#god i hope it's like any good......

[teddybeartoji]

˗ˏˋ SUMMER - THE FIRST MEETING

the prince finds himself in alone and in trouble in the woods - but lo and behold, a knight appears and saves him, infatuating the prince from the first drop of blood spilled just for him.

☆. contains: prince!satoru gojo x gn!knight!reader; crack, fluff, meet-cute????, blood and death, tw gojo is fucking ridiculous, a couple of suggestive comments and a boner mention, knight!suguru mention, reader has scars

☆. word count: 6k

☆. note: dedicated to @twentyfivemiceinatrenchcoat (u can find their version here!) thank you for being insane about them with me and thank you for being my inspiration and to @mossmurdock your knight!sugu lives in my mind thank you for feeding my brain

+ here is the series masterlist and here is the official soundtrack!

adrenaline pumps in his veins.

the branches scratch his marble skin as he runs through the forest, followed by the loud thumping of six or seven men. the sudden loudness amidst the trees scares even the birds, flocks of them flying in their seperate ways over the clear blue sky.

"c'mere, boy!"

"yeah! we jus' wanna talk!" their deep dark laughter echoes between the trees. the prince's heart thumps in his chest - for once in his life he might actually be a bit anxious. nervous, even. no, no way. he'll talk himself out of it just like any other time. his charm will save him.

"wanna see what your insides look like, pretty boy!"

okay, maybe not.

he tries to catch a glimpse of them over his shoulder and immediately trips over a branch, falling face first into a cute small clearing. the perfect little spot for a murder attempt of a prince.

"well, well, well. if it isn't the honored one." says one of the men that had been chasing him. another one steps into the clearing after him and from the corner of his eye he spots another pair. he's clearly outnumbered.

"why hello, gentlemen! fancy seeing you here! didn't take you for nature guys but it is a lovely day today, isn't it?" still down on the soft grass bed, the prince tries to slowly back away from the hunters before him.

"where's your sword, boy? stupid of you to come out without it. you never know what lurks in the shadows, heh." another voice booms from the left. two more men leaning on trees, one of them plays with a knife while the other lights a smoke. the bright sunlight bounces off the knife, making the prince gulp.

now typically, he would have it with him but well, he hadn't really planned on getting ambushed, now did he? his plan was to enjoy the warm weather and time away from his father. so this time, he does not have it. this one time he decides he'll do fine without it is the time for these money hungry bastards to make their move. how unfortunate.

"i was actually hoping to use one of yours." he says with a smile.

the men laugh.

a bald one steps forward, the leader the prince presumes. he plays with the tip of his blade, letting it glide over his palm as he starts making his way over to the prince.

"you really are as arrogant as they say. d'ya know how much your head costs?"

the prince laughs.

"what's so funny, boy?"

"i don't think you gents can even comprehend how much my head would cost."

a palm flies over his mouth, surpressing the giggles threathening to leave. how can one be so proud of his own joke? his attackers stare at the prince with straight faces - they either don't understand or they're seriously beginning to take him for a bit of a loony.

"not funny? i thought it was funny. you know, head?" the prince's tongue pokes at his cheek, his hand making a back and forth motion and one of the men gags. "what?! you're the ones talking about my head!"

"enough."

the baldy is only a few steps away but the prince doesn't really have a plan. should he run again? the castle is far, would he even make it there? sure, he's fast but there's way more of them. hell, there might be more hiding in the trees. what if they do have horses somewhere? they'll catch him for sure. shit, where is suguru?

and as if an aswer to his question — a sudden loud neigh cuts the tension on the clearing and a saviour appears.

a black horse, with a mane darker than night, stands back on it's hind legs - looming over the prince and the peasants. a figure sits up high, bright sunlight beaming from right behind them, the shadow hiding their face. but the prince knows — it's not suguru. no, this is someone else entirely.

armor clangs as the figure hastily jumps off their horse, mumbling a quick go, boy! to the animal. he takes off into the woods, leaving just the hunters and the prey behind.

a knight. coming to save him.

"step back." confidently unsheathing your sword, you point the silvery blade at the baldy. your voice is rough and the prince definitely doesn't recognise you.

"we were here first." he bites back.

"he's mine."

and then the prince falls into a dream-like state. the short interaction between his knight and the bandits falls deaf on his ears as he's busy taking you in. who are you? you're surrounded by some kind of holy light — an angel, sent just for him. he has never seen you before, he'd definitely remember you if he had. he glances over your armor, noticing the small specks of rust covering the joints of the cuirass. you're not wearing a helm so the prince can take his time to remember your eyes; the big scar running down across your right eye forever engrained into his mind. and it's not the only one – you've clearly taken some hits; a strong warrior nonetheless. your eyes are set on the bald bastard in front of you – cold and hunter-like? absolutely devoid of fear and anything alike, you know you will best the men before you. you shall brush them off and count this as a quick and simple victory. your posture is immaculate, your head held up high – it's making him a bit jealous really, all the times he's been lectured about not having a straight back flood his mind. he should be ashamed. his eyes fall to your lips; they're a little chapped but that's completely understandable. a mighty knight like you doesn't have the time to worry about such silly things, although the prince thinks he would gladly (and generously) share some of his special made lip balm with you. preferably straight from his lips to yours.

a sudden light in the corner of his eye breaks breaks him from his dream and gives him a second to scoot backward – to escape the sharp blade coming down his way very fucking fast —

it lands right between his thighs, awfully close to his precious manhood and he gasps. big widened eyes gaze up at the perpetrator but before he can say anything, a quick swing at the man's neck makes the lump in the prince's throat grow in size. the man's mouth opens and closes twice, eyes rolling back before the whole head rolls off the body. it falls between the prince's legs, right next to the sword, the body following a mere second later. blood splatters out of the limp figure, painting the lush green grass a deep dark red color instead.

