Portrait Of A Young Woman (details), Giambattista Moroni, 1560–78

"On March 15, 1498, according to the reports of the Ferrarese ambassador in Venice, [Lucrezia] gave birth to a boy who was christened Giovanni (Juan), in memory of her beloved brother, the murdered Duke of Gandía. The official bull declared that the child, delicately described therein as 'the Roman infant' (infans Romanus)." — The Borgias and their enemies 1431-1519 by Christopher Hibbert

@starkhvn, sebastian & elethea - your love of this place…i can feel it. anyone can.

THE SINCERITY IN HIS VOICE CATCHES HER OFF - GUARD, perhaps fereldans were known to be of a blunter nature, but even she was unused to such earnestness. it was plain that the prince meant nothing ill by his words; in fact, she sensed an undercurrent of praise in his tone. but she had spent so long in hostile company in her youth that she was still unsure of what to make of such comments. whether he had some hidden meaning tucked within a phrase somewhere, or if his suggested admiration was simply that. uncomfortable with the vulnerability that came with being so astutely observed — especially coupled with the insinuation that anyone could sense such tenderness from her, she squirms a little beneath his seemingly all - seeing gaze. twisting at the rings on her fingers, and permitting a soft chuckle to huff from her as they walk. "gracious, am i so very obvious? i shall strive to be more discreet in future," mirth ringing in her tone to mask the surprise. she shrugs simply. "it's my home, doesn't everyone love their home?"

even with howe long dead, it felt dangerous to be known to love anything. and love did not quite suffice when it came to the depths of her feeling for gwaren. it was both her child & an extension of her very being. the devotion she felt for the teyrnir was such that it made her feel guilty, at times, to know that she had never loved highever with such ardor. perhaps it was because it was entirely hers - highever had belonged to her parents, and to her brother. gwaren belonged solely to elethea, and it was loved with fittingly possessive ferocity. "she has a sort of stubborn charm, you'll see. i couldn't help it — you must be careful, or she'll grow on you, too."

Kirsty Hume

@altarcup, helaena. do you believe in fate?

"in truth? not particularly, your grace," tone utterly frank, but not dismissive of the question. the fine comb is pulled through the silver strands of the queen's hair with the utmost tenderness & care, making sure not to tug too sharply. perhaps it was strange not to believe in supernatural forces when dragons flew about, but to elethea, they were merely animals. the existence of magic did not mean any mystical hand guided the paths of men. at least not average men, she was pious enough to believe the gods intervened on those worthy enough, but did that count as fate? "what people tend to ordain as fate is typically just ... the consequence of choices made, i think. even if the choice isn't made by those who suffer the consequences."

STARKHVN. The demon didn't lie. I used to be bitterly jealous of my brother. I wanted to be prince. Now everything he had is mine, and he lies in ashes. I keep asking myself: do I want this because it's right or simply to have what I never thought I could? // Sebastian Vael, Independent & Canon Divergent, Written by Holly ©

ASSIGNED CHARACTER ARC:

CORRUPTION ARC. so. you got worse. and i'm not entirely sure i can blame you for it. maybe it was in you all along, hidden and waiting, or maybe someone planted it in you and watched it grow. either way, it's there now and you hold it in your fist like a second heart — this blood, this hunger, this thrill of having teeth and using them. perhaps you are right to. you are a mirror for the hardness of the world, and a mirror that we could all stand to look in more often. it's hard to watch the bleeding bring about more blood, but it is undeniable that you are very good at wounding.

TAGGED BY: @weavrot (on the last blog, oops) TAGGING: @maidmyth, @dinnanshiral, @grewarden, @alveyiat, and anyone else who wants to do it and hasn't yet

Domina (2021-2023) 1.02: Rise

DIFFICULT PERSON TEST.

RESULTS: You are an extremely difficult person to get along with (81.43%).

Corruption

Something's crawling under your skin...

"That's not meant to look like that."

"Your veins are turning black..."

"You're not meant to be blistering like that..."

"I'm worried about what's wrong with you."

"Something's wrong."

"You don't look right, can I help?"

"Wait - why is that black?"

"It's like you're... rotting. From the inside out."

"You need to bandage that before it gets worse."

"How did this happen to you..?"

"You're diseased or something."

"I can see it, crawling through you..."

"Gods help you now."

"We can't fix this, can we? You're just going to rot away."

"It's fine, I'm sure, it just... keeps crawling through me."

"There's some kind of rot in me."

"I can feel it, squirming into my skin."

"Gods, it's getting worse - I can see the lines crawling up."

"How deep does this go into me? My heart?"

"It's in my eyes now, I think."

"I want to cut it out of me, but I don't think I can."

"It all tastes bad."

"There's something... in me... it's bad... I think..."

"I can see the lines crawling up towards my heart..."

PROMPTS FROM THE HUNGER GAMES: CATCHING FIRE *  assorted dialogue from the 2013 film, adjust as necessary

if you die, and i live, i'd have nothing. nobody else that i care about.

it's different for you. your family needs you.

you have to live. for them.

nobody needs me.

i do. i need you.

how does that sound?

what if we set your backyard on fire?

he can't hurt me. there's no one left that i love.

remember who the real enemy is.

we got married... in secret.

we want our love to be eternal.

we've been luckier than most.

i just wanted to say that i didn't know [name]. i only spoke to him once.

he could have killed me, but instead he showed me mercy.

that's a debt i'll never be able to repay.

she wasn't just my ally. she was my friend.

i couldn't save her. i'm sorry.

you guys look amazing.

so what do you think, now that the whole world wants to sleep with you?

i wasn't talking to you.

will you unzip?

thanks. let's do it again sometime.

the way the whole "friend" thing works is you have to tell each other the deep stuff.

what's your favorite color?

now you've stepped over the line.

see, this is why no one lets you make the plans.

you have been our mission from the beginning.

the plan was always to get you out.

people are looking to you, [name].

you've given them an opportunity. they just have to be brave enough to take it.

we have seen a lot of tears here tonight.

you are angry. tell me why.

i'm getting totally screwed over here.

now you wanna kill me again.

nobody decent ever wins the games.

nobody ever wins the games. period. there are survivors. there's no winners.

love is weird.

i would love to borrow that outfit someday.

you look pretty terrifying in that get-up.

i outgrew them.

any secrets worth my time?

unfortunately, i think that's true.

i'm sorry you had to cancel your wedding.

i'm really not in the mood for a lecture.

you don't have to apologize to anybody, including me.

i hardly know anything about you except that you're stubborn and good with a bow.

there's more than that. you just don't want to tell me.

make him pay for it.

any last advice?

stay alive.

she's committed, i'll give her that.

you saved my life. you gave me a chance.

fear does not work as long as there is hope.

you were dead. your heart stopped.

how rude of them.

eyes bright, chins up, smiles on.

we're a team, aren't we?

i am truly sorry.

you both deserved so much better.

i don't want to be with anyone else in there. just you.

that's what i want.

no waving and smiling this time.

i want you to look straight ahead as if the audience and this whole event are beneath you.

that should be easy.

be careful. it's a force field up there.

i think these games are gonna be different.

i guess we're not holding hands anymore.

i don't care about any of them.

i'm here to drink.

you know and i know there's only one person walking out of here, and it's gonna be one of us.

i get to say goodbye.

they will kill us.

whatever game you think you're playing, those out there are not playing it with you.

i don't want you to get hurt.

so how do you like the party?

you could live a hundred lifetimes and never deserve that boy.

you don't want to shoot her.

how about i shoot both of you?

get them out of here.