Daughter of fantasy villains decides to rebel against her parents by actually going through with her arranged marriage to a local golden retriever of a prince instead of running off with some local villain-to-be or conquering said golden retrieverās kingdom and ruling it solo like her parents expect her to. Plus, sue her, sheās into the clean-cut earnest look.
At the same time, local prince charming discovers that heās actually very into the gothic fiance his parents have landed him with in order to try and establish peace with the local evil lair down the lane, he would never have guessed a spiderweb pattern could look so fetching on a ball gownā¦?
Meanwhile, two pairs of parents in a tizzy because they both expected their offspring to whole-heartedly reject this union and give them an excuse to conquer their goody-two-shoes/evil neighbours, theyāre not supposed to actually like each other-!
respective friend groups undergoing culture clash like all of prince charmingās knights are like what vile spell has been used to ensorcel our prince.Ā we must be on our guard for surely this is but a ruse for an assassination attempt
meanwhile the villain brideās friends are all like clearly he loves you not, why do you persist in a manner that will ensure your own heart break, i mean if he was taking this seriously there would be at least three assassination attempts by now.Ā itās like he doesnāt even notice that you have massive amounts of dark power to covet for his own
smashcut to
fully armored knight, clanging through the hallways in attempts at stealth, blades drawn: iām just saying, i took an oath of protection.Ā this feels wrong.
prince charming: itās not wrong, itās celebrating cross cultural traditions for my beloved bride
knight: itās attempted murder
prince charming: itās a loving attempted murder
@chucktaylorupsetĀ Meanwhile the bride has a bouquet of roses, cornflowers, and wheat sheaves on her desk in her room, and sheās not coming out until sheās written a beautiful and moving poem about how they favourably compare to her groom. Itās been three days. Sheās gone through an entire ravenās worth of quills (unethically sourced). The ātoads who used to be my friendsā list has gone up by one. But sheās bent dark forces and eldritch spirits to her will and, by the powers obscene, this will not be the thing that breaks her.
Sorceress friend: Please, just get him an amulet that will double his power at the cost of his soul, no oneās worth this.
Rebellious villainess: (nearly in tears) No, he brought his best knights to the castle and tried to kill me last week, at midnight, I canāt ignore something like that! He even kicked Cathulhu!
Sorceress friend: He nudged it with his foot. And then he apologized to it. In tears.
Rebellious villainess: (actually in tears now, for reasons of feels instead of poetic torment) Heās trying so hard!!!
Villainess: Beloathed, I need a goat.
Prince: Of course, darling - may I inquire as to what for?
Villainess: Blood sacrifice to the dark gods, you know how it is.
Prince: ā¦
Prince: ā¦darling, you know I support your lifestyle choices, but I must say this before it potentially happens.
Prince: Iām not all right with human sacrifice. Thatās one of my boundaries. I donāt know if you do that or not, but it seemed a topical time to bring it up.
Villainess: (carefree laugh) Oh beloathed, donāt worry yourself about such things, I would never!
Villainess: (leading him off to the goat market) Only incompetents use actual humans. Skilled practitioners of the dark arts know that a goat is not only a sufficient sacrifice, but the superior one.
Prince: You donāt say? Fascinating!
@sapphire-monkey One of the nobles against the marriage in the princeās kingdom invites the villainess to a local villageās blessing ritual, secure in the knowledge that itās not only custom to wear the absolute palest white or undyed linen/woolen clothing one owns, itās a requirement of the ritual and sacrilegious to do otherwise. Letās see you deal with that miss all-black-wardrobe.
She arrives in diaphanous white silk edged with lace that gives the impression of beautifully tattered hems, all of it drifting gently around her on the spring breeze to give the feeling of a wraith from a haunted castle or something of the such. While not her personal cup of tea, she finds the ritual very moving, and absolutely understands why its one of her beloathedās favorites.
One of the nobles from her kingdom, meanwhile, decides, fuck it, and just turns the prince into a frog. It takes her two minutes to find and fix him.
Villain noble: How.
Villainess: True loveās kiss, bitch.
Villain noble: (seethes)
The prince, meanwhile, pissed off the entire villainous court for the recent engagement ball that was held by knowing and responding accordingly to all the proper threats and insults. He studied before doing this, and heās not going to shame darling in front of her peers! Bastard even managed to subdue his chivalry long enough to flirt with one of her friends right in front of her, how dare he be so considerate and sensitive to her needs like that-!?
