#we all know how this will end so i don't have to write a full fic for it right ^^

[musicforastylesrestaurant]

He Knelt To The Ground….

masterlist || ask me anything <3

my blurb masterlist is here !!

authors note - taylors finally arrived in the uk ☺️ and what better way to celebrate then writing something cutesy. enjoy 💫

word count - 1k

in which, you and harry have been together for three years now, and at this point your relationship basically has a third with the amount of times you play taylor around the house, so at the eras concert he surprises you with something you’ll never forget.

You’re sitting in a private box at Taylor Swift’s first UK show of her Eras Tour in Scotland, and you still can’t believe it. The stadium is a sea of twinkling lights, fans holding up their phones and glow sticks, creating a mesmerizing galaxy. The energy is electric, the kind that makes your skin tingle and your heart race. Next to you, your boyfriend, Harry Styles, is equally captivated. His hand finds yours, squeezing it gently as he flashes you a grin that makes your heart flutter.

Taylor has been on stage for an hour now, and every song feels like magic. You’ve danced, you’ve sung along, and you’ve shared so many glances of shared joy with Harry. It’s surreal, being here with him, in this moment.

You stand in front of Harry, his arms wrapped securely around your waist, holding you close as you both watch Taylor Swift’s mesmerizing performance. The warmth of his embrace makes you feel safe and cherished, his heartbeat a steady rhythm against your back.

It’s just the two of you in the private box, a gift from Taylor herself. Harry and Taylor have been good friends for years, and she wanted to make sure he had the best view for her first UK show of the Eras Tour in Scotland.

The private box is a sanctuary amidst the excitement of the stadium, offering an unparalleled view of the stage. The crowd’s energy pulses around you, yet here, wrapped in Harry’s arms, it feels like your own little world.

His breath tickles your ear as he leans in to speak, his voice low and intimate. “S’heavenly, isn’t it?”

You nod, your heart full to bursting. “It really is.”

He brushes a strand of hair from your face, his touch tender. “A dream come true. I wouldn’t want to be anywhere else but here with you.”

As Taylor finishes a high-energy number, the stage lights dim, and a hush falls over the crowd. You can feel the anticipation building, a collective breath being held. Harry’s arms tighten around you in shared excitement.

“Here it comes,” he murmurs.

The first few notes of "Love Story" play, and the crowd erupts into cheers and applause. You feel a rush of nostalgia, remembering the first time you heard this song, and how much it’s meant to you over the years.

Taylor steps to the front of the stage, her smile radiant as she gazes out at the audience.

“This one’s for all of you who’ve been with me since the beginning,” she says, her voice carrying a warmth that makes the massive stadium feel intimate.

“We were both young when I first saw you,” Harry sings softly into your ear, his voice sending shivers down your spine. “I close my eyes and the flashback starts, I'm standing there, on a balcony in summer air.”

You lean more into him, feeling his breath against your ear as he continues to sing, his voice a perfect complement to Taylor’s. “See the lights, see the party, the ball gowns. See you make your way through the crowd and say hello.”

He turns you gently in his arms, so you’re facing him now, his eyes locked onto yours. “Little did I know that you were Romeo, you were throwing pebbles. And my daddy said, 'Stay away from Juliet.'”

You can’t help but smile, your heart swelling with love and happiness. Harry’s voice is full of emotion, each word resonating deeply within you.

“And I was crying on the staircase, begging you, 'Please don't go,’” he continues, his eyes never leaving yours.

The song progressed and before you knew it. The song was almost coming to an end.

As Taylor's voice fills the air, she sings, “Romeo, save me, I've been feeling so alone. I keep waiting for you, but you never come. Is this in my head? I don't know what to think.”

You feel Harry's grip loosen slightly, and you turn around to see why. To your shock and delight, you find Harry kneeling on one knee, an open ring box in his hand. The sparkling diamond catches the light, reflecting the magic of the moment.

He looks up at you, his eyes filled with love and a hint of nervousness.

“Marry me, Juliet,” he says, echoing the lyrics. “You’ll never have to be alone. I love you, and that’s all I really know.”

Your heart skips a beat, and tears spring to your eyes as you realize what’s happening. The stadium around you seems to fall away, and all you can see is Harry, his expression earnest and filled with hope.

“Will you marry me?” he asks, his voice steady despite the emotion in his eyes.

His eyes shimmer with unshed tears as he continues. "I want to spend the rest of my life making you as happy as you make me. I want to wake up next to you every morning and fall asleep beside you every night. I want to create a lifetime of memories, a million little moments that add up to a beautiful love story. So, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”

The music swells around you, but for you, everything is silent except for the pounding of your heart. You nod, your voice catching as you whisper, “Yes, yes, of course, yes!”

Harry’s face breaks into a radiant smile as he slips the ring onto your finger. He stands, pulling you into a tight embrace, and you kiss him, tears of joy mingling with your laughter.

As you pull away, still wrapped in each other's arms, you feel like the world has shifted, the moment becoming a perfect memory you'll cherish forever.

“This is our love story,” Harry whispers in your ear, echoing your earlier words.

“And it’s just beginning,” you reply, your heart full to bursting.

#musicforastylesrestaurant #harry styles #harry styles angst #harry styles blurb #harry styles fluff #harry styles au #harry styles imagine #harry styles masterlist #harry styles fake ig #harry styles headcanon #harry styles x oc #harrystylesdrabble #harry styles fake social media #harry styles writing #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x you #harrystylesxreader #harry styles one shot #harry styles x yn #harry’s house #harrystylesxyn #taylor swift #the eras tour

[we-stan-cale]

I was thinking a bit about character development.

Like, Cale, Choi Han, and Alberu have a beautiful friendship - and it grew over the course of the entire story.

I'm probably going to talk about later parts of the story, so Imma put the rest behind a divider so you can avoid spoilers

In the beginning, Choi Han was loyal to Cale but .. it was kind of shallow.

Choi Han didn't understand why they had to wear those shitty Arm robes, was shocked when Cale created his alibi by drinking, and so on and so forth.

He followed Cale, but he didn't really know Cale that well yet and that was clear.

Oh, and it was much more of a hierarchical relationship. Cale as his legs, Choi Han as Cale's knight.

This slowly began to change, though I think there were a couple of key turning points.

Cale almost dying after the Battle of the Gorge was one of them.

I think that's when Choi Han truly realized he couldn't trust Cale when it came to his health. Not that he hadn't seen signs before, but Cale always brushed things off and I think this was when Choi Han realized that no, it's really not okay, no matter what Cale says.

After that, we see Choi Han start asking more questions...

And Cale (with a clear flashback to his time as a team leader, where his people desperately wanted to help more) actually answered them.

The relationship started to shift, and become less liege and knight, and more colleagues. (This, btw, came from both of them. Choi Han asking more, and Cale telling more. Somewhat. A little bit.)

They definitely grow closer in other ways - Choi Han telling them about his long life after they found the Dragon Village, for example. (Though Cale already knew it, so you also see just how much Cale is still keeping his secrets).

And then...

We get Choi Han receiving Choi Jung Soo's memories.

That causes the biggest shift yet.

Now they aren't just liege and knight.

Now we have Cale thinking of Choi Han as his best friend's elder (even if Choi Han doesn't feel a need for that).

Also, Choi Han now knows. Not just that Cale is a transmigrator, not just about his life as Kim Rok Soo, not just about the cataclysm (and what happened to the Choi family).

He also knows about the tragedy that has pretty much defined Cale. He may not know about the aftermath, or Cale's time as team leader, but he knows that Cale was devastated after losing everyone.

We also see Choi Han (who got Syrem's ancient powers and now knows what it's like to use them) insist that Cale shouldn't absorb the Blood-drenched Rock power, a potential standoff that ended when Cale found another way and used Embrace instead.

They are no longer liege and obedient knight.

And then came the sealed god's test, where Choi Han gave up quite a lot of his potential lifespan, just to join Cale in one of the worst times of Cale's life.

And he was happy for it.

We see Cale truly overcome with emotion. The trust and friendship between the two of them is just beautiful.

And I truly meant to talk about Alberu as well (him joining them also adding to this) but I only realized when writing this just how much I had to say about Cale and Choi Han, so maybe I'll do that another time.

Anyways.

That still wasn't everything. Because we also had the indignity test...

And while I think the author didn't fully finish everything Choi Han saw because it'll probably come up in part 2 (it hasn't yet, but I think I see the author building up to something. Because so far they've all been too busy to really address a few things, plus apparently there's dragons dealing with time? Anyways, I suspect we'll get more on Cale's childhood, and what Choi Han knows, and some other things, but we'll see. It took almost 300 chapters in part 1 before we got all the amazing scenes with Cale and Choi Han and the sealed god's test and instant so I'm willing to let the author build things up again.)

Oh, sorry. What was I saying? Right.

Even though we don't have the full story, we know that Choi Han knows.

And in one of the side stories, he says this:

He didn’t know at first, but that person’s days of rest that Choi Han saw was more of a period of recovery than days of rest. Of course, the person himself thought that he was playing around, but it did not seem like that to Choi Han at all. That was why his people, who at some point realized the meaning of this rest day, tried their best not to bother his recovery.

And again, in the same side story but referring to a moment later in part 1

Cale was mumbling. “Haaaa. It’d be great to be a slacker.” Choi Han knew the meaning of those words. ‘I want to rest. I need to heal.’ That should be the meaning. However, he now knew what Cale would say after that.

And skipping the specific details, what Choi Han probably meant when he said he knew what Cale would say after that

Cale looked toward the east and calmly commented. “There are too many things to do, so I can’t rest.”

Choi Han understands Cale 1000x more than he did when they started.

And Cale understands Choi Han better, too.

Which is probably a topic for a whole other post, considering Cale initially almost seemed to put Choi Han on a pedestal as the hero and protagonist of the story.

#tcf #lcf #trash of the count's family #lout of the count’s family #cale henituse #choi han #tcf novel spoilers #totcf

[causeilikelix]

Rose Garden - Part Two

↳Pairing: Prince!Lee Know x Maid!afab reader

↳Words: 12,500~ (oops)

↳Warnings: SMUT obviously so as always minors DNI, unprotected sex (don't do this! but its not like these two had any other choice), p in v sex, oral (m and f receiving), fingering (f receiving), creampie, overall very vanilla stuff. Mentions of nausea but no one does on-screen. (For someone with emetophobia, I write about nausea a lot). Pregnancy scare?, ANGST

If there's anything else I missed, let me know!

TAGLIST: @ohmy-moonlightx , @junebug032 , @giyusatorou , @skzfelixlove , @kittkat44 , @nap-of-a-starr, @ventitto , @blankdyean , @lethallyprotected , @poisonivy21 , @nobody3210 , @chuuswifereal , @hisokasimp1, @lookitsjess

(Strikethrough means unable to tag, if I forgot someone or would like to be added then please let me know!)

↳Notes: I finished this first week of May then got taken out by a mystery illness for basically the whole month (respiratory infection I think). Anyway, today is my 27th birthday so I am giving all of you a gift!

PART ONE

↳Ready on my AO3: Here

“CAN’T YOU BE more gentle?” You groaned as your ribcage tightened.  With every tug of the laces on that infernal corset, your ribs condensed and your breasts swelled.  You could have sworn that a seamstress could thread you through a needle at this rate.  You often wore a corset of your own to work, but it was more for general support than to actually suck you into the point of suffocation.  The whale bone threaded through the offensive garment assured you that once you were in, nothing would move.

“That’s how this works, Y/N.  You should know, you entrap me in my corset every morning.”  Joy muttered through gritted teeth.  Her fingers worked on the laces to make sure they were perfectly snug and not going anywhere.  “It’s not so bad once you get used to it.”

“I can hardly breathe.”  You gasped out.

“Maybe so but you will be the picture of perfection.  This dress is going to look amazing on you.”  Joy promised. 

Your eyes darted to the dress laid out on the bed.  For the day, the queen had assigned guest quarters to every visiting lady with the invitation to spend the night if it fit in the travel plans.  Joy, of course, had jumped at the opportunity for a night away from home.  Especially if that night was to be spent dancing away at the palace.  That meant the pair of you had a private bedroom that could be used to change your identity.  The grand four-poster bed was large enough to sleep four comfortably.  You had a feeling that she would insist on sharing the bed with you.  Poor thing never did like sleeping alone.  You didn’t mind. 

“What is wrong with you?”  You panted.  Your lungs worked overtime to get used to being in such a compact space.  “How can you people wear this all the time?”

“They train us young.”  Joy muttered.  “Aha!  Done!  Let’s get you into this gown, shall we?”

Before you knew it, you were drowning in a sea of blue and pink fabric.  The skirts were never ending and created a full ball gown silhouette, though your bone underskirt held most of the fabric away from your legs.  The gown was made of rich peacock-blue silk and layers of delicate tulle that sparkled and shimmered under the light.  Silver lace appliques decorated the bodice and the top half of the skirt.  Some light tulle fabric hung just off your shoulders, creating a sweetheart off-the-shoulder neckline.  You had to admit that the colors were absolutely stunning.  It didn’t feel right that someone like you should wear a gown so beautiful. 

However, once the garment was secured in place with some lacing, you fell in love with it.  The gown hugged your waist and pushed your breasts up just enough.  The skirts swished when you moved and glittered in the light.  

“Y/N,” Joy breathed, “You look beautiful.  Come, let me do your hair and put on your jewelry.”

“Shouldn’t I be the one getting you ready?”  You asked as Joy guided you to sit down at the vanity. 

“There is time for that.  There’s no harm in being a little late if we need to.  The ball will undoubtedly go all night.”  Joy waved it off.  She pointed at a hairbrush on the table and you passed it over your shoulder to her.  “All of that playing dress up when we were kids was totally worth it.”

“Ow…” You muttered under your breath as Joy brushed out the tangles in your hair.

“I wonder who the Queen chose to be the princess.  Surely it’s not me or we would have received some sort of notification.”  Joy mused as she ran the brush through your hair.  “I wonder why they would have all of these lavish parties if they’re not going to choose one of the ladies who attends them.  Whoever the princess is surely is very lucky.  Prince Minho is quite handsome and I’m sure he will make beautiful babies and-”

“Miss Joy.  My apologies but I’m nervous enough as it is.  I’m terrified of being in the same room as the prince.”  You cut her off, wincing as you did so.  Your training clearly specified never to interrupt your lady but all this talk of Prince Minho marrying someone else was beginning to make your heart feel heavy in your chest.  

You hadn’t found the time to tell Joy about what happened.  You wanted to scream it out to the world that Prince Minho was your soulmate but there was no telling if anyone would even believe you.  When you first met him, he was trying to escape from his duty but after he fucked you he dove head-first into it.  You wondered if someone could die from having their soulmate marry someone else. 

In the end, it would all come down to if Prince Minho would confirm the fact that you were soulmates.  If he were to deny you then you would have to live your life without your other half.  The difference in status would make any kind of relationship difficult regardless of Prince Minho’s feelings.  

You weren’t sure if you had the strength to go through with this facade but you were already dressed.  You’d already made the decision.  You couldn’t back down now.  The dress was on and Joy was carefully putting your hair in a simple updo.  She took a few pins from the hair kit you brought for her.  Each pin had a diamond on the end.  The hairdo you had planned for Joy would use most of the pins, so as she worked on your hair you tried to think of what style you could do instead. 

“Y/N, are you okay?  Your head is up in the clouds.”  Joy’s voice softened. 

“Yes, miss.  I am merely thinking about what hairstyle to do for you.”  

“No, I don’t think you are.  You’ve been gone since Prince Minho’s appearance at tea.  Are you alright?”

“Miss… I don’t know.  I feel strange.  I think me coming with you was a terrible idea.”  

“What?  How could you say that!  I don’t know what I would do without you by my side!.”

“If I hadn’t come then I never would have-”  You paused to blink back your tears.  Joy paused her styling with a quiet gasp,  “I never would have met…”

“Who is it?”  Joy whispered knowingly. 

“I can’t tell you.  It would ruin...”

“Y/N, dear, please tell me.”  Joy moved to your side and bent over to be at your level, “I promise there is nothing you could say that would make me think less of you.”

“It’s not me it would ruin.  It’s him.  He and I can never be together.”

“Y/N, please.”  Joy reached up and gently brushed away a few of the tears that had escaped your eyes.  You couldn’t stop crying.  “Tell me and maybe I can help you.”

You looked her in the eye, hoping that maybe she could read your mind.  You and Joy had been friends for as long as you could remember.  You grew up in the same house.  Your mother was Joy’s mother’s maid.  You, in turn, became Joy’s.  Even as a maid, Joy always preferred to treat you as a friend.  

To no avail.  Joy remained clueless. 

“He’s…” you took a deep breath, “My soulmate is… Prince Minho.”

Joy’s jaw dropped.  She stumbled back a bit and sat down hard on the bed.  She stared at you with wide eyes.  If only, that made you cry harder.  At this rate she would never allow you to go to the ball.  Who in their right mind would let you attend a ball when your soulmate was the prince?  

“Do not lie to me, Y/N.”  Joy warned.

“Have you ever known me to lie to you?”

“I suppose not.  You’re sure it’s him?”

“After what we did in the garden, I would know him anywhere.”

“My god, you performed the soulmate act already?”  Joy gawked, her eyes swimming with questions.  “Tell me everything.”

