s dreams of knighthood, gave him the skills and knowledge necessary for the trade, and it became all he lived and breathed for until nothing else mattered. And the court is such a vicious place, perhaps part of them wants to keep at least one of the family from that mire. Whether that is for good or for ill is yet to be apparent.

“Ah, he’s a sharp lad, when he cares to be. He’ll catch up quick,” Zeke says, reaching out to ruffle Eren’s hair and ignoring the boy’s usual irritated swatting at him as he always does. He notes, with some melancholy, the inch in height his younger brother seems to have gained during his time away at campaign. He had as well savor the last few years, months perhaps, of being able to express his brotherly affection in such a manner. The Jaegers tend to height, and Zeke is more than passing certain that Eren will not prove to be an exception; he will not be the shortest of their immediate family for very long, that is for sure.

“If we are to speak of the Northern Matter, tell me, what do you think of this Father Robert?” Lord Grisha directs his query at his youngest, feeding a small morsel of hare to his waiting kestrel and watching it snap the meat up eagerly with a beak sharp as any dirk.

The frown on Eren’s face takes on a more thoughtful cast, and he looks around at the wide verdant expanse of Alyrya’s Arbor, where the Reisses have run game for hunting four hundred years and counting. The park is located a little ways north of Midford Castle and is part of many a noble’s leisurely haunts. It is just now teeming with fresh spring life; waterfowl and smaller prey are much in abundance, and the wind is cool and bracing, which makes for excellent conditions for an expedition. To the west, Alyrya’s Vase comes roaring down the surrounding cliffs to join its waters to the Woodisle, adding a wild cadence to the air. Further north lies the Crown Woods, where larger prey is to be had; deer, elk, boar, and other beasts run wild thereabouts, free for the taking for any intrepid hunter.

It cannot have been a better day, and it is like to be the last of its kind for the rest of the season. The Month of Showers has come upon them at last and the threat of the season’s promised downpours has driven several of the nobility, some of whom are their own lords vassal, out to the woods to take advantage of the perfect weather. Eren’s eyes alight on Lord Forster’s thirdborn, Floch, and stays there, unseeing. “I didn’t really get to meet the man in truth, but I saw enough of him to think that that one has steel in him. Old steel, to be sure, but steel nonetheless. I guess you can expect nothing less from a lawyer - they wouldn’t have chosen him to be the mouth of the northern faction if he wasn’t.”

“An interesting observation. I’ll be sure to keep it in mind,” says Grisha, smiling slightly. “They’re a tricky sort, these lawyers. Almost as tricky as us politicians. Still, I have yet to meet a lawyer who could outfox a statesman worth his salt. But I’ll be sure to tread carefully around this man all the same.”

“If the gods are good, we can settle this matter once and for all. But disputes surrounding land are some of the hardest to mediate… Lovaya is prodigious, more than large enough for all, I believe, yet you’d think it was sinking into the sea day by day with the way we try and amass more of it for ourselves.” Zeke nods at the kennel master, who releases his big white bitch to flush more of the waterfowl out from where they have settled amongst the reeds on the riverbank. Kesara, named for the Messenger herself, brings down her third duck of the day, much to Zeke’s approval. Good haul today.

“It’s all a matter of greed in the end,” Lord Grisha mutters darkly, a shadow falling over his face at the thought of his foremost adversary.

Eren’s eyes flicker over to their father and back to the vista before them. “It’s no more than what any noble has done before. It’s for the northmen to defend what is theirs by rights. If they lose ground, it’s only because they aren’t strong enough to keep it.”

Zeke moves off then to see to his merlin. The boy speaks sense, he supposes; Shiganshina, and any of the other States for that matter, will be half of what it is now if their forerunners had not the strength to push on to conquer and keep what they have conquered. That does not mean he finds the notion any less… disquieting coming from his brother like that. Perhaps it is the way he said it. Perhaps it is the fact that this more than anything else makes Zeke realize how little he truly knows of the inner workings of Eren’s mind.

He trudges back up toward his father and brother with Kesara perched on his right arm; the duck she caught dangles from his left hand, limp and listless. Lord Grice nods to him in passing, attended by his nephews, Colt, his heir, and little Falco, who is nominated to be Eren’s squire once he earns his knighthood as a favor to the Grice boy's staunch and stalwart uncle.

Zeke is pleased to note that the family discussion has moved on to the upcoming Mother’s Day celebration. Until he remembers what it entails.