First time the Prince finds out Villainess can transform into a gigantic fire-breathing dragon is a very O_OU moment for him.
Villainess: Are you surprised I can? Itās a common ability.
Prince: I didnāt want to assume.
Villainess: ā¦
Prince: (sweats)
Villainess: ā¦youāre picturing me turning into a dragon and riding on my back into battle, arenāt you?
Prince: N-no, no, of course not-!
Villainess: (drapes in his lap) Itās okay, weād look fantastic. (sly expression) And probably scary enough to get the enemy forces to surrender without any needless bloodshed.
Prince: (sweating) Darling, are you trying to tempt me into putting you into a position where you could be injured in battle?
Villainess: A little. :3 (more seriously) But it is also on the table if we ever need to defend our throne. Itās the sort of thing that formās for, really.
Prince: If youāre comfortable with it, then very well, it shall be added to the list of acceptable strategies.
(comfortable cuddling for a moment)
Prince: I imagine you make a very majestic dragon.
Villainess: (preening) I really do.
Prince: Perhaps we should have a tapestry done of it, then? It could hang opposite the one of my familyās crest in the throne room when we someday ascend the thrones ourselves.
Villainess: 8O! Beloathed, I would adore a tapestry of that! (cuddles further against him) Oh, and across from your family crest! That would be such a slap in the face to my parents, having a tapestry of me there instead of their own crest.
Prince: (hadnāt thought of it that way, but is happy that sheās happy)
Villainess comes in one night thoroughly out of sorts because her stupid cousinās decided to make a move on her rights to the souls of their ancestors, and the jerkās competent enough to actually have a potential chance at getting them, too, like heād even wear the necklace of jewels theyāre trapped in-!!!
The Prince listens patiently to her frustration until sheās finished, then considers for a few minutes.
āDarling, about that banquet your familyās having next fortnight - will your cousin be in attendance?ā
āYes, heāll be using it to lay the groundwork of his plans. Why?ā
āWould it be all right if I popped in for a bit? And was rather more⦠myself than I usually am around your parents?ā
āā¦I suppose itād be all right.ā
āWonderful!ā (kisses her hand) āPerhaps wear those full-arm gloves your friend got you for the event - the ones that allow you to handle blessed objects without them interfering with your dark powers?ā
āWell now Iām just curious. I shall do as you request, beloathed.ā
The night of he shows up to the banquet positively radiating charm, good will, and benevolence, decked out in full armor thatās glowing slightly. Oh this? Itās the ancestral trappings of one of his relatives who was a champion of the stellar deities, those who guide ones who have become lost in darkness? Heās not a holy champion himself, but he is a fully-realized warrior of light and family, so heās permitted to wear it at times. Oh yes, he completed his warrior of light trials when he was eighteen, when on a quest and everything! Thatās where he earned his sword - itās actually a shard of sunlight, you know, not metal. Thatās why heās called Prince of the Sun and Stars sometimes - bit of a grandiose title, really, but the artists and poets enjoy playing with the imagery, and who is he to deny them, especially when Darling is so fond of the stars herself! Thereās a lass in one of the kingdomās villages doing a portrait of the two of them together playing with that motif, actually, and it looks like itās going to to be absolutely lovely when itās done-
And he continues to be cheerful, charming, and just the nicest, most polite guy for the time heās there while also reminding everyone in no uncertain terms that, for as long as the forces of evil have been trying to quash the forces of good, his side has been working at the opposite. And his side tends to win more often. And maybe it would be wise not to pick a fight with Darling because heād hate to have to do battle with a potential in-law in the path of supporting her familyās traditions regarding people who cross themā¦
Jerk cousin is thoroughly cowed out of making an attempt at the family-filled jewels, and Villainessās friends are standing with her off to the side going, āOkay, beginning to see what you see in him now.ā Villainess herself is walking around with on safely-gloved hand on his arm as he intimidates the hell out of everyone she knows in order to help her protect whatās hers, swooning a little bit inside the whole time.
