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refusethyname28 · 3 years

Text

Hey you, I think I’m...

Pairing: Sirius Black x Remus Lupin (Wolfstar)

Summary: Sirius doesn’t know how to tell Remus how he feels. Perhaps a thousand and one letters will do the trick?

A/N: I wrote this fic quite some time ago for a weekend challenge on Harry Potter Amino. It was a challenge for pride month and this is kind of what came of it. This is set during the Marauders’ Era. The ending is set around 1980.

Warnings: None

Word count: 6157 words

The moon and the stars cried. The moon lighted the way while the stars fell down while not knowing what to say. It was hard to keep it all in when all they both desired was to be together, yet neither knew what to say or how to say it. That is why they cried.

Dear Remus Lupin,

Before you go out and interrogate everyone, talk to everyone you know and even the people you don’t know, to find out who wrote you this, please believe me when I say that I truly mean what I wrote in this letter. I think you’re wonderful, and I mean that in the best way. I genuinely think you are an amazing person to just admire. You are kind, caring, loving, gentle- even when you say you’re not. The way you study always gets me, you know? It’s your head pining over all that homework, all those books, and then at some point, you will accidentally knock over your inkpot and you’ll curse at yourself. And then you’ll look up to see if anyone heard you. Honestly, it is so extremely adorable. Or when you arrive at the Great Hall with your friends, it is amazing to see that smile on your face as you breathe in the smell of freshly baked goods. To put it lightly, I think I fancy you…

“I think I fancy you, honestly this sounds stupid,” Sirius muttered to himself as he was reading through the letter he was currently writing. The young Black groaned in frustration and shook his head. His three best friend had gone outside to enjoy the sun, but not Sirius. No, he had to write this, he’d promised James that he was going to confess his love to Remus this year. The problem was that end of the year was quite near, it was now the beginning of June and if Sirius did not confess his love this year he’d owe James a lot of money. The male had locked himself in their dormitory and told himself that he was not allowed to leave until he finished this. Sirius’s eyes skimmed over the letter and not that much later he put it down and took out a new blank piece of parchment. “Shouldn’t ‘love’ be a celebration?” the young male murmured to himself. This did not feel like a celebration, this was a lot harder than he anticipated, and he was scared of rejection. Sirius never really wanted to admit that he was scared of being rejected and ignored by the ones he loved most. He could not lose his best friend over a stupid love letter. This confession was more like signing his own will or placing the final flower on his coffin before saying goodbye, because not only would he confess his love, he would also have to come out as gay. Yes, it was a very well-known fact that Sirius made out with girls in the past, and he did enjoy it, kind of, but did he ever feel like he wanted to spend the rest of his life with one of those girls? You guessed right, not ever. Not once did he think that he might be settling down with one of those girls. He did have that feeling every time he looked at Remus. Remus grounded him, he made sure Sirius was true to himself and that is what Sirius needed. Some to ground him, to steady him when he was falling apart. He needed someone to truly love him for who he was, not for the image or reputation he had. It was like Remus had the power to truly open Sirius’s eyes, to show him the wonders and beauty of this world.

Sirius stared down at the blank piece of parchment on his bed, and he shook his head. He let himself get lost in new thoughts. He wondered what his family would do when they found out about Sirius’s sexuality. They would presumably find out about it not even a second after Sirius officially came out. He wasn’t particularly looking forward to that. The Blacks knew everything that Sirius was up to in the shortest period of time, they had people everywhere- and with people, Sirius meant his younger brother, Regulus. Sirius sighed and closed his eyes. He thought of all the pros and cons of him telling Remus about his feelings, he was rather quick to realise that there were more cons than pros. “I promised James, and I never break a promise,” he told himself, and he went back to writing, starting a new letter.

Remus John Lupin,

Look I know, I’m not that great with things like love and big romantic confessions. You tell me every time I get a new girlfriend, and I’m sorry. I really tried to change all of that, but it didn’t happen. Something else did happen though, you see, I fell for you. Well, this did not exactly happen recently, let’s say, I think I’ve been in love with you for quite some time now, years even. You might hate me for it, you might think I am not capable of something like this, and I am sorry you feel that way about me. But I’m not going to keep this inside of me any longer, I need to say it. I am madly in love with you, Remus, and I cannot help it. So, is it really necessary for you to ask around who sent you this letter? Not really, I guess I can better say it. Well, it is me Moony. You’re mate, Sirius. Yes, I fancy you. I fancy you and your billion cups of tea at 3 AM, I fancy you and your knitted jumpers, you who folds your socks every night before you go to bed, you who will get grumpy whenever James and I are being too loud while you’re reading a book. I fancy messy you, sad you, angry you, sick you, tired you, I fancy you, Remus. Everything you are, I fancy it all. James told me that it would be easy to tell you how I felt, but it is not. It is the worst thing ever. You make me nervous. You, of all people! I know you’ll probably laugh at me and think I’m being silly, I mean, who is able to make Sirius Black nervous? Well Moony, congrats you’re the one. You’re the winner.

It’s hard for me to tell you because I don’t know how you feel, I don’t know what I will do when I see your reaction. I just can’t lose you, Rem, I can’t. But that’s not the only thing. I’m scared of the reactions I will get from others, I am scared of what my family will say. I am scared to go back there this summer and face the consequences if I do decide to send this letter. Honestly, I’m scared of it all. An outcast, the white sheep of the family, the disappointment, not a true Black heir, a disgrace and now the word ‘homosexual’ can be added to that stupid list of things and names they can call me. I’m sorry I shouldn’t put this all on you, it is not your fault. You’re too good, even if you can’t see it yourself. I’m also afraid of loving you because I’m not even sure if I truly understand the extremely complex concept that is love. People always say: ‘when you know, you know’ right? With you, I like to think I know, but is that love? Or is it just a stupid little crush, a stupid little crush that I’ve been having since we decided to become Animagi to help you. I’m afraid I don’t understand the concept of love well enough to really be yours and to fully commit myself to you. I’m not even sure if you want to have me. Look, I understand it if you don’t, that’s okay, I think? I might be heartbroken for a little while, but I am not losing my friend over a crush, so you bet your magic arse that I will be there to annoy you the rest of our lives. No matter what will happen when you read this, no matter what you will do, we’re a team.

Yours sincerely,

Sirius Black.

Sirius stared at the paper as he let the ink dry. This was the very first letter he actually finished. He’d written a couple before but all ended like the one before this one, without a proper ending. They were all written by someone ‘anonymous’, it was slightly odd that this one, where Sirius used his own name, was the one letter he actually finished. But he was never going to send this. This letter was too raw and too personal, he couldn’t send this to Remus. The poor lad would have a heart attack reading this. This letter was never going to see the light of day ever again. Sirius waited until the ink was fully dried down, he then closed the letter and put it away with the other letter. All the letters, concerning this very matter, were being stacked away in a little box Sirius kept hidden from the rest. Not many knew that there was a loose floorboard next to Peter’s bed. You could take it out and hide things underneath it, that is where Sirius hid the box. The male then endeavoured to write a few more letters, but all ended disastrously. In other words, the letters did not even have a proper ending so, instead of putting them with the other letters, Sirius burned them. After a little while, he decided to give up and join his three friends outside by the lake.

James cheered loudly when he saw Sirius arrive, Remus looked up and gave Sirius this absolutely dazzling smile. It was like the softest smile in the history of smiles and it was a fact that only Remus Lupin could smile like that. Sirius wanted Remus to never stop smiling like this, he was gorgeous like this. As soon as Sirius’s eyes rested on Remus his mind was calm. The sun shone upon Remus beautifully and the hot beams highlighted Remus’s face in the most beautiful ways. “Hey Pads, finally done?” Remus’s voice brought Sirius back to reality, and he nodded, smiling at his three friends. “Pain in the arse, Transfiguration, but please don’t tell Minnie I said that. Otherwise, she might never smile at me again,” Sirius spoke in a very dramatic voice. He let himself fall down next to James and Remus. Peter handed Sirius a bag of peanuts and the young Black took some. “What have you three been up to?” Sirius casually asked. He genuinely tried so hard not to get too distracted by Remus, which was awfully hard as Remus was just sitting there, not having a clue of what he was doing to Sirius by being extremely handsome. Sirius thought it was not fair for someone to look that gorgeous at the age of sixteen. Compared to Remus Sirius himself felt like a mess. A beautiful mess according to a lot of girls, but a mess nonetheless. “Nothing much, Pads. Don’t worry, you did not miss out on anything,” Remus assured his friend and Sirius nodded. The four boys sat there in silence, only the sounds of the birds and the lake could be heard, and Peter’s chewing as well. Remus laid back in the grass, and he closed his eyes, letting the sun all upon his face as he lay in between the flowers. Sirius watched his friend lay back, and he was, again, in awe. Remus looked absolutely stunning already, but this truly was a wonderful sight. Sirius felt someone nudging him, but he ignored it, he was too captivated by Remus’s beauty. The young werewolf always spoke of his face as ugly, because of all the scars but Sirius was someone who actually found beauty in scars. Sirius had scars himself, both mental scars and physical ones. Sirius learned to live with them by telling himself that every scar had a story, they were a sign of survival, how harsh that reality might be to others, it was the truth. Every scar had a story, that’s what made them so special. Remus hated it when people pointed out his scars or even looked at them, but when Sirius did that it was okay. Sirius felt somewhat privileged in that way. The young Black heir just wanted to kiss each scar on Remus’s body and tell gorgeous carrier how wonderful he looked, that the scars did not make him ugly, not at all. They made Remus even more interesting, captivating and more bloody gorgeous than he already was. The nudging kept going on and soon Sirius realised that it was James Potter who was poking his sides with his wand. “What?” Sirius spoke in a slightly hushed voice as he eyed the Potter boy. James just stared his best friend in the eyes and arched his eyebrows up. “Nothing, literally nothing,” Sirius whispered, and he sighed deeply. “Mate, you know our deal,” James said back and Sirius nodded, he was still glancing over from his one side, where Remus was, to his other where James was practically breathing in his neck. “Potter, too close alright?” Sirius chuckled and he pushed his friend away a bit. Sirius plucked the grass as he kept thinking of ways to tell the scarred boy that he, Sirius Orion Black III, was deeply in love with him. The letters were certainly no option, he couldn’t even properly finish them, well except for one. Remus had often told Sirius that he wasn’t sure if Sirius was capable of love and that kind of commitment, and yes, it hurt Sirius every time his friend said it, but he knew that Remus did not mean it in a bad way. Sirius wasn’t even sure about it himself, committing to someone like that was a huge step, and considering everything Sirius has been through, he wasn’t completely sure if he was able to love someone like that. So, Remus did have a point. Remus just wondered if Sirius was ever going to settle down, as he basically had a new girlfriend even two or three weeks. Not that it was Sirius’s fault, the girls were all too clingy, they didn’t like it that Sirius spent more time reading Remus a book, because Remus was too tired to read himself, than he actually spent with them. But it also showed how well they actually knew Sirius, because he would, without hesitation, choose friends over lovers unless that lover was also your best friend, which made things rather complicated. Sirius kept his eyes on Remus, and he observed the male in silence while he was being observed by James Potter. It is kind of uncomfortable to have someone watch you this closely, especially because it was James, and he simply couldn’t do things without being extremely obvious. Or at least, he couldn’t do that with Sirius, the two knew each other too well. “Lads, I’m going to have to borrow Pads for a little while, we’ll be back soon,” James then suddenly spoke and Sirius looked at his best friend with a perplexed look on his face. “‘Course, go ahead, we’ll meet you two here again,” Remus said with his calm voice and his eyes still closed. Peter just nodded and finished the last of his peanuts. The two mischievous Gryffindors got up and walked off, leaving their two friends behind.

Sirius looked at Remus as he was being pulled along by James. It was obvious that James wanted to talk to Sirius in private. The two often had these little moments where they would just take the other out on a little walk, and they would talk about everything and anything. James and Sirius had that kind of bond and it was an amazing thing. James truly was the brother Sirius always wished he had The two were now far away from Remus, Peter and any other students really. The young Potter stopped moving and Sirius did as well. The young Black heir looked up to his taller friend. James looked at Sirius, and he raised his eyebrows at the Black. “What? You have this look on your face,” Sirius said as he was being observed by his best friend. “You need to take some action, Sirius, it is very necessary,” James said and Sirius groaned. “Did you write a letter?” James then asked and Sirius shook his head, but he then remembered he actually did write a letter with an actual ending. “Wait, I did actually, but it’s horrible and it is messy and. I cannot possibly send him that letter,” Sirius explained, and he sat down. James dropped next to him and patted his best friend’s back. James opened his mouth, wanting to say something but Sirius interrupted him. “And no, I am certainly not going to tell you where I hid it.” James closed his mouth again and stared at his feet. He really wanted to help Sirius, and he knew that Sirius wanted all the help he could get, even if the male did not want to admit that. Sirius was one of wanting but not speaking it out, James figured that had something to do with his past. It was odd how Sirius was so confident and overly dramatic while walking through the halls but when it came to subjects like love, hate and fear he turned into this silent and overly timid person. It seemed as if Sirius was afraid to allow himself to love someone for real, that is how he acted anyway. James had been telling his friend to tell Remus all year long, but it didn’t happen. Sirius was still hopelessly daydreaming about Remus Lupin. “Sirius, are you afraid to be loved?” James then suddenly asked the young Black in all seriousness. Sirius looked up at James with big eyes, and he sighed deeply. Obviously James knew everything about Sirius, James knew Sirius even better than Sirius knew himself. It was kind of annoying at times, but he also loved James for it. “Perhaps,” the long-haired whispered. It almost was as if Sirius was afraid his fear of being loved would become reality if he said it out loud, that’s how soft the whisper was. Sirius did not want to feel like he needed love, he didn’t want to be desperate for it, but he was. Even though he wasn’t truly sure if he knew the true meaning of the word love, he still wanted it. “It’s okay to be afraid mate, you’ve been through a lot. I really don’t know how you feel right now but I can imagine confessing this to Remus must be hard. But please remember you should be proud of this love, even if it isn’t mutual. Remus making you feel like this will prove anyone wrong that said you weren’t capable of real love. You are, and being scared to admit the way you feel about him proves that.” James rubbed Sirius’s back to comfort his friend. “Remus said that,” Sirius whispered. James nodded and kept rubbing the Black’s back in circling motions. “I know Pads, but he doesn’t mean it like that. He knows very well how vibrant you are, and he knows that you are truly capable of love.” James would be there for Sirius, he would always be there. It wasn’t common in the Black household for anyone to talk openly about their feelings, the children were being taught to keep it to themselves and not to bother anyone else with it. They needed to be strong, to keep the image up, and they could not, under any circumstances, show weakness in front of others. That’s something that haunted Sirius, he couldn’t express himself properly, it was a problem for him really. People wondered why Sirius acted the way he did, they wondered why he had so many girlfriends and who he went from one to another in just a span of barely a month. Sirius wanted to be loved, he wanted to feel loved but he did not know how to ask for it. That was his problem. He never knew true love, never knew what it was like to have a loving family who listened and cared for you, how was anyone supposed to love him if his own family despised him for who he was. What kind of effect would Sirius’s coming out have on his family? Sirius also had to keep in mind that he would have to spend his summer at 12 Grimmauld Place. “Hey mate, I’m here for you alright? Obviously, I’m not going to hold you to that agreement we made. That would be cruel. If you’re not ready to tell him you’re not ready and that’s okay. You need to take your own time with this, just know that I fully support you. I am proud of you no matter what.” Sirius smiled softly at James as the messy-haired spoke these kind words to his friend. The two talked about some other things, such as Sirius’s home life, James’s crush on Lily, Sirius’s crush on Remus and some new ideas for pranks were being discussed as well. After a while, the two Gryffindors decided to go back to their friends.

Dear Remus Lupin,

This is my first letter to you. For your information I won’t be stating my name in this letter, that would be way too awkward. I’m not sure if I were able to face you again if you knew my name. So, no, you will not find out who I am. I just wanted to let you know that I admire you. Admire, that’s putting it lightly, I actually think you are amazing. You are wonderful at everything you do, you’re so kind and gentle even though you say you’re not. You won’t be able to convince me of that. I like every little thing you do, for example, you sitting by the fire late at night while reading a book, or you running around after your friends to make sure they don’t get into too much trouble or even you studying in the library with Lily Evans. I like it all, love it all. To be quite honest with you, I think I’m…

His heart skipped a beat as he read the first letter over and over again. The handwriting was unlike something he’d ever seen before. It was swirly and just absolutely gorgeous. Remus couldn’t believe it, he kept staring at the paper, reading the last words over and over. “I think I’m,” the young werewolf whispered to himself, and he took a deep breath. He then remembered there were more letters, Remus then opened the next envelope that was addressed to him.

Remus,

I’m just going to keep it simple, I think, or I hope. You see I’m not the best at this grand romantic gesture and all. As much as I would like to do something like that for you, I’m not sure if others would appreciate it that much. Romantic, I said? Yes I did. I’m just going to tell you, I like you. I like you a lot and…

Remus turned the letter to see if there was something written on the back of the paper. Nothing, these two first letters were not finished. He picked up a new one, there were about eighteen letters in the box he found, so he kept on reading. It was a good thing that the other three lads were out, because Remus wasn’t too sure what he would do if they found him in here, with all the letters.

Hi Remus,

I fancy you. I’m—

That was a short one, but it was rather straight to the point. There were a few letters left and even though Remus already got the message, he simply could not stop reading all the endearing letters.

Remus Lupin,

Hey you, I’m trying to tell you something here and I would really like it if you’d take your time to read this before going on a quest to find out who wrote you this. It’s rather personal, the thing I wrote in here. You might wonder who this ‘I’ is, well I’m deeply sorry but I will be keeping that too myself. I just figured, or actually my friend did, that it would be best to tell you. I have deeply fallen in l—

Remus read a couple more, they were all unfinished. Some letters were bold, some of them were romantic and some were serious or formal. But they all told Remus the same thing. It was a beautiful thing actually, to see the writer struggle with putting this into words. To see how the writer wanted to tell Remus but wasn’t too sure what to say and how to say it. That was until Remus opened and read the last letter.

Remus John Lupin,

Yours sincerely,

Sirius Black.

