This explains a lot about mainland chinese mentality
This is from an article called: Talking to your about the Hong kong protests.
They believe that stability is the best thing that has happened to china.
It’s better to keep your head down and just live your life than to live without food.
Plus “patriotic” indoctrination has produced a mentality that:
china’s succes=the ccp’s success=the peoples success.
And to ask for less influence from the mainland or even ask for independence is seen as an insult now towards mainland chinese citizens.
They feel that Hong kongers never had to go trough hardships, even tough anyone who knows basic Hong kong history knows that isn’t true.
This reminds me so much of Nazi germany.
They went trough the same ordeal.
Massive economic problems and a party that promissed to bring prosperity.
The only thing they had to do was shut up, keep your head down and the Führer will take care of it.
And anyone who questions it is “unpatriotic”, “ungratefull” and a traitor.
They honestly think this isn’t about human rights that are being taken away, they think that hong kongers have a “superiority over mainlanders that they don’t want to lose” and “they can’t stand that we’re better now” .
The ccp propaganda and “education” departments did their job well.
article link
catch up inktober from patreon. @anoki requested something parasitic. while i have other things in mind for that prompt, i had to draw one of my favorite parasite oc’s, the Mainlander Queen.
just a nice old lady inviting you into her parlor for a casual tea. nothing to be afraid of.
especially since you’d probably be incapable of feeling fear after getting that close to her.
there would indeed be some differences anon. up top is a mainlander and a rabbit. below them are different ways their offspring could lean.
first kiddo has just a drop of bun blood. they were probably his great great great great grandparents or further. he’s got the rabbit ears and horns that are actually horns and his offspring will always have a tiny hint of rabbit no matter what they mix with even if the ‘rabbit’ parent isn’t around for the birth, because rabbit genes are just that strong. also, black mainlander eyes. he’s mainlander in all the ways that matter but probably has above average magical abilities and resilience (for a mainlander).
second kiddo is a rabbit knockoff. say mainlander mom is single and pregnant and something happens to her. baby is delivered but its too late and rabbit dude isn’t put off by the whole shape shifting changeling thing. if he’s around the baby enough in those first few hours/days, the kid will look kind of like a rabbit. he’ll be shaped like a mainlander, have all the quirks of his real parents (mom’s eyelashes, dad’s hair texture ect.), but he’ll take on the marking’s/ears/horns of his new dad. the horns won’t really be horns though since they’ll be made out of cartilage covered in skin. the eyes are still black and teeth are still shaped like a mainlander’s teeth because he can’t change those. also his whiskers would be more like catfish barbels because mainlanders just can’t do whiskers for some reason. and yes, they would wiggle around emotively. it would be very weird. isn’t built as sturdy and can’t magic as good as a real rabbit.
third kiddo is just their straight up child. several deformities, too many bits, too few bits, can have black or colored eyes or no eyes at all, the general shape of a mainlander with rabbit features trying to ram their way through. two different magics bare knuckle boxing inside of a fetus. pretty sturdy despite setbacks and can magic garbage to real good depending on how good their rabbit parent was at magic.
and fourth kiddo would be a grand kid with more rabbit blood. a lot more stable, a lot more likely to have the right number of digits and colored eyes. that bloodline is gonna carry some quirks for a while though.
for you last question: even if the rabbit parent isn’t there, rabbit genes will show themselves somewhow. especially the closer you get to a 50/50 hybrid. a mainlander can’t hide the fact that they gave birth to a half rabbit.
the Royals have always been interested in rabbits just because they’re naturally curious and rabbit sort of scare/amuse them. the problem with rabbits (and hares) is that even the Royal’s powerful glamor wears off weirdly fast for them. the only reason baby hybrids trick their rabbit/hare parents most of the time is because their pheromones are enhanced by their rabbit/hare blood, parent and baby are very close, its only a short period of time, and there’s already an emotional attachment. the Royals are powerful but most rabbits don’t have super strong feelings towards them and even less are regularly close to them. a rabbit just walking into a Royal’s palace would take a little too long to fall under the spell and they’d shake it off much quicker than anyone should. they would see what the royals are and know what they’re getting into.