“I don’t know…”

“I am asking as a friend, Y/N, but I will ask as your lady if I have to.”  

“Okay, well… I wandered off.  I didn’t mean to!  But I needed a break from the sun and-”

You told her the story from beginning to finish.  Meeting him in the garden and thinking he was the gardener, the accidental touch, the intensity of the soulmate act, and the way he’d turned cold afterwards.  You explained how you’d searched for him and how your stomach had churned when he was announced as the Prince.  

“It’s all hopeless!”  You wailed, dropping your tear-stained cheeks into your hands, “We can never be together.  After tonight I may never see him again!”  

“Perhaps not…  But what say you to see if we can get you two to meet one last time.  At least share some words, a kiss, something!”

“How would we do that?  He doesn’t know who I am.  He doesn’t know my name or anything.”

“You’re going to the ball tonight, of course he’ll find you!  If he doesn’t then I will speak to him.  I will tell him his angel is looking for him.  Come on, my dear, let’s get you looking perfect!”

~!~!~!~!~!~

YOU WERE CERTAIN that you were going to pass out at any moment.  The corset was bound too tightly and it was as if you were walking through hell’s inferno.  In reality you were only walking down a long corridor warmed with fireplaces, but it may as well have been the same thing.  

A finely dressed butler escorted you and Joy through the palace to the ballroom.  Joy held your hand as you walked, her grip like an iron vice.  She looked beautiful.  Once it was your turn to make her up, her hair was worthy of the princess’s tiara.  Her forest green ballgown was made of the finest silk that rippled like water when she walked.  She held her head high and turned to look at you with a bright smile. 

“You would fit right in here.”  Joy whispered lowly so the butler couldn’t hear your conversation.

“Maybe in the kitchens.”  You sighed.  “You look more like a princess than I do.”

“Nonsense.  I wasn’t born to be a princess, unlike you.”

“Lady Joy, I definitely was not born to be a princess.  Maybe the gods made a mistake.  They’ve been known to do that, right?”

“There is no way this is a mistake.  It’s clear that you belong here!  You’re the most beautiful noblewoman I’ve ever seen, cousin!”  Joy squeezed your hand pointedly. 

Muffled music played through the doors and you suddenly felt sick.  You pressed a hand to your stomach and stopped walking.  Joy stopped as well.  The butler continued on for a few steps before realizing that you weren’t following.

“I can’t do this.”

“Y/N!  Are you with child?”  Joy whispered and nodded to the hand on your stomach.

“What?  No!  It only happened this afternoon.  It takes longer to develop a child.  I’m just sick to my stomach.”

“It’s only nerves.  Once we get into the ballroom, everything will be okay.  We’ll dance a little bit and then we’ll enact the plan, alright?”  

“I can’t.  This was a terrible idea, let me go back to the room and-”

“No!  Y/N, no!  Just take a deep breath.  I’ll be right there by your side the entire time.”  Joy promised, “Let’s go.”

She pulled you along and the butler continued leading you through the palace.  The music got louder and louder until the butler paused at a large set of double doors.  Joy turned to smile at you one last time before looking forward.  

A pair of butlers opened the doors, revealing a lavish, golden ballroom.  Several crystal chandeliers hung from the ceiling with candles casting flickering rainbows on the walls.  The dance floor was packed with ladies and gentlemen alike, dancing away in celebration.  A handful of musicians played a waltz.  

Your eyes were immediately drawn to a raised platform at the back of the room.  A triad of ornate golden thrones with purple velvet and diamonds were perched atop.  In the center throne, a woman in an enormous embroidered gown with a huge crown atop her head tapped her fingers to the time of the music; the Queen.  To her left sat the young princess, no older than fifteen but old enough to be at her brother’s party.  She stared out into the crowd with a polite smile.  Then, your gaze landed on the man you wanted to see. 

Prince Minho sat to his mother’s right.  He wore the same outfit as before, except he’d taken his crown off and hung it off one of the posters of his throne.  He lounged a bit in his chair, not really paying attention to anyone around him.  He sipped on a goblet of wine.  The prince, instead, stared at the ceiling. 

He looked just as beautiful as the moment you first saw him.  Something about the candlelight made his skin glow.  

You sucked in a breath when you laid eyes on him.  It took every ounce of self control in your body and Joy’s hand to keep you from running through the ballroom to be with him.  Something tugged on your heart like an invisible string, urging you forward. 

When you stepped through the door into the ballroom, Prince Minho cocked his head suddenly.  He turned his gaze away from the ceiling and scanned the throngs of dancing people.  He scoured the dancers before turning his attention to the walls.  Servants were stationed by the wall or in the corners where they couldn’t be easily seen unless you were looking for them.  Just out of sight, but there in case they were needed.  Prince Minho searched the face of each one until his gaze passed over the doors you’d just walked through.  

Then came the double take.  He looked on the other side of the room for a moment before turning his head back in your direction. 

When you made eye contact, you gasped and gripped Joy’s hand a little tighter.  Joy immediately snapped her head to look at the prince.  She followed his gaze and found you as the person in question.  He raised an eyebrow in question but said nothing.  He knew your true stature but he was in no position to tell anyone anyway.  

“Come, let’s find something to eat.  You need your energy.”  Joy whispered, pulling your attention away from the Prince.

“But… Prince Minho…”

“There will be time for that.  We have hours before the Prince will retire.  He’s seen you, so there is no doubt in my mind that he will seek you out.”  Joy assured you.  

She pulled you through the ballroom to a dining room.  There were several tables lined with food piled high on silver platters.  Dishes like pork, chicken, rolls, roasted vegetables, you name it.  Instantly, your mouth watered.  You could not remember the last time you broke fast and your dehydration this morning left you with a pounding headache.  

“I am pretty hungry…”  You mused.

“Let’s get you something to eat and then I’ll tell you everything about my plan.”

~!~!~!~!~!~

JOY’S SUGGESTION DIDN’T sit right with you at first, but she eventually convinced you to dance with the very first man who asked.  You’d barely caught the man’s name, Christopher something-or-other.  He was staggeringly handsome, though he could hold no candle to your Destined. 

Christopher spun you around the dancefloor for two whole dances.  He was careful to keep his touches over your clothes but you noticed that his eyes kept dipping down to your mouth and to the swell of your breasts out of the dress.  You wore long silver satin gloves up to your forearms, as was the fashion and the social assurance that no one could find their soulmate at these social events unless you tried really hard.  

At the end of the second dance, a whirlwind of a waltz (where you definitely stepped on his foot more than once), you were beginning to feel a little out of breath.  Joy was off dancing with another man, a complete heartthrob who had introduced himself as Peter.  Joy had promised that she would watch you all evening, but Peter had her absolutely captivated.

Christopher gazed down at you with big, brown puppy dog eyes.  He pursed his lips before opening his mouth to ask you to dance a third time.  However, a terse voice cut through the atmosphere.

“Sir Christopher, do you mind if I cut in?”  The voice sent a shiver down your spine.  You would recognize it, recognize him, anywhere. 

“Oh.  Um, of course, Sire.”  Christopher bowed before disappearing into the crowd. 

Prince Minho took his place in front of you.  You looked at him for a moment before dropping into a deep curtsy.  Your eyes turned to the floor.  Your heart pounded so loudly in your chest that you thought you might faint.  

In an instant, Prince Minho was touching you.  He put his hands on your shoulders to pull you out of the curtsy and one of his hands moved to your chin.  With his soft fingers, he guided your face until you were looking directly into his eyes.  The same grief from this afternoon clouded them and his eyebrows were pulled together.  

The music started and other couples around you began to dance.  Skirts swirled, girls giggled, shoes tapped on the wooden dance floor.  However, none of that mattered.  The outside world became a blur until the only thing you could see was the man in front of you.

He called you an angel before, but you were certain that the angel was actually Prince Minho.  He glowed under the candlelight and his crown looked like a halo.  Prince Minho grasped your waist and took your hand.  You gasped at the contact. 

“Take my arm.”  He commanded.  You quickly set your hand on his shoulder. 

Before you knew it, Prince Minho spun you into the crowd of dancers.  How he managed to lead without taking his eyes off yours, you may never know.  You had so many questions but you had absolutely no idea where to even begin.  All you knew for sure is that this would most likely be the last time you ever saw him.

“What’s your name?”  Prince Minho asked. 

“Y/N.”  

“Beautiful.  I knew your name would be beautiful.”  A smile played on his lips,  “How did you manage to come tonight?  I thought you were a ladies maid.”

“I am.  Lady Joy is more a friend than a lady.  We grew up together.  She asked me to come with her tonight.”  You explained, your voice weak. 

“Damn.  I’d hoped that perhaps you’d fooled me in the garden.  If you were a lady then my mother might have allowed us to marry.”  

“Couldn’t we still pretend?”

“My mother, the Queen, is very resourceful.  She would look into your family and find that you’re of common birth.  Unless, of course, you can provide undeniable proof of noble birth.”

“I’m afraid I don’t think that will be possible.”  Tears brimmed in your eyes at the thought. 

You couldn’t explain it but your heart swelled with affection for him.  You barely even know the man.  However, you could practically feel every cell in your body aching for him and needing to be with him.  His touch sent bolts of lighting through your veins.  His lips were eye level with you and all you wanted to do was claim them as yours.  Party-goers and the Queen be damned.  This man was your soulmate and you wanted everyone to know. 

“My love,”  Prince Minho smiled sadly and moved his hand from your waist in order to brush away a tear that had fallen.  He replaced his hand before you could fall out of step with the dance. “We will find a way.  Maybe it won’t be today but I must have you by my side.  I want to know everything about you.  Please, my angel, don’t think of this as an ending.  Merely a rocky and uncertain beginning.”

“How can you be optimistic about this?”  

“I am a prince.  We have a way of getting things done.”  Prince Minho smiled warmly.  The assurance that he was feeling the same way as you in this absurd situation made your heart ache a little less.  “Dance the night away with me, my love.”

How could you possibly refuse him?

You spent the next three dances in the circle of your prince’s arms.  Sir Christopher asked for your hand for one dance but Prince Minho stole you away the moment it was over.  You twirled around the ballroom, talking and laughing with one another.  He searched your mind, asking about your past, your family, your life.  He wanted to know your favorite meals, your favorite colors, artists, and flowers.  He, in turn, told you all about his favorites. 

More and more things began to line up between the two of you.  With every new thing in common, it became extremely apparent why he was your soulmate.  He was your perfect match in every way.  He was everything you ever could have wanted in a life partner.  He was charming, witty, a fantastic dancer, and he cared deeply about his country and his duties. 

Eventually, Prince Minho led you from the dance floor and onto the terrace outside.  The air was cool against your skin and you hadn’t realized you’d been sweating.  The party continued behind you, grand and gold.  There were three sets of tall glass doors that were propped open between the terrace and the ballroom.  There were fewer people outside, so it gave you and your Prince a quieter place to talk.  

And talk you did.  For hours it seemed, you spoke and shared things about your life.  There wasn’t much for you to share but you wanted to know every detail about him.  

“You must be dreading your marriage.”  You sighed.

“I am… but I know it must be done.  The last thing I want is to be with someone who isn’t my soulmate.  However, I understand that it is what I must do.  My father would have wanted me to do the same as him.”  Prince Minho explained.  “In the garden earlier, I was prepared to run away from it all.  I still wish I could escape.  However, now I know that I cannot escape my duty.”

“The same as your father?  What do you mean by that?”  You asked.  You bit down the stinging pain in your chest from all the talk of him marrying another.  Though, you had to admit that it made sense.

“My mother was not his soulmate, you see.  He never told me who it was but I’m not sure that they ever got to be together before he died.”

“Your parents managed to have children, though!  That is an accomplishment!  I heard that fertility rates between non-soulmates is very low.”

“I think it worked because my mother has never met her soulmate.  She truly loved my father and I believe that it was her love that made my sister and I come into existence.  Or maybe it was pure luck.”

“Do you believe in true love?  Love that isn’t born of soulmates?”

“Well, I suppose I’ve never thought about it.  I don’t think that I have ever loved anyone before.  I fancied a few of the ladies when I was younger, but I always knew that I would either find my soulmate one day or I would have to live without them.”  Prince Minho gazed out into the garden.  The paths were lined with torches that cast a golden glow on the ground.  Two or three lone couples strolled through the garden. 

“I apologize, My Prince.  We can discuss something else.”  

“Angel, it is alright.  There is no way you could upset me.”  Prince Minho assured you. 

He reached out and cupped your cheek with his hand.  He guided your head to make sure you were looking directly into his eyes.  “This situation is less than ideal but it is in no way your fault.  It’s crazy.  It feels as if I’ve known you all my life.”

“I know… I wish I didn’t have to leave.”

“I wish you didn’t have to go.”

Minho guided your face a little closer to his and pressed a fleeting kiss onto your cheek.  His soft lips lingered on your skin for a few long seconds.  His musky scent filled your nose and overwhelmed your senses.  You closed your eyes and breathed him in.  Something deep in your core wished that he would have kissed your lips instead. 

However, all good things come to an end. 

“HEAR YE, HEAR YE.”  A voice boomed from inside the ballroom, “ALL SUBJECTS APPEAR BEFORE THE QUEEN FOR AN IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT.” 

Prince Minho pulled away from you and looked towards the ballroom.  The music had stopped and all of the guests were venturing towards the center of the room to listen to the announcement.  He turned to look back at you.

“It’s time, my love.”  Prince Minho offered you his hand.

Your lower lip quivered and you blinked back the tears brimming in your eyes.  You stared at his hand.  You forced yourself to swallow a sob.  Gently, you took his hand.  He led you back into the ballroom.  The stifling heat made it nearly impossible to breathe.  Your chest ached.  Your heart pounded in your ears.  

Once you got deep enough into the room, Prince Minho pulled you to a careful stop.  He looked deeply into your eyes for a few long seconds.  You stared back, desperately trying to memorize the way his eyes glowed like honey in the candle light.  They sparkled a little and with a start you wondered if he was about to cry.

“I’m going to miss you.”  He whispered. 

“And I you.”  

He gently pulled you closer.  You thought for a moment that he was going to kiss you.  The air between you thinned as his face inched closer.  He cupped your cheek in his hand and pressed your foreheads together. 

“Your lady is Lady Joy, correct?”

“Lady Joy Park.”  You affirmed. 

“I will send for you this evening, my love.  Fear not, this will not be the last time we see each other.”

With that, he vanished into the crowd.  His hand dropped from your face and he let go of your hand.  The other guests of the party bustled around you.  The air in the ballroom ran hot, but you shivered.  You searched the faces around you desperately, hoping that perhaps he would emerge from the crowd and come back to you.  

Prince Minho did emerge from the crowd, but only when he stepped back up onto the platform and reclaimed his throne.  His stoic face was set and he stared blankly into the crowd.  Your eyes welled up with tears and you blinked to try to keep them at bay.  

How were you supposed to go on without your soulmate?  All you wanted to do was run up to the throne and tell the entire room that he was yours and that no one else could have him.  

Almost as if she read your thoughts, Lady Joy appeared at your side.  She took your hand and gave you a reassuring squeeze.  

“How did it go?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

The Queen cleared her throat so loudly the chandeliers quivered.  She rose to her feet and instantly all chatter in the room ceased.  Someone coughed.  

“It is with regret that I inform you that our dear prince has not found his soulmate.”  The Queen began, “Despite all of our efforts to find his destined partner we were unsuccessful.  However, we still have call for celebration this evening.  I am happy to announce Prince Minho’s betrothal to Princess Anna from the Roman Kingdom!  The nuptials will be held next week and invitations to the event and the following balls will be sent henceforth!  They will honeymoon on the island Sicily, where our dear princess was born before they return home to us.  Please, let us congratulate the lucky couple!”

Everyone in the room applauded politely.  Prince Minho rose to his feet and bowed before sitting back down. 

You were absolutely positive that you were going to be sick.  

“Lady Joy?”

“Yes, Y/N?”

“Get me out of here.”

Joy wasted no time. 

She tugged on your hand, urging you to follow her.  She weaved through the crowd of people.  On your way, the man you remembered as Lord Peter stopped Lady Joy.  They whispered to each other for a few seconds, including something about a promise to see each other again soon.  With that, Joy set off again.  Lady Joy beelined towards the doors and urged the guards to open them.  They gave her a puzzled look, but followed her silent command.  

Your lady pulled you into the hallway and you couldn’t help but glance back one more time.  To your relief, or perhaps horror, Prince Minho noticed the opening of the door and his gaze found you immediately.  You locked eyes one last time before Lady Joy led you down the hall, out of sight. 

The heavy doors slid shut behind you, the heavy thud making you wince.  

How were you supposed to leave Prince Minho behind you?

~!~!~!~!~!~

“IS SHE QUITE well?” The butler’s concerned voice carried through the large bedroom.  You heard him even over your crying.  You sobbed into the pillow that was damp with your tears and yet you couldn’t stop.  Your body shook with crying and you could not seem to stop it.  Lady Joy stood at the door, accepting a pile of dry pillows that she’d requested after you’d dampened all of the others with your tears. 

“She is well, do not worry.”  Lay Joy assured him.

“Should I send for a doctor?”

“Heartbreak is something a doctor cannot fix, I’m afraid.  I will call for you if we require anything else.”  

