#I AM CRINGE YET I AM FREE ✨

[nonuggetshere]

I FORGOT YO MENTION she's PK's mum

[abiatackerman]

A twist of destiny

Event: @levievent "Levi Month 24"

✨Day 31: Reincarnation ✨

Canon universe! Thug Levi X Reincarnated Reader! Introduction chapter! First meeting! 870 words!

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Everyone who knew about your habit of listening to songs through earphones with a loud volume while walking through streets had forbade you to do that.

And you were a good girl so you always listened.

But today's a day where you can't help but act on your old habit again. You went to a birthday party and the party lasted till midnight, which is a good thing. You got kinda drunk and called Uber to pick you up but your fate sucked....

The car's engine stopped when you were only five minutes away from home. The driver apologised and didn't take his payment out of regret and you just got out of the car, not wanting to hear his whining.

You'll just walk home, since it's a five minute walk after all....

But it's 1am and you're a girl, alone on the streets, in a party dress. What if some drunk pervert will jump on you suddenly? You're kinda drunk too and you won't be able to stop them....

So to calm your nerves down, you plug your earphones in your ear, raise the volume to its fullest so that's why you didn't notice the car rushing towards you at high speed until you noticed the light and....

Boom!

You open your eyes again and the first thing you see is some people looking down at you with adoration.

Are you in heaven? Are they angels? But don't angels have wings behind their backs? They have none... They look like normal people.

"Awww, she has opened her eyes! Look, her eyes look just like yours, darling."

A woman in her mid twenties says with intense emotions and presses you against her cheek. You cringe.

"Hey what the fuck are you doing?"

You hiss, trying to push her face away but....

All you can hear is a baby cooing. Not only that but also your hands which are trying to push the lady's faceare tiny too.

That's when it hits you... You have already died but you born again!

What the fuck? You reincarnated?!

You sigh walking through the streets of Mitras, remembering your memories. You never thought out of all the people, you would be reincarnated.... This is crazy!!!!!

"You're the girl who treats orphans for free?"

You pause, hearing a rough voice coming from an alleyway. You furrow your eyebrows, looking at the guy who shares the same height as you. His white shirt's collar is unfolded and the brown sleeveless coat is making you look up at him with confusion. His clothes look cheap but they're clean enough to make people believe that he lives in Mitras. He kind of looks arrogant and confident enough like the other people who lives here.

"Yes, I am. I'm doctor Abiat Adel. And who you might be?"

After you reincarnated, you started a whole new life. Just like your past life, you decided to study medicine in this universe too. Since Mitras is the capital and everyone is rich here you mostly work for orphan kids who are saved from the underground. Underground, a city which is right under the capital and where people can hardly survive. Which kids are luckily saved, a private orphanage takes the child in and takes care of them.

And that orphanage is established by the Adel family, your family. Your mom is a doctor just like you and your father is a rich yet kind merchant. So they have willingly established the orphanage to help the homeless kids.

"My sister is sick, so I thought you would help her too."

You look at him with confusion.

"Gladly, but again who are you?"

"A thug from underground.

He responds so casually that you become speechless. Like who proudly announces that he's a thug?

"So are you coming?"

His words pull you out of your thoughts and you chuckle awkwardly.

"Well, I can't go underground. I'm concerned about my safety."

You clearly point out and he pulls out a knife.

"I can assure you I'm pretty famous there. You'll be safe. That's my responsibility."

His words sound so genuine and trusting that you sigh.

"Well, now?"

You ask, chucking. You hate your curiosity. It always gets the best of you.

"Yes, now... She's not in a good state."

You nod and take a step towards him. You know it's risky as hell, you're going underground. You're going there with a guy you don't know anything about. He can rape you, kill you or anything might happen. But you have a peeper sprey hidden in your bag and you know some martial arts so you're trusting yourself.

Because danger has never stopped you from being adventurous.

Because your curiosity has always gotten the best of you and you discovered a lot of things because of that.

And now that you know a girl is sick and in a bad state also now that you've met a mysterious-handsome-confident thug.... You're not stopping yourself.

'I'll be trusting you then, let's go. Also what's your name?"

He turns his head towards you to take a look to see if you're following him or not. Then running his index finger through the sharp line of the knife and replies in a bored tone.

"Levi"

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A/N: It's actually the first chapter of my new long fic where the reader dies in an accident in the modern world and gets reincarnated in the AOT universe as Abiat Adel. When Isabel gets sick, Levi decides to take her help and she gladly agrees. This is how their friendship starts and slowly their relationship turns into something else which none of them ever expected.

Note: The first chapter is only for the "Levi Month 24" event! The other chapters will be published on my Ao3!

[yourmisogynistfriend]

✨The story behind my blog name✨

Come sit on my lap, sweetie, and let me tell you why I decided to call myself yourmisogynistfriend

Well first it’s because the old name was due to be changed. My previous name was truegirlssftagain. This name originated of my first blog I created at 17, which was named onlytruegirls (yes, I know I was underage when I created this blog, thanks for noticing). I only reblogged pics of hot girls in bikinis or naked. The name was because I wanted to show what true girls were supposed to look like. This was obviously a very restricted point of view, but I was young. Anyway, this concept of « true girl » sticked with me over the years. But at one point I realized it was a little bit cringe and dumb for a blog name. I always tried to not appear as a tumblr dom and this blog name clearly didn’t helped.

So I have been thinking about what my new name could be. I always thought the fact I post very misogynist stuff while being a huge feminist was pretty ironic. Yes, I am feminist. I believe in gender equality, I believe women are equal to men, I get mad every time something happens in the world against women. Anyway, I’m not here to convince you about how feminist I am. But I once remembered an event that happened to me and I thought it was pretty funny.

During a class in uni, we had an activity about history of feminism, the group was split in two based on our last names and my part of the group was made of four women out of 20 people. To talk about feminism… See how ironic this is? Let me tell you that the women of my group, who are personal friends, were not feeling very comfortable to talk among a group of men. Well after the activity, my girl friends told me I was the only man in the group they trusted to not make misogynist comments (and some others really said some borderline stuff). I was the only man they wanted to hear give his opinion on the subject. What came to my mind at this moment is « good thing they don’t know about my tumblr blog! ».

So, let’s get back to when I decided to choose a new blog name. I remembered that moment and was thinking: « I’m actually a real feminist, a man whose presence makes women feel safe, whose opinions about feminism are welcome by women, and yet my blog is about objectifying women ». It’s hell of a duality! I thought it was a good idea to exploit this experience I lived. So I decided the new name will be about the fact that even your feminist friends may be fantasizing about molesting you. Even the most feminist person you know may be daydreaming of legalized rape and free use in public.

I thought about calling my blog yourfeministfriend, because that’s what I am. I am a feminist friend and yet I fantasize about misogyny. But the name was already taken. I decided to call myself yourfeministbuddy, and it worked… for a week. My blog got deleted. I don’t know if it’s just a coincidence or if feminists found and mass reported me. Just in case, I didn’t take any chance and decided my new blog would be yourmisogynistfriend. This way, nobody can report me saying my blog name is a lie, even if the dual effect of my blog name and my blog content is gone.

And yes, one of my girl friends who made that comment about me, who feels safe with me, she’s hot and I’d love to make her choke on my cock and make her my little toy like she’s truly meant to be. But she’ll never know.

Sorry if it’s a long story for your silly little brain, but I think it’s worth the effort of reading it all.

[ryuichirou]

Replies

More repliessssss

Mostly talking about Rook, RookVil, Ortho and some other stuff (i.e. Jade’s eel penis).

Anonymous asked:

Based on your recent Riddle x Mob comic, I like to think it’s the gang in the beach Stich event. Azul, Jack, Ace AND Floyd?? Poor, poor Riddle, on the deserted island…hehe

The gang from that comic is actually just Heartslabyul students, but you are right: the Stitch event team absolutely should do something like this to Riddle. He is surrounded by the worst boys for a reason!

(Just in case: we haven’t seen this event yet, so I can’t comment on it yet)

Anonymous asked:

I hate that I’m terribly attracted to Rook. Especially crazy Rook. I want him to rip my hair out and eat it and set me on fire.

Be careful what you wish for, Anon, Rook’s always listening…

Anonymous asked:

Completely random, but do you think Rook would rather lock Vil up in a nice tower to keep him all nice and pretty and gorgeous?

Or would he rather set him out into the woods so Rook could hunt him down slowly?

Why not both? I think Rook would switch things around every now and then…

He is possessive enough to want to keep Vil all for himself, but at the same time, what is Vil’s beauty if it’s locked up like he is a pretty bird? No, the bird has to be free for its beauty to shine, or at least have some hope for freedom that wouldn’t let the fire in Vil’s eyes go out. Having him locked up in a nice tower would be great, and Rook would play around with this idea, but at the same time he would feel like chasing Vil and hunting him down is the best way to experience the beauty of Vil’s body and spirit.

He has a lot of interesting ideas in his sick little head lol

Anonymous asked:

I am officially going to call myself the "Snow Anon"

Since I my previous asks was about the Merman sex and the mating marking claiming ones ^^

So now I need to express my love for Jade and ask about any NSFW head canons I need to know the size and color of "it" for *research* purposes 👀

And also

I need to know

Would any of the characters be into any sort of roleplay when getting down and nasty ✨

You know this is an old ask because this is the first time the Snow Anon mentions their nickname… I am so sorry, Snow Anon! This is the previous ask, it’s been a while… It’s time to talk about the Merman sex and Jade Leech specifically again!

But I’ll actually start with the second half of your ask. I thought I’d write the list of characters like I always do, but as I’m thinking about it I’m realising that there aren’t really a lot of people in the cast that feel like they would roleplay… I might talk about this topic again in the future, but for now!

The ones who definitely enjoy roleplay when getting down and nasty are Vil, Rook and Ortho, but especially Ortho. Vil and Rook used to be more actively into this during their first year, there was a period when they do it almost every single time. Sometimes it would be something very dramatic and well thought-out, sometimes it would be something on a smaller scale, like a horny dialogue that doesn’t really have anything to do with reality. Rook is so incredibly happy that he got to make love to Vil in so many “universes” and so many scenarios~

I also like to think that there were times when Vil would get so invested in the improv part that he would actually forget about sex (why would his character want to suck this man’s dick now? doesn’t make sense, they have to have some kind of development or the impact isn’t there)…

But anyways, Ortho is also a little freak! He is so incredibly excited about being able to play all kinds of scenarios he has seen in movies, anime and hentai, and nothing will stop him. He loves starting a roleplay randomly, just to see if his partner would play along. Vil plays along sometimes, but also Idia is better at it than one would think!

In general, Idia considers any kind of sexual roleplay to be cringe, but it’s not impossible to get him somewhat invested in it. Ortho has done it before, and he will force Idia to do it again. Niisan is good at it, he shouldn’t be so shy!

Alright, other than these four… Ruggie would be willing for money but bad at it, Cater would enjoy it a lot actually, Lilia would be surprisingly great at it too. Neige? Maybe Neige would also be good at it… And Fellow too, hehe.

Bow let’s talk about the most important topic. To be completely honest, every time I draw the eel peen it looks different, but I feel like this Jade/Idia drawing had our ultimate eel peen… so I’ll share some thoughts about how I think it would work~

The length and the shape differ from merman to merman, but with these two particular eels, it’s 30-40 cm long. It will get longer though because they are not done growing yet. When it isn’t erect, it’s hidden inside their crotch area, which is normally completely flat.

It’s mostly white and has some greenish spots; it also isn’t fluorescent like the rest of their bodies, which means that one might spot an eel in the darkness of water, but the erect penis is always a surprise!

Eels are very slippery in general, but their penis produces even more slick. It’s incredibly slippery and almost impossible to hold in hand, which makes the owners of the peen the only ones who could control its placement and direction…

There are a lot of muscle inside the penis that makes it possible for it to not only slide, but also crawl inside the hole + move inside it in a lot of ways. Jade especially loves to move his penis in a 90 degree angle as much as possible once it’s inside the hole because it always makes his lover squirm and cry.

Both Jade and Floyd love to “hug” their lovers with their tail and spin when they have sex. Jade doesn’t spin as fast as Floyd does, but he also starts spinning very suddenly when his lover expects it the least…

There are “fins” on the penis that makes it look like a mini-eel, but those aren’t really fins. They add extra stimulation though + act like little hooks to make sure that the penis won’t slip out of the hole earlier than needed. When Jade does it, it’s a bit more painful than when Floyd does it.

The eel cum is very potent and thick. It might even become thicker once it’s all collected inside the body. It’s still liquid though, so once it’s out of the body (and the body is out of the water), it’ll fall and break into a huge puddle a little bit heavier than water, but then it’ll rise up if it’s not far from surface, otherwise it just dissolves before that.

[luzwastaken]

my pokemon SV self insert and intro post ig :33

UPDATED REF SHEET :DD

guess i'll write more about myself here:

⭐️i have a pinterest !!! i usually post there first !!! (@ thecoolerluz) (might change @ idk yet it's a TOH joke LMAO)

⭐️i go by Luz and i hope to make it my legal name one day :-)

⭐️i use she/her pronouns cus idk i just know im comfy with those, i am also very much a huge lesbian LMAO

⭐️i am in fact a minor

⭐️my favorite pokemon is Lucario cus them XY episodes with Korrina's in it changed my brain chemistry forever, though i love every pokemon. my fave gens are 5, 6, and 9 but i've played almost every gen except gen one. my fave seasons of the anime are XY and Horizons (I LOVE HORIZONS DUDE)

⭐️i am a yume/self shipper and my romantic f/o is Nemona, and my platonic f/o's are Arven and Penny ! people sharing my f/o's interacting is fine ! (Nemona cannon x cannon your on THIN ICE but still cool)

⭐️i age regress sometimes though i've been doing it more often as of this post and Nemona is my caregiver :3

⭐️my little age is 1-5 :)

⭐️i try to keep my blog as sfw as possible

⭐️i used to be heavily into the reality shifting community but i left it and now im just a respawner (take a wild guess as to what my DR is 💀)

⭐️i REALLY wanna learn how to skateboard LMAO

⭐️i have AuDHD and hypochondria/health anxiety and social anxiety so that's fun (and sorry if you wanna be like actual friends i get actually really uncomfortable with making friends, so it'll probably take me a while to warm up to you if i even try 💀)

⭐️my interests/fixations are: Pokemon, Splatoon, OMORI, Bluey, Subnautica (but only the first game), any music artist i like (mostly Gorillaz and Surf Curse), skateboarding, korean skincare (idk how i got into it either honestly)

dni idk basic stuff like homoph0bia and transph0bia, rac!sm, pr0ship, z!onist if you don't like age regression or see it as a k!nk or mix it with NSFW, if you don't like self shipping, if you hate Nemona beyond that idc as long as your nice and treat people with basic human respect !!!

be cringe be free~✨

(FUNKY LIL NEMONA DIVIDERS BY @ferocioustrout !!! ) (i edit this often lmao)

[purplevortexx]

Midnight Madness- Part One

read part two here

summary: with New Years fast approaching, Penny needs a band to play at the Hard Deck and Bob might just be able to help with that.

pairing: robert ‘bob’ floyd X female musician!reader

warnings: swearing, teasing, slight angst/reminiscing, bean picks the shittiest band name known to man

words: 2.3k

a/n: delayed new years fic for you all, enjoy part one! hoping to have part two out very soon. As always, feedback is very much appreciated

tag list: @call-sign-jinx @shrimping-for-all @ateliefloresdaprimavera

✨add yourself to my taglist(s) here✨

When Mav calls an urgent meeting, it’s pretty much an unspoken rule: drop what you’re doing and go. Which is why, when Bob receives a text message from the man himself in the uranium mission group chat one afternoon right before New Year’s, he makes his way to the Hard Deck, no questions asked.

He’s not the first to arrive; Hangman, Payback and Coyote are stood talking in the corner, their workout clothes suggesting they have just come from the gym. He nods at them in greeting and makes his way into the bar, closing the door behind him. Scanning the room, he visibly relaxes when he spies Phoenix sat on her own looking unimpressed and scrolling on her phone. Bob makes a beeline for the table and his front seater looks up with a smile when he pulls a chair out to sit down.

“Do you have any idea what this is about?” Bob asks

Phoenix shrugs. “I have no idea, Mav isn’t even here yet.”