“Have you sent fairings to Ymir yet? I don’t know what to get for her this year,” Eren says forlornly, to Zeke’s fond amusement.

“Just get her a doll, she’s still at that age, after all,” he waves away his brother’s fretting as he hands over his catch to the attendant.

Eren huffs at that. “She has enough of those to fill Highridge thrice over,” he mutters, turning away and smoothing back Lance’s wayward feathers as he does so.

“Speaking of the upcoming holy day, I expect Elva to be in attendance at the rite,” Grisha states, looking pointedly at Zeke, who feels his mouth tighten into a thin line.

And there it is. It is the one thing he is dreading about Elena’s Day. If he could have sent the bitch away to Highridge, far from sight and mind, he would have done so long ago. Yet he cannot risk the woman poisoning his own daughter and only heir against him, and there are her duties as one of Queen Linda’s chief ladies-in-waiting to consider… Putting her aside for another, more pleasant woman is out of the question as well, as far as his father is concerned. The Riehls are an old, rich House, vassals to the Fritzes, and they cannot afford to lose this connection under any circumstances. The only good use the bint is for is for fucking, and even that is suspect. He will be forever grateful to Richard Reiss I for thinking to add secret passages within Midford. Indulging in his more covert… passions has never been so easy.

“Of course, Father, it is the day for family, after all,” Zeke replies coolly. From the corner of his eye, he can see Eren furtively sidle away to the kennel master once the air between his older kin turns a touch heavier. Something inside Zeke finds that rather comically endearing.

Grisha looks at him a few moments longer from behind his lenses. “Good,” he says, turning to watch the big white bitch make her run once more toward the riverbank. “There is nothing more important than family when all is said and done.”

“Yes,” Zeke murmurs, watching Eren’s Lance dart up toward the sky and start harrying a heron twice its size. “There is nothing more important than family.” The peregrine makes a swift, steep dive, quick as lightning, and finally brings down its larger quarry, pinning it hard against the ground amidst the tall, swaying grasses.

The smell of incense is strong in the air. Some find it pleasant; you find it thick, and heavy, and dizzying.

The Lady Theresia Dietrich is hardly the first of Paradisian stock to be wed to the Old Blood of Vascalin, and like those before her, she found her influence much diminished. The Old Blood runs strong in the State, and they have ever been resistant to outside forces who would attempt to meddle with their long-held customs.

That did not mean the new ways did not find room to sow their seeds in old soil. Over the centuries, Vascalin had learned to tolerate the new blood, perhaps not as liberally as the rest of the realm but certainly much better than their northern peers in Kostrokan. Small temples sprouted all over the State like mushrooms after rain, and the nobility had taken to employing Paradisian priests and advisors into their households. Soon after came the marriages, yet the Vascalene highborn took great care never to let their new spouses hold sway over them.

Over a thousand years on and not much has changed in that regard. As it stands, most of the Vascalene nobility will not have gone to the lengths Lord Alexander had for his outsider wife, yet love has a way of working through these things. It was at her insistence that the family observe the Paradisian holy day of families every year and Alexander, ever genial and accommodating and smitten with his lady wife, indulged her wish.

You cough delicately into the sheer silk cloth of your kerchief, carefully avoiding looking over at the boy who has just occupied your mind for the umpteenth time. The Jaegers have taken up a place at the forefront of the transept near the Mother’s monument, just a little ways away from where you and your family have stationed yourselves, and so you have an unimpeded view of the many faces Eren has been making at you the very moment you had caught each other’s eyes.

He spent the past half hour of the ceremony doing his utmost best to get you to break the mask that he claims to hate so much, and twice he nearly succeeded, much to your infuriated and reluctant amusement. You resolved several times to look away, only to find yourself taking a peek (just a quick one, just this once, it’ll be the last) and falling prey to one ridiculous face after another. Before long, the both of you had made a game of it, with the rest of your families none the wiser. You still cannot believe how absurd he can get sometimes; you would think he is a child and not a boy less than a year from manhood. And yet, that is what you like about him the most. He makes you feel half a girl again, and it is most freeing.

You sweep your gaze around the ornate transept in a bid to distract yourself from your betrothed, who you know is willing you to look at him once more. You take in the massive marble likeness of the Mother, Lady Elena, in front of you all; the beautiful window of stained glass showing another image of her set above the wall behind the monument; the crystal chandeliers and the smaller statues of a cow-headed woman (another depiction of the Lady Elena) nestling in alcoves around the walls, and feel yourself duly awed.

