#also laios wouldn't want her dad there and i think that's easy enough. but would papa nakamoto come. would toshiro's mother???

[loriache]

laishuro wedding. oh boy : ) yippee! what a funtime. well weddings in general in dm make me think of the empty space that is religion in dunmeshi. we know the gnome religion exists. but other than that not much info. given how similar the island of wa is to japan we can assume weddings there would go pretty similarly to historical weddings in japan. but they'd be unlikely to use toshiro's customs as a basis just because he's marrying in and it isn't like they'd have the resources or knowledge to execute it properly if they tried. instead they'd probably be establishing practices for melini, presumably based on local pre-existing customs and potentially with influence from how the golden kingdom did weddings way back when. all we see of delgal's wedding is an open-air feast which seems to function as a kind of festival open to peasants, with revelry expected. which i think laios would really like. actually i imagine the golden kingdom developing more and more elaborate wedding practices over the centuries. oh and a tournament seems possible, thistle mentioned they hold those, and it seems a likely addition to a feast. toshiro could even compete/win it. ....kabru could compete in it too.... though he would see that toshiro should win for the public image of it. but not want to see laios be soooo impressed awarding him the prize.

melini during the story seems pretty secular. the temple is being used for practical purposes as part of the dungeon economy and you don't have to be a member of the gnome religion to wear the robes, it has a civil function. but everyone just went through a very intense, high stress situation (the world nearly ended) and most people don't really understand why. so i think some grassroots/folk religion cropping up in melini seems quite likely. particularly wrt to feasts the whole faligon eating situation seems likely to establish some almost transubsantiation-like ideas about food which represents the body of mythic figures - aka, laios and falin. while it's unlikely that laios, kabru, yaad, or marcille would want to legitimise this, it's also true that while they're establishing melini new shared cultural touchstones will help the many different communities who are coming together gel. so if there are some semi-religious or spiritual practices for weddings that have popped up, even if they're linked to the demon, laios, falin, that whole story, they may want to include them in the ceremony. since i doubt the first wedding taking place on melini will be laios', if the laishuro wedding is even laios' first wedding!

though even though i don't think the wedding would be island of wa-style, they would do well to incorporate any dowry goods, evidence of good trade deals established through the wedding. to the people of melini the nakamoto probably seem very far away and irrelevant. so they'd want to establish what theyre bringing to the table as a choice of consort. so laios wearing a dress incorporating fine silk they can import via the nakamoto. toshiro winning a tournament demonstrating his martial prowess... his retainers would probably want to compete too. the wedding meal incorporating spices ... maybe steel? though idk how they'd show it off. maybe that comes within martial prowess.

with me going hard on tfem laios, i think shed be a lot more comfortable with having kids if shes the one bearing them (which i have no doubts is possible in this world, it would just likely take some form of ancient magic and a lot of experimentation, assuming it hasnt been done before. i believe marcille could do it if she could regrow falin from scratch). i think being the mother instead would break some of that traumatic association laios has with becoming his father, and while her relationship with her mother is poor, its not nearly as bad as with her father. i dont think shed be eager to name an heir, but i think the idea of having kids would be less hard to consider

a more matriarchal monarchy would be respected by the elves, and i dont think they would expect a titled queen (as opposed to a queen-consort) to marry as the heir is obviously legitimate if she bore it and there are witnesses

however from a political angle i would love love love to arrange a marriage between the nakamoto clan of the island of wa and the woman-king of melini to cement a trade agreement which will increase the nakamotos position at home and abroad

plays very nicely with my thought that toshiros dad would be extremely impressed that he befriended a king and would want him to go establish a branch family in a new nation with rare resources. what better way to do that than to marry off your permanently single son to a queen? she can bear kids right? alright, thats all papa nakamoto needed to hear. go make some royal babies son

its extremely romcom but maybe this should be funny a bit. maybe i am having a lot of fun with this. and i bet you laios still doesnt fucking know toshiros clan name so shes going to hear who shes marrying and all thats going thru her head is "oh shuros from that island" so toshiro her new fiance is going to arrive and shes gonna be like "^^ yayyyy shuro i didnt know you knew my new husband, are you gonna introduce us?"

and toshiro, who has been dreading this for months, now has to figure out how to break it to her thats him. hes the husband. please dont make this weird laios

[loriache]

tags from @yuri-puppies: #i want to see him treating a marriage contract like he does the problem of the demon. if that makes any sense.#<- prev i am obsessed with this#the fact that this is all familiar tropes for us queer fandom people but he (they) would have to figure it out from scratch#i am chewing and chewing and chewing and chewing and chewing and chewing and chewing. and chewing.#the idea of laios having to get politically married kinda no matter what is very in line with the 'advisors' post-canon comic#and there /has/ to be a politically well-connected lesbian with a passion for statecraft out there#(or any expertise that would help the kingdom. we know about laios that he really respects and listens to experts re: their fields)#although i can also see every enterprising noble and merchant with a “weird unmarriageable daughter” try to introduce her to laios#and one of them is bound to have a special interest compatible with the golden country trio's vision for the kingdom#also can we talk about the touden parents having to have another child????#that's fucking me up#option 1: they already have another child and they either didn't tell falin or falin kept it from laios#which holy shit#or option 2: that physically frail 40something woman is about to try for a child now that laios officially can't succeed#which. holy shit.#the second one is particularly interesting to me bc afaik we don't know how laios feels about his mother#he's very hostile re: his father but i don't think we've heard a word about the woman who tried to exorcise falin which is. interesting.#either way he'd blow a gasket. like 'how can you be so irresponsible! health risks!' and 'bold of you to assume you can raise children'#but what i'm curious about is whether he'd blame both of them or just his father.#dunmeshi#dungeon meshi manga spoilers

