𝔟𝔩𝔞𝔠𝔨 𝔮𝔲𝔢𝔢𝔫

a series of dialogue prompts from the 2021 dracula re-telling.  feel free to change pronouns as you see fit ! cw; gore, sexual themes, emotional abuse, & toxic relationships

❛ i never dreamed it would end like this. ❜ 

❛ there is no horror left in this world that can surprise me. ❜

❛ eventually, even your death becomes its own sort of inevitability. ❜

❛ i was so happy to be your marionette, at first. ❜

❛ am i sick to still think on you softly, even after all the blood and broken promises? ❜

❛ this is my last love letter to you, though some would call it a confession. ❜

❛ war is never valiant, only crude and hideous. ❜

❛ good. when life fails you, spite will not. ❜

❛ i will raise you out of the dirt and into queenship. and, i will give you your vengeance. ❜

❛ i wanted to break them, even more slowly and painfully than they had broken me, leave them bleeding out and begging for mercy. ❜

❛ water your mother’s flowers with their blood. ❜

❛ in this world, you are what i say you are, and i say you are a ghost. ❜

❛ bloodlust brings on a delirium that’s difficult to describe. ❜

❛ i have loved you too long to imagine you do anything without an ulterior motive. ❜

❛ i’ve never been looked at before. like that. ❜

❛ what is more lovely, after all, than a monster undone with want? ❜

❛ i was your little mouse, kept in a gilded cage until it was time for the cat to play. ❜

❛ i knew nothing except the strength of your arms and the scent of your hair. ❜

❛ your priest’s bedtime stories cannot account for us. ❜

❛ to know oneself, one’s limits and abilities, is its own power. ❜

❛ i was alone, and i was scared. i had no home left to speak of. ❜

❛ and god, how i adored you. it went beyond love, beyond devotion. ❜

❛ i wanted to dash myself against your rocks like a wave, to obliterate my old self and see what rose shining and new from the sea foam. ❜

❛ you turned a strong-minded girl into a pulsing wound of need. ❜

❛ what would you have me do, as ruler? ❜

❛ are you sure you aren’t a holy man come to lecture me on the sins of excess? ❜

❛ i was well-acquainted with violence by then. ❜

❛ but I had never outgrown my thirst for vengeance. ❜

❛ in my mind, i was god’s lovely angel of judgement, come to unsheathe the sword of divine wrath against those who truly deserved it. ❜

❛ you mocked my lofty aspirations, cynical as ever. ❜

❛ when will you give up this ridiculous crusade? ❜

❛ there was a darkness in your eyes and a tightness to your mouth i hadn’t noticed before—or perhaps hadn’t wanted to. ❜

❛ i would never leave you, my love. not for the entirety of my second life. ❜

❛ you seemed to me a fire burning in the woods. i was drawn in by your enticing, smoky darkness, a darkness that still stirs memories of safety, of autumn, of home. ❜

❛ it was like grasping at a flame. i never penetrated to the burning heart of you, only came away with empty, scorched fingers. ❜

❛ whenever we were apart, you left your essence caught in my hair, in my clothes. i scented the taste of it on the wind, I shivered and ached for it. ❜

❛ i was happy to spend countless lifetimes chasing the warmth coming off you, even though the haze was clouding my vision. ❜

❛ my piety was a sporadic, half-feral thing, sometimes lashing out at god with teeth bared, other times nuzzling against his loving providence like a kitten. ❜

❛ i felt my heart tumble down through my ribs and hit the ground. ❜

❛ it tortured me, how perfect you looked. i wanted to pull you behind the carriage and drain you dry. ❜

❛ i wanted to crawl between whatever was blossoming between the two of you and live there. ❜

❛ you’ve found cruelty to be an effective tool. ❜

❛ do you want her for your own? ❜

❛ ours is a solitary existence. it would be good for you to have a friend. ❜

❛ it’s as easy as breathing. one foot and then the other. and don’t overthink it. ❜

❛ you must never overthink any good and pleasurable thing. ❜

❛ you must sit with me tonight at dinner. i must have you close. i want us to be the best of friends. ❜

❛ i think i shall never marry, my lord. i will simply take lovers and never let any man shackle me with wedding vows. ❜

❛ am i to be bidden to my own bed like a dog invited to beg at the master’s table? ❜

❛ desire makes idiots of all of us. but you already knew that part, didn’t you? ❜

❛ there was an uncontrollable fire in you that was hard to look away from, much less resist. ❜