Obviously, Remus knew these letters came from Sirius, he literally found the box after trying to look for his chocolate. The lads were known to steal Remus’s chocolates, especially Peter and this box happened to be hidden underneath the loose floorboard close to Peter’s bed. Remus thought he was the only one who knew about that spot, not that he used it for anything, but he figured that whenever he might need a spot he would have one. The letters were stuffed away in a little box with the Black family crest. Remus actually remembered Sirius getting that horrid thing. The young male got it for Christmas a few years back, two perhaps. It had been a snowy and cold night and the four boys decided to stay at Hogwarts, which took Sirius a lot of trying to convince his parents by owl to let him stay as well. The boy had been thirteen or fourteen at the time. This box arrived and when Sirius opened it there was nothing inside it except for a little card with one word written on it, ‘disgrace’. Seeing Sirius’s reaction to that little note had been horrible to watch. The poor boy immediately got tears in his eyes, and he tried to dry them and not to let it show, but he couldn’t hold it in, so he went upstairs, crying as he did so. Obviously James followed him to their dorm. The common room hadn’t been too crowded at that moment, so not many had seen what happened. After a little while, Remus took it upon himself to check on the two boys, so he made his way upstairs to their dorm. When he opened the door Remus saw a crying Sirius with red and puffy eyes in James’s arms who was holding him tight and telling him how amazing he was and how horrible his family treated him. It was at that very moment that Remus realised that he wanted to be that person for Sirius. He wanted to be the one Sirius would look for to comfort him. Remus wanted to be the one holding Sirius and telling him how beautiful he was inside and out. That was the moment when Remus realised he had fallen in love with Sirius Black.

Remus read the last letter again, he then grabbed one of the other letters and compared the handwriting. The letter with Sirius’s name actually looked like it had been written by Sirius himself, but all the other letters were in a different handwriting. There were a couple of similarities, for example, the way Sirius always connected the letter ‘o’ with the letter that followed. Remus wondered if Sirius truly came up with a whole new handwriting for just these letters. Obviously, Remus loved the last letter the most. It was personal and really well, Sirius. He read it again and pressed the letter against his chest.

It wasn’t that much later when Remus heard three familiar voices coming from the common room. James, Sirius and Peter were rather loud. Remus held Sirius’s letter in hand, and he made his way downstairs. He really had no idea what he was going to say, but he just had to see Sirius right now. There were so many thoughts and questions rushing through his head right now. For example, Remus wondered why Sirius kept it all a secret, and for how long this had been going on. He arrived in the common room and immediately looked at Sirius who gave him a soft smile until the Black realised what Remus was holding in his hand. Sirius went pale and his eyes big, he turned his gaze away and avoided Remus’s eyes at all costs. Remus made his way over to Sirius and towered over the smaller male. James and Peter had stepped aside to see how this was going to end. A few other Gryffindor students, who were sitting in the common room as well, were watching everything happen. “Remus-” Sirius mumbled almost inaudibly, he still wasn’t meeting Remus’s eyes. The Black was too scared to see Remus’s reaction, what if there was hate in his eyes or disgust? He couldn’t have that, he could not lose Remus, but he was afraid that he in fact just had. There was a silence, no one said a word, not even the students who were just sitting there, no one. Sirius was about to say something else when he felt Remus’s soft hands cup his cheeks and press their lips together. It caught Sirius off guard, and he would have fallen if it hadn’t been for Remus catching him. Remus’s lips were soft against Sirius’s plump ones. It was truly a magical kiss. Sirius was a bit light-headed at the moment, and he wasn’t truly sure if that was because of the kiss they shared or because of the lack of oxygen as the kiss was pretty intense.

Several gasps could be heard around the common room when Remus initiated the kiss by pressing their lips together. Everyone had fallen silent, and they were watching the two males kiss, which was kind of awkward. It was pretty obvious that there was chemistry between the two, there always had been chemistry. Then someone started to wolf whistle at the two and people started clapping and cheering. There were some cheeky comments as well, but none of it mattered to the two kissing boys. They were in their own little world right now. All they knew at that moment was each other. They parted and stared each other in the eyes. “You’re in love with me?” Remus whispered against Sirius’s lip. “I am, very much,” Sirius replied and they kissed again. This kiss was a lot lighter than the last one, it was short but still romantic. “I am in love with you, Moony. I am so in love with you.”

1980

Dear Sirius Black,

Remember how and when we got together? You better do because I will never forgive you if you don’t. I thought it fitting to write you a letter for our three years anniversary. It was exactly this date that you wrote your last letter, a week before we got together. I know it might be a bit too soon, but I have something to ask you. Please don’t freak out, just consider it, think it through. That day, exactly a week from now (which is when I will give you this letter), when I read your letters I finally opened my eyes. I finally saw us together, and so did you. Our horizons met, love. Ever since that moment, you brought me nothing except love and light, all of that light will lead me into the darkest of nights, I am now able to fight those nights because I know that you will be by my side. I am happy and proud to be yours, Sirius, I really am. I know, this relationship wasn’t easy for us, you had trouble with your family because of this and you were afraid. To be honest with you, I was scared that one day you would see me for whom I think I am, and I’m still scared of that, but I also know that you love me. I know the scars we have, they will bleed, they will heal and open up again because that’s how life works. But I believe, Sirius, both of our hearts believe that we can get through all of those tough times because we can. I am sure of it. All of the stars will guide us home Sirius, you are my star, you’re my home.

I have something to ask you, Sirius, and please don’t freak out.

Yours for eternity,

Remus Lupin.

When Sirius looked up from the paper Remus was sat on one knee, holding a little box in one hand. “Sirius Orion Black III, will you marry me?”

It was this night, exactly three years ago that the moon and the stars finally aligned. No longer did they cry, they were finally together. After so many exchanged words and letters, tonight was the night that they truly became each other’s significant others. The moon and the stars, proud to be together after all they’ve been through.

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lilydalexf · 3 years

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Old School X is a project interviewing X-Files fanfic authors who were posting fic during the original run of the show. New interviews are posted every Tuesday.

Interview with Circe Invidiosa

Circe Invidiosa has 11 stories at Gossamer, but there are even more X-Files stories at her website. Some of my favs I’ve recced here before, like Make It Worse and Slap a Goatee On Me and Call Me Evil. She also made a bunch of X-Files collage art, including some cover art for fics (hers and others), which you probably saw if you were reading fic back when authors posted fics on their own websites where art could be shared. Big thanks to Circe Invidiosa for doing this interview.

Does it surprise you that people are still interested in reading your X-Files fanfics and others that were posted during the original run of the show (1993-2002)?

Well, it would surprise me if people did read my fic. As it happens, I don't hear much feedback from my fic these days. Probably because the bulk of it is on Gossamer and my own site rather than AO3. Also, I was never a BNA. I worked a lot behind the scenes – hosting other authors' sites and making fanart and dustjackets. I think that's what I'd be remembered for, if anything.

What do you think of when you think about your X-Files fandom experience?

I miss the collective excitement and discussions we had as groups. When you got in with a group in the XF fandom, you felt like you knew everybody there. Now the fandom feels a little faceless except for the people I still follow from my old groups.

Social media didn't really exist during the show's original run. How were you most involved with the X-Files online (atxc, message board, email mailing list, etc.)?

Most of my experience was on Yahoo Groups. I joined Scullyfic while it was still there and then E-muse when it became an e-mail list, which I'm still a part of. I was part of several Yahoo Groups (can't remember all of them now), where I'd post my fic, RealPlayer slideshows (remember those?!), and collages. I never really took part in discourse because I'm shy and don't think anyone cares about my opinions (still don't!). The e-mail address I used for those groups was purged a couple of years ago, so I've lost all those messages.

What did you take away from your experience with X-Files fic or with the fandom in general?

My take away is that fanfic made me a better writer, thanks to having some great betas, and it made me a better professional writer for it (my real-life work is writing but not fun writing) because I learned to take criticism.

I also used to make a lot of fanart, collages and dustjackets for fic mostly. My big take away from that was that I really got into graphics and I got super proficient at Photoshop, which helped my own artistic endeavours and photography. I didn't realize how much skill I had developed until I've had to help someone with their graphics or photo editing.

What was it that got you hooked on the X-Files as a show?

My mother was watching X-Files before I was and she was raving about it. I don't have a great relationship with my mom, but one thing she was usually right about was TV shows. It's where I got my love of Sci-Fi.

I think the first episode I watched was Ice, which definitely hooked me. As for when the shipping started, I remember we were watching Lazarus, and when Mulder was yelling at Lula (I had to look that up) about hurting the hostage Scully, my mom said, "Oh, he's so in love with her." And I was all, "What?! Pfff." But then I could not stop thinking about it. And then I thought about it way, way too much.

What got you involved with X-Files fanfic?

I was in my late 20s, and it was around the end of S7 and I kept thinking about what if these two dumb idiots actually talked one day. And I kept thinking about dialogue in my head about what they'd actually say. The internet was still in its infancy back then, but I'd seen fan sites here and there. So I decided to search around to see if other people were talking about it and thinking about it like I was. I was such a noob I'd never even heard of fanfic. Imagine my delight when I discovered it. I found a few stories and thought, 'Well, I can do that.' And I wrote up my first story, found a place to post it (wasn't Ephemeral the best?), got some kind feedback, found a really nice person (not sure she wants to be named since she used her real name in the fandom back in the day) who encouraged me a lot and directed me to all the e-mail lists and Yahoo Groups that I needed to be on, and then, Bob's your uncle, I wrote more and more.

What is your relationship like now to X-Files fandom?

Periphery. Most of my experience in any fandom is now on Tumblr because that's where my attention span is. Show me pretty pictures and funny stuff. I am old now and don't want to think hard.

Were you involved with any fandoms after the X-Files? If so, what was it like compared to X-Files?

Veronica Mars was my next fandom experience. A number of my XF friends got me hooked on VM. The VM fandom was a LOT younger compared to the XF fandom. When I joined the XF fandom, I was the kid compared to most of the other fans who were all goddesses and royalty in my eyes. But in the VM fandom, I was in my 30s and the rest of the fandom were all in their early 20s if not younger. It often showed, so I stayed out of discussions and just posted my fic once I started writing it. I took a new handle (invida) when I started writing VM fic. Just in case these kids felt like my writing sucked, I didn't want it getting back to the XF fandom that I’d branched out and failed spectacularly.

By then fandom experiences had moved over to LiveJournal. I never really got involved in the discourse or the fandom fights. I knew what people were saying and where the schisms were, but I was all about the fanfic and the pretty pictures. Most of my LJ friends just discussed the episodes and posted their fic and that was good with me.

What got me writing fic for VM was Anjou's brilliant VM fic Into the Blue. Seriously, if you love VM S1, read her fic. Just so beautiful.

VM was also where started writing a WIP, which was a wild trip. I wrote a much-loved WIP called Damn, Damn the Circumstance which people still ask me about finishing to this day. Someday…*wistful sighs*

Who are some of your favorite fictional characters? Why?

Scully. She was everything! Lapsed Catholic, degrees in science, skeptic, always trying to work within the rules but still not taking crap. Yeah, she was the best.

Veronica Mars was great until she wasn't. I have a lot of issues with her beyond S2. And don't even talk to me about S4. For me, S1 was the best, I enjoyed the movie, the books were okay, but nothing else happened after that. NOTHING.

And the first character I ever loved was Princess Leia. She was also everything to me growing up. I wanted to be her. I still do.

Do you ever still watch The X-Files or think about Mulder and Scully?

Now and then. Not as much as I used to. I sometimes have it on in the background when I'm doing other things. Back before the pandemic, my BFF and I would have get togethers where we would play Scrabble, eat a lot of candy, and binge several XF episodes. I miss doing that. Hopefully, we will get back to that soon.

Do you ever still read X-Files fic? Fic in another fandom?

I am not an active XF fanfic reader right now. I will read any stories my friends put out. Otherwise, I only occasionally read some I come across on Tumblr in my feed, but I am not seeking them out. I will beta for any XF author who asks me as well.

I am reading fic in other fandoms though – Endeavour, Broadchurch, Sherlock…huh, I'm just realizing that's a lot of British stuff. I have been really into British detective series for the last few years.

Do you have any favorite X-Files fanfic stories or authors?

I used to run an XF fic recommendation site called How Will It End usually with at least one other person (I went through at least 4 partners on that project because I'm a control freak). We'd compile our recs and then I'd post them on my site. We'd also feature authors we really liked and interview them. Not unlike these interviews!

I'm terrible at giving feedback/comments. So I solved that problem by making a rec site. That way I could tell authors I loved their fics by recommending them. I didn't have to comment, I'd just say, 'I'd like to rec your fic'. And then they'd get promotion. Win-win. Back in those days, the fandom would absolutely roast you for promoting your own fic, so to get on a rec site was a big deal. Not that I had a popular rec site or anything. But I think authors really enjoyed being asked.

All that to say I've liked a lot of fics. I can pull up the archives of HWIE and show you all the faves I liked. :)

What is your favorite of your own fics, X-Files and/or otherwise?

Back in the day, E-muse would hold Improv Challenges, where other members would give you a prompt that you had to include in your fic. I was always really proud of the stories I created from those challenges (No Earthly Means and Elephant in the Room if you want to read them).

I enjoyed writing Dead to Rights which is an XF/Dead Like Me crossover because I loved the challenge of writing a crossover. It was the first crossover I ever tried writing even though I only recently published it.

Otherwise, I like re-reading In a Graveyard, Importuning Life for Life, and Some By Virtue Fall. Of my more recent fic, I like Slap a Goatee on Me and Call Me Evil because the premise was ridiculous and I think it's funny as all get out.

Probably my favourite of my VM fic was Stay Outta Riverdale. Because: 1. The title is a Simpsons reference who doesn't love a Simpsons reference? And 2. I think I was hilarious throughout it.

Do you think you'll ever write another X-Files story? Or dust off and post an oldie that for whatever reason never made it online?

I'm always open to writing more fic (and, of course, I don't mean my WIPs…don't look at me like that). Lately, my only motivation has been from writing prompts on Tumblr. I haven't had anyone give me a prompt in over a year, so here we are. I have snippets of dialogue in journals and word documents that have never found their way into stories. I'd be happy to dust off any of those and shoehorn them into a new story.

Do you still write fic now? Or other creative work?

The last fanfic I wrote was a mini-fic over a year ago (with a prompt from Lilydale!). I've written a bit of original fiction but I haven't been able to finish it. Otherwise, I do have a number of real life hobbies which are where my creative outlets lie now.

Where do you get ideas for stories?

Lately, challenges and prompts. It used to be from wanting to see more from a scene. I really had a thing for fill-in-the-blanks or scene continuations. And sometimes my motivation is just plain old spite. :)

What's the story behind your pen name?

Circe Invidiosa is the title of a painting by John William Waterhouse. Love the colours and the absolute malice on the face of the subject. It felt like a good pen name – the envious witch. That's me!

I chose it when I posted my first XF fic (which I cringe to read now, ugh so terrible) without knowing there was already a Circe in the fandom. Whoops. I tried to go by the full Circe Invidiosa or Invidiosa as much as possible after realizing that (invidiosa is my url and my username on a lot of sites, etc.). Now I think that I've been around long enough that it doesn't matter as much but I still like it.

As I said, I took the name Invida for the VM fandom which is just a shortening of Invidiosa.

Do your friends and family know about your fic and, if so, what have been their reactions?

My significant other knows and that was quite a reveal (oh how awkward). However, the SO has been very supportive and has read all my stories since the reveal and sometimes betas them. The SO also wants us to collaborate on writing some original fiction but we haven't found a project that works for both of us creatively or timewise.

My BFF knows because I dragged her into the online fandom. We've known each other since we were 14, but our love of XF really solidified our bond in our 20s. She wrote some short but sweet fics under the penname Helen Quilley which I bullied her into posting, and we wrote Of Ladies Most Deject and Wretched together. She is mostly embarrassed that she wrote fanfic now but we still fangirl together.

No one else really knows other than fandom folks I've met in real life. And some friends know I've written 'short stories' but I don't elaborate. I work in a stodgy, uptight industry where anything fun or actually having a life is frowned upon.

Is there a place online (tumblr, twitter, AO3, etc.) where people can find you and/or your stories now?

Over the first lockdown, I got my shit together and got my fic site, invidiosa.com, up and running again. My site houses fic by Rain (now @doctorhelena on Tumblr and AO3), Helen Quilley, ML (who I miss so much), Folieadeux, Shelba, TLynn, Oracle, Piper Sargasso, Diehard, and me. And I made all their dustjackets (except Folie's). The site got hacked a few years back and it was so much work to get running again that I put it off for years and years. I still feel terrible that I did not get the site back up before ML passed away, especially when ML had asked me about it a few months before she passed.

Anyway, all my XF fic is here: circe.invidiosa.com. I have 3 of my newer XF stories on AO3. And my fic-LJ also has some of my stories. Some of the newer stories are on Tumblr but the tagging is so erratic that I'd have to list several tags before you'd find them all. I don't know why I haven't moved everything over to AO3. Probably laziness.

I'm @invidiosa on Tumblr. I'm still on E-muse. I'm still on LJ. I'm always reachable by e-mail (invidiosa at gmail).

Is there anything else you'd like to share with fans of X-Files fic?

Thanks for reading, writing, and commenting. It is always appreciated.

(Posted by Lilydale on January 5, 2021)

#new post #old school x #xfiles fanfic #xf fanfic #xf fanfic author interviews #circe invidiosa

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readerinsertfanfiction · 4 years

Text

Dear penpal,

Fandom: Boku No Hero Academia

Character: Shigaraki Tomura/Tenko Shimura

Prompt: Childhood penpals that lost each other crossing paths once more as enemies.

Part 1 |

Hiya Tenko!

It has been a while since I have written to you. Even longer since I have posted the last letter, or received a response. How have you been doing? How is your dream going? I hope well, in my mind you are doing so well that you are too busy writing me a response. In my mind you are already a world class hero, number one of the world! You definitely are to me, even if you don’t realise it...

I still write letters whenever I need some encouragement. It has become my little ritual in the hope to find some courage in these turbulent times. Though I never send them out, the stack of letters is steadily rising next to me. One day, perhaps, I will send them to you again. Or even better, I will find you and personally deliver the letters!

Anyway, to get to why I’m in need of encouragement. It is rather silly actually, for it has always been my dream and now it is almost coming out! I’m heading to Japan tomorrow! How awesome is that! We will be in the same country, we will be able to meet! I’m so excited at the thought that we may finally meet, even if you don’t know about it, even if it has been over a decade since we last wrote to each other.

Now for the reason why I’m nervous. It is the reason why I’m in Japan. As someone quirkless Japan isn’t a good place to be and my only ability is to analyse super fast and well (which they say still doesn’t count as a quirk unless I can do it on superhuman speed, which I fall short on). However, to get back on topic, they want me in Japan to join the taskforce compiled together to combat this super big and evil organisation. It is called: League of Villains.

Haha, cheesy right? I thought so as well, but they are actually super scary! Their leader, Tomura Shigaraki can disintegrate everything with just the touch of his fingers! I cry at the thought, but knowing that there are heroes like Tenko outside, patrolling the streets and protecting the innocent, I know I will be fine. You will come to save me from danger, right? Oh, maybe we will even meet each other as you help me, how great would that be! You can act all super cool in front of me and I will swoon for you, like promised.

Haha, that sounds even cheesier, but you remember the promise we made, right? You will protect me from all harm and I will be your biggest supporter. I’m ready to fulfill that promise.

See you around Tenko, hopefully this letter will find you one day.

