#lifes a queue

Alright, as you may know from my intro post, Liz is kidnapped on her sixteenth birthday.

Originally she was supposed to flee after a group of radicals (they call themselves 'the black crown') tried to kill her. See, in my first draft Liz was meant to be queen once she reached a certain age (again, I played around with age quite a lot, and some other factors that could lead to her taking the throne sooner rather than later). Some ppl really weren't happy with that, because Liz has no magical power whatsoever. So even though she is the rightful heir they want her twin brother instead. Otherwise they fear that the magical population (Tehokans) will lose power and strength in favor of non-magical people (Voimatos). To save her life and find alliances, she flees to Belena, an independent city where only Voimatos live. It is run by the 'Council of Thirteen'. Although they are actually striving for a completely different system of rule, the prospect of an allied queen who also has no magical abilities is at least a promising start.

Almost all of that is still happening but the major difference is that Liz now was never meant to be on the throne in the first place. Her parents have decided that Tim is better suited to rule and keep the slowly crumbling peace in the kingdom. They claim that he is the legitimate heir and that Liz is simply not a strong mage, which is why she aims to become a fighter in the royal guard. Liz is generally treated rather subordinately. All in the name of protecting her of course. However, having to put up with yet another king who favors the status quo is not very popular with the Voimatos. Which is why the red alliance, an organization rooted in Belena, tries to intervene by killing all the primary heirs to the throne, aka Liz and her siblings. Their assassination attempt fails when Liz does not respond to their weapons, as she is not a Tehokan. They then decide to take her with them to obtain a political advantage. It think this idea has so much more potential and works in a much better way with Liz as a character. In the first version Liz would've had to leave her country, her people, her family. She'd have never chosen that. She'd have rather died, you know? But for her personal development and to gain a better understanding of the real world and their problems, it was extremely important that she left home. So someone (aka me i guess) had to force her hand a little. This way she still ends up in Belena and learns about what is really going on in the kingdom while also being in line with her character. It also allowed me to add a little (more) family drama which is something that I personally, as a reader and writer, love.

Okayyyy, that's it for now I guess. Let me know if you could understand my reasoning, if you'd have chosen similarly or if you'd have kept the first idea. Also, if you want to, tell me about your story, your character, or some of the changes you made, big or small (I believe that sometimes its the small decisions that make a particularly big difference in the end).

@themaradwrites @manorofshepard @kitcatling @prehistoric-creatures @creativechaosqueen

@chickensarentcheap @inkandimpressions @arrthurpendragon @projecthypocrisy @beyondnibelheim

@serenofroses @sapphirothcrescent @tolliver-j-mortaelwyver @megandaisy9

The White Camellia (Camellia japonica)

The white camellia is a perfect primary symbol for Bianca. In the Victorian language of flowers, it represents "consummate loveliness," perfected loveliness, and affection.

The Symbolism: Unlike roses, which can carry connotations of sharp thorns and passionate, loud romance, the camellia is structured, symmetrical, and serene. It speaks to a quiet, elevated grace and an unblemished nature.

The Deeper Meaning: In Eastern traditions, the camellia symbolizes longevity and faithfulness because the calyx (the green leaves holding the petals) falls away together with the petals when the flower dies, representing a bond that endures even in endings. This mirrors a steadfast devotion that remains intact even through hardship.

Lily of the Valley (Convallaria majalis)

A delicate, bell-shaped woodland flower that grows close to the ground, the Lily of the Valley carries a profound traditional weight.

The Symbolism: It signifies the "return of happiness," humility, and absolute purity. Because it blooms in early spring, it is traditionally seen as a sign of surviving the harshness of winter, bringing hope and sweetness back to the world.

The Deeper Meaning: Despite its fragile, innocent appearance and sweet scent, Lily of the Valley is entirely poisonous if ingested and incredibly hardy in the wild, spreading via an interconnected underground root system. This beautifully symbolizes a character who appears delicate or gentle on the surface but possesses an underlying, fierce protective mechanism and a resilient network of inner strength.

White Anemone (Anemone nemorosa)

Also known as the windflower, the anemone has deep roots in classical mythology, springing from the tears of Aphrodite.

The Symbolism: It carries dual meanings of anticipation, protection against evil, and fragile, fleeting beauty. In darker contexts, it can symbolize forsaken love or the weight of illness and grief.

The Deeper Meaning: The anemone closes up at night and opens its petals to the morning sun, bowing but rarely breaking in the wind. This captures a sense of emotional sensitivity: a character who feels the shifts in the world acutely, carrying a touch of melancholy or tragic grace, yet who remains inherently tied to the light.

White Stephanotis (Stephanotis floribunda)

Often called "Madagascar jasmine" or the "bridaliwreath," this star-shaped vine flower is renowned for its intense, sweet fragrance.

The Symbolism: It traditionally represents marital happiness, a desire to travel, and good fortune.