"next."

the prince blue eyes rise from the sight in front of him to you and your eyes meet for the first time ever. a prince and his knight.

but moment doesn't last. you tear your sharp eyes from his infatuated ones and glare at the men hiding in the treeline. it seems they need a moment to collect themselves – as they should. not everybody is able to cleave a head off a body in one swing.

they've heard stories about you.

an abrupt war cry emits from behind one of the trees, accompanied with the fast heavy steps of the man sprinting towards you. he's a good distance away, giving you more than enough time to ready yourself. his eyebrows are furrowed, fingers tightly gripping the sharp blade in his hand. he's approaching quickly, the ground thumping under his feet. you make your stance directly in front of the prince, ready to protect him, ready to keep him all to yourself.

while you're focused on the bastard coming straight for you, you barely make out the other pair of feet advancing from the other side.

"watch out!" a loud warning comes from down below you, the prince watching the scene unfold with exhilaration. this just might be his dream – he's the damsel in distress and you are his knight.

but to you, it seems that these poor men (including the prince himself) still underestimate you.

the yelling man meets his demise the second he's in your reach, a swift deep slash across his body stopping him in his tracks - he'll bleed to death in a matter of minutes. you think about how stupid they are for coming out here without armor or any other sort of protection. did they really think killing the prince would be so easy. however, you don't have time to contemplate the decisions of these silly little men because the other bandit is about to be on you.

almost stumbling over the prince's lanky legs, you realize that you're putting the prince way too close to the danger. you wouldn't want him to get hurt, now, would you? so, you take a bold step toward your attacker and pressuring him into making his move earlier than expected - which in turn, makes dodging it easier than expected. he swings his sword but you dodge it; he does it again - this time in the opposite direction but to no avail. you strike him once, twice – sending him staggering backwards before finishing him off with slash to his throat. he falls.

you're panting; a light sheen of sweat covers your forehead – a drop runs down the side of your face. the heavy armor and the sword are taking their toll but it's nothing new, you're used to this. thick dark blood drips from your blade - they're good friends by now, they often meet. the silver and red mix together, making a color you know all too well.

meanwhile, the prince sits on the soft grassy ground, observing the brutal scene. his hands shake from the adrenaline still pumping in his body; the excitement of the whole thing making him grow restless – desperate for some action. every day he sits in the castle, rows of words filling his vision – it's boring. he tries to bother suguru as much as he can, it's pretty much the only entertainment he has. sometimes he still messes around with the maids; aimlessly flirts with the younger women and cracks jokes with the older ones. but it's not enough. he needs this.

so, he scrambles to grab the dead man's sword from between his legs, drawing your attention away from the treeline, where three men still prowl.

"stand back, your highness." you try to command him.

"no way." he replies with a smile.

you reach out your hand, ready to push him aside - to usher him toward the other side of the clearing but a deep voice interrupts you.

"would you look at that, the boy wants to play too?" he chuckles darkly.

"bold of you to laugh while your friends lay dead before you." the prince sharply snaps back.

the man stays quiet.

you stare at him for a moment, raising a brow at his arrogance. you've heard that the prince has had some training and that he is supposedly good with a sword but to be this excited in a moment like this? he's something else, you surmise. he takes his place slightly behind you, ready to "watch your back".

in theory, you're still outnumbered even with the prince alongside you. the men are circling around you and it's hard to keep them all in your sights. two of them seem to be more focused on you, seemingly the only good idea they've had in a minute, and one is going straight for the prince.

they all make their move simultaneously, running wildy at the both of you. a loud clang — a swing against your tough armor; the heavy hit almost making you lose your balance. you collect yourself fast and take a quick left - successfully ducking away from the next blow. but the taking on two people at the same time is no small feat; the other bandit smacks you right in the middle of your face with the back of his sword, immediately flooding your senses with the tangy smell of blood. the warm liquid drips down to your lip and you can almost taste it. no, wait - you can taste it. a cut in your tongue, deep and painful, the result of it getting caught between your teeth. you've always thought it hard to bite your tongue and now, a mouthful of blood clogging your throat confirms that you won't be doing that again. you spit some of it out and bare your red stained teeth at the attackers.

the prince behind you is, surprisingly, holding his own very well. he's enjoying it. a cocky smile plays on his lips as he toys with the man. taking a step to the right and then to the left, as if checking his footwork.

"not bad, tough guy!" the prince laughs, making you glance over your shoulder but the movement in front of you brings your focus back to your guys. tired of playing around, you juke one of them and cut off the hand holding the blade; the man's wailing music to your ears. whilst he cries, you stab the remaining man right through his chest.

the prince and his dance partner are still going at it. the man swings his blade at the prince and he deflects it with ease. he keeps taking steps forward, forcing his opponent to back up; it's clear who's controlling the fight.

it's quite pleasing to watch; how smoothly he walks; with no shame - like he owns this clearing (he quite literally does). just like you, he knows he's already won this duel. it pleasing to watch how he raises his sword with a smile; how he knows there won't be a single consequence to anything he could possibly do to this man. he can have his time with him.

but there's a very distincitve difference between him and you. while the prince uses every possible chance to taunt and mess with his rival, preferring to toy with them - you would never. it's what really reminds you, who you're fighting alongside with. this is not some random drunk in a tavern or a even a skilled knight on a battlefield - it's the prince. a boy, who's used to playfighting instead of surviving.

your heavy armored boot sinks into the ground as you step between them, swiftly slicing your sword across his knees, making him fall down with a sob. you wipe the blood from your nose, slightly smearing it on your cheek.

"this isn't a game." you deadpan to the price. it's uncanny, how good he looks. no. scratch that. it's uncanny, how excited he still looks. a smirk stays glued to his lips, his cheeks are flushed and his eyes are just about to pop out of his head, pupils so dilated that the crystalline blue color of his eyes is almost entirely gone. his lips are parted and he's panting a little, resembling a puppy - ready to do anything just to go outside and play.

"why not? i haven't had this much fun since – i don't know, fucking forever, probably."

the two last bandits cry on either side of you but you pay them no mind.

