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prncesselene · 3 years

Note

i love your kathony fics 🥺. are prompts still open? if they are then anything around that moment that is mentioned by edwina in the books - when kate says people will move on from her and anthony's *love match* gossip soon enough and edwina's like not as long as anthony looks at you the way he did at that ball, smouldering, pushing people away to get to kate. i love that because anthony is still in his denial phase but his actions are SO clearly the opposite xD

i am indeed still taking prompts! i’m working through them all ridiculously slowly, as my inactivity might indicate (lol), but i will be getting through everything that’s being sent my way, promise! :)

ao3

“There you are!”

Kate turned at the sound of her husband’s voice, her eyes widening. She hadn’t expected him to notice she’d even left the ballroom, much less follow her out. Her slowly relaxing heart took flight once more, a mixture of shame and embarrassment pooling in her chest.

They’d arrived back in London only a few nights ago, fresh off of their time in the country after the wedding. And though the time spent alone had been rejuvenating and enlightening all at once — Anthony was, in almost every way, a very attentive husband — returning to London as a bride had been a difficult adjustment. The height of the season was still upon them, and with it a number of events and social responsibilities that now asked much more of Kate than they had before.

And she wasn’t quite sure she was up to snuff, if she were being honest with herself.

Anthony crossed the hallway in three long strides and reached her side. “I turn around for just a moment and suddenly you’re gone. Practically knocked down half of the ton trying to find you.”

Kate’s chest warmed. The ballroom had been so full he would have had to have been keeping quite the close eye on her to notice something like that.

She shook her head immediately, dashing those childish, romantic notions away. He’d been very clear on where their marriage stood, and trying to paint his intentions as anything other than a gentlemanly interest in her well-being would only lead to heartbreak. She was already lucky enough, with the deal she’d been cut; asking for anything more than what Anthony could give her seemed selfish.

Once he was at her side, he tugged her elbow, gently bringing her in front of him. “Did something happen? Why did you leave the ballroom so suddenly?”

Kate began to fiddle with the buttons on his waistcoat, her eyes fixated on a string of fabric that had begun to pull from within one of them. “My, it's warm in here, isn't it? You need to take this to get fixed. I can arrange for your tailor to pass by tomorrow afternoon, if you can manage to clear your schedule. I know y–”

“Kate,” he warned, cutting off her nervous rambling, his voice more insistent. To their left, couples and families donning their finest gowns and suits entered and exited the ballroom, chatting amongst each other easily. “What’s wrong?”

She kept fiddling with the string of fabric, chewing on her lips until she was sure they would end up bleeding. Anthony’s hands came to rest atop hers, limiting her movement. “Whatever it is, you can tell me.”

Kate sighed, gathering the strength needed for her admission. “Anthony, I don’t think I’m quite cut out for this.”

“Cut out for what?”

“Oh, you know, all of... this,” she emphasized, attempting to tug her hands away, but his grip only tightened.

“Marriage? It’s a little late for doubts like those,” he murmured.

“What?” Kate met his eyes then, surprised to find they were much more contemplative than she expected. “No, no. It’s not that. It’s just… well, I don’t really fit in, do I? I’ve never been good at the things that ladies are expected to be good at, have never managed to sit still or act demurely or... or anything like that, really and... well, now that is precisely what is expected of me.”

She paused, chewing her lip, taking her eyes off of Anthony’s to stare at the floor. “I know I’m not the kind of wife you expected. The sort that could smile prettily and charm everyone around her and be a proper viscountess.”

Anthony’s eyes narrowed with concern, his stance tightening. He took her hands firmly in his and held onto them, running a thumb over her gloved knuckles. “Kate, where is this coming from? Did something happen?”

Kate swallowed, her heart beating traitorously. It seemed no matter how hard she tried to convince herself of Anthony’s objectivity within their marriage, her body refused to cooperate. The simple gesture of him listening to her so intently, with such gentleness and care, made her knees weak.

“No one is saying anything, if that’s what you’re worried about,” she sighed, noticing the way he relaxed once more. Her face reddened remembering Lady Whistledown’s most recent column. “In fact… well, it’s obviously a bit ridiculous, but the consensus among the gossips of society is that ours was a love match.”

