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it-happened-one-fic · 2 months

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Congrats on your milestone! I'll put in a request. I chose Twisted Wonderland, a courtly drama and a tome falling apart to reveal its yellowing pages.

Good luck on your writing and I'll see you at your next milestone!

Thank you so much for the congratulations! I was so excited to see your name pop up in my inbox! It’s always so lovely to see anything about you in my notifications and to read your comments. I ended up writing this fic while listening to “For the Love of a Princess” from the Braveheart OST and, fair warning, I played a bit with accents which might be one of the reasons this fic ended up quite so long. I hope you enjoy your tale!

600 Followers Event!

Underneath the Highland Moon - Silver

Type: Gender Neutral reader/ Fluff/ romance implied/ 600 follower event/ courtly drama & A tome whose binding is slowly unraveling as the cover attempts to fall away and reveal the yellowed pages beyond/ isekai

Word Count: 3419

I was barely able to react as the light flashed up brilliantly from all around. Blinding me as I dropped the weighty book from my hands in favor of shielding my eyes.

Distantly, I remembered Trein saying something about how books could be enchanted, and I almost cursed myself for being quite so foolish. To be fair, though, thus far all of the books I’d encountered in Twisted Wonderland had just been normal books.

But if the flash of light hadn’t been enough evidence of the less than average nature of this book, then the sinking feeling followed by utter darkness was.

And when I opened my eyes, I was no longer in NRC’s library.

Instead, I was lying in a plush, four-poster bed that had curtains hanging all around it. And was utterly covered in thick quilts with spiraling celtic patterns.

I blinked, immediately frowning as I sat up, sending rich fabrics everywhere with my motions as I heard a woman’s voice speak from beyond the curtains in a thick, undoubtedly Scottish accent, “Ma liege?”

I reached over, pulling back a curtain, only to find myself peering out at a young woman who was quite obviously dressed as a maid, with her plain dark dress and white apron decorated lightly with pale green embroidery in the corners.

I stared at her, my eyes widening as she smiled sweetly back at me, “Ah, good. Yer up. Today is th‘day th’knight sent by th’royal family is coming.”

“The knight?” I faintly echoed her words as my eyes darted around the lavishly decorated but wholly unfamiliar room.

But, somehow, in some way, I knew exactly where I was.

This was my room. But it was also the room of the oldest child of a noble family connected to an ancient clan. And that person’s memories were wholly unfamiliar, but also bouncing around in the back of my head like a poorly buffered last-episode recap.

“Aye, ye know, th’wan th’royal family ha’ sent to keep ye safe? Come noo, ye must finish waking up so we can get ye ready! Ye’ll want to look yer best with yer history wi’ him after all!”

I was tugged out of the massive bed, stumbling to my feet as the maid pulled me along and sat me down, chattering away all the while as if all was as it should be, “ ‘At Duke is also coming today. I bet e’ll be right surprised to see a knight here to keep ye safe! It’ll probably ruin whatever schemes he’s cooking up in ‘at nasty old head of his.”

Slowly, the pieces began to fall into place as I dimly recalled more of Trein’s words from class: “For a period, there was an entire genre of enchanted books that were particularly popular simply because they allowed readers to live out and experience stories in real time. The book would pull you and perhaps a companion, if they were close enough, into the story itself and assign roles.”

I all but grimaced as memories came flooding back of the ancient-looking, painfully large tome of a book whose binding had been slowly unraveling when I’d picked it up simply to snicker at its title while also wondering how such a book had ended up in a school library of all places.

‘Underneath the Highland Moon.’ It had doubtlessly been a romance of the particularly tropey variety.

It made sense for it to be at the school if it were a magical book, though. It was probably something that had been purchased for some form of test or experiment.

But now, through pure chance, or perhaps bad luck, I’d found myself transported into yet another world. But this time it was one within a book where I was apparently filling the role of a landed noble whom the royal family wanted to keep safe for inexplicable reasons that probably had some form of plot relevance.

And, if I had to make a guess, this knight was probably supposed to be my character’s love interest. A thought that had me grimacing.

But I had greater concerns to deal with beyond the appearance of a love interest. Namely, how I was going to get out of this book.

I hadn’t questioned Professor Trein about the specifics of the enchanted books, but if I recalled correctly, there was something to do with the plot of the story. Like it had to be completed, interrupted, or something along those lines.

“Ye just aren’t yerself this morning. Are ye feeling weel?” I blinked, snapping myself back into the moment as I glanced at the maid, who was eyeing me worriedly.

Now that I really looked at her, she might actually be the main character of this story. She certainly could fit the part with her sweet face, but with the amount of backstory that was flitting around in my mind and clogging my thoughts, the character I was subbing for had to be important.

Either way, though, I could tell the maid was genuinely worried, and if these character’s memories were anything to go by, we were close.

I shook my head, pasting on a reassuring smile, “I’m just distracted…. Why do you suppose the royal family has sent us a knight anyway? I would think they would want to keep all of their people closer than that…”

I trailed off, hoping to glean more information about the plot of the story I was in.

The maid smiled, almost sympathetically as she nodded, “Thought ‘at might be on yer mind.”

She sat down next to me, her hands taking one of mine into hers as she twisted to face me, “What with ye being the last member of yer clan and wan of the few nobles to hev come from a clan, Yer important to this country. I’ll bet that the royal family recognizes ‘at.”

I blinked at her words, that so perfectly matched my backstory information but also sounded disappointingly like the backstory of a main character.

Her gaze swiftly turned frigid though, and I felt myself tensing before she continued in a far colder tone than before, “But ‘at’s also why so many are after ye. For the power ye hold.”

She shook her head before straightening in a huff, “Lek ‘at Duke. But he won’t be able to do anything. No’ with ye having a knight of yer very own.”

