Yasmin Benoit is a British aroace activist and model. She is arguably the biggest aspec activist in the Western world right now. Because she is a Black woman who makes a living modelling, she has faced a lot of sexualization, being told she doesn’t “look asexual.” In response to this, she started the hashtag #thisiswhatasexuallookslike, to prove that asexuality doesn’t have a specific look.
There is a long history of Black people being hypersexualized in media, and many people have the attitude that asexuality is a “white thing.” Within the asexual community, Black aces are very often overlooked, excluded, and erased. As minimal as ace representation is, there is even less Black asexual representation, and what little does exist is often ignored even in the asexual community. Black asexuals deserve to see themselves represented and their identities uplifted, so for @creatingblackcharacters’s Black History Month event, I did some drawings of some of my Black asexual characters; however small my audience may be, I hope that for any Black asexuals who may (now or in the future) be part of it, you can see this part of yourselves reflected in Aros Against Fate.
I wanted to draw *all* the Black asexual characters from Aros Against Fate but I ran out of time, so apologies to Taehogh, Mkera, Yna, Wnahé, Abhaonai, and Kjotar, who were further down on the list and didn’t get drawn in time.
[ID: a drawing of Lí, a dark-skinned Black teenager with curly red hair. They are wearing a dark blue sweater-vest with yellow stars and using forearm crutches. /end ID]
Lí (they/them) is a main character and greyromantic asexual.
[ID: a drawing of Daanah, a Black girl with long locs pulled up in a bun. She has golden-brown skin and glasses. /end ID]
Daanah (she/her) is a main character and alloromantic aegosexual.
[ID: a drawing of Fiitsãn, a Black boy with rosy dark brown skin and a big pink Afro. /end ID]
Fiitsãn (he/him) is a main character and lithsexual.
[ID: a drawing of Līs, a Black teenager with blue braids and golden-brown skin . /end ID]
Līs (he/they/she/xe/fae) is a main character and demisexual.
[ID: a drawing of Maaziariitna, a young woman-man with hairy blue skin and her hair in microbraids. /end ID]
Maaziariitna (she/he) is a main character and lesbian asexual.
[ID: a drawing of Fiyavu Ozast, a young Black woman with dark skin and silver hair. /end ID]
Fiyavu Ozast (she/her) is Rovian and Daanah’s older sister and aromantic greysexual.
[ID: a drawing of Juraji, a Black teenager with long black locs. /end ID]
Juraji (xe/xem) is Halek’s queerplatonic partner and demisexual.
[ID: a drawing of Saafeera, a dark-skinned black woman with a very short Afro. /end ID]
Saafeera is Rovian and Daanah’s mother and recipromantic recipro-demisexual and sex-repulsed.
Honorable mentions:
Taehogh (he/him), Halek, Lí, and Maaziariitna’s grandfather, aroaceflux.
Wnahé (they/she), one of Halek and Lí’s parents, asexual.
Kjotar (he/they), teammate of Kaelía, Līs, and Zhe’ārani, lithromantic and listed in my notes as “probably acespec.”
Abhaonai (he/him), teammate of Kaelía, Līs, and Zhe’ārani, alloromantic aceflux.
Yna (she/her), princess seeking to marry Jue and later Sei, frayromantic asexual.
Mkera (she/her), betrothed to Jue, asexual.
One of my major goals in Aros Against Fate is to celebrate aspec experiences, and Black aspecs are so often left out in conversations around aspec experience. Here I have specifically asexual characters as it was inspired by #thisiswhatasexuallookslike, but (as the title implies) aromanticism is huge in AAF, and Black aros (and aplatonics, and afamilials, and all Black aspecs) of course equally deserve to see themselves recognized and uplifted. I hope that one day we have a vast amount of diverse aspec characters in media much more mainstream than my little unpublished, unfinished, tumblr-and-google-docs story, and that Black aspec stories by Black aspec authors can gain traction within and outside of our community.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Empires Always Fall Chapter Fifty-five: Jue: Parties Are Not Fun
content notices: no sex but features both Jue's sex-repulsion and vague acephobia about it and a rather steamy party where people are flirting and there are sexual implications, ableism/mentions of ableism, mentions of marriage, past friendship that ended badly, touching, class hierarchy, eavesdropping, background imperialism/colonialism
Jue was trying to memorize a list of all the Beri Empire's territories when the invitation arrived.
From hir study, ze heard Ngionah at the door say "Oh, Lady Paona!" and then speak too quietly for hir to make out. Feeling hir geography tutor's sharp eyes on hir, ze kept hir gaze on the page.
Ngionah knocked on the door that joined the study to Jue's sitting room. "Lady Paona Qeifiot Ragonia here to see you, Your Majesty."