“Ridiculous,” he repeated softly. Not quite a question, but not quite a statement of fact, either.

“Yes. Ridiculous,” she said, her belly swooping pitifully. “Anyways, clearly, it is not. You need not remind me of that fact. That— it’s fine. But even if they think ours looks like a love match, they must think it’s an ill fitting one. I mean, I'm hardly a catch. I talk too loud, express my opinion too plainly. I keep meeting duchesses and countesses and realizing I... I'm nothing like that, Anthony. And I worry I never will be."

For a moment, Anthony didn’t reply, and Kate feared he agreed with her. That he, too, saw their marriage as the farce that it was. That the one with doubts was him.

But all he did he was bring her hands up to his mouth, pressing a soft kiss to her knuckles.

“Never speak that way of yourself again, Kate,” he said, his voice serious. “For my sake if not yours. In fact, as your husband, I demand it.”

Kate’s fingers were warm underneath the gloves where he kissed her, her eyes wide.

“I can only speak for myself, but there is absolutely nothing about you that I would wish to change. You are headstrong, passionate, and absolutely everything a proper viscountess should be, all of those other supposed virtues be damned. If someone — anyone — cannot see that, then that is their loss and theirs only."

He tightened his grip on her hands and made sure she was looking directly at him before continuing. "When you enter rooms you command the respect of others not because you are my wife, or a Bridgerton, but because you're you. And you are more than enough.”

Kate was at a loss for words. She knew that love would never be a part of their relationship. That even if her body felt most alive when it was next to his, even if she laughed and talked with him like she had with no one else before, even if she knew she was already halfway in love with him herself — that those feelings would have to be kept under lock and key.

But then, when he said those things…. When he looked at her like that…

It was, admittedly, a little difficult not to want to wrap her arms around him and show him exactly how she felt.

Kate released her inhibitions and embraced him tightly anyways, if only so that he wouldn’t see the errant tears that threatened to slip out of her eyes.

“Thank you,” she murmured into the velvet of his coat, indulging in the comforting smell of leather and tobacco and Anthony that she’d grown to associate with warmth and belonging. That she’d grown to love, little by little. "You needn't lie to me to make me feel better, but I appreciate it all the same."

“There is nothing I’ve said that I wouldn’t happily repeat in front of all of London,” he said, the smile in his voice evident. One of his hands wrapped around her waist while the other tipped her chin towards his. “Will you obey your husband and never disparage yourself like this again? Can I trust you to do that?”

Kate’s eyes narrowed as she bit down on her own smile. She was like a slice of jelly when it came to him, pliant and willing to do whatever he said. It helped, of course, that all he was asking of her was to be kinder to herself. That he seemed to really, truly believe the words he'd said. That he saw her that way.

“I suppose.”

He smiled and leaned down to slant his lips against hers, taking advantage of the brief lull in hallway activity. The arm around her waist tightened and brought her closer to him as his lips explored hers tenderly.

“Anthony!” she scolded, giggling against his mouth. “This is most improper. What if someone sees us?”

Leaning his forehead against hers, Anthony smiled. “The gossip about us is already scandalous. Why not add to it?”

Kate laughed but pulled away, shaking her head. As much as she loved kissing Anthony, she'd had enough scandal to last a lifetime. “I don’t think there’s any need for that.”

Straightening her ballgown and tightening her gloves once more, Kate took a deep breath. It was time to go back to the ballroom, where she would once again have to resume the act of viscountess; to pretend that she knew what she was doing, that she belonged there. With Anthony by her side, at least, it almost felt manageable.

Anthony’s smile was warm when he extended his arm out to hers. “Ready to return to the fun, Mrs. Bridgerton?”

Dash it. With him by her side it was certainly manageable. She had a growing suspicion that with him, anything was. Love matches or no.

She slipped her arm into his, remembering his words. His faith in her.

“Ready.”