You are glad your mother chose to attend the day’s rites in the Great Temple instead of in the smaller, more private one within the palace grounds. You can never tire of the absolute opulence of this place. It is great in form as well as in name, that nobody can deny.

While the Creed traditionally keeps individual temples for each of the twelve gods, the Great Temple presumes to house all of them all at once, to magnificent results. It is the second-most largest building in Belris and rivals Midford Castle in luxury and splendor, with its towering marble dome and twelve soaring belltowers, one for each of the new gods.

It is no less striking within. Its vast, circular antechamber, likewise made of the finest marble, leads to twelve transepts where each god holds court. Amos, the Father, resides beside Elena, the Mother, as is right and proper. Next comes the Old Man of the Sea, Nyrdos; the Oracle, Niheia, goddess of wisdom and knowledge and the arts, patron of the Priors; the Sun and the Moon, Lusin and Dedsin; Tardon, the Warrior, beloved of knights; the Lover, Lyias, the Whole of Two Halves; the Smith, Ilvisar, favored by craftsmen and those who strive to create; Kesara, the Messenger, who brought the first dove into the world; the Gardener, Alyrya, mistress of farmers and the fields; and lastly, nameless Death, the Rider, whose transept is almost always empty of custom.

Today, the Mother’s transept is filled to the brim with worshipers consisting mostly of women, children, and families, the ones under her special protection. You look around at your own family congregated around you and feel a pang of wistfulness, knowing you are missing two of your number. Little Oliver is much too young to go to court and Tibor, being a novice of the Parliament, is encouraged to see as little as possible of his own House. He will be sent to serve some other House once he masters his trade and must therefore put aside his old loyalties; most like you will never see him again unless circumstances permit it.

You glance at Lydia, knowing well how much she misses her twin brother. Yet she seems to be holding up well without his much yearned for presence, for which you are glad.

Your eyes flicker over to the foot of the Mother’s monument where the Matriarch stands, deep in prayer over the as-of-yet unburnt sacrifice of cow’s meat, pomegranates, chameleon lilies, and golden lotuses piled in the massive iron brazier before her. Or tried to, at least. You somehow manage to catch the eye of your betrothed once more, who quickly sticks out his tongue at you, making you purse your lips to hide your smile. The ceremony cannot end fast enough.

But end it does at last, and you find yourself trailing behind your parents after the Matriarch’s blessing as they stride forward to hail the Jaegers and exchange pleasantries. It amused you to no end to see Matron Gudrun struggle to keep her motherly composure as she gave Eren her blessing, nostrils flared and eyes burning a hole through his chest where his own mother’s beloved key lay.

“Gods, that mask of yours sure is hard to break,” Eren murmurs, sidling up to stand beside you with his hands behind his back, looking exceptionally handsome today in red and gold. “I don’t know if I like that at all,” he adds, looking slightly crestfallen at the thought.

“I’m glad to know I can keep it up under any circumstance,” you whisper back, trying to tamp down the rush of thrill you can feel coursing through you at the sight of him wearing your House colors. It is astonishing just how much red favors his looks.

“But not with me,” Eren chirps, grabbing your hand and tugging you a step forward. “May I steal you away, my lady?”

You look at him in surprise, before glancing at your elders, who seem to have finally taken notice of your little exchange. Your father gives the both of you an encouraging nod and Eren inclines his head respectfully, gently leading you away to join the throng of worshipers making their way out of the transept into the Temple’s antechamber.

“Are you sure you’d rather not spend your time with your family today? It is the day for family, after all,” you venture, glancing at the back of his dark head as you pass through the transept’s entrance.

Eren lets out a noncommittal sound and answers, “I’d rather not be around a certain Lord and Lady Jaeger, if you catch my meaning. And besides, we’ll be family soon enough.”

A burst of heat crawls up your face at that, and you quickly glance at him, wishing you could have seen his face as he said that; but the flushed tips of his ears and the back of his neck tell the tale of his feelings well enough. You look down at the elaborate mosaic of the twelve sacred beasts you have just walked over, biting your lip, and hasten your steps so you can walk beside him; you squeeze his hand gently and feel him do so likewise. This is looking to be a most exhilarating day indeed.