❛ all vampires find some way to stave off the monotony of an endless life, with hedonism or asceticism or a rotating door of lovers. ❜

❛ i’m talking about us, you and i. let’s be honest with each other, for once. ❜

❛ love was no girlhood game. it was an iron yoke, forged in fire and heavy to wear. ❜

❛ laying with you made me feel so vibrantly alive. it was almost enough to make me forget that i was already dead. ❜

❛ this is about your obsession with justice, isn’t it? ❜

❛ i was suspicious, and even more dangerously, i was curious. ❜

❛ i was the love that started it all, wasn’t i? ❜

❛ it has been a long time since i have felt clean. ❜

❛ like christ, i had become intimately acquainted with violence and the sins of the world, but i had not come away unblemished. ❜

❛ but it was not god who spoke.it was you. ❜

❛ you could have kissed me or slit my throat and either would have made as much sense. ❜

❛ i don’t know what I had been thinking, supposing i was strong enough to leave. ❜

❛ you made it into an art form, this quiet sort of violence. ❜

❛ i want to live. but i want to live in the world, not on the outskirts of it. ❜

❛ love is violence, my darling, it is a thunderstorm that tears apart your world. ❜

❛ love makes monsters of us, [ name ] and not everyone is cut out for monstrosity. ❜

❛ [ name], our sunlight, our destroyer. my prince cast in marble and gold. ❜

❛ he was as inevitable as a revolution, and heralded in just as much violence. ❜

❛ potential. you always loved that word. you were drawn to potential like a shark to blood. ❜

❛ look around you. what sort of life is this? ❜

❛ i craved you like maidens crave the grave, the way death burns for human touch: inconsolably, unrelentingly, aching for the annihilation in your kiss. ❜

❛ i still wanted to believe I was living in a fairy tale, that i laid down every night with a prince instead of a wolf. ❜

❛ before your time dear, just some dreadful victorians. ❜

❛ it took every ounce of self-control i had not to pin him down and tear out his throat. ❜

❛ the world has no place for us, we are wanderers by nature, lions among lambs. ❜

❛ we cannot exist only for each other. ❜

❛ i had never allowed myself to want this because i assumed it wasn’t a possibility. ❜

❛ i love you. look at me, [ name ], my jewel, my wife. i love you. don’t do this. ❜

❛ i was tired of waiting expectantly at your tomb every night for you to rise and bring light into my world once again. ❜

❛ i made you into my private christ, supplicated with my own dark devotions. nothing existed beyond the range of your exacting gaze, not even me. ❜

❛ i apologize if you were expecting contrition, my lord. i don’t have any to muster. ❜

❛ here's your demon, do what you will with him. ❜

❛  i will already know, as i am continuously with you. forced to bear witness to the awkwardness that is twenty-one-year-old humans.  ❜ ❛  you do not have the right to burn what is mine.  ❜ ❛  [name], remember it's only the body that's fragile. you are unbreakable.  ❜ ❛  i'm still not making it easy. but you and i are not easy people.  ❜ ❛  the hardest battles aren't fought with weapons but with the heart.  ❜ ❛  strength of courage is more important than physical strength.  ❜ ❛  you're my gravity. nothing in my world works without you.  ❜ ❛  you're capable of hurting me in ways i'm not sure you've even begun to fathom, [name]. i might be skilled enough to land a death blow, but you alone have the power to fucking destroy me.  ❜ ❛  i'm a fucking fool for saying this, but when haven't i been a fool when it comes to you?  ❜ ❛  as complicated as our connection is, it's also undeniably simple. he's the horizon, and nothing exists beyond for me.  ❜ ❛  i'm sorry if you expect me to do the noble thing. i warned you. i'm not sweet or soft or kind, and you fell anyway. this is what you get, [name] - me. the good, the bad, the unforgivable. all of it. i am yours.  ❜ ❛  i think i liked you better before you decided that feelings were something we need to discuss.  ❜ ❛  how long do you think it takes for someone to fall out of love?  ❜ ❛  love doesn't even have the decency to die. it just transforms into abject misery.  ❜ ❛  i love you. the world does not exists for me beyond you.  ❜ ❛  i chose you not as my next, but as my last, and should you fall, then i will follow.  ❜ ❛  i would have done the same thing you did because i'm just as reckless for you as you are for me.  ❜ ❛  don't offer me your body unless you're offering me everything. i want you more than i want to fuck you. i want those three little words back.  ❜ ❛  that trick you mentioned? you know, with the fingers? thanks.  ❜ ❛  me? argue with you about books? i only pick fights i can win.  ❜ ❛  the four of us stick together. that's the deal. we make it to graduation, no matter what.  ❜ ❛  yeah, well, it cost me you.  ❜ ❛  i need to know you'll be there. that no matter what happens, you'll come back so we can talk it out or fight it out.  ❜ ❛  i know who you really are, [name]. even when you keep things from me, i know you.  ❜ ❛  all this time, you've been convincing everyone you're the hero, and now you'll be the villain ... especially in her story.  ❜ ❛  that question insults me.  ❜ ❛  whatever is going through that beautiful mind, i'm here for it.  ❜ ❛  i want you more than my next breath, but i can't fuck you into looking at me like you used to. i refuse to use sex as a tool to get you back.  ❜ ❛  shit. what is this? jealousy? anxiety? insecurity?  ❜ ❛  are you trying to bring me to my knees? or win the argument?  ❜ ❛  just remember who trained me.  ❜ ❛  you never let me have any fun.  ❜ ❛  you want to know something true? something real? i love you. i'm in love with you.  ❜ ❛  less than a minute. that's how long it took for you to fall out of love with me.  ❜ ❛  i'd rather you scream at me than pretend everything is all right with silence.  ❜ ❛  so scared i'm pretty sure either my heart's going to give out or i'm about to shit myself.  ❜ ❛  you want full disclosure when it comes to me, right?  ❜ ❛  you aren't where i left you, [name].  ❜ ❛  stories can change depending on who tells them.  ❜ ❛  i don't miss the woman i was, the one who didn't know her strength.  ❜

ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴍʏ ʜᴀʟꜰ-ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴍʏ ᴛʜʀᴏɴᴇ, ᴏʀ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʜɪꜱ ʜᴇᴀᴅ.

ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴍʏ ʜᴀʟꜰ-ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴍʏ ᴛʜʀᴏɴᴇ, ᴏʀ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʜɪꜱ ʜᴇᴀᴅ.

ᴛᴇʟʟ ᴍʏ ʜᴀʟꜰ-ʙʀᴏᴛʜᴇʀ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴍʏ ᴛʜʀᴏɴᴇ, ᴏʀ ɪ ᴡɪʟʟ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʜɪꜱ ʜᴇᴀᴅ.

becoming elizabeth.

the following prompts were taken from the starz series becoming elizabeth, a period drama set in tudor england, following the life of the future queen elizabeth the first after her father’s death, & during her brother’s reign. some prompts have been lightly edited for roleplaying suitability. please note — these prompts may include mentions of blood, war, death, & other things some might find upsetting. feel free to change pronouns & prompts as you see fit !

❛ the [ king / queen ] is dead. long live the [ king / queen. ] ❜

❛ there. you’ve said your goodbyes now. ❜

❛ can a [ king / queen / title ] not speak for themselves ? ❜

❛ wait for instructions, & have faith. ❜

❛ already the wheels are turning, & no - one even takes breath to grieve. ❜

❛ they won’t make us wait to marry, will they ? ❜

❛ we’re ahead of them all for now. we need to keep it that way. ❜

❛ don’t let them see you doing that. ❜

❛ you’re not a child anymore, you’re the [ king / queen / title. ] ❜

❛ the court can be a forest of opinion, with no clear path through it. ❜

❛ you saw how they swarmed around [ name ], even as they were dying. ❜

❛ a great hole has opened up in the world, & men are going to be scrambling to fill it. ❜

❛ the more you let in, the more you leave yourself exposed. ❜

❛ a [ king / queen ] is made by marriage to a [ queen / king. ] whether they’re dead or alive is not the issue. ❜

❛ to act like age is any protection from the designs of men ! ❜

❛ you look thin & you look sad. ❜

❛ pay no attention to the designs of men. they forget them as quickly as they make them. ❜

❛ i’ve seen it many times, [ name ], you galloping away from the trouble you started. ❜

❛ well, how disappointing to be remembered for what i am, rather than who i am. status over personhood. ❜

❛ would you have remembered me if it was not for my status ? ❜

❛ what do you think you’re doing, barely dressed & out here ? ❜

❛ what devil down there is playing finger puppets with us all ? ❜

❛ yes, i am still here, full of regret, & shame, & wine. ❜

❛ so have your tutors assigned me as something for you to study ? what lesson am i ? ❜

