#plus with the reader there the dimis are retaining a lot of their humanity

[valleynix]

I actually kinda like how lady d talks about Miranda in To promise the moon. The whole 'yes I love her but I recognize that she's an awful person.' We've heard some things that Miranda has done to her followers and the Dimitrescu's, and IDK if it's gonna happen, but what would Lady d do if Miranda actually followed through with her threats???

ooh, this is a good one! i assume you're talking about what Cassandra said ("What good has she done for my family, aside from threatening to starve us if our experiments continued to fail?"). all we know is that these threats are, so far, quite empty, but what would happen if Miranda actually began to starve them?

i imagine the starving would take a long time. Miranda provides them with maids to eat and drain if they have no other source of food; other than that, she allows them to take any disloyal followers (ones that do not become experiments) and anyone who stumbles into their territory (like the Reader).

so, let's say she puts out an order that the Dimitrescus can no longer just take anyone found in their territory, as she needs more people for her own experiments. well, that's not too bad, right? Alcina has been preparing for a day like this; she faces the brunt of these threats, and she knew Miranda would follow through one day.

she puts herself and the girls on a rationed diet. Daniela is already used to not being allowed much blood unless it's incredibly diluted, so she would probably suffer the least. Cassandra and Bela would likely become irritable and snappy, the former more so, but they would be bearable. Alcina probably said not to kill or maim any maids during this time, at least until this foolish order had passed.

only... it doesn't pass. months go by, and their supply of blood-infused wine is becoming scarce. Alcina sends Cassandra out more often to hunt, but whatever she brings back, it's not enough. she watches her daughters becoming weaker and weaker, and it breaks her heart to be unable to do anything.

one day, a maid slips up and spills a bit of tea on the dining hall table. this simply cannot do. Alcina orders her daughters to take her to the cellar, allowing them to do as they see fit. the maid does not come back.

this becomes a bit of a norm around the castle for some time. when a maid does something out of place - no matter how big or small - they are sent to the cellar, and the girls are allowed to feed. they bring back enough for Alcina, and because of that, she allows this to continue.

but they stopped receiving maid shipments months ago, when Miranda had first spoke of this silly order, and their supply of maids is beginning to run low, too. Alcina still holds out some hope that this is simply a prolonged punishment, and that her leader would stop before her and her daughters perished.

unfortunately, it continues. there are fewer and fewer maids in the castle every day, and the girls are becoming more and more feral. they pace around, look for scraps around the castle, beg their mother to let them into the village.

Alcina is a smart woman. she knows that if she lets her daughters out into the village, if she lets them slip up once, that Miranda will find out and this punishment will remain everlasting.

so, she decides to go to Miranda directly. i imagine this can go one of two ways: either she tells Alcina that she and her daughters are no longer of any use to her, implying she wants them to die out... or she smiles wickedly and cruelly as she tells Alcina that their loyalty is to no longer waver, that they must accept that she will be the only person to ever provide them with what they need. they must remain obedient and their experiments are not to fail from here out.

it's a show of power, you know. that Miranda can do whatever she wants and not suffer the consequences. perhaps she did try to starve them before the events of To Promise the Moon, but i doubt it would have lasted longer than a month or two, at most.

we haven't seen our lovely bird mom yet... but we will, soon, and you'll see exactly why the Dimitrescu daughters are not loyal to her, and why Alcina may love and adore this woman but despise who she is and what she's able to do to people.

#hm she seems like a bitch #lady dimitrescu #alcina dimitrescu #bela dimitrescu #cassandra dimitrescu #daniela dimitrescu #mother miranda #to promise the moon #obv this is a bit of a stretch and i doubt miri would follow through with it #...probably #plus with the reader there the dimis are retaining a lot of their humanity #and this would have to happen without the reader there anyway bc things would play out differently if they WERE in the castle #they'd be finding miranda and throwing hands #or they'd be doing whatever they could to ensure the dimitrescus had enough to eat to survive #take that how you will LMAO #like i said tho #she might've tried to starve them into obedience before To Promise the Moon #probably didn't work out too well #but Alcina still cares about her and loves her and will stick up for her (most of the time) #reader is ofc very conflicted on the matter but they're like #as they should tbh #anyways