#bridgerton #bridgerton fic #kate x anthony #kathony #kanthony #anthony bridgerton #kate sheffield #kate sharma #delaniewrites #AHHHH i have been so inactive lately lol #terrible bout of writers block mixed with a little bit of depression and existential anxiety = a delicious cocktail for NOT writing #but anyways pushing through it so #here you go

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prncesselene · 3 years

Note

Hey! If you’re still taking prompts for kate x anthony, maybe a moment from the first pall mall rematch? (really adore your writing and hope the writers block clears soon!) thank you 💛

thank you so much 🥺 funnily enough i was fighting another bad bout of writers block just prior to this, so you’ve pulled me out of it!!! hahaha i hope you enjoy this ♥

(a️o3)

Kate had planned for a lot of things to happen on the day of the first Pall Mall rematch. Those who had been lucky enough to join the fun at Aubrey Hall were invited back a year to the very day that Edwina and Kate had infiltrated the Bridgerton family game, and thus, a new family tradition had been formed.

Nearly a year of newlywed bliss had done many things for Anthony and Kate — teaching the young bride all the ways a woman could blush, teaching the groom all the ways to make a young bride blush, among other things — but diminishing either of their competitive and stubborn natures, particularly when directed at each other, was not one of them.

As such, Kate knew that she had to be ready, and so she’d accounted for deviousness, lies, and war tactics that could make Napoleon shudder. She knew that her husband would not succumb to her feminine wiles, and she did not plan to let herself fall into any of his traps, either. She considered herself ready, by all accounts, to beat Anthony into the ground once more and reign victorious.

But she could never have planned for this.

Kate might have accounted for many things in her plot to defeat her husband — but she hadn’t considered Colin and his penchant for mischief. Or Simon and Daphne’s desire for amusement. Or, in fact, the perspective of any of the members of the family that she’d married into — and the fact that now, they saw her as much more than a intriguing, meddlesome woman attempting to outwit their older brother.

Indeed, now she was his wife. She was a Bridgerton.

Which meant she was the enemy.

And they weren’t playing nice.

In hindsight, Kate should have seen it coming. She’d started out the game so focused on making sure Anthony’s ball was out of her way — he’d managed to take the Mallet of Death for himself this year, much to her disappointment, and so she was wholly dedicated to making sure he would have to wade back into the lake again at some point — that she’d been entirely blindsided the moment Colin had knocked her purple ball halfway across the field.

She scoffed, her mouth wide open as she watched it fly in a neat arc far, far away from where they were standing. She whipped her head to the side, meeting Colin’s eyes. His were alight with amusement — hers, decidedly not.

“Why?” was all that she managed to say, while Daphne tried not to laugh into Simon’s shoulder behind him.

“That’s the game, Mrs. Bridgerton,” Colin smiled, heaving his mallet over his shoulder. “Or have you forgotten?”

Anthony was only a few paces away, but when she turned to stalk towards her new designated location, she could tell that he was laughing.

Kate tried her best to make it back into the middle of the fray, but it seemed that everyone was dead set against that happening. Daphne, for all that she carried a distinct air of poise and grace, was turning out to be quite the devil on the field, and Simon was glad to help her along on that journey.

Even Edwina, mild mannered as she was, seemed to have quickly picked up on this year’s theme for the game and joined in on the fun. From Kate’s new vantage point, she was finding it difficult to go anywhere near the main group, but she noticed Edwina end up perilously close to Anthony, only for her to send his ball a few yards away.

Kate’s eyes widened. Edwina was blushing, but she stood up straight and smiled meekly as she sent her brother-in-law closer to the outskirts of the field, where Kate was. He wasn’t laughing now, and Kate was so flustered she couldn’t muster the enthusiasm that would have otherwise come easily.

By the thirty minute mark, Kate was a few dozen yards east of the large oak tree and Anthony was just off to her side, while the rest of the players chatted and laughed amongst themselves, all in on a joke that Kate found she hadn’t been privy to.

After a few more turns, Kate saw Anthony’s ball roll just past her feet, her husband’s familiar footsteps following closely behind.

“I hate to say it, my love, but I have a slight feeling we’ve been outsmarted,” he said, once he arrived.

Kate chewed on her lip. Colin, Daphne, Simon and Edwina seemed to have all moved on, challenging each other in the game lightheartedly — very much happy to be without Kate and Anthony. Kate wondered if that had been what they were after all along.

After the glorious victory she’d experienced last year, she had not expected defeat to come so quickly — and at the hand of anyone who wasn’t her husband, for that matter.