Even the leaden sky above cannot dampen your spirits. “Oh, we’d best hurry. There’s a smell of rain in the air.” And it is rousing and invigorating and makes you feel more alive than anything else ever could have at the moment. A gust of wind blows across the Temple’s courtyard, lifting the sheer pale blue silk of your veil into the air.

Eren takes one look at you and draws you aside beneath the great stone colonnade that parts the courtyard from the gardens. You give him a curious look and are just about to ask him what is wrong when he moves to stand behind you. You stiffen in surprise as you feel him reach up toward the back of your head. There is a gentlest of tugs followed by the sensation of him smoothing back the stray hairs he has dislodged from your silver filigree hairpiece in his endeavor, and he reemerges, walking back to his preceding place in front of you with your veil in his arms.

“Pretty but cumbersome, don’t you think?” he says, folding the cloth neatly into a small parcel.

“Now you’ll be the one encumbered,” you point out, distractedly smoothing down the pale blue and silver skirts of your gown.

Eren snorts a little and flourishes the small square of silk in front of you. “By this flimsy thing? It’s hardly more than a wisp, easily kept in my belt.”

“Well, then, thank you, kind sir. At least let me keep it in my own person,” you smile, taking your veil from him and stowing it away in the pocket of your gown where you keep your kerchief. “But I must confess, I did not expect to be doing much vigorous exploring today, aside from exploring the special booths, and that’s hardly vigorous at all. Hence the cumbersome veil.”

“We’ll keep it short, and it seems the weather is eager to do that for us anyway. I’d like to look around as much as I can before the clouds break.” Eren takes your hand in his once more, and you proceed to leave the Temple grounds, passing the massive fountain of the Twelve at the center of the yard. “And I want to see if I can find a good Elena’s Day present for Ymir,” Eren raises his voice above the loud crashing of the fountain’s waters as it pours endlessly down into a great stone basin from the twelve mouths of the twelve sacred beasts arrayed at the heart of the structure.

“Oh, I’d like to get her something, too,” you put in interestedly, mind instantly going through a list of fairings you can send the girl. Dolls? No, she probably has enough of those to last her a lifetime. A bag of marchpane treats? Perhaps… Or a nice pin for her hair, something that’ll look pretty with all that gold…

“Fairings from the soon-to-be aunt by marriage, that’s nice,” Eren says lightly, half-bashful and half-teasing.

“Yes,” you cough, looking away briefly to gather your bearings before saying, “It’s been almost a week since Klesvar and I still haven’t grown warts on my feet, just so you know. You fretted for nothing.”

Eren laughs as you descend the steps leading to one of the many plazas in Belris, Silver Oak, where most of the city’s craftsmen congregate. “All right, fair enough. I, too, haven’t grown any warts on either foot. But who takes off her shoes when climbing atop the head of a long-dead giant, I ask you?”

“The soles wouldn’t grip properly, I told you. And I made sure to thoroughly scrub my feet afterward, so it was all well and good,” you wave away his remark and lead him further into the plaza, which is enjoying little custom on account of the approaching deluge.

A stall selling hairpins, brooches, and other such trinkets catches your eye, and you make your way over curiously, letting go of Eren’s hand as you do so. The stallkeep looks up and flashes you an inviting smile, eager to get at least some patronage today; it flickers slightly as he catches sight of Eren and his key pendant, yet he quickly recovers, turning his full attention upon you instead. “A blessed Mother’s Day to you, my lady.”

“And to you, goodman,” you return his smile and examine his wares closely as Eren hovers over your shoulder.

“Oh? When’s the happy nuptials?”

You glance up, only to find the stallkeep eyeing the black pearl dangling from the silver chain around your neck.

“Next year.”

You look around at Eren as he speaks and watch the softest of smiles grace his comely face.

“Ah, you have my most sincere congratulations!” the stallkeep beams (a little nervously, you think), then apologetically tacks on, “I would normally offer you a bargain on my wares but considering the state of business today… well, I hope my lady understands.”

That you do well enough and obligingly pay the man the full price of one silver crescent for an exquisitely made silver comb adorned with a bird in flight.

One stall catches Eren’s eye afterward, that of a woodcarver who is selling the most beautifully crafted figures you have seen in a long while. You come upon him at his work, and you note how closely Eren watches the man as he deftly whittles away at the small block of wood in his skilled hands.