Best wishes,

[Name] [Surname]

You folded the letter, once, twice, and then pulled out your envelope book, flipping through the envelopes until you found an empty one, into which you carefully slipped the letter before dating it. It was late already, meaning that you had to sleep if you wanted to catch your early flight.

With a giddy smile you went to sleep, having no clue as to what was waiting for you in Japan.

When you got off the plane there was no one to greet you. No attendance, no driver, no pick-you-up. It was rather disheartening, but you had already figured such. After all, you were new to Japan and you weren’t a famous hero, or anything. No, you were a mere analyst that got lucky enough to be drafted into a huge case, someone quirkless whose only friend in the country had no idea of their presence.

The envelope book suddenly felt heavy in your bag, as you wondered if your luck would have you cross paths with Tenko. Would he be a hero right now? Had he managed to pursue his dreams like you had?

You grinned at the idea that there was a possibility that you two met, confident that he had. Tenko had always been the more zealous one of you two. The braver and the stronger one.

Pulling the cart forward you made your way out of the airport, flagging down a taxi as you showed the driver the address you would be living at from now on.

“[Name]?” a stern voice called you out, earning a gulp as you nodded at the imposing figure of Endeavour. Glowering down at you the hero rose a brow, to which you quickly bowed.

“I mean, yes, sir!” you squeaked out.

“Hmpf,” the man turned away from you, looking over your papers once more. “So you are the one from abroad,” he grunted, seemingly disapproving of you. “Nezu said you will be joining the academy and the taskforce both, correct?” he grunted to which you could only repeat the same answer.

He lost interest quickly after that, leaving you to work as the assistants provided you with the basic necessities to get around.

“The number one is scary, but don’t worry Endeavour means well,” the assistant sweat dropped at you. A comfort you gratefully took.

However, your attention was quickly taken away as you beamed up at the assistant, your hands rolled up into fists as you leaned forwards.

“I was checking the hero files, but I couldn’t help but notice a missing name!” you started your question carefully, earning a piqued look from the assistant who didn’t seem to be too inclined to believe your statement.

Dismissing the looks you continued to ramble, your hand waving in the air as you felt a blush creeping up. “Now, of course I know that we don’t get to know the real names of the heroes, but I couldn’t help but wonder if there wasn’t anyone missing. You know, someone by the surname--”

Here you were cut off sternly by Endeavour, who had entered the office again after a short patrol.

“If you are here to pursue a crush then you can go back to where you came from,” the hero spoke coldly. “I took you in because Nezu said you will be of use despite being quirkless, don’t make me regret it,” he continued before turning away from you.

Throwing you an apologetic look the assistant gave you a pat before tapping onto your schedule.

“You’re expected at the academy tomorrow. Nezu might be able to provide you better information,” the assistant explained. “After all, most heroes nowadays all graduate from there.”

This sparked a hope within you, a wide smile beaming onto your face once more.

#bnha x reader #shigaraki tomura #shigaraki x reader #bnha shigaraki #bnha #boku no hero academia #mha shigaraki #mha #my hero academia #tenko shimura #tenko x reader

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blindrapture · 3 years

Text

a union-mandated break post

(okay, let’s see if I can type this all over again after losing the post. gotta remember how it all went.)

Hey there, the few mutuals who Like all of my posts, the lurkers who occasionally make their presence known, the lurkers who I also hope are there, and all you folks who come across this post naturally before scrolling on (that’s fine too, please have a nice day! remember to take a deep breath and unclench!). I wanted to make a post giving a casual update.

Things have been going. You know how it is. Time proceeds onwards at a pace that is a crawl to some and fleeting to others, depending on relative perspective. The average of all these observations may be Objective Truth, a hazy mythical and abstract prospect which to this day no living human has ever known (due to the nature of perspective). We still try to know it for some reason, an endeavour which may be “a good thing” or “a condemnation of our species,” but that’s relative too. See above. Still, it is possible to take an approximation of what we figure this average to be and find ourselves (mis)balanced on a knife-edge in between all perspectives. This narrow path, the knife-edge between fast and slow, between good and bad, between ecstasy and despair, seems precarious at times, yet at other times is like a garden, wide and spacious enough to sit awhile. Our perspectives cover this garden from us with the shrubbery of Can’ts and Shouldn’ts, and the way to the garden is fraught with the misty cloud of Look-Like. And yet, ultimately, these shrubs and mists are but prismatic scenery colouring our time on this Earth, a perspective which is easy to see from within the garden. The Earth is brown and grey and immortal, though wearing an impermanent coat of blue and green. One day, we will slip out of our perspectives and return to the Earth, join her mounding’s mass, and that will be death.

So that’s the weather. Sometimes cold, sometimes mild, sometimes wet, sometimes dry, sometimes bothersome and sometimes the only backdrop I could ever want. I’ve been up to the usual, cycling between interests like a bat between haunts.

- The other day I got around to playing Smile For Me, an experience which took me about three hours to more-or-less complete 100%. Really cute game, I fell in love with all the characters, and the budding horror elements made me excited to see where it’d go.

- Currently I’m playing A Monster’s Expedition Through Puzzling Exhibitions, a game often cited in the same breath as Baba Is You and Stephen’s Sausage Roll. I think those two games are puzzle masterpieces, and A Monster’s Expedition is hitting me in the right spot. It frequently fills me with awe, which is impressive considering the game is just a long series of oblong block-pushing puzzles. It has scope, though, and it has the guts to hide that scope from you until you’re able to discover it for yourself. I’ve played for about 10 hours so far, beaten over 200 islands, and yet I feel I’m only getting further away from the end goal. Hard to describe. It’s a good game.

- When I’m done with that game, next I’ll be checking out Spelunky 2. I’ve wanted to try the original for a long time but never got around to it; I picked up the sequel. I know very little about the games (with a rough idea of what gameplay is like), and I intend to keep it that way for as long as I can. I like games that rely on discovery.

- Book-wise, I’m, y’know, reading Finnegans Wake as I fall asleep, occasionally inching through other books too, but my main reading focus at the moment is The Familiar. I went and picked up a new copy of Volume 5, and I found the Volume 3 I had kinda lost for a while, so now I have the full Season 1 again. And it’s been long enough since I read any of them that it’s finally time to reread them. As a unit this time. I am... so happy to be in their headspace. I’m currently in the second act of Volume 1, taking in a lot more details this time (and I do still remember a sense of where the whole plot goes), really cherishing the commitment to physicality and aesthetic. There’s not many authors out there like Danielewski. House of Leaves kickstarted my book obsession, y’know. And The Familiar is about as grand as a project can be. It’s supposed to be 27 volumes, each one 900 pages long, and the design of these books is goddamn sublime. The publisher only let him do the first 5 volumes, which is sad, but luckily those 5 volumes make up a “Season,” so they’re still a whole thing, a complete story arc for each of the nine protagonists, and plenty of secrets and details that give a good sense of the true scope. And did I mention the series is fucking scary? Profoundly so, each new volume weaving you deeper into its conspiratorial web of eldritch coincidences and patterns. The story is full of cats, immortal cats, God-cats. There’s a scientist who keeps a freaky magic orb and is known as Wizard. There’s an Armenian taxi driver who’s one of my favourite characters. And you can probably get all the volumes Used for fairly cheap on Amazon now. ........please, somebody join me in loving this series.

- Creative-wise, I’m working on music as always, putting notes next to each other until I get a result I can do something with. There is one piece that’s definitely done, a collaboration between Lindsay and I, but it’s going into Nine Is God so you won’t hear it just yet. Speaking of, that’s coming along. I haven’t even started making any codes or cool connections yet; I want to finish the... Core of this update first. Let’s be deceptive and call it the Main Blog. I have proven to myself that I definitely can do this; I keep stumbling on new mechanisms I can add, and I have a pretty vivid idea of what the whole thing will look like. It’s gonna be maybe a decent size for a Blog, all told, but it’s the form of the thing that mandates a lot of care. Luckily I have made Viceking’s Graab, so this isn’t the first time I’ve done something this mechanically ambitious. ...look, just. Of course I’m excited to Actually Talk about this thing, but like with the Graab, its nature requires me to keep it secret until players finally discover it for themselves. I like making that kind of thing, I want the sense of discovery, of climbing up a hill only to reach the summit and see an even bigger mountain looming over you that you hadn’t realized was there. Like Frog Fractions, or its sequel, even if you know there will be more than meets the eye you still get surprised and filled with delight. This concept fits neatly into an ARG format.

- Oh, also, I’m super excited for the Braid remake. It’s gonna have a comically thorough amount of developer commentary, and that’s all I want from this world. It’s even coming to Switch!

Media can be used as a tool to assist with the experience of life, and that is the way I want to approach things. I have spent time adapting myself to feel comfortable in these boring aesthetics (of understated puzzle games, thoughtful pretty books, blogs as art) because this means I am less susceptible to getting burned out during contemplation and self-examination. It may seem like a matter of taste, but taste is relative too; it’s not hard-wired, it can be adjusted, it does adjust all the time under the hood. ...I don’t know where to go with this one, other than that I should be careful not to condescend. I am not above anyone, I am confused too. I just.. like confusion and mazes, and I try to speak these aesthetics in an approximation of how I see others talk about theirs.

Right. I think that’s the bulk of it, that’s what I wanted to say today. I hope you are holding on, reader. It’s a wild and lonely world out there, and it’s our world; it’s yours just as much as it’s anyone else’s. You are important to it.

I leave you, mysteriously, with an old Genesis song. It’s called “Can-Utility and the Coastliners,” which is a silly way of saying it’s a song about the myth of King Canute. Sick of flatterers claiming he was equal to God, he went to the sea shore and said “If I truly am equal to God, then let the waves halt at my feet!” They didn’t. An astute demonstration, but it just prompted his flatterers to praise his ingenuity. “But he forced a smile, even though his hopes lay dashed where offerings fell.” I’m not really sure how the story ends. But it’s a wonderful song, starts off very folks-y but quickly takes a left turn down Mystery and Beauty. And it’s freaking Genesis.

See ya.

#rambles #at least they're not tag rambles this time #can't believe i managed to remember that whole ramble about relativity and objectivity and the garden in the middle #though amusingly i guess i really just remembered........ *an approximation* of it. :3

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iscribble · 4 years

Text

by aim, not arrows

pairing: kwon soonyoung x fem!reader synopsis: you start to think that maybe the King and Queen traded their wisdom with majesty when you pick up a life lesson from your archery instructor instead of them, your own parents. genre(s): royalty!au, archery instructor!soonyoung, more milieu-of-poverty themed in this one word count: 2,108 part: 1 | 2

He was indelible, like a permanent ink jotted down on paper, impossible to erase. The image of his beauteous visage left traces all over your shambolic thoughts, not wanting to be put out like fire resisting rain. His scent resembled the morning after a thunderous night, crisp air that wafted down the pasture, leaving you breathing for more.

But he was not yours, no. He was not yours to think of, not yours to touch, not yours to feel. He shouldn’t be confined to the depths of your mind, and certainly not to you.

“Your Highness,” a small voice called out, “your archery instructor is waiting.”

You found yourself smiling. Smiling at the thought of his sterling eyes piercing right through yours, his tender hands guiding you so meekly, like not wanting to bruise any part of you. You found yourself excited to pick up with where you left off the previous week, curious of versions of him he might fortuitously disclose, of how a nonpareil archer like him does what he does, and how it is even possible to feel all sorts of sensations from only having met him once. You found yourself asking, what is his secret?

“I’m ready.” You disregarded the knots that assembled in your stomach.

The atmosphere that led up to your meeting was electrifying, which had your system teeming with the jitters.

Soonyoung was getting the equipments ready when you slipped in a civil greeting.

“Princess,” he spoke, “lovely to meet you again.”

Soonyoung was dressed more unpretentiously today, donning only a simple navy tracksuit. This time, his locks were well hidden beneath his cap. As much as you ached for the sight of his black locks dangling just above his eyelids, his new flair still jetted butterflies inside you.

“I’ve been practicing,” you avowed proudly, although not wanting to come off as vain, “on my own.”

Soonyoung lifted an eyebrow, impressed. “You wanna show me, princess?”

You took the bow from him, perfected your posture and released the arrow. You missed the center by a few inches but the manoeuvre seemed fulfilling enough to Soonyoung. “Princess, I think you’re qualified to advance.”

“There is more to this?” You let out a groan, “For a second I thought I mastered it all.”

Your utterance gained a sweet chuckle from Soonyoung. “You are good, though, princess.”

It was bound to happen. How your eyes would always chance upon the nigh invisible trails of sweat that sank to his chin. The way his hand would sporadically travel up to fix his cap. How his Adam’s apple bobbed to the the erratic rhythm of the wind. It was bound to happen that you were going to fall in love with Soonyoung. Not now, not yet, but you knew.

“Come walk with me? I'll show you the palace.” You thought the words had coiled in your head, but remnants of the spittle you felt in the tip of your tongue convinced you differently. Your words were brutally honest, and worst, you were out of control.

“Are you offering to take me for a walk, princess?”

“Yes,” you caressed your nape in disquietude, “I just did.”

“What about our archery lesson?”

“It can wait,” you nudged the bow he was holding, “besides, you told me I was good enough already.”

Soonyoung's dicey pause was trouble to you, but it did bring you to suss how profoundly reckless you were. With the palace void of the king and queen for the time being, you couldn't help but be enthralled by the thought of taking Soonyoung with you about the palace.

“I suppose it won't hurt.” He flashed a toothy grin.

Your nerves tingled with vim and vigour as your lips slowly stretched out into a smile. You were ecstatic. “Follow me.”

Nature seemed to succour you, for every time your head turned in random angles, the willows always seemed to stand tall in its milieu of catkins, the sphere looked a tad bluer than it was yesterday, and the scintillating rays irradiated the faces of the palace in all the right ways, almost as if the universe permitted you and Soonyoung to spend time around the palace.

“So, tell me about your family.” You suggested.

“My family?” He rubs his nape in dubiety. “There are four of us, I have a younger sister.”

“Are you close?” You hesitated, but blurted out the question anyway.

“We are, we spend much time together, and we do social work every week,” Soonyoung revealed, wearing a smile, “and it makes us happy.”

“Social work, like?”

“We teach children, give them food, clothing, all sorts of those, princess.”

You have never felt how it was like to do a good turn for the impoverished, because every time the king and queen does, you were left to succumb to your books. Of course, you loved reading, and mostly if not always, feel aversion toward being outside the palace. But you did love welfare, especially of those in penury.

“I’d love to play a part,” you confessed, admiring Soonyoung’s proclivity for charity, “that’s, of course, if you don’t mind.”

You had no knowledge of this, but Soonyoung had a penchant for anyone with a strong social conscience, like you. He would love for you to join him, but in view of the circumstances, he had no idea how you would execute it together.

“Princess,” he began, “I reckon you aren’t allowed to step foot outside the palace grounds?”

He didn’t mistakenly remember, but your obstinacy has never dwindled into something less. You were determined to help the poor — and as much as it sounded awry — especially because it was with Soonyoung. So when the earliest sun flaunted itself over the horizon and a scant shaft inched toward your bedroom window the next day, you knew better than to remain in your never-ending string of dreams.

You slowly slipped into the still halls of the palace, refraining from waking anyone up or running into one of the servants.

There was a secret passage that connected the library to the grounds outside. It has never been used, to the point where you suspected they might have forgotten the structure existed. You absconded through the tunnel, making sure not to resonate any sort of jarring noise. The morning air greeted you right as you arrived at the end of the passageway. The passerine birds crooned a melody of their own the same time you admired the brilliant colours of the sun toning gracefully with the cerulean skies.

The lively market was where you would find Soonyoung, struggling with the boxes behind a line of stalls. You observed how his chest heaved upon placing down each box, his bare arm glistening with sweat, his eyes always trailing to another one as he trudged back to the pack of boxes that never seemed to pare down.

“Need a little help with that?” You offered. Soonyoung flinched at the unexpected surfacing of your voice.

“Princess!” He gasped, but later toned down his voice after he realised you weren’t supposed to be here. “Princess, you’re here.”

“Just as we concurred.”

A whiff of panic crossed his features almost very noticeably. You understood that it was too much of a risk to come to the market, considering anyone could recognise you were the princess. But there was something so enticing about the way Soonyoung spelled out the plan to you in the garden yesterday, that almost instantly dispelled your doubts.

Soonyoung had to act fast. As the alarm blazing in his eyes slowly ebbed away, he quickly took hold of your wrist and drew you behind a tall Silver maple tree.

“Stay put, princess,” he whispered, “after I finish organising those boxes, we’ll go to the children.”

You did as he told, although not really used to taking commands from a commoner. But he was Soonyoung. Soonyoung wasn’t a commoner, he was the very man who put you in internal debate of whether he owns your heart, or you just happen to be in a fleeting moment of attraction.

The market continues to bristle with rustics and more commoners as you hid behind the old trunk. As soon as Soonyoung was finished, the two of you hurried to shelter where the children were, through the thin brume that still lingers in the morning air.

The shelter sits between a small aged school and a vacant health clinic, its walls already forming plain breaks. The place is fairly dim and distant from the rackety locale you were in before, although you can still hear the obscure blethering coming from there.

You noticed the nimble twinkle that manifested in his eyes as Soonyoung smiled, cuddling the children that came running to his arms. Buoyant and spirited laughters were exchanged, a sight you scarcely ever see. Soonyoung introduced you to each of them, beginning by divulging you were a real princess. You watched as some of them left their jaw hanging open — so open that they must’ve swallowed a fair amount of invisible dust — some of them asked you if it was true and confessed that was why you looked so charming.

“Of course she is,” Soonyoung blurted, “her heart is really charming too.”

Although you hadn’t been in a romantic relationship before, the phrase isn’t all that alien to you. You hear people tell you you’re lovely every time. Some for the purpose of flattering you, perhaps flirting with you, but it was contrasting coming from Soonyoung. You didn’t know if he meant it or was just pleasing the children, but the words that travelled from his mouth felt genuine.

The first light advanced just like that, with you and Soonyoung amusing the children, catering to all of their childish needs. You felt closer and more intimate with him now. You stole glances when he wasn’t looking, admiring how gentle he was with the kids, how absolutely fetching his features were now that you were able to stare at him longer, and cherished all the times your fingers would brush against each other. Little did you know, he did the same. He could see your endeavour to blend in with the children at first, but you ultimately started to open up to the sundry questions they asked. Soonyoung loved that. He loved seeing you like this, in your truest form, he believed. You were finally able to do what your heart really yearned for.

You were relishing your time with Soonyoung and the children, until your dread eventuated.

“News is being spread from the palace that you’re missing.” Soonyoung announced, a frown appearing across his face.

“Then I have to get going,” you sighed weakly, “are the guards near?”

Soonyoung peered outside to confirm. There was a commotion near the market, but he couldn’t tell if it was about you or the trade occurring there.