(Hers might be more diversely applicable, but Villainess isnāt the only one bringing something to the table in terms of power. Prince is generally more useful for things like getting birds to sing in chorus or making friends with bunnies, but his family does specialize in slaying evil. She may be skilled at facing enemies of all sorts, but heās prepared specifically for anyone in her home court who might try to backstab her.)
@ninjakittenarmyĀ Is the gown made of actual spider silk. Because that sounds fitting, especially since spider silk is actually a really good material.
Princess: āYou like it? Itās made of giant spider silk straight from the underdark!ā
Prince: Oh uh thatās really- wait, you can make clothes out of spider silk?
Princess: Yeah! Itās really tough too! You can even make light armor out of it.
The two have a several hours long conversation about spider agriculture. The prince receives spider silk under armor as a wedding gift.
Oh my gods, yes, absolutely!
@imaginapalminthemorningĀ #Addams family origin storyĀ
Congratulations, you are officially the smartest person on the entire thread, holy flip-?!?
Villainess is chilling in Princeās court one day and a lady of the court storms up to her in tears, make-up running, and is just, āOne of your friends turned my fiance into a newt, a newt, and he fell in the moat before I could catch him and I donāt know how to find him, or how to change him back if I do find him, and the library only has information on frog and bear transformations, and no one knows what to to do and youāre the only person who might know what to do, please help me-!ā (bursts into inconsolable tears)
This throws Villainess through a loop, people donāt tend to whole-heartedly throw their trust in others like this at her place, this is super unsettling, so she just responds in the way she usually would, āOh? And what price are you willing to pay?ā
āAnything.ā
ā¦ooooooooh that is so, so tempting, why are people in this court so earnest, donāt they realize that the reason the higher nobles are worried about her marriage to their prince is the very real potential that she could use this opportunity to cast their country and its people into a thousand years of ruin and despair, bare minimumā¦?! But it would make Darling unhappy if sheās too mean about this, so, āHow about your dignity, then? First off, weāll have to get you out of that dressā¦ā (seductive smirk and cock of the hips)
Court lady: (still in tears but hands immediately go to her bodice laces to start undoing)
Villainess: (grabbing her hands) OKAY, WHOA, HOLD UP, WEāRE IN THE MIDDLE OF COURT, HAVE SOME STANDARDS!!! Just- just go put on something you donāt mind getting all messed up, weāre going to have to get in the moat a bit for this, and even the edges are all muddy.
Court lady: Oh. (sniffles) Okay. Thank-you.
They spend the next three hours dredging around the moat to find the right newt and then perform the right ceremony to turn him human again. He appears naked and covered in mud and court lady unabashedly flings herself into his arms, sobbing in relief this time, and itās disgustingly wholesome and romantic.
Newt Lordling: (once heās finished doing a bit of sobbing of his own into his fianceās hair) Wait, arenāt you Neskatinaās friend? Could you tell her that my sister likes daffodils? Girls, and daffodils? I tried to tell her myself, but the newt thing happened before I could get past asking her to stop with the threatening letters. We- we really donāt send those around here unless we mean it, sheās been finding it a bit upsetting. Daffodils would be much better received.
Villainess: ā¦noted.
I thought about them more and⦠thereās no way Court Lady isnāt going to decide to be friends with Villainess after all this, is there? She helped her save her fiance when she thought him lost to her forever and had nowhere else to turn, they did what amounts to a mini quest together, theyāre friends now. Villainess has no idea how to handle it when the next court function comes along and Court Lady scampers over (tear-free this time) and proceeds to spend a decent amount of the evening with her just being⦠so unabashedly friendly. Itās unnerving.
Prince: Sheās grateful to you and wants to be friends.
Villainess: (glowering suspiciously) Sounds fake.
Prince: She thinks youāre nice.
Villainess: Disgusting.
She still goes when Court Lady invites her on a trip to the meadows with some of the other ladies to pick greens, all of them surprised by the discovery that going out to gather flowers and useful herbs and such is something ladies from both courts do from time to time (though for very different reasons). Itās common sense to wear an older outfit thatās all right to get a bit grass- or mud-stained (ladies from the Princeās court call them their ādaisy dresses,ā Villainess and her friends call them āgathering gownsā), and Villainess is kind of shocked that the pretty nobles from her beloathedās court do this sort of thing.