You soon find your mind wandering as Eren engages the stallkeep in conversation. Your eyes land upon a dollmaker in the stall next to the woodcarver’s, and you are startled to see the look of absolute distaste on his face as he gazes over at the both of you. Slipping on a mask of cool indifference comes easy, and you furtively look over at your betrothed, who seems to be the object of the other stallkeep’s disapproval. For a moment, you think the man merely envious of the woodcarver’s custom, until you see where the dollmaker’s attention truly lies. Of course.

“Tch, did you see the way that dollmaker looked at me? You’d think I fucked his maiden daughter,” Eren grumbles under his breath, as you leave the woodcarver’s stall with his purchase safely tucked away in his leather money bag.

You giggle at that and take his hand in yours. “He must’ve thought you one of those blasphemous Death worshipers. Really, I’d have thought you’d get used to the nasty stares by now, but you have this remarkable way of shutting those out. Always the rebel, aren’t you?”

Eren glances down at his mother’s key resting upon his chest and rolls his eyes to the overcast skies above. “Superstitious cunts, the whole lot of them.”

“Oh, it takes balls to wear that pendant to a holy rite, in the Great Temple no less. I thought the Matriarch was going to strangle you with it, her holy vows be damned.”

Eren chokes on his laughter and incredulity. “Lady Crass shows her face again.”

“Thought about her a lot, have you?” you grin wickedly, enjoying the play of crimson embarrassment washing over his face and trying not to think too deeply on what that may entail.

A guttural sound escapes your betrothed’s throat, and he mutters something under his breath as he quickens his pace, following the familiar path back to the castle.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that?” you press, stifling the laughter in your voice as you half-jog to keep up.

“I said we had best get home since we’re done here.”

You cannot have done so at a better time. The first few fat droplets start pelting down the very moment you slip through Midford’s front doors, and soon enough, the cloudburst is upon you in earnest.

Reluctant to part ways just yet, you invite Eren to your father’s solar for a game of qaxan, which he accepts with a determined look on his face.

You play on the small marble table in front of the chamber’s terrace doors, which are just now closed to keep out the rain, though the long, red velvet curtains framing the doorway are still tied back, affording you a view of one of the smaller castle gardens. The fires have been lit as well, bathing the room in a soothing wash of warmth. You set up your respective pieces behind the qaxan screen, fire and rain the only things breaking the comfortable silence that has descended upon the solar.

A glance out at the terrace prompts you to remark, “You know, I’ve always thought rain trees a fascinating plant.”

Eren pauses in his rumination of the board to glance out the doors at the rainswept vista. “I know what you mean. They only bloom in rain, but their flowers absolutely do not bring to mind rain in any way, shape, or form.”

They certainly are an oddity. Fire-bright blooms break through the gray drabness outside, striking and conspicuous, making it look as though a bolt of lightning had struck the tree and set it ablaze.

“Their blossoms should be blue, something like a winter rose or Cornelia’s Tears. Or they should’ve called it a fire tree instead, even though it only blooms in rain,” Eren continues, as he carefully sets up his array.

He has started to take his time with the game, you note, ever since his… debacle in the North. While he has yet to win a game still, what few sessions you had had over the past week or so had grown a touch bit longer than before. Part of you is grimly pleased with the progress; the change may have come about due to dire circumstances but you find it highly fascinating. It will seem that Eren, when stripped of haste and impatience, is a lot sharper and more astute than he initially seems.

You put your last mountain into place and glance up at him. “I suppose people love toying around with names. It’s just like moon cakes, which are truly moon pies, whatever else people insist on calling it.”

Eren chuckles at that and pronounces himself ready to begin the game. You remove the screen and take the measure of his arrayed army. An interesting formation. You advance a catapult one square to the left.

“I plan to go back to that woodcarver tomorrow, weather permitting. If you want, you can come with.” There is a note of hopefulness in his voice as he moves his spearmen.

You answer with your own spearmen. “Oh? Have you not bought what you needed to today?”

“Let’s just say Ymir’s going to have to wait a while for her present. I would’ve sent mine with yours but, well…” His archers come into play, to bolster his spearmen.

You give him a brief intrigued glance, before advancing your charioteers a square. “So, I take it that figure you bought was not her actual present.”

“No.” A most mysterious smile graces his face as he moves his archers once more. “It’ll take a while but I think it’ll be more special that way.”