Paona outranked Jue's tutor, and Raiqiongshē had probably impressed upon ei-san the importance of the betrothal candidates, so ei-sa let hir go for the afternoon.
Paona stood to greet hir. "Your Majesty."
"Lady Paona," ze replied uneasily. This visit had not been planned.
"My cousin Lania is hosting a party," said Paona. She held out a colourfully-inked envelope. "Ai-lo has asked me to deliver you the invitation."
"Oh." Jue took it unenthusiastically. "I see."
Lady Lania Qeifiot's parties were well-known for getting… out of hand. Intense. Improper. Jue did not want to go to one.
"I delivered it myself because I thought you might need some encouragement," said Paona. "Lania would be very honoured to have you. All of the betrothal candidates will be there, except for Shio. I would like to observe how they all interact. Also, I know how you feel about… marital duties, and some exposure to immodest displays might do you good and help you get over that aversion."
Jue pursed hir lips. Maybe Paona was right. Maybe it would help. And o-lo was right about seeing how they interacted with each other in a more casual setting.
"Is Princess Seitlēn going to be there?" ze asked. Maybe ze could handle it better with a friendly face there too.
Paona winced delicately. "I do not believe o-mē has been invited. A party of this sort…"
Jue understood what o-lo was not saying. Deep in hir memory, ze heard Paona's childhood voice calling hir slow when o-lo thought ze was not near, doing an imitation for their other friends' amusement, and felt a hot flash of anger on Sei's behalf. "O-mē would greatly enjoy it. To be perfectly honest, o-mē would enjoy it much more than I would. I will go if Seitlēn is also welcome."
Jue had passed on Paona's instructions to Attenant Seina. Wear something fun. More casual. Pizzazz.
"Eyes closed," ū-rei instructed.
Jue closed hir eyes obediently, chewing on the inside of hir cheek. Hir unruly eyebrows had been plucked back into definition again this morning, and the space right above the bridge of hir nose was still tender. Ze hoped Attendant Seina would remember to be gentle there.
Attendant Seina lightly dusted blue and gold over hir eyelids. "I am surprised that you are going to an event like this."
"Lady Paona insisted," Jue said, trying to move hir face as little as possible.
"It reminds me that you are growing up," ū-rei said. "No longer really a child, are you? All dressed up to go to one of Lady Lania's parties, soon to be married, the same leg length for the tailors every time this year."
Jue felt unexpected emotion well up inside of hir, and not about ū-reis mention of marriage. "I… I suppose so."
Attendant Seina had been there for seven years now, looking after Jue bodily ever since Beo!raad's dismissal as hir nurse. Ū-rei had watched hir grow from a child into- well, like ū-rei had said, almost an adult. When ze died, ū-rei would probably be the one to wash and dress hir body for the last time.
Ze knew better, of course ze knew better, but in that moment, Attendant Seina's hands gently and competently working hir hair felt almost parental.
Jue blinked rapidly. Ze did not want to cry and ruin the makeup ū-rei had just applied.
Ze looked at hir face- hir mask- in the mirror. It glittered unusually colourfully in the bright vanity lights. "You did my face well. Lady Paona will like it."
"Thank you," said Attendant Seina. "Will o-lo be accompanying you from here?"
Jue almost nodded and stopped hirself just in time to avoid accidental hair yanking. "Yes."
"Forgive the sensitive question, but… do you favour o-lon for your marriage?"
Under the heavy makeup, Jue knew hir skin must be red with discomfort. "Not- like that," ze said awkwardly. "But o-lo is most familiar to me out of everyone. Everyone else is new to me. Lady Paona and I were friends as children."
Ze wished ze could forget why that friendship had ended. The lesson to never trust anyone, even friends, especially friends, was burned deep into hir core.
Paona arrived to pick hir up at exactly the agreed upon time. "You look wonderful, Your Majesty."
"Thank you," said Jue, self-consciously tugging at hir sleeves. "You as well, Lady Paona."
As they approached Lania's quarters, Jue brought up something that had been lingering awkwardly in hir mind. "Um… Lady Paona, as to the, uh, nature of your cousin's parties… I was under the impression that Lady Lania was married?"
"Oh, yes," said Paona. "Ai-lo is married. Ai-los wife is often away at the front and I expect has lovers of ai-los own there, and- Thank you-" An attendant let them into Lania's music-filled sitting room. "Lady Lania's husband doesn't exactly mind."
O-lo gestured across the room with o-los chin.
Jue recognized Lania's husband, a lord in ai-los mid-twenties, hanging off the arm of another lord in a way that even ze recognized as flirtatious.
Ze looked away, but did not find anywhere more comfortable to fix hir gaze. Ze ended up staring down at the top of Paona's head in embarrassment.