The ladies all titter, then itās story time, because you can bet most of them have a heroic/clever/wise relative somewhere in the family tree who was born a peasant and married or gained nobility for some feat or other, and itās fun to have someone new in the group who hasnāt heard all the stories before. Villainess is surprised again, because she does actually know some of these stories, but from the relatives of the villain involved (usually told in a āyouāll never guess what so-and-soās idiot relative got thwarted overā sort of tone). Going on outings like this helps you stay connected to your roots!
Also, Court Lady turns out to be the daughter of the royal apothecary and has a deep knowledge of the properties of various mushrooms. She even knows about poisons because theyāre used in medicine sometimes. Villainess might be starting to like her as a person.
Another lady finds a patch of old teasels and braids them into a crown for Villainess, because āTheyāre all dark and spiky, and about the same colour as your daisy dr- ah, your gathering gown! We tend to make each other flower crowns when we go out, but I thought you might like these better.ā
Villainess: ā¦wonāt they get deceptively yet horribly tangled in my hair, making the crown stay on well but an absolute nightmare to take off?
Lady: (terrified that sheās judged wrong) Yesā¦?
Villainess: (trying so hard not to be horribly touched, sheās just allergic to all these non-lethal flowers, thatās why sheās suddenly feeling sniffly) Thatās really thoughtful of you.
To get a touch spicy - both are shocked to discover that their fiance is under the belief that the alignment theyāre not a part of invented bondage.
Prince: It had to have been a villain that invented it, your sideās the one that gets all clever with ropes and knots and everything!
Villainess: No no no, it must have been your side, because safe words and after care!
They are both very perplexed, but also in absolute agreement that they will not be asking their parents about this.
(Because why go with the trope āgood folks are vanilla in bed and evil folks are spicyā when you could go with āactually oneās moral alignment has no effect on what theyāre into in bed and actually itās a pretty even division of spiciness levels all aroundā and have both groups get tripped up by the discovery?)
@moviegirlsincedisneyā Ā #amazing #I need comics and books and a tv show #also I imagine after neskatina has sent a bouquet of daffodils with a black ribbon binding them together #she receives a letter threatening her for turning the lordling into a newt from the sister #Itās filled with scathing comments the likes of which neskatina has never heard from the lips of the Good Folk #at the end of the letter written in tiny print is a post script saying ādid I do it right? youāre cuteā #Neskatina is disturbed when instead of ruining the effect of the whole letter she is instead only further endeared
^Yes, all of this, good, canon!!!
This has gotten infinitely better since the last time I saw it.
Itās the fantasy equivalent of Ensign Stabby.
You just- just came for me like that, right from the hip, didnāt even blink, Iām never going to recover and Iām so flattered, thank-you!
[Image ID:] A short comic of someone with pointy ears wearing a hat reading something from their laptop, which results in them pulling their hat over their head and screaming. [End ID]
Thereās that semi-common trope in a lot of stuff where the Kingās advisor turns out to be super evil, right? I imagine that could play back into this, where the Princeās fatherās advisor is like. Visibly evil and malicious and conniving, complete with backhanded comments and an unsettling name. And Villainess finally meets him and realizes this immediately. She personally finds him to be one of the most tolerable people in the castle, but she is a bit concerned that the Prince doesnāt know and that this man could cause some out of place stress to her Beloathed. Eventually she decides to tell him, and so later that night she asks about it.
Villainess: Beloathed, what do you think of your fatherās advisor?
Prince: Him? Oh, heās been with the family since my father was a boy. He practically raised Father when my grandfather fell ill. We are lucky to have him with us.
Villainess: ā¦are you aware that heās evil?
Prince: Hm? Oh, yes.
Villainess, now a bit confused: And you havenāt removed him from the job? I would have assumed that your people would not tolerate this kind of darkness, especially so close to power.
Prince, shrugging: Itās kind of a tradition, to be honest. The Kingās advisors have all been evil for⦠well, centuries now. Itās something that mostly goes unspoken. The position tends to corrupt people. Eventually he will reveal a daring plot, and I will defeat him to protect the light and discover something new about the side of good.
Villainess: Hmm. I suppose that makes sense.