"these men are trying to kill you, your highness." blood pools in your mouth and you spit it out, wiping your mouth once more.

"whatever." he laughs. he plays with the blade in his hand but his eyes are cemented to your bloodied lips.

"whatever?"

another loud cry comes from the man with no arm.

"there are constantly people trying to kill me. it's no big deal." he drops the sword, aware he won't be needing it any longer.

"must i remind you – you looked pretty terrified before i arrived, your highness."

the prince's mouth falls agape. how dare you mock him? and how dare you look so good while doing it?

just when the armless man opens his mouth to let out another annoying wail, you end him with a strong blow, putting him out of his well-deserved misery.

"and need i remind you, i am your prince." he stands next to you, eagerly trying to assert dominance but the jutted out lip almost makes you laugh.

"oh, my deepest apologies for offending your pride, my prince." you bow down, just enough to really get your teasing point across. you spit out another clump of blood. stepping to the very last dying man on the clearing, you swat away his dirty hand and slice his throat. you watch the red liquid flow out of the wound and down his body. you watch the light go from his eyes and you let out a deep sigh. closing your eyes, you lift your head up to the sky, momentarely basking in the warm sunlight.

the silvery heavy boots you're wearing are absolutely tearing into the back of your heel and the constant irony smell and taste is getting rather annoying. your tongue hurts and your fucking nose hurts and if you're being honest, your whole damn body hurts.

but the over exaggerating sigh emitting from the prince makes you take a peek at him. he's almost mimicking you - standing up with his head lolled back and eyes closed, he also seems to be enjoying the sun. just like you.

gives you time to just look at him, though. his hair still looks soft as ever, like he hadn't been fighting for his life a few minutes ago. you know, he takes care of his hair - he just seems the type to spend inexplicably long in front of his mirror making sure the white tufts of hair sit nicely. his pretty little prince attire is messed up, though. it's dirty and stained green in some places; it's wrinkled, deep lines running all over his body. but then, you spot a patch of red on his beautiful pale skin. the dirt and the wrinkles you can look past but blood on the kingdom's beloved prince is a bit too much. he can't go back to the castle like that, can't have his parents worrying. can't have the king and the queen worrying. so, you abandon your place in the sun and walk over to him. the prince barely has the time to open his eyes before you're roughly grasping his chin and smashing his cheeks together.

"you uh- have a little something here, your highness." you wet your thumb in your mouth and bring it to his cheek, gently wiping it clean.

he should be at least a little disgusted. he's the prince! how dare you touch him like that! with your own fingers; with a saliva coated thumb, wiping at his precious face and oh, his thoughts are running wild in his head. he wants more of that. he needs more of that. sure, it's dirty – he doesn't know where your hands have been. well, he kind of knows, considering he literally just watched you decimate six men. but your hand cradling his jaw is something he doesn't get that a whole lot.

sure, his mother kisses him on the cheek every once in a while and there are people helping him dress and even wash himself but it's just not it. he wants somebody to really touch him. like you're doing right now.

he's staring down at you, looking at the concentrated look on your scarred face. the close proximity is already clouding his head, the touch deprivation really kicking in. yeah, no, he's officially addicted.

when you finally release his face from your hold, his own hand rises to return the gesture but you harshly swat his hand away.

"none of that." you grunt as you for the nth time of the lovely afternoon, wipe your own blood off off your face. turning away from him a piece of clothing on the ground catches your eye.

"so you're allowed to be all bloody and muddy but i am not?" since your back is turned to him, you can't see his face but you're so sure you just heard him pout.

"because my appearance does not matter, your highness. all that matters is you being returned safely."

"right." his eyes bore into your figure, trying to take a mental picture of the cravings on the back of your armor. he doesn't recognise those either.

bending down you pick up the piece of cloth made out of the most expensive materials, surely, just for the prince. swiping your rough fingers over it, you marvel in the softness of it. it's completely and utterly foreign to you. not meant for you to touch.

"i do believe this is yours, your highess?" you turn back to him and reach out your arm, offering it to him. he nods but makes no attempt to retrieve it from you.

"shouldn't you put it on, your highness? doesn't it hurt?" you inquire, genuine curiosity evident in your voice.

"no, i want to keep looking at you without restrictions."

usually, you don't fall for such simple words. usually. but this really caught you off-guard. your breath hitches just a little as you stare back at him. he confidentally holds your gaze, no regret in his eyes. if anything, a glint of proudness shines in them. you try to brush it off.

taking a few steps, you simply push it into his hands and a bright smile plays on his lips as he pickets the blindfold. he's annoying, you conclude in your mind.

in the background you hear a quiet neigh, breaking the sweet little moment between the knight and the prince – your horse letting you know that it has returned to you.

"he's very well-trained." the prince muses.

"he is." you look at your companion with pride and beckon it closer. stopping right in front of you, his dark mane glistens under the sunlight. you give him a few pats before adjusting the saddle.

"unlike you, of course." it's a mumble, if anything. a quiet breath under your nose yet the prince hears it nonetheless - his eyebrows shooting up.

"excuse me?"

you look up at him.

"you are excused, your highness. 'though, i really oughta return you home now, i'm sure your parents are terribly worried." you gesture to the horse.

he scoffs. "ah yes, surely, the king is worried."

you hum knowingly. you've seen him waltzing around town a few times, a bitter old man; desperate to keep his claim on the land and even more desperately trying to build a clone out of his son. trying to open up his brain and stuff it with battelfield strategies while the boy himself is occupyied with actually taking care of his people. that much you know about him.

stepping back from the saddle, you motion for him to climb on but to your displeasure, the man steps back.

"wait-wait! i don't even know your name! you just saved the prince, i really should now your name." he says loudly. he speaks like he's not afraid to take up space. you envy him.

"that is irrelevant, your highness. now, please." you motion to the animal beside you again.

the prince takes another big step backward into the centre of the clearing. he does a spin, enjoying the warm sun and completely ignores the dead bodies all around him.

