#delete l8r

Book 6 Spoilers, Minor Analysis On Idia Shroud

I remember reading a fanfiction about wlw Idia and there came a part where Idia would have to get into an arranged marriage even if Idia doesn’t even like them, considering he needs to continue his bloodline regardless. Which is kind of sad to think about depending on whatever you can head canon him as. 

Like, imagine having to marry someone who you aren’t remotely attracted to and required to bear their child in the near future to continue your legacy and heck, you might not even be attracted to women (talking about Idia in this case, if you headcanon as such. I think he's bisexual though, but still.)

But what I like to think is that since Ortho gained his own sentience since Book 6, I imagine him taking the role of STYX instead of Idia so then Idia could really do whatever. After all, Idia probably HAD his own aspirations but never attempted since he’s so locked on his own destiny + no hope in pursuing love since he'd expected to have it assigned anyway in the future even though he has some interest in love (playing otome / dating sims).

I wouldn’t blame him for attempting to commit suicide after his overblot either since I’d also find myself incredibly hopeless in his spot (shoutout to Vil though for stopping him and aside from the whole entire dead brother thing. Like yeah, unable to find a suited partner who is able to carry on the Shroud curse? Arranged marriage. Oh? So you have other aspirations? Well the research regarding over blots is a more important priority.

Realistically, I find an arrange marriage more likely to happen after he graduates. He'll go back to the Island of Woe and work in STYX since he rejected all the colleges and internships (forgot which vignette / story where it's said.)

Whether or not you and Idia had an established relationship is up to your imagination, but I find if he was merely crushing then it'll be more tragic, since he would never experienced what he wanted to have.

If he did have a male lover then I'd think Idia would always be yearning for Male!Insert (will be using the word "you" from now on, you can perceive this as WLW if thats you’re head-canon.) but could never get a grasp on you ever again given his circumstances.

So, you will always remain in the back of his mind as you were the person Idia had ever, genuinely liked, instead of a stranger he was forced to marry because of his curse. Sometimes, he'd find himself daydreaming about you, other times, he looks back on memories with you.

Idia would notice random things that would remind him of you or things that you two experienced together like a game. On specific days or specific moods he'd stare at the window longingly, just thinking about you and reminiscing what he couldn't have. He's not the type to bear religious guilt at all nor does he live in a homophobic family, but it's simply because of circumstance, it wasn't meant to be.

Idia is the type to always, and I mean always listen to his brain; the "logical" part of his mind. But his heart remains heavy by the simple thought of you. The thought of the two of you running away together lingered in his mind. But so was the burden and the responsibility of STYX.

I had this thought for a month or two and I had to get it out of my system, it might be a bad take though, sorry if it is. I think some of these ideas work with mlw too, but I had mlm / wlw in mind. I only write gender-neutral for my own sake. I was considering to do something similar regarding this premise but I think using gender-neutral may take away the weight that's given for the idea. I found myself almost writing a fanfiction towards the end and realized I had to stop there because I'd like to keep my work gender-neutral. So I'd rather wait until someone makes a similar premise (please @ me if you do!) Moreover, I feel like this could be somewhat flexible where it becomes a consensual lavender marriage. (AKA by documentation, married. In reality? They have their own people they liked but due to circumstance, an arranged marriage had to happen.)

Oh and good news, I managed to bypass the school network since they blocked Tumblr on my laptop. It was a bit of a hassle to break through the protection wall but I persisted. Just recently broke my foot though but don't worry, I will post more fanfictions in the near future too. Still burnt out from finishing so many WIPs last month though.