Her tone was so final that I barely had any words. Especially not after the lengthy exposition she’d just given me about my entire situation in this book.

And I stayed silent for most of the rest of the time she bustled around, adjusting my clothes and cooing reassurances that all would be well now that the knight was coming and that I had absolutely nothing to worry about.

By the time I finally escaped what had felt like dressing room hell I was both up to date on my situation and exasperated with the plot of this book.

Evidently enough, I was supposed to be a shrinking violet who’d already been kidnapped once and held for ransom.

For reasons unknown, the royal family had, inexplicably, taken action and had been rescued before declaring that the situation was far-too risky to be left as it was and that they were going to send a knight to guard me.

Even as I went down the massive flight of stairs with my maid by my side she continued to coo over my apparent rescuer from that time, “I do hope this knight will be th’same wan who rescued ye. He was so... so…”

I smiled, cutting in before she could utter the word dreamy once more, “Yes, I also think it will be reassuring if it’s the same man.”

She giggled at my words, shaking her head and adjusting her plaid shawl in a manner that almost had me arching an eyebrow at her.

“Ye were quite taken wi’ him, weren’t ye? I dae no’ blame ye, o’ course. He did rescue ye after all,” She was all but beaming at me as I kept the same polite smile on my face.

Oh yes. This knight was definitely going to be the romantic lead of this plot.

If I were lucky this wouldn’t end up with a love triangle situation. I wasn’t sure if I could handle that along with trying to figure out a way out of this book.

Especially considering my current run of getting out of worlds that I'd randomly been sent too.

Not that I could say that I regretted my time in Twisted Wonderland. I’d grown quite close to the people there. Like Silver, who’d been in the library with me when I’d been sent here.

Everything seemed to come screeching to a halt as I recalled the young man who’d fallen asleep after helping me carry books into the library.

I’d been about to wake him to show him the book I’d found to see if he’d had any idea as to why such a book would be in the school library when I’d opened the tome and ended up here.

“Ma liege!” I blinked at my maid’s voice, briefly searching the room only to find that she’d moved on ahead of me to peer out the window.

Her eyes were bright as she pointed out the window, bouncing up and down on her toes in a way that had me frowning as I walked towards her.

“It’s him! It’s him! Th’knight who saved ye!” Her voice was pitched higher than it had been in excitement and I hummed. Leaning over to peer out the window and see who this love interest of mine was going to be only to go still. My eyes widening as I look at the knight who came riding up the rocky path on a magnificent, glossy black stead. A perfect opposite to his pale beauty.

I dashed to the side, my hands flying to the door handle as I yanked it open and I rushed out onto the porch right as he reigned the horse to stop.

I could hear my maid behind me shouting my name in surprise, but my eyes stayed on him as his gaze slowly lifted to meet mine.

“Silver,” I barely even whispered his name as I stared at him, neither of us moving as the wind blew. Causing leaves to dance through the air as it toyed with his hair.

And it really was a perfect scene from a historical romance and he dismounted and took only two steps towards me in utter silence before kneeling. One knee hitting the earth as he looked up at me, “I have come to guard and protect you, Y/n.”

I faltered before blinking myself to reality and nodding, “Please, get up. There’s no need for you to kneel like that.”

As I spoke I came off the porch, bending and taking his hands in mine before I straightened. Pulling him up with me and twisting to look back at my maid, “Could you prepare us something to drink?”

It was the first thing I could think of to ask her to do that would send her away and give me some time to confer with Silver.

If I was lucky he would know a way for us to get out of this book since the best I’d come up with so far was to finish the story, which would be difficult considering I had no idea what the plot might be.

Stories like this could get tangled up in their own drama so quickly that it was difficult to predict where this tale might lead us if we were going to have to follow it all the way to its end.

My maid curtseyed before zipping off into the house, and I could hear her giggling all the way. The sound of it making me sigh slightly as I turned to look back at Silver.

His horse was already being led off by a man whom I could only assume was a stablehand.

“Any idea what’s going on?” I questioned him, hopefully only to feel my hopes flag as he shook his head. Utterly calm despite the situation we were in.

“Only that we’re in an enchanted book,” He paused, tilting his head slightly, before he continued, “Do you know anything about the plot we’re in?”

I sighed, turning and heading back into my house, which I now noticed was quite large. In fact, it was probably better to say that I was living on an estate more than anything.

“My character is some sort of noble lady that your character apparently rescued by order of the royal family,” I started in a surprisingly weary tone, but it already felt like it had been a long day even though I’d only just woke up.

“Yes, you’d been kidnapped and were being held for ransom. My character saved yours and brought you back home,” Silver clarified, and I nodded. His story matched the backstory I had received upon waking almost perfectly.

I could only assume he’d also received a backstory for his character.

“And now the royal family has sent you to guard me because of something to do with my character being the ‘last member of my clan and one of the few nobles to have come from a clan.’” I quoted my maid directly as I slipped into what was the sitting room.

“You’re also distantly related to the royal family, which means a lot of people are after you for your position, power that comes from your family line, and relation to the royals,” Silver again clarified, but this time his words had me turning to look at him with a slight frown.

So my character was related to the royals? That was something I hadn’t realized, but it was also something that rang true with my character’s backstory that seemed to be continually updating itself in my head.

I sat down quietly and watched as he did the same across from me before I continued, “Just based on our current backstories and the title of this book, I suspect this is a dramatic romance. Probably of the variety that deals with court drama since I’m related to the royal family.”

Silver nodded, his gaze turning thoughtful as he blinked, his eyes growing steadily more hazy in a way that told me he was about to drift off.

“Do you know anything else about your character?” I questioned him again, my words snapping him back awake and causing him to nod as he focused.