“I’m not sure, princess,” he spoke while observing the situation outside, “but it is best if you go back home.”

You nodded understandingly. You said your final goodbyes to the children and witnessed as they immediately went sullen, some whining about why you have to leave so untimely. You settled a sweet kiss on each of their head and smiled at them for the last time.

“Do you want me to take you there, princess?” Soonyoung offered.

“No,” you muttered, “I don’t want to get you involved.”

Soonyoung looked broken as he couldn’t do anything to help you, but you were okay, knowing that he unequivocally savoured his time with you, and you did too. He placed a gentle peck on your cheek that lingers for a bit before he retreated.

“Be careful, princess.”

You were beyond grateful for Soonyoung that he showed you how the milieu of poverty looked like. The children were happy despite not having everything you had, and that was how Soonyoung was like too. He seemed content with what he had, and you found yourself falling even harder for him.

You feared that this was going to be the last time you see Soonyoung if your parents found out, and if that was the case, you knew he was never going to know how you felt about him. So you pulled him closer, planted a demure kiss on his lips, and stayed there for as long as the heavens allowed you to.

Because although Soonyoung loved you as much as you loved him, you did not belong to each other, no. You weren’t each other’s to think of, each other’s to touch, each other’s to feel. He shouldn’t be confined to the depths of your mind, and certainly not to you.

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happyhollow-mellowmarsh · 3 years

Text

S.H.R.E.C.

“Hello and welcome to Sharing How Related Elements Contrast, or S.H.R.E.C., for short. My name is Eleanor Eglantine Ambrose II, the author of the… Controversial book Forbidden Temptations: I Can Eat This But You Can Not as well as one of the apprentice of the Grand Witch Treat. Today I’ll be joined by two of my fellow apprentices as we go over the way that different magical elements contrast, interact, and change based on their relationships with one another.”

A short pink haired girl with elven ears stands in what looks to be a kitchen, the type used for a professional cooking show. How she and her companions got the rights to film here is a mystery. Grey eyes flick to the two men accompanying her, and she gestures at them, clearly unaware the camera is going to pick this up. One of the men, the one with white highlights and scars all over him, simply stares back at her, clearly confused as to what the hell he’s supposed to do here.

Elle nudges the scarred man with her elbow, aggressive whispers, “Introduce yourself!” She knows this is getting picked up by the mic, right?

He hisses a bit at the nudge before slowly turning to the camera. He seems a little...shy. “I’m...RJ Mendoza. Another one of Treat’s apprentices. Mm.” Doesn’t seem like the talkative type, either.

The other man, on the other hand, is all smiles and appears to be more than comfortable in front of the camera.

“And my name is Maui Nguyen, also one of Treat’s apprentices. It’s so great to be with you all today!” He says with an enthusiastic wave at the camera. “Especially you Elle, thank you for lettin’ us join you,” he says, gesturing towards Eleanor. “I can’t wait to see what you got in store for us!”

“It is no problem Mr. Nguyen.” No thanks for RJ though. Elle moves off camera briefly to bring two… Interesting smoothies. Given they each have a tide pod floating on the top of them, they are clearly deadly.

“Today,” she continues. “We are going to be testing different ways to negate poison using magic. Poison is my primary specialty, and as a result I have studied a variety of ways to use it and negate its effects. Mr. Mendoza also has magic that can negate poison.”

RJ nods, but there’s a short pause before he realizes that he should probably say something. “My primary element is Salt.” He then pulls out a salt shaker from his pockets. “This is just regular table salt, but I can use it with my magic to make poison stuff edible.”

Maui oos exaggeratedly as if this was his first time hearing their elements, picking up a tide pod from his “smoothie,” showing it off for the camera to see. “Edible you say? Even this?” He says, waving the tide pod in front of them, clearly trying to put on a good show for the audience.

Elle clapped her hands. “Oh yes! With my magic, and Mr. Mendoza’s I suppose, you could definitely consume a Tide Laundry Capsule! I have heard that this was a fascination for youths online for a considerable amount of time. I thought it would help us get wider appeal.” She remembers she’s still on camera, right?

After a brief pause, she turns back to the camera. “Ah, yes. Mr. Nguyen is not immune to poison, and as a result, he will be our test subject for this endeavour. You, of course, consent to this, correct? You need to say it for legal reasons.”

Maui, with a flashy smile, nods his head and gives them all a big thumbs up. “Absolutely! With you two magic masters, what can go wrong?!”

“Excellent! Mr. Mendoza, will you start us off?”

RJ nods and simply sprinkles a generous pinch of salt into one of the smoothies. “Should be good now.”

Maui claps his hands in performative amazement, before taking the cup and sloshing it around. “Still lookin’ pretty thick. Anyone have a guess at what this’ll taste like?” He asks the audience, before giving another cheeky smile. Someone is having fun. “Well, bottoms up!”

Without wincing at all, Maui begins to chug, taking huge heaping gulps, and in no time at all shows off his empty cup to the camera. It was only then did the man shudder slightly. “Eu-eugh, salty…”

“And, he suffers no ill effects- Oh, wait, I meant to show how deadly… Maui, can we edit this to go before the drinking?” Who does Elle think is editing this? Either way, she runs off screen and grabs a potted plant, pouring a bit of the remaining drink in. It immediately starts wilting.

“I customized the poison so it would be far more potent than the average one,” the girl explains, far too cheerful about something that could have killed her test subject if the magic failed. “Now, Mr. Nguyen, to test the second glass, I’ll be siphoning the poison out of you before it causes you any harm. Would you prefer I hold your hand, or do you want more contact. The more contact, the easier it is.”

“Uhhhh-” Maui stutters, momentarily disarmed before realizing he was still on camera. With cheeks steadily getting rosier by the second, he flashes another smile and sticks out his hand. “Sure, why the hell not?! … Bu-But just in case, how much skin contact do you need for -uh- ease? Do I gotta take off my shirt er somethin’?”

“No, I think that would get us demonetized… Just let me hold your arm. Like this.” The pink haired girl wrapped both her arms around Maui’s right arm, binding it in place for the time being. “I should easily be able to pull out any poison before it becomes a problem.”

Maui flushes quite a bit as Elle suddenly wraps herself around his arm, his on camera persona breaking for an instant. “U-Uhh- Yea, this is nice. Suure doesn’t feel like anythin’ is happenin’ right now though…”

“You need to consume the poison before I can really do anything.”

You can’t help but notice RJ sighing and shaking his head in the background.

“Ha-Hah, right…” Not wasting another second, Maui swipes up the second glass and chugs it all down once more, his face squinching slightly at the soapy taste. Elle squeezes his arm tightly, clearly focusing on filtering everything out. She made this really deadly and didn’t want to kill him.

Killing someone accidentally with a super poison again would be horrible.

“Are you doing alright?” Elle asked, after she finished dealing with the poison.

“Hmmm, other than feelin’ a little warm I think I’m doin’ jus’ fine. Maybe I shoulda drank even more-! Hey RJ, grab me another cup will ya?” He jokes, laughing.

It seemed Maui might have said the wrong words here, because Elle absolutely preened at that. “I suppose that means you find my method of poison extraction to be superior to Mr Mendoza’s salt bath. Of course. Salt is impressive in some ways, but Poison is by far the superior element.”

RJ glares at Elle, disgust and annoyance evident in his face. “Yeah, sure, whatever. Rather hear it from Maui then from you putting words in his mouth.”

“He all but said it already!” the girl huffs. She unwraps herself from Maui’s arm dramatically while looking directly at RJ. “See, I’m not influencing him. I have no doubt as to his answer.”

Uh oh. Wrong words said indeed, this was NOT how Maui envisioned his joke to land. Now with both of his friends looking towards him for an answer to an impossible situation… there was only one thing left to do…

“Whoaa guys- guys,” Maui says raising his hands in hopes of pacifying the building tension, “This is… This is all jus’ fun ‘nd games, yenno? A-Actually- That reminds me!”

Without skipping another beat, Maui flees offstage, still blabbering as he does.

“I actually got you guys some gifts while I was travellin’ around that I’ve been meanin’ to give- OH FU-“

Suddenly, a crash. The camera topples onto the floor, the last thing the audience sees and hears is a big meaty brown man cursing and apologizing at the same time before the broadcast abruptly ends.

Happy Hollow: Mellow Marsh is a tumblr submission trials game with Discord ooc and a Discord thread server, and the sequel game to Happy Hollow. This game is 18+ with the exception of returning players. We will be accepting a cast of 16-18 people including mod ocs, and characters should be aged 16-24. The events of the previous game are not public knowledge to characters, so catching up on the last game is not necessary!

Apps close on April 12th, one week away! A three day extension is available upon dm request.

About || How to play || Application || FAQ || Hopefuls || Hopefuls chat

#fanganronpa #mkg rp #fangan ronpa #dr oc group #dr oc rp

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sojourntime-aux · 4 years

Text

Day 6 (August 7th): Life’s Perks – With no worlds to save or Heartless to battle, how do they spend their free time? What are their hobbies or talents? Give us that slice of life goodness!

I'm not the best at writing slice of life stuff but I gave it a shot. Also I kinda went a little off prompt, since I've already talked a lot everyone's hobbies and talents! So enjoy Day 6! @khoc-week

-----

"Hey Kathrynn, back just in time! Come check this one out!" Tagen called to his friend, making the girl in question come sit down next to him on the sand.

"What to you think it's from?" She asked, eyeing the tiny piece of worn bone that Tagen had sifted out of the sand and was now holding up to show her.

"A Heartless maybe?" He replied, half joking as he adding it to the jar of other things he'd found today. Kathrynn snorted.

"A Heartless? Do Heartless even have bones?" Tagen join in laughing, adding another pile of sand from the hole he had dug, onto his homemade sifter. Kathrynn looked back over her shoulder calling a little ways up the shore to her friends. "Tabby, Tabitha! What do you think? Are these Heartless bones Tagen is digging up?"

Tabby glanced over from where he was further along the shoreline, next to the few fishing poles he had anchored in the sand. He gave Kathrynn a confused look before going back to his fishing endeavours. Tabitha didn't seem to notice her friend calling to her, she had her nose to far in her notebook. Kathrynn laughed, rolling her eyes playfully, before turning back to Tagen.

"So how far did you walk?" He asked, already working on sifting down the next scoop of sand.

"Until I could see the end on the island, then I turned back, so I wouldn't be away from you guys too long." Kathrynn replied, helping him pick out the larger bits of shell.

"That far? Really? So did you find anything cool?"

"Some nice shells, even some spiral ones, or at least pieces. And plenty of the kind Tabitha likes." She looked back over at at her friend. "Heeey Tabitha~" Kathrynn flicked a little sand Tabitha's way, startling her freind and making Tabitha pout slightly.

"Hey! You're gonna get sand in my notebook!" She whined. Kathrynn only chuckled.

"Uh then you shouldn't have brought it to the beach? There nothing but sand here Tabitha! Of course it's gonna get some in it!" Tagen called back to her. Tabitha only huffed, closing her notebook. She then set it aside and stood up, stretching a moment before stepping out from under the large beach umbrella and walking down the sand to her friends. Moldy OJ only picked its head up for a moment to see where its owner was going, before curling back up.

"Check this these out Tabitha." Kathrynn pulled some shells out from the small bucket she had next to her, and held them out. "There are lots of red ones." Tabitha took one in her hand, running her fingers over the grooves. Tabitha always liked the shells Kathrynn found wandering the beach. She liked making things out of the ones with the little holes.

Suddenly Tabby let out an excited help behind them, making everyone turn their eyes. On the end of one his lines was a good size fish, and Tabby was looking pretty proud of himself. "One more, and we will have a enough for dinner."

"Sounds great!" Tagen said, giving him a grin. "Let me know when youre ready for my help with cooking."

"Alright, sure!" Tabby said, recasting the line he had just reeled in, now that it was bated again.

"I don't understand how you can spend all day fishing Tabby, we are supposed to be here relaxing." Kathrynn said, giving her friend a teasing smile.

"This is relaxing for me, I like fishing. Plus maybe you should talk to Tabitha about not relaxing today." Tabby replied, returning the smile, and chuckling at at the look Tabitha gave him.

"Yeah, you're right. Weren't you supposed to bring other books to read, and not your notebook?" Kathrynn turned to give Tabitha a playful shove.

"Heeey! Aren't you guys the ones who just said that any book I brought would end up with sand in it...?" Was Tabitha's defense. It made her friends all laugh, making Tabitha let out a huff and flop back onto the sand. "I'm going to end up buuuurnnned! What am I supposed to do?"

"Go swimming?" Tagen suggested.

"That won't stop me from getting burned!"

"But the burns will be worth it!"

Tabitha sat up, and reached into shallow water at their feet and splashed him, before laying back down again.

Tagen put the sand sifter aside, shoving the extra sand back into the hole he had dug. He then stretched out his legs and stared out at the water before them. "So find anything else cool, Kathrynn?" Tagen asked, leaning back on his hands.

"Yeah actually, I found something you'll like. I think it's the bone of a sea star." She took the nearly complete starfish skeleton out of the bucket.

"Wait, The ocean has stars too? Are you sure they didn't just fall out of the sky?" Tabitha asked, sitting up to look at the thing in kathrynns hand.

"It was a living thing at one point, Tabitha. Most of what I find are from things like sea stars, if they arent teeth. But I guess those are from living things too." Tagen said holding up his jar.

"Well aren't the stars living things?" Tabitha replied. The comment made all four friends look up at the sky at the few stars they could see in the pale unchanging.

"Kathrynn?" Tagen prodded after a moment.

"I-I don't know. I just know which stars are named which, and what pictures they make. I don't know what they really are. I'm not sure anyone does..."

-ERROR-

"Mmm something smells delicious!" Kathrynn greeted her friend who was waiting by the fountain with a small picnic basket over her shoulder.

"I made Tabitha's favorite. Hopefully they'll still be warm when she gets here." The girl replied. Kathrynn chuckled in response, looking around the square to keep an eye out for the girl in the question.

"I'm sure she'll love them either way. She always loves your baking. It's always good. Weeell after you're done experimenting with the recipe."

"Why thank yo- hey!" The other girl was halfway through an over exaggerated bow in thanks, which she stopped to give Kathrynn a playful shove. "You should be honoured to be my taste tester! I could always give the job to Tabitha."

"And have Tabitha constantly burning her mouth? No way!"

"I don't burn my mouth that often!... Only cause it smells so good." Tabitha was looking at the two with mock hurt, having just arrived. Kathryn started snorting, leaning against the edge of the fountain. The other girl shook her head with a smile, stepping forward to give Tabitha a hug.

"What took you so long, sugar? I was worried these would go cold if you didn't get here soon." She opened up the picnic basket to show off the freshly made chocolate raspberry cupcakes, making Tabitha's eyes go wide.

"Oh those look amazing!" Tabitha replied, bouncing on her feet a little.

"Then I guess we better get moving, before they actually go cold." Kathrynn piped up. "To the hiking trails?" The other two nodded, before following Kathrynn out of the square.

"Y'know, maybe one of these days we should take the ferry out to island. Go to the beach." Kathryn piped up as they walked.

"And get sand in my baking? No thank you." The other girl replied. "What do you think Tabitha?"

"Don't boats makes people sick?"

"Only some people, there's really no way to know until you get on one." The girl replied.

"Oh. But why would you want to find out?"

"The beach, Tabitha! There's an actual beach the ferry goes to! With shells, and shore, and tide pools, and probably a million more stars a night!" Kathrynn gestured her arms to the morning sky.

"Whoa whoa whoa, the ferry doesn't run after dark! If we went wouldn't it just be for the day?" The girl turned to look at Kathrynn, a little shocked by what she was saying.

"Well why couldn't we camp out there at night?"

"Um the Heartless that's why!"

"Isn't that what our keyblades are for?" Tabitha piped up. Kathrynn gave a little bounce, smiling, and gesturing to Tabitha.

"See~, Tabitha's on board."

"I didn't say that.." Tabitha gave Kathrynn a look in response. The other girl pinched the bridge of her nose as she walked.

"We'll go for the day, and if it looks fine, we'll talk about going back and camping, another time." The girl glanced around, before leaning in close to Tabitha and Kathrynn. "You know the heartless have gotten more and more dangerous, everything has been crazy lately." She said in a lowered voice as they walked.

"That's why we should go. This could be one of our last chances to go!" Kathrynn said, making a shard of panic stick in the other girl's heart. It must have been visable on her face because Kathrynn put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. "Relax, I just meant with the Heartless getting stronger, you might be right, and we should go before that becomes the truth." The girl nodded, glancing over at Tabitha, before turning her gaze to her footsteps.

There were a few moments of silence between the group, but the girl knew what they were all thinking. 'If that is the truth we are headed for.'

"Can we talk about this later?" Tabitha broke the silence. "Today was supposed to be our relax day."

"Agreed!" Kathrynn and the other almost shouted in unison, before giving each other a smile.

"C'mon, let's get a move on! We've still got a long walk ahead of us!" Kathrynn said, skipping on ahead, leaving Tabitha and the other girl behind.

"Wait up!!"

#khocweek2020 #khux #sojourns keykids #khux oc #this took a bit sorry for it being late #i still had fun writing these #one more day #thats gonna be post right after this!

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ibijau · 4 years

Text

Nie Huaisang/Zonghui

I wrote this way too fast but heyyy here is the Zonghui/Nie Huaisang fic I said I would write because Fatal Journey gave me emotions

Spoilers for Fatal Journey obviously, warning for character death

Zonghui is Nie Huaisang's cousin, but only very distantly and in fairness, about half the region is tied by blood to the Nie clan to some degree. So Nie Huaisang doesn't feel too bad about the fact that lately, he's been hanging on the fringes of the training grounds more often. If someone asks, he's watching the disciples' form and trying to learn from example. Nobody asks though, so he's free to watch those very, very handsome older boys train in the summer heat, their clothes so dread in sweat that the fabric clings to their bodies. Zonghui in particular is a delight for the eyes.

For once, Nie Huaisang isn't fanning himself just for show. He's about ready to pass out from how hot everything feels. Then Zonghui spots him hiding in the shadows and smiles and...

Nie Huaisang all but runs away at being discovered, missing the way Zonghui barely refrains from laughing at his reaction.

Cloud Recesses is the most boring place in the world, but at least it's nice to be away from Nie Mingjue. Nie Huaisang loves his brother, but being sect leader has turned him into the world's most boring person. For a brief moment, Nie Huaisang considers what it'd be like if Nie Mingjue were in Cloud Recesses. The thought is so incongruous that he bursts out laughing in the middle of a lecture. That pisses off Lan Qiren, who somehow decides it must be Wei Wuxian's fault and punishes them both.

For this, Nie Huaisang gets a scalding letter from his brother that threatens to break all his limbs and set fire to his bedroom if he doesn't fucking behave for five minutes, as well as ordering him to stop hanging out with that weird Wei Wuxian kid.