The Deeper Meaning: As a climbing vine, the stephanotis requires a structure to lean on to grow high, but once established, its vines become incredibly tough and tightly woven. It represents a character whose life is defined by deep, binding connections to others, whose strength is amplified by loyalty, and who brings a distinct, unforgettable presence (much like the flower's perfume) to any space she inhabits.

Edelweiss (Leontopodium nivale)

A rugged, velvety white wildflower that grows in the high, unforgiving altitudes of the Alps.

The Symbolism: Edelweiss symbolizes deep devotion, rugged purity, and noble courage. Historically, fetching an edelweiss flower required climbing dangerous cliffs, making it a token of daring and true love.

The Deeper Meaning: Visually, it looks soft, downy, and star-like, covered in tiny white hairs that protect it from the alpine cold and intense UV rays. This is the ultimate symbol for a "pure" character forced to exist in a harsh, cold, or hostile environment. It shows that her innocence is not a sign of weakness, but a shield that allows her to survive where others wither.

Fantasy Worlds Taglist: (+ / -) please let me know if you would like to be added or removed from the list by a DM or an ask.

@themaradwrites @manorofshepard @kitcatling @prehistoric-creatures @creativechaosqueen

@chickensarentcheap @inkandimpressions @arrthurpendragon @projecthypocrisy @beyondnibelheim

@serenofroses @sapphirothcrescent @tolliver-j-mortaelwyver @megandaisy9

Beyond the Glossy Cover: The Anatomy of Reconstitution

As an author, Bianca knows the difference between a polished final manuscript and the messy, chaotic first draft. And let's be entirely honest: the physical resurrection of Sephiroth's body within that glowing Mako cocoon is the ultimate, raw biological first draft.

It doesn't happen all at once in a blinding flash of majestic, seraphic silver light. The Lifestream doesn’t render things smoothly. It pieces them together like a madman stitching old leather.

Because of their cosmic soul-bond—the Filum Aeternum wrapped tightly around her wrist—Bianca doesn’t just watch this happen. She feels the sympathetic resonance of it. The Red Thread doesn't care about dignity.

When the cellular mitosis triggers localized, burning itching in his reforming thighs, she finds herself instinctively scratching her own leg at breakfast. When a phantom nerve ending misfires in his half-synthesized calves, she gets a sudden, random toe cramp.

She has a front-row seat to the literal, unedited blueprinting of a god. And the timeline of that resurrection is nothing short of deeply, profoundly hilarious:

The Floating Torso Phase: For a long time, he is just those broad 55-inch shoulders and a completely blank space beneath the chest. He looks less like the executioner of the Cetra and more like a discarded, muscular museum bust floating in thick, glowing green dishwater.

The "Proportional Crisis" Milestone: When the vascular network and the skeletal frame finally start pushing downward, the cells don't magically scale to 6'7" overnight. There is a definitive, awkward period where the terrifying commander of Shinra's elite military branch has pale, smooth, disproportionately small lower limbs. For a brief few weeks, the ultimate predator of Gaia literally lacks ankles capable of supporting his own muscular upper body.

The Raven’s Click: Sarcasm as a Sanctuary

You can practically hear the low, rhythmic raven click vibrating in Bianca’s chest as she steps up on the branches leading to that Mako egg. She tilts her head with the quick, calculated, precise head-tilt of a raptor, her indigo feline-slit eyes tracking a bubble of green energy as it drifts past a newly synthesized knee joint.

She doesn’t look away. She doesn't blush. She has been flayed alive by a demon lord and subjected to eighteen months of live vivisection in Hojo’s laboratories and had numerous children stolen from her. She is entirely immune to the shock of raw flesh.

Instead, she lets her thoughts drift lazily across the cross-dimensional psychic link, letting them sink directly into his floating, ego-cohesive consciousness:

"So this is the great terror of the upper continents," she muses, her deep, smoky rasp echoing in his mind. "The universal architect, the thief of fate, the Son of Jenova, the Chosen One...who currently requires a high chair. Let me know when your pelvis finishes fusing, Sephiroth. I’ll make sure Cloud doesn’t trip over your baby feet."

And the absolute beauty of their dynamic? Sephiroth can’t even deny it. Post-Nibleheim Incident, he is a Service Dom with a massive claiming kink and an insatiable need for absolute environmental control, yet here he is, completely immobile, utterly vulnerable, and entirely dependent on her to keep the elements and the Turks away from his sanctuary.

The Ultimate Inside Joke

The humor peaks when Sephiroth gets irritated by her telepathic teasing and decides to project his consciousness outward, inhabiting the vessel of a black-hooded Sephiroth Clone (SC-X) just to interact with her physically.

He will walk into her cabin on the crater’s rim with that flawless, predatory grace. He will tower over her at 6'7", using that cold, formal, commanding baritone to layout tactical maneuvers or handle her metabolic needs. He will look like absolute perfection.

