our characters are forced into an arranged marriage through a combination of pushy parents and unfortunate circumstances. both of our characters bring to the marriage long-kept secrets and piles of baggage. one of YC's secrets is a chronic condition/disability that their family has been desperate to keep hidden from the public due to the impact it would have on their name. one of MC's secrets is so scandalous that it has ruined his reputation, and he needs to marry YC to win back some social credibility.

both of characters think they know how they feel about the other already, and neither are looking forward to being married to each other. they've scarcely even spoken before the wedding night, and it's not until all is said and done, and they're left alone to consummate, that truths slowly start to come out.

starting that night, the two fall into a whirlwind romance while traveling on their honeymoon. the rigors of travel pose challenges related to YC's health, but MC doesn't seem to mind looking after them. if anything, those gentle moments of caregiving bring them even closer together.

when they return home, society expects the couple to lay low and be on their good behavior. but finding mutual acceptance for their genuine selves in each other leaves our characters feeling bold. They've both been out of society for a while for various reasons, so as they accept every perfunctory courtesy invitation that was expected to be denied, people begin to talk. our characters turn up at every social event that they can, daring to be different and happy, and at home, every day is bliss. but we know that this can't last for long....

so i'd like to start with the wedding night, i think, and play things out from there? i feel the story could go a number of different ways as they're establishing themselves in society, the plot could go dark/serious/heavy, it could go melodramatic/emotional/more fluff, i'm definitely down to discuss!

something along the lines of, YC is from a family with a respectable name hiding a mountain of debt. i would play a pair of brothers from a family with a disgraced name, but more money than god. the idea is YC is betrothed to the older brother as a way to secure their family's finances, and rescue my characters' family from social ruin. the brothers both have their admirable qualities, but the older brother is an uptight, chronically ill traditionalist while the younger brother is a free-spirited rake.

YC falls in love with the younger brother, but YC's is forced by circumstance to go through with marrying the older brother. then, three of them wind up inhabiting the grand family estate during the winter, and everything goes to absolute shit. ideally, i'd love for this plot to see the characters all lose themselves to emotion with a sweeping backdrop of seaside moors and a palatial manor. also laudanum, bloodletting, dramatic fainting, and of course lots of falling-deathly-ill-after-being-in-the-rain type vibes. i adore the "fragile aristocrat" trope and i also adore caregiving themes, so feel free to play YC as the most precious and delicate flower of them all. XD

i would love to play an up-and-coming painter who fixates on YC as their muse. i don't have my heart set, really, on YC being anyone in particular. they could be a sheltered, high-society aristocrat who is scandalized as the painter draws them into their libertine lifestyle. YC could be a workhouse pauper who can't even afford to eat properly, just keeping their head down and trying to survive; something about their quiet dignity fascinates MC, and he offers them a job as a model. YC could be a famous singer or performer that MC has always wanted to paint; MC pulls some strings and manages to get to speak to YC at long last. along the way, we may meet jealous patrons, ex-lovers, chekcered pasts, and officious busybodies who want to stand in the way of true love (which obviously they WONT but we're gonna let them try XD)

ALTERNATIVE TWIST: adding in supernatural elements, the painter character could have some kind of ability to bind their subject's life force to a painting, thereby weakening them more and more over time, and effectively enabling the painter to be immortal. this time the painter would develop genuine feelings for their subject, but not until the painting was already well underway, and the subject feeling the effects.

the painter could also be a vampire, instead or in addition. why a vampire? because it would be sexy and romantic, that's why lmaooo

at the end of the day guys, hurt/comfort is my fucking jam. so what if we come up with a lavish medieval-fantasy set piece with a handful of lively characters and do everything we can to torment YC in as many different ways as possible while MC rescues and comforts them? (magic optional but highly encouraged) i really just want an excuse to write whump in a dreamy fantasy setting. i know to some people that sounds like a nightmare but i literally would love that so much.

my first thought is that YC is a princess (or prince, or nonbinary royal offspring) who has been afflicted from birth with the worst luck imaginable, with all manner of illnesses (pls), accidents (yISS), and misfortunes (hooraY). as it turns out, they bear a curse that has been dormant for so long that it was forgotten. we spend the RP on hurt/comfort/whump as well as trying to break the curse (probably using dangerous and uncertain means). alternatively, maybe the gender nonspecific royal party needs to be escorted on some long journey, and i could write as their bodyguard/carer, and/or the rest of the servants in their cadre tending to their various needs. i'd also love to play a court physician haha.