not to say there aren’t rabbits who would jump head first into romancing a giant shape shifting fae monster but most have more common sense.
there are stories of rabbits and hares and even vultures glimpsed in the royal courts. you could probably count them all on one hand but they’re there. IF a rabbit went the way of the royal’s usual lovers (aka not a one night stand) i imagine the child would be quite a...sight. i figure the rabbit carrying the child wouldn’t have the comfort of the broody spell that mainlanders fall for. they would know what was up with their baby and why and how and they would be pissed. or maybe they wouldn’t, and how much more terrifying would that be? because that either means they’re so in love/ loyal to the Royals that they’re willing to sacrifice themselves to this baby, or they fully intend to feed it something else once its born. and if they intend to feed it something else, then what? or who? and could they even survive the birth? and where do they hide before the Royal (who WILL totally kill them and the baby) finds out they’re still around, knowing too much and living too long and raising a potentially troublesome undoubtedly powerful hybrid?
they certainly wouldn’t be in any secret enclaves beyond the walls.
certainly not there.
especially because this is only IF a Royal took a rabbit lover. which would not be a mistake they would make twice.
next question!
mainlander/rabbit hybrids can have wolf genes but the more mainlander blood the more likely the wolf genes will just pass on jacked up teeth and tallness. nothing special unless they want to woo a dentist who likes a challenge. wolf genetics actually pass on more off the island because its very rare for wolves to turn on the mainland (they turn of course but its the kind that’s so slow that it doesn’t look like much of anything unless you track it over an entire lifespan) and therefore more likely that they live unaware normal lives and have babies. yep, wolves aren’t seen for 10-100′s of years on the mainland.
coyotes though. still an issue. at least out beyond the walls where the hares travel.
kind of related to the last Downtrodden ask, today’s spookmas drawing involves the possible outcomes of mainlander babies abandoned in the forest before they’re done shifting completely. these two were pretty far along before their parents dumped them, memories and guesswork got them mostly there, but the wind rustling through tree branches or a bramble patch can do some real work on a half baked bab looking to imitate something living. they’re not the worst off they could be, but they’re pretty much doomed to live beyond the wall their entire lives if they survive somehow. they’d be killed by other mainlanders as monsters if the Royals didn’t have them captured and put in their menageries first. which tbh would probably still kill them because the fascination would wear off and be replaced by that good old ‘you are pretending to be mortals and your whole race is a lie’ feeling which would make the Royals Displeased with them.
none of this is really an issue since though. no mainlanders have reported seeing any adult Orphans in hundreds of years. all the half-shifted babies abandoned in the woods are said to be monsters switched out for their true children by malicious forest spirits.
if there are any out there leading stable lives outside the walls, the only people they would come in contact with would be hare caravans. considering hares originated on the island, they’d probably be pretty friendly with them on principle because their race has seen weirder, maybe they’d even adopt one or two, but they’d keep them really hidden to protect them. if they exist. which they may not.
here’s a bunch sketches that i just can’t bring myself to fiddle with anymore.
a tweaked redesign of Foxglove for the Plauge Saga and the same for the mainlander Lords and Ladies. everyone looks more solid now but maybe i just sucked at drawing a month ago. it will probably be a million years before i do anything with the Lords and Ladies besides drawing them baring their teeth and looking exhausted but they’re fun to try Fashions on.
a few notes.
i’m very aware that all of Lord Caphie’s intimidating demeanor will go out the window once i color in his super garish outfits.
Lady Mirriow just keeps getting taller and her teeth keep getting bigger. she can not be stopped.
Foxglove is turning into a raindrop but i might just lean into it.