And later on the Villainess begins to foil the advisorās plans, mostly because all of them are mediocre and her beloathed deserves a much more challenging trial than that. The Prince is touched that the Villainess is putting this much attention into such a small, unspoken tradition. The advisor is very confused and upset because āwhat do you mean that was a bad plan, I even included poison!ā
you KICK cathulhu? you kick her e̵lĢ·d̶rĢøi̵tĢ·cĢøh̵ Ģ“fĢ“o̵rĢømĢø like ye olde foote ball? oh! oh! dungeon for prince! dungeon for prince for aĢøĶ̧̪ ̶ĢĶĢØĶtĢøĶĶĶh̵ĶĢĶ oĢ·ĢæĶĶuĢ“ĢĢĶsĢ¶Ķ ĢĢ£Ģa̵ĶĢĶnĢ“ĢĢ̰ĢdĢ“ĶĢ Ģ·ĶĢĢyĢ“ĶĶĶe̵ĶĢĢa̶Ķ̳Ķr̵ĶĢĶs̵ĢĶĶ!
8O!!! GUYS, ANOTHER SET OF DESIGNS FOR THESE TWO JUST DROPPED AND THEYāRE GORGEOUS!!!! How is everyone who draws these two so good at character design, holy flip, she looks so elegant and menacing, and the design of his armor is fan-
(notices his hand)
Is- oh gods, heās wearing a ring in the same colour as her jewels, oh thatās such a beautiful, subtle little touch, I love it!
(Also, one of the odd little things I like best about this piece? Somehow these versions of the couple just look like theyād get along with @nananarcās version of them. Theyāre both very distinct takes, but they all feel like they could inhabit the same world, which I choose to interpret as both artists managing to fully encapsulate the vibe of this setting and its characters while also putting their own spins on it. Wonderful!)
Hell yeh theyās totally get along!!! *insert spiderman meme here
(full art)
ā¦okay this might be a bit late and i probs got lost with all the words..but both sides parents still are *fully* against these two dorks being in love right? Like thatās still a thing right?
Oh absolutely, though each side reacts to it differently! The Princeās parents were, of course, hoping this match would provide an opportunity to push the Evil border farther away from their kingdom, because, like. Raiding parties, kidnappers, random monsters, and the like come over to harass the Good kingdomās citizens that live relatively close to the border with decent frequency, and its the crownās job to protect its people, but also Evil tends to be pretty tricky to pin down, and they have no proof that the Evil kingdomās monarchy is directly responsible for these encroachments. And, given that citizens of the Good kingdom do cross the border in the other direction for various quests, tests, and youthful indiscretion at times, it would be unfortunately hypocritical to come to arms over this. The marriage was arranged in the hopes that the Villainess would do something that would finally allow them to escalate matters.
But nope! She and their son just⦠fell in love. True love, no less! And you canāt mess around with true love, itās immoral! And also illegal! True love is a very real and provable thing in this setting, and there are laws protecting those who find it from being forcibly separated from one another. And a lot of those laws are specifically in regards to royalty and nobility finding true love with and marrying unexpected partners. For the starsā sake, Great-Grandpapa was a duck before the whole business with the sorceress and Great-Grandmama, and no one batted an eye at that marriage!
Thus it is with pained smiles and great internal suffering that they welcome the Villainess into the family, and be supportive to their son and his fiance. Theyāre not fooling anyone about how happy they actually are to have her here, but theyāre doing their best, and that does count. (Plus, the Villainess can sense their suffering during her every interaction with them, and it makes her feel and warm and happy inside.)
Meanwhile, the Villainessās parents are just openly furious with her. Theyāre evil, big flashy tantrums arenāt just allowed, theyāre customary. Dammit, they had plans for this marriage and where it could lead! Expansion! Colonization! Enslavement! Torture! Two thousand years of darkness! But noooooo, their daughter has to do something as sooky as fall in love with that dopey-faced twit, and they canāt even retaliate against her properly because technically sheās upholding all their standards by defying conventions, breaking rules, making alliances that are to her own gain and everyone elseās detriment, widening her power base, and generally being insufferable to everyone she cares about.
Theyāre so proud of her, but also how dare she!!!
TL;DR: Both sets of parents are profoundly upset and disappointed with this turn of events, but are also hand-tied to do anything about it due to their own deeply-held beliefs and cultural practices. Itās fun!

