“Urgent my ass.” The bespectacled lieutenant mutters in reply, causing Phoenix to chuckle. Bob leans back against his chair, nervously pulling on the cap that covers his head. A few minutes later, Mav walks into the Hard Deck with Rooster in tow, causing all the pilots in attendance to sit up a little straighter. Fanboy slips in just after them and slides into the seat next to Bob. Rooster perches on a stool next to the bar whilst Mav stands in the middle of the room.

“Listen up. Penny has a problem which means I now have a problem.” Eyebrows raise in intrigue around the room as Mav addresses them. “And because I cannot solve that problem, I am making it your problem.” Bob catches Phoenix’s gaze as she rolls her eyes at Mav’s familiar words.

Rooster is the first to speak up, “Hey Mav, this isn’t gonna be like when we had to find that cactus for Penny’s birthday last month, right?” Bob nearly groans at the thought. The team had searched for a good couple of weeks for a rare cactus found only in very specific regions of Northern Africa. It turns out Amelia had told Mav that Penny wanted this impossible to find cactus purely to mess with him. None of the pilots had been impressed at all, particularly Coyote who had spent upwards of an hour on the phone with a Libyan cactus farmer.

A chorus of groans sound at Roosters question, with most of the pilots in the room standing or getting ready to leave. Mav cringes slightly at the outburst. “Guys, guys just wait a minute. I promise this time it actually came from Penny and not Amelia.”

“Well then what’s the problem? ‘Cause I don’t know about you guys but I’ve got things to do.” This comes from Hangman, causing Phoenix to let out a scoff. “I’m sure whatever mirror is calling your name can wait Bagman, let’s just hear what Mav has to say.”

The short captain sends a grateful look towards Phoenix and he continues. “The band who’s supposed to play here on New Years just cancelled last minute so your job is to find a replacement.”

Cue more groans from the pilots

“A replacement?”

“But Mav, New Years is two days away!”

“There’s no way we can pull that off.”

Everyone continues yelling and complaining until Rooster whistles loudly, cutting through all the noise. “Say we can do this?” Mav nods, motioning for his godson to continue. “What do we get in return?”

“The person or people that get someone lined up for New Years drink free that night.”

“All night?” Payback asks

“All night.” Mav confirms.

That sets off a chain reaction of everyone planning how to find a band for Penny. Most take out their phones and start frantically searching whilst others, namely Fanboy, try to set up a team in order to have more of a chance of winning those free drinks.

Phoenix goes to pull out her phone to start searching but then catches Bob’s eye who is smiling softly to himself. He looks up at her and gives her a quick nod then motions for her to follow him outside. She obliges, and the pair slip out unnoticed by the rest of the group who are still frantically squabbling over how to find the best band on such short notice.

“Okay what gives?” Phoenix asks when they’re out of earshot.

“We’re in this together right?” Bob confirms.

Phoenix nods excitedly. “Of course we are! Now come on, talk to me Bob. Do you know a band?”

“Yeah. I mean I might. A friend of mine fronts it. I can call and ask if they don’t have anything booked for New Years?”

“Do it!” Bob chuckles slightly at Phoenix’s elated state and pulls out his phone to call you.

He’s just typing in his passcode when Phoenix adds “and maybe you can actually ask that barista that keeps giving you free coffee to be your date,” Bob rolls his eyes at his friends antics. In the short time he’s known Phoenix, she’s become like a sister to him but with that sisterly relationship comes the inevitable desire for him to be happy. This desire manifests itself in the encouragement of Bob to find someone to settle down with, even if it is just a barista who insisted his coffee was on the house; Bob left a $5 bill on the counter on his way out anyway.

Bob just shakes his head and ignores Phoenix’s words, focusing on finding your number in his contacts.

-

Admittedly, Bob’s proposal for you to play at the Hard Deck on New Years is rather stuttered due to the stare from his front seater practically burning holes into the side of his head for the duration of the call. He wasn’t really expecting you to answer the phone as quickly as you did which further increases his anxiety whilst talking to you, the glare from next to him only heightening his discomfort. Phoenix’s harsh gaze is only broken upon the confirmation that Bob has secured the band for the whole night.

It turns out, by some form of sheer irony or dumb luck, the venue in LA your band were going to play at had been shut down by the health department two days earlier and couldn’t be opened again until the second week in January, meaning you had a band that were itching to play and were more than happy to take the open slot at the Hard Deck when Bob asked.

“So come on, show me this band then.” Bob sighs, having just put his phone back in his pocket.

Inching closer to the screen, Phoenix plucks Bob’s phone out of his hands and pauses the video before looking up wide-eyed at her back seater. “No. Freaking. Way!”

“What?”

“That’s Bad Decisions, right?”

“Uh huh, you know ‘em?” Bob asks, surprised that Phoenix has heard of the band.

She nods in reply, “Fanboy and I have been obsessing over them for like the last year! How did I not know that you know the lead singer?”

“I thought I told you I was in a band in high schoolI?” Bob’s almost certain he did, recalling how it took him showing his front seater evidence before she actually belived him.

“Yeah but-“ Phoenix trails off, gears turning in her head as she realises. “Wait a minute! You mean to tell me that you, Bob Floyd, were an original member of Bad Decisions?”

“Uh… yeah.” An uneasy feeling creeps up Bob’s spine as his front seater starts grinning like a certified maniac.

Phoenix grabs his hand in pure excitement and practically screeches in his ear. “Oh my god we need to tell the others.”

Protests start falling from Bob’s mouth as the dark haired pilot practically drags him back into the bar where the others are still squabbling over how to find a band for Penny.

Phoenix clears her throat to gain everyone’s attention. “Hey losers, game over. We win.” She announces triumphantly as she and a thoroughly concerned Bob re-enter the Hard Deck.

Everyone groans and looks up from their phones. Hangman is the first to speak. “I’m calling bullshit, there’s no way you found someone that fast.”

“Well we did.” Phoenix taunts, stepping closer to the blonde pilot.

“How?” Hangman challenges, not shying away from her stance.

Shrugging, Phoenix replies.“Bob knows people.”

With a chuckle a reply comes from Hangman “And pray tell Phoenix, what ‘people’ does Baby on Board know?” He probes further, sending a mocking glance in Bob’s direction.

“The lead singer of Bad Decisions?”

Hangman goes to retort, more than likely something he deems witty but he’s interrupted by a shout from Fanboy. “WHAT?!” The Latino pilot yells “no freaking way!” He turns to Phoenix, “Dude! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t know until like five minutes ago. And get this, Bob was in a band in high school,” this raises a few eyebrows and earns a muffled chuckle from Coyote, who is trying to cover up his amusement at the revelation. “And guess what band he was in?”

A few eyes around the room widen and a few murmurs escape from those who have heard of the band. “NO WAY!” Fanboy yells. “Bob you’re officially the coolest person I know.”

“Ouch man,” is the response from Payback, feigning hurt but despite the demotion in the eyes of his best friend and back seater, he is thoroughly amused at the entire situation.

Mav, who has been listening to the entire conversation steps forward. “So your friend actually agreed to do it?” He questions Bob, who gives a small nod in reply. A smile breaks out on the older man’s face and he gives Bob a congratulatory slap on the back “well then Bob, looks like you and Phoenix are drinking free on New Years!”

-

When Penny is informed that Mav promised free drinks all night to the people who found her a band to play on new years, she’s pretty pissed off. Only the promise that they’ve actually managed to find someone softens the blow that Phoenix and Bob won’t pay for a drink all night.

Bob feels slightly uneasy when he finds out that Penny didn’t actually know that Mav asked them to find a replacement band so decides to go talk to Penny that afternoon ready to relinquish the free drinks for New Years. Well, his drinks at least, no one gets between Phoenix and free stuff no matter if it’s a free sachet of a new face cream or a night of free alcohol- he knows of a few people who’ve learnt that lesson the hard way.

If Bob were to describe Phoenix as his sister, the only way he could describe Penny’s relationship with him would be that of an aunt. Although Penny is much more subtle in her meddling of Bob’s personal life than Phoenix, she still makes an effort to help Bob along in the way an aunt married to the crazy uncle of the family would.

After sitting down with Penny and going over a few details, and Penny reassuring Bob that he and Phoenix can both drink for free on New Years -Penny tells him the reason is because “a bets a bet” but really Bob and Phoenix are probably her favourites out of all the young aviators- they get into more details of the band. More specifically, Bob’s relationship to you.

“So you know this girl well?”

Bob runs a nervous hand over the back of his neck. Admittedly, he should’ve guessed an interrogation of sorts was coming, especially from Penny. Lucky for him, Phoenix was so caught up in the fact he knew you that she didn’t actually ask him that many questions about the two of you. “I guess you could say that yeah,” he mutters, meeting the bartender’s eyes with a shy smile.

“Were you and her…” she trails off, trying to find the right words.

“Could’ve been something a long time ago, but I’m pretty sure that ship has sailed,” he informs Penny, who smiles sympathetically at him

“Sorry to hear that Bob,”

He shrugs, “nothin’ anyone could do… just bad timing is all,”

Penny raises her eyebrows in curiosity and slightly in shock too. It’s not often Bob opens up, but she’ll be damned if she doesn’t want to find out more. “It was the same with me and Pete I guess, it wasn’t the right time,” Seeing she’s grabbed Bobs attention, Penny pushes just a little more, “until it was” she watches as Bob shies away from her gaze but continues on anyway. “D’you think it could be the right timing now?”

Despite the conversation and the memories it’s bringing up not being funny in the slightest, Bob chuckles. Maybe it’s out of anxiety or it could be the sheer incredulity of the entire situation. He thinks about his answer for a good few seconds. Lying to Penny isn’t something he wants to do for two reasons. One, he respects her and two, he’s pretty sure she would know straight away. He’s kidding himself if he says he doesn’t think about you like that anymore, he’s not sure he could stop thinking about you and the memories you share even if he wanted to. All these thoughts running round his head but he chooses to answer with a simple yet vague “guess we’ll find out.”

Penny just sips her home made lemonade in quiet acceptance of his answer.

-

It’s not until the next morning when you actually step out from your old battered Jeep and he feels 17 again, that Bob realises his feelings towards you haven’t completely gone away.

With a bright smile, you move towards him and sweep him up into a tight hug. Gosh he forgot how warm your hugs are . “Bob!” You exclaim, squeezing him tighter. “It’s so good to see you,” it takes Phoenix nudging his shoulder for him to realise he hasn’t said anything even after you pull away from the embrace.

Yep, he’s completely fucked.

[officialchristiancagebbgirlblog]

✨101 writing prompts✨

So here I have written up 101 dialogue and scenario prompts for you to choose from! I hope I didn’t accidentally write doubles. But feel free to request for me to write using these or your own! As of right now:

Requests: open for business!

I’m mostly just writing for Christian Cage and Adam Copeland but don’t let that deter you from requesting other wrestlers, especially within AEW! I’ll do my best! If you use any for your writing, I only ask that you credit me ☺️ happy writing! 🩵

1 - “you know I love you, right?”

2 - “try and get some sleep baby”

3 - “is that really necessary?”

4 - “just…five more minutes”

5 - “okay but if we leave now, we can avoid all that traffic and…why are you staring at me like that?”

6 - “absolutely not. Put that back”

7 - “when was the last time we danced together?”

8 - “no, I didn’t want to wake you. You looked so peaceful!”

9 - “what do you think, does it look good on me?”

10 - “don’t you even think about walking through that door”

11 - “so this whole time you didn’t actually care about me?”

12 - “I can’t believe you’d think to hurt me like this. After everything we’d been through together”

13 - “no, no I’m not ready for it to end yet. Not like this”

14 - “please. Please don’t leave me. I need you”

15 - “I’m so scared…of you”

16 - “you have to understand, punching people or things is terrifying for me”

17 - “why can’t you understand that I don’t love you anymore?”

18 - “no, you lost me when you decided to kiss him/her”

19 - “we’re done. Get the fuck out of my house”

20 - “I wish I’d never met you”

21 - “I just…I feel like I wasted the last two years of my life”

22 - “why am I the last to hear about how you’re not in love with me anymore?”

23 - “fine, you want him/her so bad? Then go! I’m not going to wait for you anymore”

24 - “why should I wait for you to decide if you want to be my boy/girlfriend again?”

25 - “clearly this relationship was one sided this whole time, huh”

26 - “I was an idiot for thinking you could love me”

27 - “no. I don’t love you anymore”

28 - “he/she treats me better than you ever did”

29 - “every time I try to talk to you about this, you fucking walk off!”

30 - “come here, let me brush your hair”

31 - “you’re really warm…you sure you’re doing okay?”

32 - “why didn’t you tell me?”

33 - “come here, baby”

34 - “shh it’s okay, I’m here now”

35 - “it’s going to be okay. I’m going to help you but I need you to stay still”

36 - “would it help if I held your hand?”

37 - “they said what to you?”

38 - “show me where it hurts…oh honey, that’s bad. You need to see a doctor, I think that’s beyond what I can do to help”

39 - “why are you shaking? Are you cold?”

40 - “if it ever gets bad again, can you promise you’ll tell me? I don’t want you to go through this alone”

41 - “come to the bathroom. I’ll help you shower”

42 - “there we go. Let it all out”

43 - “I know taking medicine sucks but you have to take it if you want to get better”

44 - “I wish I could take the pain away for you”

45 - “do you need a massage? You look tense…”

46 - “no, I’m okay. It’s just cold”

47 - “please don’t worry about me”

48 - “it just gets hard sometimes yknow? And there really isn’t much anyone can do to make it better”

49 - “maybe not…but can I try at least make it more comfortable for you?”

50 - “please…I can’t breathe. It’s too much”

51 - “will you hold me?”

52 - “I know I’m not who you want to see right now but I’m desperate. Please. Stay with me”

53 - “I just need to know if there’s still a part of you that loves me…that misses what we had”

54 - “I fucked up…bad”

55 - “stay behind me okay? Everything will be alright”

56 - “why are your eyes red? Were you crying?”

57 - “do you remember when we first met?”

58 - “how much sugar are you putting in that?!”

59 - “if I lay back down with you, I’m never getting back up”

60 - “why don’t you like the nickname ‘princess/prince’? Is schnookums better?” - “absolutely not you cringe-“

61 - “I swear I’m not ticklish…stop looking at me like that, I’m not!”

62 - getting caught singing/dancing

63 - seeing you/them get hurt

64 - reacting to you/them on your/their period

65 - reacting to a panic attack

66 - having to do grocery shopping together

67 - reacting to you falling asleep on them

68 - rescuing you from a potentially dangerous situation

69 - having your first time in bed with each other

70 - how they are during a video/board/card game

71 - helping you/them feel better when you/they feel insecure about your/their body

72 - your first kiss

73 - how you first met (please request if you want a specific scenario!)

74 - taking care of each other after an event/match

75 - reacting to walking in on you/them crying

76 - reacting to walking in on you/them getting changed

77 - them standing up for you against someone/vice versa

78 - having to break up

79 - making up again

80 - realising you’re in love with each other

81 - meeting for the first time

82 - a small argument

83 - a big argument

84 - seeing them with children (your own or others)

85 - helping you with your makeup

86 - doing their makeup

87 - winding down after a long day together

88 - having a date night (you choose the type of date)

89 - dealing with long distance

90 - playfully teasing/irritating each other (if you so chose, could lead into an argument!)

91 - looking after each other when one is sick

92 - watching a movie and cheering up the other person when their sad during a death/sad moment

93 - reacting to you/them getting pregnant

94 - watching them bond with baby you-two

95 - showering/bathing together (can lead into smut)

96 - dealing with a traumatic event

97 - baking/cooking together

98 - teasing them (smut version)

99 - reconnecting after a long period away from each other

100 - double date

101 - breakup/getting back together sex

[iomalle]

woah✨✨

call me iomalle, io, or prim, idc

she/they/he, 18+

iomalle is pronounced eye-oh-maul

i like to draw or something 💃💃

i may be cringe but at least i am free, heres things i like:

furry/anthro characters

BALDUR'S GATE 3 OMG.

warrior cats

read wof in middle school but im not caught up on it

a little mlp

homestuck

fnaf but like. casually

sonic art is cool

markiplier

star wars

craftmine (mine. crafting????)

did i mention baldur's gate 3

i play this game viridi where you grow plants. i think that counts

i freaking love stamps and blinkies. dont know how to make them yet but once i do its all over for yall

yeah

[suchalonelysunflower]

Caught-up in the Rain - Part 2 

Where The Storm Gathers - Chapter 10.2

Pairing: Stable Lad! Calum x Princess! Reader Summary: The storm is here. The Princess is not where she should be and Calum has to find her before is too late. Armed forces are waiting for the right moment to attack. The opposing army, led by Ashton, Luke and Michael know that something isn't right. There's no time left, everything ends here. Warnings: Angst. Violence. Blood. Mentions of abuse, torture, child abuse. Language. Fighting. Death. Character deaths. Wounds. Some grammar mistakes (English is not my first language, im sorry) Word count: 17.1 k Author's Note: This is the second to last chapter! it took me a while to get here but I hope I made justice to these characters. Thank you to everyone who read this series so far, I love you so so so much. Remember that Reblogs, comments, likes and feedback are incredibly important 💕 hope you like it and happy reading 🦋✨🌻 My master list // tag list on bio!

