#i love writing them even if idk if it's anywhere near the canon characterisation anymore

[fey-changeling]

@marnz Omg “I don't care if she's the devil I don't want to be saved!”?????

Ohoho, right, this is the only venture maidens fanfic i'm currently working on (title from this song*), and I'm so sorry I think I have to lore-dump for this to make sense.

Essentially it's about two women who love each other very much who have been forced to make horrible choices/sacrifice their happiness and each other in service of their greater good. It's about them both knowing that they'll be instrumental in each other's destruction but neither wanting to hurt the other. (Feel free to skip straight to the snippet)

Rem: demi-goddess of death, loathes her father the evil god of death

Isolde: minor royal, very powerful cleric of fate

75-ish years ago they fell in love and established a mercenary organisation serving the fates. A few months ago Rem left the organisation, shortly after she stole an ancient artefact and used it to kill her father (no mortal has ever killed a god before and the gods all freaked out). Rem went into hiding, she had Plans™. Months later the fates decide Isolde can't be trusted due to her relationship with Rem, they take away her power permanently and banish her from the organisation. Rem's real goal is to destroy fate itself, severing all the gods' control over mortals.

This fic is set between Rem killing her father and Isolde losing her power, because what if they had met and the fates had a genuine reason to think that Isolde might betray them, and it's angsty and bittersweet.

And here's the snippet

The bedchamber was lit by soft candlelight, and Rem stood by the bed. Unarmoured, hair a mess, clothes crumpled. Although she had clearly been waiting, she was tensed ready to fly, like a prey animal cornered by a predator.

Isolde hadn’t expected the rush of relief or the pain that followed it. Anger and resentment yes, but not relief, not a fresh wave of heartbreak. She was going to cry, gods, she wanted to cry so badly, and she wasn’t sure if she was going to collapse, or how she would rid the building tension from her limbs in any way but spontaneously combusting. Then Rem had crossed the room in a blur, crashed into her and held her tightly against her chest.

It felt like a homecoming. It should have felt like a sin.

When they let go enough to look at each other, Rem’s fingertips moved very lightly over her face, tears rolling unchecked down her cheeks. She was exhausted, it was in every line of her body, the way she held herself. There were dark circles under her eyes and her face was gaunt. Isolde wouldn't think about why. Gently, she wiped the tears away with her thumb.

“Isolde,” Rem brushed her lips against her fingertips. “Isolde,” buried her fingers in her loose hair. “Isolde—” Isolde kissed her for she felt she would go mad if Rem said her name one more time. It was a brief, soft kiss, more than a little uncertain, hiding all that choking desperation.

“Oh, is this…? Is this alright—?” Rem kissed her more deeply, and when they parted Isolde swayed, her head spinning in that oh-so-familiar way.

“It’s worse.” She remarked, clutching at Rem’s shirt hard enough to turn her knuckles white. Rem opened her mouth, likely to apologise, and Isolde kissed her until she felt she would pass out, until she could barely think for the pain it brought. She broke the kiss, gasping into Rem’s shoulder as the world tilted violently around her.

“You absolute fucking masochist.” Her back pressed against the door, Rem leant over her, smiling. She wanted her, she missed her. She wanted to consume Rem and be consumed in turn. Rem would let her, she would indulge her, she always had.

* @rusalkaandtheshepherdgirl i'm tagging you in this because it's your fault this song is stuck in my head all the time 🥰

#this fic concept has been in my head for years #i could talk A LOT about it #i really tried to compress it down to be readable #i'm so sorry #marnz #wip ask meme #i don't care if she's the devil i don't want to be saved #what a fucking long title #no i'm not obsessed with rem's canonical kiss of death. why do you ask #i love writing them even if idk if it's anywhere near the canon characterisation anymore