There's another letter with it, written in a different hand. Zonghui says that Nie Mingjue has already started calming down but, just in case, he took the liberty of discreetly hiding some of Nie Huaisang's favourite paintings, brushes and fans. He wanted to also hide some of the books, but he noticed that they're already gone and must assume Nie Huaisang wisely brought them along.

Nie Huaisang smiles for the rest of the day, even when he's stuck in the library in company of Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian.

Zonghui is a few years older than the other hostages, but the Wens don't seem to care. They have the Second Young Master of Qingge Nie, so everyone else from that sect is just there for the number as far as they're concerned.

It's comforting to know that there's someone here on whom Nie Huaisang can count, but it's also unnerving. Wen Chao probably won't dare actually hurt Nie Huaisang, not unless he wants to give Nie Mingjue an excuse to attack, but everyone else, everyone less valuable to them... Nie Huaisang is an hostage, but the other disciple of Qingge Nie even more so. If he slips in any way, they'll be the ones to pay the price.

Even in Cloud Recesses, Nie Huaisang has never been such a diligent, serious, obedient student.

He won't give anyone an excuse to hurt Zonghui and the others.

After the first battle of the Sunshot Campaign, Nie Huaisang drags Zonghui away from the others who fought behind Nie Mingjue and kisses him square on the lips.

It has been a long time coming, they have exchanged looks for a long time now, but Nie Huaisang enjoyed that game of cat and mouse they had going on. He liked the smiles and the glances and the casual brushes of hands, so he might have continued playing a while longer if given the chance.

Now is no longer the time for such games. Not when Nie Huaisang saw how many disciples haven't returned to the Unclean Realm, and how many of those who returned are badly wounded.

In a moment, Nie Huaisang will go check on his brother, then help the healers to the best of his capacity. But for now, he's enjoying being kissed and held close.

“I thought Young Master was never going to take his chance,” Zonghui teases him after, as they walk back toward the courtyard.

“Well, nobody was stopping you from taking the first step,” Nie Huaisang pouts.

“And ruin your fun? You'd have refused to kiss me just to spite me.”

That's not wrong of course, but Nie Huaisang isn't going to admit it out loud. Instead he pinches Zonghui's arm for his insubordination.

The world, around them, is full of chaos and fear, but there's still some good to be found, if you look in the right place.

The war is won.

The Unclean Realm is quiet, more than it was before the campaign. It will take a while to train new disciples to make up for the ones who died. Nie Huaisang tries his best to help where he can. It's a way to assuage his guilt over the fact that, unlike so many others, he never saw the battlefield. People fought and died while he was at home cleaning bandages and writing letters.

“We needed people to care for the wounded,” Zonghui reminds him as they lay in bed. “And we needed allies. I have the deepest respect for our Sect Leader, but there's a reason he left it to you to write to small sects and convince them to join us.”

“His calligraphy is a horror,” Nie Huaisang concedes. It's not what Zonghui meant of course, but it's still true. “Still... I could have done more. Maybe I should have insisted to fight...”

“You fought where you were the strongest, Young Master. There's no shame in that.”

Nie Huaisang pouts, both at the title (he hates when Zonghui uses it in private, which Zonghui knows of course) and at the attempt to comfort him.

“You're boring,” he complains. “Let me lament on my fate a little more. Such woe! I am an artist in a family of warriors! Ah, what a life, what a horror! How I long to be more than I am!”

“You're plenty enough already,” Zonghui grumbles.

“Shush I said, I'm being lyrical. Woe, terrible woe! All who know me would rather I follow the path of my forefathers, but alas!”

Zonghui huffs, half annoyed and half amused by Nie Huaisang's antics. A little more bad poetry, and Zonghui figures out that the best way to silence him is to kiss him.

That, of course, was Nie Huaisang's plan all along, but he still makes a show of protesting, just for fun.

Since the massacre at Nightless City, Nie Mingjue's mental state has gotten worse and worse. Huaisang hears whispers of an illness, and sees how some of the older disciples watch his brother with ever growing fear. He notices also that some conversations stop as soon as he comes into view.

When asked about it, Nie Mingjue denies that anything is wrong and claims it is nothing more than unrest of his spiritual energy.

But if things were right, he wouldn't allow Jin Guangyao to play spiritual melodies to him.

If things were right, he wouldn't be forcing Nie Huaisang to practice the blade when they both know how hopeless that endeavour is.

Something is wrong with Nie Mingjue, yet Nie Huaisang is kept in the dark about it. Even Zonghui won't tell him, although it's obvious that he knows. It's an ongoing argument between them.

Then one day, thieves break into the Sword's Halls and, finally, Nie Huaisang learns the truth.

He understands why Zonghui did not want to tell him, because now he wishes he didn't know what his family has done, is doing, will keep doing if nobody stops this madness.

It's not the first time that Nie Mingjue is threatening someone from their sect before of his unstable mind. Nie Huaisang has been on the receiving end of that a few times just these last few weeks. And after everything that has happened in this cursed tomb, after fighting that sword spirit, of course Nie Mingjue is unwell, of course he doesn't realise that Zonghui isn't possessed anymore.

Nie Huaisang doesn't hesitate before using the flute Jin Guangyao gave him, playing the melody he's memorised from ear. For something he's never done before, it works surprisingly well at first.

At first.

Then Nie Mingjue slits Zonghui's throat in one swift strike.

When that blade turns toward him, Nie Huaisang does nothing to avoid it. It has been too much blood, too much loss.

He doesn't know whether to be relieved or not when Nie Mingjue comes back to himself. It's not that Nie Huaisang wants to die, but right now being alive feels like the hardest thing he's ever gone through.

He follows Nie Mingjue's gaze toward Zonghui's corpse, lying in a pool of his own blood. Zonghui who will never tease him and protect him and ruin his paintings and kiss him and snore like a barbarian when they spend the night together and complain that Nie Huaisang kicks in his sleep.

Zonghui is gone.

But Nie Mingjue is still there, looking ready to break as he watches the carnage around them.

“It was the sword's spirit that did this,” Nie Huaisang lies, holding onto his brother.

It's hard to say if Nie Mingjue believes him or not. Perhaps it doesn't matter. Even if the sword spirit killed those men, it is their Sect Leader's fault for taking them into danger.

The realisation that Jin Guangyao messed with Nie Mingjue's mind to hasten his breakdown and provoke a Qi deviation was hard to stomach.

Another one follows, some hours later. Nie Huaisang was struggling to fall asleep, seething with rage and despair over his brother's fate, when a thought hits him with such force that he nearly chokes on it.

Nie Huaisang killed Zonghui.

Not directly, and certainly not on purpose. But he played Jin Guangyao's tainted melody to his brother in that cursed place, and Zonghui died as a result.

For this too, for making Nie Huaisang his weapon, for taking the person he loved most after his brother, Jin Guangyao will pay.

#Nie Huaisang #fatal journey #mo dao zu shi #the untamed #zonghui #mdzs #jau writes #I might try to write something better in the future but I am uncomfortable writing about material I cannot easily double check every 2 words

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createdbyinvisibles · 4 years

Text

The Chronicles of a bookworm ninja

Word count: 2829

An episodic series of chapters telling the odd tale of Rin Kikumoto, the last political book carrier and her misadventures in becoming a ninja.

If you’re curious about what the Kikumoto clan is exactly then this bio here should explain everything.

Rin Kikumoto lived an utterly peculiar existence, she was the type of person to spontaneously do things for the sake of quick and short excitement. As well as the kind of person to just always be around asking questions, a kid, nine years old to be exact, should never be wondering. Living on the only standing house in the crumbled compound of the now-disbanded Kikumoto clan, you could say it was an odd house for an odd girl. But now this odd girl would be attending her first day at the ninja academy, something her older brother was solemnly against. He simply hated the mere thought of having his sister be a part of what he thought to be "another pawn of the military complex."

But it would get her out of the house, and she argued it would do her more good than the negatives that came with it. She'd have to start late, however, since she was already nine and the rest of the classmates have been at the academy since age six, but she was a fast learner, well... She had to be. The reason being was the very same reason she was well odd, she was what the village called a political book carrier. The position was one of knowledgeable importance, as it was an old position, and it even went back to the first Hokage, this position was one of four now-disbanded positions the Kikumoto clan occupied.

A position that detailed the tasks of carrying knowledge, secret knowledge, the kind of knowledge that was best left to be forgotten. And Rin had to carry all of it, libraries worth of secrets and information of all types to be stored away within the depths of a large sketchbook. To be sealed by the strength of her soul, to be remembered but never talked about again. For even if she wished to forget the village needed someone to remember, for what if the Hokage required information? If she never remembered then, the Hokage surely wouldn't, and the village would suffer. So cursed with the seal mark of the black chrysanthemum, she for the rest of her life would bear the knowledge of the village by sealing it in the book that was her soul.

But it didn't matter now, for, with jello-like legs, she stared at the oddly shaped building looming in front of her. As she felt her muscles tense up, it made her realize that she was about to enter an environment in which she could socialize with others. Other people who weren't her brother and other people who all had differing opinions, opinions as well as feelings different from her own, something her brother said was the bane of their existence. But if she was to learn how to understand others and become friends with any of them well, she'd have to try. So with reluctant steps, she walked forward into the building that would become the start of a life she couldn't even begin to think, she'd have.

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"Alright class, today we have a new student who will be joining us..." Iruka Sensei now told the class, to the response of nods and a couple murmurs for who this newcomer could possibly be.

"Excuse me, but you're going to have to enter the classroom first," Iruka Sensei said gently motioning for her to step through the door, so lost in her thought that she forgot to enter the classroom entirely. But with cold feet, she stepped into the classroom, there were a lot of people, too many people. All of which stared down to her on high wooden benches that made everything seem so much more intimidating. "Alright, why don't you tell the class your name?" Iruka Sensei suggested with a smile, and with a nod, Rin complied.

I could walk into that classroom with an identity entirely different to my own, and no one could tell, I'll just say I'm so-so, and everyone will just believe me, and I'll have to live a lie for the rest of my life. Rin gripped her book, a book she should have kept in her back pocket, for the book not only carried libraries of information but her soul as well. But at times like these, it always seemed to calm her down when she held her book close.

"Is there anything you would like to say about yourself? A favourite colour perhaps?" Iruka Sensei suggested yet again breaking her train of thought, for little did she know as all this thinking was going on, she merely stood statue-like.

"Greetings or salutations, my name is Rin Kikumoto…" Rin said with her voice surprisingly steady. Look at the faces, study each one, remember what brother said, everyone feels something and all of it can be displayed on their faces. Perhaps someone is just as nervous as me? I know practically every dark secret in this village, something like this shouldn't scare me at all! It shouldn't scare me at all… Even if everything about this is new and new is a change and change is well, uncomfortable. Rin's obsidian coloured eyes darted back and forth, it made her eyes look like two little kaleidoscopes that seemed to draw you in by pure curiosity. She didn't find anyone, in particular, that was nervous, all except one girl, and she looked plain antsy with her blank pupilless purple eyes, eyes that were the mark of the Hyuga clan.

Ironically she would have preferred world stumping mind bogglers, she was used to those, her brother would always give her one every week, and at the end of the week, they'd have a debate over it. Those questions were easier in a way since they were always open-ended and allowed room for an answer longer than a sentence. How was she supposed to form a meaningful opinion with a sentence?

Favourite colour? Well, white reflects the sun and looks really lovely but it also stains easily, black is beautiful but plain dreadful in the summer, purple is majestic, but it's too expensive. Blue is so basic and red is far too strong, green is different enough to make me seem unusual, but the colour itself reminds me of puke. Grey is dull and brown feels like cheating because it's all the colours just mixed together, orange never looks good on me, and yellow makes my eyes hurt. Pink is sweet, but everyone is probably expecting me to say it and big brother always talks about how we have to break the "stereotypes' ', so it's out of the question. And what if someone in the class is colourblind, then I'll just sound like a jerk regardless! Rin was yet again looking towards the floor, typical softball questions that anyone could try and answer seemed like world stumping mind bogglers for her.

It was only now that she realized she never answered Iruka Sensei, nor did she say anything at all, the realization of which made her sink slightly into herself. "Can I sit at my desk please," Rin asked awkwardly, re-evaluating my life is more like it.

It was then that she noticed the Uchiha insignia on his back, so he's Sasuke Uchiha the lone survivor of the Uchiha clan, well the personality checks out at least… Peas and carrots. Rin felt bad, Even if his personality made her think less of him. Being a book carrier meant she had to know a lot about this village, even tragedies he'd never know, but it weirdly comforted her. It's easy to understand someone she had records on, easier than having to get the information herself anyway.

"Of course, there is an empty seat near the back where you can sit," Iruka said motioning towards the only free desk available. I guess I'm already the problem child or at least a timid emo kid, please believe me when I say I'm an entertaining and chill person! Wait, they can't hear me. Rin made her way to the back, it wasn't as bad as she thought it was, just well, really far away from the front. Sitting by the window in the seat next to her, was a cantankerous looking boy with short jet black hair in the shape of a duck's butt. "Guess we'll be desk buddies then," Rin joked offering her hand to shake, and telling by the irritated glare he shot her the joke didn't land.

With the proper information, she could empathize and formulate the best way to converse with the person for the best outcome. Even if in the process of knowing their records and files, it had the potential of making Rin feel guilty. But at the end of the day, she didn't know Sasuke, not enough to really care about him anyway. And by the looks of it, Sasuke would rather the world burn then talk to her, so as long as it stayed that way, Rin would never even worry about the potential guilt she might feel.

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The rest of the school day wasn't much of note, she tried to talk to people during the break period, but with everyone in their own cliques, it was a pointless endeavour. She couldn't even sulk on the swingset because some other kid was using it, and she couldn't talk to Sasuke because he was being... Well, a total dill weed. She tried to find the antsy girl she noticed previously, but she looked busy as well, for that same girl was staring at the kid on the swingset. Rin believed it was because she wanted a turn on the swingset as well, but she didn't ask. So she spent her break sitting in the shade sketching the other kids in a smaller plain white sketchbook different to her large floral decorated sketchbook. Her goal was to have drawn and made a personal file for every student in her class since baby steps were required if no one wanted to talk to you.

"Um, excuse me," A shy voice called, and as Rin looked over to see who it is, she was surprised to find the same antsy girl who was watching the swingset from before.

"Yes?" Rin called a little louder than expected, happy that someone approached her at all.

"Well um, I don't mean to be rude or forward or anything, but I couldn't help but ask… You just seem really invested in that drawing and well..." The girl fumbled around with her words, in fact, she fumbled so much you might as well call it a literary train wreck. Wait she's really not making any sense, so that means she's nervous… I was nervous earlier today, and it caused me to be embarrassed… Wait is this empathy? Well, sweet dango on a stick, I'm empathizing! God, empathy feels fantastic! Rin was correct, she really was empathizing, but in the process it caused her to stare at the girl. Which caused the girl to become so nervous she simply excused herself and left, leaving Rin alone yet again.

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Before she knew it, it was the end of the day, so with her book in hand, she left to go home skipping as she went, only stopping when she reached a small ridge to the side of the sidewalk, green grass and little white clovers painting a scene of contentment. Taking a slight detour, Rin began to pick the white clovers, tying them into a crown as she went scrutinizing the ridge for more of the prettiest and most delicate of clovers. "Well don't you have great eyes for flower picking?" A rather confident sounding voice called, Rin looked up from her flowers to find a girl with platinum blonde hair tied into a short ponytail. "I'm Ino by the way, and you must be Rin, right?" Ino said, offering her hand to shake.

"Oh, hello Ino… Wait doesn't your family run the flower shop?" Rin asked excitedly, shaking her hand back, she loved to go there and get flowers every Sunday.

"That's right, my family runs the Yamanaka flower shop, but enough about me, you were recently given a seat next to Sasuke, right?" Ino asked to which Rin nodded.

"Well you don't really seem to like Sasuke, so I was wondering if you'd want to change seats with me?" Ino asked Rin's confusion.

"Wait, do you like Sasuke?!" Rin exclaimed, surprised to which Ino laughed.

"Yeah, and who doesn't?" Ino asked, and when Rin pointed to herself, Ino laughed "And I'm taller than most of the girls in our class."

"Still it doesn't make sense though, I tried talking to him, and he's well very distant, to say the least," Rin responded, confused to Ino squealing.

"But that's what makes him so cool," Ino gushed.

"Cold is more like it," Rin responded, still confused and even more confused to find Ino irritated.

"Well you're still new, so maybe you just don't understand Sasuke at all," Ino huffed, turning around to leave, forgetting about what she was going to ask Rin in the first place. Rin was still confused, what was there to understand about Sasuke, even without records Rin could feel the hatred steaming off the boy. He was rather one-note in that regard, to curse at the rest of the world is to ignore everything else about it, including the complications that make life a greyish mix of exoticness. But she wasn't one to judge, she didn't have the best first impression either, and telling by everyone's reaction to her, she probably wasn't liked either. So for all, she knew he too had socialization problems and wasn't that why she was here in the first place, to understand others? And how could she understand others by writing them off?

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Maybe I don't really know Sasuke all that well either, I mean Ino has been in that class since she was little and I've only just joined... Wait, that's it! To properly understand someone I have to befriend them, I mean to call someone a friend is to understand them. That's what I'll do! And with that, Rin got up determined and marched on with a flower crown in hand.

"I'm home!" Rin called as she took off her shoes to find her brother on a chair near the door. "I made this on my way back home," Rin said, giving him the flower crown she made previously.

"Well, doesn't this look nice on me," Her brother said, gently placing the crown on his head as if it was his own personal coronation and with a thumbs up from Rin he ruffled her hair.

“It was…” Rin trailed off, how was her day? She couldn't really put a finger on how she felt about it. It was different to say the least, but it wasn’t a bad difference going there made her feel like a scientist sent to study a different land from her own. “I’m not sure, but I think I want to go tomorrow,” she did want to go back, even if it was odd but where there was oddity, there was a way to understand it. And that’s what she was here to do.

"Maybe one day, you could come with me to pick the flowers?" Rin suggested, trying her best to ignore the slight grimace in his eyes, her brother hated leaving the house. Something he hadn't done since she was six, after that he just came home one day and never left.

“When the flowers grow in the backyard, we can pick them together,” He suggested a small smile on his face, that was enough for Rin, it was her first day of school and she was simply too tired to get into yet another argument. “How was your day at school?” He asked carefully, Rin found him studying her face, a habit her brother always had when he felt Rin wouldn't tell him the whole story.

#naruto #naruto fanfiction #naruto oc #sasuke uchiha #ino yamanaka #hinata hyuga #iruka sensei #pre shippuden #anime #fanfic

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timeagainreviews · 4 years

Text

Thoughts leading up to series 12

Happy holidays, friends! I know, I know. It's been a while. I would love to sit here and say I have been away doing important things, but really I've been hibernating. The results of that awful election, mixed with the holidays had left me feeling a bit lethargic as of late. That being said, I had a nice Christmas. Being an immigrant, I don't see my family on holidays. My boyfriend and I spent the day piecing together a Babylon 5 jigsaw puzzle. I made my pal Gerry a celery for his 5th Doctor cosplay and he gifted me a replica of the Li H'sen Chang poster from "The Talons of Weng-Chiang." It was a very Doctor Who Christmas! Sadly, there was no Doctor Who Christmas episode!