Do the mainlanders ever wonder about their anatomy? Or is research frowned upon in case they find out compromising information? I get the feeling that they find it very strange that rabbits "showcase" their injuries, maimings, and *gasp* skulls after death. Though on the other hand, I see you have Lord Caphie with scars across his face. Maybe they distinguish scars from courage and bravado as being above silly rabbits hurting themselves.
eh. they’re as curious as any sapient being about what makes them tick. they have doctors and such, its just that they’re still kind of in their leeches and mystery tonic phase. they’re big on superstition (not witchcraft, witchcraft is lowly and gross) and a lot of their healing practices are built on rituals that don’t do anything or definitely do something but they have no idea what that something specifically is. if you’ve ever listened to the podcast Sawbones, you’ll have the right idea. anyway, they study anatomy because they need to know how to heal people and it would be pretty obvious that something is weird in there to us but to them its just how they’re made. everything else is different because everything else isn’t mainlanders. that’s just whats up.
as for showcasing scars, they do find it weird and there’s actually a long history of touring “Survival Theaters” where curious mainlanders pay to gawks at and listen to the stories of rabbits who have gone through terrible encounters with the island wilderness. this is just as exploitative as it sounds but its a living for heavily disabled rabbits living on the mainland, and if its run by someone decent it can be a good one. Lord Caphie was obsessed with these shows as a child and has grown up preferring the aesthetic of visible scarring (not that he got those babies on purpose, those were shitty blocking’s fault) as a show of survival out of spite towards his family. also he’s terrible with makeup. the rest of his family, scarred as they are, hold no such emotional bonds to their battle scars so they cover that shit up.
the designs for the mainlander King and Queen in their unaltered mortal forms. they usually wear more clothing but i wanted to try out some markings. they’re supposed to loosely resemble the coloring of diederik cuckoos.
here’s some lore:
The Royals: The first thing to know about the Royals is that they can not stand each other. They live in separate homes on opposite ends of mainlander territory. They go to events separately. There is not a person living that was around the last time they were in the same room. Just the thought of being together causes them emotional anguish. The Royals do not handle anguish well. Or emotions really.
The second thing to know is that they’re perfectly normal mortals who, though imbued with godlike powers and bodies unlike normal mainlanders, are clearly a prestigious line of powerful normal mortal peoples and not two unearthly undying creatures from beyond the veil that are mimicking mortal life cycles.
That would be nuts.
Here are some things they definitely haven’t done/aren’t doing.
They went to the world of mortals together just to take a look around and became enamored with it. The way life and death flowed together, the miracle of change, it was amazing. After spending more and more time on the mortal plane they planned to stay there and try it themselves. They left the world of the Veil behind and vowed to never go back, rejoicing in their new adventure. They made bodies for themselves out of creatures they found aesthetically pleasing, molding the parts together in rough facsimiles of their more ethereal forms. Mortals must have proper bodies after all. And they, through the power of their choice and belief that it was so, were mortals now. They were in love and together through their adventure, but life was hard. The longer they stayed, the more time moved oddly for them. They were unchanging and more powerful than ever but the world did not stop for them, did not bend to their will as it had before they made their escape. They railed against this injustice. They had tantrums. They had a child. When neither fixed their situation they rethought the second. They were surprised it could die. They were fascinated that they could cry. The tears softened the flesh of its tiny body and made it easy to roll into the pearlescent orbs that they tossed to the cuckoo birds, the only creatures that would eat them. The only creatures that seemed to get that your children knowing you for what you are, is less important than you both ending up happy. The eggs of these birds hatched into the first mainlanders.
Now they sit in separate homes on separate thrones. They live hundred year ‘lives’, before being carried in solemn processions to moss covered crypts full of long gone friends and lovers and lots of empty tombs where the previous Royals are supposed to lie. In a way they do, select items from corresponding lifetimes are hidden inside them. Dead memories. The ‘current’ Royal is lowered into the newest monument and sealed inside where they reminisce until they fall asleep. They don’t take a long time to be dead. It depresses them. They leave when they’re ready, donning new bodies for their people to proclaim as heirs to the Royal thrones. They are sweet and small and new and no one asks any questions. They choose mothers for themselves since proper mortals are born. Everything is thrown out, new staff is hired, and new castles built because proper mortals come into life with no pasts. They collect people for their courts even though they know what will happen to them after being exposed to them for so long because well, they’re lonely. And proper mortals have family and friends and lovers. And the ones that want to leave are so rare and it takes very little to convince them to stay. The ones that aren’t convinced, well. If they don’t eat the food at their table they’re fine. Ish. If they do, they prepare them as best they can. They have their people watch over them as they try to build new lives outside. Their favorites are the hardest though. There’s usually only one every ‘lifetime’ that they just can’t bear to let go. They see the transformation as a kindness then, a true merging of their essences to create something that mirrors their beautiful time together. Atonement for stealing them away into a life they couldn’t bear and sending them back out into a world that’s not theirs anymore. No matter how little change has happened, there's no way their lives will be normal. There’s less of a chance that their lives will be good. So the child takes their soul and gives them a second chance. And the Royals, now mature enough to know that they’re selfish but still selfish enough not to stop, declare a job well done and proceed to re-fill the new hole in their hearts. Because they’re lonely, and they’re kind enough, and they deserve this.