Lania floated over to greet them. Ai-lo was wearing layers of sheer fabric. Left very visible by the gown was some sort of heavily-sequined garment with much less skin coverage than typical Rāmiq underclothes.
Jue felt very much like ze was not meant to be here. This was a party for real adults. For people who did not get uncomfortable just seeing half-bare bodies and flirtatious touches. For people who enjoyed the company of others at all.
It was, technically speaking, eavesdropping, which was rude.
Jue had a spell. Ze was supposed to use it to help focus hir hearing on hir conversation partners when there was a lot of background noise. Ze was using it to focus in on other people's conversations instead, because that was the only way ze was going to get information, for hir own safety and for Talí.
Everyone thought Mkera was very exotic and interesting, which sat uncomfortably with Jue in a way ze could not quite explain.
Jiremau kept trying to join groups and being subtly snubbed. Jue hoped o-mē did not notice that it was being done on purpose. Ze wished ze had not made such a big deal of the incident at the ball.
Waleiyi had managed to gather a small crowd around ai-lon. Unlike Jue, they seemed very interested in ai-los war stories.
"Oh, Lady General, will you protect us if the rebels attack again like they did at the exposition?" One of the other nobles batted ai-los eyelashes at Waleiyi. "Will you scoop me up and carry me to safety? Or lead the charge against them and pummel their forces into submission?"
Waleiyi's face remained blank, as it usually was. "My first priority would of course be the safety of the royal family, but yes, I would protect you as well."
"Speaking of the exposition," said another of the young nobles. "I noticed there were fewer Initiates from the Temple of Corysecli than usual. Isn't your brother an Initiate of Corysecli, Lady General?"
"Yes."
"Not fit for much else, was o-nai," someone said snidely.
Waleiyi all but flinched. "It is a longstanding tradition in my family for the second-born child to join the Temple of Corysecli."
"Līsandyr wasn't exactly the second child, though, was he?"
"Right, there was Lord General Sūl's bastard daughter, wasn't there?"
Waleiyi twitched. "My father's impropriety has no bearing on my brother's status as my mother's second child, and Līsandyr is a powerful mage. O-nai is a credit to the Temple."
"Did you inherit any of that magic, Lady General?" asked the first noble, the one who had been asking Waleiyi to protect ai-lon. "The royal family could certainly do with some of your power in their bloodline, well, if you know what I'm saying." Ai-lo gave a pointed glance in Jue's distinctly magicless direction, and Jue decided ze was done listening to this conversation for now. Ze did not need more reminders of hir inadequacy.
Ze let the sound-focus spell rest and just absorbed whatever snippets of conversation ze happened to pick up from hir place in a corner armchair. Paona must have been doing the same, watching and listening, since o-lo never tried to engage hir in conversation.
Drifting by, a pair discussed Onarys's pregnancy.
"…second trimester?"
"I believe so. The announcement was only a cycle ago. Ē-hā is not so round yet to be in the third."
"I assume they've had it tested for…"
They left Jue's range of hearing. Ze did not follow them with hir spell. Onarys had been good about keeping Jue up to date with how the pregnancy was going. They seemed to expect that it would be wonderful for Jue to have a little cousin, and Jue did not have the heart to tell them that ze was not that excited about it.
"Did you see those sigils in the sky?"
"My gods, they were so cool. Not to give any credit to those Norvics or the rebels, but-"
"They really were impressive. They should have Ausse give us a magic show next time o-pā is arrested." A laugh. "One last chance to see power like that before o-pā is executed."
"They sooo should…"
Jue brought hirself back to real focus when Ynesalinau approached, trailed by Sei.
Ynesalinau and ze greeted each other appropriately.
Paona greeted Ynesalinau, then said something in Beri. Of course Paona spoke Beri. They quickly became immersed in conversation Jue could not understand.
"Sei, are you having fun?" ze asked.
Sei's slender fingers tapped on her speech device. "Yes! Having lots fun with Yna and looking at everyone outfits."
Jue was not sure how to feel about the fact that Sei apparently had a nickname for Ynesalinau already.
"Do you have a favourite of the outfits you have seen?" ze asked.
"Lady Lania dress very interesting," said Sei. "Fabric and style not common. Dancers' costumes very fun, very good dancing costumes. You outfit, very appropriate for this party. Good jewellery with bodice. Bit conservative with skin but very good sparkles, good embroidery patterns, colours."
"Oh," said Jue. "Thanks. Attendant Seina helped me figure it out."
Sei wandered over to be closest to Ynesalinau again, leaving Jue wishing ze had continued the conversation more clearly. Ze knew better than to leave any open conversational space with Sei. She lost attention and left.