Alas, it hardly matters, as new Doctor Who is mere days away! As I did last year, you can expect weekly coverage for each new episode. I'm looking forward to getting back into the groove of consistent writing. Usually, the fandom is more abuzz when the show is actually airing, so please remember to check in with this blog, as I will be watching along with the rest of you!

If you recall, prior to series eleven, I made a list talking about some of my hopes and expectations for the new TARDIS team and the new production team. Seeing as series twelve is just days away from premiering, I thought I might do it again. Let's get to it, shall we?

The Thirteenth Doctor

Seeing Jodie Whittaker back in the TARDIS for another round of adventures has me massively excited. One of the downsides to Christopher Eccleston's run is that we never really got to see him develop the role of the Ninth Doctor. I'm hoping we'll get to see more aspects of her character. Seeing as I don't expect her to regenerate any time soon, there's still much of her personality left to explore. We've met the friendly adorkable Doctor, now let's see her bend a little.

One of my primary complaints about Jodie Whittaker's portrayal as the Doctor was that I didn't think she got scary. While I love her bravery, running headlong into danger, I would like to see a shade or two of her dark side. Up to this point, she's been too friendly to be scary. I know I'm not the only person with this complaint, so it will be interesting to see what a year of hiatus and refocusing will do for her. Honestly, I hope they don't change her too much, as she's pretty great. I'd just like to see them flesh her out a bit.

Other than her personality, I'm also hoping to see some costume variations. The trailer for the new season does give us Jodie in a bow tie, which I am all for. I've also seen a picture where her trousers are black. I'm hoping they continue to tweak her costume here and there, as watching the Doctor's costume evolve over time has always been one of my favourite things about the show.

Chris Chibnall's return

Was there anyone from series eleven that drew more ire than Chris Chibnall? Sure you got the people who hated Jodie solely because she was a woman, but on the level of legitimate concerns, Chibnall was up there. I myself threw a bit of mud in his direction, and I don't feel as though it was without good cause. The general management of the show seemed a bit aimless, despite many promising elements.

Something about the way series eleven was received gave the BBC pause to reevaluate the show's trajectory, and I have a distinct feeling that Chibnall was at the heart of a lot of it. From his lack of a season-long story arc, to the villains being a bit shit, to an overly dour tone, his first year as showrunner left something to be desired. The fact that we didn't even get a single webisode during this gap year shows me that they're still not 100% sure what to do with Doctor Who.

However, having said this, Chibnall's core TARDIS team is one of the most exciting aspects of series twelve. I can't wait to see more from this great line up of characters. And if the exciting trailer for this new series is anything to go off, we're in for quite a ride. Chibnall's most recent endeavour as showrunner was last year's "Resolution," a much-needed bit of classic Who villainy in the form of a Dalek. I was left feeling optimistic that Chibnall was capable of delivering solid storytelling. And that's the operative word- optimistic. As long as he doesn't get needlessly gritty, I'm cautiously optimistic that this year-long hiatus has yielded positive results.

The Companions

Like many other viewers, my chief complaint about the companions has to be Yaz. She really got shafted on the level of character development last year. When you have someone as talented as Mandip Gill, it's a shame to waste her. I know the fandom was quite vocal about this fact, so I fully expect to see the show give her more time in the spotlight. I don't know anyone who disliked her character, which is a good sign that the fandom wants more of her.

Ryan and Graham were two characters that I felt got a great bit of character development. The moment when Ryan finally calls Graham "granddad," was a truly exciting moment for two characters we had grown to love. The logical next step, at least in my mind, is to test the boundaries of this new relationship. I'd really love to see Graham meet a new love interest. Introducing someone into Graham's life would make Ryan have to broaden his definition of family even further. It might also be a catalyst for his own personal growth.

I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't also see one or more of the companions depart from the TARDIS. My gut says it would be Graham, but I wouldn't be surprised if all three of them left at the end of the series. As much as I love the current companions, I would love to see what energy a new companion or two might do for Jodie's Doctor.

The Villains

Prior to series eleven, I was feeling very optimistic for new Doctor Who. That is until I read an article where Chris Chibnall announced there would be no returning villains. Other than the announcement that Chibnall would be showrunner, nothing had made me more concerned for the show's future than "no returning villains." It's not that returning villains are a must for Doctor Who. It's actually a rather brave thing to attempt. The reason it's brave is that if you're going to leave out classic baddies, you've got to justify your decision by crafting new classics. And I'm sorry, but some Slipknot dude with teeth in his face is not classic.

From what I've seen of the trailer and promotional stills, we're looking at at least three returning creatures from the Whoniverse. We've all seen the picture of Jodie staring down the Judoon. If I am completely honest, those have left me with the least amount of hype, as they weren't ever even full-on villains. I've always found the Judoon slightly hokey, so I could take or leave them. The plus side is that there is still plenty of room to develop them as a species. Are there non-Shadow Proclamation Judoon? Are there evil factions? I'm curious if nothing else.

Another familiar face is the Cybermen. While I feel like both the RTD and Moffat eras used the Cybermen ad nauseam, they're still a classic baddie with a solid track record. It appears they'll have something to do with the finale and that "timeless child," storyline I'm uninterested in, so fine, sure, ok. The real alien species I'm excited for is the Racnoss! Much like the Judoon, the Racnoss are also underdeveloped. I wasn't a big fan of them the first time around, which is why I'm excited for more. I'm curious to see what depth can be found in these campy arachnids. If nothing else, the makeup is fun.

The Guest Actors

Series eleven treated us to a surprisingly tender performance from Lee Mack in "Kerblam!" We got a decent turn by Mark Addy, working with not a lot to go off as the underwritten Paltraki. But without a doubt, the best performance came in the form of Alan Cumming's King James. Not only was he as hilarious as he was loathsome, but he also elevated what could have been a more straightforward performance, by finding that sweet spot of camp and contemptible.

That being said, with actors like Stephen Fry, Lenny Henry, and classic Doctor Who alum Robert Glenister joining the show, I'm hopeful we'll get at least one memorable performance out of the lot. I've not followed many of the ins and outs of the storylines, so I have no idea who anyone is playing other than Goran Višnjić as Nikola Tesla. That being said, the addition of Tesla to the series seems an obvious fit. He was an eccentric man who was a bit weird about his pet bird. I expect his story to be one of the stranger ones we'll enjoy this year, or at least, it had better be.

The BBC's involvement

I'm hoping that in this last year, the BBC weren't just reevaluating Chris Chibnall's direction for the show, but their own involvement as well. They got rid of Bake Off and Formula One, Top Gear's audience followed Clarkson over to Amazon. All that's left are partisan news coverage, QI, Countryfile, and Doctor Who. Oh and I guess "His Dark Materials," but I don't know anyone who's talking about that show. As I said earlier, it's been a year of nothing from Doctor Who as a series. Other than comics and a less than perfect VR game, we've gotten nothing from the Thirteenth Doctor and the fam. Not even a novel or webisode to tide us over. How hard would it have been, while filming series twelve, to shoot a quick little skit on the TARDIS set? The Moffat era did this a lot, and it was always nice to see a little bit of Doctor Who while waiting for more episodes.

As the last vestige of the BBC's once-great television empire, you would think they might start to give a shit about Doctor Who. I know it's a crazy concept, but perhaps shelving one of your best shows for a year wasn't the best option. It would be nice to see them put more money and effort into the show. It would be a welcome sight to see them also put more money into the budget for things like merchandise or extended universe media. We've got three books for the current Doctor and that was last year. David Tennant had over thirty novels, while Matt Smith's Doctor appeared in over 15, and Capaldi only appeared in nine. Do you remember the last time we got a Character Options figure that wasn't a repaint of another figure? The most recent one we got was Harry Sullivan, and I'm pretty sure the only new element to that figure was his head. I've seen previews of the new companion figurines, and they're great, but I want more.

Perhaps I sound a bit spoiled. Many shows never expand beyond their allotted episodes, but this is Doctor Who, a show with a broader reach than your telly. It seemed last year that they were finally giving the show its dues. There were billboards of Jodie's face everywhere. The hype was palpable. Now, it's just four days from series twelve, and I've not even seen a bus ad for the new show. A woman I see out on dog walks was surprised when I told her the show was returning on the first of January. She had no idea. This is the Doctor Who audience that they're failing, not people like me who count the days like an advent calendar. The BBC needs to decide once in for all if they're going to give Doctor Who the respect it deserves, or sell it someone who will.

And that's it for now, friends. I hope you're all just as excited as I am to be back in the blue box. If all goes as planned, I should have a new review up the day after each episode. I'm optimistic that I'll have some great things to say!

#doctor who #series 12 #Jodie Whittaker #Thirteenth Doctor #chris chibnall #dalek #cybermen #yazmin khan #Ryan Sinclair #Graham O'Brien #mandip gill #tosin cole #Bradley Walsh #bbc #stephen fry #racnoss #judoon

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cassianus · 5 years

Text

To our dearest and blessed young mothers and fathers,

Do not think your efforts go unnoticed when you come to Church with your blessed children.

I am aware when you become red faced, breaking out into sweats when your children start fidgeting and fussing and how you attempt to chase them down the aisle to nullify their noise and movements, when you are at Church. I know you wished you could aim a remote control at them to press mute and freeze, but this certainly would not be part of God's Will for them or us.

I observe how you sway your babies to sleep trying to make the most of quiet time that you have, to participate in the Liturgy and hear the sermon. When you are unsuccessful, your little ones toss and turn trying to get your attention when you are trying to feed them or when you are trying to entice them with toys and books.

I definitely notice your hypersensitivity towards bothering other people and how you go in and out of the Church to change nappies, or to calm your noisy children and as you exit donning that almost apologetic look on your face that reads “I’m sorry that bringing my child to church disturbs and infuriates you all.”

Of course I also see the heads that turn in your direction and the eyes that roll, indicating their dismay at the fact that you cannot keep your children under control and quiet. Their untoward demeanor spells out a mighty

"Shame on you for not practicing adequate child rearing techniques that would have your children more disciplined, like the ones we grew up with" ..selective amnesia at its best.

I also notice the ones who get that we are saved in communion with one another and seek to assist you where they can, sometimes simply by smiling at you, giving you strength and courage to keep on keeping on. There are those of course who seem nervous, not because they are annoyed, but because they want you to feel at peace but aren’t sure how to physically help and so, proceed to pray for your family.

Beloved mummies and daddies,

I see you prepared for everything under the sun (including many backup plans) so that you can cater for all your children's needs, in the hope that you have enough amusements to keep them quiet...well, quiet and calm enough.

Your tired eyes that express what you won't necessarily articulate ("is it even worth coming to Church when they are like this?") penetrate the inner core of our soul, making us all understand how blessed we are that you are with us, actively participating in your and our struggle on the journey to the Kingdom of God. A struggle that includes seeing infants, toddlers, young children, whose parents are willing to brave the discomfort, inconvenience and stress of bringing them into Church, even if it seems completely futile.

I am hit with the reality of seeing your children, who are blessed to hear the Word of God and to participate in their own way, in the mystical eternal Liturgy.

I see children with grace-filled parents who prioritize an eternal reality over other people’s temporary discomfort.

I experience the inner bliss of distributing Holy Communion to your little children, who are more worthy than all of us to approach the chalice of life. Your children who teach me and us all with their innocence, that we need to become like them to inherit the Kingdom of God.

I observe your children, as God made them and handed them into your care, so that you may offer them back to this eternal and blessed forever-ness in our Lord's Reign.

Please continue to bring your children to Church, no matter what their age is.

Please do so, not only for your salvation, but for ours.

As has been mentioned repeatedly before, "if you do not hear crying, the church is dying."

Let us not forget:

People were bringing little children to Christ to have Him touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them “Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. I tell you the truth, anyone who will not receive the Kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” Mark 10:13-16

I am sure that other clergy notice all the above (and much more) and pray that you continue to join us.

Young families are our future and we shall endeavour to do what is necessary for the continuation of our Church, which is the Ark of Salvation.

With lots of love and blessings,

Fr Michael Psaromatis.

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wolfpawn · 5 years

Text

Once Bitten, Twice Shy Chapter 7

Previous Chapter

Chapter Summary - With the world talking about Tom Hiddleston and his writer girlfriend, it becomes clear the talk is turning profits for the pair and their professional endeavours, enough to give publicists and managers ideas.

Tag, @wolfsmom1 @sweetkingdomstarlight-blog @nonsensicalobsessions @damalseer @standing-onthe-edge

anyone else who wishes to be added to the tags, just ask :)

“So when are you meeting him again?”

“I’m not.” Paige looked at the coffee cup in front of her.

“Paige, of all people, I think you need to hear this from me. You need to start seeing people again. You looked like you genuinely liked him.” Nicola fought with her daughter to eat her food. “I know Derek did a number on the two of us, and I haven’t rushed out the door to find someone else, but I, at least, have gone out with a few people a couple of times, and I have a daughter.”

Paige said nothing more on the matter. She did not want to discuss it. “How is she now?”

“Her temperature is normal, she’ll have to stay on antibiotics for the rest of the week and the doctors want me to consider putting her on the lists for grommets.”

“Will they help?”

“Yes, now, stop changing the subject and explain how you ended up staying the night with one of the most eligible bachelors in London.”

“Even if I wanted to discuss it, your daughter is in the room.”

“My daughter is not old enough to understand what we are talking about.” Nicola pointed out. “How does helping with a character turn into you two in bed?”

“He's really well read, well spoken, respectful, everything.”

“So, the opposite of Derek then, that's a good start.” Paige gave you an unimpressed look. “Hey, I went out with him too, I know it's insulting to both of us. It doesn't make it any less true though, does it?”

Paige could not argue that. “I don't want to open myself to that again. You remember the way it was when you realised what was happening, why subject myself to that again?”

“You're not. Sure there is a risk of that. There always will be, but there's no guarantee. Why risk never being happy with a man again just because one asshole made us feel bad?”

Paige just looked at Alannah and said nothing.

“Mark?”

“A text wouldn't have killed you.” Her brother growled. “So, when is Mum having you drag him to dinner?”

“She wants that to happen at the earliest convenience. It will not be happening at all.”

“Why not?”

“Because there is nothing happening for it to happen. Tom and I are not in a relationship so there's no need for it to.”

“Then why were you having lunch with his family?”

For a moment, Paige did not know what to answer. “Because the other night, he asked me to help him with a character, I went to his home because I didn't want people to get the wrong idea.” Mark scoffed. “Shut up, I ended up staying the night, yes, I know. And the next morning, his mum and sister showed up and he asked me to pretend it was more than it was because his mum is like ours only she insisted we go out to eat and it all snowballed from there.” In truth, telling him everything actually felt good.

There was silence on the other end of the phone or a few seconds, which worried Paige before the sound of her brother erupting in laughter filled her ear. “You're lying, you have to be lying. Please tell me it's true, Paige. I'm begging you, please tell me this actually happened.”

Paige scoffed. Of course, Mark would think it was hilarious. It was part of the reason she loved him so much, he was so relaxed about most everything and tried to see the light side of any situation. “It's a hundred per cent the truth.” He started laughing again. “It's not actually that funny.”

“It's not funny, it's hilarious.” Mark countered. “Honestly, that's the funniest shit I've ever heard. Brilliant.”

“Thanks a lot.”

“Honestly, Paige. I love you, I really do. No other sister could be this funny.”

“Thank you. You know your amusement is paramount in the going ons of my life.” He chuckled again. “And what's worse is his Mum was lovely and so nice to me, which is made worse because apparently, she doesn’t like any woman he has introduced to her.” He laughed. “Mark!”

“Honestly, Paige. This is better than telly.”

“You're no help.”

“In what way do you think I could help you with this? So, what, you're not going to see him again?”

“Not like that, no.”

“Can I ask why?”

“You can ask, yes, that doesn't mean I'll answer.”

“Paige...you really need to stop holding onto that prick and what he did.” She did not respond. “He's off now, with someone else and he left you, and Nicola, of course, messed up. Nicola now has to think of the daughter he left her to care for and you...you won't even leave someone in.”

“I don't need someone.”

“No one needs someone, but you are risking not being happy for a guy who never cared if you were, you are letting him rule your life. I mean, I know this guy is an actor and you really could be one too, but you seemed to genuinely enjoy Hiddleston's company in those pictures and vice versa.”

“He is great company, I wouldn't deny that. I don't need to be seeing him to enjoy and want to be in his company.”

“Yet in two years, he's the first guy you seem to have not instantly regretted being around.”

“I regret it, believe me.”

“It, or the joke of the day that it caused? Because those are two entirely things.”

Paige said nothing more and contemplated her brother's words.

For the next week, including the following Sunday’s obligatory dinner with her family, that, even with constant mentions of Tom joining them, Paige really did enjoy, mostly because Mark spent the majority of the day making her laugh by laughing at the situation she found herself in, made all the funnier by their mother then mentioning Tom again, which caused Paige to warn her brother with a glare to say nothing, causing him to laugh, and her again in turn.

It was Wednesday, she had just cleaned the living room, cleaning and not paying too great heed to anything when her phone went off. Hearing the ringtone she kept for Oscar, she walked over and picked it up. “Good afternoon to you, Mr Richards, how are you today?”

“I am wonderful, Ms Winters, absolutely wonderful and do you know why?”

His even more dramatic tone than usual startled Paige somewhat. Oscar was a naturally jovial man, but this was very excited, even for him. “I have no idea.”

“Guess who has two of her books in the top ten of the week again?”

“What?”

“I told you, your little relationship coming out has caused his fans to be interested in your work, you have increased sales, fourteen thousand copies is the least you have sold of your books and the sales are global, not just here in Britain and the only reason that one is not selling as well is it is the sequel, so predicted sales for that are expected to increase also.” silence was the only response. “Paige?”

“I...I don’t know what to say.”

“I told you that your relationship with Mr Hiddleston would reap benefits.”

“But we are not in a relationship Oscar, I told you already. I was merely assisting him with his work and people got the wrong end of the stick.”

Finally, Oscar seemed to be listening to her. “You’re being honest with me?”

“What reason have I to lie?”

“I see.” Oscar’s tone was low and pensive. “Paige, I will ring you back in a while, alright?”

“Sure fine. I will talk to you then.” The line went dead immediately after.

Thinking over what Oscar had said, she got up Google on her phone and typed in the ten best sellers of the week. Sure enough, her name glared through the phone screen back at her, not once, but twice. Two of her books were on it. It was not a coincidence, there was no way for it to be. She went onto Amazon and typed in the name of her best seller. Sure enough, the reviews had skyrocketed and the 4.0-star rating now was at 4.5. She did not know what to think or say.