“This is…” Kate huffed, at a loss for words. “I mean, really, it’s...”

“Ridiculous? Humiliating?” he grimaced when Kate nodded. He took her hand, allowing himself to get closer. “I agree... But I suppose what’s done is done.”

“Are you suggesting we accept defeat?” Kate scoffed. “Oh, no, no, no. This is cause for immediate, bloody revenge.” She puffed up her chest, ready to march over to everyone else until she realized Anthony wasn’t following.

Kate deflated, briefly noting the curious look in his eye before flipping back to disappointment. “Really? You’re going to give up, just like that?”

He tugged her hand, pulling her closer to him. He took her mallet from where she was clutching it to her chest and set it aside. “We made a terrible mistake this year. We were focusing on outsmarting each other when, clearly, we should have been focusing on them,” he sent a rather pointed look at the group of individuals out on the field. “I gather that they figured we would do exactly that. Our family knows us better than we imagine.”

Kate frowned, although she could not help the tiny thrill that went through her when he casually referred to her as his family. She was still, in many ways, getting used to that. “I... suppose.”

“We’ll do much better next year, in any case,” Anthony said, to which Kate firmly nodded, determined. Anthony’s smile then became much more roguish. “You know, it’s a beautiful day out.”

Now he was just being odd. “Indeed....”

He gently tugged her even closer, and she let herself fall into his arms. His hands were around her waist, his touch warm even through the fabric of her dress. His thumbs were drawing soft circles around her waist. “I wager there are better things for us to do than play a silly game of Pall Mall.”

“Pall Mall is not silly!”

Anthony chuckled and shook his head, the sound of it warm, the gentle vibrations soft against her chest. He pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, then her jaw, and then her neck, his voice low when he finally spoke, his lips close to her ears. "Leave it to my wife to focus on the virtues of a field game when I'm in the middle of trying to seduce her."

Realization dawned on Kate as she let out a shuddered sigh at the feeling of his warm lips on her neck. "Oh."

He smiled and took her hand, leading her away from their current position, farther from the imposing estate of Aubrey Hall and the field where everyone else was likely finishing up their polite game of Pall Mall and towards the open expanse of space that was to the east.

She couldn't help the tiny laughs that escaped her as they rushed forward secretively, as though they were a pair of young lovers acting of passion and not the lord and lady of the house.

In many ways, they still carried that intense, invigorating passion — it certainly hadn't dulled in the time they'd been married. Everyday, Anthony seemed to find new ways to bring it out of her.

While he had taken Kate on a number of walks about the grounds of Aubrey Hall in his attempts to convince her that this was now hers just as much as it was his, she was still growing accustomed to the wide fields and expansive space. Anthony, however, knew this particular pocket of the countryside like the back of his hand, and so he led her towards a secluded spot, the wide branches of the sprawling oak trees doing more than enough to give them some privacy while the bright sun and greenery to their other side beckoned them forward.

Once they'd reached their destination, they stood for a moment, gathering their breath. Kate leaned on a large tree and looked up at Anthony expectantly.

“Well,” she said, feeling oddly nervous. “Here we are.”

“Here we are,” he murmured. He gently tucked an errant lock of hair that had broken free behind her ear, his thumb slowly skimming her jaw and resting on her bottom lip. It set her chest ablaze, the way that Anthony looked at her. As though there were no one else in the world.

Slowly, he leaned forward until his lips met hers in a gentle caress, his hands resting around her waist once again. Kate’s hands snaked upwards to curl into the hair at the nape of his neck, a soft whimper escaping her when his tongue licked her lower lip. He growled at the sound and kissed her harder, her back hitting the tree behind her, the heat low in her belly erupting in turn.

He pulled away and she did whimper this time, accepting the distance only when he began to pepper kisses along the edge of her jaw until he reached the column of her neck, his hand reaching up to cup her breast through the emerald fabric of her dress.

“Anthony,” she sighed, aching to be closer, her hands coming to grip the lapels of his dress shirt, the game of Pall Mall very nearly forgotten. How could she worry about that, when she had this? With Anthony’s grip firm and warm around her waist, the soft stroke of his tongue against her bottom lip, the heat curling in her gut that urged her to wrap her hands around his neck and press him closer to her — nothing else really mattered.