“My name is Y/N Irwin, Princess of RoseWood and the Kingdom’s youngest Rose. I came here to provide… to provide… Wait, how was it?” 

Calum jumped from a stack of hay, letting his boots crash and splatter on a small puddle of mud. Y/N frowned as a few droplets hit her dress, not because it got dirty, but because she wanted to jump into a puddle as well but according to Wingsburg it was “Unladylike” 

Well, she was never really “ladylike” if she’s being honest. She doesn’t like this whole performance of being a princess. She would much rather be running around the woods, getting sticks stuck to her hair, rolling in the mud with her best friend… She wanted to be a child. Not someone with such a huge responsibility on her nine-year-old shoulders. 

“To provide comfort and support for my Kingdom,” Calum read from a piece of parchment, scratching the back of his head “Until my dying days, I’m yours as long as you are mine…. Okay, that sounds like you’re getting married to RoseWood” 

“Eew,” The little princess cringed as she sat down on the grass, not caring anymore about how the maid will react “I give up,” 

“Rose-”

“I will never learn it!” She threw her arms up, falling dramatically on her back “I’m a princess failure!” 

She covered her eyes with her small hands, groaning into them as her mind ran through a hundred plans to escape from the dreading party. 

Calum sighed as he laid down next to her “You’re not a failure” 

“Tell that to my father,” She said with a sad tone. 

It was her father’s idea to make her and Ashton swear loyalty to RoseWood on the upcoming anniversary of the Kingdom. Technically, neither of them could do it until they were of age, and there was a whole ceremony about it. But King Richard is inviting people from all over the continent and - as he told them one night - “Would not tolerate embarrassments” Though he was looking at her when he said it. 

“I don’t even know why I have to do it, you know?” She complained, looking at Calum “Ashton is going to be King, and when he’s of age he’s going to have yet a thousand parties where he could swear to the wine in father’s goblet if he wants. I’m just me, I don’t matter as they do” 

“Don’t say that,” Calum pleaded quietly, but she didn’t hear.

“I just want to be free!” She exclaimed, raising her arms to the sky “Or at least free enough that I don’t have to go through any more of “I’m the Princess bla bla bla” It’s not like the Kingdom knows who I am or what I can do…” She sighed “If I had the chance many things would change around here… But I’m just the girl in the family” 

Calum sighed with her, looking sadly at the girl whose broken heart was guarded from the outside. But he knew her too well. He knew that even though she was resting importance on her role, she still wants to make it right; to seek the approval of her father and make him proud. 

When Calum first met Y/N, the Queen was already on her deathbed. Y/N talked about her as if she were the most beautiful and kind woman on the planet - Calum could argue that his mom, sister, and even Y/N herself could be up for that title as well but he didn’t say it out loud - and when she died just a couple of weeks later, the world of the little Princess of Rosewood came crashing down in front of his eyes. 

He saw the confusion in the Princess’ eyes when her father stopped hugging her or even talking to her in a kindly manner. He saw how the tears clouded her eyes when they talked about the good fathers in the stories they read together, and how most of them were corrupted by the presence of an evil stepmother. 

“Maybe my story is different,” She said to him one day as they played pretend. She must’ve been seven years old, but her heart was already broken “Maybe I got the bad dad and I might get a good stepmother who would love me” She sighed “But father made it clear that he won’t ever marry again, he got pretty mad when I asked if he ever would” 

Calum couldn’t understand why a father would treat their children like that. He would look back on his own life and consider himself lucky, even if that thought sat heavily on his heart. Yes, his family was poor, but he never once saw his father with a bad temper, nor did his mother frown or curse or even get mad for longer than an hour. So he couldn’t understand why a father could be so… cruel. 

“It’s not fair,” He said in a whisper, looking into her eyes.

Y/N sighed “I never said it was. In fact, I think I might never say it out loud to anyone but you, Cal. You’re the only one I can trust” 

Calum looked as if he was about to say something else, but the Princess just shook her head and sat up straight.

“Still, I need to get this speech right. Even if it won’t change anything, I still have to try” 

The stable lad gave her a sad smile. The conflicting feelings of sadness and pride held in his eyes as he, too, sat up and clapped his hands. 

“Alright, let’s think,” He said as he put on a thinking face that made Y/N giggle “You’re an amazing storyteller, and a decent actress-”

“Decent?!” 

“- An amazing actress, sorry” Calum laughed as he avoided the small fist that was going to crash - painlessly - on his arm “So think of this speech as one of the speeches in our stories! You can pretend you’re a warrior princess and this is the ‘confronting the villain’ speech” 

Y/N smiled widely “Calum that’s an incredible idea! Only we need to find a villain,” 

“I can be-”

“You wouldn't hurt a fly, Cal. You nearly cried when you saw a chipmunk fall from the tree”

“I’m willing to fight!” Calum protested. 

“Yeah? When?” 

“If someone hurts you,” He said almost immediately, blushing when the words finally hit his brain. Yet, a rush of bravery came through him as he saw the Princess blush as well “I would fight off anyone that tries to hurt you, Rose. You know that, right?” 

She pressed her lips on a thin line and nodded. Of course, he would defend her, that’s what best friends do, right? 

“Still, you’re not a villain, Calum. We need to find someone who-... I know!”

Next thing he knew, Calum was holding Y/N’s hand - and not overthinking about it, of course - as she ran through the castle pulling him with her, passing through doors and halls Calum has never visited before but that with the speed of Y/N’s steeps, also didn’t have time to admire. And, in a matter of seconds, they are crossing a huge wooden door and into the library, where they find the Young Prince sitting with a book. 

“Y/N/N? What are you-?” Ashton starts, but it’s immediately cut off by his little sister. 

“We need you to play the villain” She pants, still holding Calum’s hand. 

Ashton raised a brow, looking between the two of them “And why…?” 

“For me to practice the speech!”

“You haven’t learned that yet?” 

Y/N glared at her brother “Don’t be condescending, Ash” 

“I still don’t get why I should be the villain” He sighed as he closed his book “Aren’t you too old to play these games?” 

“Not if you play with us,” Calum casually said, making Ash chuckle as he smiled at them “She will learn it faster and better if we help her think it’s an act. You know? If she’s a warrior princess that wants to defend her kingdom”

“And why aren’t you the villain, then?” Ashton asked with a knowing smirk. Calum rolled his eyes.

“Because your sister thinks I can’t hurt a fly” 

“Because you can’t”

“She’s right, you can’t” Ashton added “Unless that fly were to hurt her” And once again, he smiled as the two of them blushed red “Fine, I’ll be the villain, what do you want me to do?” 

So they spent the entire evening playing outside. Ashton brought a dark cape and a mock sword, and he also lent Calum one and taught him a few moves as Y/N prepared to give her speech. Soon enough, that dress was covered in mud as she tackled Ashton and rolled down the grass, with Calum laughing so hard he had to sit down, only for the siblings to later jump on him in an unexpected truce. 

It is one of Y/N’s fondest memories. And the only one giving her courage now.

*

There was one last cell to visit. One last cell to convince. One last hope that maybe she has done one thing right by her people.

She didn’t know how long it had been since she breathed anything but humidity and blood. All she knew is that she had to hurry so the soldiers and civilians trapped in the cells until it was time to fight could have a chance to go back to Ashton’s army or their homes. A chance of survival or a chance of freedom, it all seemed the same. And it’s the last thing she could do, or at least that’s what she tells herself. 

By now, she has liberated six cells in total, none of them refused her offer for none of them were willing to fight for their crooked King anyway. She didn’t know how many had reached Ashton already, or if some of them had been caught or betrayed her. But it was a risk that they had to take, all of them. And as time keeps passing by, she can only hope it’ll be alright. 

The clinking of the keys distracted her from her own mind, but her hands still shook as she advanced through the dark, cold hallway. She could hear hushed voices becoming a bit louder as she walked, knowing she was on the right track. 

Yet all the voices got quiet the moment she stepped into view.

“Good morning,” Y/N breathed, nodding slightly as she stood in front of the cell. 

The men didn’t respond. But she would barely call them men as they seemed no older than thirteen. Was her father really going to send children into war? 

“Miss?” Said one brave soldier whose face still resembled the one from infancy “What are you-?”

“I’m going to get you out,” Y/N said, putting her hands to work as she tried to open the lock. 

“Out? Is it time to fight?” Said another boy. 

“No, no fighting,” She said, trying to keep herself from crying at the sound of their broken voices “Not for you,” 

But her words did nothing to soothe the kids who shared scared glances as some of them started to cry. 

“No, my lady!” The first boy cried “Don’t send us back to him!” 

“Back to whom?” 

“To the King!” 

“He’ll kill us! He promised he will!” 

“Let us fight!” Cried the second boy, “We will fight! Just don’t hurt our families, please!” 

Finally, the lock broke. And one of the boys launched himself at her feet, begging.

“Please, please, my lady!” He sobbed “We will do anything he asks for, but please. don’t send us back with him! We know that the ones who do never come back” 

Y/N’s heart shattered as she looked down at the boy. His big, watery, brown eyes reminded her of Calum’s when he was just a kid. When she looked at the other children, she could see the desperation in their eyes and the determination of choosing to die on a battlefield than at the merciless hands of her father, of their King. And, for just a moment, she could see herself reflected on those boys. She could see the same fear she felt at their age, the same uncertainty and resignation of a fate that was both cruel and unfair. Only that back then she had Calum and Ashton for support, and now Luke and Michael. But these kids… who was on their corner? 

With a shake of her head, she leaned down to help the boy stand back on his feet and took a step forward.

“You will not die today,” She said firmly, looking at every single one of them “You have my word, you shall not face danger any longer. Where are your families?” 

“We don’t know,” answered one of the kids, “We haven’t seen them since-“ 

But the silence was the answer. None of them knew how long it had been since they were separated from their homes to fight a war they had no part. 

“You shall go to the woods then,” Y/N said, calmly “You will find an old tree in the middle of it, surrounded by bushes and roses. You will wait there until it is over” 

“But the King-“

“I’ll handle him,” She said, surprised by the steadiness of her voice “He will not hurt any of you, I won’t allow it” 

“And if he hurts you, my lady?”

“He won’t,” She said, she hoped.

“How do you know?” 

Y/N took a breath of courage “My name is Y/N Irwin, Princess of RoseWood and the Kingdom’s youngest Rose. I came here to provide comfort and support for my Kingdom, until my dying days, I’m yours as long as you are mine. And I promise you, here and now, my father won’t hurt my people anymore. Not as long as I’m alive”

*

If Ashton had the choice to do whatever he wanted for the next fifteen minutes, it would’ve been safe to say he would just sit on the grass and allow himself to cry and panic about everything that’s been happening even before his father imprisoned him. 

But he can’t. He doesn’t get the chance to. He might never if he’s being honest. 

A prince does not cry. A prince does not show emotion. A prince should learn to be a king, not a princess. A prince has to lead, always show face, and make decisions that would benefit him. A prince learns to shut up and let the grown-ups speak. A prince knows his place. A prince does not talk back to his father, no matter how wrong he thinks he is. A prince is not a pussy. A prince is not weak. A prince does not get scared. A prince should learn, by the gods, he should learn a thing or two to be worth it of such name and title. And Ashton? That’s all he knows, all he learned. 

Yet things are not that simple. Even with his father’s words resonating inside his head, knowing just how wrong he was, he cannot shake them. He can’t shake what he’s learned or what he’s become because of those words tainted in his brain. 

All those years of silent torture, hiding behind the mask his father created for him at such a young age since that first slap when he cried over his mother’s grave. He’s a product of the intentions of a cruel man; a man who knew nothing about what really means to be a leader or even a father. A man that made him more like him than Ashton would ever admit. 

But a prince does not cry. A prince leads. And, right now, he would wear that mask one more time. Anything to make him pretend he’s as brave as his people think he is. For his kingdom and the crown that’s been promised, and for his family’s sake; he will fight, goddammit, and he will win. By the gods, he will win. 

As he looked at his troops, fighting the tightening in his chest as the early winds caressed his face, he prayed one last time. And if there was at least a god somewhere, they better be listening. 

“Ashton,” Luke called next to him, placing a hand on his shoulder “They are almost here” 

The young king’s voice was steady and hard, a true leader’s command. But Ashton recognized that look in his eyes, asking the question he desperately wanted an answer to as well but wasn’t able to provide it. 

“We won’t get to the palace in time,” Ashton said, “There’s nothing we can do for them but to win here and hope for the best” 

“We are ready when you are. Michael is already giving out the last orders with this change of plans” 

“I swear those two deserve each other,” The prince commented with a humorless chuckle “One more reckless than the other”

“Isn’t that what love is?” Asked Luke “Pure recklessness to save the one you love?” 

That last memory of the forest flashed through Ashton’s mind, maybe if he could be braver… more reckless…

Luke must’ve noticed the change in the prince’s eyes, the hurt and doubt that resided in them. 

“I don’t blame them,” He said “One is willing to do even the craziest thing out of love” 

“Maybe,” said Ashton “I just hope they won’t get into any trouble till we get there” 

“Afraid you’ll miss all the fun?” 

“I’m afraid the fun finds them before we do” He scoffed, settling on his horse “We’ll have to stay and fight until we know the others can hold them off. Then we’ll ride into the palace. If Richard is as cowardly as he proved himself to be, once we get there he would have no other chance but to surrender” 

“And if he doesn’t?” 

But Ashton didn’t answer. He couldn’t. Yet, he knew the answer. They all did. 

Only two options were at hand: Either RoseWood would have a new king, or it’ll be the end of all things as they knew it. Whatever happens, is up to fate to decide which side they are on. But one thing is for certain; tonight the thrones around Ashton’s heart will finally bleed and all that pain and suffering might be worth something in the end. It will all be over one way or another. 

Ashton was about to say something to Luke when the sound of hooves coming from the East alerted them as the dark shadows of the enemy started to come out of the woods and into the field. Ashton’s gaze turned hard as he gave one last nod at Luke who soon got into position next to his army. 

Armies of iron and steel lined up parallel to them, almost surpassing them in size. He almost smiled at that, thinking of his sister who liberated the imprisoned soldiers that now fought by his side. Without them, they would be at a disadvantage in terms of people. 

Both sides just stood there, waiting in silence for their leader’s command. General Chaviet of King Richard’s army was in front of all of them, sitting on his horse with a smirk, looking straight at the prince he once held captive. Ashton paid no mind to him as he scanned the enemy’s lines, looking for the familiar pair of eyes that mimicked his own, and finding nothing but strangely familiar faces looking back at him. The soldiers were right, King Richard was not going to fight the battle, thinking he already won the war. 

But Ashton was more than ready to prove him wrong. All he had to do was wait for them to give the first step and he’ll show them just how not to mess with the monster they’d created. 

He almost smiled as Chaviet raised his sword, falling straight for their trap, and crying out a yell of war, guiding his army into battle. 

Ashton waited till they got close before he yelled “Archers!” 

A thousand arrows fell down the sky like rain, straight into the enemy’s lines before they’d even reached the meadow. They came crashing down into the bodies of the soldiers and the horses, making them fall as the unaware stampede crushed them to the ground before they even realized what they had done. And, once they did, another batch of that unforgiving aim came to flood them once again. 

With a part of their troops already lost and confused by the mayhem, Ashton looked to his left and signaled King Alex’s commander, who led his army with a battle cry as they surprised the enemy by crashing them at the sides instead of the front. Then, he watched as Luke’s calvary took the first position; the army of the Vail making all the legends true of their bravery and savagery in battle as their swords shined crimson in a matter of seconds. 

But Ashton knew this was far from over, this was just the beginning. This was his war and it was time to fight it. 

With one last deep breath, he took his sword from its scabbard and pointed it to the battlefield, lurching himself forward in his horse as the wind cut his face with a silent scream. All his soldiers followed him, ready to fight and die for the rightful King of RoseWood.

And, as Ashton reached the heart of the battle, the point of no return was already crossed.