From their tones, Paona and Ynesalinau seemed to be sparring verbally, but there was none of the tension Jue had felt between Waleiyi and the Lieutenant Initiate at the ball.
Speaking of the ball…
Jue turned hir head back towards Jiremau, who was now sitting on a couch in the corner of the room. Suinak had joined o-mēn.
Two betrothal candidates talking together- that could be important. Ze turned hir spell on them.
"I've always wanted this," Suinak was saying. "Getting this opportunity- to marry into the family, to come here at all- it felt like a dream come true, like the adventure I always wished for. But now that I'm here- I'm such an outsider, and I'm so afraid that I'm going to screw it all up…"
"You can't do worse than I have," Jiremau muttered.
"You're a princess already, though," said Suinak. "Not like me. I have no bloodline behind me like the rest of you do."
"Yeah, it's only…" Jiremau sighed. "Yna's always been better than me, and everyone knows that, but… oh, I just can't go home. I've been a token of bad luck all my life because of the way I look and I just wanted a fresh start but now no one except you will talk to me here either."
Suinak reached for Jiremau's hand, and they were quiet for a moment.
"It's really lonely, being the only Fūtiq person here," Suinak confessed. "Well- there's the territory's representative, but- we are not remotely close in age. Other than ei-pān, it's just me now."
"Were you and Inoj… close?" Jiremau asked delicately.
"No." Suinak shook o-pās head. "No, we didn't like each other much, but I still… I don't want anyone to think I'm like that, you know? But I still feel like I miss o-pān, I miss just… having someone else from the same place around."
The party went very late. Jue was nearly falling asleep in hir chair by midnight, and it showed no signs of slowing.
Even Paona had become less focused in o-los watching.
"Princess Seitlēn and Princess Ynesalinau seem to be getting on well," Paona said, nodding towards where Sei had climbed into Ynesalinau's lap and was playing with o-mēs fancy braids.
"Get a room!" someone shouted in their direction, to a chorus of laughter.
They did not seem to mind, but Jue felt a churning in hir stomach at what they were implying. "You could say that," ze replied to Paona.
"I think it's genuinely mutual," said Paona. "Princess Seitlēn's attachment does not worry me much, because I think Princess Ynesalinau likes o-mēn just as well."
"That's good," Jue said, vigilance over hir words slipping a bit. "I want Sei to be happy."
Mkera drifted over to them. The novelty of o-mēn seemed to have worn off for the partygoers, who had by now clustered back into their established friend groups.
"May I sit?" o-mē asked.
Jue thought about what Suinak had said about being lonely, and how Mkera must be very lonely here too. There were no other Siolei here at all, not even servants, and o-mēn had only been learning Rāmiloq at all for a short time.
Ze nodded and gestured to the empty spot. "You are welcome to join us."
"Thank you."
O-mē did not speak much, though Paona did try to start a conversation a few times. Jue was not surprised, and did not blame o-mēn at all.
The hired dancers in their bright costumes became a blur as ze fought to keep hir eyes open.
When Lania pulled one of them giggling into ai-los lap and tucked a roll of bills into ai-fos cleavage, Jue decided it was time for hir to finally leave.
Art of all the betrothal candidates from Empires Always Fall!
[ID: Princess Ynesalinau (Yna) of Berysek. She is a young woman with dark brown skin, long purple braids, and a silver band around her forehead, as well as silver earrings, a silver necklace, and silver armlets. She is in a red wheelchair with a large AAC device connected to one of the armrests. /end ID]
I wish I'd made the joystick a different colour than the rest of the wheelchair and the headrest bigger so they would be more visible... alas. Oh well! The Beri Empire has a lot of silver, I think.
[ID: Princess Jiremau of Berysek. She is a Black teenaged girl with albinism. She has a pink and silver parasol and a long white cane, as well as dark sunglasses. She is wearing a silver necklace and has a short blonde Afro. /end ID]
(See- Jiremau is also wearing silver jewellery.)
[ID: The Honourable Inoj of Avutaq. They are an older teenager with very light golden skin and long black hair. They are wearing a heavily beaded shirt and a long cape. /end ID]
Inoj is wearing traditional Taqa celebratory clothing for the ball.
[ID: The Honourable Suinak of Avutaq. She is an older teenaged girl with very light golden skin and short red hair. There are whales embroidered on her large skirt. /end ID]
Suinak, on the other hand, is dressed very classically Rāmiq, with a straight bodice and big skirt and sleeves.