With that, Lady Joy shut the door and made her way back to the bed.  She tossed the pillows at the foot of the bed before climbing under the luxurious duvet with you.  She wrestled with the neverending fabric of the blankets and her nightgown before she settled in and returned her attention to you.  

Both of you had changed out of your ballgowns as soon as you’d returned to your quarters.  You managed to hold back your tears just long enough to get out of your corset.  Then the waterfall began and hadn’t stopped.  Joy did her best.  Supplying you with things to dry your eyes and drink to keep your body from drying up but there was only so much she could do.

You told her everything.  You told her about the dancing, about your conversations, and about how Prince Minho promised that he would call for you.  What made it worse is that it was hours ago.  You’d already gone through at least half a candle, if not more.  The music from the ball could be heard faintly through the window.

“Perhaps he’s still there.  It would be rude of the host to leave prematurely.”  Joy reminded you.

“I can’t help it!  I don’t know what to do!”

“Oh, my dear Y/N, I wish I could help you.”  Joy gently stroked your hair.

“Will the pain fade?”

“Perhaps with time.  It’s getting late, Y/N… you look exhausted.  Let’s try to sleep okay?  In the morning we can escape from this wretched place.”

Your eyes ached from crying.  Your cheeks were sticky with tears.  Joy grabbed one of the dry pillows from the end of the bed and replaced the one you were using.  She slipped out of bed once more to blow out all of the candles in the room. 

Once the room was dark, Joy slipped back into bed with you.  You buried your face into the pillow and sniffled.  Your eyelids grew heavy and you begged sleep, or perhaps death, to overtake you.  You squeezed your eyes shut and forced yourself to think of other things. 

Tomorrow you would have to spend hours doing laundry.  You would be washing all of the undergarments and skirts, ironing dresses, polishing jewels.  The task would probably take the entire day.  The banality of your day to day work would be sure to wipe away your feelings of dread. 

It must have only been moments after you drifted into a restless sleep when someone pounded on the door.  Your eyes shot open and you found Joy had also been startled awake.  You stared at each other for a few seconds before the pounding on the door came again.  Joy abruptly sat up.  She wrestled with the blankets for a few long seconds before she successfully freed herself and hurried to the door. 

You sat up when the door creaked open.

“Is there a young lady here by the name of Y/N?”  A male voice spoke from beyond the door.

“Y/N… is there another name?”  Joy asked. 

“Angel.  Prince Minho sends for her.”

You perked up immediately.  You threw the blankets off and clamored out of bed.  Joy put a hand up and you froze in place.  

“Yes, sir, she is here.  Please allow me a moment and I will fetch her.”  Joy spoke calmly.  You bounced on the balls of your feet. 

“Yes, my Lady.”  

Joy shut the door and turned to you, eyes sparkling with excitement. 

“Y/N, take off your nightgown.”  Joy stared at you expectantly for a few seconds.  “Make haste!”

~!~!~!~!~!~ 

YOU CHEWED ON your lower lip as you stared at the large pair of ornate double doors.  The butler who had been sent to get you waited patiently nearby, waiting for your command to open them.  You couldn’t explain why the nerves and fear that overwhelmed your heart as the butler led you through the dark hallways of the palace.  

Perhaps it was the silence.  The butler didn’t say a word to you unless to remind you to follow him.  Or it was the dark hallways, lit only with a few lone candles.  

Or perhaps it was the nightgown that swirled about your ankles.  Joy insisted on giving you hers.  Your nightgown was a plain white smock but Joy’s was made of the finest pink satin and was decorated with lace and satin flowers.  It came paired with a matching silk robe that tied around your waist.  The sleeves and the skirt billowed as you walked.  It didn’t feel right to you to be wearing such a garment but Joy insisted.  If you were meeting the prince, you had to be dressed accordingly. 

You couldn’t argue with your lady so you agreed to switch nightgowns with her.  Once she had yours on, she promised to get you a nicer nightdress for your birthday.

“Anytime, Miss.”  The butler pursed his lips.  “The prince does not like to be kept waiting.”

“Open the door, please.”  You barely recognized your own voice. 

The butler pulled the door open and gestured for you to enter first.  You took a deep breath before striding through and into a bedroom about twenty times as ornate as the quarters provided to Lady Joy.  The lofted ceiling should have made the room cold, but a large fireplace was lit ablaze and crackled away.   

The door slid shut behind you.  When you glanced back, the butler hadn’t followed you. 

You slowly walked deeper into the room.  You passed through a lush drawing room, surely meant for entertaining.  A study where a large oak desk dominated the space.  A door was cracked leading into a bathroom where the bathtub alone was the same size as your room back home.  Until finally you reached the bedroom.  A large four poster bed stood tall against one wall and a chaise and a few plush couches surrounded another active fireplace.  Against the wall opposite from you stood a pair of floor to ceiling glass doors that were open and led out onto a balcony.

And there he stood.  Prince Minho had his back to you and he leaned against the balcony railing.  He stared off into the night.  If he heard you enter, he did not say.  For a few moments, you stood in the middle of his bedroom and waited.  You weren’t sure if you should say something or not.  Besides, it was not in your nature to speak before spoken to.  You wondered what he was thinking about.  

“Come, my love.”  Prince Minho glanced over his shoulder and gestured for you to join him.  Your feet carried you past the threshold and onto the balcony.  You didn’t have a chance to see the view before you were crushed in the warmest hug you’d ever received. 

Once you were close enough, Prince Minho pulled you into a tight embrace.  He buried his face in your neck and breathed in deeply.  His warmth enveloped you and his body hid you from the cool night air.  You didn’t hesitate long before your arms wrapped around his waist and pulled him into you.  The soft breeze around you ensured that his rich scent invaded your nostrils and you ached to have the smell imprinted on your very soul.  You wanted to remember how he held you.  He held you as if it was truly the last time.  

“We will find a solution, I promise.”  Prince Minho murmured into your neck.

“I wish I could stay.”  

“I could command it.”  

“I can’t leave my lady.”

“I can’t bear to be wed to another.”  Prince Minho pulled away just enough to look at your face.  “This entire kingdom should be yours.”

“As long as you are my soulmate, the entire kingdom is mine.”  You assured him with a small smile.  Even though your entire body ached with sadness and you wanted to cry, you couldn’t.  You didn’t want to cry in his presence. 

“Look at it.”  Prince Minho moved behind you and wrapped his arms around your middle.  He moved until you stood at the railing.  “No matter the circumstance, as a prince you are my princess.  When I am king you will be my only queen.”

Your breath caught in your throat at the sight and his words.  From here, you could see the entire gardens as well as the golden glow coming from the ballroom.  The city sprawled out around the palace, warm and alive.  The lights below glittered and you could almost make out the subjects walking the streets.  For them, their days were just beginning.  The city extended as far as the eye could see until it met the black ocean.  From there, only inky blackness.

“Look.”  You pointed towards the city,  “You see the clocktower?”  

“I do.”

“When I have time to myself I like to go to a park nearby for a walk.  I get a day off a month and I usually spend it there.”  You explained, then pointed somewhere else.  “I take my lady to a seamstress near the tavern over there.”

“Where do you live?”  Prince Minho’s breath fanned against your ear.

“Over there.”  You pointed off to the side, “Just out of sight.  Beyond that spire.”  

“My angel… tell me something lovely.”

“Like what?”

“It matters not.  Tell me something lovely that makes you feel happy.”

“Hmm…”  You mused for a few seconds, “The feeling of grass under my feet on a warm summer day.  The ocean breeze through my hair.  The tiny noises of a puppy.  Crawling into bed after a long day.  The smell of freshly baked bread.  The rich scent of roses.”

“Roses… I may never look at them the same way again.”  Prince Minho chuckled. 

“I don’t think I will, either.”  You giggled.  “What about you?  What are some lovely things?”

“Well…”  Prince Minho’s lips pressed onto your neck and he hummed.  His hair tickled your skin and you couldn’t help the giggle that came from your throat.  “Your laugh is the most beautiful music I’ve ever heard.  The smell of old parchment.  Having a warm bath after a hunt.  Biting into a perfectly crisp apple.  Kissing the skin of your beloved.  Pink silk nightgowns.”

Between each offering, your prince pressed a warm kiss on your skin, trailing from your neck to your shoulder.  His fingers gently moved the fabric of your nightgown aside so he could press kisses on all of the skin he could.  You sighed and tilted your head to the side to give him more access.  Your eyes slid shut. 

“Prince Minho,” you sighed when his fingertips traced your collarbones.  

“To you, I am no prince.  I am merely Minho.”  he whispered.  His fingers trailed down your chest to the silk ribbon holding your robe shut, playing with the fabric and running it through the pads of his fingers.  “Will you let me love you?  Let me shower you with my love and bring your body so much pleasure.”

“Pleasure like in the garden?”

“Just like that, but tenfold.”  

Your body trembled with nerves, but you nodded all the same.  Minho pressed soft kisses on your skin and you sighed at the feeling.  He slowly pulled the ribbon free and your robe fell open for him.  He smoothed his hands over your stomach and hips and you sighed at the contact.  You leaned your head back to rest on his shoulder and he accepted your weight willingly.  He wrapped his arms around you and held you tightly. 

“You can say no,”  Prince Minho whispered, “It’s okay.  I can love you in more ways.”

“I want to but… I’m nervous.”  You admitted.  You ached to have him again, if the aching between your legs was anything to go by, but now that the soulmate urge had passed the thought of having something so… big inside of you again made your heart flutter.

“My love, I would never hurt you.  We can take this as slow as you wish.”

You stayed in that position for a few minutes.  Your head on his shoulder, his arms wrapped around you and holding you as close to his body as possible, both of you staring out at the kingdom below.  Your mind wandered, giving you visions of royal life.  Perhaps working in the palace so you could at least be closer to him.  Getting to sleep in his room each night, slipping out in the morning.  You could never be queen.  Joy taught you to read but you never quite understood the classic literature that everyone of noble birth had to read to be educated.  

You imagined attending parties, dressing up, and dancing the night away in beautiful golden ballrooms.  You imagined eating food prepared by the palace cooks each and every morning.  If what the cooks prepared tasted as good as what you had for dinner, you thought you could get used to this life.  Honestly, you didn’t even want to be queen.  Or even a princess.  You just wanted to love him.  Freely.  Openly.  

“All I want is to know you.”  You whispered and Minho hummed to encourage you to keep speaking, “I want to know you inside and out.  I want to grow a partnership,  I want to know what you hate and I want to know what you love.  I want to know how you take your breakfast, how you take your tea, your favorite walking paths, where do you hide when you need to get away from it all?  I don’t want to leave in the morning.”

“Then don’t,”  Prince Minho tried again but he knew your answer, “Stay with me in the palace.  We could figure something out and I will make sure that you stay by my side.”

For a few long seconds, you stayed silent as you contemplated his words.  As the seconds ticked on, Prince Minho heard his answer. 

“I’m sorry, my lord.”  

“Then let us focus on this night.  Let us spend our time focusing on each other.”  Prince Minho turned you around in the circle of his arms so he could gaze upon your face.  His eyes glistened with tears and you wished you could take his pain away.  “Please… call me Minho.”

“Prince-”

“No,” he cut you off, pressing his lips to your forehead for a few seconds, “Just… Minho.”

“Minho…”  You breathed, “Bring me pleasure.  I will bring you pleasure tenfold.  Please.”

“Angel, you never have to ask.”  

His lips crashed onto yours with no more ceremony.  Your heart swelled at the contact and you kissed him back eagerly.  His lips tasted so sweet.  Your favorite sweet could never compare to his taste.  Your arms wrapped around his neck and he pressed you into the balcony railing.  He twisted his head a little and kissed you deeper.  You accepted everything he had to give you.  

Minho put his hands on your shoulders and pushed the robe off.  The fabric pooled around your waist and he started on working the robe off your arms but you pulled away a little. 

“Wait.  Not here.”  You whispered.  Minho pulled away from you.

“No one can see us up here, Angel.” 

“Still… I… I don’t want to lose the robe.  It belongs to my lady.”   You admitted.

“When you are mine, I will give you hundreds of nightgowns made of the finest silk in all the land.”  Minho pressed warm kisses on your jawbone and neck as he spoke, trailing his lips along your skin and leaving trails of fire in his wake. 

“I’m already yours.”

“Don’t you forget it.”

With that, Minho swept you up into his arms and carried you bridal style back into his room.  You yelped when you initially lost your footing but giggled as he carried you.  You held onto him and nuzzled your nose into his neck.  Minho paused in the middle of his room and looked towards the fireplace then towards his bed on the other end of the room.  After a few moments of deliberation, he made his way over to the bed and gently laid you down on the plush mattress.  He was over you in an instant, pressing his knees on either side of your hips. 

“Angel, I want to see you this time.  I want to see all of you.”  

Minho’s hands ran over the fabric of your nightgown.  His eyes trailed over your curves.  His hands moved to gently cup your breasts.  He squeezed them and pushed them together to watch them swell under the fabric.  His thumbs ran over your pebbled nipples and you gasped at the surprisingly pleasant feeling that came from it.  Minho smiled softly and repeated the action again and again, rubbing his thumbs in circles around your nipples.  Your back arched into him and your eyes slid shut so you could enjoy the stimulation.

He moved one of his knees to press at the seam between yours.  Your legs easily fell open to accommodate him.  Minho leaned down to capture your lips in a searing kiss.  He resumed his task of helping the robe off your body.  You assisted him by pulling your arms out of the sleeves and tugging the offending fabric away so it could pool on the ground.  Minho gripped your thighs and worked on pushing the silky fabric up your legs so he could touch your bare skin.  

Your hands busied themselves with pulling his blouse up and over his head.  He broke the kiss briefly to rip his shirt off and toss it on the floor before kissing you again.  He didn’t give you the chance to admire his figure, but your hands traced his strong shoulders and strong chest and abdominal muscles.  

That telltale arousal began to pool between your legs.  The same heat you felt in the garden licked up your spine and made the junction between your legs ache.  Your hips unconsciously rolled upwards, only to catch on Minho’s pants.  The sudden friction made a moan slip from your lips.  Minho pulled away with a gasp.  

“Please make that sound again.  I will worship the ground you walk on.”  Minho moaned out.  He pressed his thigh closer to the apex between your legs until it pressed firmly against your heat.  You gasped at the contact but winced when you remembered that Joy’s silk gown still covered you.  You grasped the skirt and pulled it up over your hips and Minho moaned again.  “Nothing underneath, angel?  Were you hoping I would fuck you?”

Mindlessly, you nodded, choosing not to remind him that it was, in fact, him who ripped your undergarments to the point where they could not be used.  Instead, you pressed your core against his thigh and moaned at the pleasure that sparked through you.  Minho flexed his thigh and urged you to grind against him.  Your hips moved slowly as you got used to the rhythm and the new pleasure.  You whimpered as the pleasure grew but you weren’t sure if you would be able to climax like you did in the garden. 

“More,” you whimpered thoughtlessly.  

“My angel wants more?”  Minho cooed.  He stared down at you with such awe, as if perhaps there was an actual angel below him.  “What do you want?  I shall give it to you.” 

“I…”  you trailed off, your mind going blank, “I don’t know.  I want you to touch me.”

With that, Minho pulled his knee away and pushed your nightgown up to expose your core to him.  Instinctively, you parted your legs a little more.  Minho’s gaze flickered down to your center and pulled his lower lip between his teeth.  Your folds glistened in the low glow from the fireplace across the room.  Minho moved a hand and gently swiped one of his fingers through your folds and brought it to his mouth.  His eyes rolled back in his head at the taste of you.

“Angel, can I taste you properly?”  Minho’s gravely voice sent a wave of arousal through you.

“You just did…”

“I want to put my tongue on you.”  Minho slowly lowered down the bed until his face hovered just above your core, “If it’s too much tell me to stop.”

With that, Minho flattened his tongue against you and your back instantly arched off the bed.  You let out a choked gasp as the dizzying sensation swept through you.  His warm, wet tongue licked through your folds, mapping every ridge and dip and curve.  He swirled his tongue around your opening to gather your wetness in his mouth before he moved up to suck on your clit.  A keening moan left your throat as he sucked and nipped at the little bud.  You couldn’t stop the small moans and gasps you let out as Minho’s tongue played with you.

 “You taste so good, angel.”  Minho moaned.

He licked down to your entrance and slowly wiggled his tongue past the barrier.  He moaned against your core and pushed his tongue deeper into you.  You moaned at the feeling and tilted your hips up to chase his face, as if he had any intention to move.  He lapped at your walls greedily, like a man who’s never tasted water before.  Minho’s eyes slid shut as he savored your warmth in his mouth.  His nose nudged your clit with every few pushes of his tongue and it was enough to build the most amazing feeling in your stomach. 

You recognized that feeling now, it was the same one from the garden.  As if on instinct, you reached for his head to keep him against you before you paused, realizing that this was the prince you were about to touch without permission.  He’d told you a hundred times that you could, but the doubt still hovered.  

As if reading your thoughts, Minho reached up and grabbed your wrist.  He led your hand to the back of his head before hooking his arm under your leg to hold you against him.  Your fingers slid through his silky locks easily.  You gasped out at a particularly harsh suck and you gripped his hair tightly.  Minho let out a moan into your pussy and the vibrations, in turn, made you moan.  