A short time later, her phone rang again, Oscar’s tone. She answered it, anxious to see what he had to say. “Are you busy?”

“At present, not particularly, why?”

“Come to my office.”

“Now?”

“Please, Paige.”

“I can be there in about an hour.”

“Faster, Paige. Please.”

Paige tidied herself up, then went and retrieved her jacket before going out the door, wondering what it was Oscar wanted.

Paige’s confusion was only intensified when she turned up at Oscar’s office to see none other than Tom looking at her, awkwardly. “Hello.”

“Hi.” She gave a forced small smile back. “Why are you here?”

“I am not sure, if I’m honest.” He confessed. “Luke told me to come here and when Luke uses that particular tone, it is best to comply. Why are you here?”

“Oscar is my manager and PR agent. He told me to come in ASAP.”

Tom nodded as he thought over her words. “How are you?”

“Good, you?”

“Fine. My mother is very much asking for you.”

Paige could only laugh slightly at that. “My mother is livid I met yours and is all but insisting I bring you to dinner. Your name came up at her dinner table more on Sunday than all other names combined.”

“I’m sorry.”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Honestly, I caused you nothing but pain and misery.”

“That’s a tad overdramatic. My brother thinks this is completely hilarious.”

“You told him?”

“Yes.”

“And he is okay with it?”

“Why wouldn’t he be?”

“What we did…”

“My brother is a fully grown man, he knows what we did, why we played up in front of your mother, and he is laughing at me any time he sees me or gets a call from me and I am about this close to kicking him in the balls.” She showed her index and thumb to Tom, both about a millimetre from one another.

“Oh dear.” Tom winced slightly at the idea. “So, your manager/publicist, my agent and my publicist are in that room without us, that is a tad concerning.”

“Only a tad.” Paige looked at the door. “Has your week been affected?”

“Excuse me?” Tom did not know how to comprehend that particular question.

“Your week, has it been affected by our being seen together last week?”

“I...don’t know. I mean, Ben gave me the questioning of a lifetime, but other than that, no.”

“Okay.” She went back to thinking.

“Can I ask why you would ask that?”

“I don’t know. I am trying to make sense of this.”

Tom was about to respond when Anja, Oscar’s secretary since before Paige had hired him, came out of the room. “They are asking for you to join them now.” She held the door open for them, Tom standing back and allowing Paige to enter first. The manner in which the three men were looking at them concerned both Tom and Paige.

“Luke, Christian, what is going on?” Tom was the first to speak.

“We just want to speak to you both for a moment,” Luke explained. “Ms Winters, I am Luke Windsor, I am Tom’s publicist, this is Christian Hodell, he is one of the partners of Hamilton Hodell and Tom’s agent. Tom this is Oscar Richard’s, Paige’s publicist and manager.”

“Hello.” Paige gave an apologetic smile. “I fear I can only apologise for the work last week caused for you all.”

“Yes, honestly, we did not mean for it to happen,” Tom added.

“No, that was nothing.” Oscar dismissed. “But the ripple effect of it has caused us to think.” Paige and Tom looked at one another, bewildered. “As you know from our call earlier, Paige, this has had an impact on you.” Tom looked at Paige worriedly. “You’ve sold more books in the past week than you have since the movie deal and the reviews are continuing to increase. The BBC wants you to go on the radio about it. They have badgered me twice today about it.”

“Wow.”

“Tom, Betrayal has almost sold out, there are only a few tickets left for most every date,” Christian told him, Luke nodded. “Honestly, this is the fastest sales they have had. Many are already sold out.”

“It’s on for nearly four months,” Tom commented. “I know we expected big sales, but that many?”

“Ms Winters holds a following of educated and well-read fans, her approval of your work, your name and sheer talent on stage, it’s a deadly duo. Going by social media, the overlap is causing significant sales.” Christian explained.

Luke looked between the pair. “It would seem that you’re an unexpected power couple.”

“But…” Paige began.

“Yes. I told them, you stated there is no actual relationship here.” Oscar stated.

Immediately, Paige realised what was happening, she noted the terms and reasons being used and realised what was being implied. “You want to stage one?”

Luke smiled, realising how intelligent she was to have figured it out before Tom, who now seemed to be on the same page as them. “I know it is not the most ideal situation, but all things considered, we think that for a short time, it may be in both parties best interests, to consider such a situation.”

“By best interests, let’s just be clear here, you are implying our work interests,” Tom interjected. “Luke…”

“Tom, after the last disaster, you really cannot afford to simply be seen with a woman once again and for her to dash off again soon after.” Tom felt as though that was a low blow and it showed. “I know this seems harsh Tom, but it is a good idea, I feel. Of all the women, Paige is so well suited, and Ms Winter’s, your sales are set to rise this week.” She looked at him curiously. “I know this is a tad tacky, I thought the same thing when Oscar suggested it, but it is an idea that is very much profitable to both parties.”

“There’s more to life than simply money, Mr Windsor.”

Luke chuckled. “Yes, there is, and that is part of the reasoning for this. You are not going to do a ‘sell all’, neither is Tom. You both ride this little wave, you say the publicity of the press was too much after it, part ways and nothing more. No nasty songs, media comments, nothing.”

Tom shook his head slightly. “We’re above this.” He looked at Paige. “What happened last week caused me to force Paige into something that she did not want, I feel incredibly guilty about this, I am not doing that again.”

“The issue with last week, from what you have told me, is your mother forcing you in public, this time, should you agree, everything will be laid out on the table, no nasty surprises, for you both to agree to.” Luke countered.

“What would be expected of us?” Paige asked, not because she was seriously thinking of considering it, but to see what was the lie of the land.

“Going to dinner, getting coffee, walking Tom’s dog, going to the play, just being seen to be two regular human beings, very ‘normal’ things really.”

“Tom doesn’t need a ‘girlfriend’, he is portrayed fine by himself.” Paige pointed out.

“Not really.” She looked at Tom, startled to hear it was him that was answering, not his team. “I took a hit for the whole Taylor Swift thing, I am seeing as a bit of a joke now.” She looked sadly at him. “I accepted that it was my own doing. But I am not subjecting you to it, it’s not fair.”

“I just don’t understand why we would fake a relationship.”

“This is the era of such things, sadly. One’s own merit is not everything anymore.” Christian stated. “I know this is odd, and you are both highly professional and inoffensive people, but that is part of it. Katie Price sells more books than most serious female writers, which is wrong, as of course, they are ghostwritten, but she is more famous and for that, she profits.”

Paige paused and thought over what he said. She had no quarrel with Katie Price, she had not even met the other woman, but yes, her chick-lit did outsell Booker Prize Winners and that never sat fully with Paige, she felt more serious work deserved more praise. “So, if we cannot beat them, join them, is it?”

“Fuck no,” Oscar growled. “No drugged out of your head, no dirty laundry in public, just you two, acting like two normal people just enjoying a healthy relationship, nothing more.”

“That won’t sell for long, though.” Tom pointed out.

“No, but that is why we just go with it for now while it is selling,” Christian argued. “Think it over, it will very much be worth your while, I think you’ll find.”

Tom and Paige simply looked at one another again.

#tom hiddleston #tom hiddleston fic #chapter 7 #Once Bitten Twice Shy

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readyplayerhobi · 6 years

Text

Little Drummer Boy

; Metal Band!Hoseok x Reader

; Genre: Smut, fluff

; Word Count: 6.8k

; Warnings: Sub!Hoseok, Dom!Reader, blowjob, face sitting oral (receiving), light biting, restraints, unprotected sex, creampie,

; Synopsis: Entrusting the task of building a bed to your new husband should have been easier, but there’s a reason he’s a professional drummer and not a carpenter. Maybe a little fun will encourage him to remember to follow instructions in the future.

; Behind the Mask Masterpost

; A/N: This was my way of getting over writer’s block. It’s fluffy smut that I just needed to cheer me up, and hopefully cheer everyone else up too!

Placing your hands on your hips, you looked over the wooden bookcase that you’d finally finished building. DIY was not your forte but you’d been determined to not be defeated by a damned bookcase, which was why you’d spent the last hour carefully studying the instructions and putting it together slowly.

It may have taken you a while, but it looked good and it was sturdy. Smiling to yourself in pleasure at having completed it, you dragged over the box marked ‘BOOKS’ and began to place them on the shelves carefully. You had no particular system of ordering, just making sure that books by the same author were placed together. The only thing you required was that the sizing looked okay.

Nothing was more annoying than having a really tall book in the middle of everything, ruining the image. Once the books were in place, you contemplate for a few moments what kind of decorations you can add to make it look a little bit more homely. One of Hoseok’s bandmates had bought you both a light box that had been made to look like a traditional cinema sign.

Though packed away, you knew that it said both of your names and you figured it would look pretty cute on here. You’d add it, but you weren’t entirely sure what box it was in yet. Eyes glancing around the room, you let out a deep sigh as you noted all the full boxes that still remained around your new house.

Your rigid and unforgiving family had meant that you’d lived alone for the four years that you’d dated Hoseok. Secretly dated. Though he’d basically lived at your apartment by the time he’d proposed, but the two of you had decided that you’d buy a new house together. A house that was big enough to raise a family in.

Opening up the box that was simply titled ‘MEMORIES’, you pulled out the large, black picture frame that was made up of lots of smaller frames. Each one was filled with a photograph of Hoseok and you, from selfies that included big smiles to candid photos taken by your friends of intimate moments.

Scanning the main room with a firm eye, you note the perfect place for it and rest it against the wall on the floor. You’d need to buy hooks to start putting up the picture frames but for now, you’d just put them in places that you think might work. Hoseok might have a different opinion but he was free to give his thoughts.

Pulling out a single photo frame, you stare down at it before chewing your lip slowly. It’s of you and your brother, Jimin, on the night of your engagement party. His black hair is parted just off centre and styled away from his forehead while a black and white letterman style jacket adorns his torso, a plain black shirt underneath matching the skinny black jeans he’d worn.

The entire image he gave off was casual but unattainable. His jacket looked like something anyone could wear, but it’s only when you looked closer that you would notice the Louis Vuitton logo that immediately put it far above what most people could afford. Your brother made style effortless and it made him popular with the ladies.

He looked every inch the playboy businessman he was, but it still made your throat thicken when you looked at the image. Your brother had supported your relationship with Hoseok 100%, keeping your parents attention firmly away from you and coming up with a million excuses as to why you weren’t at a dinner, or why you didn’t want to go on holiday. He’d been the number one supporter of Hoseok proposing and had apparently been the one to convince him to finally pop the question.

Poor Hoseok had wanted to for a year, but he’d never even bought a ring as he’d thought it was a pointless and futile endeavour. There was no way your parents would ever approve of marriage to him; they wouldn’t have even approved of you dating. The terror of your parents had manifested itself in Hoseok to the point that every time you went to tell them about your relationship, he’d panicked and stopped you. A secret relationship was better than no relationship, he’d argued.

It had broken your heart to know that your sweet and kind husband had been content with the idea of remaining a secret from his other half’s family, possibly forever. He must have let it slip to Jimin though, which had resulted in Jimin convincing Hoseok to give it a chance. You had no idea what he’d said, but you suspected it was something along the lines of ‘you love my sister, not my family. We don’t even love our family’, or at least that’s what you imagined.

Unsurprisingly, your parents had gone nuclear when they’d been introduced to Hoseok. You still cried today about the things they’d said to him, finding everything possible to pick apart about him. His piercings and tattoos had produced a physical reaction of disgust, despite the fact he’d dressed nice for the occasion.

The fact that he was rich, very rich, and successful with his band didn’t even register to them. They’d focused on his poor upbringing, the poverty he’d grown up in and the dangerous school he’d been educated in. They’d sneered at the fact he’d dropped out of high school to join the band, drums being his one escape from his life that a kindly music teacher had encouraged him in.

Everything that they could have skewered Hoseok with, they did until eventually you had a full on screaming match with them. Your father and mother were used to being obeyed though and they’d thought that you would eventually back down, as you always had. But they’d underestimated just how much you loved the man who had sat there and taken their verbal abuse without so much as a flinch, all because he loved you.

And so you’d refused to break the proposal and refused point blank to leave him either. That had enraged them and led to you becoming disowned from the family, cut off from any funding and banned from any family events. They’d tried their hardest to enforce it on Jimin, but he’d quite plainly told them they either let him continue his relationship with you, or they could disown him as well. And he was more important than you to the family.

The harsh severing of your family ties had upset Hoseok intensely, leading to him suggesting that perhaps you might want to leave him. Family was important to him, with his band members being his adopted family that he relied and depended on intensely. But you’d simply noted that he was your family now, and one day you’d have a family that you would both love without reservations. It just so happened the people who had given you life didn’t want to be part of that.

Running a finger along Jimin’s face, you give a soft smile that wobbles ever so slightly. Jimin was the only blood family you would claim now, and you wished him to have the happiest life possible. He was the one who had walked you down the aisle and the one who had cried like a baby giving his speech at your reception.

And he was the one who had given Hoseok courage to do things he’d been terrified of, becoming your husband’s brother just as much as your own. Placing the frame on the bookcase you’d built earlier, you vowed to call him over to show him your new home as soon as possible.

Realising that you’d been putting the frames out in complete silence, you frown slightly before heading over to the bedroom. The door was shut, but you open it quietly before leaning against the frame, tongue in your cheek as you watch the spectacle in front of you.

Your new husband is sat on the floor, his ripped black jeans stretching over his muscular thighs while his plain white shirt makes the colourful tattoos rippling along his arms and neck stand out even further. His black hair is a complete mess on his head, and his hand running through it once more lets you know why.

Watching in silence, you smirk slightly as he sucks on of his lip rings into his mouth idly, the soft clinking of the metal ring against his teeth the only noise in the otherwise silent room. His brow is creased as he reads the instructions on the sheet in front of him, mouth twisting into a confused expression before he looks back at the bed he’d said he’d build.

You’d both opted to fill the large master bedroom with a queen sized bed, allowing the two of you plenty of space to sprawl without interrupting the other. As great as relationships were, sometimes sleep just required you to have your own space without getting tangled in someone else.

He’d taken charge of building the bed while you had opted for the bookcase, though maybe you should have let him build the bookcase instead. Or maybe nothing at all as you look over what is apparently supposed to be a bed. It was a four poster bed which required piecing together carefully, and it was with lots of bemusement and a little frustration that you note that your husband has managed to put half the bed together one way and the other half the other way.

How he’d managed that, you’ll never know.

The shifting of your feet catches his attention and he looks over suddenly, eyes wide like a deer caught in headlights. Said eyes flicker back to the deformed bed before he looks back over, a sweet and innocent smile causing his cute dimples to appear.

“Hi.” He says simply, fingers tightening slightly around the instructions while a dusky rose brushes his cheeks. Stepping into the room, you let the door close behind you before crouching down next to him and simply observing the bed.

“I thought you said that you could put it together?” You ask, tone carefully neutral. He reluctantly looks at the bed too and gives a tiny shrug, his shoulders rising slightly in embarrassment. Lifting the instructions he waves them and the crackling of paper takes over.

“I totally could. It’s just...these instructions make no sense.” He mumbles towards the end, sucking a lip ring in again as he nervously chews it. Pressing your lips together to try and stop the smile that wants to spread, you reach forward and gently tug the lip ring back out.

“You always eat that ring when you lie baby. You didn’t read the instructions did you?” Hoseok’s mouth opens to refute your statement before he realises that you obviously know. Letting out a deep sigh, his shoulders lower as he nods, pretty pink lips puckering into a pout.

Laughing quietly, you lean forward and press the quickest kiss to those lips before leaning back. “I told you to read them. I read my instructions and the bookcase is done.” He fumbles for a moment, trying to figure out what to say before giving you a dejected look.

“I thought it would be easy.” The corners of his lips turn down before he suddenly brightens up, his expression getting light and happy as he points at the queen sized mattress taking up the corner, covered in the duvet and pillows you’d bought to combat the cool nights of autumn.

“I put the covers on the duvet though! They’re pretty…” He trails off, gaze looking down before he looks up at you through his lashes. “Like you.” You laugh out loud at that, noting the neutral flower pattern that you’d both chosen at the home decoration store.

“You’re such a charmer. That mouth will get you anything won’t it?” You grin, dropping to your knees and pressing another kiss to his forehead. When you pull back, you note that his eyes have closed in contentment while a tiny smile graces his face.

“You’ve never complained about this mouth before.” He whispers, voice low and raspy as he opens his eyes to reveal them slightly glazed. A tiny smirk raises the corner of his mouth before he’s tugging you into his lap, wrapping his arms tightly around your waist and rocking slightly as you squeal and laugh.

Stopping, you simply admire his face for a few moments while he does the same in turn to you. The septum piercing that had sent your mother into fits combines with the two lip rings to always give the impression that this is a man who likes the wilder side of life. A few of your friends wonder why on earth he would choose to interrupt such an arresting face, but you liked his piercings.

They turned a sculpture perfect face into something more realistic, intentionally interrupting the model worthy lines that swoop and swerve to produce the face you’d fallen for years ago. Running your fingers through his soft hair, you let your nails gently drag along his scalp and take enjoyment out of the soft shudder of pleasure that runs through his body.

Your other hand comes up to play with his earrings, the black plugs that take up space in his ear lobes, the industrial piercing in his left ear and the countless rings that scatter across his right ear. You’d teased him plenty of times for being addicted to piercings as well as tattoos, particularly when he decided to get his lip rings but he’d simply shrugged.

“I thought you wanted me to build the bed.” A gravel like tone makes your insides quiver and the heady look in his eyes has you squirming slightly. Despite his words, his hands are slowly running the length of your waist in slow and calculated movements.

Looking back at the bed you’d have to dismantle, you shrug before looking over to the mattress on the floor. “We don’t need a bed, just a mattress.” Tugging your lip into your mouth, his eyes watch the movement intently and you feel his hands tighten ever so slightly. Reaching down, you take his left hand and slowly bring it to your lips, pressing feather soft kisses on the pad of his fingers.

When you kiss his ring finger, you go one step further by slowly sucking it into your mouth, pressing your tongue firmly against him until your lips meet his new wedding ring. He watches with an open mouth, the softest groan leaving him at the sight while his eyes go hooded as you swirl your tongue around his ring.

Pulling his finger out slowly, you press the final kiss to his pinkie finger before leaning forward to meet his lips. He’s eager and you feel more than a few wisps of neediness as his tongue meets yours, fighting for dominance until you’re both gasping for breath. Normally you’d give him it, preferring to let him control the sex and rule over you.

But today you feel like turning the tables and it takes so little effort to tug at the silky strands of his hair. He lets out a quiet noise of annoyance at not getting way until your tugging becomes firmer, gripping tight and pulling until his head slowly rolls backwards.