[ID: Lady General Waleiyi Sūl. She is a young woman with medium golden-brown skin and long blue locs. She is wearing a ceremonial Rāmian military uniform, which has a knee-length frock coat with a flared skirt and a sword at her hip. /end ID]
[ID: Princess Mkera of the Nsole. She is an older teenaged girl with two braids. Her brown skin has darker spots. She is dressed in Rāmiq clothing, with clouds embroidered on the top layer of her skirts and vines on her bodice. /end ID]
Mkera does not consider herself a princess. At home she does not have a title. They've decided to call her a princess anyway for 'simplicity.'
[ID: Lady Paona Qeifiot Ragonia. She is a short young woman with golden-brown skin. She is wearing a silver net over her dark brown hair. Pumas are embroidered on her bodice and cacti on her skirts. /end ID]
[ID: Lord Shio Tasio of Ghara. He is a teenaged boy with golden-brown skin and long, voluminous dark brown hair. There are elephants embroidered on his bodice and vines on his sleeves and the upper layer of his skirts. /end ID]
Empires Always Fall Chapter Forty-one: Jue: An Understanding
content notices: vague discussions and implications of colonialism, forced marriage, and institutional ableism
"Rām is very… flat," said Mkera.
"Not all of it." Jue pointed at a blue-ish line in the distance. "You can see the Highlands that way."
"I meant…" Mkera gestured around them. "Kelos is covered in trees. All you have is grass. Tall grass, but plains are not a forest, no matter how tall the grass is."
"Oh," said Jue awkwardly, feeling defensive of hir home. "Do you miss the forest?"
"Of course," said Mkera.
"Sorry."
"You keep saying that."
"Sorry." Jue winced. "May I speak plainly?"
"Of course. It is only us."
And the interpreter. And twenty or so armed guards. And the staff who had set up the picnic for them and waited just close enough to call but far enough to give them the appearance of privacy.
"You do not want to be here," said Jue, which was a terrible starting line.
Mkera smoothed the top layer of o-mēs dress. "I may speak plainly as well?"
"Of course."
"I do not."
"My uncle and grandmother-"
"-most definitely will be hearing all about this from all of them." Mkera nodded to the guards and attendants around them.
"…Yes," said Jue. "Yes, I expect so."
"Go on."
"I never…" Jue lowered hir voice, knowing it was probably still loud because ze could never figure out speaking properly at a volume too low for hir to hear. "I am not what you might call the marrying type."
"I see," said Mkera, but Jue did not think ze had actually gotten hir meaning across.
"I mean," ze said uncomfortably, "I would not expect you to bear my children…"
"Oh," said Mkera. A pause. "Oh. I see."
"I hope that does not bother you, since…"
"I would be very happy with that arrangement," said Mkera. "Our marriage will not be physical in nature."
"Good." Jue sighed, feeling a weight lift from hir chest. At least one person would be okay with that.
"The Honourable Inoj of Avutaq," Mkera began, picking at a thread on the blanket instead of looking at Jue.
"I will ensure you do not meet o-pās fate," said Jue. Ze did not know how ze would keep that promise, but ze had to.
"Okay."
"I will do what I can to protect Kelos, too," said Jue. "…I may not have as much authority as one woud expect."
"It is my understanding that the regency will end when you come of age and your authority over internal matters will be near-absolute."
"Only if they do not think I am too impaired to rule," said Jue, face flushing. "My grandmother might hold it as long as uo-hā is physically and mentally able, and then- Have you met Lady Paona Qeifiot Ragonia?"
"The small woman with-" Mkera brought o-mēs hands up to o-mēs face and made circles around o-mēs eyes. "Like you."
"Glasses," the interpreter told Jue after translating, then turned back to Mkera to explain.
Jue had not realized that the Nsole keeping themselves away from the rest of the world meant they did not have things like glasses. How much else that was so ordinary to Jue was new and strange to Mkera? O-mē must be so very overwhelmed.
"Lady Paona is my grandmother's choice for-" ze began when Mkera seemed satisfied.
"Oh!" said Mkera, Jue's hearing aids barely picking up the quiet exclamation. "Your Majesty!" o-mē said in heavily accented Rāmiloq, and pointed somewhere behind hir.
Jue turned, and a quiet "oh" escaped hir lips as well. Ze was filled with a sense of reverence.
Blending in with the rest of the grass unless you looked really closely was a tiny human-shaped figure. As they watched, two more grassy heads peaked out from behind the stalks.
Jue had never seen the grass people before. Nobody saw the grass people anymore, except maybe people who lived really far out on the plains away from any cities and towns. Only now did ze fully believe they were not just a myth.
"What are they?" Mkera asked. Like Jue, o-mē must have felt the need to be quiet, because Jue did not even hear o-mēs question until the interpreter repeated it.
"Grass people," Jue said softly. "They are fairies. Maybe there is an opening somewhere near here, or there used to be. We are very lucky to see them."