Minho refocused his efforts, moving up to wrap his lips and tongue around your little clit.  His other hand slid between you until his fingertips prodded at your swollen hole.  You gasped at the contact, but tilted your hips up to chase the feeling.  You could feel him smile against you.  The coil within you tightened and you gasped. 

“Aw, sweet girl, are you going to cum?”  Minho cooed.

“Yes!  Yes, please, I need more.”  you moaned out.

“You want my fingers?”  Minho drew a small circle around your hole with a fingertip.

“Fuc- yes!”  You choked out a moan when he pushed one finger into the knuckle. 

“Mm, you’re so tight.”  Minho murmured those last words right against your clit before sucking it into his mouth.  

You were certain you had died and gone to heaven.  The added stimulation of his finger and the incessant swirls of his tongue sent you hurtling towards a release in record time.  Like the wave inside of you, your moans also rose like a crescendo.  Growing in pitch and frequency, you couldn’t hold them back.  You gripped onto Minho’s hair like a lifeline as the pleasure peaked. 

“Cumming- sir!  Sir, I’m cumming, please!”  You all but shrieked as you came into his mouth.  

Your legs shook, even as Minho slowed his ministrations to ride you through it.  Even though he’d just given it to you, he pulled his finger out and moved his face a little lower so he could lap gently at your pulsing hole.  You quivered and moaned as wave after wave of pleasure washed over you until it slowly turned to pain.  After one soft lap, you winced and let go of Minho’s hair. 

He took this as a sign and pulled away from you.  He sat back on his knees and tilted his head back.  He closed his eyes and rested his hands on your legs, just to keep some form of physical contact with you.  You watched as he ran his tongue along his lips as if to gather every single drop of your sweet essence. 

“You’re so beautiful when you cum.”  Minho commented, opening his eyes once more to look into yours.  

“I want to make you cum, too,”  you declared, sitting up and placing your hands on his hips.  

His noticeable and very neglected erection strained in his pants.  You kept your eyes on his as you moved your palm to gently cup him.  Minho’s eyes fluttered shut at the contact for a moment before he opened them once more to look at you.  He cupped your cheeks in his hands as you palmed him through his pants.

“And you will do so once I am inside of you.”  Minho’s low voice slid easily down your spine and you shivered. 

“But Minho… Can I taste you, too?” 

“How can I say no to that when you’re looking at me so sweetly?”

Minho’s nimble fingers immediately got to work on the laces on his pants.  He flopped down on the bed next to you and worked his pants off his hips until they were a forgotten pile on the floor.  His shirt was thrown on the floor next, leaving him completely bare.  His fingers played with the hem of your nightdress and his eyes twinkled.  

Slowly, you lowered yourself to get a closer look at his cock.  Long, thick, and heavy.  The dark pink head oozed precum and you licked your lips in anticipation.  You could hardly believe that this is the thing that had just been inside of you this morning.  Only a few hours ago, this thing had made you cum so hard and it was about to do it again.  

Unable to wait any longer, you leaned forward to press a wet kiss to the leaking head.  Minho moaned on contact, throwing his head back into the plush pillows as you suckled it into your mouth.  You ran your tongue over the velvety skin, sighing as he leaked more precum.  Salty and musky but overall not unpleasant.  Minho’s deft fingers swept through your hair and pulled it back so it wouldn’t get in the way.  You lifted your gaze to meet his and he just about blew his load right there. 

You looked so sweet, gently sucking on the head of his cock while looking at him innocently through your eyelashes.  Your petal pink nightgown hung down just enough for him to get a clear look at your tits that swelled with each breath.  The sight alone made him moan louder.  

“Am I doing it right?”  You pulled away slightly to blink at him. 

“Fuck, yes.”  He responded, laughing softly, “Keep going.”

Not one to refuse an order from your future king, you lowered your head and put him back in your mouth.  Minho moaned softly, the sweet noise encouraging you to take a little more of him.  Minho panted as he watched you take more and more of him until your nose lightly grazed his stomach.  His tip prodded the back of your throat and you choked a little.  Minho rolled his hips up into your mouth and you let out a little gasp. 

“Run your tongue along it.”  Minho guided you.

You wasted no time and swirled your tongue along the underside of his cock.  You bobbed your head up and down his length, swirling your tongue as you went.  Occasionally you rose all the way up and sucked on the head like you would a cube of ice on a hot day.  This action would make him whimper and writhe under you.  Every time he made a noise of pleasure, your core clenched and dripped even more for him.  You couldn’t wait to take him again. 

Minho used the grip he had on your hair to guide you up and down his length.  He kept his eyes on your lips as you accepted him into your warm, wet mouth time and time again.  The knot in his stomach kept tensing, threatening to spill his release down your throat but he wasn’t done receiving all the the pleasure your body could give him.  Maybe one day he would paint your face and lips in his cum, but today was not that day, 

All too soon, he pulled you off of him roughly.  He tugged you up to be face to face so that he could kiss you.  His plush lips caressed yours hungrily, coaxing your tongue into his mouth to suck on.  If he minded the salty taste of his precum on your lips, he didn’t say anything.  Just like you didn’t say anything about the taste of yourself on his tongue.  

“If I don’t fuck you right this instant, I may die.”  Minho murmured against your lips.

“How do you want me, my love?”  

“Naked.”

Minho clawed at your nightdress and pulled it over your head.  The flimsy fabric joined the pile on the floor.  The air hit your exposed chest and your nipples perked immediately.  His hands came to gently cup your breasts and he kneaded them slowly.  His thumbs gently traced matching circles around your nipples and pleasure sparked through you with every touch.  You arched your back, pushing your chest into his hands more.  Minho grinned mischievously before he leaned up and closed his lips around one of your hardened buds.

“Oh!”  You gasped as his tongue circled your nipple.  His teeth caught on the sensitive peak and you moaned and threw your head back.  “Minho!”

“Yes, angel, tell me who’s making you feel good.”  Minho whispered as he moved his mouth to your other breast and latched on.  He sucked and swirled his tongue on your nipple like he would die tomorrow and the only thing that could save him was you and the essence you could promise him.  “Just imagine these beautiful works of art filled with milk for our baby, hm?” 

“Yes,”  The thought of bearing his child sent another wave of arousal through you.  Though you knew it would never happen, you decided to let him play into the fantasy.

“My angel, you would look so beautiful.  Giving our baby life, giving me life.”  Minho sucked harshly on your nipple and switched one last time to the other side.  “I wouldn’t be able to stop myself from tasting you every day.”  

“Minho!”  You moaned when he lightly bit down on your swollen nub. 

“Good girl.”  Minho pulled away with a quiet pop and blew onto your damp skin.  The cold stream of air on your wet breast made you shiver.  “Lay down.  I want to see your face when I enter you.”

You scrambled onto your back, your hands hastily brushing your hair out of your face as Minho crawled over you.  As natural as opening your eyes in the morning, you opened your legs for him.  He smiled as he settled between your thighs.  His cock brushed your inner thigh and you both shuddered at the contact.  He buried his head into your neck and sighed.  He breathed you in, kissing your skin deeply.  

“Minho, please.”  You urged, your hands finding purchase on his slim waist and pulling him closer to you.  Your core ached, wet and empty.  

“I’m going to make love to you now.  If you need me to stop, tell me and I will.”  Minho rolled his hips into yours.  His cock slid through the wet lips of your pussy and caught on the hood of your clit.  

“I never want you to stop.”  

Minho moaned into your neck and kissed his way up to your lips.  He kissed you deeply, dipping your tongue into your mouth to drink in your moans.  One of his hands dipped between your bodies to grasp his cock.  He ran the tip through your soaked pussy, pushing it against your clit to illicit moans and gasps from you.  Each pass made your hole even more soaked and empty.  

“Angel, you feel so good.”

“Put it in.”  You whined. 

Minho pulled back from you just enough so that he could watch your face when he pushed into you.  The head breached your hole and you let out a keening moan.  Your hooded eyes watched his face contort into pleasure as he slowly inched inside of you.  His length caressed your walls as he sunk in, inch by glorious inch.  His eyes never left yours, even when he hit a dead end.  

He bottomed out, his thighs pressed firmly into yours.  You could have sworn the tip of his cock was hitting the back of your throat.  

“You look so beautiful when you’re full of my cock.”  Minho moaned.  His skin was tinted a rose color and the vein in his neck looked close to popping.  “You’re so tight, Angel, I could cum right now.”  

“So full,” you choked out, hardly able to form words around the stretch of him in your cunt.  

“Wanna fill you up even more, Angel.”  Minho buried his face in the crook of your neck again.  He rocked into you slowly, hardly even moving at all.  If he moved too much too fast he was worried that he would cum far too quickly.  Your tight heat choked his cock and coated him in your sweet wetness.  His slight movements in and out of you made your pussy squelch around him.  

“Move,”  You begged.

“I’m going to make you cum so hard.”  Minho promised. 

With that, he pulled his hips back until just his head remained sheathed by your walls.  Then he pushed forwards with all the force he could muster and your combined moans were like music.  Your cunt clamped onto his cock as he fucked you with earnest.  He rolled his hips into yours slowly but with so much force behind them that you were sure you’d be sore tomorrow. 

Tonight, you couldn’t care less. 

You rolled your hips up to meet every thrust.  Minho’s precise thrusts rubbed against all of the perfect spots inside of you.  His girth stretched you wide and you wondered how it was possible that there would be enough room inside of you for his cum.  

Minho wasn’t faring with that thought any better.  Your tight cunt gripped him like a vice.  Every time he entered you, you clenched so tightly that he was worried that every thrust might be his last.  The last time he fucked you, things had gone by quickly and he hadn’t had the time to really feel you.  This time, he was careful with his thrusts so he could feel every inch of your slick walls around his aching cock.  Your walls clenched and clamped onto him.

“Angel, you feel so good,”  Minho moaned, leaning down to suck a mark into your neck, “I don’t think I’ll last.”

“Me either.”

You were surprised with how quickly the pleasure mounted within you.  Your core ached like before, but this wasn’t a quick fuck like in the rose garden.  Minho was making sure that you could feel every single inch of him and that he could feel every ridge and bump of your walls. 

When he fucked you behind the rose bushes it was quick and rushed.  He’d pounded into you like he was going to die if he didn’t.  The orgasm he’d coaxed you through was powerful and quick. 

This, however, was the exact opposite of that.  Each movement was slow and calculated.  Each deliberate roll of his hips made you shudder with pleasure.  It was like he was trying to get his entire cock into you with every thrust while also taking the time to feel every inch.  

“Faster,”  you choked out.

“Want to feel you, angel.”  Minho grunted, “Want to feel you cum on my cock.  Can you do that?” 

“I-it’s too much-”  you choked after a particularly brutal thrust.

“Come on, love, I know you can do it.”

Minho’s hands trailed down your body, to your legs, to hook under the back of your knees.  He hiked your legs up until you had your ankles hooked behind his back.  This gave him a new angle to thrust into you.  His pubic bone grazed deliciously against your clit with every pass.  You were certain that you would lose consciousness at any moment.

“I can’t.”  You sighed out.

“It’s okay, angel.  Just relax and let me take care of you.”  Minho urged.

Only moments later, the string in your tummy pulled taut.  You moaned softly into his neck as he delivered each of his perfect thrusts.  Your back arched off the bed and you pushed your hips up to meet his.  This created the most beautiful and intense pressure in your cunt.  

“You’re squeezing me so tight!  Are you about to come?”  Minho moaned into your ear and you nodded.  “Good girl, let me feel it.”

It was like your body waited for his command.  Your orgasm crashed over you and you couldn’t stop yourself from throwing your head back and letting out the loudest moan of the night.  Minho continued fucking you through it, chanting words of praise into your ear.  Your cunt squeezed the dear life out of him and he wasn’t sure how much longer he’d last.  You tightened your legs around him in order to keep him inside you. 

“Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere,” He promised, “I’m going to come inside of you, mark you as mine so you keep a piece of me with you wherever you go.”

“Yes,” You moaned out, still shaking through your powerful orgasm.  

It was all the confirmation he needed to bury himself as deep inside you as he could to release.  The warm sensation of cum filling you up spread through your belly.  Your pussy spasmed around his length, milking him for every single drop.  He thrusted into you shallowly a few times until he was completely empty.  

Finally, your legs dropped from around his waist and he took that as a sign to carefully pull out of your spent hole.  Minho sat up on his knees to watch as his softening cock left your tight hole.  His cock was coated with your slick and shone in the low light from the fireplace.  

He collapsed on the bed next to you and wasted no time in pulling you into him.  Minho held you tightly, neither of you minding the tacky stick of your sweat-slicked skin.  You clung to him as well, burying your face into his neck.  Together, you came down from your highs, breathing hard and holding one another tight. 

“Please stay.”  Minho whispered into your hair, “I won’t command it, but will you please stay with me until dawn?”

“Yes, Minho.  I promise, I’ll stay.”

~!~!~!~!~!~

THE CALL OF the rooster roused you from your sleep well before you were ready.  Your eyes peeled open and the sun had barely even kissed the horizon.  You sighed and pushed the blankets away and sat up.  You glanced up at the pink silk nightgown that hung from your door.  Lady Joy refused to let you give it back, but you couldn’t bear to wear it again.

Gone were the fine silks and wools of the Prince’s palace bedroom.  Here to stay were your maids quarters with its scratchy sheets and windows that you could never quite get clean.  You gently lifted your hand to touch your lips.  Those very lips had touched the Prince’s months ago.  

Slipping out of bed that morning had nearly gutted you, but you redressed in your lady’s silk gown and returned to her quarters.  All before the prince even awoke.  

Eons ago.  The ball and the roses and the gowns were eons ago.  So why did you still feel his touch on your skin?  Why could you still hear the orchestra playing the waltz that your prince whisked you away to?  

You were thankful that his wedding bells hadn’t rung on your day off for the month.  Lady Joy attended the ceremony but left you at home with a long list of chores to complete.  Most of them were mindless busywork but she knew to keep you distracted.  

Since the ceremony, life simply returned to normal.  Your daily tasks resumed and you cared for your lady to the best of your ability.  Which, as of late, was not much.  Lady Joy did her best to be accommodating, which you were more than thankful for. You just wanted to get back to work.  You had a feeling that the grace she was giving you was beginning to frustrate her mother.  

You forced yourself out of bed and you quickly dressed.  You swallowed down the wave of nausea that climbed up your throat and made your way to Lady Joy’s chambers.  The curtains were drawn and the embers of a fire crackled in the fireplace.  Lady Joy was curled up in the center of the bed, fast asleep.  Her light snores provided some white noise as you rekindled the fire and prepared her vanity for her morning routine.  

Eventually, you flung open the curtains and the warm light from the sun streamed into the room.  You sighed as it hit your skin, basking in the warmth for a few moments.  Joy groaned behind you and shoved her head under her pillow. 

“Rise and shine, my Lady.  You have many duties to attend to today.”  You chided her. 

“Like what?”  Joy groaned, muffled by the pillow.

“There is a tea party this afternoon.  Duchess Loh is hosting and is expecting your attendance.  Then Lady Mina is requesting your presence at dinner this evening.”  You explained, moving from the drapes to the closet.  You threw open the doors and perused the gowns available for the day.  You were admittedly a little behind in your laundry.

“I think we should cancel.”  Joy groaned, “I’m feeling quite ill today.”

“Ill?  Are you alright?”  You retreated from the closet to sit on the edge of her bed.

“My stomach is turning.  I’ve been feeling ill for several days.”  Joy gently rubbed her stomach.  “It usually passes in the evening but perhaps dinner disagreed with me?”

“For the last several days?  That sounds quite serious.  Perhaps I should call for the doctor?”  You cleared your throat, wondering if you should tell her that you’d been feeling the exact same way. 

“Perhaps it is simply the pain of my courses.  I’m supposed to bleed soon, right?”  Joy finally pulled her face from the pillow and sat up. 

“Have you not begun yet?”

“No…”  Joy trailed off.  “Oh, lord have mercy.  The ball was three months ago now, right?”

“I suppose so.  Oh no…”  You trailed off, “My Lady, what happened when I left for the Prince’s chambers?”

“I… made a promise not to say a word.”  Joy chewed on her lower lip, “Sir Peter came to find me.  We had such a stimulating conversation and he wanted to continue it.  It was an accident, but we touched and…”

“Lady Joy!”  You gasped, covering your mouth with your hands, “Why has he not come to call?”

“He’s from Rome, like our princess.  He left the next morning.”  Joy wailed, a dam breaking within her and her tears flowed down her cheeks.  “Dear Y/N, I am so sorry I didn’t tell you!  I thought you wouldn’t want to hear it after everything with the prince and-”

“You need not apologize to me, my Lady.”  You took her in your arms and patted her hair while she cried for a few minutes,  “I know it must be so difficult to be without him.”

“It feels like my heart has been torn from my chest!” 

“My Lady, please let me fetch the doctor.  If you are with child then we must know.  While he’s here, I think he should see me, too.”  You winced as you spoke.

Lady Joy pulled away from you instantly, her eyes as wide as saucers.  Her eyes dipped from your face down to your stomach.  You chewed on your lip, wondering if it was seriously possible that both of you were with child at the same time.  You hadn’t experienced the nausea that most women report but you noted that your courses were late last month, and certain smells that once pleased you were now nauseating.  

“Would that mean that…”  Joy trailed off. 

“I believe so, miss.”