❛ we’ll find you a bucket of water for you to dunk your head in, sober you up. ❜

❛ please stop flirting so outrageously with [ name ] ! ❜

❛ you’re offering me the [ king’s / queen’s ] ear, are you ? ❜

❛ actually, i’d like to offer you the [ king’s / queen’s ] hand. ❜

❛ best marry you while i have the chance, then. ❜

❛ i shouldn’t have to send an army to fetch a [ husband / wife ] for myself. ❜

❛ your & my opinions, [ name ], are best kept to ourselves, for they are of no worth. ❜

❛ i don’t believe i outrank anyone, really. ❜

❛ you up here craving power, [ name / title ] ?  ❜

❛ ah, well, i’m quite sick of decisions, myself; quite overwhelmed by them. ❜

❛ you learn much more about your parents after they’re dead than you ever did when they were alive. ❜

❛ so, what had you done to deserve a clap in the face ? ❜

❛ i had ideas of marrying people i should not, & i was sent away for it. ❜

❛ there have been a great number of movements at court. ❜

❛ i only wanted to know more of court. ❜

❛ i’m still in mourning, & you’d now have me gossip with you like a fishwife ? ❜

❛ i carry the sins of my [ mother / father. ] ❜

❛ i never dreamt you’d have such new & sudden - found maturity. ❜

❛ wait ? to be sold off again to the highest bidder ? how do you think i ended up in [ name ]’s bed to start with ? ❜

❛ no [ man / woman ] with any wit should allow themselves to become a piece for barter in other people’s games. ❜

❛ i’ve been trapped at court like a fly under a glass. ❜

❛ if only problems at home were as easily solved as they are here, with a sword & some strength of character. ❜

❛ i dread the day when my enemies have managed to pay for your sword. ❜

❛ perhaps you would permit me to ride with you one day. ❜

❛ have you really been as foolish as i hear you’ve been ? ❜

❛ you consider me a valuable piece in this game, whether you admit it or not. ❜

❛ is no - one to marry for love ? ❜

❛ do you know what rooms like this become for women ? cattle sales, as owners barter over our value. ❜

❛ it’s treason, what we’ve done. ❜

❛ speak for your own weakness, & your frailty, & your lack of ambition. ❜

❛ you really expect me to believe you married them for love ? ❜

❛ i trust you no more than i trust a rabid dog. ❜

❛ well, war is never over. so with any luck, you’ll still get yourself killed. ❜

❛ i wanted not to look a fool ! ❜

❛ talk like this again, i will have you whipped. ❜

❛ some still say you’re a bastard. ❜

❛ i should strike you for thinking such a thing. ❜

❛ you think i’ve ever got what i wanted ? ❜

❛ never be sorry for a personality, [ name. ] ❜

❛ i find it hard to picture you a matchmaker. ❜

❛ if only we were all free. free to act as we choose. to do what we want. if only. ❜

❛ [ name / title ], do you not know what this sound requires of you ? ❜

❛ pray, when will you stop torturing me ? ❜

❛ i wanted to check if you were always going to look at me like this, or if it were only temporary. ❜

❛ i am sorry that my marriage caused this. ❜

❛ believe it or not, your opinion means a great deal to me. ❜

❛ i will end up like my [ father / mother / relative ], banished & alone. ❜

❛ the world wants us at odds, we don’t have to let it be that way. ❜

❛ people pay far less heed to what i’m doing thank you think, [ name. ] ❜

❛ i have no effect on the standing of anyone in this world. ❜

❛ i’m not trying to hurt you, i’m trying to warn you. ❜

❛ i have no opinion on who or what you marry. you are of no consequence to me. ❜

❛ for your safety, your sanity, come to me. ❜

❛ it was, as you so often tell me, a hideous time, so why do you need these reminders of it ? ❜

❛ everyone thinks i am a fool to have married you.❜

❛ i won’t speak ill of any [ man / woman ] with ambition. ❜

❛ all women are used. choose who to be used by. ❜

❛ i suppose other people’s money is an easy currency to spend. ❜

❛ we will not surrender because you feel the strain on your wrist reaching into your pocket, or because you were born without pride. ❜

❛ if this is the price of staying at court, i will return to the country. ❜

❛ spied on by royalty, what an honour. ❜

❛ why must i always be the spectator ? why can’t i just this once play the part ? ❜