Carrying a speckled pebble between the three of them, the grass people approached Mkera. Jue sat frozen in awe as they placed the pebble on o-mēs skirts.
Mkera put o-mēs hands over o-mēs mouth. Jue thought ze saw tears shining in o-mēs eyes.
Jue returned to hir senses and reached up to take out one of hir lighter earrings. It was polite to give the grass people a gift, especially if they brought something to you, and ze was pretty sure it would be rude to give them something they could not carry.
After a lot of frustration, ze asked the interpreter for help, and of course then it came out easily.
Ze set the stud flat in hir hand for the grass people to take.
They considered it. One of them took it, and they all seemed to fawn over the small green gem on the end.
"I don't have anything for them," Mkera said, patting down o-mēs pockets. "None of this truly belongs to me- none of it is mine to give away."
"That is okay," said Jue. "I do not think they will be unhappy with you. They chose you to appear to, out of all the people in this city."
The grass people carried their earring back into the yellow-green stalks.
Jue pushed away the sting of disappointment that they had only been there for Mkera. Mkera was the one who needed and deserved their generosity.
"Look." Mkera held out the stone to hir.
It had lines carved into it- one long one and then lots of short ones crossing it.
"What is it?" Jue asked. Ze should be able to tell, but ze had never been good at more abstract things, and besides, maybe it was a Nsole symbol.
"It's a tree." Mkera held the stone close to o-mēs heart. "They gave me a tree because they heard I was homesick for the forest."
Much later that day, Jue realized that the grass people had given hir a gift. They had shown themselves at just the right time to interrupt Jue and Mkera's conversation about the realities of Jue's future. Someone else at some other time could explain about Jue's disability and what that meant at court and Neqio and Henor and Qaidiao and Paona, but instead of shame and disappointment, Jue had been able to share that sacred moment with Mkera.
not all of them are girls- but several are and even for the rest “contending for [royal]’s hand in marriage” in this way is a fairly feminized role (it’s usually ladies competing for a prince’s hand, in the fiction I’ve read)- so it’s a place to explore different ways a woman might historically wield power and have agency even when those are denied to her in many ways. (Waleiyi is in a lot of ways a Strong Female Character TM and in a typically masculinized role as a general (a high-ranking noble soldier might marry a princess, in literature), and I love that for her, but also I love the ways the rest of them- including Jue- exert agency in ways and situations that are more classically feminized.) Also I just love them all as characters, they’re so interesting- *because* of the different ways they approach this situation that historically was most often faced by women and “women”.
Anya is live and ready to show you everything. Watch her strip, dance, and perform exclusive shows just for you. Interact in real-time and make your fantasies come true.
✓ Live Streaming✓ Interactive Chat✓ Private Shows✓ HD Quality
Anya is LIVE right now
FREE
Free to watch • No registration required • HD streaming
Empires Always Fall Chapter Twenty-three: Jue: Mkera
content notices: imperialism, friendship, religion, forced marriage
Princess Mkera of the Nsole had long brown hair in two thick, raised braids, and wore the flowy, layered style of dress recently popularized by Teixal.
O-mē did not speak Rāmiloq, and Jue, of course, did not speak the Nsole language, so they had a translator for their first meeting. Raiqiongshē had scoured the empire for someone who had studied Nsole, and found the one linguist who had been allowed to spend time with them on their tiny island of Kelos learning the language.
Mkera looked about as happy as Jue to be there.
"I'm sorry," Jue said. It was a breach in protocol that immediately made hir insides liquid, but ze knew that like hirself, Mkera was very much not here voluntarily. Rāmia wanted a military base on Kelos, and a military base on Kelos it would have- through force if not alliance. O-mēs situation was far worse than Jue's, with o-mēs whole people at stake and not just o-mēs happiness.
Despite the breach of etiquette, the translator still repeated it in Nsole.
Mkera gave hir a small, surely forced half-smile.
Jue was looking at Mkera instead of the translator, because that was the polite thing, but it meant ze could not at all rely on lip-reading to help make up for weaknesses in hir hearing. This conversation was going to be hard.
"It is an honour to meet you, Younger Emperor," Mkera said through the translator- or Jue thought o-mē said, from having picked up what ze thought were most of the sounds and from context.
"It is an honour to meet you as well, Princess Mkera," Jue said, desperately hoping ze had heard right.
"I am not a princess," said Mkera. "My mother is the chief, but I am not a princess as you understand it."
"My apologies," said Jue, feeling hir face heat up. Everyone had called o-mēn- was that even the right pronoun, if Mkera was not a princess?- 'Princess Mkera,' so ze had taken that as fact. "I hope the palace has been hosting you well?" It came out uncertain, more question than statement. Jue winced.