“Fetch the doctor.”  Joy scrambled out of bed and threw the drapes closed.  “And… fetch mother.  I fear we will need to retire to the countryside for the rest of the season.”

Your hand drifted to your stomach, now churning with fear.  You met Joy’s eyes and for a moment.  Anxiety swirled between you as the consequences of your actions hovered over your shoulders.  

For a moment, both you and Joy remained still.  

Then, you did what you do best.  You rose to your feet and walked head-first into your duties and your future.  Without your prince.

#minho smut #lee know smut #stray kids smut #skz minho smut #lee know angst #skz lee know angst #stray kids angst #soulmate au #skz minho imagine #lee know imagine #lee know x reader #lee know x you #lee know x y/n #skz smut #rose garden #skz angst #skz imagines #lee minho smut #im bad at tags

[mschievousx]

now and then | b.b.

pairing: benedict bridgerton x ofc

summary: loraine silva always knew she was not normal. she loves unusual things. she loves her father's guns, horses, boxing, climbing a tree, falling from a tree, engineering, astronomy... oh, and a man eleven years older.

series masterlist

xii. twelve: let it go

benedict bridgerton has not left his room for days now. he laid down with his agony, curled on his sheets. his pillow wet in the tears that served as witness of this torment.

most people grieve for those who don't know what they have until it is gone. but, what about those who do know? those who tried their hardest to hold on, yet could only look on helplessly while they lost the thing they loved the most. isn't it so much worse for them?

how many sleepless nights now, he does not know. when they were together, he avoided sleep so he could have more time with her. and now that she is gone, he wishes to sleep more so he might know fewer hours of her absence, and perhaps, spend longer in dreams with her.

it took him days to even talk, forgetting his own voice as he got so familiar with his cries. he wanted to be happy but found it painfully hard as her love was his happiness.

yet, what if love is not here to make us happy? perhaps, it exists to show us how much we can endure.

but benedict did not want to endure anymore.

for the first time in a long while, he was terrified. oh, how terrifying to face the future without the one you planned it with. how can you wake up from a nightmare if you are not asleep?

someone knocked on his door, one that he has recognised as anthony's knuckles by the firmness of the sound. he did not want to stay on his bed forever, so he desperately pushed himself out, trying to see what has been of the others. he neared to open the door slightly ajar before sitting down on a couch defeatedly, his brother surprised by the turning of the knob.

he stepped in, noting the desolateness of the room. he wanted to be there for him, but losing a loved one you were never able to fully love was a different kind of pain—one that anthony was not familiar with at all.

so, he did the only task he was left with. he walked to him, giving the pad he has been holding unto to his younger brother.

"her journal," he maintained his voice in a serene one, seemingly afraid that anything higher would trigger something from the other.

benedict turned to him at that with shock. he did not know she writes. he often thought the girl preferred saying her thought out loud than put it to paper. he opened it, reading from entry to entry, word by word.

a small snicker left his lips when the most he could read about was how the young little silva had fun infuriating him. it was clear on her handwriting—the curve of the letters, the stretch of its end. she was full of excitement when she was writing this. it was written in her point of view. he turned the twelfth page over, only to find that no entry follows anymore.

"why did she stopped writing when she was eight?" he turned to the older, eyes still with traces of redness. it was around the time armand had snitched his daughter to benedict, saying that the girl likes him.

"she said there was no longer a need to write what she felt because she can say it to you directly." anthony offered him a small smile, leaning down to turn the pages to the last, "she wrote on the day she left for the parliament."

the viscount watched as his brother traced each word with his fingers, afraid that it would be lost before he even realises it. noticeably, this one is written in the way her words talked to him directly. anthony placed a hand on his shoulder before stepping back again.

"i guess she knew she could no longer say it to you again."

my artsy,

i think i have loved you since i met you. i just mistook it for curiosity.

there are so many forms of love, and although it may have begun unromantically, i knew you were someone special to me. i would like to apologize—for coming into your life just to break your heart to pieces and leave you in the night.

i really would have loved to be able to attend the astronomical convention with you. we spent a night talking about it. if i knew i will not even get to go, i would have rathered spent the time with my lips in yours.

and so, if regrettably, the gods had it planned that this life of mine will never be enough to show you all my love, i promise—i will find you in another. and hopefully then, i still wouldn't run out of love and continue to pester you on to the next, and next, and for eternity.

because my love, we were never a match made in heaven. i am afraid afraid we are made in both far ends of the farthest cosmos.

and i will search every star, every galaxy, every universe, and every timeline until i find you.

know that i love you, down to my last word.

until we meet again,

forever your loraine

he pushed the pad farther from his eyes, afraid that the ink would smudge and her words can no longer be read. he held his head down, anthony going to his side at once and offered an arm at him.

benedict leaned weakly to him. he had told her before, and now it became his reality. the young lady was a fire—his fire—and he does not find himself worrying even if she will burn him. despite her absence, she still set him ablazed. he longs for nothing but her. how many life does he have to burn before he lives with her? and he could almost hear a whisper.

a hundred more. just a hundred more.

and he almsot felt relieved at that. a hundred more would be nothing. he was even prepared to burn thousands. that was how bewitched he was.

she was lovely—extremely, completely, entirely.

yet, even if it is full of love, all a ghost can do is haunt.

━━━ ✦ ❘ ☽ 【❖】 ☾ ❘ ✦ ━━━

the following day, lady bridgerton could not hold it anymore. her son was spiralling away. she missed him. so, she ascended their stairs, aiming for the room of the said son.

anthony has told her that he was, at the very least, responsive. she did not want her son to be reduced as someone thankfully responsive. benedict has always been full of colors.

he was an art himself.

she knocked, turning the knob and was surprised it was not locked. violet entered slowly, seeing the figure behind a canvas.

she called out to him, "my son, come with us."

there was no response, continuing to walk towards the man. entering the room fully, she could see random sketches of the young silva.

picking up a paper, his mother commented, "she was beautiful."

violet could hear a small hum from her son, still not tearing his gaze away from the art he is currently working on, "she will forever be."

she warmly smiled at that. the son who has repeatedly told her before that what she and edmund had was rare, now utterly taken beyond mortal relations.

she placed an arm around his shoulders for comfort as she took a look at the painting, "you love her so much."

he added a detail on her features, "if i could say it in words, there would be no reason to paint."

her heart broke for his son she almost felt like it was her fault. maybe, that was why the two met each other and loved each other when they were still too young. they were not meant to grow older together.

she placed a peck on top of his head, "will you come out with us soon?"

benedict placed down his brush, exhaling defeatedly. nonetheless, he turned to his mother with a weak smile, "after i finish this."

violet nodded at that before giving him back his solitude. it took quite the days before he completed the artwork. the sun rose and set, yet the stars only dimmed.

on the night he finally finished the painting, the dead of night was clear and the stars began to find their shine once again. a hopeful thought graced his mind.

perhaps, someday, somewhere, at a less miserable time, they will see each other again.

he turned to his table, scrambling to get a paper and pen. he will not let the night go on as if it was just any other night. this darkness shined a light, one he only recognised when the girl was present. and maybe, you can call it a pathetic attempt of hope, it was the young silva watching him as his hand gripped the pen.

my loraine,

i will remember you longer than i knew you, and i will never come to terms with that.

thus, i will find you when you return, even if you are a thousand years late.

give me your permission and i will continue to love you in another. believe that i will run amock across the universe until i find you.

and so, when you see the world ending in the newspapers, trust that it is my work because i still have not met you again.

let us make us happen, some other time.

until we meet again,

forever your artsy

perhaps, they were right in putting love into books and poems—perhaps, it could not live anywhere else. they did say that everything will be fine in the end. and if it isn't, then it is not the end yet.

he has learned that grief is not accepting that she died. it is acknowledging that she is still alive in everything that he does.

and so he hopes—he hopes that all this grief stays with him because it is all the unexpressed love that he did not get to tell her. he will never let this go.

indeed, what is grief if not love persevering.

the pain will remind them of each other. when they meet later, if there is a later, they will recognise each other by it.

and just because this life is painful, it does not mean the next one will be.

taglist: @aadu2173 @imgondeletedis @pumkiinpasties @rebleforkicks @perseny @everavenclaw @datingbtr @peetahpahkah @myo11 @idek-what-to-put @aysamuka

#benedict bridgerton fanfiction #benedict bridgerton x oc #bridgerton #benedict bridgerton x reader #benedict bridgerton

[tarasmithshifts]

𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐔𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐃𝐑 𝐔𝐏𝐃𝐀𝐓𝐄: 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐓𝐇 𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐅𝐓 part 1

𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐈𝐍 𝐃𝐑. 3 years 𝐀𝐆𝐄. 17-20 𝐌𝐀𝐈𝐍 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐄𝐍𝐃 𝐆𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐏: sirius, remus, james, lily, peter, dorcas, marlene, mainly people from gryffindor and ravenclaw

𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐎𝐍𝐒𝐇𝐈𝐏 𝐒𝐓𝐀𝐓𝐔𝐒. taken

「 ✦ 𝓼𝓽𝓪𝓻𝓽 𝓷𝓸𝓽𝓮𝓼 ✦ 」

im crying rn. I AM SO HAPPY TO BE BACK IN THIS DR SOME CRAZY STUFF HAPPENED SOOOOO LETS GET INTO IT. THREE YEARS. gosh this is so crazy

— ୨୧₊˚ click here to read part 1 of my last update

— ୨୧₊˚ click here to read part 2 of my last update

i will write this storytime in 3 parts probably, i am noooooooot ready. NOT AT ALL.

be ready for 2 next parts because in this one nothing really happened, there was nothing crazy or something. let's say it's an interlude to the next 2 parts 🌷🌷🌷

「 ✦ 7th year ✦ 」

𝓽𝓲𝓶𝓮𝓵𝓲𝓷𝓮 - 7𝓽𝓱 𝔂𝓮𝓪𝓻

summer - sirius got his own place to live

summer- i bought a house in yorkshire

september - june -> final school year

july - odd proposition

okay so as we know we are in year 1977!! my last year at hogwarts with marauders :'( literally one of my best shifting experiences was hogwarts with my boys and girlssss

okay let's go because this is gonna be crazyyyyyyyyyy

ＳＵＭ ＭＥＲ

— ୨୧₊˚ last shift update ended in may and here i just wanted to say that i of course graduated!!! i just don't like wasting space for that info bc it's so obvious lmaoo

okay soooo i bought my house, as well as sirius!!! we got money from Alphard, who passed away and we split the money in half. i afforded a cottage in yorkshire, where i moved on in july, i was contacting with remus through letters, also because war intesified. then one day in the beginning of august he appeared at my front door and i kneeeeeeeeew something was wrong. and i was like "what is going on???" he asked if he can come inside, i said he doesn't have to ask and that he can ofc come inside, we sat in my living room and HOLY SHIT

lyall lupin is dead y'all.

my jaw was on the floor. and he didn't show any emotion while he was saying me that. and i was there. DEVASTETED. apparently death eaters killed him when he helped some aurors with their job outside of london, and he said that he just got the news from ministry.

and we sat there.

in my living room.

in silence.

gosh you should've seen him. i was not prepared to this at ALL. AT ALL.

so uhhh we decided that he will stay at my place for few days (he stayed with me all summer hahaha) the next day we went over to sirius to tell him, as he knew lyall as well. during next week remus planned, but it was right before full moon so i said to him that i will take care of it. i didn't want him to stuggle even more. full moon happened on 16 of july, remus was in worse state that i expected but we got through it :') the funeral happened few days later, it was a small ceremony, without anybody around us. in documents it was stated that lyall had a heart attack so there wasn't any problems with people thinking about how he actually died. he was buried next to hope lupin :(

we spent whole summer at my house, sometimes visiting his to clean up or move some stuff, and sometimes we visited boys and i went over to lily 💗 i don't have much to talk about here so i'm not going to describe anything lmao

and one of the things that we do at my house is listening to remus mum records from the opera 🥲🥲🥲🥲 it’s so cute and i can confirm, his mum was AMAZING

also i forgot to say that during summer sirius and james encountered two Muggle police officers on FLYING MOTORBIKE. are you kidding me LMAO 😭😭😭

S C H O O L Y E A R

in this school year most of the time we spent learning for our finals :')

i needed to pass 5 N.E.W.T.s so i had a lot of work to do, as i wanted to become auror in the ministry.

also many people we knew from ministry was dying because of war, all of them were mentioned in daily propet, we read it DAILY. we didn't care for it earlier, but from that moment we read it religiously.

i think that we were also scared that there will appear a name of someone that we knew personally.

hogwarts was not the same that year.

also james and lily were made head boy and girl of gryffindor! james was super proud of himself and at the beginning he was telling EVERYONE around how cool he is. and lily is super happy with him which i'm so THANKFULLLLLL they are so cute you need to believe me lmao 💗💗

me and remus were helping each other A LOT during this school year, because of n.e.w.t.s i saw that he was super stressed about them :/

alsooo we had inter-house quidditch cup!!! we had some changes in positions, me and sirius took beaters positions (which is pretty funny because years later fred and george weasley had this position too, and they are also twins lmao) arthur browne took the keeper postition, james, geoffrey fawley and marlene were chasers, and phoebe dawson was a seeker.

also regulus became captain of slytherin team, and gryffindor lost match with them, so we were super angry but it is what it is lmao 😭

also boys did not spend that much time with each other, all of them became more serious about their future (okay, maybe except sirius lol) so they were not doing that much pranks etc. i spent more time with lily, she helped me a lot with potions too, also we sat together on potions because slughorn LOVED HER. literally she was his pearl in the eye,he invited her to his partys etc, gave her books she could learn from even more, which helped me not her LMAO 😭😭😭😭😭😭

ALSO from funny things that happened, one night after mine and sirius' birthday, we were sitting down in boys dormitory, me, ofc marauders, marlene, lily and dorcas, there was silent moment and sudenly dorcas went "is it only me or dumbledore is gay" AND WE WERE LIKE "WHAT" and we had full debate if he is gay or not LMAO and yup the verdict was that he is gayest of all gays ever LMAOOOOOOOOO 😭😭😭😭😭😭

about n.e.w.t.s - I PASSED 6 SUCCESSFULLY IM SO HAPPY AHHHHHHHHHHH

DADA - i totally slayed this one HA

POTIONS - it went better than i thought, so i'm safe with this one

CHARMS - it went even better after dada exams because i was sure it will be easier than dada one, and i was right

TRANSFIGURATION - thanks to mcgonagall, without her i would be screwed with one lmao

HISTORY OF MAGIC - okay this one went worse than i expected but i still got E

CARE OF MAGICAL CREATURES - this one was HELL. literal HELL TO ME because i did not like this subject and learning it for n.e.w.t.s was a torture, but i passed it with E

me and remus decided to move into my house together :')) so did lily and james, they bought a cute house at godric's hollow 💗💗💗

J U L Y

me and remus lived in yorkshire, we used teleportation to see sirius, peter, james and lily from time to time. in the middle of july sirius appeared at our door. we were at home, so we let him in. and he started yapping about some kind of order, he was talking so fast we literally had no idea what he was saying. when we sat him down, he started from the beginnig, and he told us about the order of pheonix. that dumbledore is looking for people that are talented and brave enough to fight against voldemort. and that he wants to prepare us before dumbledore will appear at our door. he said that he already joined the order, as well as peter. he started telling us who already is there, and that he wants to give us more time to think because albus wants immidiate decision.

so after sirius left me and remus were talking for HOURS about what should we say to dumbledore after he will appear. and we both agreeded that joining order will be the best decision for us. we could finally help in war, and not only help other wizards but also save muggles.

in the evening somebody appeared at our door. we heard the teleportation sound outside. out there it was very dark, like every light on the street disapeared. remus told me to stay inside and opened the door by himself with his wand raised, but he only saw dumbledore, and immediately lowered wand. dumbledore looked at him and just said "if it wasn't me, you would be dead already remus."

i stood in the kitchen but observed the whole thing, and finally stood outside so albus would see me too. "you should ask me a question" said dumbledore, still not coming inside. i just stood there and waited for remus to say something, and remus finally spoke "who told severus snape about the secret" obviously he was telling about the prank, dumbledore only smiled and said "oh of course mr. black" and came inside. he looked around and i showed him the way to living room. me and remus sat on the couch, while dumbledore sat on huge armchair that we bought recently. "you need to be more creative next time" he said "they can get such and information" and after that he started to TALK and when i say talk, he talked for like about 30 minutes NON STOP. about the order, about his trust in us, about the need of our magic, about the importance of defeating voldemort. and after he stopped talking, he just looked at us, and we both immediately said "yes".

and from that moment, nothing ever will be the same.

「 ✦ end notes ✦ 」

gosh i finally published this

HELLO IM SO BACKKKKK and i can't wait to tell you more, because this was super short and it was just the beginning of spiral chaos that will happen, so BE READY.

anyways, IM SO HAPPYYYYY and i can't wait to tell you moreeeeeeeeeeee 🌷💫💗

#reality shifting #desired reality #shifting community #shifting #reality shifter #quantum jumping #shifting realities #marauders

[mrsackermannx]

lies | ino takuma

tags: angry (argument) sex, intruder role play, unprotected sex, sorcerer ino/non-sorcerer girlfriend, degradation kink, soft ending, not beta read.

authors note: @p00pdev1l jazz i meant to send this to you on asks and then it got super long but i swoon at the thought of being ino’s non- sorcerer gf idk there’s something about it didbdksjsksj. ive not uploaded any writing for so long bc there’s sm different ways and things i want to write and idk how to start idk…this lowkey is it i suppose. i miss writing hehe been so busy but yeh ENJOY MY DEPRAVITY.