"satoru."

you look at him confused. the boy stands in the field of blood with a beaming smile and an outstreched hand. inviting you in. "my name."

"i know your name, your higness." you stare at him blankly. this is the prince? your kingdom will soon be in his hands? you're doomed.

"well, i want you to use it."

"absolutely not, your highness."

"i command you."

...

satoru's lips twitch upward – awaiting for your reply; thinking he's won already. clearly not enough people tell him no.

"i pretend i do not hear, your highness."

his shoulders fall, his lower lip jutting out. "but you have to!"

"i do not, your highness."

"isn't a prince's command sacred?" he skips over to you. "or something?"

"or something, your highness." you sigh, looking at him, silently begging for him to climb onto the horse and be on your way to the castle and then to the nearest bed. you reckon you deserve as muc —

"where do you think you're going?"

a voice - coming from the other side of the clearing. it's deep, like thunder. and there he is. the seventh man of the group and he's big. this is who the guys were probably betting on doing the all of the work. shit.

"hey, who are you?!" the prince shouts and you almost push him into the bush next to you.

"i see you've already dealt with my dear friends. that's a shame. one of 'em owed me a drink."

"and you'll be dealt with, too, if you don't stop right there!" you yell back at him, making him laugh.

"listen here, tin can," the humiliating nickname makes the prince snicker and you have half the mind to actually smack him. "i'm not here for you. 'm here for your pretty little boyfriend."

"he is not my boyfriend!"

"no? so you're not on a lovely stroll in the woods together, hm?" he's now in the middle of the field and the reality of this man's size is making you gulp. he's very obviously towering over the both of you and well, armor won't really do anything if your opponent can just crush your skull.

"we actually are!" the prince answers with a smug smile. and this being the final straw, you hit his shoulder with everything you've got, making him stumble backwards.

"how dare you?" he whispers. you try your utmost best to ignore him.

unsheathing your sword, you start making your way over to the man.

"good luck!"

"oh, fuck off."

the prince is sure he's in love. and since love is blind, he definitely does not see the real danger of the situation; he truly believes you will kill this man in one go and you'll be on your merry way home. he'll be swinging his legs while sitting behind you, whistling alongside the birds.

"what kind of a man doesn't fight his own fights?"

"the prince kind, you dumb fuck."

you meet him smack in the middle of the blood field. fingers gripping the handle of your blade; how does one fight a giant? you hold your ground, boots leaving a deep print into the mud. a flock of birds flies high above you, altering the way the sun bears down on you. it shines right into your eye and the second it's gone, the giant is a foot lenght away from you, angrily raising his sword – ready to make you bleed —

but then his mountain-like body moves a step to the side, a force pushing him aside and away from you.

the prince.

your eyes widen and you try to pull him away from the giant but you're too late – his heavy hand does it for you and prince goes flying back; falling back onto his ass, groaning and moaning. you lock eyes with the bandit boss and clang! — the sound of his rusted sword colliding with your polished one reverberates throughout the whole forest. the entirety of this man's strength is making your knees buckle and he chuckles at you. another clang and then another; one right after the other. you don't stop; with taking big steps you force him to lose his edge of towering over you. another clang but this time you spin youself from under the impact, pulling your sword upwards and scoring a hit on the giant. red blooms from under his shirt but he's unrelenting. a swish and a clang and yet another clang - and you manage to trip your rival; he bares his back to you and is punished for it immediately. a strong swing of your blade tears into the skin of his neck, the red now pouring out. he falls to his knees, facing the prince. a growl leaves your lips when you raise your sword for the last time for today - it smashes through the thick pinkish meat of his neck once more and with that, you've beheaded exactly two men today.

a clap.

a clap is what brings your eyes up from the lifeless body laying dead on the ground.

"knew you could do it!" the clapping echoes in your ears; another bloody ball of spit leaves your mouth and you wipe the remains with the back of your hand. "jus' needed a bit of help at first, no big deal."

the eye roll you give him only irks him on. "all offense, i did not need your help, your highness."

"i don't know, definitely looked like you did, though. the sun seemed to be doing a number on you."

a few fast paced steps toward him make the corners of his lip pull up even higher. fuck, that's really beginning to get on your nerves.

"get up."

"nuh-uh."

...

"w- what do you mean 'nuh-uh'? get up, i'm taking you home."

"has anyone ever mentioned that you're very bossy?"

"has anyone ever mentioned that you're very irritating?"

"yes, many times actually." he says it like he takes pride in knowing that.

"that is not a good thing, you know."

"lay here with me a moment."

"are you fucking serious?"

his answer is a smile. FUCK.

"get. up."

"tell me your name and i will."

"this isn't a negotiation. get up."

"c'moooon."

"get the fuck up."

"you look really good from this angle, you know."

in one quick motion, the tip of your blade touches his jaw - the cold steel tilting up his head. his adam's apple bobs and the sharp edge slides an inch on his glassy skin. he would rather give up one of his precious balls than to admit that you do look a bit scary like this. but just a bit. it's the quiet anger in your eyes; he can see that you're holding yourself back. if he were anyone else, he'd surely be dead already. you're clenching your teeth, your jaw tensing. it's hot.

your burning eyes bore into his icy blue ones and a short breath of air escapes your nose. it's the twinkle in his eyes that's really pissing you off now. you're getting tired; this isn't a game. the tip of your blade presses more into his skin, making him back down with a breathy chuckle. he thinks you won't hurt him.

oh, but you will.

the cold blade sinks half an inch into his neck, stopping when a drop of blood dribbles down it. the sun shines down on the warm liquid, making it appear lighter in tone than it actually is. it trickles down the prince's neck and straight onto his whiter than snow shirt. just a drop.

the prince holds his breath. a new kind of excitement running in his veins. blood rushing to... somewhere.

"up."

when all he does is blink up at you, you press the sharp blade deeper into the small wound, making him wince - a small ah-ahh leaving his pink lips.