*

Time ran out a while ago. The palace’s walls never seemed so suffocating before, or at least they never seemed it for Y/N as she ran down the hallways. 

The last group of soldiers was liberated just before they came looking for them. Y/N guided the children out of the dungeons by showing them the way toward the secret staircase and door that led them toward the woods, but it was too late for her to go with them as the guards that came looking for them seemed to be getting closer. 

It was foolish to think that no one would notice how the dungeons that were once filled with innocent people were now empty, especially being so close for them to leave for battle. So when a group of guards yelled out curses at yet another empty cell, she knew she had to stall them long enough for the kids to escape safely. 

She went back into the dungeons, far enough so that the guards won’t be able to see her, but they’ll be able to hear her with the echo of the humid, rotting walls. She grabbed a forgotten manacle that lay on the floor, still covered in someone’s dried blood, and pressed it along the iron bars of the cells. When she heard the guards coming closer to where the children were, she started to run, making the iron clash against one another and creating a sound so horrible and loud it’ll be impossible for the guards to ignore. 

She ran as fast as she could, grabbing random things from the floor and throwing them against the walls and the iron doors. She jumped from hallways to pathways to hallways again, never running down the same path again and avoiding the ones that had no way out. The echo confused the guards who were never sure of where the sound was coming from, running in circles after the ghost the princess created. 

“There she is!” Someone yelled behind her. 

She heard footsteps approaching, but she didn’t dare to look back as she kept on sprinting down the halls and out of the dungeons. The guards were gaining speed behind her. Y/N started to throw things their way; old vases, decorative armor, and busts of family members that she’d never met nor will ever. Anything to slow them down.

But she still had the advantage; this was her home. They didn’t know the castle as she did. They didn’t know how many hidden roses were on the walls nor how many steps to the next door. The Princess used to walk these halls every day, hiding from her tutors and playing with Ashton and Calum to hide and seek. She would sneak around every other night to see her lover in the woods, falling for him harder each night. It was then that Y/N realized that she knew this place by heart. She just had to keep running. But they were coming closer and closer, and-

A scream of surprise escaped her when suddenly something - or rather someone - grabbed her by the arm and pulled her into a dark room, closing the door and quickly silencing her by putting their hand on top of her mouth. 

Y/N could only open her eyes in panic as she reached behind her, trying to scratch this person’s face. Her back was against the person’s chest and their other arm was holding her by rounding her waist, making it impossible for her to fight back properly. She would bite and kick but it was all futile; her muffled screams did nothing to even freak out her captor, immovable as they were. Only a particular kick in the shin made them react. 

“Fucking-!” They hissed but kept their hold. “Honey, I love you and I wouldn’t be telling you this in another situation but could you please shut up!?” 

Her whole body stilled as her eyes, wide and alert, began to fill with unshed tears at the sound of that voice. The voice she thought she might never hear again because of her recklessness and impulsivity. A warm feeling of love ran through her body, but at the same time the same feeling of dread she felt back in the camp. What was he doing there? He shouldn’t be here at all! He should be safe back in the camp, the beverage should’ve lasted more! What-?

Yet, Y/N could barely think straight after a moment because the footsteps suddenly became louder and clearer outside the door. It seemed they'd waited an eternity as the shadows passed running, not a single glance in their direction as they theorized out loud where the intruder could be. 

They waited a second, two, three… until only silence surrounded them. 

A sigh escaped Calum’s lips. Y/N felt how he relaxed, his chest firm against her back but breathing steadily as he softened his grip on her. She stayed there a while longer, just living in the feeling of his beating heart matching with hers as they came down from the adrenaline shot. It seemed to like hers couldn’t calm down, not only from all the running and wondering if she would even escape, but also from the reaction Calum might have when seeing her again.

She pulled away after a while, walking with her back turned toward him as she tried to collect her thoughts. What would she even say? Was it even worth it saying anything at all knowing he might never forgive her? In a way, she hoped he wouldn't forgive her at all. A clear path for him to get away from all this madness and from her, who only brought him trouble since the day she said “I love you” How many people suffered because of it? How much did Calum lose just because she was selfish enough to let him love her? 

Still, there was nowhere to run, nothing more to hide. They were the only ones in that dark room; they and fate who was waiting as the grim reaper to collect yet another broken heart. 

Taking a deep breath filled with courage, Y/N turned around, and it was like facing reality after a big hit of denial. 

Calum was standing there, shoulders slumped and defeated the moment he saw her. His eyes were sad but even in the dark, she could see they held more than just that. The clothes he wore barely had any sort of protection, she’d assumed he barely got time to put anything on before he went looking for her. And for what? she wanted to ask him. Hasn’t she hurt him enough? 

“Cal- I…” She began, but there were no words left in her throat that would give him a sufficient answer, or at least enough to justify the unjustifiable “I-”

“Stop,” He said, shaking his head and closing the distance between them “Just, stop”

His hands were cupping her face before she knew it. Senseless mumbles were quickly silenced by his lips on hers, kissing her as if it were the first time. 

It was almost magical in a sense. How she could melt into his embrace with just a simple touch. They just fit, as if their souls were made out of the same burning fire and cut with the same sword. It was magical how their senses could shut down and expand at the same time, feeling everything yet nothing from the outside world could touch them. It was them, just them. 

The touch of his lips against her own, how he kissed her with all that he had, and how she gave it back, all of her for him. She was fully aware of him; of how his tongue pressed against her bottom lip, going as far as she would let him when she parted them; how his hands were at either side of her waist, holding her close as his fingers found their permanent marks against her skin; how the hairs at the back of his neck would rise with every graze of skin she would give, feeling alive, finally alive after so long. 

Calum pressed his forehead against hers, both of them catching their breath as his hand found hers and brought her up to his chest, over his heart. 

“Do you feel this?” He asked, eyes closed and a shaky voice as he leaned down for another brief kiss “My heart beats for you, every hour of every day, you’re very purpose to keep going. It won’t stop, and it’ll never stop, Y/N. My rose. My wife. It’s yours for as long as you want it and even more than that” 

“Calum-” 

“Kill me, if you must. But do it with your bare hands, your voice, and your touch” His eyes pleaded with her “Don’t keep me away from you, don’t go without me. And if fate ever decides to break up apart all I ask is for me to go first. Let me go first, as selfish as that sounds because I won’t be able to tolerate a life if it doesn’t have you in it” 

Y/N’s eyes filled with tears “How can you say those things? How could you still want me after everything?” 

Calum cupped her cheek, making her look him in the eyes. 

“Because I love you. More than life itself, more than anything. And I don’t know how many times I’ll have to say it for you to believe it, but I’m not going anywhere, my rose. Not now, not ever. So don’t say you’re sorry, because I know your reasons and I forgive them, knowing I would’ve done the same. Don’t say I’ll be better off somewhere else with a new life because it’s not true nor will it ever be. I belong with you, by your side”

“And I with you,” She said, a tear falling from her eye that he quickly caught “I don’t deserve you”

“How many times till you understand that you do?” 

“I’ve hurt you” 

“I can take it,” He said with a smile. She shook her head. 

“I love you-”

“How could that not be enough?” 

“It is. It’s always been” 

“Then let me,” He whispered against her lips “Let me love you,” 

A simple nod said more than a thousand words as Y/N closed the gap between them, bringing Calum closer and kissing him with a taste of salt due to the tears. Calum, on his part, placed his hands on her waist again, walking them back to the wall as the world fades away for a moment. 

“O-Ouch” Y/N complained as her back hit something, not necessarily a wall. Calum pulled away almost immediately.

“Are you okay? Did I-?”

“No, you didn’t” She sighed, rubbing her middle back “I think I hit a doorknob? Something pointy for sure” 

They took a step back, the princess next to the stable lad as they tried to see something in the darkness of the room. They could make the shape of a frame, but the shadows of its content were hidden from sight. 

“Where even are we?” Asked Calum.

“I wish I knew. I’d never entered this part of the castle before. And not because I hadn’t tried, but it was always locked for some reason” 

She looked around the room, trying to find something that could bring some light into the room. A candlestick, for example. But there was no such luck. 

“I thought I saw some light over here,” Calum said, walking with her toward a fine line of light “A window” 

With just one look, they nodded and got to work trying to open the wooden lids that seemed to have been stuck for nearly a decade or more. In the end, after a few minutes of pulling and trying to avoid splinters, the wood finally broke. 

“Is that-?” Y/N asked when she turned around, eyes widening at the sight.

“You?”

They didn’t know what they were expecting, but for sure it wasn’t that. A portrait that was as tall as the room itself, a lady in the middle of it. She was beautiful; smiling kindly at them; her clothes were of the uttermost white, contrasting with the red roses she held in her lap. Her eyes seemed filled with joy and hope, looking at someone behind the artist who was trying to make her laugh. She looked so much like Y/N, that for a second she thought she was looking at herself in the painting.

“No…that’s” She said, choking up as recognition crossed her face “That’s my mum”

Y/N walked over to the portrait, her fingers grazing the fabric as a teary smile drew her features.

“I- I haven’t seen her in so long, I- I was forgetting what she looked like. First, it was her voice, then her touch but- I never meant to forget her completely” 

“You haven’t” Calum chimed in, walking to her and hugging her from behind “You always carried her with you. Remember how you used to tell me all the stories she used to tell you? How you always did a little toast in secret when it was her birthday? You even used her dress… You didn’t forget her. Not in the ways that mattered”

“I wish you could’ve met her” 

“I did. In a way I did. Knowing you and Ashton, I knew the best of her already” He kissed her cheek “She was beautiful” 

“The most beautiful rose in the kingdom, my father used to say” She sighed, looking into her mother’s eyes “Why in the world is she here?” 

“Your father must’ve hid her here, maybe if we look closer we’ll find more of her” 

Y/N sighed sadly, “She doesn’t deserve this. To be locked out as a bad memory” 

“Then we’ll bring her back, my rose. I promise” 

She nodded, but it seemed like she didn’t hear him at all “Could I have a moment, please?” She asked. 

And even though there wasn’t a lot of room there, Calum listened and moved to the window, far enough so that he wouldn’t hear the private words whispered by a daughter to her mother.

“Hi, mummy” Y/N whispered with a little laugh “I- I spent my life missing the memory of you, I didn’t think I’ll be able to miss you this much, we barely even had time to share our love. Ashton did a good job, he taught me everything you taught him. I know he misses you the most and he wouldn’t have done all that he did if he didn’t think it’ll make you proud. 

I tried to as well, to make you proud. But truth is, I don’t know if you would. Would you love me the same? Or would you push me aside as he did? If I’m honest I’d rather not know. But I think I did pretty good for myself, didn’t I mum? I married for love, just like you did. I made friends… I just hope I can keep it all. Does that make me selfish? 

I know dad is hurt, he’s been hurt for a long time. And I wish I could forgive him, but-” She sighed “He needed you. We all did. But we’ll make it right. Ashton will be a great king, we all know he will. And when he wins, we’ll bring you back to where you deserve, next to the roses hidden in the walls you loved so much. I promise you, no one will ever forget Queen Arianna again. Please, mother, give me strength” 

She smiled to herself as she turned back to Calum who was looking through the window, a worried expression on his face. Y/N frowned.

“What’s wrong?” 

“There’s smoke coming from the horizon after the woods” He turned to her “The battle has begun. We need to get out of here” 

*

His uncle always told him that the battlefield smelled like blood, dead, and shit. And as he brings yet another crow down, Michael wishes he never had to know this firsthand. 

The men of the Vail were always ready to fight, always ready for war as if Ares himself had birthed the kingdom and raised it as his own. But peace reigned for so long that all the training seemed useless till now. Oh, how he wished he’d never had to use these skills in battle. Yet, he knew better than anyone that the time might come anyways. He was the King’s first guard, after all, he would lay his life on the line for Luke to have even a slim chance of survival. 

But Luke is nowhere to be found. Luke is in the middle of a battle, angry at Michael and he can’t find him. He’s been looking for more than an hour. Swinging his sword, attacking the enemy back and forth and winning each time, but no sign of his King.

He would be lying if he said that bringing down crows didn’t bring him any type of satisfaction. But every time he’d advance on his search for Luke, another crown would come trying to prove their bravery by fighting the commander of the Vail. Michael would just roll his eyes, and in a matter of a few hits, he’d bring the crow back to their maker. Besides, he noticed his body slowly starting to shut off. 

Michael didn’t take the potion today. Convinced he was going to die today one way or another, he figured that the false strength of Samson in a bottle would do nothing but tire him sooner as it has been doing lately. Still, he can feel the absence of the elixir take a toll; he was limping on his right leg, and it hurt to breathe. And he needed Luke.

Ever since they were children they fought side by side. They’ve trained side by side; they’ve caused trouble side by side; they have been there for each other, through the good and the bad. And if Michael was going to die tonight, he’d do it by Luke’s side, defending his King till his last breath. 

“Motherfucker, where are you?!” He mumbled angrily as he made his way through the battlefield. Avoiding the bodies on the muddy ground and the calls of the crows that were still alive. Nothing else mattered to him, but to find Luke and make sure he was safe in the mass mutiny. 

He didn’t mind what happened earlier that morning when he couldn’t find the leaves. He didn’t mind the shame nor the tears that adorned his face, that was his problem, the one he created for himself and that still believes he shouldn’t apologize for. What he cared about was the man who saw through him with such pain and anger, something he couldn’t shake away no matter how hard he tried. He knows, he hurt him and he wanted nothing more than to make it right before it was too late. 

The look on Luke’s face was haunting him, and the silence that followed throughout the day was nothing but damaging to his already lost soul. He knew he’d be better off, sparing him from the view of his living corpse. But the selfish want in his heart only begged him to find his lover, just one last time to make sure he’d be fine. 

“Luke!” He’d call carelessly, not minding at all the enemies that his voice might attract. There was one thing on his mind and he would get through everything to see him again “Luke!” 

Yet no one answered. 

So he wandered. He wandered for what felt like forever, looking over his shoulder and passing the trees. He saw Ashton’s mighty sword striking down the enemy, a gaze filled with rage as he crossed the hearts of the ones that were against him in battle. He saw good men die as a crow with much more force won them over and claimed their lives. He counted one, two, three… more bodies coming down. And, as horrible as it might sound, a breath of relief escaped him when the faces of the fallen looked nothing like his King. 

It was when his hopes were at his lowest and the thunder above at the loudest when he found him, much later. 

The King of the Vail, as valiant as always, stood at the top of one of the lowest hills the terrain had to offer. The armor at his chest shone against the first drops of drizzle that came from the sky, showing proudly the sigil of his kingdom. He held the sword with both hands, bloody, dirty, and bruised, clenching his teeth as he swung at the man with dark armor, making him lose his knife and fall to his knees. Luke wasted no time, for he learned the bad way, that's something one barely has, and sunk his blade to the man’s side, pushing the body away with his foot and letting it roll down the hill. 

Only then could Michael get a good look at him. 

Luke’s blond curls were sticking to his forehead due to a mix of sweat and the drizzle. He had a cut on his cheek, one that was not deep but still let out a lot of blood. he was breathing heavily, taking a moment to catch his breath again, and closed his eyes, when he opened them, his baby blues were tired, yet alert, seemingly looking for something or someone until they laid on Michael’s green eyes. 

A ghost of his lover’s name seemed to have passed his lips before he turned around, just in time to block another’s sword that was about to strike him from the back. Michael wasted no time running up that hill. Running through the pain and through the hard breaths, anything to get to his King faster. 

He saw through his tear and rain-tinted lashes as the fight ensued, Luke, launching strike after strike. Strained groans were being pulled out of his throat as the enemy relentlessly tried to make him fall, failing each time. For one might strike a King, Michael thought, but they will never see him fall. 

Michael reached the top in the nick of time, immediately sliding next to Luke, putting himself in the middle, and striking the crow across the stomach. Splatters of blood painted his face with droplets of crimson as he tried to catch his breath, pushing the crow to the ground and watching as their chest stopped moving. 

A hand appeared next to him, open and offering as he took it. The touch was as familiar as the face looking back at him. Baby blue eyes staring with love and pain, relief and worry. The war around them seemed to fade away for a moment, just a moment enough for them to say what hasn’t been said.

“Luke…” Whispered Michael. 

The young king tilted his head to the side, pressing his lips on a thin line as he shook his head. He pulled Michael in, crashing their lips in a forceful, passionate kiss in the middle of the battlefield, standing on top of a hill as chaos reigned under them. Luke cupped Michael’s cheek, swallowing the gasps of surprise the older man let escape before melting into the kiss. Nothing else mattered, not to them and not now. 