- - -

You love your life with Ino, and he loves his life with you. No matter what a curse throws at him, he knows as soon as he sees you at the end of the day that it’ll all be worth it.

But it’s one night that he comes home especially roughed up…

You’re watching TV, but you hear him shuffling into your apartment, carefully locking up behind him, taking off his shoes. “Hello pretty girl,” he murmurs, voice almost hoarse. He leans over you to kiss your forehead. “I'm off to bed, you should too…”

You’re tired of the whispering phone calls, the leaving you to run away god knows where in the middle of dinner, you’re sick of not being able to tell your friends what Ino does exactly?

All these lies, all this mystery. You call him out on it and it leads to a fight…

It’s your sharp, “I’ve been waiting up for you,” that hits him right in the gut.

“Baby, I tell you not to.”

“Tell me?”

“i meant ask, baby,” his voice lowers, almost breaking from exhaustion. He's so close to snapping. Too close.“I mean ask—so-please, not now.”

His usually sunny demeanour is all gone. He’s working so hard for the recognition of so many people, you being one of them. He wants to be good enough, he wants to exorcise as many curses as he can. He has his own goals, his own vision of the future he wants you in. But he’s so fucking exhausted right now.

He’s not usually like this, he’s usually so reactive it’s almost unbearable. So you push and push.

“I don't even know what you do. What kind of guy are you? Who have I been dating-“

“What. What did you just say?”

You blink twice.

He’s never raised his voice at you like this before. It’s not that it scares you but it ignites something in you, stroking something dark and shameful.

He cages you against the wall, glaring at you. He smells like Ino, looks like Ino, caramel hair tousled and tucked behind each ear. As usual, so devastatingly, boyishly handsome, but his energy is sharper, his grin gone.

“Telling me you don’t know who I am? Huh? Then why the fuck do you let me inside you every night when I come home? If I’m so bad? If I’m this bad guy you don’t know? You let a stranger touch you? Huh?”

“Takuma-“

He gives you such a pointed stare your words escape you. One arm cages you below him whilst the other cups your chin. “You think I’m some kind of bad guy? Don’t you know me by now? Haven’t we been through enough?”

This is necessary communication, he knows it, you know it. But that doesn’t stop the suffocating tension crackling between you two any less bearable.

“I know you’re a good guy, in how you treat me, who you are, but I have no idea who you are sometimes and it’s— it’s, something that i-i…”

You’re getting choked up, but you’re also overheating. Ino is never like this, never so the opposite of himself, never so full of darkness and not his light.

But you guessed it was a good thing you weren’t afraid of the dark, or the man you loved so dearly in front of you.

“What?”

“-it scares me,” you blurt.

“But you like being scared.”

His voice is rough, teetering on the line between restraint and pure lust. He's neither asking nor stating.

“You like it when I come home in the dead of night.” He cups your pussy, your silk nightdress bunching against his palm, he clicks his tongue at the heat. “Sneaking in beside you, you practically baring your pussy for me to use, abuse and—fuck, until you’re begging for more, and more-“

“Takuma,” you whimper into his chest, he smells so like him, he strokes through your hair like he always does, so full of love. He’s holding your most intimate part of you like he owns you, you suppose he does. You suppose you’ve been in the palm of his hand from the moment you met him.

“Not so innocent then are you? When you’re taking my cock in your cunt in the middle of the night? Begging for it, begging for me to wreck this tight little-“

“Takuma! Please.”

He alternates pressure on your clit, over and over, feeling your drip down his fingers.

“I bet you’d like my mask too? Wouldn’t you?”

His hand wraps around your throat, contrasting the way his thumb was smoothing across your jaw. You always felt so special with Ino, like his lover, regardless of whether you were fighting.

“What mask?” Your voice was so shaky you barely recognised it. His hand mapped down his torso to his pocket. Then he slipped on a black mask with nothing but holes for his eyes. “So, this? This is who you are?”

He hated this. He hated you thinking he was some bad guy, some good for nothing criminal.

“Who do you want me to be?” he edged closer, his voice slow and dripping with something dangerous, something that made your pupils dilate, and your pulse run.

“How about tonight I be the bad guy you want me to be,” he drawled. His hands skimmed up and down your sides, admiring…staking their claim on what was beneath them.

“Take me, Takuma.”

A small smile tugged at his lips.

“Fuck you?” he shoved his knee between your thighs, “Or take you?” He squeezed your neck until you moaned, “You and your control? Your body? Your soul.”

“Both.”

It was a blur before you processed that Ino had you flipped against the wall. That he was already brushing your entrance with his cock and then teasing you against it. The head of him almost slipped in, over and over. But he had you flailing and whimpering like a desperate mess instead.

“Shush now, pretty girl. I don’t care if your boyfriend comes home. I’m using this cunt as my own anyway.”

“Oh my—fuck.”

That was it. Your control, your pain, you let it all go. You let it free, you let the wild throbbing in your core take over. You would have fallen to the floor without the wall and Ino standing firm behind you. You gave into your sinful desires.

He trailed his hands down your body, then in a movement so unexpected you cried out as he tore apart your night dress. “Let's hope your boyfriend doesn’t come home to you getting fucked like this, angel.”

He thrusts into you in one brutal slam. “Fuck I love ruining good girls like you,” he sounded so undone that it had you close to breaking, moaning with every slam into your pussy.

“Your cunts are made to be broken into like this, waiting for every drop of cum, squeezing me so tight like that. Fluttering on cock that you’ve been craving so badly, you—pretty —little—slut.”

It’s a primal fucking, and Ino seems to take everything out on you, but you submit so easily you’re succumbing to pleasure you’ve never felt. The things he says are dark and twisted, but the way he holds you is anything but, he holds you like you’re precious, even if he calls you his slut, to him you’re his angel.

When you start to match his rhythm, bucking out your hips to take in more of him, he comes so powerfully you feel his tears slide your back. Panting and groaning out your name, “I love you,” his voice shakes, and he’s breathless as he locks you in his arms.

“You’re so precious to me. More than my own life. More than any goal. I’ll tell you anything, and everything.”

You’re overcome, reeling from your orgasm, but nevertheless you accept his embrace just as tight. “I love you, Takuma.”

“I love you,” he chants, for a while. Until you’re sleeping, bodies coiled together, his hand in your hair. And it feels good. Too good to have finally told you everything.

#ino takuma #takuma ino x reader #ino takuma x reader #jjk drabble #jjk x reader #i still haven’t gotten over ino sorry guys <3 #every time i see a fan art of him i fall to my knees #LET ME KNOW IF IM MISSING ANY TAGS PLS ANYBODY

[spaceorphan18]

The Rogue and Gambit Project : The Muir Island Saga

The first time we see Rogue and Gambit on the same page together is the cover of Uncanny X-Men #275 - which was one of those VERY SPECIAL ISSUES that put everyone on the cover. No, this is not a part of the Muir Island Saga -- but belongs to the previous arcs (Savage Land and Space Shenanigans). Still, it's pretty cool to see them on the cover together.

So, here's the thing about the Muir Island Saga - the next arc of the comics - despite dealing with the same adversary, and spending time with the same group of people, we never see Rogue and Gambit mix. In fact - (something I'll point out in detail in a minute) - it's almost comical how much they seem to be ships passing in the night. It's almost as if it's done purposely.

I know that years (and years and years and years) later - we'll get a retcon of their first meeting. And I really thought a lot about whether or not I should talk about that here... and, not to disappoint some of you, but I'm not going to (for now). Because I kind of want to tackle this project from a chronological point of view. To experience things as they were happening without the added layers of what we'll get next. And the retcon kind of, gets into a whole lot of issues I don't want to dig into yet. So, I promise, I'll talk about Kelly Thompson's Mini when we get there, we're just... a very long way off from that.

In the meantime, the thing about this arc that's so fascinating is trying to pinpoint how they could meet. And when. And why. And thing I keep coming back to is... comics don't make a whole lot of sense, y'all.

Let's dive in...

Uncanny X-Men #278

The whole premise of The Muir Island Saga is that the Shadow King wants to get out of the Astral Plane and kind of brainwashes the residents of Muir Island (including the X-Men) in order to do it. Don't ask me to make sense of it, I'm just the recapper!

The real purpose of the whole thing is to reshuffle the line, which had been in such flux up until this point. The X-Office was getting ready to launch the new Adjectiveless X-Men book, and Chris Claremont was getting ready to depart after 17 years of being the sole author of X-Men. Things were definitely changing and this saga finally gets all the pieces to where they need to be.

As an aside, I do find it fascinating that the beginning of Rogue and Gambit's relationship coincides with all of these changes. Not only is the decade changing, but X-Men's status quo is about to be really shaken up after being a relatively steady book for a very, very long time. It's just kind of neat that the endings and beginnings happening on an external level are also happening with our characters as well.

Uncanny X-Men #278

For some context, after the destruction of the mansion after the Inferno crossover, and after remaining X-Men all ended up going through the Siege Perilous after the Australian era, Muir Island, home of (brilliant scientist and ex-Xavier lover) Moira MacTaggart became the home of a new (and short lived) group of X-Men. I can only assume that's why Rogue returned here after her little side adventure in the Savage Land.

Though I should point out that Rogue has ZERO idea who is alive and who is dead other than the people who are already on the island. I kind of wonder what her future plans would have been if the other X-Men never showed up. Anyway... though, there really isn't any full explanation as to why Rogue went back to Muir Island other than they had no intention of writing her out of the book, and they needed all the X-Men to be in one place.

How does she feel about the events of the Savage Land? What really happened with her and Magneto? The answer is -- who cares, we're done with that plot now and moving on until another comic book writer decides to tug on that loose plot thread. :P

Uncanny X-Men #278

What is important to know that the Shadow King is mind controlling everyone. And... he does so with Rogue by making out with her after she's been in the shower? What??

Look, I'm not going to claim this stuff makes a whole lot of sense. But I can fanwank it a little...

The Shadow King's whole deal is that he's trying to corrupt everyone and bring them to their most evil (because, you know, that's what evil villains do). And with Rogue - he plays on her sense of touch. Back in the old days, Rogue used kissing as her primary way of stealing people's powers. And on top of that, one of her deepest rooted struggles (as of obvious statement isn't obvious) is the fact that she isn't able to have physical contact. So the Shadow King is tapping into both of those things, and, as the whole 'temptation' quote insinuates - him letting her give into her desires allows him to brainwash her.

Now, do I really believe she'd be enticed this easily? Can the Shadow King have that deep a hold on anyone? That is for you to decide, fair reader.

It's at least my interpretation. Honestly, I think there's a bigger part of me that wonders if they really just wanted to see Rogue making out with someone because because they can.

Meanwhile, on the opposite page, guess who is landing with the rest of the X-Men who just returning from space? That's right, everyone can relax. Gambit has arrived. ;) They're now in the same place... so if we can only get them to the same panel...

Uncanny X-Men #278

Alright guys, time to play the logistics game... these two panels are on opposite pages. Gambit, fresh off his plane, ends up running into Multiple Man - and they have a little fight. Meanwhile, Rogue runs into Wolverine and Jubilee - and they have a little fight. Are you following me? Good! Cause it's going to get crazier from here.

Also, let's keep track of Rogue's clothes because... ooff, yeah, the continuity is worse than the story line.

Uncanny X-Men #279

Before I get into it - I need to state that Uncanny X-Men 279 is the issue where Chris Claremont just up and quit during the middle. He'll be back to wrap up his run in the new X-Men book (that we'll get to after this) but I'm sure the nonsense going on in the X-Office didn't help the clarity of this story...

Anyway, the next time we see either Gambit or Rogue is here... in the next issue. What happened between Rogue and Wolverine/Jubilee? How did Gambit handle Multiple Man? Who knows! But now Gambit is with Wolverine and Jubilee and Rogue is nowhere to be seen.

Also - that's the third 'bang, you dead joke' in, like, five issues. Good lord, Claremont, if this wasn't your final Uncanny issue (for now) I'd say give it a rest. I will say, though, I almost included the entire three pages of Wolverine/Jubilee/Gambit because they are that delicious, and easily the best thing about this entire arc.

Uncanny X-Men #279

On the next page, we see Rogue again - where she is taking on Forge. Note the wardrobe change? Did she have time to add more clothes after her 'fight' with Wolverine? Is any of this making sense yet? No? Okay... onto the X-Factor issue...

X-Factor #69

This is literally the next time we see Rogue - after Forge shoots her with a ray gun that stops the mind control. Did the ray gun just change her outfit as well? Was the previous outfit too evil?? Or was it just that artists Andy Kubert and Whilce Portacio just have zero communication when getting these issues out? (Honestly, I do not blame the artists - I do blame editorial though.)

X-Factor #69

Meanwhile, where is Gambit you ask??

Alright, guys, this is where we're at -- Forge has un-mind controlled Rogue, Wolverine, and Banshee. Meanwhile, Gambit, Psylocke, Jubilee and the Muir Island peeps are still under the Shadow King. And now X-Factor (the original five X-Men - Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Angel, and Beast) are now involved. All of them are running around the island. Only, it's X-Factor who finds the rest of the mind controlled - not Forge and crew...

Also, in case you'd like me to make it more confusing, Mystique has arrived in disguise (with Nick Fury), while all this mind control is doing wonders for Charles Xavier's son, Legion, who is about to go a little crazy.

Uncanny X-Men #280

Classic cover is classic. Also, Rogue still has more of her clothes! Don't grow too attached to them.

Uncanny X-Men #280

See, I told you not to get too attached to Rogue's clothes. Apparently, when Legion went crazy and caused an explosion, it blew off all her clothes. Miraculously, no one else had this issue. I guess Jean just used her telekinetic powers to keep hers on.

Uncanny X-Men #280

And on the other side of this really not very big island is the B-team. B for brainwashed. Yes - the two teams are going to meet! Yes, a big, huge battle is about to ensue!

Uncanny X-Men #280

Gambit is going to take on Wolverine (for the 100th time it seems) while Rogue will take on Strong Guy. Every non-brainwashed X-Man is going to take on every other brainwashed X-Man. Except for Rogue v Gambit. We don't get to see that. They do not share any panels together. Not even in the big group scenes. None. Nothing. Absolutely zero.

They just knew it'd be too much...

(Honestly, I am a little curious as to why this was. It almost does feel intentional at this point.)

Anyway, the battle ends. The Shadow King is vanquished (for now) -- and has the hilariously villain closing line of "No!!! I WAS SO CLOSE!!" And all that's left is to wrap up this little ditty...

Uncanny X-Men #280

I just need to talk about Rogue's clothes again. Her panties are barely hanging on by a thread, but her gloves are perfectly intact. How convenient.

Anyway, the last line of this comic reads: The End, and The Beginning. How appropriate...

Here we are, guys. The first issue where Rogue and Gambit end up on panel together. Are you ready for this??

Let's talk about X-Factor #70

X-Factor #70

Most of the issue revolves around Xavier trying to get into Legion's head while the rest of the group is either waiting around in the hospital room or tying up loose plot threads around the island.

So... how much time has passed? It's unclear - but enough that Rogue's had enough time to find some clothes that have not been ripped to shreds.

Anyway - one of the loose plot threads is dealing with Mystique's "death" that happened ages ago. Turns out she faked it and had been pretending to be Val Cooper for a while now. Rogue had seen news of the "death" and this is their reunion.

Great, now that that's squared away, we get one of my favorite sequences in comics... the chain letting everyone know that Xavier is okay ;)

X-Factor #70

Idk why, but I love this little sequence. I love the random 'no smoking' sign. I love Gambit freaking Polaris out. I love that Jubilee just does not give a shit. And I love that Rogue doesn't seem to either.

Anyway... now to the moment y'all have been patiently waiting for...

I present to you -- Rogue and Gambit's first on panel moment!

X-Factor #70

It's sort of anticlimactic, isn't it?

While Xavier's - what do we do with fourteen X-Men - is rather iconic, the art here is... meh. I'm so glad Jim Lee is going to redesign a lot of the characters. Gambit just does not look good in the yellow costume (also, he does not have his headsock on here for some reason). Meanwhile, even Rogue looks a little off here (though this is the X-Factor book and not Uncanny).

And... we're left with a bunch of open questions. Just how did Rogue and Gambit meet? What was their first interaction like? What is their dynamic at the very beginning? As I said before -- Kelly Thompson will one day answer these questions -- both brilliantly and unbelievably.

If you were looking for any kind of set up going into the relaunch, I'm sorry to say that what I've laid out for you is what we've got. So, introductions are open to interpretation...

My own version...?

Gambit: *speaking flirtations French to Rogue* Rogue: Wolverine - who is this? Wolverine: Storm brought back some Cajun leftovers from her time as a de-aged thief. Gambit: How about a kiss, chere? Rogue: How about I punch you?

And thus a dynamic was born. ;)

Next up: We're finally going to really get into it with X-Men #1-3!

#xmen #x men #rogue #gambit #anna marie lebeau #remy lebeau #romy #the rg project #marvel meta #marvel #marvel comics

[cuppajj]

Don't mind me as I found out this AU a day ago and heard you're waiting for BY ep 4 to form stuff w Dark Choco and Frigid Cacao and BOY do I have ideas.