“Yes, I volunteered to come and protect you on the basis of having already rescued you once,” I felt my eyebrows lift at his words and met his gaze directly.

“If this is a romance, then do you think you’re….”

I trailed off, not quite able to finish only for him to finish for me with a nod of his head, “The love interest? If Father’s stories are anything to go by, then yes.”

I wrinkled my nose slightly and looked at him in confusion, “Your father reads romance novels?”

Silver shrugged slightly but remained silent, and mere moments later, my maid entered the space with tea.

Her gaze flickered between me and Silver, and she barely hid her smile as she bustled about, already beginning to question Silver as she looked towards him, “Do ye think ye’ll be able to-”

She was cut off by Silver darting across the room and tackling me to the side right as the window broke, causing my maid to shriek as I grabbed a hold of Silver in alarm and a startled sound squeaked out of me.

I stared in alarm over his shoulder as he slowly leaned back to glare out the window, but my eyes were on the arrow sticking out of the couch cushion where I’d just been sitting.

“Ma liege, are ye alright?!” I continued to stare wide-eyed at the arrow as my maid rushed to my side, grasping my arm before she leaned over before hugging me tightly.

Instinctively, my arms curled around her, almost as if to reassure myself as I dragged my stare away from the arrow.

But in no way had I been prepared for such an attack. At the very least, I hadn’t been expecting for this book to be that sort of drama.

After another brief moment, Silver turned and yanked the arrow harshly out of the seat and frowned at it before his gaze lifted to meet mine.

Evidently, this story was going to be a little bit more action-packed than I’d initially expected.

Despite her genuine sweetness, it was honestly a relief when my maid finally left us once more after we all relocated to another room. This time one with no windows.

I glanced over at where Silver stood by the doorway with his arms crossed. Almost like he was ready to leap into action at a moment's notice.

And I couldn’t blame him; after all, I was still startled by what had just happened, though a numbness had now set in that kept me from panicking.

I started in a quiet voice, “The only two things I can figure out to get us out of this book are to either finish the story or to run its plot so off the rails that the book kicks us out.”

Silver nodded, his gaze shifting as he obviously considered my words and met my gaze, “Which option do you think is better?”

I shifted, leaning against the table in front of me as I frowned thoughtfully, “Finishing the plot could be risky if there are more action scenes like what just happened, plus we don’t know where the story is going….”

I trailed off, glancing his way and setting back in my chair as I started to nervously toy with my fingers, “Throwing the story of its rails might be a bit easier…. Especially if this is a romantic courtly drama.”

He nodded, “What do you want to do?”

I faltered slightly when he put the decision in my hands, but then I straightened. Steeling myself even as I made my decision, “If we shove our two characters into a relationship earlier than expected, then that will probably do.”

I stood, glancing at him and waiting for a sign of refusal, but he didn’t move. His expression was as stoic as ever, and I inhaled and called for my maid.

She came rushing in hurriedly, her face slightly flushed as she looked at me half-expectantly and half-worriedly. I couldn’t blame her, though; there had just been an attempt on my life.

My gaze flitted over to Silver as I balked, wondering exactly how he’d react but suspecting this would be the best and easiest way to derail the plot.

I squared my shoulders and looked back at my maid, “Please send out letters announcing my wedding to everyone of any importance.”

She stared at me like I’d lost my mind, looking around in an obviously lost fashion, as I did my very best not to look at Silver even as I felt myself warming from embarrassment.

“Yer wedding, ma liege?” She even sounded lost when she spoke, but I nodded firmly. Praying this would work and not land me in an even more awkward situation than filling the role of an utterly foreign character.

I couldn’t help but let my gaze flicker over to Silver in an apologetic fashion, and I could see in his eyes that he already knew where I was taking this as he straightened right as I spoke, “Yes. My wedding to Sir Silver.”

I’d barely even finished speaking before light flashed forth, utterly blinding me and blotting out the entire room before everything went black.

I opened my eyes hazily to find myself sprawled on the floor of the NRC library with a book on my lap.

Silver was sitting up from where he’d been at a table, his gaze resting weightily on me in a way that had me looking down at the book and away from him to avoid any further embarrassment.

And there it was, resting as innocently as could be on my lap, “Underneath the Highland Moon.”

And me and Silver hadn’t even made it to the moonlight hours before I was declaring our wedding.

I could only hope that I would make it through the rest of the day without dying from sheer embarrassment.

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exilethegame · 10 months

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Why did Omaren decide to travel the world? A strong sense of wanderlust? A desire to better understand the world outside of Plaithus?

He spent his entire life in Plaithus + the military, and once MC took over, he wanted to get out and see what else the world had to offer!

#amongst... other things <3 #his retirement was...#complicated to say the least #and the one thing Omaren hates of all things is drama + courtly intrigue #answered #omaren

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asha-mage · 7 months

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The Shadow and Bone show being cancelled the day after I finished Rule of Wolves is homophobia actually.

#are you telling me I'm never going to get to see Trans King Hanne Brume?#Helnik soul tearing courtly drama?#Nikolai Lansov the Demon King?#DRAGON QUEEN ZOYA #BOOOOO #HISSSSSSSS #Shadow and Bone #Rule of Wolves

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talesfromtheenchantedforest · 8 months

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the best 12th-century pickup lines I found in The Art of Courtly Love

(Negging) “Hey babe, how’s an angel like you still single? Don’t worry, I’ll take care of you, even if you are my distant social inferior.”

When the Divine Being made you there was nothing that He left undone. I know that there is no defect in your beauty, none in your good sense, none in you at all except, it seems to me, that you have enriched no one by your love. I marvel greatly that Love permits so beautiful and so sensible a woman to serve for long outside his camp. O if you should take service with Love, blessed above all others will that man be whom you shall crown with your Love! Now if I, by my merits, might be worthy of such an honor, no lover in the world could really be compared with me.”