For a second Michael thought his knees might give out. And it wasn’t until he felt the hard ground under him that he realized they did. 

“Michael!” Luke cried in surprise, trying to pull him back up but he was too heavy. “Love, what happened?” 

“I- I,” Gasped Michael, trying to find enough strength to stand on his own. 

An excruciating pain ran through his body, making him groan out what should’ve been a full-on cry. 

“Have you taken the medicine today?” 

Michael didn’t answer. Luke became frantic. 

“I’m sorry, my King” 

“Fuck, Michael! Don’t you see?!” Luke cried “You can break, throw yourself away, leave it all behind. But you are breaking us both! If what I’m asking is too selfish by asking you to be selfless, then so be it. But don’t leave me!” 

“Luke-” 

“Please! Let us go to the castle, find the cure!” 

“I don’t think I’ll make it” Michael gasped, looking with teary green eyes at the man trying to hold it all together, even when the world around him was falling apart “Luke, I’m sorry. I- I love-”

“We’ll find a way,” Luke said “We’ll find a way where you would tell me that again, standing in front of the stars and promising the future and more, a life together. Because I swear to every god, Michael, if you die I swear I’ll follow you” 

Immediately, Luke pulled Michael’s uncursed arm over his shoulder and dragged him with difficulty across the hill. 

“Fight, one last time” Pleaded Luke through gritted teeth “That’s all I ask. Let us go to the palace, reach fate there” 

Michael tried helping him, giving lazy steps filled with pain “If my King commands it,” He tried to joke, pulling a sneaky laugh out of his king. 

“You fucking better believe your king commands it,” He said, looking at him “Because he won’t survive if you don’t” 

Fondness filled the knight’s eyes “Take me home, Luke” 

“I will.” He promised “I’ll always take you home” 

*

After seeing a lot of blood - mostly from his body pooling on some dirty floor in the dungeons - Ashton is not even faced with it as he slashes the throat of one of the crows that kept him prisoner. He remembered all of them.

“This is for the cut between each finger,” He thought as we fought them one by one “This is for the slaps. The punches. The lashes with the whip. One, two, three.”

It was never ending; the fighting, the pain… It never went away. He still carried them with him wherever he went, at all times. Flesh reminders of what death felt like. And a painful reminder of what death was. 

His body was still weak, but by god did he fight. More out of vengeance or by sheer determination to get the throne, he didn’t know anymore. His list of enemies grew infinite, even when most of them were falling like flies on the battlefield. He had Y/N to thank for that, he knew that if it weren’t for his sister, they would’ve been outnumbered. 

Ashton couldn’t help but smile as his sword hit another, blocking the attack and quickly getting over with them, thinking about how much greater he is than his father. Wishing he would be there to see it for himself. Even with all the pain he inflicted, he still wished he could make his father proud, and then kill him with his bare hands.

“Look, father” He would say to him “Look how they all came to me, to help me. Not you. I am their King. Your son. Your worthless, weak, pitiful son has achieved something you would never do” 

He would be such a better king than his father ever was. He was sure of that. The people, his people believed in him, even going to war for him and what they believed in. Ashton won’t fail them. Ashton won’t fail him. 

But with every coin comes two sides, and he knows that his father’s madness might come to play, sneaking its way and mixing with his emotions and judgment, willing to destroy anything that comes his way. But now, he welcomes it. He needs it. He won’t be a mad king like his father, oh no, but he will be worse to protect the ones he loves. 

He has to be worse.

His chest rose and fell as he watched yet another body hit the ground. But he wasn’t tired, not at all. Excitement ran through his veins, adrenaline enlarging his pupils as the ghost of a smile crossed his lips, wondering: Who’s next? 

“IRWIN!” Someone was shouting across the battlefield. 

Ashton turned, squinting his eyes to see clearly despite the rain that started to pick up. Across, at about a hundred-meter distance, Captain Hugo Chaviet stood. Dirty, tired, angry… He had his eyes set on the prince, ready to kill. 

Everything went away as Ashton stared at the man responsible for many of his disgraces. His father’s right-hand man. The one that helped take everything from him. And now, he was challenging him, personally. 

The sword spun in his hands, eyes set on his target as Ashton trodden toward the Captain. Memories of countless tortures passed through his mind; the nights when he would end up chained to the walls as his body kept being abused by all the men who had just wanted a little bit of fun; the sound of the whip followed by the dry, raspy laughter; the fear the crow's captain gave to everyone who dared go against him, not scared to torture innocent and making them work until their literal deaths. He wondered if he was the last face Rian saw before the attack. He wondered if he was there if he did it. 

But thoughts don’t matter for the already decided fates. Thoughts and prayers do nothing for the already dead. 

What matters is one thing: Ashton would make sure he would be the last face Chaviet would ever see, even if that vengeance takes them both.

Their swords met before they did. Clashing in the middle, sending a vibration through their arms that only served to spike up the hatred among them as they danced. A beautiful performance from two skilled fighters who have nothing left to lose for they lost everything to one another. Ashton lost his mind, and his heart; and Chaviet is losing the war, the only thing that made him redeemable in the King’s eyes.

Ashton took a step back while Chaviet took one forward, going straight for the heart. Yet Ashton managed to turn, spin and defend himself against the attack. Swinging his sword with the talent of a thousand swordsmen; aiming for the leg, the arms, the chest, the neck, and the leg again. Confusing his opponent, tiring him as the rain fell like knives upon them. 

“Is this all you got, old man?” Asked Ashton with a sly smile. 

Chaviet’s eyes opened wide, almost in recognition, or remembrance. The smile was quickly replaced with a grunt. Ashton pushed the crow, making him tumble backward, but he still held on.

“I said, is this all you got?!” Ashton yelled, going back at it again “Is this what you wanted to see?! Is this the King you hoped for?!” 

Chaviet couldn’t respond, trying to defend himself from the prince’s sword that seemed possessed with a strong spell. Blocking each move and hoping he’d be fast enough to block the next one.

He didn’t notice when his sword was kicked out of his hands.

“You served a mad king and you’ll die at the hands of another” Ashton said with sufficiency as he looked down at the broken sword laying beside them.

“Please,” Chaviet begged, falling to his knees “Mercy…” 

Ashton grabbed him by the collar and pulled him closer.

“Is that what Rian said when you killed him?” 

The point of his sword was already pressing against the crow’s chest, it was just a matter of a little push to end it all.

“Long live the fucking King” Ashton sunk the sword into the heart of the captain. 

If seeing how dull the eyes of Hugo Chaviet became, or the thin line of blood dripping from his lips, would bring any satisfaction to Ashton, then that failed. When he pulled the sword out of the dead man’s body and let it fall with a thundering thud, Ashton realized he felt nothing. 

He didn’t regret it, not one bit. But deep down he knew that this wasn’t over. Killing him won’t change what’s done; it can’t bring back the dead or heal the scars that the past left. Ashton knew it meant something, he only wished it could mean more to him. Bring back that piece of him that died long ago, the one that made him a person he barely remembered. 

A deep breath escaped his lips as he tilted his head toward the sky, letting the rain wash him of all the blood, of all his sins. The droplets caressed his face, but he found no comfort in the break that the rain allowed. The war was not over, not yet. 

“Ashton!” Another voice called for him, but there was no threat to it, no. It was desperation.

The prince turned around toward the sound, his unamused face soon turned to worry as he saw the King of the Vail riding toward him with a seemingly injured Michael laying horizontally in front of him in the saddle. Next to them, King Alex also appeared on his horse, panting heavily.

“What happened?” Ashton yelled as he ran toward them, meeting them in the middle “Michael…” 

The knight tried to smile to reassure the worried prince, but it was more a mock of pain that crossed his face. 

“We need your help,” Luke begged, “We need to get to the castle, to the infirmary! Ash… He doesn’t have much time”

Ashton nodded, feeling conflicted as to what to do, looking around on the battlefield where weirdly no one seemed to be noticing them. 

King Alex seemed to have read his mind “We’re doing fine,” He said “We can hold them off and defeat them easily. Seems like they underestimated their prince and princess” 

“They haven’t arrived yet?” 

“No one has seen them,” 

“We can look for them in the palace,” Luke added, looking seriously at Ashton “It’s time, Ash” 

King Alex stepped off his horse and gave the reins to Ashton, “We got this, your Majesty” 

Ashton nodded and hopped on the horse, giving one last look at the fight before he followed the men of the Vail toward his home. Toward the end. 

*

“Where to?!” Asked Calum as they walked, going faster with every step and stopping at every corner, making sure the coast was clear. 

With some of the guards looking for them, Calum and Y/N ought to be very cautious while trying to find a way out of the palace, knowing that the known entrances would be impossible to go through. 

“I don’t know!” Answered the Princess next to him.

“You don’t know?!” 

“Well, I don’t know Calum! I’m not going to stop and ask for directions, am I now?” 

“You live here!” 

“And all the ways I had to sneak out of the palace are completely- Wait!” Y/N said, stopping completely and making Calum stumble at the sudden reaction.

She turned around with a wide smile, “The library!” She said. 

“What about it?” 

“There are maps of the castle,” She continued “My tutors never let me see them, too afraid of me running away someday if I ever knew about the secret entrances and pathways. But they must still be there! Father couldn’t be bothered to throw them out, I don’t think- No, Calum, we have to at least try and look for them!” 

Calum stood there, an unreadable look on his face. 

“What?” 

“Darling, I love you,” He said, “But wouldn’t you think, I don’t know, convenient for you to have mentioned that earlier?” 

She rolled her eyes “Well, my dear, in between all the running for our lives and hiding, the literal war that has broken out just a few miles over, and the crazy monarch that happens to be my father, I must’ve forgotten” 

Calum pressed his lips in a thin line and nodded “Message received. Now, where was the library?” 

In a matter of minutes and going up two sets of stairs, they entered the deserted library. Piles of books covered in dust welcomed them as they opened the windows with care, trying not to make a sound in case the guards decided to look on that floor. 

They separated to cover more ground, Y/N started at the left while Calum went to the right, skimming through the shelves hoping to find some type of leather folder that contained the maps that would lead them to the woods again. 

“I haven’t been here in years” Calum commented, opening and closing a book after reading the title “And it seems like no one has in at least a decade” 

“I hated this place,” Y/N said, a smile clear in her voice “Well, I used to love it when I was a child. But then my father decided I should be locked up here for hours learning about “how to be a lady” and all fun was sucked out of this place. I’m not surprised he forgot about it once we were gone” 

“Remember when you would sneak me in here?” He walked over to her, standing behind her as he checked the top shelves “You would recruit me to find inspiration for your stories” 

“Our stories” Y/N laughed, looking up at him “I needed a second opinion. And since Ash started to get busier, I figured you would do just fine” 

Calum pinched her side, making her laugh and squirm out of his touch. He placed a kiss on her cheek. 

“Funny how we wanted to be here and now we are looking to escape” She sighed.

“But we’ll be back,” Calum reassured her, comfortingly rubbing his hands on her arm. “I promised you we will when we are free. We’ll travel the world and come back whenever you’re ready, my rose.”

“I know, but I-” She stopped suddenly when her eyes read the title of a book. Without a word she walked over to one of the tables, carefully placing the book and skimming through the pages “Calum, come look at this!” 

“Did you find the map?” 

“No, but look!” A smile plastered itself on her lips “It’s the book of Maesters! Throughout the years, all maesters were required to write in this book each time they made a discovery, poison, cure… It contains years of information about medicine and surgery we barely know!”

Calum smiled “And if there are years of wisdom in poisons…”

“The antidotes should be there! Oh, Cal! Michael’s cure is surely here somewhere, we have to take it” 

“You look for the antidote, I’ll keep looking for the map” 

*

The horses stopped at the entrance of the castle. The men didn’t command them to, it was as if they knew something terrible might happen. 

Ashton looked over at Luke who was looking at the fortress with hatred and determination. Michael, who found enough strength to sit up, let out a breath of resignation.

“We’re here,” He said, attempting to break the tension. 

They imagined they would storm into the castle with their horses, demand the cure and the crown, and get over with it as quickly as possible. But it was as if the moment became bigger than them, and a sudden fear struck their bones. 

Ashton was the first one off the horse, a hand already on the handle of his sword“C’mon,” 

Luke followed suit, helping Michael off and wincing when the night insisted he could walk.

“I’m alright, Luke,” He said with a smile, “It was a moment’s weakness that’s all” 

“A moment’s weakness can cost you your life,”

“Or save it if we don’t hurry” He nudged Luke’s shoulder, following Ashton.

“You know,” Luke sighed, catching up to him “You used to be the serious one in this relationship” 

Michael laughed “I got one foot in hell, my King, the least I can do is make the trip enjoyable” 

Luke was about to make a rebuttal but quickly got quiet when he noticed Ashton standing still in the middle of the hall.  

The air around them was eerily silent. Something was wrong, they could all feel it. In an instant, the three of them drew their swords as they stood in position.

“Ash?” Asked Michael “What happened? What’s going on?” 

“Can’t you hear it?” The prince asked back, looking over the staircase that welcomed them “Listen,” 

It was faint, almost inaudible, but it was there. The sound of iron footsteps coming their way. Then, from the east and the west, soldiers all dressed in armor stood in front of them, swords drawn and helmets facing them. 

No one said a word as the three men got surrounded. They were outnumbered, that’s for sure. But they never quiver. In fact, one could almost see the ghost of a smile hidden somewhere. 

Michael scoffed “How many do you reckon?” He asked Ashton. The prince shrugged.

“Forty, maybe fifty men” 

“A playdate, then,” Said Luke, holding onto his sword with a better grip and cracking the bones of his neck. 

“This is the fun I was talking about,” Ashton smirked before trodding toward the soldiers with Michael and Luke following close behind.

*

Calum stopped abruptly, making Y/N bump against his shoulder, almost dropping the book she was holding. “What’s going on?” she asked, putting all her senses on high alert in case something or someone was coming. 

They left the library not too long ago, being successful in finding the right map and the book they needed to save Michael’s life. For the first time in a long while, things were starting to look up for them. Well, until Calum had that dark look in his eyes. 

“I don’t know,” Calum answered, somberly “It seems- Can’t you hear it? Sounds like fighting,” 

It could be a possibility, of course, the castle was big enough so that a battle couldn’t be heard from the inside of its thick walls, not if they were to happen at the other side of the castle at least. 

“You don’t think they’ve stormed the castle, do you?” Y/N asked, wondering if her brother could ever be as reckless. But then again, blood is thicker than water, and look where that recklessness took her. 

“They don’t have any reason to,” Calum assured her “The fight is way beyond the woods, there’s nothing to gain here except reclaiming the crown once this is all over” 

Still, the princess noticed the doubtful eyes of her husband and the way his lips twitched in what seemed to be an unsaid request. 

“What’s the matter, then?” She asked, carefully.

Calum turned to her, clouded eyes of indecision searching through her soul. 

“What if we go out there and everything is lost?” 

“Cal,”

“What if it’s a trap? Y/N I nearly lost you too many times already, I’m not about to let that happen again” 

The princess opened her mouth to answer, to say anything to change his mind or to remind him that she was the one that made the choice to come here in the first place. But the look in the stable lad’s eyes was more than enough to make her question her thoughts. 

She has seen the pain in those brown eyes way too many times in such a short amount of time, she never wanted to see that kind of pain hidden there again. She knew he had a good reason to worry, he had every right. No amount of words could ever convince him otherwise, not now at least, not until it is all over. 

“We can’t stay here forever, Calum,” She said, cuddling his face. 

“I know,” Calum sighed “But, at least indulge me in staying somewhere safe while I go make sure there’s a clear path for us to go through the castle. I need to know you’re safe, Y/N. I need you” 

“Can’t I go with you?” 

“If there’s any danger I would rather you stay safe in a place you know rather than come with me to face the unknown without any type of weapon,” He said, kissing her forehead “Go into that room, you know which one it is? Good. I’ll be back soon, my rose, I promise.”

“You better make good on that promise,” She told him, holding onto the book tightly “I need you, too, Cal. More than you know” 

He smiled at her, bringing their lips closer for a small, lingering kiss. With one last breath, Calum pressed his forehead against hers, saying a small prayer for her before he went down the hall. Y/N watched him disappear around the corner, a small sigh denoting her worry as she turned to the wood and gold doors. 

The last time she stepped foot into the throne room she had done so by a hidden door behind the curtains. She remembers the room feeling claustrophobic as she watched how hundreds of people stood in front of her father, watching him sentencing the love of her life to the gallows after nearly beating him to death for trying to save her. 