❛ if only you held the scripture a little more dear. ❜

❛ i worry sometimes that history’s going to repeat itself. ❜

❛ you may hiss & tease & hate me, but you may not disbelieve me when i say that you are magnificent, for you are. ❜

❛ you may well ruin my life, [ name. ] & i’d fucking let you, if you’d like to. ❜

❛ i have seen sensible men & sensible women die all around me, & yet i stay standing. ❜

❛ i wish you’d tell me who you’re writing to, with such impenetrable dedication. ❜

❛ i’m old enough to make my own decisions without counsel. ❜

❛ the country is a powder keg. our duty is to stop anyone lighting either fuse. ❜

❛ spring has come & gone, my love. all should be renewed. ❜

❛ if you do still mourn them, know that the dead want us free, for they are. ❜

❛ i would not keep reading a letter that has caused as much pain as that one has. ❜

❛ they are a loaded canon, & the game of court is to see which gunner can fire their rage in the right direction. ❜

❛ forgive me, [ name ], but i cannot fuck the threat away this time. ❜

❛ freedom comes by the leave of others, i’ve learned. ❜

❛ i do not believe you have the ability to keep your word. ❜

❛ you wish me to tear apart my own family & my own country ? ❜

❛ it’s quite extraordinary how people can see so much, but they cannot see themselves. ❜

❛ i think they don’t scheme & plot against you & i. i think they don’t think of us at all. ❜

❛ beauty really is wasted on the young. you don’t use it, or believe in it, & just when you start to, it disappears. ❜

❛ somewhat forgotten now, though, aren’t you ? ❜

❛ even i can divine the true purpose of these celebrations, & they’re not for me. ❜

❛ do i have your leave to speak freely ? i’d hate to presume the right to an opinion again. ❜

❛ you wield your power as a royal readily enough, so you clearly have not forgotten it. ❜

❛ perhaps just mind that others have not your power. ❜

❛ you know me. why can’t you take my side ? ❜

❛ i will always be on your side against those that wrong you, but when you use your energy in shitting on those weaker, i choose neutrality. ❜

❛ i’m sure it was unpleasant to be you just then, but it’s most unsettling to be me, & to have caused it. ❜

❛ my dress is only for tonight. do not spoil it, else my revelation of tolerance for you will be short - lived indeed. ❜

❛ do you know how awful it is, to be forced to live with that bastard ? ❜

❛ i know who you are now, [ name. ] i will not speak out of turn to you again. ❜

❛ i take no pleasure, though, in making myself small to ease the fears of others. ❜

❛ lord, how will things ever be done with these constant dances we must perform ? ❜

❛ i am the [ king / queen / title ], not you ! i am to be consulted, i am to be obeyed ! ❜

❛ i am not even given say over myself, it seems. ❜

❛ you are in this room not to rule, but to learn from those that do — from me. ❜

❛ look, we’re not gonna have a performance over last night, are we ? ❜

❛ i married a [ man / woman ] of little wit or judgement. ❜

❛ i believe you may think you saw something last night that you did not. ❜

❛ i did not believe that you had been cast in the same mold as your [ mother / father / relative. ] ❜

❛ we cannot replay this moment. choose carefully how you act in it. ❜

❛ i tried to teach you the way this great game we find ourselves in is played. well, even if i say it myself, i have been a most excellent teacher. ❜

❛ what will it be, then ? it isn’t how it seemed, or, [ she / he ] seduced me ? ❜

❛ forgive me, i skipped ahead. you are in two minds over something else ? ❜

❛ i’m glad you know the truth without me telling you, & my mind without me speaking it ! ❜

❛ you do yourself a disservice to pretend to be so cold. ❜

❛ did you think them a better puppet if you used your cock instead of strings ? ❜

❛ choose [ her / him ], if you want. it won’t end well for them, for you. ❜

❛ i would that we had been married long ago. ❜

❛ the way the world thinks of you, what it says, is precious. it can protect you, or it can end you. ❜

❛ what you’ve done does not matter. it’s what people think you have done is all that matters now. ❜

❛ affection must not slip into overfamiliarity. ❜

❛ i know you find me rude, [ name. ] i do apologize for it every time  ❜

❛ no letters have come for you. i have told you i would tell you if they did. ❜

❛ i imagined you’d taken a silly fancy to them. but this … ❜

❛ how knowledgeable you are in these matters. ❜

❛ if word gets out, then we will both lose our heads. ❜

❛ what pain you have caused, & shame you have brought. ❜

❛ i thought you were planning to marry me to the [ king / queen / title. ] ❜

❛ never forget that you’re worth more than any [ man / woman ] who’s lucky to marry you. ❜