“Look. Let’s be real, you’re going to do all, and I mean all, of the work, but, on the plus side, you will get to break me in like a new pair of boots.”

That is why I, a new recruit in Love’s service and awkward in love, ask you to be my teacher and to train me more fully by your instruction. For it will be considered greatly to your credit if by your good sense you make a trained soldier out of me who am now awkward and untaught. It is fitting that an awkward, untaught man should serve a lover by whose industry he may hide his heedless youth. (also): Besides, if I have any lack of judgment in love, I must necessarily seek the love a woman of great wisdom and worth so that my inexperience may thereby be remedied and I may learn all the desire of love. If an inexperienced man should ask for the love of an inexperienced woman, their love could not develop properly or long endure in the proper condition. For even though a favorable breeze springs up after a ship has been exposed to unfavorable conditions at sea and has been subjected to tempests, if a moderate gust strikes it, it will sink and go to the bottom unless it has a trained steersman and rowers. Both of your arguments are therefore silenced by the best of answers and can in no way oppose my proposal.

“I know what you need. You need a page or two of mansplaining.”

Woman: “Since you would rather have love denied you outright than be left in doubt by a ‘perhaps’, I shall try to humor you and I shall refuse to love you” Man: “I beg Your Prudence to inform me whether, in your heart, you are disposed to love anyone else.” Woman: “Neither the law of Love nor the custom of lovers requires me to inform you of the state of my heart. For even if I were inclined to love someone else, it would not be proper for you to ask or for me to tell you about it.” Man: “Then in the present case there is no help left for me but to argue with you at length and by discussing the matter find out whether or not it is proper for you to deny me your love if you haven’t given it to any other lover. Now I shall prove to you that you cannot properly deprive me of your love.”

“Marriage is a prison”

I admit it is true that your husband is a very worthy man and that he is more blest than any man in the world because he has been worthy to have the joy of embracing Your Highness. But I am greatly surprised that you wish to misapply the term “love” to the marital affections which husband and wife are expected to feel for each other after marriage, since everybody knows that love can have no place between husband and wife.

“Don’t hide your light under a bushel, babe, think of all the stupid quests you could be sending me on.”

Indeed I believe it is true that God has inclined all good men in this life to serve your desires and those of other ladies, and it seems to me that this is for the very clear reason that men cannot amount to anything or taste the fountain of goodness under the persuasion of ladies. But although all good things seem to proceed from women, and although God has given them a great privilege and we say that they are the cause and origin of everything good, still they are clearly under the necessity of so conducting themselves toward those who do good deeds that by their approval the good character of these men may seem in every respect to increase from strength to strength. For if their brightness were not to give light to anyone, it would be like a candle hidden under a bushel, whose beam is not able to drive away anybody’s darkness or shine to anybody’s profit.

“Love can’t be a sin, or else God wouldn’t have made it so fun”

I believe, however, that God cannot be seriously offended by love, for what is done under the compulsion of nature can be made clean by easy expiation. Besides, it does not seem at all proper to class as a sin the thing from which the highest good in this life takes its origin and without which no man in the world could be considered worthy of praise.

“Only idiot stupid men want to marry virgins, trust me, this affair will HELP you get married”

Your theory seems to lead to a particularly grave error when you especially condemn the love of maidens; countless ones of the very best character are said to have been in love as we find in the cases of Anfelis, and Iseult, and Blanchefleur, and many others. Unless a maiden strove to raise her reputation by the instigation of love, she would never deserve to have a praiseworthy husband, nor could she fully comprehend anything great. She cannot because of such conduct be hateful to a good husband, for a good husband always believes that he could never have found such a worthy wife if she had not learned the theory of love and carried out what it requires.

“HE’S NOT GOOD ENOUGH FOR YOU WELL OKAY MAYBE HE IS BUT PLEASE TOP ME INSTEAD OR AT THE VERY LEAST IN ADDITION”

But even if I did know surely that you were engaged to another man, and I thought he was not a fit match for you, if I could talk you out of such a match I would not feel that by doing so I was violating Love’s precepts, but rather that I was faithfully obeyed his mandates. For that precept of his that we are talking about speaks of people who are properly joined, and this adverb properly shows that it was put in very deliberately. For a woman is not properly joined in love when the character of the man is not as good as that of the woman or when the pure affection of the heart is not equal on both sides. Moreover, even if I did know well that you were properly joined in love, although it would not then be correct for me to ask for your love, since Love’s mandate forbids me to do that, I do think it would be proper for me to beg you to allow me to be well disposed toward you and for you to praise my praiseworthy deeds by accepting them and to set me right with a secret reproof if through thoughtlessness I go wrong in anything.

#the art of courtly love #eleanor's aquitaine and marie's troyes must have been WILD #idk why people are wasting their time with tepid regency romances when courtly love is RIGHT THERE #sorry not sorry this got long #medieval literature #messy-ass medieval court drama

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valarhalla · 2 years

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Trying to describe the horror of the Celebrimbor casting to a non-fandom friend and I went with “Imagine if there was a character who was a cross between St Sebastian and the Greek God Hephaestus and they cast Mitt fucking Romney.”

#celebrimbor #and also he was from a family of erudite courtly sophisticates from a c-drama #who are all like scholarly geniuses who only stop talking about tea and poetry when they need to stab someone

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starfoam · 10 months

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//The battle of the main characters

#Impresario's in a spy thriller #Hope's in a game of courtly intrigue #Order's slowly realizing he's in a fucking horror drama #and Solomus is trying SO HARD to be the romance novel hero

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anghraine · 2 years

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I really enjoy GW2 as a game, obviously, but I'm not sure anything gives a purer enjoyment than this specific brand of player whining:

Oh no, not everything revolving around your personal preferences at all times!!!