“Will you tell me if I ask what it is you’re planning? No, I didn’t think so,” you sigh, as he merely shakes his head at you, enigmatic smile still in place.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

“Speaking of Ymir,” you look up at him a little cautiously, before plunging on, “you said something about Zeke and Lady Elva earlier in the Temple… how is your father taking all of that?”

A shadow falls over Eren’s face fleetingly. You hurry to apologize and change the subject yet he answers, “Most like he’s in his solar avoiding any… altercations between husband and wife, if they haven’t stormed off into their own respective chambers by now. It’s never much of a family day with those two around.” He brings out one of his giants to play to further defend his mountain passes. “I just realized we never really get a chance to lounge around in Father’s solar. He practically lives in the place.”

“He is the Magister, I wouldn’t expect anything less, honestly.” You roll out your trebuchet, ready to catch out his giant if he blunders.

Eren looks around at the fort of the Praetor’s political life, expression pensive. “One day, this’ll all be yours.”

“Not any time soon, gods willing.”

“It’s fast approaching, though. You’ve been spending more and more time behind that finely carved desk these days.” He moves his giant two squares, and you pounce, making his mouth thin in displeasure.

“I do have to learn my trade. And Father makes it look so easy…” You pick up your golden dragon, toying with it a moment before setting it down in favor of one of your own giants. “Speaking of trades,” you flash him a look, part considering, part teasing, “I was wondering how you’d fare as my castellan.”

Eren chokes on air at your statement, looking at you with wide eyes. “Castellan? Me?”

“How not? Plenty of great knights make fine castellans, it’s an honorable post.”

“Yes, but…” Eren looks down at the board, and melancholy bleeds into his expression. “I don’t know if I have the ability to run a household like yours. I’m not…” He hunches in on himself, and you feel your heart go out to him.

Once you fall in love, my child, his joy and grief and anger… all of that will be yours. From two now as one, as you will swear to the old gods someday.

“That day, when you first taught me the ways of this game,” you glance up at him, heart pounding inexplicably and fingers itching to tangle themselves together upon the marble tabletop, “when you played with Armin…”

His brow furrows, but he pushes on, “I realized just how much in common the both of you have. Both southron, both heirs to High Houses, both quick and smart and clever and so… far ahead of me.” He picks up his dragon, turning it over in his hands and watching the light gleam over its red lacquered body. “I’ve never felt so left behind, so inadequate until that moment. I’m glad you think me worthy of that kind of service to you,” he flashes you a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes, “but I just can’t see myself reaching that goalpost.”

“It’s not a race, you know.” You tap the head of your dragon idly, watching surprise part his mouth as his gaze once again lights up. “Life. You don’t need to catch up to anyone, least of all me and Armin. And I don’t think it should matter how long you get to that goalpost of yours. Why not go at your own pace? I believe you’ll get there in the end. And besides,” you smile a little as he removes your spearmen from the board, “I think it is you who are moving too fast. Maybe you should be less concerned about haste and learn to see the value of slowing down.”

The memory of the northern campaign lies unspoken between you, the last time he had tried to move too fast and had ended up doing more harm than good. The truth of his part in the Lord Commander’s mishap is practically unknown to the rest of the court, even to the rest of the detachment that had been with them that day, and the fact is not lost on you. The chaos and confusion of battle had served to muddle the incident, and those few who are privy to the fact have hushed it all up; whether or not this is because they are mindful of who Eren’s father is, you are not certain.

“Yes... you’re right. I’m just upset that it took something so… disastrously momentous to make me see that,” Eren sighs, watching as you move your dragon to the center of the board.

“And I don’t think you’ll ever be inadequate, Eren,” you say quietly. “If running a household is not to your strengths, then it’s not. There will always be duties better suited to you.”

“Still, now that you’ve put it forward… the idea finally has some merit…”

Your dragon moves forward a square. “I suppose Zeke and Lord Grisha have taught you some things about running a household?”

“Well, yes, they have. But I will admit, I wasn't... the best of students.” At your look, he adds almost shamefacedly, “You know how I am... those matters aren't exactly the most interesting of subjects, are they? But I'm not an entirely lost cause, I don't think. I learn better with Sir Hannes.” Sir Hannes Ahrendt is the Jaegers' castellan. You had met the man the past autumn and thought him pleasant enough. “He was a right old sot before Father set him straight, but our household’s never run as smoothly as it does under his helm. I like to follow him around when I’m bored, ask questions… not really what you’d call proper tuition but-”

“I think it’s plenty good, more practical,” you tell him, and the smile he flashes you lights up his eyes so prettily. “And it’s not solely you who’ll be running the household. You’ll have a steward, a Prior… me.”