❛ do you know what they say of you ? ❜

❛ how can i know what others say when i’m not there ? ❜

❛ i’m sorry for the letter i sent. ❜

❛ i know you think yourself cleverer than me, & in truth, you may well be right. ❜

❛ even the cleverest need learn, & for that, they must listen to those with experience. trust me, i have plenty. ❜

❛ you will come with me to court, & we’ll show the lies for what they are. ❜

❛ whose idea was it for you to come here, of all places ? ❜

❛ they wish us to fight it out to the death & hope they’re standing behind a winner at the end. ❜

❛ don’t hand me the power to destroy you & then ask me not to use it. ❜

❛ you trying to stuff your wad into every young purse with a claim to the throne ? ❜

❛ i hate this. it’s like watching a greek tragedy, the end foretold from the start. ❜

❛ i haven’t come to fight with you. let’s do something that we enjoy. ❜

❛ there’s been enough gossip flapping around your house that it took flight & reached mine. ❜

❛ are you so very proud of your own actions that you present this face to me ? ❜

❛ after all that you have been through, all that i have seen & admired, you choose this ? ❜

❛ all your fine tutors of latin & greek, yet no - one taught you this ? ❜

❛ you wouldn’t look at me like that if you knew what i had done. ❜

❛ i know you are taken to drama, [ name ], but you could have spared it on this one occasion. ❜

❛ you are the only player in this game worrying about the rules. ❜

❛ as god persectures me, i think his greatest trick is that he leaves you still well alone. ❜

❛ your view out onto the world, [ name ], is a little different from the one that the rest of us have. ❜

❛ i’ve spent my whole life waiting for men to prove themselves honourable, but no matter how decent or pious, they all had their price. ❜

❛ ambition is much admired in men, but derided in women. ❜

❛ the crown forgives your absence, & welcomes your return. ❜

❛ it has been three nights you’ve spent in my garden, staring up at my window. ❜

❛ if there’s one thing i’ve come to learn is an inevitability with you, [ name ], it’s that you change your mind as often as the sea. ❜

❛ when we last spoke, you said you were in love with me. ❜

❛ i’ve come to you for a new life, not for us to beat ourselves with misery & the past. ❜

❛ i’d been all but banished from this place, but i fought my way back. ❜

❛ i will not give up my victories to marry in the shadows. ❜

❛ you know, sometimes it’s good to share your worries with an inferior, inconsequential person. ❜

❛ i know you will not believe that you owe me an explanation, but try to take my word for it here when i tell you that you fucking do. ❜

❛ i’ve made a mistake, haven’t i ? this choice, it was the wrong one. ❜

❛ this is a chance to make something good & whole from the ruins of before. ❜

❛ it’s too late for what is good, what is easy, but you can still do what is right. ❜

❛ they say you are refusing to speak. do you wish me to have you tortured ? ❜

❛ is this what love looks like, coming from you ? ❜

❛ i believe i’m allowed the privacy of my own feelings if kept within my own head. ❜

❛ i hoped you would continue to have goodwill towards me. ❜

❛ what conclusions you draw, without ever hearing my testimony. ❜

❛ well, you must be very pleased, having poisoned every man against me. ❜

❛ what cannot be cured must be endured, [ name. ] ❜

❛ i, too, have done deeds & said things in order to keep myself safe. they will sit heavy on your heart the rest of your life. ❜

❛ what happened to you all ? everyone & everything came back quite changed. ❜

❛ having, seemingly with great surprise, discovered yourself unpopular, must you flap & hiss like a goose at any hand of friendship extended to you ? ❜

❛ if the hand is yours, [ name ], you best keep it out of my reach, or else i’ll break it. ❜

❛ i have always stood by you, & now i only ask you for what you’ve always had of me. ❜

❛ you must stop that. no [ husband / wife ] will stand for that kind of boldness. ❜

❛ you cannot allow yourself to be sold off to another court. ❜

❛ you were always so keen to prove that our positions in this world were alike. ❜

❛ stop fighting to stay free, as if our hands are not already tied, as if they haven’t always been. ❜

❛ if this was the path god decided, you wouldn’t have to struggle to stay on it. ❜