Anyway, just a few minutes later, I passed this:

(Note: Delaqua & Meade = Marjory Delaqua and Kasmeer Meade = the canon f/f couple among the main cast who kissed onscreen. Cry more, lol)

#there is some default het stuff in the game but also quite a lot of incidental queerness #in addition to the main couple being f/f #npcs aren't automatically playersexual; some will have platonic responses if you're their gender #and some will flirt with you; it just depends #also i was trying to think of what the main het romance would even be #logan->jennah maybe but it's very courtly and very doomed #there are also tragic queer romances in the background (a human representative dies and you can meet his orphaned son #with the grieving other dad #and obviously there's caithe/faolain in the main story #but enough aren't tragic that it feels natural and satisfying to get high tragic drama with queer relationships as well)#also trying to remember the oeuvre of snargle goldclaw lol #mostly interspecies iirc but all over the place as far as gender goes. i mostly remember the logan/rytlock expies lmao #anghraine babbles #long post #anghraine's pics #anghraine's gaming #a treeful of monkeys on nitrous oxide #ascalonian grudgeblog

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dragonsmuses · 2 years

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Welcome to Terra Dei! <https://terramods.wixsite.com/terradei>

Someone is lying… or perhaps history itself is the lie.

The land of Terra Dei sits on a precipice. An assassination attempt has been made on the Queen. The land’s scholars have discovered that history was rewritten right under their very noses… by their predecessors hands. Skilled tradespeople have been disappearing with the lure of mysterious contracts. Even their borders might not sit where they are supposed to.

Is the hostile anti-magic nation to the North to blame? The mysterious land of Marē across their western border, ruled by a rival Queen? Or perhaps the culprit is a little closer to home? One of the eight Great Houses, with their love of rich, lavish, decadence and deft use of power.

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Terra Dei is an original, 21+, high fantasy, courtly/political intrigue, sex-friendly game that takes place in a fictional world ruled by deep lore. We consider ourselves to be advanced literate, with an emphasis on collaborative writing and character development.

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***Features***

- A strict 21+ age gate, 18+ for characters

- An overarching plot with room for plenty of character development and involvement

- Plenty of open positions and characters we would love to see filled

- LGBTQ+ and BIPOC affirming

- Kink Friendly

- All adult scenes behind two verifications

- Literary style posting, multiple paragraphs to novella

- Archival of scenes

- Friendly staff and active players

- Bots aplenty! Tupper, sprinty for those writing moments, and a coins bot for earning vanities and customs

- Writing sample required

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***Most Wanted***

- Arburin, Queen's Consort

- More pirates/privateers

- Family members! Several characters are looking for family members.

https://discord.gg/BG2scb6P6S

#original characters #original rp #fantasy setting #fantasy world #fantasy roleplay #fantasy rp #group oc rp #discord group #group rp #looking for rp #lgbtq inclusive rp #bipoc inclusive rp #high fantasy #not a European world #courtly intrigue rp #political intrigue rp #high drama #but fun #original world rp

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kazz-brekker · 11 hours

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i feel like it says something about the house of the dragon fandom that i have seen more people up in arms about the possibility of an alicent/criston sex scene than were upset about when blood and cheese was confirmed to happen

#i thought we were all in it together to watch characters have drama and make poor life choices…#am i the only one intrigued to see more bizarre courtly love and messed-up fealty dynamics???#pie says stuff #house of the dragon #hotd

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tenth-sentence · 3 months

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The development of the masque into a complicated and lengthy musical dance-drama, calling for many performers and audience participation, reinforced the courtly love image of passive women, but created a serious art form for women as writers, choreographers, designers, prop-makers, costumiers, musicians, artists, stage technicians and managers.

"Normal Women: 900 Years of Making History" - Philippa Gregory

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wardingprotector · 2 years

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thinking thoughts.

#ooc.#gonna add a few other characters to the roster today #semi-canon / npcs mostly #also little prep for future harper's dming #i've got ideas for what my players are gonna get up to post-module for wbtw #and i've started piecing together the barest minimums of a plot #which will involve Courtly Fey Intrigue and Drama #and a ball bc they have been begging me for one since we started #also beach episode

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vermillioncourt-if · 4 months

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In south of the Siji Empire, there is a kingdom the sun favors, staying warm and bright through the year. Clothed in luxuriant ruby red silks, the gold of the sunrays, and adorned in feathers, its people are said to house the spirit of fire within themselves. They live their lives loving, desiring, and hating with incandescent fervor. Fueled by the flames of their namesake and the blessing of the sun, the air is ripe to burst into a unstoppable wildfire. Welcome to the Vermillion Court.

The Vermillion Court is a current WIP and new interactive CYOA novel. The focus is heavily on romance, drama, and the characters. It is inspired by fantasy period-piece C-Dramas (Chinese Dramas) and historical romance manhua/manhwa. It will combine pieces from multiple fantasy period-pieces, both Western and Eastern. It's being written in ChoiceScript.

Note: Because this is still a WIP, some names of characters or places may change. All names are presented as "Last Name" "First Name" and I will provide pronunciation guides in the game as well as on the info pages on the blog!

Genre: Romance, Drama, Court Drama

Rating: 18+ (Will include sexual content, potential violence, and typical warnings attached to fantasy period-pieces)

Tracked Tag: #the vermillion court

Demo || Romance Options || Side Characters || FAQ || Ask Guidelines || Tag Navigation ||

In The Vermillion Court, you are taken to the fantasy period-piece inspired world and continent of Nian. You play as the Fourth Prince or Princess of the Xiatian Kingdom, the child of the King of the Xiatian Kingdom and one of his consorts. As Fourth Prince/Princess, you have a pretty open schedule and a nice cushy life. Being among the first five princes and princesses makes you a prominent enough figure and with six siblings ahead of you in line, no one's really paying attention to what you want to do with your life.