The anxious beating of her heart back then could mirror the one she was feeling right now as she glanced nervously at the dark ambiance of the room. Feeling nothing but a bad kind of excitement running through her veins. 

At the other side of the room stood the solitary throne her father, King Richard, used to sit with such entitlement and pride. The old, empty chair brought nothing but bad memories to the princess. The image of her father, smirking cruelly at her, was still fresh in her mind. All those years of abuse were not easy to forget nor will ever be completely erased from her skin and her heart. The remainder of a father that was never someone she could love, but someone she should fear. 

With a deep breath, she walked over to the throne that she knew would soon belong to her brother, the rightful heir. How many people have died to keep the peace? Could any amount of blood be enough to wash the sins of the king who’s gone mad with power after losing the love of his life? When will it be enough? 

Up close to the throne does not seem that intimidating. At a closer glance, she could notice for the first time the emblem of the kingdom engraved on the headset, always covered by the crown of someone undignified. It was weird… Underwhelming, even, to be so close to the main point of power and not be able to feel it. What was it all about then? 

The velvet cushion on the armrest did not tingle her fingertips nor did it spark anything in her. Could it be that the throne of her kingdom was rejecting her as a princess? Or was the fact that she learned not to fear it had something to do with it? Without her father there, the throne was just a chair. A chair that did not belong to anyone but to RoseWood itself. And to whoever was willing to serve it. 

The simple thought of it almost made her laugh. She believed it would’ve made Calum laugh, too, if he had been there with her. Yet, as soon as that thought crossed her mind, the sound of the wooden doors opening graced her ears, making her smile for her husband had returned for her. 

However, it was not Calum’s voice the one that spoke into the room.

“What have I told you about touching what doesn’t belong to you?” 

Familiar shivers ran down her spine as she turned around, frozen in place as she came face to face with the man she once thought could call father instead of the monster he was. He was just standing there, dressed as if he were to attend the kingdom’s next gala, not even trying to hide the winning smirk on his face as he looked down at her with sufficiency. 

“What are you doing here?” She asked, surprised to see her voice did not crack under fear. 

“Now, that’s no way to say hello to your father, is it?” 

“Father?” Y/N asked in a whisper, holding on to the head of the chair, looking for comfort or strength, she didn’t know yet “A coward is all I see. If you were so much of a King, you should be fighting alongside your people, not hiding in your palace like some sort of-” 

“A king protects what’s his!” Richard shouted over her voice, silencing her completely. Y/N hated the way she instinctively retracted, looking down like a scared child.

But she wasn’t a scared child anymore. He kept screaming. Yelling at her about how it was his right to be there. Yet she couldn’t listen to any of it. She didn’t have to. 

For the first time in years, Y/N managed to look back at her father in the middle of his outburst. She felt the velvet underneath her fingerprints and the book pressed against her chest; looked at the walls that surrounded them, how big they seemed and how they echoed his every word but not their meaning; she breathed the scent of iron and smoke that came from the window, reminding her of what was at stake, of the lives that were at risk whilst he kept yelling at someone who stopped listening to a long time ago. 

And then, she looked back at him. Her father. And she realized that she did not have any memories of the man that he once was, the man that she made herself believe one day loved her enough to call her his daughter. And he looked so small from where she was standing. 

His face was red; eyes completely unfocused as his rage kept on growing; the veins on his neck popped with every word. It was a sad view. And Y/N understood she had nothing to fear, not anymore. A sad man had no power over a princess. A sad man had no power at all. 

“This is my kingdom. MY REALM!” 

“You don’t deserve it!” She yelled back, taking a moment to relish the stunt face of her father, and her moment of bravery before continuing “You don’t deserve any of it! If it’s your kingdom, what have you done for it? The streets are destroyed, houses burned to the ground, and schools became graveyards! People are dying at your door, fleeing when they think RoseWood can offer them nothing but death and desolation. Families are being torn apart and pitted against one another and or what? Just for some of them to have the bare chance to survive a world that’s already doomed under your rule? Is that what you offer? Is that your realm?” 

She spoke calmly, taking a step closer to him and looking into her father’s eyes without any shame, looking for any kind of guilt. But all she could find was rage. 

“You are no King. And you are most certainly not a father either” She said, without a hint of grudge in her voice, only truth “If you could not care for your children, for your own blood. How could you expect to care for an entire kingdom?” The King’s semblance turned somber “You sent Ashton to plant your corrupt crows all over the map since he was sixteen. Crows that killed people, father. Kings and queens among them. You sent him to the dungeons and tortured him beyond measure, not caring if he would even survive it!”

“A traitor!”

“YOUR SON!” 

They were closer now, not enough so that they would touch but close enough for her to notice the beads of sweat that ran from his hairline to his forehead. She had not dared to come this far ever, not at her own will. But all those years of silence were begging her to finally be heard.

Y/N let out a chuckle “I cannot even bring myself to ask about me. To think that I find Ashton’s punishment more shocking than my own says a lot about what you’ve put me through. I always thought you hated me, but you spared Ashton because he was your heir. And I always found that fair, thinking that, somehow, one day you would spare me when you realize I was your daughter as well. But that was never the case, was it?” She asked, “It was never me or him. It was never us. It was only you and what was convenient for you at the time. Ashton as your pawn and I as your punching bag” 

King Richard had the decency to look down as Y/N finished her monologue. The Princess felt as if a weight had been lifted from her chest, finally confronting her father, her abuser with the words she felt she would never be brave enough to even mutter. 

But the feeling of satisfaction didn’t last long as a low, cruel laugh started forming from her father's chest, erupting in what Y/N feared to be the most terrifying sound she’s heard. Richard shook his head slightly as he looked up at her, a malicious glint in his eyes. 

“You got something wrong there, my dear,” He said, smiling. 

“What?” 

“I did not ever hate you” He took a step closer to her, extending his arm so that his gloved hand could caress the side of her face, even when she flinched from his touch “To hate,” He said, slowly “Would imply to have ever felt anything toward you at all” 

Everything that happened next seemed to happen in a blur. 

In less than a second, the sound of a bang exploded through the princess’ ears as the doors opened wide. At the same time, a hand came to her neck, clinging to the back of it before grabbing her arm and twisting it behind her back, immobilizing her completely. But before she could scream, the hand behind her neck disappeared. However, the freedom didn’t last long as a sharp pain soon came to the side of her throat. 

“Not a step closer!” She heard her father yell, close to her ear.

When she opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the panicked look in Calum’s eyes looking back at her as he stopped in his tracks. He was sweating profusely, bleeding from a cut on his arm, and there was a bruise forming on his forehead. His sword was drawn, pointed right at her, or more accurately, at the person behind her. His body was shaking, out of fear or out of exhaustion, she didn’t know.

“Let her go!” Y/N heard, but it wasn’t Calum that spoke. And it wasn’t until her father forcefully pulled her back did she see them all standing there. 

Ashton was standing next to Calum, with a sword drawn and pointed as well, ready to attack at any given moment. A deep cut bleeding from his brow. His armor was torn apart at the top, only the arms were still covered and the chest only had his black shirt to protect it. His eyes were red, tired, but determined looking at Y/N with unsaid apologies that she did not need to take. 

Luke was standing next to them, looking completely defeated as he tried to catch his breath. He had cut the leg in which he was trying to hold his weight together, and the hand in which he was holding the sword was trembling. His blue eyes shined with tears as his lips trembled to try to hide hisses of pain. 

And beside him, hanging seemingly lifelessly from his shoulder. 

“Michael?” 

There was no response, no reaction. His long, blond hair was messy, and bloody, covering his face as he looked at the floor. There was no way of telling if he was even conscious. He had an arm wrapped around Luke’s shoulders, but it was Luke’s arm that was holding him upright, almost dragging him. 

Y/N’s eyes filled with tears as she looked desperately at the King of the Vail, “Luke?”

The young king avoided her gaze as he shook his head and held his sword tightly. Swallowing the lump in his throat. 

Y/N felt her father grumble up a laugh as he tightened the grip on her arm, the knife against her throat was still cold upon her skin. But she had to tell them. She knew the book had escaped her grip at some point during the madness, but if they could grab it…

“Luke-” She said, choking when the knife pressed a little harder “The book. Take it” 

Calum’s eyes widened, looking from his wife to the discarded book on the floor, mere feet away from the young king’s reach. 

“Luke,” He said, carefully taking a step closer between Y/N and the book, in case Richard tried anything “The book has the antidote for Michael. Take it and get him out of here” 

“But-” Luke’s shaky voice tried to object.

“We got this,” Ashton said, never taking his eyes away from his father. “Go take care of your family, we’ll take care of ours” 

Calum got close enough to the book and kicked it in Luke’s direction. The young King dropped his sword in an instant and grabbed the book. He gave one last longing look to the princess, but there was no more time to lose. It was in the gods’ hands now. 

*

The walls in the castle seemed to suffocate him as he ran as fast as he could, even with a limp and the weight of Michael on top of him, Luke could’ve been flying for all he knew. 

He knew he shouldn’t have let him fight, but being stubborn was part of Michael’s charm, and may the gods forbid anyone from preventing him from participating in a battle, especially one where his king was fighting alongside him. Still, an army against three - that soon became four when somehow Calum appeared to help - even when they were the most skilled warriors, was still an unfair play. 

“We’re almost there,” He groaned in a whisper, in prayer, almost. To the gods, to his lover, to anyone that could listen. Anyone that could help them. 

Luke shouldn’t have let him out of his sight, not in his state. He knew Michael could barely walk when they reached the palace. But a false sense of hope filled his soul at seeing him draw his sword, almighty and powerful, like one of those tragic heroes before their epic battle. Michael looked like a god, and for a second, Luke forgot to remember how fragile his beauty could be. 

The image of his lover still on the ground haunts him. How the world seemed to stop as his eyes searched for him through the battle. Ashton and Calum were fighting against two, maybe even three times their weight in soldiers, but they were striking them down like it was nothing. Luke had just defeated the last archer, breathing for just a second when he realized Michael was no longer by his side. 

He looked around frantically, his heart beating at the pace of a thousand horses as his ears rang from a hit he took on the head not too long ago. He could not find his Michael anywhere. 

“Luke!” He heard someone call behind him, maybe Ashton or Calum. He couldn’t remember, nor did he care. 

Because when he turned around, he felt as if his heart would break into a million pieces. For there, there was Michael, leaning against a pillar, bleeding. He lifted his head long enough for Luke to recognize the agony in those green eyes before they shut down in pain, letting his legs give in to the exhaustion and fall to the ground. 

Luke shouted his name, but no sound came to his ears. He started to move, to run, but everything seemed to go in slow motion, never quite reaching him. Was he hurt? Was it the poison? He didn’t know! He couldn’t! All he knew was that he had to get to him before someone else did. But nothing could be that easy.

The fight kept on going and there were many soldiers to cut through before any of them could get to Michael. By then, the general of the Vail was bleeding from the head and had various bruises from stomps given by other soldiers, whether they were intentional or not if they thought he was already dead, no one knew. But there wasn’t time for tears as Luke picked him up and followed the others through the halls. And he hasn’t stopped running since then.

Opening every door with a kick, cursing to the old gods and the new, Luke would not stop until he could find the infirmary or at least someone who could help. He knew Michael was not dead, not yet. He couldn’t be. And if the book Y/N gave them contained the cure, by the gods they would find it. 

He’s not going to lose the love of his life today. He won’t. 

And if it’s too late, he will make sure he’ll follows him as well. 

“For fuck’s sake!” He yelled after kicking open the tenth door and found it empty except for just a bed.

His hope was fleeting. The tears were already falling freely down his cheeks, hot and mixed with sweat and blood. He let out a scream, shattering his heart and throat. His legs started to give, he couldn’t- 

“Luke,” Michael murmured against his ear, sending shivers down the young king’s spine “You’re tired,” 

The blond tried to speak, but only a broken gasp could escape his lips as his legs trembled in exhaustion. He shut his eyes tightly, swallowing the lump in his throat that threatened to tear it apart. He shook his head. 

“‘M not,” He answered, kidding himself and hoping he could fool Michael as well “I-I’m trying to find the infirmary. Last time we were here, it was- it was somewhere around-”

But as he looked to the empty hallway, to all the doors that were still left unopened and all the doors that were no answer before. Did he know where he was going? Was there a way out?

“My King…” Michael said, followed by a series of coughs that shook his entire body, worrying Luke.

“Shh, shh” He tried to calm the soldier, or himself, it didn’t matter at this point. 

He put the book under his arm and with his free hand managed to gently caress the underside of Michael’s cheek, trying to bring some sort of comfort as the coughing stopped. But as he retreated the hand and found droplets of blood, he knew that there wasn’t any time left. 

Feeling as if his heart might’ve grown ten times heavier, Luke was thankful Michael could not see the tears that started to fall from his eyes as he looked down in defeat.

“Come,” He said, quietly. Softly moving them into the room and helping Michael lay down on the single bed that adorned the room. 

Michael did so without complaint, sighing softly as his head hit the pillow. His white complexion contrasted against the red of the blood; his lips once so plump were now drained of color, chapped and dry, parted in silent prayer. His hair was matted to his forehead; his arms folded upon his chest, almost as if he was cold and he was shielding himself from a winter that caught him unprepared. His eyes did not change, though, they were still as green as the ocean shore back in The Vail; the best memory of home Luke had so many miles away. 

Michael managed to smile as he blinked up at his king, “You’re staring,” He said, breathlessly. Luke couldn’t help but chuckle, quickly kneeling up beside the bed.

“You’re beautiful,” He confessed, blue eyes filled with tears staring intensely into his green ones. His calloused hands found Michael’s and he held them close to his face, kissing them closely “I’m so, so lucky”

Michael frowned, lifting a shaky hand and passing his fingers through Luke’s curls. Luke leaned into the touch.

“Are you hurt?” He asked hoarsely. 

Luke shook his head. 

“Don’t lie,” Michael pleaded, “Not now, not to me” 

“It won’t matter soon enough. Nothing will” 

“Luke,” The young king shook his head, Michael smiled, “Luke, it’s alright”

“No,” He simply said, lips trembling and forming a pout Michael desperately wanted to kiss. Luke refused to look at him as he shook his head “No!” 

“Look at me. Luke, please.” There was nothing but calmness in his tone, something that ought Luke to obey him, trying his hardest not to break once he did and Michael smiled at him “It’s alright. We did what we could. You did all you could” 

“I- I could've done more!” Luke cried, hiding his face in Michael’s shoulders, holding onto his hand as if life depended on it “I could’ve come sooner! I- I could’ve sent someone had I’ve known- had- I would’ve- Michael, we could’ve had more time!” 

Michael shook his head “All the years, all the months, all the days, minutes, and seconds I spent with you were the best ones of my life and I loved you in every single one of them. I wouldn’t change them for the world nor make them start over. And even if life would allow me, I’d still feel blessed to die like this, with you by my side” 

Luke broke down, crying “I’m sorry” over and over again as his tears soaked the clothes of his lover. Finally allowing himself to feel what he was so afraid of.

“There’s nothing to forgive as long as you continue to live, my king” 

“I don’t know how- Without you… Michael, I love you,” 

“And I you, that’s why I beg of you, Luke. Don’t let me be the end of you. Don’t let someone you love destroy you like this, don’t make me that memory” 

“How is it fair that I’ll get to love you for the rest of my life when you’re not here with me?” 

“As fair as the moon and the sun could never meet, my love,” Michael said, tightening his grip on Luke’s hand “But they had a beautiful eclipse” 

Luke leaned forward, capturing his lips with Michael’s. The salt of the tears reminded them of the salty air of the Vail, of those breezy nights where they would spend hours looking at the stars, locked in each other's arms as the hours passed by. Nothing mattered at that moment, and nothing else mattered now, just them, saying goodbye one last time. 

“Oh my!” 

The two men separated, Luke immediately went for Michael’s dagger which was still tied up to his buckle, and stood ready to defend Michael from any attacker. But he found no one standing at the door, instead, he found a figure crouching on the floor, trembling. 

“STAND!” He demanded. 

The stranger did, shaking with fear. Luke’s shoulders relaxed a little. That was not a man, that was a boy. 

“Mercy! Mercy, please, my lord!” The boy said with a crack in his voice, Luke figured he could not be older than fifteen. 

“Who are you?” He asked, taking a step closer to Michael, checking up on him with a glance “What are you doing here?” 

“M-my name is Lance, my Lord! I’m an apprentice, just a student of maester-”

“Maester?!”