"Very well," said Mkera stiffly.
"I would like to learn anything we have about Kelos and the Nsole," Jue said.
"Betrothal homework?" said the Librarian.
Jue nodded. Ze wanted to make Mkera feel as comfortable as possible, given the circumstances.
"We don't have much," said the Librarian. "Very few firsthand accounts, but I'll see what I can dig up for you."
"Thank you," said Jue.
"Today is the feast day of Somār, the small god of violin strings," said the Librarian. "I wondered if you would like to play in the library today, in celebration?"
"Oh," said Jue, embarrassed ze had not remembered that. "Yes! Yes, I would. Thank you."
"I met Mkera of the Nsole today," said Jue.
"Oh," Fiitsãn said shortly. "How was it?"
"I feel bad for o-mēn," said Jue. "I asked the Librarian for any reading we have about them so I can try to make o-mēn feel a little less alone."
"Oh, I'm sure that makes everything better," Fiitsãn said sarcastically.
Jue frowned, feeling tears in the back of hir throat. Ze and Fiitsãn had used to be perfectly aligned, but now ze could really trust no one- ze could hardly even trust Fiitsãn. "I know it will not fix everything. It is all I can do."
"Sorry," said Fiitsãn. "It's a nice gesture, Jue. I don't mean to snap at you. Things are just... complicated, and hard, right now. I'm sure Kelos is going to end up like Avutaq, and Ghara, and all the other provinces, and it makes me really angry."
"I know," said Jue. "I wish I could do more. One day I will do more."
Fiitsãn pursed his lips. "Yeah. Things are going to change."
[plain text: Who might Jue and Sei marry? /end PT]
@cepheusgalaxy
Mkera of the Nsole:
Age: 17
Pronouns: she/her
Who is she and why is she here? Mkera is the second daughter of the leader of the Nsole, a (deliberately) fairly isolated tribe who inhabit the island of Kelos and have been mostly left alone by outsiders. Unfortunately Kelos has just become very militarily significant in the war between Rāmia and Wend-Ki, and Rāmia got there first. Nominally she is marrying Jue and giving Rāmia access to Kelos of her own volition, but in reality either the Nsole give Rāmia access or Rāmia takes it by force.
What will she do? Mkera has decided that she will marry Jue to save the Nsole from obliteration, but she will not love hir and she will not bear hir children (fun fact she’s ace too! Yay). Jue finds a good ally in her, because neither of them really wants to be there and neither wants to have sex with the other; they come to the arrangement that they will have a marriage in name only and she and Jue will protect the Nsole when Jue comes of age in a few years. She is able to go home when the palace falls to the revolution.
Princess Ynesalinau (Yna) of Berysek:
Age: 18
Pronouns: she/her
Who is she and why is she here? Yna is the third legitimate child of the Beri queen, and her oldest brother already has children, so she will almost certainly never inherit the Beri throne. She is here to marry Jue (assuming she can beat out her cousin Jiremau) and become Queen Consort of Rāmia; according to a contract made by Jue’s mother and the Beri royal family, Jue (as the only child she had before her death) and a close relative of the Beri queen will marry. She expects Jue will be easy to manipulate, and, well, if ze’s not, she can always get rid of hir as soon as she gets pregnant and then be Queen Regent for twenty years.
What will she do? She and Sei end up really interested in each other, to the point that Yna considers ceding Jue to Jiremau, because she gets on so much better with Sei. When the empire falls, the clash between her hunger for power and her friendship with Sei is resolved, because with Jue having willingly abdicated and Raiqiongshē having fled to another country, why not put Sei on the throne as Empress and herself as Sei’s Queen Consort and Queen Regent? She is definitely using Sei, but she is not only using Sei, she really likes her.
Lady General Waleiyi Sūl:
Age: 20
Pronouns: She/her
Who is she and why is she here? Waleiyi is part of a military legacy family. She voluntarily joined the military at 18 instead of the usual/mandatory 20 and is already very decorated. Her family are nobles, but not that high-ranking birth-wise. Her opportunity to marry a royal- or even if that falls through, a high-status noble- is to reward her family for their service and loyalty by raising their status. She is also Līs’s older sister.
What will she do? Either militarily support Yna and Sei in re-establishing the empire in book 2, or try to seize power herself (working with Gētnyx, perhaps?). Possibly both, if Yna and Sei ally themselves with the Temple of Corysecli.
Princess Jiremau of Berysek:
Age: 16 or 17
Pronouns: she/her
Who is she and why is she here? Jiremau is the niece of the Beri queen. Ideally she will marry Jue, but she knows she doesn’t have much chance against Yna, who is older and prettier and cleverer and of higher status, so if she can’t get Jue maybe she can still marry Sei.
