#sweet-bitsy

*mentions of sex; animal sacrifice*

(Young) Papa Nihil: The ceremony takes place  inside a circle of lilies in a meadow that’s surrounded by wilderness. The rest of Nihil’s followers are there as guests. Everyone—including you and Nihil—wear diaphanous garments of crepe and linen in white. As the sun sets, Sister Imperator ties both your hands together and declares you both married. Someone brings a goat into the circle, and Sister Imperator hands you a ritual dagger. As one, you and Nihil bring your tied hands down and plunge the knife into the goat’s neck as an offering to Satan to bless your union. Everyone cheers, and you and Nihil strip so the orgy can start.

Papa I: A simple ceremony in the chapel, the only attendees are close friends and family (there will be a big reception for the congregation later). He wears his vestments and you wear formal ritual robes. His youngest brother performs the marriage rites and Secondo stands up as his best man. Papa III sniffles his way through the marriage scripture, and halfway through Papa I produces a cloth handkerchief to hand to him. He elects for the long service, and at some point Nihil dozes off. The two of you exchange self-written vows professing your love for each other before Papa III tips a chalice of goat’s blood over your heads as a show of asking for Satan’s favor over your marriage. Papa I has the chapel cleared for the ritual consummation, which is brief but pleasurable. After the two of you clean up and change, you join the festivities in honor of your union that are already in full swing.

Papa II: He wants to be married, but hates weddings. He has a lower-ranking officiate do the vows in private with Ghouls as witnesses. In lieu of formal attire, you both wear simple, but expensive silk robes. Instead of a ring, he collars you, then leads you to the ritual altar where anyone who’s interested is invited to watch him consummate his bond with you. It’s not the entire congregation, but the hall is filled, including his family and band Ghouls. Everyone cheers once you’ve both completed, and he invites everyone to the quad to partake in the goat roast. The goats are trussed up shibari-style with little apple gags—courtesy of his youngest brother.

Papa III: Bride. Zilla. Did you think you were going to get much say? Designer everything and flowers galore. He has a list of 20 groomsmen, and you have to remind him that you don’t have enough people in your own party to pair with them; you manage to negotiate down to 5. He hires a wedding planner that he’s constantly fighting with on the phone. She’s a stern woman with an earpiece and is probably the only reason the whole event doesn’t collapse in on itself. A few days before the ceremony, Papa comes to you and has a meltdown because there was a mishap with the coolers at the florist, and now all the boutonnieres will be red instead of blush. You take him into your arms and remind him that as long as you get to marry him, your wedding will be a success. Your words and a little …*ahem* … comfort goes a long way to calming him down. On the day of, Papa is a mess, and you give his groomsmen a stern talking to regarding keeping him focused. He starts tearing up before Nihil even starts the ceremony, and he’s a blubbering mess by the time you get to the vows. The sacrificial blood is actually a really expensive wine that the two of you drink out of a chalice (“Our Dark Lord will know how much of a sacrifice it was to open that bottle, amore”). He elects to have the ritual consummation as part of your wedding night. After the two of you take leave of the reception (that has at that point devolved into drunken shenanigans with fire ghouls setting table covers on fire), Papa III leads you to the altar; he’s covered it with a warm blanket and lit many candles (“For mood lighting, dolce”).

Papa IV: As long as you’re happy, he’s fine with going along with whatever you want. His only request is that you follow the traditional wedding customs of The Church. When you discuss ring bearers, he suggests his ratties—but at your look, he laughs it off. You’re still not sure if he was joking or not. You’re surprised when he commissions formal robes that match his vestments, but you’re happy to color-coordinate with him. The ceremony is an understated affair otherwise, with Primo performing the vows. Nihil and Papa III doze off. Goat’s Blood? Gross, no thank you. You and Copia agreed to cut your palms over His symbol instead. There was some debate about the ritual consummation, and in the end, you compromised with the decision of a privacy screen. For the reception, Copia changes into a fresh white suit so everyone can see how much he adores you.

***

Aether: He wants to incorporate both of your traditions into the ceremony and is involved in planning the wedding every step of the way. The two of you have a traditional Church wedding, but afterwards you’ll do a Run out into the woods so he can catch you and prove he’s mate material. He adorns your finger with a ring because he doesn’t think biting you would be a good idea, but has you pierce the spade of his tail with a ring since you can’t really bite him with your blunt teeth.

Dew: Til death do you part sounds like a long time, but if it’ll make you happy, ok I guess. You do absolutely all of the planning. He goes out for his bachelor party the night before the ceremony and shows up the next day in rough shape and in a suit that is decidedly not the one you bought for him. He seems impatient throughout, perking up after his vows when he gets to put a claiming bite on you. Like Aether, he lets you pierce his tail, and smiles wickedly when he tells you to Run.

Swiss: He wants the complete experience! The two of you have the most traditional wedding, and he wears a suit so tight it could rival Copia’s. He likes the weight of your ring on his finger, but refuses to bite you (“I don’t want to hurt you or chance infection, babe”). He absolutely smashes cake into your face (he grabs a fistful before it’s even brought out and creams you as you’re accepting congratulations from the Clergy). He’s the first on the dancefloor screaming  for “That Shout song”. A Run? Aren’t you exhausted from dancing? Let’s save the rest of your energy for the wedding night.

Rain: Is a little smushy about marrying you, but isn’t really interested in a Church wedding. The closet thing he can think of to a water ghoul wedding is a baptism. Officiated by Mountain, the two of you exchange vows standing waist-deep in a pool of water in the forest. You dunk each other in turn after your vows, then submerge yourself when you seal it with a kiss. He’s happy to wear your ring on a chain around his neck, and he likes the idea of his bite mark on you—but doesn’t want to scar your skin—so he has Mountain tattoo the pattern of his teeth on your shoulder. He hadn’t even considered a Run, but hey—if you’re offering.

Mountain: He takes you deep into the forest alone—this is something that’s just for the two of you. He finds a shady canopy and instructs you to ruminate on your love and commitment to him while he takes your hands. You’re not sure how long you both stand there, but when you open your eyes, the sun has moved considerably and Mountain is smiling a secret smile at you. He’s mixed up a natural ink, and the two of you tattoo his clan’s symbol for ownership on each other. Afterwards, he has you consummate your union on a patch of soft dirt. A little indignant at being left out, the two of you come back to the dorms to find the other Band Ghouls have thrown you an impromptu reception.