Luke took one last glance at Michael, who nodded slightly. One last chance, one last opportunity. 

In a second, Luke put down the dagger and grabbed the book, taking a step closer to the young lad.

“Lance, my name is Luke. The one on the bed is my friend Michael, he’s sick, and we need your help” He opened the book and noticed that the page of the antidote was already marked, he smiled and reminded himself to thank the princess later “Do you think you can help us?” 

*

Y/N watched with a small smile as Luke took Michael out of the room, feeling relief that, at least, if anything were to happen, they would be safe. 

Calum and Ashton were standing opposite her and her father. Richard had her pressed against his chest, arm twisted just like he did in the woods a year ago, and a dagger pressed against her neck, preventing her from any movement. And, of course, keeping Calum and Ashton from getting any closer. 

The two men had not taken their eyes off the princess or her father. Their swords were drawn and ready for battle, even when they just fought one and the effects of it were starting to show in the small trembles of their bodies and beads of sweat and blood that marked their skin. 

“I said,” Ashton broke the silence with a grave, threatening voice. His eyes set on his father, filled with hate “let her go” 

His father gave him a scoffed laugh “Or what, boy? You’re going to hurt your old man, is that it?” 

Ashton’s face turned red and Y/N could see how his knuckles were almost gone from holding his sword too tight.

“Ash…” She warned, choked up as her father tightened the grip he had on her.

“And what about this lad?” He said, looking at Calum for the first time, mocking him “Thinking he’s got what it takes? The two of you think what? That you can beat me? Take my kingdom? YOU COULDN’T EVEN PROTECT HER LAST TIME!” 

To make his point across, Richard twisted Y/N’s arm to make her yelp, making both Calum and Ashton react by taking one step closer, but the dagger by her neck reminded them that they were at a disadvantage. 

“See?!” Richard laughed, taking a step back and taking Y/N with him “You are weak! Fragile!” He turned to the princess, letting his breath fall over her face “You called me a coward before, so what are they?! COWARDS!” 

“That’s not true!” Ashton shouted, eyes filled with rage. 

“Ash, don’t listen to him!” The princess begged. 

“QUIET!” Richard twisted her arm again, pressing the dagger further “One more fucking word from you and I swear I’ll fucking end you like I should’ve done years ago, you little bitch!” 

“Touch her one more time and I’ll fucking kill you,” Calum threatened.

Richard spat “I’ll be doing you a fucking favor, she’s as wicked as they come! You both fell for her games like the stupid little boys you are”

“Shut up!” Ashton yelled.

“How fucking disappointed, Ashton. You more than anyone should know. You should be standing next to me! Taking on the world together!”

The prince swallowed harshly, voice trembling as he gritted “I’m not like you,” 

The king laughed “You are. You are more like me than you know. It’s in your blood” He grimaced “But now it’s all gone to waste! Because of her!” 

He pulled Y/N back, bending her back so that only her head was resting on his chest while the rest of her body was bent forward, causing her to cry in pain. Calum called out her name, but she couldn’t answer, feeling like all the air inside her lungs was suddenly pulled out of her body. 

“She made you weak! Distracted you from what really mattered! I almost fell for the same spell, but I wasn’t as naive, oh no” He pulled Y/N back, this time letting go of her arm as he grabbed her by the hair instead, something he always enjoyed doing to cause her pain “I could’ve had it all years earlier, have a whole EMPIRE! But she somehow knew all my plans. She tried to talk me out of them, oh yes, and I listened. For years I stood back from my own glory because of what she asked. 

When I realized what I have lost. What I resigned because of her… All that power I gave up. I understood that if I ever wanted to feel some type of power again I had to get rid of her. That way no one would ever stop me” 

Realization hit Y/N as her father spoke, the shock of his confession sitting heavy on her heart as she looked to the side and found Ashton in a similar situation. Her brother’s eyes were red, tears falling freely from them as his chest tried to contain the heavy breaths that filled his heart with years of unshared pain and loss. 

If mercy was ever an option in Ashton’s heart, it has now flown away. In his eyes, she saw the image of a boy who had grown up too fast. A boy who would read her to sleep and sneak them up to their mother’s chambers to say goodbye for the night, hoping and praying it won’t be the last time. A boy who had to put his nightmares behind to tend to hers, feeling as if he had no one left to care for him. No, there was no mercy left in that boy’s heart. For one cannot take away a boy’s mother and live in peace with it. 

“And now,” Their father continued, “This could all be gone away the same way” 

“NO!” Calum yelled, dropping his sword and running toward them, hoping he’ll be fast enough. 

But Y/N was faster. 

In an instant, the princess managed to stomp her feet hard against her father’s, making him scream in pain as she dug her heel into his bone. Richard lost his balance for a second, long enough for the princess to elbow him in the stomach, causing the blade to cut through her shoulder and arm rather than her neck. 

She hissed in pain but managed to recover in time to grab the dagger from her father’s hand and swing it blindly toward him, making a deep cut on his cheek before she fell to the ground, landing on her back and hitting her head. The impact pulled the air out of her lungs as she gasped from the shock of what she had done. 

Richard screamed obscenities at her as his hand went to cover the fresh wound on his face, fairly distracted as Calum tackled him to the ground and started to beat him with his bare hands. 

“Don’t. Fucking. Touch. My. Wife!” He yelled with every punch, not measuring the strength of them. 

Y/N, still laying on the floor tried to call his name, but the fall made it all seem blurry as a pool of her blood gathered to her side. 

“Y/N!” She heard Ashton call before he appeared over her body. His hazel eyes filled with worry as he picked her up and leaned her against one of the pillars of the room, one hand behind her head while the other tried to cover up her wound that, guessing from his panicked expression, was more than just a simple cut “Y/N, are you-”

The princess nodded as her eyes were becoming clearer “C-Calum,” She said, breathing heavily “I’m fine, Ash. Go help him” 

Ashton’s teary eyes denoted doubt as he looked at her, knowing that she was not telling the truth. But as he looked back at his best friend fighting his father, he knew she was right. This needed to end and there was no other way. With one last look at his sister, he leaned his forehead against hers, placing a kiss on her hair.

“You are the best thing in my life, Y/N/N” 

“Go, big brother.” She smiled at him, “Be a king” 

Ashton gave her a small smile as he got up, sword in hand, and ran to help Calum, who was now blocking the attacking punches of Richard, making Calum back up almost to a corner. Ashton came and hit his father with the back of his sword, making him stumble backward as he helped Calum stand up.

“Are you alright?” He asked.

Calum, all bruised and with a bloody nose, nodded as he spat a little blood on the floor and smiled at his best friend “I wanted to do that for a long time” 

Ashton chuckled and patted him on the back as he leaned down and handed Cal his sword, “You and me both, my friend. Now, shall we?”

Calum wiped the blood from his face with the back of his hand. He made the sword spin on his hand and got in position next to Ashton, both men looking directly at the King who got himself with Luke’s sword and stared at them, ready to fight. 

“Let’s fucking dance” 

Ashton was the first one to hit. Walking toward his father, he swung the sword with one hand, knowing his father would block him in one move. However, this gave Calum the chance to hit him on the legs, crashing against his armor and debilitating his stance just enough so that when Richard would try to hit Calum, Ashton could manage to hit his side. 

It was all choreographed beautifully from where Y/N could see. How Ashton and Calum would move so in sync, knowing how the other one would attack without saying a word to each other, just seemingly reading each other’s minds. 

Her father… The stories they told of him being a great warrior were not shy of the truth. She was no stranger to him using his strength, but seeing him in battle showed a perfect set of moves and training. Years have gone and age has come to claim his youth, but the way he fought could fool anyone. It was a battle of two against one, yet both Ashton and Calum were having trouble keeping up. 

Y/N looked to her side and noticed the disregarded blade that was pressed against her neck not even an hour ago. An idea came to mind. 

A sharpening pain shot through her body as she pulled herself up with the help of the pillar, leaning her body weight on it as her legs quivered. She breathed through it, closing her eyes tightly as she prayed silently for anyone who would listen. The blood dripped down her arm while she leaned down to grab the dagger, covering it crimson as she limped her way across the room. 

The three men were unaware of her presence approaching them as they kept on with their dance. Calum, blocking a swing from the King that was meant for Ashton, was the first to see her, barely walking over to them covered in blood and with a knife in hand. His eyes widened, shaking his head in horror. 

He pushed the king out of the way, making Richard stumble back. He hit his jaw with the back of his sword, hearing the breaking of bones as he ran past him. 

“Y/N!” Calum yelled, just in time to grab her as she fell. 

Her wounded arm bent as she tried to break the fall against Calum’s chest, making her cry out in pain. But she stood back up, leaning against her husband. 

“Cal, wait!” She said, handing him the dagger. Calum nodded.

“ASH!” 

The stable lad slide the dagger on the floor toward the prince who caught it under his foot. Ashton leaned down and grabbed the blade with his free hand, stabbing it directly over his father’s dominant hand. 

Richard screamed as he let go of his sword, trying and failing to take out the blade from his wound. Ashton took his chance to strike him down, clear swings that made his father retreat, cutting through his armor till there was nothing left. 

Ashton kicked his father down, making him fall on his back. He placed a foot on his stomach, and the King became a man. 

The king’s face was nothing but a bloated, butchered, bloody mess. His arms were filled with cuts and bruises, and so were his legs. There was a wound in his stomach, courtesy of Calum, that while it was not as big as it would seem, was deep and could cause some damage if not treated. He was completely unrecognizable, but for Ashton, he would always be the monster that he knew as a father. 

With a stone-cold expression, Ashton drew his sword and placed it over Richard’s throat. Not once taking his eyes from him. 

Richard started to laugh, blood pouring down his mouth “Do it.” He demanded “Do it, boy. DO IT!” 

Ashton looked down at him, and pressed his weight on his foot, making his father wheeze and gasp for air. 

“I’m not like you.” 

Instead, he used the back of his sword to hit his father in the head, leaving him unconscious, but still alive to pay for his crimes. 

After all, he had too many sins to be let go of that easily. 

“Ashton!” 

The prince lifted his gaze just in time to see his sister faint into her husband’s arms, completely unconscious. He threw his sword to the side and ran up to them, falling to his knees next to Calum who in futile attempts was trying to wake her up.

“ROSE!” He’d shouted in a cry, tapping her face completely drained of color “Y/N, wake up! PLEASE!” 

“She’s lost a lot of blood!”

“Y/N! PLEASE! WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP!” 

But all the castle could hear was the cries of a broken man.

*

* 

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[sokokoko]

I will not answer or reblog anything that asks for money/has to do with donations. Please understand 🙏 Any messages I receive about such things will be presumed to be a bot and deleted.

‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❝ 𝒀𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘 ❞・ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ︵‿

/ ❝𝑰'𝒎 𝑺𝒐𝒌𝒐❞ /

/❝𝑰'𝒎 𝒂 𝒈𝒊𝒓𝒍❞/

/ ❝𝑰 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒎𝒆❞/

/❝𝑰 𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅, 𝑰 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆, 𝑰 𝒅𝒓𝒂𝒘❞/

/❝𝑰'𝒎 𝒂𝒏 𝒂𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒖𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒐❞/

/❝𝑴𝒚 𝒇𝒂𝒗𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒆 𝒈𝒆𝒏𝒓𝒆𝒔 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒍𝒖𝒅𝒆 𝒓𝒐𝒎𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆, 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒔𝒚 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏❞/

♡✨𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒃𝒍𝒐𝒈; 𝒍𝒆𝒕'𝒔 𝒕𝒂𝒍𝒌 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒘𝒓𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒂𝒄𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔✨♡

I should probably mention my alt is @all-eyes-no-dragon because you will see me use it some places

𓁹 Insta 𓁹

❀ 25/03 birthday ❀

𓁹 purple is my favourite colour 𓁹

❀ You may also call me Nova ❀

If I write something stupid, feel free to poke holes in it! Thinking is hard 🥲

Also! If you feel like it, I would love an @ if you use any of my word prompts or writing prompts. It's not required, I'm just genuinely intrigued as to what you might've written. Only if you want to share though 💜

Down, down, down to read my stuff ⬇️

Resources:

✎ Writing piece classifications

Definitions and more. Ever wonder how many words it is to be considered a novel? What is a novelette? What is the average word count for different types of genres? What's the word count of a drabble? I got you.

✎ Really good name website: behindthename

❀ Look at: #writing prompts or #writing prompt in this account for a few ideas to spark inspiration in that wonderful Brian of yours

❀ In #whispers you'll see things I think all writers should get to hear

❀ #word of the sometimes is random words that I challenge you to write something based off

❀ #qfmn is random out of context things pulled from my notes (quotes from my notes)

❀ #​random honesty is just that.

❀ #writing quotes is pretty deep as well. You'll find some wisdom nuggets by searching this!

My Personal Works:

✎ All the stories I want to write from A-Z

A vast majority are only concepts, characters and worldbuilding. I can count the number of stories I've fully outlined on one hand. Some stories I am holding off writing as I one day hope to make them into comics.

🎆 The PPU (Paranormal Powers Universe) 🎆

✎ Universe layout + descriptions

Stories:

✩ After School Guardians

✩ Dreamer

✩ Nighttime Live!

✩ The Boy Who Grew Wings

✩ Keepers Of The Sun

✩ Lovers Of The Moon

✩ Gateway To The Stars

✩ Children Of The Clock

✩ Made In Mechania

✩ Wisteria's World

✩ The Bee & The Boy

✩ An Alien's Observations

✩ Hand Me The Moon

I'll update this list with more recent, better works at some point, currently going through a period where I don't have time to.

✎ The Raven & The Dove

Completed novelette. 13 chapters, 10.8k words and my only finished story, discounting a cringe 8 chapter short story I wrote when I was 12. Am I proud of this? It's not my magnum opus, that's for sure. I wrote this in 2 months. However, I'm happy that I finished a story and hope to write many more in future.

Summary:

Shadowed by a civilian woman who knows of his profession and yet doesn't care, the assassin for hire known as "The Raven" can't help but act more human.

When the woman, Hannah, worms her way deeper and deeper into the wretched life he lives, The Raven wishes that he was strong enough to turn her away. But his infatuation and her damned persistence won't let him.

As the two spiral deeper down a path of no return, The Raven has to wonder, “Who’s ruin will this lead to?”

His own? Or Hannah’s?

🪻 One Shots 🪻

✎ He, The Whisper (Dreamer adjacent)

POV of a character I don't plan on giving a POV in the actual book. Secondary main character of "Dreamer" and a powerful entity stripped of his original rank. This one shot goes through his thoughts as he's trapped in the Nightmare Realm. 200 words.

✎ Synth-ia, Sin-thia

Quick crack about Zinthia from After School Guardians meeting her original concept who was made by me as a young child. 994 words.

✎ The Storm Called Death

Vivian from The Frost Prince's Paramour? feeling cold and angry for 195 words. This is only significant because there's a curse on him that causes him to always be cold and will eventually freeze him to death. The only thing that can stave it off is human contact but his family want him to die so he's forbidden from being touched. Otherwise, this is just him having a pity party.

✎ A Pane-ful Scene

The newer, better piece I wrote for The Frost Prince's Paramour?

✎ Horology

730 words. Father Time stops time because he's disgusted with mortals but the birth and commands of some entities born outside his reach scares him into letting the timestream flow once again. Based off of a line I wrote for a companion piece song to Nighttime Live!

"Once upon a time seven powers arose

Born to a land where time itself froze

The Netherworld let out a quake

Father Time began to shake

In fear of what his God could make"

✎ Monster Knows Best

A young Kai from Pyre & Frost talks about the monster that lives with him in his house. Murder is mentioned and covered up. 374 words.

✎ purple; out of reach

What the colour purple means to Shadow, a Boogeyman from "After School Guardians" who was born wrong. 290 words.

[nebulouscoffee]

🛒✨💖❌🤗

All great questions, thank you!

🛒 What are some common things you incorporate in your fics? Themes, feels, scenes, imagery, etc.

I've noticed a lot of my fics play around with time/perception/reality, whether it's interconnecting flashbacks with the present or having nonlinear and/or unreal shenanigans going on. I think this is because I mostly write ds9 fic, and one of the main fascinations I have with that show is how almost every main character has a somewhat distorted or extraordinary perception of reality!

✨ Give you and your writing a compliment. Go on now. You know you deserve it. 😉

Aww thank you <3 uhhhh well more than one person has commented that I'm good at capturing character voices and sometimes I read my writing and think "hey they're right actually" :)

💖 What made you start writing?