❛ i wish i had listened to you long ago. ❜

❛  love marriages are for peasants wishing to fuck without sin. ❜

❛ unlike everyone else, choosing their path based on what has the least risk & what has the most gain, you simply do what you believe is right. i have never known anything like it. ❜

❛ the story for me here is already writ. i knew it long ago, i always have. & i know the end. however … perhaps i do not need to stay for it. ❜

❛ if you wish to hide from me, do not hide in places that i’ve shown you are good for hiding in. ❜

❛ i know you hold them in great disdain, but do you know how like them you are ? ❜

❛ we can do what you want, we can do whatever you like, please, please, just don’t go in there. ❜

❛ how dare you act as if my life was as simple as this, & that only you know that ? ❜

❛ i can apologise to you later, but first just answer the question … do you love me ? ❜

❛ if you do this, you are on your own. ❜

❛ why do you assume they will return your loyalty just because you have decided to give it ? ❜

❛ i didn’t know where to go, & so i found myself riding here. ❜

❛ you haven’t thought of me at all since i left, have you ? ❜

❛ i see you are determined to make amends, but perhaps start with actions, rather than words. ❜

❛ why do you ask me to do that when you know that i can’t ? ❜

❛ i wonder if we’d have thought it worth all the death & blood we spent in changing the world the first time if we’d known it’d be changing back. ❜

❛ i feel like i’m meant to apologize for being in here. ❜

❛ it is an impossible thing i am looking at now, but then again, i have lived through impossible times before. ❜

❛ i’m here for the one who came to me & promised me freedom. ❜

❛ i did believe that you had taken flight from both court & your sense as some sort of protest at the injustice in your life. ❜

❛ i suppose neither of us had possession of one another. ❜

❛ i’m sorry to have not remained in mourning for you for the rest of my life. ❜

❛ we’re married, or do you sometimes forget ? ❜

❛ you want to upset the whole world to give you, what, power ? ❜

❛ if you wish to murder me, [ name ], do it better ! ❜

❛ whenever there’s a chance of power, a man will always come to a woman who can give it to them. ❜

❛ enough damage, enough lives have been lost in pursuit of want rather than duty. ❜

❛ i believe i am worth your attention right now, for what other option do you have ? ❜

❛ you’d perhaps have done better to keep me as a friend. ❜

❛ you can’t change the game we find ourselves in. you can only play it. ❜

❛ i fear my own family just as much as i fear yours. ❜

❛ do you think you do not somehow answer to me, [ name ] ? for you do. ❜

❛ quite the unfortunate hand you played, [ name. ] ❜

❛ the truth that hits me again & again is that i have no love for you. ❜

❛ i know you like to think that i am raised up while you are trodden down. ❜

❛ you could choose the quiet life, & you do not. you choose this. ❜

Royalty AU - Promised at birth

Royalty AU - To end a war

Royalty AU - Marriage Law - every royal must marry a commoner chosen by the advisor to keep the bloodlines clean

Mythology - Foretold by the gods

Mythology - The prophecy said, so Person A and Person B are here to get hitched!

Mythology - Hades and Persephone AU

Regency AU - Either Person A or Person B is in danger of being ruined socially

Regency AU - Person A inheriting Person B’s father’s estate and the only way to keep Person B’s family out of the poor house is for Person B to marry Person A.

Regency AU - One of them compromised the other

Old West AU - Mail Order Spouse(Person A) to keep Person B’s house bc Person B is a dirty single person and a mess alone

Old West AU - Person A needs money to pay off their debtors, Person B needs a spouse for decency’s sake. Also, there are horses.

Old West AU - Person A’s parents sent them out west to marry someone. That someone is Person B and Person B is also the only sheriff round these parts.

It’s the law (Marriage law with chosen partners)

Medieval AU - To unite Person A and Person B’s houses

Medieval AU - Person A’s father chose Person B, also it’s the law

Medieval AU - to End a feud

Viking AU - Person A is traded to the Vikings for safe passage and is subsequently married to the jarl’s oldest child, Person B. 

Pirate AU - Person A’s crew raided the village and their cut of the booty is a locked chest. With Person B inside. 

Fae AU - Person A’s hapless parents promised them to the Fae King (Person B)

Fae AU - The Fae King (Person A) tricks Person B into eating something in Faerie. 

“Don’t worry, I would never touch you.”

“We’re all the other has now, we’d do well to play nice”

“You don’t have to love me.”

“It’s just until we produce an heir…”

“I’m not expecting anything from you.”