(This is going to be a long ask, it's been cooking for a while and I need to ramble abt it, hopefully Tumblr won't eat it. Also a little spoilers about ep 13 & 14 and odyssey ch 1 if you're not there yet)

So, we're not talking about Dark Choco's perspective just yet (I'm also waiting on BY ep 4 for that) but from Cacao, we can establish stuff about how he feels about Choco in canon and go from there and speculations on BY ep 4.

Canon Cacao very clearly loves his son and truly longs for him back in his life. But, as referenced from the Hollyberry interaction, he's very reluctant to seek him out, preferring Choco approach him first instead.

One of the ways Cacao shows his love is how he respects the boundaries of those close to him (and, in turn, expects the same for them to him. That's why he violently snaps at Clotted Cream and feels very betrayed by Vanilla for keeping Lily a secret in Odyssey) and I feel this applies to Choco the most. He understands Choco needs his time and space, especially after the whole ep 14, and won't feel comfortable around him or his kingdom for a while. There's also the chance that Choco may not want to have him in his life again (untrue) and he'd rather not risk finding out that's true by personally seeking him out and further upsetting his son. (That last one was just my interpretation but AUGH)

This is the building blocks I found for forming Frigid Cacao's side of the relationship. Should Dark Choco return to the kingdom, Frigid Cacao would feel Very Much Conflicted™️ about having him back, but for different reasons.

On one hand, he would be relieved and overjoyed to sense his son's return. There's so much lost time, so much regrets, he wanted to make up for it and rebuild his relationship anew. But on the other hand, this clashes with the Soltitude he built for himself. Accepting his son back in his life would mean breaking down his walls, thus tearing down everything he built and betraying his own light. Perhaps that part of him would also be angry that Dark Choco would impose this on him. But it saddens him to turn him away. And so on and so forth it cycles.

This duality is the internal conflict that, while it opens the gate for redemption (or at least loosen his terror and maybe actually get him outside), is also very hectic for Choco himself because it also manifests in his powers.

The licorice monsters are noticably more docile around him, but they can just as soon lash out randomly, coming in big waves and heading for only one target. The weather is constantly shifting from mild snow to freezing blizzards in minutes. The paths feel cleared out but it feels like there's always something out to get him.

That's assuming Choco didn't return to the kingdom after the Beast Yeast expedition (bc I'm assuming you're setting Cacao's fall after BY ep 4). But if he did, there's two possibilities. One is the more boring Frigid Cacao's reign didn't last really long bc Choco was there from the beginning. The other one, ooh the other one also works as a bad ending for the first scenario.

(I ended up writing a full oneshot for it. If you want, I can send it in another ask, hahaha)

As someone who hasn’t gotten to that chapter in odyssey yet (i really oughtta watch a video on it bc these quills brake for nobody), this is a really good reference for Cacao and Choco in beast ancients!! I won’t say much about Choco since yeah I’m waiting for apathy pt 2 but I’ve definitely been wanting him to be a huge source of conflict for frigid cacao in the au, and this helps describe it pretty well. Cacao’s fall is being worked on because the timeline of beast ancients is a WIP, it does come after BY 4 for all I know atm, and whatever happens to Choco in that episode will determine where he is and how he affects his dad when he becomes a beast. But the bottom line is that it is not gonna be easy for either of them either way :D

Would love to see your one shot btw!

#beast ancients au #frigid cacao cookie

[kneelingshadowsalome]

so, i’m currently taking a west civics class in college, and i am currently researching ancient greek civilizations, most notably, the arts and culture of ancient greece. i know you have written a fic based on its mythological stories, with minotaur könig (bless your beautiful soul).

but through my readings, i couldn’t help but come up with such a dirty daydreams while in class. i couldn’t stop myself from thinking about könig and… the ancient olympics…

i know, realistically speaking, women were not allowed to attend or watch these games for the most part. so, in a universe where könig’s dedication not only falls upon him being a top man, but being the perfect man in honor of being recognized by the god of strength himself, he becomes so enticing in the way he trains and readies himself for such a significant event of his life. he’s never really had much to care for, neither does he need to prioritize anything that isn’t him or his training. he’s a workhorse, nothing stopping him from being the best, most valuable follower of zeus. that is… until…

well, it was your fault, and you admit that, but he wasn’t stopping you either. i mean, who could blame you, this little thing sneaking and peeping at a man who’s at work in order to provide to cute women like yourself. in fact, you argue that this was your way of appreciating a man, to observe them in their element in such a loving gaze. it didn’t help that könig was a man who preferred to train naked too, in all his glory, so of course there was no missing you, you were just too obvious for a man like him to notice you.

and with every grunt he’d give after each swing of a fist or a blade, a mew is what you’d give in return, your own form of a cheer for him to keep going. and you promised you didn’t mean to stare and make distracting noises, but an innocent maiden like yourself was just too hypnotized by this new anatomy that was found between this man’s legs. so outspoken, so dirty for your mouth to spew such beautiful filth to a stranger.

was this könig’s new test of endurance? part of the program to make him stronger for the olympic event that was just around the corner. he has heard man advising others to refrain from sex before the games, but he hadn’t even been given the chance to work on that since no one was bold enough to approach him like you did. he wonders, does fucking before a game really make a man weak, does thinking about shoving his big dumb cock in his soon-to-be wife distract him too much to succeed? perhaps, perhaps not, one thing he does know though, he’s got someone else to honor and worship, which makes his training all the more necessary.

Oh my god….. I’m totes not getting caught up in the fact that women were not allowed to participate in these activities….

This led me to think, what if some misbehaving little creature decided to peep at this Hercules reborn? She gets caught one day, but because she’s absolutely carefree and unhinged, she asks König if he could show her how to train.

CW: Nudity, implied sexism/misogyny (Ancient Greek society thang), teasing König to the point where he gets a boner and growls

Our Olympian hero gets so confused that he forgets he was supposed to report you or throw you out of the gym. Outside, where birds fly free and the sun tortures the trainees, he has picked a spot where he can train in solitude and silence: for some reason, other people’s stares make him uncomfortable… Until this curious, sweet little nymph came around, perched atop a wide rock, munching some wild mountain herb as she watched him train.

He allowed her to watch him train for two days, but on the third, he marched over to her and told her she needs to leave. Women are not allowed here, doesn’t she know that? Where are her parents? Does she have a husband?

No, no husband, and her parents don’t really care what she does. Well, this explains why she’s behaving this way. Running around the hillside so untame, watching men train—can’t she see she’s putting herself in danger? Any one of these men could decide to just take her on the barren land if she’s not careful.

She just giggles and asks, would he like to take her? Then points out that men shouldn’t waste their seed before a big competition. Also, Zeus’s wife would not think well of him if she saw him rut innocent women on the hill... There’s nothing but heaven above them, surely someone would see. The gods could curse him with a weak ankle, or a sprained muscle, a failing heart or a snake bite…

“All right, all right, that’s enough,” he says, but there’s even worse to come.

Next, she asks if he could show her how to lift those smaller rocks, how to throw a javelin or a discus. Could he teach her how to wrestle…?

“Absolutely not,” he scoffs while his groin floods with warmth at the thought of wrestling with this pretty, wonton woman. She’s absolutely disgraceful, and yet, he doubts she’s running from man to man, teasing them to death. She’s not begging to get raped, she’s just… a little gullible, or something. Happened to take interest in him, little thing. As she should, after all, he’s the pride of this city...

“You fear I’ll become better than you?” She asks with little stars in her stare.

“Bah. Don’t be ridiculous...”

They’re both smiling, now. This kind of banter and games he has never experienced with a lady, she’s making him extremely uncomfortable and at the same time, fly high like Icarus. He’ll have to be careful he doesn’t get burned…

When he still refuses to show her how to train, she shrugs and goes over to the wooden javelin that’s taller than her. Picking it up, he expects the gods to smite her down with a sudden hail or thunder, but nothing happens. The sun keeps on shining, and the sheep keep on baaing. She weighs it with two hands, then starts to look for a spot to try and throw it.

“Wait,” he calls after her, but she only looks back at him with a smile. Picks off to run, with the javelin securely in her right hand, she runs like a deer while he lumbers after her, completely perplexed.

Insufferable woman… He’s growing hard from the cock as he runs, somehow aroused by this silly chase. Like Apollo trying to court Daphne, but his Daphne is not meek and unwilling; she’s giggling as he huffs and runs after her like a stumbling giant.

At a distant field of nothing but rock and weather-beaten flowers, she stops. Shields her eyes as she looks for a perfect spot, she’s not even breathless when he finally catches her. She turns around to look at her hero, catching his breath in the sun.

“You’re not fit enough for a marathon,” she comments. “Did you lift too many weights?”

“Give me the javelin,” he pants, dismissing her blunt analysis of his weaknesses. Stepping towards her, he extends his hand, offering her a chance to return it to him without fuss.

“Wrestle it from me,” she smiles, so playfully and brightly that his cock suffers another throb.

Gods damn this woman... She’s toying, playing with him, teasing him to the point where he’s left no choice.

He doesn’t want to hurt her, which means the “wrestling” becomes an awkward battle of snickers and limbs. His cock gets in the way, and to an outsider, this might look like a scene of an oddly gentle, upcoming rape… This little minx is giving him such an ache in his head and his loins that he’s gritting his teeth by the time he gets his hands around the wooden spear. By then, she has her legs wrapped around his waist, her arms above her head as she’s lying on her back with him on top of her.

“I’m not letting go,” she laughs as they both hold the spear, his erection now blissfully trapped between her legs.

“Who sent you,” he grunts, head spinning as he tries to figure out which of the gods is trying to give him trouble this time.

“What do you mean…?”

“You’re here to thwart and tease me. Tell me who sent you, now.”

“You think I’m sent by some angry god?”

Her eyes sparkle even more, if possible. She even giggles under him and under the sun, her laugh like a thousand little bells in his ears.

“That’s so cute…!”

His grunts turn into a hollow, painful growl – even Tartaros is better than this.

“Train me, and I’ll let you have your silly javelin,” she smiles, even licking her lips before they purse together innocently.

But he knows she’s far from innocent. She has to be a curse of some sort, a plight sent here to torment him, because he finds himself sighing, “Alright…”

He gives her one condition: she has to wear clothes; no flaunting herself around him and especially not around the other men if they were to ever see her. They will both get flogged or worse if this mockery comes to daylight… She gives him a soft, adoring smile this time, and says of course, whatever he says.

The next day, she’s waiting for him at the training grounds, javelin in her hands…

Completely, utterly naked.

#könig x reader #könig x you #silliness #torturing könig #we all know how this will end so i don't have to write a full fic for it right ^^

[gregoftom]

where do i even start

#tomgreg #stay tuned for a special thing at the end #FIRST OFF CAN I JUST SAY. thinking about my own various skills and abilities tom says as he MOVES CROTCH FIRST TOWARDS GREG. #and he's just told greg his skills. he's got a big dick and fucks fast and hard. so like. there's that. #i'm either to assume he's already showed said skills off to greg and referring to it or he's literally being suggestive #either unconsciously or consciously. #also he wiggles his crotch a little. like. we get it you wanna fuck greg so bad it makes you look stupid. #ok so we've got the tom not tiptoeing around this like he did with shiv and straight up saying i'm not fucking happy #with you going off with somebody else. i don't like it. why are you happy and i'm not that's not fair. #you're mine. i'm not jealous tho haha #we've got them going through what looks like a wedding arch. #we've got them full on acting like a married couple with greg making excuses for tom and holding him back a little. acting like his wife. #we've got tom switching chiding greg for saying something and the ''don't say that!!'' and then greg agreeing #and saying that actually no tom is a lovely man. oh don't mind my husband he's just grouchy! #and then the WAY tom says you've ruined it like he's about to throw up or cry. or both. #and then greg being like ?? how i have ruined it?? and tom ''idk you just HAVE'' all petulant like #and you know what i'm gonna say. a schoolboy. #he's like thanks i hate it #it really is so much this episode. so much. #i have an idea from it of what fic i could write so there's something at least. a

[goldentigerfestival]

boy does Fluri make me feel things. a lot of things. i love. them.

#GTF Things #sometimes I wanna just write like. this gigantic post abt them. and why their relationship is perfected in context #but with the context of all the side material too? like drama CDs and the movie and the novel #bc plot/story inconsistencies aside it all really adds up in a straight line and creates an amazing story of their relationship #and for the life of me I cannot stop thinking about how all of it adds up into this super deeply realistic relationship #like it's not idealized. it's not perfect. it's not a shiny happy little ship where everything goes perfectly #it has all the bad moments where they still love each other through it but they DO hurt each other without truly meaning to #it's just that sometimes i wanna talk abt the depth of their relationship and how it goes so much deeper than #just what we got in the game but how all of it cumulates into what we have in the game from beginning to end #and how everything in the game (JP bc the dub removed a LOT of important tone between them vocally) #does also have a full progression of their relationship that ends in their favor and probably wouldn't EVER be rocky again after that #like I think by the end of the game they've come out on top of any possibility of ever letting that happen again #the unfortunate part is really just. idk who cares abt reading ship essays or who cares abt Fluri #except like idk five people LMAO. I know I'm kinda new here and don't know many ppl but #I legitimately don't know many ppl who care abt the ship at least particularly deeply as an OTP #but narratively speaking they are literally one of my favorite ships ever bc of how deep the content for them goes

[trashlie]

Hi Ashlie! Sorry if you've been asked this before (maybe if u could pls link up a past reply to this if u have before?? ;-;) but in ILY how do you think we'll return back to the scene with Nol & Shinae (w/ Shinae gripping Nol's wrist) ? (and perhaps u may have a brand new look on this after recent events in the chapters as of lately?)

In the beginning of this flashback arc I use to think we are running this arc as Shinae's retelling it to Nol (as if she's finally letting Nol (not yeongi) to get to really know her, as if they are meeting for the first time) but now i feel such memories are too intimate and personal to share all of sudden. I have a feeling we're gonna have this drama cliche where they get interrupted by someone (or something) like right after she tells him "Nobody is allowed to touch that", but I really hope that's not the case ! >< I want something new & refreshing if anything i want that scene between Nol & Shinae to last even longer because we've just been waiting for it for months ! (even years!!)

I've only briefly touched on it in other asks responses, so don't worry! I think my thoughts flipflop every time I'm asked, anyway, so I don't mind digging in to this!

Firstly, I think we are within 3 (fast pass) episodes of returning to the present, and that's a VERY generous estimate. After seeing the direction of FP 196, I feel very strongly that 197 MIGHT take us to Shinae's Fall, but I think it's more likely to be in 198 or 199? I hope I get the brain energy to make a quick post about what I THINK might go down, because I have some IDEAS. If it does happen next episode, I think it might feel a little too swift....? I think the timeline has to inch along JUST a smidge further, but I'll get to that in that "prediction" (lol) post. THAT SAID we are SO SO CLOSE!

I think I've said it before in here, or maybe on reddit, but I've always had the sense that yes, this is not a recollection from Shinae to Nol. Based on her reaction to him, I don't think she's inclined to tell him what happened - or rather, if she does, she's going to give him a vague summary of it. But more than that, I think this flashback arc serves multiple purposes, or else it wouldn't be so drawn out and rich in detail. Part of it is, yes, for our sake as viewers to finally have the full story and really understand Shinae's situation, to understand just how Alyssa caused so much hurt that she's carried around forever. Alyssa was not simply the straw that broke the camel's back like I had believed before. Shinae didn't shut down and put up a guard solely because she'd had enough of being stomped on by people. Alyssa like, broke Shinae and she is only just starting to recover from the ramifications of placing so much trust in someone who turned around and hurt her so much.

But I think by now we can also see that it was always a more nuanced story than we thought. I was actually looking at some webtoon comments earlier on some of the episodes up to 188 (which I rarely do) and even at that point a lot of people were... I'm going to say willfully ignorant lol to a lot of the nuanced complexity in the situation, and a lot of that is only being made richer in 196. What I'm getting at with this is: I think Shinae doesn't hold a lot of animosity because she realizes there was a lot more going on than she ever knew or understood - in fact, she actually addressed this during the Kim formal arc, when she noted that Alyssa is afraid she'll tell Nol what happened, and admits that she herself doesn't even fully know the truth. I'll get more into this in another post, but the basic gist is that there are clearly a lot of layers to their relationship, and things aren't always what they appear on the surface, and middle school Shinae certainly didn't know that and even at the formal, Shinae didn't yet know the truth.

I'm thinking, then, that this flashback is also for Shinae. She hides her scar and represses her memories of middle school, locking them away, and given the way her recollection of the fall appeared so hazy and distorted in episode 16 as well as the way Alyssa appeared in Shinae's mind as a result of "Think of everything that makes you mad" while beating up the bear suit and she paused - it's safe to say it's not something Shinae thinks about, and lol why would she? It's clearly a painful memory wrought with emotions. But moreover, think of this: prior to Alyssa, the people Shinae is angry at, the ones she thinks "you make me mad" towards - Nol, Kousuke, Yui - are all people who have actively and recently hurt her and done things to make her angry. But everyone else who follows - Alyssa, her mother, her dad, herself - are people who make her angry because she doesn't understand. She doesn't understand why Alyssa had a change of heart, she doesn't understand why her mother left and separated her from her sister and never stayed in touch, she doesn't understand why her father is failing at being a father and put them in such great risk out of pride and shame, and she doesn't understand why she keeps letting herself get hurt by people why she keeps letting them in only to deceive and hurt her. So I think maybe when Nol addressed her scar, when he asked if it was punishment and dared to address the very thing she actively hides and represses and refuses to acknowledge or think about, she was forced to deal with an onslaught of recollection that she's kept at bay. He broke a dam and now she's faced with the very thing she's avoided, and I think maybe it's to provide her with insight.