The childhood urge to Make People Up and then Put Them In Situations! Fanfic specifically, it went like: pandemic -> ds9 rewatch -> unexpected obsession with the doctor lizard ship I somehow never cared about before -> getting into fanfic for the first time (I'd only occasionally read gen fics before, or b/7 lol) -> wanting to process complicated feelings I was sitting with & feeling inspired by some incredibly good fics I'd read -> voila we got 'Home'

❌ What's a trope you will never write?

Haha I've learnt to never say never, I mean if you'd asked my early 2021 self if I'd ever attempt writing romance or ship fic you'd've gotten a resounding "lmao no???" and we all know how that went

... I guess, demonising and/or killing off a character just to get OTP together? (Not a "trope" but definitely a trope y'know😂)

🤗 What advice would you give to new fanfic writers that are just getting started?

KILL 👏 THE 👏 CRINGE!! 👏 (or embrace it, whatever works :D)

Never forget you're doing this for fun! And for FREE! You don't owe anybody anything! Not so much writing advice as outlook-towards-your-writing advice, but (as long as your fics aren't like. racist or otherwise harmful lol) be proud of yourself and all your babies!

As time passes, you will inevitably come to look at your first works differently. This is where you must be vigilant against the cringe😂

Instead of "my older work is bad", think "I hadn't written much fanfic yet so I wasn't as good as I am now, and it's so cool that there's actually visible improvement"

Instead of "this fic is sooo out of character I hate it now", think "I wrote this back when I read the characters differently"

Instead of "I can't post this thing until it's perfect", think "I've gotten so used to improvement my standards are just unattainably high now, but the people reading liked what I wrote back then because something about it was good, and they'll probably like this too"

Instead of "I hate that my cringey old fics are still being read by people", think "This thing I created out of love and shared to connect with fellow fans brought them joy, and is still bringing people joy even after I've moved on, which is really cool of me actually"

Always remember your target audience is fellow obsessives with brainrot, NOT snarky people on the internet who don't care about the stories you're telling (esp if they don't even write fic! They'd never understand how hard it is to put your work out there.) Like 90% of the time when something's called "cringe", it's really just... sincere? Well, fanfic is literally a medium where people care about a show so much they voluntarily write tens of thousands of words for zero profit. It doesn't have to be good; there's published literature for that. People come to fanfic for the passion!

Don't write your blorbo with the main goal being distancing yourself from the basic girlies who like them wrong. Don't water down your favourite dynamics to cater to the people who "don't get" your ship. Fully unhinged fan content made out of love and Too Many Emotions will ALWAYS be better than painfully self-conscious works that are too afraid to be sincere imo (I don't read much smut but I'm sure this applies here too- just commit to it fully and people will find it hot! Nothing kills the vibe like being able to tell the fic writer was embarrassed they were writing this lol.)

Doesn't matter if you're writing for a rare pair that most people just go ??? at, or a popular character/pairing that's slowly starting to get hate because it's everywhere- don't be afraid to be sincere. Be fully and unapologetically insane about your obsessions and never ever get baited into being cynical about your work. Be true to yourself and have fun with your weirdo friends, and your fics will reflect that <3

[gigi-apologist]

sometimes i think what i would do, how i would act, if i got the chance to restart my entire life with the mindset i have today. i think i would be less of a pushover, i would impress everyone, serve cunt, slay enormously, etc.

but here’s the thing. of course i would be flawless as an adult in the body of a literal child. i would have the maturity of an adult (no matter what i say and joke about being a teenager in my twenties) dealing with actual children. but if those people who i resent from my past, even now, could come back too, of course they wouldn’t act like they did before. because they, too, would have changed. they, too, would be different, and they, too, probably still cringe about the things they did in the past.

if they were mean to you--it isn’t like you were never mean, now, is it? you made hurtful comments too, and you still remember what you were thinking. you know that if someone sat down with you and explained to you why such behavior was unkind, you would have learned and stopped. you always know what people say, of course, but you don’t know what they were thinking or feeling when they said it. you remember what you were thinking and feeling, and how you were both kind and unkind and most times oblivious about it, as the complex/flawed person you were and still are. (as all people are.)

moreover, i only have the maturity i have today because i went through all those things. i changed not in spite of, but because of everything i lived. that post i recently shared about how going back and erasing my own mistakes would be to erase myself couldn’t be more true.

it’s true, because it’s me writing this. the same gigi who cared about school popularity and cowered to “mean” girls and didn’t defend herself when she should or did a bazillion more cringe things my friendly brain loves to remind me of. i am the same person. yes, i changed, a lot. but i am still me, giovanna, who lived through all of that and did all of that and said all of that. it’s me, the same person. the same soul and lungs and blood in my veins. i don’t have to wonder, “what I would say to my past self if i ever met her” because i am her. i am child gigi, i am teenage gigi, i am young girl gigi who grew up. i am now advising myself. telling these things to myself. because the little girl i judged so harshly has changed for the better. she doesn’t exist anymore, because she listened to the invisible advices life told her and she changed to become me. why am i so hard on a ghost that doesn’t exist anymore? does that help me?

i still think of that comic i saw from that wonderful psychologist. i had a basket with me, even back then, with my own personality traits and experiences and life learning. how could i expect myself to be more discreet, or quiet, or confident, if all of those things weren’t inside my little basket yet? if they would only be acquired and learned in the future, with my experiences? would i expect my baby self before tumblr, before even facebook (before encountering that purple feminism account) to have a lot of revolutionary woke ideas? it would be irrational.

but i think it’s telling that no, i don’t truly want to go back. if i did, how could i build again the bonds that took me time to build? the bonds with my online friends, my irl friend, or even my uni classmates? i wouldn’t just undo the negative things i think i’ve done. i would undo the positive things, too. funny how it is ingrained in human nature, to see all the negative things first.

would i risk acting differently just a bit 🤏 and changing my entire future for the worst with the ✨ butterfly effect ✨ of it all? 🦋 can i trust myself to change just what would be strictly necessary instead of suppressing my own character growth?

if i was bad, i learned. if i was cringe, i was free.

i am still learning, today. i am still changing. my older self will be more mature than me and that’s okay. not to be rose on main again, but isn’t it wonderful, how human beings change? that they change so much and so genuinely that they can actually be ashamed of their very own actions? that they can confidently imagine they would do so much better than their past selves? oh, the growth that comes with experience. it’s such a beautiful superpower.

you’re just like a blorbita who underwent a character development arc!

at first, you may think like this:

which is something that everyone goes through. an extremely relatable thing, as you can see from tweets and memes everywhere. the human brain loves to remind us of our mistakes and things that make us cringe. it’s natural to the point of being expected, even, and some people have way, way worse memories than you. either way more embarrassing or actually traumatizing.

but hey, remember when mabel wanted to use the memory gun to erase the summer loves out of her mind and wendy wanted to forget a catchy song? but the lesson of the episode is that, no matter how much it seems tempting to erase certain things, your memories are an important part of who you are today?

it’s not about thinking you should think fondly of all your mistakes. sometimes, they are just cringe and embarrassing or whatever. it’s not about repressing memories nor about repressing your bitterness towards them in a fruitless attempt to be purely uwu self-loving.

it’s about not giving them the power to haunt you, and above all, not giving them the power to turn against yourself and make yourself feel bad. they won’t be such a torture if you don’t allow them to. the past is the past, and you cannot change it, but you can always evolve.

when it comes to mistakes in your childhood—if you could talk to that little girl, would you shout at her? would you accuse her of something? make her feel bad? because that’s essentially what you’re doing. you’re being more immature than her by punishing your internal child.

all useless shame that bears no fruits. this is how you sound like:

do you want to be the unforgiving, intolerant judge of yourself and be just one more of the people who point fingers at you thoughtlessly? without care about nuance and complexity?

it’s about this, gigi:

(the second half is important too, of course, but we’re focusing on the first.)

it’s about understanding, forgiving, and accepting yourself for being human.

[twntyfiveotwo]

Concluding 2023. Viva La Vida, 2024!

2023 was a year of chronic pain. There was this mild, chronic pain that was always at the back of my mind. It was learning to coexist with the pain, learning to deal with the pain when it gets overwhelming and recognising signs of when i spiral out of control.

2023 was a year of growth. It was building my self-esteem through my work, realising that I was not as useless as how I've been feeling for the past few years. It was validating and acknowledging my skills, and to be proud of it.

2023 was a year of resilience. It was a year of having self-discipline, and then losing sight of it due to stress or a bad decision. Despite losing sight, but yet picking myself up back to the lifestyle I aspire to have once my mind was set right. It was keeping old good habits, while gradually building new good ones. It was a year of backsteps, but also multiple baby steps that build 2024 to the right start.

So here we are, welcoming 2024. The amount of hard work that was put in, the amount of mindset conditioning that I did to myself, the amount of habits I've experimented and adopted. All these are the roots that were grown to help solidify the base of 2024.

Will 2024 be entirely stress-free and drama-free? I doubt it. Given my personality and my threshold to stress, I expect that bad days will still come. But what happens when bad days arrive? We can always get ready the umbrellas and raincoats that we had already prepared in 2023. So I'm not going to be overly optimistic and say "2024 is going to be MY YEARRRRR". But I will try my best to steer 2024 in the direction I want. I will look at my vision board every day and remember the kind of life I actually want and work hard for it.

So here's to 2024, a new year w same old me. But with new healthier coping mechanisms to get me through each ordeal that I'm about to face. I know I am strong, I know I am intelligent, and I know I am fully capable of creating the lifestyle that I want. Because I've always been an ambitious and independent girl since young. And I always worked for the things I've wanted. The past few years might have been a fall, but we are back to the person we used to be, and she is back to build a life of her own. While this saying sounds cringe as fk, it is true that we all only live 1 life. And if we only live 1 life, let's make it shine as bright as it can, may it shine the way we want it to shine.

Viva La Vida, Long Live Life! ✨

[pallastronomy]

Fuck it, snippets under the cut

There is some written description of violence/blood but nothing graphic and it is. Mostly elaborate metaphorical emotional breakdown moments on Aruru’s part. I still absolutely fucking love the punch in the gut of the scene after her mother is brought up but I feel like after all the build-up to Glittering Children she deserved to snap way harder than she did and since this fic is already self-indulgent enough I’m giving the people (Me) what they want and that is ✨Found Family Torture Labyrinth✨ *On the verge of tears*

You’ll have to view each one up close to read the full thing oops

You can see exactly where I’m projecting if you know where to look and tbh I Do Not Care I am cringe and I am free

Also yea I got my hands on the animal metaphors again. That’s my fucking thing now. Sorry for having an animal fiction special interest.

In my defense they were trying to kill me with the insert song. “The beast is crying” “The beast is on the prowl” WHAT IF I STARTED MAIMING. MAULING, EVEN.

(I uh. Actually put it in for entirely self-indulgent autism reasons and also projection before I even realized those lyrics were there but hey it fucking works!)

Anyways I am parading these around they are my everything. I love my over the top metaphors and flowery descriptions of said metaphors can you fucking tell

Some of my favourite segments I can’t even post yet because they’re callbacks to earlier things or need to be seen in the full context to hit as hard as they should but like. Augh.

Anyways I love this thing. Love how it exploded from a singular ventfic into almost 40k words of autism and it’s still not done yet. It will be real. Someday. Eventually. I swear.

Fucking love reading my old works and finding the cool bits I never noticed on the first pass that just kind of happened and going ‘Woah…. I wrote that’

(I’m rereading the first few Revue Frontier sections of my Aruru fic right now instead of. You know. Finally fucking finishing the second half of it and getting into the comfort part of the hurt/comfort after like. 20k words. And wow not to stroke my own ego but I fucking went off on this thing. I might throw some snippets here I am still very very very proud of this)

[livelydiver]

✨Ahoy✨

[A] --- more shameless self-promotion (because I'm just so stupidly happy about this fic and can't get over how much fun it was to write) but also [B] --- time to shout out some Sparrington! Here's to the first pairing I ever loved, because their back-and-forth banter and that half-flirty, half-philosophical thing they've got going on throughout Curse of the Black Pearl is both hot as fuck and essential to what makes that movie great (a hill I am willing to die on). Now, for some fic recs:

If you are a fan of the pairing, or of Age of Sail adventure stories, or of great writing in general, and you have not yet read Between Wind and Water by rexluscus -- dooooo iiiiittttt. That shit rocks me to my bones every time. It's very densely plotted which makes the romantic elements feel that much more believable, woven into a world that's fraught with allies and rivals and a brewing war - gorgeous and brutally real.

For a spicy enemies-to-lovers seduction, there's this delicious one-shot, alternative timeline where James, not Elizabeth, gets stuck on the island with Jack and the rum. 🔥🥵

Also I have to give major credit for the fic above (Which fic? This one? *kiss*) to Red & Gold, origin of "Sparrow/Norrington as the mature bemused couple wreaking havoc on two idiots who don't realize they love each other." (in Red & Gold, the other pairing is Gillette/Groves....... you know....... the two naval lieutenants who appear in Curse of the Black Pearl alongside Norrington for all of, like, eight seconds? ...... Andrew "a little mermaid flopped up on deck and told him the whole story" Gillette and Theodore "that's got to be the best pirate I've ever seen" Groves:

..... them, really -- and to any Navyboys shippers out there if by some miracle you're reading this, you have my heart! it was the wild west out there, back on livejournal... there were dozens of us, dozens!)

Which leads me to my next "point" which is I am so fucking thankful for OFMD for reminding me of everything I used to love about fandom, and for showing me there was no shame in loving it in the first place. When I first loved Jack and James, I was young and sad and embarrassed about everything, but especially about fandom. Now I get to be a proper fuckin' grown up and write shit that makes me smile and spend my time marveling at all kinds of others' gorgeous creation about the same characters, and fuckkkkkk, man, it's just so beautiful 😭 Here's to all of the flags, long may they wave. Cringe but free!

[myj0intsp0p]

My thinspo movie catalogue

Some of these are focused around Ed’s, some mental health or body image, some just have ✨that vibe✨ for me

I HIGHLY suggest Amazon prime for obscure ED movies that you can’t find anywhere else

(Working on a show catalog so lmk your suggestions)

To the bone 10/10- my og thinspo movie. I used to watch it multiple times a week. Not realistic at all a total dramatization/romanticization of fantasies fr

Girl, interrupted 10/10- I learned that Angelina Jolie’s lips are natural and I am happy for her but so goddamn envious. If you love a sexy crazy bitch, and a main character that (for me) was too relatable HIGHLY recommended

Starving in Suburbia 5/10- almost a passing grade but I just hate the main character and the vibe. Feels like someone’s mom found //that🦋site// and spent about 20 minutes browsing before writing the script. The end was also kind of cringe IMO

Suspiria- 10/10- a fucking horror (thinspo) movie🖤🖤 love the themes too

Neon Demon- 8/10- if you ignore the plot holes it’s great. Aesthetic, but the “twist” should have been more apart of the story, it feels like they changed the plot last minute on set the story otherwise was alright. I like how the protagonist felt with her situation and Keanu Reeves gave me mf chills

Jennifer’s body- 10/10- love this movie, love the plot, love young Megan fox, wish needy had more screen time locked up (recently watched some deleted scenes, should of left them in)

Ghost world-7/10- hyper sexual teenager(?) falls for a strange older man that loves old music, i liked the vibe, the main chick got on my nerves but black widow actress is 10/10

Sharing the Secret (2000)- 10/10- (bulimia) kind of boring story but VERY VERY realistic and hella triggering. Honestly the acting is like the best I’ve seen and the writing is spot on

Without Consent- 7/10- really boring kind of like idk great story but it just couldn’t keep me hooked and I ended up distracted through a lot of it. It wanted to be girl, interrupted like really badly. It’s fun though and I like the characters.

Emma wants to live- 10/10- ana doc about a girl who died. Hella triggering seriously, and the fact that you have to read subtitles keeps me focused. Seriously sad but free on yt. If I had to put a TW on one movie it would be this one.

Birds of paradise -10/10- ballet bulimia bitches. Makes me feel like I’ve done nothing with myself

Movies I haven’t seen yet

Tie me up! Tie me down!

Smithereens (punk)

The river

Personal best (lesbians)

Lovelace (porn actress, played by needy from Jennifer’s body)

Halfway

Black swan (ballet)

Without consent (mental institution)

The Stockholm solution (ed documentary)

Hunger Point (mother/daughter/sister ana movie)

Pieces of April (family issues, weird daughter)

Dazed and confused (stoner film)

Vally girl (bimbo & punk romance, 1983)

Heathers