She could feel herself beginning to grow needy, her body arching towards his in an unconscious demand for more as heat throbbed between her legs.

“Please,” she whined, her hand reaching around to tug on his hair when his lips had found her bare nipple. “Please, I need… I—”

“I know,” he murmured, his hand reaching under her skirts. She gasped when he reached the apex of her thighs, his fingers expertly drawing the moisture that had pooled there and using it to coax gentle mewls from her, fixating on the bundle of nerves as pleasure coiled in her spine. When he kissed her again it was hurried and unpracticed, a desperate frenzy that only strengthened the feeling of need that had taken flight within her.

Kate felt herself burning from within, the effect of Anthony’s attentions growing only stronger and more heated by the second.

Distantly, Kate could hear the chirping of birds and the rustling of leaves in the wind, and perhaps if she truly strained her ears she might hear the distant chatter of everyone playing Pall Mall — but in that moment, there was only Anthony, and his mouth, and his hands, and the open sky above them.

“Kate,” he murmured, his own voice sounding ragged. “Can I taste you?”

Her eyes widened, white hot desire coursing through her at the suggestion. “Here? H— How?”

Anthony smiled, pressing one last kiss to Kate’s lips before kneeling before her. Her morning gown was thin and presented very little barrier for entry as Anthony’s hands roamed over her legs and thighs, pushing the fabric of the gown and her chemise up until she was bare before him.

“Like this,” he said, pressing kisses along her thighs until his mouth found the place where his fingers had been only moments before. Gently, he nudged Kate’s leg so that it was over his shoulder, giving him a more advantageous angle.

Kate’s eyes widened in shocked pleasure as his tongue moved with a new, delicious dexterity around her. She gripped his hair tightly for purchase, finding her legs weaker than they had ever been before.

The mere sight of him before her, on his knees with her green skirts around him was so erotic it sent her head spinning, not to mention the dizzying waves of pleasure that had taken hold of her as he continued to bring her closer towards her release.

“You’re so sweet,” he murmured, his voice so thick he sounded drunk — drunk off of her. His hands had come around her legs to press firmly into her bottom, giving him better leverage to reach her. “How does that feel?

“That feels— that feels...” she was hardly able to focus on anything except the fact that his lips and tongue were not where they had been before, and so in a moment of desperation she grabbed at his hair and placed him where she wanted him. “Just like that,” she breathed.

Her hips began to buck against his mouth, and she found herself clenching around nothing. As if on instinct — as though he knew precisely what she needed, Anthony thrust his fingers inside of her, inserting them at a pace that matched that of his tongue.

That was all Kate needed to be driven over the edge as waves of ecstasy crashed over her. She was too intoxicated by the pleasure to notice much of anything else. She might have been merely moaning above him or she might have been reciting Shakespeare — in that very moment, she didn’t quite know. She had lost all control of her senses, and reality had dimmed to a slight hum in her ears.

When she finally came to, Kate’s knees were far too weak to resist sitting down. Anthony helped her take a seat on the grass, their backs against the tree as she slowly caught her breath. She let her head fall on his shoulder, the bliss of their late afternoon tryst heavy in her bones.

The field in front of them was nearly orange with the glow of a slowly setting sun, the light of it draping against the trees in a perfect portrait of the English countryside.

And Anthony had just— he had just done that. In broad daylight. After they had been, very rudely, forced out of the first ever official Pall Mall rematch game.

It was enough to make Kate start laughing, the pleasant, bubbly feeling in her limbs making its way to her head and out of her mouth. Anthony was staring at her as though she’d grown horns.

She shook her head. “I cannot believe that just happened,” she said, a disbelieving sigh escaping her.

Anthony smiled, bringing her closer to him and tucking her underneath his shoulder. “Much better than Pall Mall, no?” he chuckled, his thumb soothingly running against her knuckles.

“Hmm,” she pretended to think for a moment, smiling when Anthony pinched her hip and tugged her tighter. “Yes, I suppose this was marginally better.”

“Marginally?”

She shrugged, attempting to feign nonchalance but ultimately unable to hide the smile that graced her features. “You heard me.”