What will she do? Knowing she has little chance against Yna, Jiremau thinks that if she can get herself pregnant, Jue will feel obligated to marry her instead or additionally, and she tries to seduce hir to that end. It of course goes terribly, she doesn’t really know what she’s doing and Jue is sex-repulsed and ace so obviously doesn’t reciprocate, and she retreats from the whole process in embarrassment.
Inoj of Avutaq:
Age: 17
Pronouns: they/them
Who are they and why are they here? Inoj is the child of a Taqa family who was powerful and well-respected before the Rāmian invasion, and is still highly respected. The idea on Raiqiongshē’s side is that this will calm Avutaq down. The idea from Inoj’s family is that they will regain power and influence. The idea from Inoj themself (who is part of the Taqa Liberation Front, shhh) is that one way or another, this marriage will set Avutaq free: either they will be able to influence Jue into granting Avutaq at least semi-independence, or they will be close enough to Jue and Raiqiongshē and other Rāmian royals to kill them and create a political catastrophe in which Avutaq can seize independence.
What will they do? Jue seems pretty reasonable and amenable to their cause; Raiqiongshē does not and might have to die. Mostly they just try and befriend Jue and become someone ze likes better than the other Taqa candidate, Suinak, because Suinak is a suck-up who is not in this for Avutaq’s benefit and in order for Inoj’s plan to work they must wed Jue specifically.
Suinak of Avutaq:
Age: 17
Pronouns: she/her
Who is she and why is she here? Suinak is part of a Taqa family that has gained a lot by cozying up to the empire. Her family will be further elevated by her marrying Jue or Sei, and while Jue would be her first pick because then she’d be queen, marrying Sei is a pretty great deal too. Like with Inoj, the theory is that this will settle Avutaq.
What will she do? Try to be good enough that she gets to marry either of them, or even some lesser noble, because she knows she is on shaky ground as a non-noble Taqa girl. This works a bit too well and everyone thinks she’s really bland and boring and average.
Lord Shio of Ghara:
Age: 14
Pronouns: he/him
Who is he and why is he here? Shio’s mother is the imperial governor of Ghara, who has been doing very well at quelling Gharan resistance, and Raiqiongshē wants her to keep doing that.
What will he do? He actually has a decent chance at Jue’s hand, if only because he’s the youngest of all the candidates and therefore it would be the longest amount of time before they’re actually married and expected to consummate. He’ll play the game of court pretty well during the day and have anxiety attacks in his room at night because this is the most pressure he has ever been under and his family will be very unhappy if he screws up. He likes Sei best because she might not notice if he messes up and he perceives Jue as cold and aloof.
Lady Paona Ragonia:
Age: 19
Pronouns: she/her
Who is she and why is she here? Paona is the daughter of Raiqiongshē’s top advisor and is a political prodigy, as well as the heir to the Qeifiot airship company through her father. Jue’s going to need all the help ze can get governing, in Raiqiongshē and Paona’s mother’s opinion. She and Jue were friends when they were little, as she has grown up in the palace, but she and some other “friends” mocked Jue behind hir back for being “slow,” and Jue overheard, and has never felt good around her since and never again trusted that people aren’t only pretending to like hir for hir status- it was a decade ago and she probably doesn’t even remember anymore, but Jue is very averse to marrying her.
What will she do? Be good at politics and try to get close to Jue, which she expects will be a monumental task given that ze never seems to be close to anyone anymore, and she’ll have to pretend to find hir interesting.
find the word: happy new year! jumping on @oh-no-another-idea 's open tag
champagne, celebration, new, and kiss
for 'champagne' I'm going to change it to 'wine' because I decided to just call it sparkling wine due to the lack of France...
On hir way across the dance floor, ze snatched a flute of sparkling wine from one of the trays the waitstaff were carrying. Jue was not really a fan of sparkling wine, but it gave hir something to do with hir hands and mouth, and it would hopefully make hir a little less awkward and scared.
-
"I think you should come home," said Saafeera. "We should be together at a time like this. Her remains will be returned and we'll hold a funeral as soon as we have her body back. The baby is due in fifteen days. At least come home until the funeral and birth celebration are over."
-
Jue had not realized that the Nsole keeping themselves away from the rest of the world meant they did not have things like glasses. How much else that was so ordinary to Jue was new and strange to Mkera? O-mē must be so very overwhelmed.
-
"You are favoured by Alteyr," ze said. "You are the most powerful Divine Scribe in centuries, perhaps longer. Never before, as far as I am aware, has one performed such a miracle as Resurrection. Divine Scribes burn fast, but you, Daanah, you will burn ever so bright." Ze kissed her hand and rose. "I am truly blessed to be here to see that."