AUGH exactly exactly you see my vision!!! there's bound to be a well-connected lesbian and/or a weird unmarriageable daughter with a relevant special interest or someone who can contribute and bring alliances and connections. and they'd have to make it work! figure it out even without any examples of other people to follow. though i bet there's scandalous literature they could use as inspiration, marcille can surely find some - especially if some form of polygamy is common in some places.

the touden parents already having another kid is so tasty.... i wonder if they didn't tell falin because they still held out hope for laios to come back and knew that if she told him that, he definitely wouldn't. and i do think that like, laios would be angry about the health risks to his mother and probably blame his dad, because it doesn't seem like he really knows how to blame his mother as an individual - that makes sense to me given he grew up thinking of her as 'fragile', and he already doesn't like his dad, so it's easy enough for him to blame him for stuff that really is as much about her. but an interesting angle is if she was the one to push for it, because she's the one crying about grandchildren in his dream...

i do like the already-existent kid rather than trying for baby because it means a slightly-older potential kid sibling, which is great for drama. for my postcanon au about the crew dealing with their family. (chilchuck wife, milsiril, touden parents, namari's dad.... god i want to draft it but next part of the touden swap au has to come first.)

honestly i'm kind of interested in the idea of laios in an arranged marriage. because obviously straight-up inherited monarchies are ...bad, to say the least! but it's what the characters are familiar with (even laios' father's extremely local, extremely minor leadership role is inherited, presumably through the male line). and it isn't just about what they think the best way to run melini is; in terms of ensuring that the other longed-lived nations respect melini's continued sovereignty, having it passed down in a manner that's close enough to their own ways for them to understand it and respect it is important. And it seems like most of the other nations have leadership through inheritance - thought that isn't confirmed for certain except with the elves.

Also, a marriage carries the potential to establish foreign allies - something melini is certainly lacking. A marriage could come with resources they'll badly need, treaties of mutual defence, money, legitimacy and political capital... not that these things can't be worked around, but if laios isn't strongly opposed, there are a lot of advantages! and i don't think he would be, because that's the framework for marriage (conferring practical advantages, building intracommunity relationships and providing a partner to do important work that he can't do) that he had grown up with. he isn't exactly a romantic and I doubt he's holding out for any sort of relationship of that nature.

Like, I don't think it's impossible that they would go with this path, because it's the most obvious and it carries a lot of advantages and it's what almost all the decision-making characters would consider normal and not objectionable. and it could be so interesting.

I think Laios would have major hangups if expected (i.e., by Marcille) to establish a genuine, romantic interest in a woman. Whether because of his sexual or romantic orientation, or just his own deep-seated trauma about rejection and being inherently disgusting and scary. And I think he'd hate the idea of having kids, too, and be very frightened of being like his father. But I don't think he'd refuse on that basis; he could cope with a marriage contract, with clearly laid-out expectations and responsibilities. And when it came to having a kid, I think he'd be reluctant to express that he doesn't want to do it, because he isn't naive and he understood when he agreed to be king it would carry responsibilities like this. It's clear from his nightmare that he already felt pressure from his parents to have children, probably magnified by the fact his father has got a position, responsibilities and wealth to pass on. Obviously he isn't a perfect martyr, so he might struggle when it comes to actually going through with it - but I don't think he'd actually, outright refuse. I think he might do it even though he doesn't want to, and I think that could be really messy in a way that appeals to me.

I don't know, there's something about negotiating these kinds of complicated situations that's interesting to me. and i love a platonic marriage. If they find a woman who has an interest in education, for example, and can work with marcille on setting up schools and universities. she'd ideally be politically savvy enough to be an able partner to laios: even though kabru can and would continue to do a lot of that, there are different spheres that a queen and a prime minister can work within!

how would their relationship work? maybe she finds laios' perspective on the world, and his frankness, unexpectedly liberating after an extremely controlled, cloistered upbringing. maybe she had a rebellious phase, has magic, or something else which makes her a relatively unpopular candidate for marriage - even as melini grows in power, i doubt that they'd be getting offers for the cream of the crop in terms of perceived value on the marriage market, because laios' relationship is a bit too ambivalent/monstrous for that, and melini too new. maybe she's a widow! an older woman, wouldn't that be cool - though they'd want her young enough that she could definitely still have kids.

certainly i think he'd be happy for her to pursue other relationships, though ideally in a manner that couldn't produce illegitimate kids. with other relationships in play, that's even more interesting. like, both kabru and toshiro have complicated emotions relating to infidelity. i think kabru would actually find it quite cathartic to be in the kind of high-status environment that rejected his mother for perceived infidelity, pursuing an affair that all parties consent to, though he'd likely be incredibly aware of the public image - since "image" is what he was rejected for. toshiro... i just really really love the way he'd feel about being the "other woman" in laios' marriage, considering his feelings about his father and maizuru. especially given how much closer he is to maizuru than his mother, being in her position...! his emotions would be so complex, it's incredibly tasty. i bet he'd make a bunch of assumptions about how laios' wife feels about it and be totally wrong, and that's so interesting. also, i think laios' wife should fuck marcille (she and falin have an open relationship).