The year is 730 and spring has just given way to the summer season. Various festivals and events are held across the Siji Empire to celebrate the season. At 21-years-old, you're all but happy to attend the social events of the season. Before you leave for the main city, your grandmother informs you that you should look for a partner while there. Apparently your father has been convinced by his favorite wife, Consort Xing, to start marrying you and your siblings off to the other kingdoms. You suspect it has to do with trying to make her son the Crown Prince and are dreading seeing your whole family together again.

Your personal guard and maid accompany you to the capital of Xiatian, where you start a season of festivities, social events, and romance, while also maneuvering the politics of your court and the drama that comes with it.

Play as a man or woman. Choose to be gay, straight, or bisexual

Customize the way you look. Decide what to wear to events to make an impression on the guests

Attend various festivals, parties, and social events to boost your reputation and make allies to help defend you against courtly drama

Choose to romance 1 of 6 characters: your Personal Guard, your Maid, a Lord from the Chuntian Kingdom, a Lady from the Dongtian Kingdom, a Merchant from the Qiutian Kingdom, or a Courtesan

Each route follows the same set of 6 events, but each varies greatly from the others

Find a fiancé(e) before summer ends!

The Fourth Prince/Princess of the Xiatian Kingdom - You (he/him) or (she/her)

You play as the 21-year-old Fourth Prince/Princess of the Xiatian Kingdom. Your father is King Nan Shaimian of the Xiatian Kingdom and your mother is his consort, Consort Huo Qinwen. You are 1 of their 4 children, having 1 older brother and a younger brother and sister, but that fails in comparison to your 18 half-siblings.

You are one of Dowager Queen Nan Niexing's favorite grandchildren, which she proudly states much to the chagrin of your father's 4 other wives.

Appearance: player determined.

Your Personal Guard - Si Huaiqiao (he/him)

Huaiqiao is your personal bodyguard. He is 25-years-old and has been guarding you since you were children. He is very serious and a tad grumpy, always wearing a frown. He doesn't take his job lightly, coming across overprotective, even for a personal guard. He tends to be clueless when it comes to romance, often missing the many women and men flirting with him. You appreciate his work, but maybe you've come to see him more than just your guard?

Appearance: Huaiqiao is a very tall man, standing at around 6'4. He is muscular and fit and is considered to be very attractive. He has straight black hair pulled out of his face that falls to about mid-back when loose. He has clear fair skin and deep black eyes.

Your Maid - Xu Chanyu (she/her)

Chanyu is your personal maid. She is 20-years-old and has been helping you since you were 15. She is a clumsy maid, fumbling over her words and feet quite often but she tries her best and you've come to find her incompetence rather endearing. Besides, it's not like you keep her in your company because she's a good maid, but rather because she's the only assassin who's came close to killing you. Maybe you've come to see her in a different light?

Appearance: Chanyu is a small and lithe woman. She's about 5'0 and is deceptively strong, regularly holding her own against Huaiqiao. Her hair is a dark reddish-brown and her eyes are a dark brown. Her skin is tanned with some freckles.

The Lord from the Chuntian Kingdom - You Kounao (he/him)

Kounao is a noble from the Chuntian Kingdom who's arrived at the Xiatian Kingdom as a diplomatic envoy. He is 21-years-old and is suave and charming. It's easy to see why the Chuntian Kingdom sent him as one of their envoys. Despite holding a position of importance, he tends to be a bit immature and childish, enjoying playing pranks on the other envoys who accompanied him. You find his company refreshing. Maybe you could pursue him as a potential husband?

Appearance: Kounao is man of average height and build, standing at about 5'9. He is fit, but not muscular. He is of partial foreign descent with clear brown skin and short straight black hair. His eyes are dark brown, nearly black.

The Lady from the Dongtian Kingdom - Shen Sandong (she/her)

Sandong is a noble from the Dongtian Kingdom who's arrived at the Xiatian Kingdom as a diplomatic envoy. She is 22-years-old and is very quiet. Her facial expression doesn't change much and she prefers to keep to herself. She doesn't have much to say, but enjoys letting you talk. She's a welcome change of pace to the typically hectic palace. Her icy demeanor intimidates some people, but maybe you find it charming?

Appearnace: Sandong is a woman of average height at about 5'5. She is beautiful with long straight black hair and icy blue eyes. Her skin is pale and clear. She is thicker with a fuller figure than her counterparts from other kingdoms.

The Merchant from the Qiutian Kingdom - Wei Duqiong (he/him)

Duqiong is a merchant from the Qiutian Kingdom who's come to the Xiatian Kingdom to boost his sales during the festival. He is 23-years-old and comes off as a bit shady. He's an effective business man able to charm even the hardest of buyers, but he's very private about his life, not enjoying small talk. You find him to be mysterious and intriguing, not really having met someone like him before. Maybe you'd like to take the time to get to know him better?

Appearance: Duqiong is a tall man standing at around 6'0. He is thin and lean. He appears to be from partial foreign descent. He has medium-length straight blonde hair pulled into a low ponytail and warm brown eyes. He has smooth light brown skin.

The Courtesan - Wu Nahou (she/her)

Nahou is a courtesan from one of the more popular courtesan houses in the city. Unlike her some of sisters, Nahou doesn't provide any physical services and just entertains at parties by playing music, dancing, and reciting poetry. She is 24-years-old and is pleasant and demure while working. Off the clock, she is more rowdy with strong opinions and a confident, self-assured attitude. Maybe you'd like to spend more time with her?