"i will take you home now. understood," a final push. "your highness?"

the prince nods against your weapon; feeling his pants getting tighter and tigher by the second. he shakes his head to rid of these thoughts. you are his saviour, his angel, his knight. it is inappropriate.

to his surprise, you offer him a hand, which he so generously takes. the small and short-lived skin to skin contact making his crush only worse. pulling him up onto his feet he bumps into you, making him almost lose his balance if not for your hand in his. this is the same man from before? who was toying with his opponent? weird.

the prince clears his throat and refrains from commenting on the fact that your warm hand still sits in his. it takes you a second to realize and you pull away from him as if you just got burned. the prince wipes off the blood on his neck – the wound remaining a constant remainder of you. looking away, you sheathe your sword and step towards your awaiting horse. you also feel the need to clear your throat; a strange lump keeps forming in there and you don't really know why.

the prince follows you with quick steps and this time, to your surprise, he doesn't fight on the matter of going home. he lets you get on first and then with the help of your offered hand, he sits himself behind you – arms circling your armored waist. for safety purposes, of course.

with a shallow breath and a gentle shake of your head, you grab the reins – letting your noble steed know you're ready to go.

the ride to the castle is quiet (you figure it would be time for the prince's afternoon nap anyhow). birds chirp on the branches growing over your head, squirrels chase each other down the tree barks. the late afternoon sun is slowly starting to set, warming the back of the sleepy prince behind you. an unexpected weight rests itself against your shoulder and you try to glance at it – and it really is the sleepy prince. his eyes are closed, his long elegant white eyelashes lay against his skin. his cheek is completely smushed against your armor, both lips jutted out as if awaiting his fairytale kiss. he's kind of cute like this. when he's not being a dick.

a gentle smile graces your lips as you continue on your ride to the castle. upon arrival, you're met with the townsfolk's glares. understandable, considering you have a knocked out prince on your back.

"hey!" a smooth voice calls to you and you're met with another knight. he's beautiful.

he's stood by the castle gates, convering with another servant but seeing you he scraps his sentence and hastily makes his way over to you. he's holding his helm under his arm, his dark black hair gently blowing in the summery wind. his eyes are glued to the man behind you – you can see the worry swirling in them. and you can also see it disappear when he hears the prince snore. "is he sleeping?"

a sigh. "yeah."

"fuckin' christ. of course, he is." his eyes have now found yours and he's studying you. you're not from around here, at least not from this town. he reckons you're here for the money; he doesn't blame you. "thanks for bringing him back."

"sure."

"i'll get him inside and then i'll bring you the reward." he slightly shakes the snoring man but nothing.

your eyebrows shoot up. "the reward?"

"for bringing him back? the king put out a reward?" it's the knight's time to sigh. his big hands wrap around the prince's waist and he pulls him onto his shoulder. watching him getting manhandled like a doll is quite funny to you. the knight does the smallest jump in order to move the limp body into a more "comfortable" position before looking at you.

"oh... no need." you tell him.

"no? the king put it out, not me, you know."

"i know. just... buy the sleeping beauty a new fancy little outfit with it, why don't you?" you can't hide the small little smirk on your lips, imagining his reaction to your words.

the knight snorts quietly. somehow he already knows the prince will be asking about you the second he opens his eyes. he'll bombard the black haired knight with questions about you as if he'd know any better. he's already preparing himself for the headache he'll surely get.

you take one last look at the prince on the knight's shoulder and rein your horse away from the men, setting your mind on finding a place to stay.

this prince — this irritatingly beautiful boy with an even more irritating personality and an even more beautiful smile won't definitely haunt you for the rest of your life. he won't.

right?

[xxplastic-cubexx]

[right to left]

finally finished This Wip from Ever ago and so now i ask you ever look into another dudes eyes and suddenly want to do whatever he wants

[starryaike]

Song - Feel Better by Penelope Scott

[clouvu]

Save me french yuri... Save me

[seventh-district]

Making Incorrect H:SR Quotes Until I Run Out of (hopefully) Original Ideas - Pt. 3 - Random Screenshot Edition

[Pt. 1] [Pt. 2] [Pt. 4] [Pt. 5] [Pt. 6]

[tiredyke]

every time queer discourse surges on this site everyone is so quick to jump to “it was actually the evil lesbians who divided us” because y’all heard the term “political lesbian” and never bothered to figure out what that meant

[marclef]

a special gift for you guys, for this very important Fake Peppino Friday.... after a week of near-continuous work, i present to you the biggest mess i've posted so far to tumblr:

The Fake Peppino Headcanon/Biology/Anatomy/Whatever the heck this is Post

really just a bunch of headcanons, ideas, and other stuff i've complied together for Fake Peppino, illustrated to the best of my ability. i hope you enjoy! ✨✨✨

(caution: lots of text and assorted Frogs up ahead)

now.... who's ready for walls of text and drawings?

Fake Peppino is a homunculus, made in the shape of Peppino by Pizzahead. He's much taller than the real Peppino, 8 feet tall compared to Peppino's 5 1/2 feet. He was created using the DNA from Peppino (either skin or hair cells), old pizza, and frogs (think Jurassic Park). His entire body, including the hat and "clothes", is comprised of a strange goop, with no flesh organs or bones, though certain areas are made out of specialized goo, meant for an intended purpose.

He can stretch his body to inhuman lengths, though he usually only does this with his legs, mouth, tongue, and arms. His goopy body is extremely strong, able to withstand tearing and most puncture wounds. Attacks from knives or similar weapons are pointless, as it doesn't really harm him, and will likely just lead to him absorbing the knife into himself and retaliating. However, repeated attacks, especially physical blows, can tire him out, and explosives can harm him, splitting his body into pieces if particularly strong. This doesn't kill him, though, since he can reform his body.