“Then, I suppose I’m in good hands.” He removes one of your charioteers, and his smile takes on a more triumphant cast. “This is one of those things I wish Mother was still here to teach me about… I’m sure she ran a great household.”

“I’m sure she did.” You eye the key pendant he is wearing underneath the golden chain of his betrothal necklace as he rolls up the sleeves of his crimson tunic to his elbows. “I truly admire the strength of your devotion to her memory, to weather others’ censure like that.”

He glances down at the key on his chest, looking equal parts wistful and annoyed. “The opinions of superstitious cunts don’t concern me. It’s just a bloody key when all is said and done.”

“Hmm, true enough.” A giggle bursts through your lips as you remove one of his catapults. “Ah, the Matriarch’s face when she was blessing you was worth its own painting. I don’t think she’s the kind of cunt you’d like to cross, though, by the look of her.”

“How in the bloody hell did you get so crass?” Eren shakes his head at you as he toys with a trebuchet. You realize, with a small thrill of horror, that your dragon is in very real peril of going down if that piece is played. “It’s the farthest thing people will think, to look at you.” Under his breath, he mutters, “Is what they say about southron girls true…?”

“Oh?” The slyest of smirks curves your lips. “Do tell, Eren. What do they say about southron girls?” You lean across the table, crossing your arms against the marble top and watching the apple of his throat bob a little as his eyes flicker down to the curve of your breasts, visible atop the bodice of your gown. Distracted, he abandons his trebuchet to move his dragon two squares to the left. “That we’re wild, wanton… hot-blooded?” Your voice lowers, eyes fixed resolutely on his as he leans back in his chair, face flushed. “That it’s the climate making us so, that famous southron heat?” You laugh at that and remove his dragon with a flourish. “We’re no more wanton than any other woman in the realm, gods be good.”

Eren looks down at the board, seeming to come out of his daze, and stares at you a good, long while. “That’s not fair.”

“War is never fair, Eren, we make use of whatever advantage we have to hand to better our chances at victory,” you riposte, straightening up a little in your own seat. But the way he gazes at you then gives you pause.

“I do think about her a lot, Lady Crass,” he says, and there is something in his voice that makes gooseflesh rise up your arms. He tilts his head a little at you.

He’s never looked at me that way. Never. Never.

“Ever since that night she first put in an appearance, I’ve been most curious about her.”

You wrench your eyes away from his, watching him move his giant towards one of your mountain passes. You move your dragon a square closer.

“And I confess… I wonder how much liberty she’ll allow me with her body… if she’s willing… willing to let me touch, kiss… more perhaps…”

He moves a trebuchet. Your dragon flies ever closer to the giant.

You have fallen thrall to his voice. You raise your eyes to meet his once more, and you are lost. He seems more a man to you then, and you wonder how it is that you have come to overlook this fact, come to overlook the broadness of his shoulders, the sharpness of his jaw, the lean muscle of his forearms as he crosses them against the table.

“Now I wonder…” His gaze seems to smolder as he looks at you. You have never seen fire burn green until now. “If you’d let me sate my lusts with you.”

You move your dragon a square, and he removes it from the board, quick as lightning.

For a moment, you can only stare at him. The room has gone unbearably, stiflingly hot. “That’s not fair.”

One corner of his mouth turns up into the most self-satisfied of smirks. “War is never fair,” he says, voice low, and the way your name pours off his lips makes the heat under your skin flare.

You narrow your eyes at him, digging deep for the cool, calm head of Lady Rhyzkova. “I don’t need a dragon to defeat you.”

“No, but I’ll think you’ll be more hard-pressed to.” The hint of smug superiority in his tone makes you bristle, and it is this more than anything else that gives you the drive to finally trounce him several moves later.

“See, I didn’t need a dragon to beat you,” you say, victorious and elated.

“Yes, I yield, I yield,” he smiles, looking a good deal less upset at this loss than he had his earlier ones. He glances at your father’s timepiece and stands up from his seat. “Will you go down to dinner tonight?”

“Yes, I suppose.”

“I’ll be seeing you then?” The way he gazes down at you almost makes you squirm in your seat. Almost.