Much like with Nol, while neither of them handled things in a good way, Alyssa was dealing with more than Shinae saw the surface, had secrets she was too afraid to reveal, secrets she thought would scare away the only friend she had, so she acts in defense and it leaves Shinae confused. Without knowing what Alyssa is hiding, what she's guarding, how is Shinae to understand? How is she supposed to move on? In 196, I think it's implied that Shinae doesn't understand why Alyssa is being bullied - I think up until now she, like the rest of us, has thought Alyssa is being picked on for being nerdy, for hanging around with Shinae, for not "fitting in", and given the way that Shinae admitted to herself at the formal that she doesn't know the whole truth, I'm guessing that means she isn't fully picking up what they're putting down, she doesn't get what is Alyssa is being bullied over. Now that she's older, though, now that she's a little more removed from the situation, maybe these memories will offer a little enlightenment to what really went on.

The scar can only be a punishment if Shinae did something wrong. She didn't put her trust in a person who didn't care about her and turned on her the moment she could. She put her trust in a person who wasn't ready to reveal their secrets - just like she did with Nol. She piled on hope and trust and cared for someone who only "betrayed her" in that she didn't understand. Shinae wanted to be let in neither of them were willing to do that. But I think it's important that it's emphasizing Alyssa wasn't as malicious or mean-spirited as believed before.

Shinae was not punished for trusting the wrong people. They were just people not ready to share that part of them yet. And look, isn't that the same with her? Only just now is she revealing to Nol why she was this way, what made her so guarded, and still it's so vague and only in response to their similar experiences.

I know this a lot of preamble lol but this is my new insight on this arc that this may be a moment of revelation for Shinae, who has refused to acknowledge the past and locked it all away as she built up walls around her. But Nol has, yet again, managed to knock down those walls and she's bared a little more vulnerable, having confessed that she, too, has been dogged by misfortune, her scar now seen by him. I DO think, in a way, it is Nol and Shinae meeting each other for the first time, though. Nol is not hiding his true self from him and she is revealing little truths she hasn't even admitted to herself until this moment, and I've said it before, but I think it's putting them on a really level ground with each other. Shinae has now seen a glimpse into the secrets and Nol carries, has learned who he is when he isn't wearing his Yeonggi mask, and I think...? it's a moment of shared honesty? Nol has to have known that Shinae would feel antagonized by him calling out the scar - he knows he's never seen it before, that it means she must carefully keep it hidden, that she's always been cagey and guarded and this would be no different - so does he address it in hopes that she will bare some of her secrets to him, as he's unwittingly done with her?

What I'm hoping - especially if this is a moment of insight for Shinae - is when we return to the present, maybe we'll see her with mixed emotions on her face, as realization dawns on her? Maybe a moment of vague honesty - that she realizes this scar wasn't really a punishment after all, or that sometimes situations are more complex than they realize at the time? Something to allude that though this scar is a private, formative foundation of who she is, that it's just another series of unfortunate events in her life? Maybe we'll even come back to the present and she'll tell him a vague recollection of what happened - about a time someone she trusted and cared about accidentally hurt her, and how it damaged her in a way she couldn't begin to undo until he broke her shell? God, I would LOVE that, actually - I don't need her to say WHO hurt her, I just want her to admit that it was an event that altered the entire trajectory of her life, and that it was Nol's friendship that helped to undo the damage it caused, so that he can understand his importance in her life. Suddenly, it is not enough for me for her to tell him he's important to her, I want him to understand why he was something worth chasing down in the rain as she anguished and pleaded with him, and so he understands what it means for her to take him back.

I know the fear of an interruption is high, and I do go back and forth on whether or not I think it will happen. It IS highly cliche and frankly.... it's a cheap tactic lol. An interruption is meant to prolong a conflict, to ensure there is no closure reached, to carry on some kind of tension, but the tension has, thus far, been diffused by this flashback. Wouldn't an interruption be overkill? There was so much build up to this moment - from the moment Nol pleaded guilty and became unreachable, every time he slipped right through everyone's fingers, every time he did something to add fuel to the fire, the curveball (if you will lol) of Shinae's moment with her dad, it was all rising action leading to the climatic confession of "I really like her! She's special to me". They are in the process of re-establishing their relationship, re-establishing their boundaries. It is Nol's grand return to the people from who he ran away, and for their tension to be broken by anything but their own choices, before they've resolved anything, would be CRUEL and, frankly speaking, shitty storytelling. Nol said it himself - this is his last night before he leaves, and I think when he made that decision to climb up onto the roof with Shinae, it was yes, to get some closure and maybe to reassure himself of his standing? Does he have friends to return to when his sentence is up? Does he deserve to return to them when his sentence is up?

So yes, I agree - and ardently hope! - that they won't be interrupted. I think we'll return to the present and maybe the tension will be diffused, or at least it will be shortly thereafter, and I REALLY hope that Nol will join the party. When Shinae said she doesn't need him here, he said he needs him here, so I hope he plans to go see Soushi and Dieter and make up with them, too, and to maybe allow himself one night (or, really a couple hours at this point lol) to really truly enjoy something - not for absolution, not with the fear that he will be punished for having fun, but to make an active choice to enjoy the moment while he has the chance. God I want that SO BADLY. I also think that returning to the present, if Shinae reveals even a vague truth to Nol and they release their weird hold lol it would be, hmmm, I guess acceptance? Nol knowing Shinae is done running, Shinae deciding it's okay to put her trust in him again?

I mean, a really cheesy thing I'd like to see but I don't know if we'll get is some kind of, idk, plans...? For visitation or something? I think Nol wouldn't want anyone to visit him but wouldn't it be nice if they did, anyway? Ground him to who he is, tether him so that he doesn't lose himself while locked up - and always serve a reminder that there are people waiting for him on the other side, people who support and cherish him. UGGGHHH feelings! lol

I do want to see a little more of this new dynamic for Nol and Shinae - this kind of honesty and equal footing, this new evolution of their relationship where neither of them has the upper hand, neither of them have ulterior motives, neither of them running and chasing each other but finally facing each other as formidable allies. It's SO satisfying to see, even if they are both on edge at this moment. I want to see that soften, if only a little, as they accept each other again. I know we probably won't have a lot of episodes left before the morning comes to take Nol away, but I hope we get to see him at the party and feel real enjoyment for once.

Oops, late add on but, now that I'm thinking about it.... I do think there is a possibility that after they've resolved things themselves - relinquished their hold on each other, lowered their defenses, I think there's a chance Minhyuk could show up? ONLY because we all know Nol and Minhyuk meeting will likely NOT go well, and if Nol goes and joins the party, it feels like.... hmmm it doesn't feel, narratively, like that would flow as well. There's too many people around. But if Minhyuk comes looking for Shinae and finds Nol there, he might get his opportunity to go hulking oppressive brother lol and say a few choice words - but more importantly, Shinae would have the opportunity to tell Minhyuk that it's okay, that things are fine now or something. (I still see Minhyuk giving him the "I have my eye on you buddy" stink-eye, though lol) And I'm fine with that! As long as it's not an interruption that is further delaying their resolution, I'm fine with anyone coming to the rooftop (especially if it involves Nol saying "I'll be joining" or something lol) but especially in this case!

#I Love Yoo #ILY #ILY Brainrot #Shinae Yoo #Nol #Nolan Oliver T. Lochlainn #no spoilers in here for once huhuhu! i do vaguely mention events of 196 but i don't SAY anything so! #I could talk forever and ever about this so please know how difficult it was for me to curb myself in this answer lmao #i have a lot of thoughts and feelings about this new chapter of shinae and nol's relationship and what i hope is in store for them #but also yes about how i really really really need them to have the time they need to resolve things to not be interrupted before they #decide they are ready. IT WOULD BE LIKE HAVING TO SNEEZE AND IT NEVER HAPPENS YOU KNOW? we'd have to wait for the time jump to see ANY #resolution and UGH NO that's just bad writing all around lol. you don't take a moment that's finally hit a climax it was building to and go #TO BE CONTINUED TEEHEE #ESP after a flashback arc that's gone on for literally MONTHS lol #i have to believe it means Shinae and Nol will have the opportunity to make their amends with each other #I think this is also really setting up Nol + Shinae's relationship for the timeskip #like i know we are still a ways off from that because I believe we will see Shinae and co graduate high school after a brief time jump #following this party and at that time we might get to see what Yujing has been working on and THEN big time jump #but it's really important to reestablish that relationship to define that dynamic and to prepare it for when they are full fledged adults #tie up these loose ends and give us a taste of what is to come maybe? #which is also why i hope we get to see Nol at the party making amends with Dieter and Soushi so that he is part of their future too #AND ALSO BECAUSE I JUST DESPERATELY WANT NOL TO JUST... FOR ONE MOMENT EMBRACE HAPPINESS EMBRACE THE CHOICES HE WANTS TO MAKE #TO STOP DENYING HIMSELF WHAT HE DESIRES BECAUSE HE'S AFRAID FOR THEM TO GET HURT #TO STOP DENYING HIMSELF THE HAPPINESS HE DOESN'T THINK HE DESERVES ;AAAA; #LET HIM! HAVE! A MOMENT OF PEACE! OF HAPPINESS! #something to hang on to when the sun steals him away and he has to leave #something to remind him he is deserving of the happiness people choose to give him and that he deserves to indulge in it #;AAAAAAAAAAAAAA; #oh nonny did you expect all this feel barf lmao aaahhhhhhhhhh

[fennthetalkingdog]

One of my new friends is trying to get me into K-pop and it's slowly working 😭😭😭 I was restraining myself to a few Stray Kids songs and maybe an NCT-127 song before, but now she's got me listening to Ateez and P1Harmony too! And worse, she drives me back from one of my classes twice a week and I just KNOW she's gonna be showing me a new song every time :')

#my main problem is that I think “that sounds cool!” and intend to listen to the full version once I'm back in my room #but then I end up listening to it a bunch of times and adding it to my secular music playlist T-T #I was already K-pop adjacent I don't want to fall straight on in!! #and to make it even worse she's absolutely one of the coolest people I've met #she loves K-pop and PTX and FNAF and Undertale and learning random facts too! #and she has ADHD like me??? #we spent so much time in our first physics lab just *talking* #and if she wasn't living off campus I'd totally invite her into my friend group :') #and her major is so close to mine!! We might have similar classes later! #I'm literally dying how was such a cool person hiding all this time 😭 #and it makes it that much harder to not tumble headfirst into K-pop #but I know if I get stuck I'm gonna hyperfixate on it so I'm trying so hardddd not too #(also am I listening to one of the new songs she showed me today while I write this? yep 😔) #I'm afraid to tag this as kpop and get kpop stans on this #or even to tag with the individual groups :T #but I don't want to leave this unorganized soo #a glimpse into my real life lol #I guess I'll use that tag for my real life stuff?? we'll see how it lasts

[indygotcha]

After long observation, this is all I can think with how much Disney fumbled Magnifico and what we really ended up getting

#wish 2023 #king magnifico #dhaos #tales of phantasia #tales of #wish spoilers #PLEASE don't take this LITERALLY btw phantasia/dhaos-fans - it's the “tragic villain”-angle magnifico ended with ACCIDENTALLY #because Disney has lost their way of committing to a sincerely evil villain for real since eons ago apparently #had to make him do some weird 180 on his personality after consulting an evil book + a very tonally confusing villain song... #like #this benevolent and frankly wise king had to painstakingly rule a kingdom for eons while knowing how greedy and unknowing people can get - #regarding what they wish for VS what they truly might need - or some possibly having bad wishes/desires (which Wish hardly acknowledges) #And all of this is due him lost his family when young which motivated him to learn sorcery to build a kingdom so none could go through same #sorry but that's massive dhaos-vibes to me man #yet he's eventually driven to villainous breakdown due getting sick of people always wanting more from him #and clearly being traumatised by what happened to him in past and anxious for the kingdom he built so long to protect people from that #but Wish just has to paint his as “bad” and hold Asha's more lacking ethics on wish-granting as “right”? Is that a right message to send? #eventually he's ovethrown to gay-baby-jail mirror for rest of eternity by these very people and his wife (patented disney girlboss moment) #and possibly watch his long-preserved kingdom be destroyed by a wide-eyed wish-granter without any understanding of grey morality... #yeaaahhhh #I think Magnifico would eventually come to be a full-blown misandry and say that wickedness truly lurks in the hearts of men :7c #all I'm saying is #magnifico just feels like more like tragic villain in flavour of dhaos the more I think about the “treatment” he went through in the movie. #IDK should disney have committed on that because we already had enough poor twist villains or sympathetic ones as #but the way magnifico was marketed/hyped up as VS what we got just made me think Disney hasn't still got it and ended writing a tragic one

[verystressedcollegestudent]

if there's one thing i hate more than slackers in group projects its goddamn hypocrites

#this guy did jack shit for two full weeks when we're building the damn prototype #but STILL brought up the fact that most of our team blew off a report till the last minute in the beginning of march #*prototypes don't work* “sEe tHis iS wHy wE nEedEd tO hAvE a cOnvErsaTioN aBouT MS3” #like hon you lost the rights to the “y'all need to contribute more” argument the moment you left me hanging for 2-3 FUCKING WEEKS #like excuuuuuse me you been prioritizing extra curriculars all week get off your high horse stop lecturing everyone else about contribution #he made maybe 3 contributions? maybe? #first he 3D modeled an adapter and sent it to someone else to print (couldn't even do THAT himself smh) #then he sent the gc a sketch of an idea i roughly proposed literally the NIGHT BEFORE as his own contribution (that I ENDED UP BUILDING #then he...screwed on a few pipe fittings and called it a project :) #would be a LOT less pissed if he didn't show up to One Thing outside weekly team meetings/class #then apologize for slacking off BUT then launch into a FUCKING SPEECH ABOUT HOW HIM BEING HERE PROVES HIS COMMITTMENT #all because he DOESN'T LIKE GETTING UP EARLY. like sir. sir i am rIGHT FUCKING HERE. i was up till 4-5am working on this stfu #we've been building for three weeks and he's come into work on stuff wo me there ONCE for an HOUR #for context id spent about fifteen hours in the shop alone working on the fucking thing that WEEK #like im trying to be understanding ik tech week is hell #but i took “stepping back” as “i only have a few hours here and there to be in the shop and will do the writeups” #NOT “won't show up outside meetings AND we're splitting slides and writeups 80/20” #like id been in the lab all fuckin day and notice we have an assignment due (missed a SINGLE meeting due to exam) #and i ask him if theres anything i can do (and im thinking like look it over maybe add a spec or two) #and this fucker has the AUDACITY to ask me to write the full four paragraph summary cause he #*checks notes* copy-pasted some specs from milestone 3 so of COURSE its only fair that despite the fact I've been in the lab ALL DAY #that i write the four fuckin paragraphs too #course we're troubleshooting and he's like “did you clean the pump? did you disassemble it and rinse it?” like yes??? #i did EVERYTHING i could think of before i even bothered texting you cause i know you're fucking useless #and then he raises fifteen different concerns which while valid would have been NICE TO HEAR WHEN I SENT YOU MY INITIAL DESIGNS #y'know BEFORE i spent over fifteen hours of my free time building this damn thing #with slackers i just pick up the work and move on with my life this idiot is trying to gaslight me into thinking that he contributed fairly #when i heard “i need to step back due to play stuff” i thought we'd be splitting it like 65:35 NOT FUCKING 95:5 #and now hes probably going to give ME a poor peer review because I've been passive aggressive with him in the few meetings he showed up to #like i got shit going on too? how the fuck does he expect me to respond to being abandoned to do this shit myself

[neil-gaiman]

I know your ask box is probably full, so I totally get it if you don't get to this anytime soon, but I need some help.

I'm a sixteen year old aspiring writer with ADHD and anxiety. My writing patterns are horrible. I go months without writing then spit out a hundred pages. I've been writing since I was eight and I've never finished a story longer than a few thousand words because I physically cannot force myself to write in order, though I can eventually fill in the gaps (if I'm given a few months).

I'm trying my best, but it feels like my best isn't good enough for the world. Do you (or any other successful writers you know) have similar problems? Or is this something you overcome with time? Basically wondering if there's hope of me being successful despite these traits. Thanks!

You're sixteen. The reason why the world isn't filled with successful sixteen year old novelists is we were all (or most of us) trying to figure out how to do the writing thing in bursts and spurts and with dozens of beginnings and not a lot of endings, and we have some characters over here and some story over there and we can't work out how to make them align and work together. And so on and so forth.

You are not a failure if you haven't published a Hugo-award winning trilogy by the time you're twenty. You're an egg that hasn't even finished hatching.

Write. Read everything you can. Write more. Finish some short stories. Read more. Write more. Experience some life. Finish longer things. You'll get there. It's not a race. It's a way to learn.

#writing advice