today we learn about the mainlander castes, their ruling families, and their God Royalty. this is part one since i’m going to put the Royals on their own post.
pictured here we have:
Lord Cahphie (i call his family Fight Club in my head. you’ll see why.)
Lady Mirriow (a mirage brought on by the cacophonous sound of a million hyenas laughing.)
Lady Twaine (child made of coffee and architectural planning.)
and Lady Emelyerat (the pastel priestess who runs this god forsaken show.)
read below the cut to know the things. there are...a lot of things.
Caste system:
Royals: the King and Queen. God ruler bloodlines.
Lords and Ladies: The non-Royal royals. The four officially ruling families and some super rich families. They run around in a system called the courts, which is basically where rich people go to make deals and sneer at other rich people while looking fancy.
The People: Exactly what is says on the tin. The general range of middle class schmucks.
The Grey People: The lower class. Life is hard man, they’re just trying to get by.
Ink Servants: Pretty much slaves. Slavery was outlawed long ago but there is a contract system in place that makes it so people that can afford it can basically go into any prison and buy a person to have them serve out their sentence as their servant. The buyer provides room and board, the Ink Servant works, and since nobody really checks in on most of these arrangements, they just assume that everyone involved is treated with dignity and respect until this rehabilitation period is over. I won’t elaborate further. Its not all criminals though. Sometimes people in dire straits like poor single mothers or the disabled willingly sign themselves onto the contracts to secure housing and safety for their loved ones. Most buyers treat these people more like normal servants but there are some who see no difference between them and the prisoners. In fact, most of society sees them that way.
Courts:
Cahphie (keepers of the natural order): The Cahphie court and their subjects are known as the People Of Peace. This is ironic considering the astonishing amount of civil wars they’ve been in and how the Cahphie family seems to be entirely composed of ultra-petty ticking time bombs. They are a relentless people who hold serious grudges and thrive on pure brute force and cussedness. They treat the caste system as an absolute food chain that is never to be disturbed and are some of the few mainlanders who have no problem with feral animals and beastly behavior, since they feel those traits can be used to great advantage. Despite all this, when viewed from a distance (while holding completely still and radiating fear and respect like your life depends on it because it probably does), they seem pretty chill. The Cahphie are a reactive force at heart, you have to piss them off first. They find no honor in going after people without a reason. But oh man, are they good at finding reasons. The rest of Mainlander society has gotten really good at not doing that though and there hasn’t been a war for ages.
This would be good news for the current Lord Cahphie, who through a fluke in genetics isn’t filled with gallons of barely contained Liquid Fight, but that just means that his court gets bored. Past events say that boredom is more dangerous for his people than actually going to war so his great great grandfather, sick of not having enough excuses to stab people in peacetime, cultivated a strong dueling culture. People in the Cahphie courts duel over just about anything; land, love, the last slice of cake, and Lord Cahphie duels the most. Every day in fact. Every day by law. You see, only the strongest deserve to be at the top and winning duels is the best way to prove you’re still capable of running the Cahphie family. So every day there is a call for challengers and (almost) every day he destroys them. If he loses then one of his siblings or worse, his parents, get a chance to fight him and if he loses to them he loses his position. He’s come close to failure a few times but he’s still ruling ten years in with no sign of flagging. Good news for the court duelists, as he’s much better at non-lethal wins than his kin (much better meaning he tries at all not to murder them as hard as possible). Better news for the People Of Peace in general since his rule has really thinned out the heads on pikes. Neutral news for his family members, who totally aren’t using the dueling tradition to find honorable and legit ways to assassinate him before he has a child and take his place. The lack of a good war is really starting to make them itch.