Appearance: Nahou is a shorter woman at about 5'3. She is of partial foreign descent with wavy red hair and hazel eyes. Her skin is pale with freckles and she's considered to be very beautiful. Her frame is more slight and willowy than simply thin.

#the vermillion court #interactive novel #interactive story #if wip #if game #interactive fiction #text based game #hosted games #choicescript

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theresattrpgforthat · 6 months

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Hi! I'd like to run a game that's Jane Austen-esque or a political/social drama with fantasy elements. Think A Court of Fey and Flowers, except I don't want to subscribe to their channel so I haven't actually seen it. Fairy settings in particular would be appreciated! Thank you in advance

THEME: Political and Social Drama

Hello, I think I have a really fun collection of options for you to take a peek at. We’ve got fairies, we’ve got secrets, and we’ve got drama!

Fey Court Chaos, by Mabbly.

Fey aristocrats party the equinox away. You have been invited by the most prestigious monarchs of this wild magical land. Parlay with potential allies, humiliate your enemies, & impress those worth impressing–but avoid getting kicked out yourself!

Fey Court Chaos is a party-based tabletop role-playing game designed to let you escalate a royal ball into dramatic highs and lows. You will need a pool of dice or coins to play. Any kind will do, but the fancier the better!

This is a game about trying to make a name for yourself while possibly ruining the status of your companions. You’ll wager points of Reputation every time you do something risky, with the risks rising depending on the status of the person you’re interacting with. Success means a rise in reputation or learning a juicy secret. Failure means losing someone’s favour, or even giving one of your own secrets away! If you love fantasy faerie settings, this game gives you all the basics, and has advice for the game runner as well. You should definitely check it out!

The 147th Annual Necromancer’s Ball, by Meghan Cross.

You are cordially invited…

The 147th Necromancer's Ball is a one page TTRPG about necromancy and feeling fancy for a GM and 3-6 players played with a single d6.

You are necromancers attending The 147th Necromancer's Ball, dressed to the nines with your familiars in tow. You are ready to have a wonderful time, but more than that you are ready to show your rival once and for all that you are better than them by displaying your social prowess (and maybe even winning Necromancer of the Year.)

But not everything goes according to plan when a party crasher shows up to ruin the evening for everyone - and it is up to you to stop them and save the party!

This is a game all about being dramatic as fuck and also petty as fuck. You can roll Necromancy when you want to do magic or command the undead, and you roll Feeling Fancy when you engage in social entanglements or navigate the ball. Showing that you’re the Necromancer of the Year won’t be easy, especially once a party crasher shows up to complicate things - and possibly steal your chances of winning!

If you love silly games, as well as taking time to describe just how drop-dead (pardon the pun) gorgeous you look, this might be your game.

Avalon Society, by Martian Machinery.

Avalon Society is a game about courtly love and intrigue, and the conflict between passion and duty. You'll play knights, lords, ladies, upstarts, pretenders, unknowns, or possibly a changeling or a sorcerer. Pull swords out of stones, break curses, ascend to the round table, duel your rivals, or even fall in love with them. It’s up to you.

Avalon Society is a setting created for Good Society, which is the game of social intrigue, and in fact, the game that helped build A Court of Fae and Flowers! Good Society takes place in the same time as Jane Austen’s novels, but Avalon Society replaces character roles and family backgrounds in order to represent an Arthurian story. The court also shifts seasonally, which feels very reminiscent of a fairy court. The biggest downside - you also have to buy Good Society in order to use this supplement.

Townhouse Dracula, by Tenbear.

You have the opportunity to attend a dinner party at the one and only Townhouse Dracula. Here you will vie for Dracula’s favour, which includes eternal life and power beyond your imagination.

To decide who gains this power Dracula puts party guests through a gauntlet of past memories. Guests do their best to impress Dracula and convince them that they would be an asset to have in the Dracula lineage.

Townhouse Dracula presents the players with scenarios that their characters will have to navigate, trying to piece together Dracula’s memories when they might not have all the answers.

This is first and foremost an improv game, so it’s good for people who like coming up with pieces of a story on the fly. You’ll get tokens as rewards for being funny, clever, bold, kind, etc. At the end of the game, you’ll tally your score and determine whether or not you become part of Dracula’s lineage. If you like the mysterious allure of vampires and want to stretch your storytelling muscles, you might want to check out this game.

Tax Cuts and Pixie Dust, by Weird Blue Yonder.

The home of a sordid assortment of terrible woodland spirits doing terrible things in a desperate bid to sit atop the Fairy Throne.

You are those woodland spirits, and election season is just around the corner…

Tax Cuts and Pixie Dust is probably the most political game on this list. It uses pretty standard faerie tropes - you can be an elf, a leprechaun, a banshee… even a giant! All of you are supposed to be part of the same party, but you all secretly want the throne!

This is a game about dirty politicians, with the humour and camp turned up to allow you to get really ridiculous with it. The resolution system involves building small dice pools of d6’s, tallying successes to see how you fared. The GM is responsible for presenting scenarios and complications, which are present in a few roll tables. At the end of elections you vote on each player’s position in the new court, and that’s game!

Butterfly Court, by mishagw.

In Butterfly Court, you will play as a member of the titular Butterfly Court, the court of the monarchy of the kingdom Praecia. This is a court intrigue game that uses the No Dice No Masters system, based on Avery Alder's Belonging Outside Belonging games.

This is a storytelling, roleplaying game, where players portray members of a court, but not necessarily the monarch or the heir. Instead, the game focuses on everyday lives, intrigue, relationships, obligations, and myriad other concerns of the regular people in the court: nobles, but also staff, servants, artists, and other people that make court life possible.