You don’t move though and the seal of your lips breaks, leaving you both panting at each other as he looks up at you with defiance and lust. The thick column of his throat moves as he swallows, the angle causing it to be more defined than normal and you let out a muted moan at the sight of his Adam’s apple bobbing.

The vibrant splashes of colour that line his throat are even more visible at this angle, easily seen from above the low cut of his collar. Vivid red roses clash with yellow sunflowers, tiny little skulls visible in the gaps inbetween and without a thought you’re mouthing along them. His body stiffens and you feel him trying to pull his head back, but the firm grip you have on him stops him.

The tattoos provide the perfect canvas to trail and you slowly run your tongue along the bold black outlines. He shudders and a deep groan vibrates through his throat onto your tongue, the vibrations acting like a direct line to your pussy as you clench around nothing.

“Baby, we don’t have any of our toys.” He manages to get out and you pull away, looking down at his flushed face. Smirking, you close in on him and watch his wide pupils blow out at the look in your face. Your tongue lazily plays with his lip ring, causing him to open his mouth slightly and let you see a glimpse the tongue piercing he’d gotten a few months before your wedding.

“I don’t want to be your little bitch today. You messed up the bed, so I think it’s time for my little drummer boy to shut up and let Mistress have some fun, yeah?” He fights it for a moment, a whole myriad of emotions fleeting across his face quickly from annoyance to craving.

Your sexual relationship with Hoseok had nearly always been with him in the driving seat. Under his caring and experienced hands, you’d reached new heights of pleasure that you’d only read about in books or seen in films. It had taken you over a year before you finally realised that Hoseok was not, in fact, a sole dom but that he also enjoyed switching into submissive on occasion.

It was usually when he felt like it though and you rarely engaged in it, preferring to have your Master take care of you. But sometimes, like today, the Mistress just came right out with a need to bring him under control.

You watch with eager eyes as his expression finally flattens out, deep brown eyes watching you carefully as every muscle in his body relaxes under you. His next words have your body shuddering with excitement and pleasure, hearing something you never thought you’d be interested in but had learnt to love. “Yes Mistress. I’ll be a good boy.”

A caring smile paints itself on your face and you let go of his hair lightly, gently running your hand along his jaw while your thumb strokes his cheek. Pushing off him, you stand and point to the mattress. “Strip and lay down. And do it slowly, I want to enjoy it.”

He stays still for a moment before his pink tongue flicks out, licking his lips quickly. Moving over to the mattress with long, confident strides, he turns around and gives a slight smirk. Gripping the hem of his shirt, he slowly lifts it before tugging it over his head, leaving him standing in just ripped black jeans.

There’s absolutely no sound between the two of you as he watches, his eyes daring you to do something and you note that he has no intention of being a good boy. He never did when you took control. His fingers slowly move down his torso before reaching the button of his jeans and he moves achingly slow as he undoes them.

Keeping his eyes firmly on you, he lets the jeans slowly drop down his legs, revealing incredibly toned thighs and calves, the golden skin occasionally broken by the odd smattering of colour. With a casual movement, he throws both items of clothing to the side and stands before you naked, his semi-hard cock bobbing slightly in the air.

“I get the feeling you’re not being a good boy,” You murmur, tugging your clothes off quickly to make sure he doesn’t get the pleasure of seeing you strip for him. It doesn’t stop the flare of desire that lights up in his eyes though but he stays quiet.

Once you’re naked, you click your fingers and point to the mattress and he slowly lays down, watching you out of the corner of his eyes. Moving over to him, you smirk at the look of defiance that he gives you before leaning over and biting gently on his side. He hisses immediately, body shifting slightly to get away from you but you simply lave the sore spot with your tongue slowly.

His chest is taken up with a huge tattoo of a phoenix, golds and reds exploding across his chest in a vision of fire which slowly transform into dragons, fighting over his stomach. You take your time to repaint the pictures with your tongue, making sure to keep the touch light so as to drive his senses crazy.

“Baby…” He moans out as you hit a particularly sensitive spot, his twitching erection catching your attention out of the corner of your eye. You curse the fact that your toys are all gone, desperately wanting to put his cock ring on him, but when his hand twines in your hair, you decide to improvise.

Reaching back over, you grab your shirt and take his hands, pressing them together before tying the fabric firmly around them. He scowls at you but stays quiet, being good for once though the lip rings ruin the image completely.

“I don’t have much to make you be good little drummer boy, but you will be good otherwise you won’t cum. Got that? I’ll leave you hard and aching, and if you get yourself off then you’re not having sex for a while.” He gapes at you slightly and goes to complain before snapping his jaw shut with an audible click.

“Yes Mistress.” Hoseok mutters and you laugh, dragging your fingernails along his stomach and enjoying the way his muscles convulse immediately. Leaning down, you let your tongue circle one nipple, peaked from the cool temperature, and he’s letting out a restrained grunt.

You move down his stomach, enjoying the way his toned muscles flex underneath your mouth before you reach the patch of hair that surrounds the base of his cock. Nosing along the soft skin, you smile slightly when you feel the tip of him brush against your cheek, leaving a wet trail behind.

Looking up at him, you smirk as his face scrunches up at the sight of his precum that streaks your cheek. You decide to leave it there, knowing how much he loves it when your face gets messy from him but abandon that area of his body completely. Even though he’s trying to follow your orders, he can’t stop the ghost of a whine that leaves his throat as you move away from the area he wants you in most.

Throwing a leg over his waist, you look down on him from your lofty position and smile brightly. His face shifts into a look of confusion before his eyes narrow in suspicion. You say nothing for a moment, simply lowering yourself and slowly grinding against his stomach, letting out a quiet moan as he unwittingly stimulates your clit.

Immediately he’s lifting his head and looking at the spot, letting out a breathy sigh at the sight of you leaving behind wetness on him. Pushing at his shoulder, you make him lay back down and continue to rotate your hips slowly, eyes fluttering closed as you use his body to give you pleasure.

You carry on like this for a few minutes, your pants slowly growing louder while his face looks more pained the longer you go on. Stopping your movement suddenly, you look down at the wet mess you’re making on his stomach and grin broadly, shifting further down his body in slow and sensual movements.

His cock brushes against your clit as you move, causing him to choke on a breath at the oversensitivity he’s suffering from not being touched. “Watch me little drummer boy.” You whisper low, voice gruff and immediately his bringing his head up to watch you.

Keeping firm eye contact with Hoseok, you lazily lap up the wet patch of your juices on his stomach and hum contently, causing a whistling whine to leave his throat at the sight. “Do you want to taste me too?” You ask innocently, making your eyes go big and wide as you pout your lips ever so slightly.

His head is moving in a nod before you’ve even finished your sentence and your lips tug into a smile. “Yes Mistress, please Mistress.” You sit back on his thigh, finger tapping your lips as you consider for a few moments just to prolong his need before giving a cute nod.

“Okay, you can taste Mistress.” He’s about to move, muscles rippling across his body as he expects you to lay down and for him to nestle between your legs. But instead, you press a hand firmly onto his stomach, leading him to frown in confusion.

Without a word, you crawl up his body slowly, a predatory gaze of seduction in your eyes that has him swallowing thickly. You keep going until your positioned directly above his face, giving him the perfect view up your body, but most importantly of the achingly empty and wet place between your thighs that’s just begging for his tongue.

“Eat.” You order, grinning as you lower yourself enough so that he can reach you without getting neck ache. There’s a moment of nothing as he simply watches you with blown out eyes before he opens his mouth and slowly extends his tongue. The sight has you shivering, but it’s the gentle touch of his tongue to your soaking entrance that has you moaning out loudly.

He doesn’t bother with your clit for the moment, instead sinking his tongue as far as he can into you before slowly pulling it back out. Hoseok repeats the action for the next minute, going as slowly as he can until your hips are pushing down on him desperately, body tightening around the thick, wet muscle.

“Speed it up, drummer boy,” You curse quietly, voice demanding and sharp as you reach down and grip at his hair. He grunts in response before acknowledging your order, his tongue beginning to simulate his cock as he fucks you faster. Each curl of his tongue inside your pussy has you gasping out, face creasing in concentration as your thighs tremble.

It’s made even more pleasurable by the ball of his tongue piercing pressing against your inner walls, each stroke pressing the metal against you firmly and sparking tiny wildfires of pleasure in your body. He pulls his tongue out of you and slowly licks up to your clit, playing with the engorged bundle of nerves lazily with the tip before pressing firmly against you.

His piercing hits your clit perfectly and he can tell by the way your body jerks forward slightly, an animalistic groan leaving your throat as your hand tightens in his hair, other hand falling forward onto the mattress. Tiny movements of his tongue stimulates your clit, which when combined with the overwhelming wetness of his tongue has you letting out noises that would have embarrassed you years ago.

“Make me cum little drummer boy, make me cum on all over your face yeah?” You whisper out, voice haggard from your moans. Wrapping his lips around your clit, he hums in acknowledgement before his tongue goes to work. The flexing of his hands underneath the shirt restraint lets you know that he’d be fingering you right now he could get his hands into position and the knowledge makes you clench.

It’s a heady combination that tips you over the edge, sparks of pleasure erupting from your stomach outwards as your husband’s talented tongue makes you orgasm for what feels like a whole minute. He doesn’t stop either, continue to kitten lick at your overly sensitive clit until your hissing, lifting yourself just enough that his tongue can’t reach you anymore.

Moving a jelly like thigh over his body, you slump against the wall and pant as you watch him. He eyes you with a smug look, licking his lips slowly and you’re clenching around nothing at all at the sight of his wet cheeks and chin. Leaning forward, you ignore the complaints of your thigh muscles as you ever so slowly tongue yourself off his face, enjoying the hissing sigh he lets out as you do.

“You were a good boy. I think I should reward you.” You murmur, pressing an open kiss to his mouth and moving away before he can react. Before he can say anything else, you grab a tight hold of his cock which has his hips jerking up automatically.

Eyeing the thick member with hunger, you squeeze tightly while stroking upwards, the skin hot and silk soft underneath your hand and encasing what feels like steel underneath. Whiny pants leave his throat at your touch, morphing into a low groan when you reach his tip and swipe a thumb over the slit there, wiping at the pre-cum currently leaking from him.

“So hard, I think someone likes being dominated by his wife right?” You ask, voice pleasant and smile sweet as you look back at him. He twitches in your hand at the word ‘wife’ and you have to bite your lip to stop yourself from saying something. Even in the midst of being dominated, he gets turned on you calling yourself his wife. Cute.

Twisting your hand around his shaft, you stroke in a consistent manner that has him writhing on the bed. His precum isn’t providing enough lubrication for you and so you engulf him in your mouth, his frustrated red tip being swallowed whole as you move him even further till he hits the back of your throat.

Staying there for a moment, you continue to stroke him from his base to your lips before you swallow around his tip, causing him to cry out. You keep him firmly in place by pressing your other hand to his hips hard before you slowly pull your head up, tongue leaving a slick trail up the underside of his cock as you do so.

Shifting your hand, you cup his balls gently, playing with them while you lick at him with tiny, almost non-existent licks. It amuses you slightly how you push his cock away with your tongue and how it comes back immediately, desperate for your touch.

Looking back at him momentarily, you note his closed eyes and the look of pleasure and frustration that has his face creasing. His colourful arms are tensed, the muscles gained from drumming prominent, yet you note with pleasure that he’s following orders and hasn’t moved them.

Turning back to his dick, currently swaying as if trying to get your attention, you smirk before making your next move. Squeezing his balls just enough to be pleasurable, you lick along his frenulum at the same and enjoy the explosive curse words he’s shouting out.

Grinning, you take him fully into your mouth once more and begin to hum along to one of his songs that is in your head. You know the vibrations are driving him wild from the tiny thrusts his hips are making before he’s suddenly letting out a strained laugh. “Good one Mistress, singing my song to me.”

You pull off him with a wet pop before grinning back at him, giving him a slow wink before licking along the thick vein of his cock like a lollipop, all the while maintaining eye contact. He grits his teeth at the sight, letting his head fall back with a frustrated cry.

Getting bored of blowing him for a few minutes, you let his cock fall to his stomach before sitting back and looking at him. He lifts his head up to gaze at you again, expression fucked out and hair even more all over the place than when you’d first come in here.

Smiling at him, you straddle his waist before taking a firm grip of him, rocking your hips lazily so that he’s slipping between your lower lips, pressing against your clit and getting covered in a delicious wetness. Hoseok bites his lip at the sight and you enjoy watching your husband, tattooed, pierced and normally so dominant, being so pliant and submissive between your legs.

“Do you want to be inside me?” You ask charmingly, a coy smile on your lips. He reverts his focus from between your thighs to your eyes, nodding before he even realises what he’s doing apparently.

“Okay, you’ve been a good little drummer boy today haven’t you?” You say, slipping the tip of him inside you and letting out a soft moan as your slickness makes his entrance easy. He lets out a responding groan, the sound elongating as you slowly sink down his length.

Your eyes rolls back into your head as he bottoms out, your thighs releasing any tension as you rest on top of him for a moment. It fascinates you how he always feels so damn good inside you, cock filling every empty space and pressing against all the spots that make you cry out in bliss.

Squeezing around him experimentally, you can’t help but beam at the ceiling as you feel your husband jerk underneath you. Letting your head fall back down, you clench your thighs to lift yourself up, almost to the point he’s in danger of slipping out of you before slowly sliding back down him.

The next few minutes are just filled of that, the heady sounds of both of your pants and along with the slick sounds of his dick moving in you. Pressing a hand to his stomach and letting the other rest on the mattress, you use the position to speed up your movements, hips rotating on each rock and causing him to press against the extra special spongy bundle of nerves inside you.

“Hoseok…” You whisper, your willingness to continue on the dominant role disappearing with each thrust. This was why he was the better dom, as he had an iron control over his desire and could keep it up for ages. You on the other hand put up a reasonable start before dissolving into fits of need.

It’s hard to care though when you open your eyes and see him watching you, mouth open as he gulps for breath while sweat is already causing his tanned skin to glow even more. Any control you have vanishes as you lean forward, catching his lips with your own and whining at the feel of the cool lip rings pressing against you.

He can tell that the game is up, resulting in his arms flexing for a few moments before there’s a quiet ripping sound and his hands are free. If you weren’t so completely gone on the pleasure his cock is providing, his own hips moving up to meet yours, you’d have complained at him ruining yet another shirt.

Instead, you simply open your mouth when he swipes his tongue along it, the taste of yourself still strong, and let him take over. Growling slightly, you feel his body tense momentarily before he’s suddenly pushing you over, rolling on top of you without even leaving your body.

“What happened to Mistress?” He asks, low and strained with effort as he begins to lazily thrust into you, hips snapping forward. You let your head roll back onto the mattress with a sigh as your legs wrap around his lean waist, pressing your feet into the small of his back to encourage him deeper.

“She went away, I want to make love to my husband for the first time in our house.” You whisper, cheeks flushing at your words. You’d worry that he’d find it sappy, or be annoyed that you’d stopped the dominance game with him but instead he just gives you the sweetest smile, his face brightening up as it takes over.

“I can do that.” He murmurs, lowering his head to recapture your lips as his hips continue to move, each thrust of his hips building the ball of pleasure inside of you. One hand leaves your hair to slowly trail down your body, his fingertips igniting fires of pleasure along your sensitive skin until he finally reaches your engorged clit.

Pressing down, he uses two fingers to make tiny circles on the nerve bundle, pressing down until your body twitches in pleasure and letting him know he’s got it right. He makes a circle in time to his movements, angling himself until his penis is pressing firmly against your g-spot with every thrust and you’re letting out quiet whimpers into his mouth.

Each touch of his fingers, combined with his relentless assault on your pussy, eventually has you writhing around on the mattress. “Hoseok please.” You beg, pulling away from his kiss to let your pleading breaths brush against his lip lightly.

“That’s it, come on baby. Cum for me.” He encourages quietly, fingers circling even faster as his hips move even faster. The feeling becomes too overwhelming and suddenly your head is pressing back against the mattress, face contorting into pleasure as a long, low moan is ripped from your throat.

Your inner muscles are convulsing around him continuously, causing him to grunt out in a combination of pain and pleasure, while your hips swivel wildly from the force of your orgasm. Only when you let out a sob of oversensitivity is when he removes his fingers, instead resting his elbow next to you while his head buries itself into your neck while he soon begins to chase his own high.

As you pant desperately, whimpers of pleasure being pulled at the feeling of him fucking into you in your post-orgasm bliss, he begins to let out low grunts and moans. The unbelievably wet sound of him thrusting into you stops suddenly as he presses himself fully inside, body shuddering as he lets out a long sigh that’s filled with satisfaction, cock twitching inside you as he empties himself.

Neither of you move afterwards for a minute, both simply enjoying the quiet moment between the two of you as the sweat on your skin begins to dry, causing your skin to goosebump in the cool air. Lifting his head, he looks at you with a tired grin which ignites a reciprocal smile from you.

Running your fingers through his sweat soaked hair, you tug his head down for another kiss. It’s sweet and chaste compared to what you’d done, but filled with so much love and happiness that you can’t help but sigh as your chest swells with emotion.

Rolling off you, Hoseok lays to your side and simply watches you, chest heaving as he works to regulate his breathing. Wrapping a tattooed arm around your waist, he tugs you closer before resting his head on your shoulder. The atmosphere is calm and relaxed, and you can’t help but bury your nose into his hair, inhaling the enhanced sweaty scent of him and the strawberry shampoo he’d used this morning.

“Are you happy?” Hoseok asks softly, his warm breath tickling your throat. Today was the first day you’d come into your new home, with the last two weeks spent in Greece on your honeymoon. Despite how content you’d both been, you could hear the slight anxiety and worry in his voice and it caused your heart to clench.

He was still worried that you’d realise one day that you’d made a mistake by marrying him. By choosing him.

Rolling onto your side to face him, you trail your fingers over his cheek gently before giving him a reassuring smile. “I’m happy with you.” You say firmly, trying hard to put your love and belief in him into your voice.

He stays quiet for a moment, chewing on his lip in a desperate effort to try and prevent a smile. It’s futile though and you see it creep along slowly, the tiny mole on his upper lip prominent. In an attempt to create a distraction, he nods over to the monstrosity he’d created earlier. “Even though I can’t even build a bed?”

You laugh softly and kiss his chin. “Beds are overrated. But I believe with my whole heart that you’ll definitely be better at building a life with me.”

“Is your name Mozzarella? As apparently I married a giant cheeseball.” He snorts, but he can’t stop the tinge of rose that spreads across his cheeks, or the content smile that makes its way across his face. You feel relief to see that.

Pushing at his bare chest lightly, you whine softly before cuddling back up to the warmth he offers in the cold and empty room. “You love it.” You whisper against the phoenix that adorns him.

He quietens before hugging you tighter, his hands stroking up your back. “I love you.”

“Hi Mr Cheddar, my names Mozzarella and it’s nice to meet you.” You say cheekily, grinning at his exasperated sigh.

“I love you only sometimes.”

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