Relationships With Non Mainlanders: They find Rabbits hardy and admire both their chemical warfare and their survival tactics. They mostly see them as possible cannon fodder/playthings though. They have the same kind of respect that a dude in a wolf shirt has for huskies. Noble creatures who are good enough, but at their core they’re dumb animals compared to Real Foodchain Kings. They respect the Hare’s ability to live their nomadic lifestyles and thrive in the wilderness but mostly hate the fact that they stray into their (at least they claim) lands without permission sometimes. They don’t really deal with Vultures. Vultures have seen too many battle aftermaths to play into the spiel about their honor.
The Mirriows (the blood that rejoices): The Mirriow family and their court are known as The Good Neighbors. This name is apt as the other courts basically go there to party and eat, while occasionally asking to borrow things that they have no intention of returning. Their cities are lively, boasting year round festivals, exciting new fashions, and news from the ships and caravans that stop there. Their food is legendary on the mainland, taking inspirations from the different cultures passing through (yes, even Vultures) and turning out dishes good enough to have local cooks routinely enlisted to cook for The Royals. Their theater and dance scenes have similar acclaim, and simply wandering the night can take you to anything from dramatic historical shows to small jazzy underground burlesque joints. Truly the Mirriow courts are places of happiness and distraction. Forget your sorrows, don’t mind what you saw out of the corner of your eye, and don’t bother reading the fine print sugar. Its probably fine.
Everyone’s not so easily swayed by the Mirriow though. The mix of cultures makes their courts far more accepting of the bending of societal rules, making it known by some as the Unseemly Court. This accusation is usually flung after meeting Lady Mirriow, the personification of the sound that a contract signed in blood makes when it snaps its fingers to a groovy beat. She sashays through life with the aesthetic of a Disney villain, wielding a laugh like a mildly singed saucy velvet painting of a hyena and an amazing Nervous Making Smile. Despite her whole deal, she’s good ruler and her people love her. She takes care of them, carrying on her family’s legacy of generosity, always ready to make deals with others for favors and goods. The amazing gifts and services she gives in exchange for what can usually be seen as trifles to the untrained eye through these friendly contracts keep her in the good graces of the other families and out of most drama. They are totally not ways to subtly manipulate people and find on the books reasons to punish anyone who tries to cross her with near impossible riddle-like fine print clauses that depend on quick clever thinking to make sure she doesn’t own you for life. They are certainly not that. Unrelated, her family is known for their disorienting conversational skills, distractive backhanded flattery, always following through on deals, and the ability to somehow never lie even when you feel like they are lying to your face. They also own a secret trove of very old, very illegal literature that would definitely have gotten their whole bloodline struck down in a bloody rage by the Royals if it was ever found. It’s a good thing its never been found. It’s a good thing everyone is too distracted to look.
Relationships With Non Mainlanders: Rabbits, while still certainly second class citizens as a whole, are treated a little more equally here. This is the only place that they and Hares are really free to act and dress more according to their own cultural ideals. Mostly the ideals mainlanders see as cool but still. Vultures are fans of the area, flying in with all the juicy gossip and relishing in cuisine that actually bothers to include their tastes.
The Twaine( the keys that shape the door ): the Twaine family and their court are known as The Fair Folk. The Twaine are strange, bordering on both the most beloved and most despised by the Royals. The dismissal comes from the fact that Twaine society is focused on forward motion. They’re the inventors and artists who develop housing, transportation, machinery, medicine, and manufacture a good chunk of mainlander goods. They’re driven to build and fix and work. They tend to be smaller and less bombastic than other mainlanders, typically going for simpler aesthetics. The Twaine family even crop their luxurious ears and tails when they come of age, signifying function over form. Despite all of this desire to make new discoveries and help society progress, The Fair Folk rarely do anything new with all this knowledge. This is because at the end of the day they are very loyal to the Royals (perhaps even more loyal than the Emelyerat in some ways), and the Royals have a certain way they want the world to be. So, before anything is made for public use it must be submitted to the Emelyerat for approval. Failure to make your thing official and use it anyway can get you labeled as a degenerate treasonous Witch, a term that doesn’t carry the sweet old aunt fondness of Rabbit society. Mostly because it usually carries a death sentence. Of course sometimes submitting your idea gets the same result so most Fair Folk just keep their ideas to themselves, occasionally writing them down or discussing them with those they really trust, burning the notes afterwards with a swell of love for the Royals, civic pride, and a little fear. Not a lot of fear (they will be quick to tell you) but like. Enough.