“Yes, of course.” The breath you have been holding on to during your small exchange leaves you as a small gasp the moment the door of your father’s solar closes behind your betrothed’s form. You look down at your hands, dimly noting the tremors that shake them, and tangle them together on your lap.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

***

...my plans of updating by Aug. 21 have been shot to hell, lmao.

That aside, things have slowed down again for a while, but it'll pick up once more soon enough, I'm definitely setting up more things for the main climax in this and the next few chapters. And this one's another long chapter at 10.3K, I hope I didn't overdo it with this one (I just love expounding on things ajshdkshdsksds).

I hope you all like this one, and as always, thank you for reading! :D

Tagging: @princess-jaeger​ @lukepattersin​

[viscountessevie]

I’m not going to excuse people getting threatening messages because that’s just fucking wrong, no matter what. But you very much shared an ask response on the main Bridgerton tag about Colin being confused and fucking Penelope’s belly button. Like okay, maybe it seems like a funny joke of him being a clueless virgin? But I have heard the fat joke countless times growing up, about a woman being so fat that a man might make that mistake. And hey, maybe you never experienced that but it’s really hurtful. It just comes off as incredibly fatphobic, so if you’re not actively trying to hurt people, please try harder?

Anon is talking about this post

[Shoutout to my friends for looking this over before I posted @sweetestviscount @sophiamariabeckett and @hptriviachamp & @jeanvanjer for the HR insight]

Hey there, thank you for sending this ask and letting me know in a civil manner! While they were not death threats aimed at me - I’m hoping I never get those - THIS is the way to broach things that are hurtful not call people disgusting names and hope they die. Under no circumstances should we ever try to justify death threats under the guise of moralising. That being said, I genuinely thank you for the way you wrote this, anon. 

I definitely hear you and understand your frustration on hearing countless fat jokes growing up. That must have been really shitty and I'm genuinely sorry about that. I promise you this blog is a safe space for those who wish to make it as such and, while I condemn Show!Penelope for her actions, I am actively anti-fatphobic and DO NOT tolerate it on here at all!

However, I would like to clarify the joke in the ask and the anon who sent it very much confirmed it too. You were somewhat right in your first guess:

Like okay, maybe it seems like a funny joke of him being a clueless virgin?

You may also have missed a related ask here where I explicitly stated this:

To a certain extent, it is about his cluelessness as a virgin but mainly about the lack of his sexual prowess and so I assure you, the joke is 100% on Show!Colin and the way he is currently being written and nothing against Pen or her weight at all.

Like I said in the screenshot above, literally nothing wrong with being a virgin! It can be great and you aren't always clueless. Again, this is HR (Historical Romance) show and that comes with a certain standard. If they want to keep him a virgin, that's great - more rep for people like us! But he needs to be a Hot Virgin™ and if he was clueless, let Pen teach him or something! That's a solid trope.

While we are on the topic, I do want to defend Pen against the show and the way the showrunners clearly view her. Aside from the horrible things she's done to innocent people in the Ton, hate-criming the POCs and backstabbing those closest to her, it's very telling that Daphne and Kate got Regé Jean Page as Simon and Jonathan Bailey as Anthony respectively who do have a large number of people who find them hot (if they aren't your type, fine but you can't deny they are on the higher end of an objective attractiveness scale). They fit the standard of a typical Hot HR Hero and that's what their wives deserve!!

Why doesn't Pen get the same type of hero? Why isn't she written like Daph and Kate who also hit the standard of HR heroines? Yes, Penelope is framed sympathetically by the narrative after everything she's done but when you put together all the actions I listed above, she is also written as a villain that gets away with everything (so far - we don't know if she'll even apologise in S3). If this was any other show where she wasn't guaranteed Colin as her endgame, she would be a villain.

It's just really annoying to see the (1) one fat main character on the show not given the HR heroine treatment and given a boy next door looking man who is very close to doing brownface if that tan from Greece keeps up. Book Pen (pre-TVWLM weight loss) and Nicola deserved the HR treatment!! 

[I have said this a couple of times on my blog but Newts is cute; especially his S1 looks but it not exactly HR Hot but if he gets you going, that’s great! He’s just not it for the majority of us and that’s okay too.]

To close this off, again I do apologise that the original ask hurt you and may have brought up painful memories. That was neither Jett Anon's intention nor mine, I hope the clarification helped and my DMs are open if you do want to vent about this more.