But Bianca just looks up at him, bites her lower lip to hide her knowing smile, and thinks about the fact that his actual legs down in the cavern are still the size of a five-year-old’s. His absolute authority is completely undercut by the biological reality she guards every single night.

Two billion years from now, in the Godling Arc, when they are the multi-winged, absolute Sovereigns of Existence ruling a dark universe from thrones of obsidian, this eon is going to be their favorite piece of marital lore.

When their twin children, Lucien and Aurora, start grandstanding about their own manufactured divine authority or throwing tantrums about their cosmic sectors, Bianca will simply glance across the Singularity at her husband. She’ll catch those glowing mako-green eyes, emit a soft, mocking raptor trill, and silently remind him of the eon he spent as a floating torso waiting for his shins to come together.

Fantasy Worlds Taglist: (+ / -) please let me know if you would like to be added or removed from the list by a DM or an ask.

@themaradwrites @manorofshepard @kitcatling @prehistoric-creatures @creativechaosqueen

@chickensarentcheap @inkandimpressions @arrthurpendragon @projecthypocrisy @beyondnibelheim

@serenofroses @sapphirothcrescent @tolliver-j-mortaelwyver @megandaisy9

Sephiroth’s Voice, Jenova’s Will

Physically, linguistically, and emotionally, the figure in the dreamscape is Sephiroth. He possesses that specific, agonizingly familiar brand of smug, elegant, and patient predation. The way he adjusts his posture, the low rumble of his chuckle, the calculated "Baby It’s Cold Outside" psychological maneuvering, that is all the silver-haired One-Winged Angel. It is the man she fell for in the dim, mako-scented air of the Shinra Manor basement.

But look at the content of his script:

The absolute, unyielding prioritization of "Mother."

The clinical obsession with genetic purity, lineage, and replication.

The deep, mocking disdain for human fragility and "drunken dullards." I had to use dullards here as an homage to OG.

This is the pure, unfiltered directive of Jenova. Sephiroth isn't being puppeted like a mindless zombie. He has internalized the alien mandate so thoroughly that his own grandiosity and Jenova’s hunger have fused into a single consciousness. When he speaks of "Mother’s traditions," in the New Years scene, he isn't performing a role to please an alien master. He is asserting his own perceived divinity. He is her voice.

The Parasitic Symbiosis as a Weapon

Jenova thrives on rewriting memories to suit a parasitic narrative. She takes what her prey loves, what they fear, and what they hate, and she weaves it into a noose. By blending Sephiroth's intimate, charismatic mask with Jenova’s reality-warping alien malice, the Gestalt creates a trap Bianca cannot claw her way out of.

When "Sephiroth" holds her in the dreamscape while her physical body is enduring live vivisection by Diana Ravenscroft and Hojo or a failed pregnancy, he acts as both the inflictor of the trauma and the sole provider of comfort.

It’s gaslighting. The entity uses Sephiroth's physical form to trigger her deep-seated desire for love, touch, and safety, while simultaneously using Jenova’s hive-mind connection to whisper that her resistance is entirely futile.

If she fights, she is fighting the man who stitched her wounds with a bone needle later in their arc. If she submits, she is opening her veins to the alien infection.

The Fragmentation of the Self

This is why the torment of Project N is so effective. Jenova manifests as everything Bianca has ever known:

The Hatred: Lysandra, Krista Gilmore.

The Fear: Asmodeus.

The Love: David, Sarah, Mordecai, and ultimately, Sephiroth.

But the Sephiroth persona is the anchor. By stepping into her childhood room in Seattle, by sitting on her twin bed surrounded by the ghosts of her past, the Gestalt systematically hollows out her autonomy. He frames her past human life as a tragedy born of weakness and offers a place at his side as the only logical sanctuary.

Bianca isn't breaking because she's weak. She's breaking because the universe has narrowed down to a singular, inescapable point. The entity in the dark doesn't just want her submission. It wants her to thank them for it.

And when he whispers in the dreamscape, "You don't need to pretend anymore. You love me," it is the ultimate victory of the unified mind, rewriting her reality until the Dark Queen that stands with him during the Final Battle is finally born from the ash.

Fantasy Worlds Taglist: (+ / -) please let me know if you would like to be added or removed from the list by a DM or an ask.

@themaradwrites @manorofshepard @kitcatling @prehistoric-creatures @creativechaosqueen

@chickensarentcheap @inkandimpressions @arrthurpendragon @projecthypocrisy @beyondnibelheim

@serenofroses @sapphirothcrescent @tolliver-j-mortaelwyver @megandaisy9

@themaradwrites @manorofshepard @kitcatling @prehistoric-creatures @creativechaosqueen

@chickensarentcheap @inkandimpressions @arrthurpendragon @projecthypocrisy @beyondnibelheim

@serenofroses @sapphirothcrescent @tolliver-j-mortaelwyver @megandaisy9