On the flip side of all the witch executing, the Royals love the Twaine for their amazing musical ability (more than a few have been summoned to the Royals for lifelong employment) and the sheer level of housekeeping they do for the mainland. They’re quiet and subservient and have no problem being ordered wherever to fix whatever. They’re a boon during natural disasters, getting places looking good as new in no time, and their restoration of older buildings and objects preserve much of the mainland history that is left from the Before Wall times. They also handle the building of the Castles, the twin structures that are destroyed and rebuilt in different locations every hundred years. The Twaine family are the head architects for the Castles and hold their position with pride. The Castles are labors of love (and slight madness), a release of all the creative energy that can’t be put elsewhere. Rooms of amazing art and beauty hidden in blank walls, stairs that descend into a darkness that lasts too long and is full of the sound of far off orchestras and footsteps that aren’t yours, secret gardens that can only be reached by singing at the gates of prismed glass, wash rooms that resemble pools in forest groves where its always twilight and clockwork lightning bugs perform synchronized dances through the trees, ballrooms of scented mist and crystal floors that make dancing feel like gliding over a troubled ocean. All this is done with no input from the Royals. They’re not even supposed to tell them what they’re doing. Sure there are guidelines but each Castle is meant for the next in the Royal bloodline and since no one knows what the child will like they just wing it. Pure freedom.
The current Lady Twaine just became the head of this project and is trying her best not to burn out on the creative power. Her father’s death was unexpected, so with her older brothers dead just years before in a witchcraft scandal and her mother trapped in a cycle of grief she took on the crown. She’s barely 19 and her people describe her as resilient, industrious, mature, and delicate. Mostly she’s just young. Young and tired and possessing an inability to read or exhibit social cues reliably that make her seem more aloof than anxious. She has thirteen years to get caught up on and finish the newest Castles before the next heir is born which is not much time to make something that should entertain your godlike king and queen.
But that’s okay because it isn’t like she ever sleeps.
Relationships With Non Mainlanders: They find Rabbits to be fine workers but they don’t really ‘get’ them. The abstractions in their art, their community based living arrangements, their social structures, and their family allegiances. None of it really makes sense to The Fair Folk. They work closely with Rabbits and share a love of discovery but to some this makes it look like they’re on the same level and they’re not okay with that. They will go through amazing lengths to show a rabbit with the exact same credentials and skill level that they are beneath them. Not in cartoonishly evil ways just… they’re cold. Cold and dismissive. As for the others, they straight up don’t trust Hares (liars and thieves, practically homeless vagabonds) or Vultures (disgusting cannibalistic flying germ factories) but they rely on them to transport materials and goods so they tolerate them and pay them well so they don’t return the saltiness and leave them up shit creek. There will be a paddle though. That paddle just happens to be held by a person on the shore who is snapping it over their knee while staring you straight in the eyes under a banner depicting rude illustrations of you getting sensual with a toilet brush. Of course if anyone drops out of their jobs its just claimed that clearly the mainlanders were right about them all along and how dare they shun their generous offers. The Fair Folk are not popular.
The Emelyerat( the holy uplifted): the Emelyerat family and their court are known as The Gentry and they are the only Lords and Ladies that have the privilege of getting direct holy orders from the Royals. Serving as the clergy for all variations of mainlander religion, the Emelyerat are…enlightened? They’re certainly devout. Taking the Royal’s words as law and shaping the culture and aesthetics to deliver whatever they need from all mainlander kind. They are the ones who write and approve mainlander history. They declare who won what wars and what they were fought for. Not so much editing as strong bias and a tendency to simply eradicate periods of time if the Royals deem it so. They serve them always and think of nothing but their happiness. And how could they not? The King and Queen are just…just…they love them. Their presence is a blessing. Their beauty inspires them and their power gives every mainlander safety in their fold.