If threatened, or trying to get into a tight spot, Fake Peppino can deform his body into a blob-like mass, allowing him to flee, squeeze into small areas, or melt into the floors/walls. He usually keeps his eyes and brain intact, to see his surroundings and act accordingly. The rest of his body, despite deforming and becoming mushy, can still function, meaning he could still eat in this form if he wanted to. He finds tights spaces comfortable, and can often be found squeezed into unlikely places, such as small containers, trash cans, and cabinets.

If greatly threatened, though, or sufficiently angered, Fake Peppino can pool all of the energy into his body into growing larger, by rapidly burning energy into making more goop/cells. This is very tiring, generally only used as a last resort. The process generally makes his head and body much larger, with his limbs, as well as eyes/brain, staying mostly the same size. He is dumber in this state, with all energy and thought going into eliminating the target, something that Fake Peppino doesn't like. He avoids lashing out like this unless he absolutely needs to.

Despite his frog DNA, Fake Peppino doesn't do well with water or other similar liquids. Thanks to his sturdy stomach walls, he can drink most liquids just fine, even fluids that would be dangerous to humans. It's his outside "skin" that's the problem, since it can't absorb liquid properly. Prolonged contact with water or other liquid will quickly cause him to deform, unable to keep his humanoid form, until he's sufficiently dried off/absorbed the liquid properly. He greatly dislikes being wet because of this, and will go to great lengths to avoid it. Warmer liquids are slightly more tolerable, being much more comfortable, so warm, bubbly baths are welcome.

The brain and eyes are connected directly, with the brain protected by Fake's squishy head, and the eyes popping out the widened eye sockets. The brain is made of very specialized goop, and works very similarly to a human brain, sending signals to all parts of Fake Peppino's body.

However, despite it being the central control center of his body, smaller bits of brain cell goop are distributed through the rest of his body, allowing him to control other parts separately. So, even if parts of him are detached or otherwise removed, he can still control them, for a time. After some time, these parts die off though, losing control and deforming into inert goop. He mainly uses this ability to split "clones" off of himself, controlling them to attack perceived threats.

Being made of goop, Fake's brain can withstand damage a normal brain can't, but he still prefers to keep it protected underneath his head. It dries out a bit in the open, too, which he finds uncomfortable.

Fake Peppino's eyes are very strong. Though he's often seen with a cross-eyed look to him, he's constantly watching his surroundings, even if it doesn't seem it. He has excellent night vision, often using this ability to easily stalk and sneak up on prey in the dark without being spotted.

He doesn't need to blink, but he still closes his eyes to sleep, when he's very happy, or during certain actions, such as swallowing. His eyes are one of the most vulnerable parts of his body, though, and attacking them would be a way to easily disorient him.

Fake Peppino's sense of smell is also impressive, being able to smell things long before he sees them. He uses this ability to easily find food, prey, or simply something he wants. The mustache under his nose (which, same as his "hair", is also made of goop) is sensitive, and he doesn't like others touching it.

Fake Peppino often sniffs things he's interested in, including strangers, to try to get a sense for them. He never forgets a particular smell, which makes it easy to tell if a familiar person is nearby. He often sniffs others while holding them or being given attention, likely as a form of interaction. Plus, he just thinks most others smell nice.

Despite, like the rest of him, being made of goop, Fake Peppino's teeth can harden to be extremely tough. They soften if he needs them to, such as when he deforms. His bite force is very, very strong, comparable to a hippo's bite. He doesn't chew his food too often, though, and only really chews up food he finds particularly tasty, such as pizza. His frog-like instinct usually compels him to swallow most foods whole. His teeth are more often used to grip things, such as prey items, or to carry things around. He enjoys carrying things he likes around, and will carry smaller friends around gently with his mouth.

The stretchiest part of Fake Peppino's body is his tongue, which can stretch to several times his body length. It is very sticky, coated with a clear, saliva-like goop that fills the inside of his mouth as well. Like a frog, he uses it to grab onto and eat food from afar, or to grab items he doesn't feel like using his arms to. It's very strong, and can drag even very heavy objects. The tongue's extreme flexibility allows him to reach it nearly anywhere, even down his own throat if he really wanted.

Usually, Fake Peppino uses his tongue to snatch fleeing prey items, and he can wrap it around their body to make them easier to eat. He often leaves his tongue dangling slightly out of his mouth, due to its length, but also making it easy to strike with if needed.

Fake Peppino's "stomach" is a very special case. It functions like both an organic stomach, and similarly to a lung as well, constantly moving by pushing air in and out of himself. He can use this to inflate his body, making himself bigger for intimidation (like some frogs do), or to shrink himself down by releasing all air from himself; this is generally used if a prey item is being uncooperative, to cause them to suffocate. To help keep live prey in place as well, he's able to close off his throat with a mass of goop, preventing escape.

The constant movement of the stomach makes digesting meals easier, allowing them to be coated by a specialized goop that absorbs and dissolves what it covers, like stomach acids. Fake Peppino's stomach can digest almost everything, aside from very tough materials, such as most metals, very solid plastics, tough minerals (like rocks), and bones. Anything he can't digest, he simply spits up eventually, generally in a place it can be disposed of, such as the trash.

His stomach is very sturdy and stretchy, able to withstand almost anything, and can stretch as much as needed to fit what's inside. As such, there's not much of a limit to how much Fake Peppino can eat. Eating too much makes him sluggish, though, as his body tries to process it all. Fake Peppino is most content with a reasonably-full stomach, and is generally quite calm and relaxed after a large meal. Belly rubs at this point are greatly appreciated.

If needed to, he can reach his arms back into his own throat, to grab something from inside of his stomach. He doesn't do it often, due to most things he eats being digestible, making carrying stuff around in there fairly pointless. This is only ever really the case if it's something too difficult to spit up, or something that wasn't supposed to be eaten in the first place.

There is no further digestive system, however; all food eaten is 100% absorbed in the stomach. Everything he eats is converted into more goop like him, leaving no trace behind, unless it is undigestible. Bones from eaten prey such as rats get thrown out, or disposed of in an appropriate spot.

and... though I didn't get to drawing them, here's a couple extra unsorted headcanons/dumb little tidbits I just felt like sharing!