Anthony laughed alongside her, and Kate felt wholly at peace, ridiculous games of Pall Mall be damned. There was nothing quite so invigorating as simply laughing with one’s husband.

As she stared out towards the sky, though, she became contemplative. Precisely one year ago, to the very day, she had been focused on little more than making sure Anthony was nowhere near Edwina.

By the end of that same day, she was pretty sure she’d fallen in love with him.

She hadn’t expected it, nor had she really wanted it to happen — but that was how life seemed to operate sometimes. And looking back, she knew for a fact that that was the moment, even if she’d tried to deny it to herself.

“Kate, do you remember... last year, just after the game, when you brought me the blanket after I went into the lake?” Anthony murmured. She was playing with the buttons on Anthony’s waistcoat, but that drew her attention.

She met his eyes and nodded. “A touch magnanimous of me, wasn’t it?”

Anthony’s smile was warm. “Very much so, all things considered. I think that’s what made me fall in love with you.”

Kate began to laugh again, until she noted the very earnest look in Anthony’s eyes. She sat up slightly, her heart taking flight once more, though for a very different reason than it had just a few moments ago. “You’re serious?”

He nodded. “I don’t think I wanted to believe it, especially then, but… I’m fairly sure that was the moment I knew. I couldn’t stop looking at you when we were walking back towards the house.”

Kate blushed, slightly awestruck. He’d been so adamant about the fact that love was not part of the equation when they married, Kate had been overjoyed enough when it had grown between them.

But to know that it had been there all along, in its own way? The confession almost knocked the wind out of Kate’s lungs.

“Believe it or not,” she said, regaining her composure. “I was just thinking the very same thing.”

He raised an inquisitive brow. “You were thinking about the moment I fell in love with you?”

“No,” she smiled, her hand reaching up to cradle his jaw. “I was thinking about the moment I fell in love with you. It seems those two things happened around the same time. I can’t think of another rational explanation for why I went to you with the blanket in the first place.”

Their eyes locked, and for a moment they truly were suspended in time, as the importance of that realization washed over them. Regardless of the circumstances that had led to their wedding — the accidents, mistakes, the bees — they had fallen for each other before that. This day was, in many ways, a commemoration of that, truer than the date on their marriage certificate.

Kate leaned into Anthony’s kiss when he slanted his lips over hers, gripping the sleeve of his dress shirt to keep herself upright. This kiss was warm, a tender promise of devotion. An assurance of many more years to come, just like this.

She could have stayed there forever, murmuring sweet words of endearment between kisses and giggling when Anthony returned them, but their private moment was interrupted by a loud groan.

Kate quickly separated herself from Anthony’s embrace only to find Colin watching them with a sneer that lay somewhere between amusement and horror.

“This where you two ran off to?” he said. “You quit the game for this?”

Kate sat up straight, hurriedly fixing her dress even though there was no reason for her to do so. Heat flushed her cheeks, and Anthony, although much less embarrassed than her as he stood up and fixed his coat, seemed to have been made equally as uncomfortable by their discovery. Leave it to Colin to ruin a perfectly beautiful moment between them.

“You know, we wouldn’t have had to quit if you all hadn’t clearly targeted us,” she frowned, taking Anthony’s outstretched hand and standing up. “The game was over. For us, at least.”

“Oh, come on. That’s not what we were trying to do…” Colin said, but his eyes communicated otherwise.

“It hardly matters,” Anthony said as he picked a few pieces of grass off of Kate’s shoulder and hair, bringing her close to his side when he was done. “It won’t be happening again.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

Anthony smiled. “Just wait until next year, brother. I’d start preparing in advance if I were you,” he glanced at Kate, a devious glint sparkling in his eyes, and in it she understood. They were stronger together, and they always would be.

“You’ve declared war on Lord and Lady Bridgerton, and we won’t be giving up so easily next time.”

#boosting !!

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prncesselene · 3 years

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Sometimes an empty page presents more possibilities.

Paterson (2016) dir. Jim Jarmusch

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prncesselene · 3 years

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“I’m a sucker for all the subliminal things no one knows about you…”

As a Bridgertons fan and a Jonas Brothers fan, I had a moral obligation to make this.

Keep reading

#omg i loveee #kate and anthony look so good and regal as they SHOULD

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