The Gentry acquire the best entertainment, the most interesting baubles, and the strongest magics to grant their every wish. So what if the enlistment of certain people into the Royal courts isn’t done with their explicit consent or conscious understanding that they have been spirited away? That good mothers disappear on shopping trips and come back a week later wearing elegant flowing robes with golden beads braided into their new patches of silver fur and breasts completely dry of milk for hungry babs. So what if violent criminals and heretics are granted reprieve from the gallows only for sobbing monstrous beasts warped by magic and in need of hunting to appear in the Royal’s game forests days later? So what if beautiful young mainlanders follow flirty charming people that they’ve strangely never seen around here before into the woods on festival nights and don’t wander back home until its fifty years past? That they appear still twenty odd years old with bright glassy eyes and pregnant bellies and a glow about them that makes their remaining kin not question this gift. This reunion. That they talk about their time away as if it were a dream. The extravagance, the unbridled joy, their lover tall and regal and looking so upset when they reveal their homesickness. No. they were always radiant and loving and they cried the day you asked them where the door outside was. They begged. Begged you to come back to the gardens, to dance and eat more of the strange food. The warmth of their arms around you as you danced the night away. The tantrum. Things breaking. Beautiful crystal shards at your feet. Laughter ringing through the court like spring rain. That first lick of fear. You hadn’t felt it in so long. Your heart was full, you’ll never be happier. You finally notice that they don’t move quite right. Their voice is like honey. A tearful kiss goodbye as the court looks on. You can feel their warm eyes on your belly. You can feel the jealousy.
And now its only been a few days since you left but the baby feels like its almost due now. You can feel it moving and something inside you is screaming a warning but something stronger makes you feel the same glittering euphoria you felt dancing with your Royal lover. Everyone else just looks on, helpful and accepting and you don’t worry about them being in the birthing room with you. Its fine for this. Because someone will need to take care of the baby and you know, through the haze of peace and joy, that it won’t be you. So you let them watch while you expel the opalescent egg and smile at the tiny creature that turns to you when the shell cracks open. Your vision dims as you disappear inside of its hungry mouth but you don’t feel anything. No pain, no fear to accompany the sound of snapping bones. The onlookers coo as you all sense the first glimmer of awareness in its eyes. You feel your consciousness not so much fading as changing, sliding away. You close your eyes. Your baby has grown so much. Surely they’re five or six by now. They look it. Surely the will be happy.
But anyway.
So what? That’s such a small price to pay to bask in their majesty. Not even a price. A gift. A gift that these people find the less divine worthy of company. The current Lady Emelyerat knows all about this gift. As Head Priestess she has been invited to the Royal’s courts many times. Ever since she took the crown at twenty-four she’s been in their confidence. Now, at thirty-eight, she’s a powerful mage who runs the mainland like a well-oiled machine. Forty-nine years of excellent service to the Royals. Traveling from Castle to Castle, solving what problems she can for the people so they don’t have to, putting aside family life to serve. Or rather. Wait. That last one isn’t even an issue as she had no one left after her mother…no no she has a husband. Where was he? They were wed after her coronation. And the boy! I mean son. Sons? Oh what kind of mother was she? How embarrassing. But then again it was so easy to forget these things. Some of them happened at least ninety-three years ago! Speaking of which, her oldest turns three in a few months. She has to remember to do something for him.
She has to remember to.
Her husband will help. He’s so wonderful and.
And he’ll.
He’s.
She probably won’t have time for frivolous activities this week. She’s so busy and the Royals have new projects for her. Having tea with her court or whatever she was thinking about will have to wait. No activity has a greater need than service to her majesties after all! This makes her life a little lonely sometimes but the work is worth it and she’ll have plenty of time to herself when she hands the crown to her future children. No need to fret. She’s only twenty-five after all.
Relationships With Non Mainlanders: All peoples not of mainlander blood are welcome if they wish to swear themselves to the Royals. Sure these people might be lesser in some ways, but that just means they should be uplifted! Through the Royal’s wills all things are possible and all people with open hearts and minds will serve and be loved by Them. And those that don’t? Well.