He makes lots of strange sounds, communicating more through groans and frog-like croaks than trying to speak. He CAN talk, but not well, mostly in broken, short sentences, and usually speaks "backwards". He can understand others just fine, though he struggles with especially long and complicated words. The sounds he makes when not talking are generally unintelligable, but his mood and tone can indicate how he feels. He uses the ability to inflate his body to produce very loud, aggressive sounds when trying to ward off threats.

His gooey body is what allows him to cling to walls and ceilings with ease. He sticks to walls while trying to stalk prey, or just to play around with friends. Though, in some cases, he'll cling against the walls or ceiling if frightened, finding them a safe vantage point. If you're in the dark and feel something creeping its way towards you, it's likely Fake Peppino, silently stalking you from the walls.

Despite his inhuman traits, Fake Peppino generally doesn't like the idea of eating humans. He still sees himself as somewhat human from his time spent believing he was the real Peppino. Attacking or eating things he doesn't see as prey is kept as a last resort, or if he's extremely angered. As of now in my canon/AU, there is only one person Fake Peppino has killed in this way. He didn't like the taste.

[gotstabbedbyapen]

I have very complicated feelings for the Vengeance Saga (after the first listen)

Disclaimer: I will only criticize Epic the Vengeance Saga as a work on its own, not for its inaccuracy or deviation from mythology and The Odyssey. There are more knowledgable people who can point out and analyze the changes in Epic the Musical, but that is not what I'll be tackling here.

To put it bluntly, I'm not being angsty about it as I should. The whole saga just... didn't feel right with me.

Now, first off all, I'm a big fan of Epic and had been following it since the Cyclops saga (first version). I've been in love with many songs and hyperfixed it for months on end. But when the Vengeance saga came along, I didn't feel that same bubbling love rise in me.

Even as a fan, this isn't my first time having peeves with Epic. I didn't jam with the re-release sagas for a while, I'm underwhelmed with the Circe VS Odysseus fight and other issues, very unpopular opinion but "Monster" wasn't too impactful to me, and also the God Games (especially Zeus' attack).

The Vengeance Saga though? Well, they say we gotta do the Bun-Meat-Bun (or whatever the hell its name really is) technique when giving criticism, so I'll start with the good parts.

I love that Odysseus looked so done with Calypso in "Not Sorry For Loving You". They're basically this meme:

Like sorry you're a sad but you're still an abuser 😒

Then Odysseus starts singing the reprise for "Full Speed Ahead" but there's no one to back him up. That one hits me hard. To whoever on Tumblr said that after the Thunder Saga we will never hear the crew's back-up again and Odysseus' singing will be answered with silence, Apollo really blessed you with the red ball.

Hermes and the Winions' part was really cool too! I really like them being mischievous helper! The warning about the wind bag and the changing scene of Odysseus fighting off sea monsters while Hermes just vibing with the beats is 👌👌👌

But after that the hype started to sizzle out for me. You might want to skip this part if you're not comfortable with harsh criticism because I WON'T hold back.

It's really backward but I like the Odysseus VS Charybdis draft more than the final production. Charybdis' roars and music are somehow less intimidating, which is a shame because I thought this would be one of the biggest struggles Odysseus will face. Even with awesome illustrative animatics, the scene wasn't as thrilling as I've expected.

The other songs got massive improvement from its draft version (on top of my mind I can think of "Thunder Bringer", "There Are Other Ways", "Little Wolf"), but I don't get why "Charybdis" didn't get up-graded as much like them. It's like a cake that was throughly baked but half decorated and it just didn't taste as good as I've hoped.

Then we have the Odysseus VS Poseidon part in "Get In The Water" and "Six Hundred Strikes". The first thought I had for GITW is this song sounds like all the draft snippets were mashed together without a smooth transition/connection between them. Jorge and Steven's performance is great, but there's not enough tension for me to dread for Odysseus. When Poseidon first met Odysseus in "Ruthlessness", the whole opening was terrifyingly good! And we didn't even have any illustration animatic back then! (that's not to say the GITW animatics were bad, they just can't salvage much when the song itself was already weak)

I wasn't impressed with Poseidon's Shatter The Ocean move either. It's supposed to be the Strongest AttackTM but it's less scary than when he and the Laestrygonians destroyed Odysseus' eleven ships with probably 1% of their power. It didn't even help when Poseidon looked like he's having a seizure with lights pouring out of his eyes and mouth during the transformation.

Odysseus being literally on the brink of death with the souls of his loved ones pulling him into the abyss is a gem in the rough, but because we've seen Odysseus almost drowning before in the end of the Thunder Saga, it's not as shocking as it should be. Furthermore, Poseidon could have instant-killed Odysseus right then and there but didn't really annoyed me. But I guess he just wanted Odysseus to slowly suffer while dying.

Right when I thought the progress will get better, it... gets down. I can go with Odysseus using wind to escape the water, but him wearing it like a jetpack is so comical it ruined the drastic of the situation. And I'm officially let down when Odysseus FUCKING ATTACKED Poseidon in "Six Hundred Strike".

What? Just... why with that choice?

Look, I'm not gonna fault Epic for making creative liberties from the source material (as said in the disclaimer), but I will criticize if that change contradict itself in the transformative work. And this is one of them.

Poseidon and the gods have been proven time and time again in the musical just how powerful they are. Their ominous and grandiose entrances, them striking fear and inferiority in our hearts just by singing. Even Circe, a low-level goddess, poses a constant threat to the crew and Odysseus had to get help from Hermes just to get a chance to corner her (and Hermes even joked that he can still die!)

Poseidon easily destroyed almost all of Odysseus' fleet. Odysseus was very avoidant of him, opting to go to the literal Underworld to find instruction on how to dodge him and sailing through Scylla's lair + willing to sacrifice six men for safe passage. And when Poseidon said he can drown all of Ithaca, it's not just bluffing, he would and could have done that. Yeah, the King of the Sea is THAT BIG of a treat.