Butterfly Court doesn’t dictate who you are exactly, but it leaves a broad space for different kinds of supernatural beings. So if you want faeries, this game is certainly able to take place in a faerie court. The game is designed to pit your characters into situations that are difficult for the country at large: rebellions, scandals, famine, crime, etc. You also create factions that have different methods and priorities.

Everything that you create together is shared communally, because Butterfly Court uses a GM-less, diceless game system. This means that you’ll each have shared authority over where the story goes next, although there is a cycle of play that helps you move from one scene to the next. I think that the idea of this being a game about different factions navigating political turmoil has the potential to be represented really well through a collaborative system like this.

Games I've Recommended in the Past

If you want something more like Jane Austen, you might like Le Bon Ton! If you like equal parts adventure and social intrigue, then Household might be for you.

#tabletop games #indie ttrpgs #dnd #game recommendations #asks #indie ttrpg #social intrigue #social games

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s-aint-elmo · 1 year

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digging out the eah content i created in a frenzy during last year’s summer of obsession part 1: my personal sapphic multishipping guide (created to explain to my friends which of these dolls i think should hold hands)

(more in-depth discussion of the ships below the cut)

the polycule that will take over ever after

kitty/lizzie; kitty/maddie; maddie/lizzie

self-explanatory. frequently purchased together do not separate. bonus shoutout to maddie canonically giving kitty a little kissie on the cheek and getting off scot-free in the books though. a wonderlandiful world was a banquet to me

cedar protection squad

once again a wonderlandiful world and once upon a time i owe you my life. kitty ESP being so adamant abt not giving a shit then turning around and fucking up those boys who were mean to cedar...... i love friendship

kitty/cerise

also self-explanatory. she was a catgirl she was a wolfgirl can i make it anymore obvious. also doribuki’s phenomenal fake dating fanfic....... transformative foundational transcendental

cerise/raven

YOU MUST UNDERSTAND. i entered eah a rapple shipper and exited the book series ready to burn at the stake for cerise/raven. book two was SO MUCH. it had everything. raven befriending cerise despite her attempts to isolate herself. texting in class. winking at each other. raven meeting the parents and hearing embarrassing baby cerise stories. cerise putting it all on the line to save raven. i’m ambivalent about shadow high but cerise gets literally one (1) mention and it’s in raven’s internal monologue wherein she equates cerise’s hood w feelings of warmth and safety. like how was that in any way necessary. i rest my case

raven & maddie

self-explanatory as well. dabesties. the ride or dies. it means so much to me that raven always has a friend in maddie no matter how many clowns and jokers (derogatory) treat her like the antichrist. maddie the character ever

raven/apple

WHAT IT SAYS ON THE TIN. the gelphie dynamic is a classic and i am EXTREMELY vulnerable to it. they are THE ship and i will pay my respects to the end of time. i am a big fan of how they trade their roles throughout the franchise and how rich the drama and history are between them. it’s pure fucking poetry.

raven/darling

TBH. a serve. the only thing juicier than evil queen/damsel in distress is evil queen/princess charming. big big fan of darling giving raven the five star princess treatment after a lifetime of being feared and shunned and vilified. equally big fan of raven’s momentous act of rebellion giving darling the courage to be true to herself. ALSO. the absolute archetype-subversion slay of the Pure-Hearted Hero(TM) confronting the Mistress of Evil(TM) and dropping their sword. looking through the smoke and mirrors and the will of Fate itself to see the girl who has wanted nothing but to be kind beneath. swearing their heart and soul and sword to the one true good they have found. picture it. i can almost see the 100-word drabble

raven/apple/darling

now THIS is just THE fairytale couple. the evil queen, the damsel in distress and the princess charming ALL holding hands and riding off into the sunset together. dappling on its own doesn’t do it for me but raven in the mix just makes everything gel perfectly. she’s the tomato in the ratatouille the cornstarch in the spring roll water, etc etc

darling/holly

this is one of those ships where i read a really convincing fic and the more i thought of it the more it just made sense. like they'd read swashbucklers and tales of courtly love together. holly would 100% write a darling placeholder in her self-insert romance fanfic pre-relationship as a way to express her feelings. darling would 100% find out and gently pull her out of the pit of sheer mortification she drilled into the ground to escape. also the height difference is a thing of beauty

safe from the polycule

duchess/poppy

they have one singular episode to their name and it was enough. it was Everything. the dynamic you can extrapolate from that one single interaction is so incredibly appealing to me. duchess’s bitchiness belied by her palpable air of vulnerability coming up against poppy’s spine of steel tempered by her skill in gaining perspective. poppy can challenge duchess into being a better person and duchess can be poppy’s character flaw like idk she just has shit taste in women that was the price she had to pay to be moisturized and unbothered by destiny. i just think they have the potential to be the unexpected, inexplicable power couple of eah

briar/faybelle

do i even need to say anything they had a whole movie to make their case. they’re rapple if rapple got their shit together before armageddon, with the bonus of a potential curse-breaking true love’s kiss for the fanfic authors to thrash between their teeth. truly unlimited. also unlike rapple where raven is 100% against being a villain and therefore it’s apple who has to do the mental gymnastics to open herself to the possibility of a relationship w raven, faybelle is just chomping at the bit to make her momma proud and presents a compelling perspective for the whole “falling in love w your fated nemesis” thing

blondie/cupid

they are icons, they are legends, and they ARE the moment. these two are so chaotic individually, what with blondie’s criminal skillset and habit of menacing innocent woodland creatures and cupid’s matchmaking powers combined w her shitty aim, that putting them together can only mean good things. there’s this whole element of their shared passion as public figures who at their best seek the truth and guide others through matters of the heart respectively that’s always interesting as a point of irony/obstacle when they start catching feelings and have to decide what to do with them. their joint youtuber/podcaster slay can level nations

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