So no, Odysseus isn't cool to attack Poseidon, he's being stupid. I'm not even cheering for him the whole him he fight, just groaning at how ridiculous the whole thing is. If Epic is more believable and sticks to WHAT IT HAD ESTABLISHED BEFORE, having a sudden burst of anger and choosing ruthlessness won't save Odysseus from one swipe of Poseidon's trident. Odysseus stood no chance against a one of the most powerful deity, even if he's the protagonist and love his family.

Not only that, Poseidon didn't even defend himself and was wounded by a mere human! And he just sat there and took all the blows and insults from Odysseus??? And he actually begged Odysseus to stop and agree to quell the storm to let him get home??? I'm not buy that bullshit. I'm more upset that a literal Olympian god was nerfed down than Odysseus having a Gary Stu moment. Give me a break, that try-hard moment to be cool and edgy just show how badly written the scene is.

What's the fucking point of hyping up how dangerous the gods are if a human can take one down? Tell me this isn't some Wattpad-y Greek myth retelling fanfic where the teenage Y/N sass her way to defeat an entire pantheon. Epic really traded its opportunity to be better for some cheap and out-of-the-blue dramas in this saga, dare I say it's even worse than Zeus' OOC attack on Athena. I'm very disappointed with that decision.

On an end note, the saga did have one saving point with the "After everything you've done, how will you sleep at night?" - "Next to my wife" lines. Odysseus knew he could be the most horrendous man ever and Penelope would still choose his side, that just show how powerful their love and faith in each other are.

But not enough to excuse all the terrible cinematic choices.

[carnivalcarriondiscarded]

im so Normal. totally not shaking and crying rn

[locusfandomtime]

i'm OBSESSED with minister of ministers ren... he is someone who wants SO BADLY to be the manipulative leader in control of everything, never lifting a finger and making others work for him, but it doesn't work because nobody takes him seriously. except, at the same time, it kinda does work because people do what he says, but because they're his friends and find it funnier to do what he wants and be annoying about it, than not do it at all. I like to think he doesn't realise this, thinking his manipulation tactics have worked, not realising that people are mining resources and improving infrastructure for him out of Friendship and Pity. he'd be annoyed they don't take him seriously, but internally think "hm! these PLEBEIANS don't realise they are falling right into my trap!" completely unaware of the trap he's about to fall into due to his own mistakes (exploded by creeper whilst sorting chests + cleo's prank). he never learns though, he just keeps going, the lesson never sinks in for him.

it's an interesting comparison to ren the king - someone who was originally (somewhat) respected but his ego got the best of him and the more he tried to gain power back, the deeper the hole he dug himself into. they both want power but lack it, but in such different ways. king in a country tired of monarchy vs project manager as an anime villain (and both of them are pathetic)

[slytherinshua]

slowly realizing more and more that the sm boycott effort is gonna amount to nothing in the end, and this is not the way we should be going about the riize situation.

i loved seunghan when he was in the group, and i am still an ot7 fan. but at a point, i think we need to think of how much of our time and energy we're willing to spend fighting for something that has such a small chance of actually happening. sm is gonna bounce back from any stock lost from the boycott because they are one of the big 3. they have like 4 of the biggest groups in kpop rn: nct, aespa, red velvet, riize. there's just no way either boycotting riize or boycotting all of sm would actually be detrimental enough to get a member who's been terminated from the group back in.

and while i don't agree with the ot6 fans who are being unreasonable, i think some ot7 fans have been just as bad. this fandom is so toxic and rotten, every day it just seems to get worse. and i don't like the narrative that most ot7 fans were spreading about ot6 kfans-- how they were just mad that seunghan was dating pre debut. that isn't why they were mad, they really didn't care about that. it's the fact that he took pictures of him with his possibly/alleged underage girlfriend (it's honestly bad enough with/without her being possible underage, which i don't have confirmation on) at what looks like a hotel and presumably sent it to his friends in a group chat (which was how it got leaked). that's why they wanted him out of the group.

personally, i don't believe that a member should get kicked out of a group or put on hiatus without a proper reason why. and seunghan's hiatus and termination is really messy. but there are valid reasons why kfans weren't too big on him. the problem is there have been many idols kicked out for things they didn't do, and others who have been caught doing really fucked up and nasty things and rightfully kicked out of the group, but it's hard to know which idols are innocent or not when there's no organization. and when we jump on a narrative train and blow something super big out of proportion, the facts and proper investigation of the situation gets lost in the mess of things.

what should have happened was things being properly investigated back in october 2023 before seunghan was ever put on hiatus, and a decision made from there whether to keep him in the group or kick him out based on that.

instead, we have the other 6 members who clearly want seunghan back tired of the state of everything (rightfully so), ot7 and ot6 fans fighting a full blown war every day without logical thinking, and misinformation being spread left and right. there's no organization, there's no firm confirmation on anything, all of this is just such a big mess.

now let me be clear IF it's true that there was anything suspicious going on between seunghan and his girlfriend, then i would obviously no longer support him. as it is, i'm not going to stop supporting him until there's firm evidence. i'm tired of kpop stans making rash decisions based on half truths instead of just being patient and waiting for the facts to come out. staying neutral during unclear situations is a valid stance to take. please let's all stop jumping to conclusions from both sides.

[luck-of-the-drawings]

"And soda; runs off into the street..." "...and soda... is totally okay!"

[vriskira]

can you believe they kissed during the finale !?!?! (coping)

[gottagobackintime]

Trent being startled/frightened

[puppyeared]

i feel like im not making any sense but does anyone else feel like there are stories that let u run with them and ones that spell everything out for you

[trauersinfonie]

i feel weird when people credit the hito hito no mi model nika for luffy’s good deeds because luffy isnt kind and frees people because of his devil fruit, he’s kind because its who he is &it’s the type of person he’s grown to be. its because luffy has these traits that his devil fruit chose him & he was able to awaken it