#hehe consider this a prequel to 'you and me? for old times sake?'

[zozo-01]

Care To Join Me For A Dance, My Love?

Hey there! Some of you may have guessed by now that I am a sucker for royal balls. Now is the Monarchal Summit going to be a ball? Probably not. Will that stop me from writing about our favourite vampires and their partners at a ball? Fuckk no!

Anywho, already had fun writing for Darlin' at a ball once and I decided, 'hey, I'm gonna do it again.' So here is a more fluffy ball fic featuring our favourite Southern gentleman and his lovely Darlin'.

@dolls-circus and @sri-rachaa come and get your food!

Warnings: None (I know surprising for me.)

click here for the ao3 link!!!

--

Darlin’ was used to this. They were used to having the eyes of everyone in the room focused on them. The stares happened when their family hosted parties. They happened whenever they walked late into a pack meeting, long before they had gotten with Quinn. It was always eyes filled with judgement, scrutinizing every action and word that was either said or wasn't said.

This was different. They felt the eyes of everyone in the ball, but there was no heat behind them. Instead, their gazes had admiration, awe and wonder. Who was this person and why are they here? Darlin’ was impressed with themselves. They had managed to capture the positive attention of all the Old Bloods in attendance.

But it didn’t make it any fucking easier for them to enter the ball.

Despite the admiration they received, one thing was for sure, they were still a wolf entering vampire territory. Not just any kind of vampires, Old Blood. (Old Blood like Quinn.) These are vampires that have been alive long before their great-grandparents were born. They have seen empires rise and fall, have more knowledge than Darlin’ could ever dream of, and as much as they hate to admit it, they can beat the absolute shit out of them. They were hesitant to walk in, in fear of angering the wrong person and having to answer for it.

‘Maybe I can turn back? Tell Sam that I felt sick and didn’t wanna come? Can I atleast not stand around like a fucking idiot and move?’

Before any more doubts entered their head, a pair of kind eyes caught theirs. From across the room, atop his golden throne, William was encouraging them to enter. They can already hear his voice in their head. “It’s alright little one, you’ll be safe here.” He didn’t have to say any words to make them feel at home. His presence was enough to have them feel like tonight was going to be alright. Fun even.

Darlin’ shook any remaining doubts, held their head up high and smiled. They remembered what their mother used to say when they were old enough to understand the undeserved judgements casted upon them.

“These aunties can smell your fear, my doll. You must smile, hold your head up high and let them know that you are not afraid of their words.”

‘Well these ain't aunties, but the same advice can be used against centuries old vampires who can kill me with a bite? Right mama?’

With their mother’s words echoing in their head, Darlin’ began to descend down the stairs into the main ballroom, eyes darting from person to person in search of a certain someone. Their eyes trying to find the silver eyes that they have grown to love.

‘Finding him would be so much goddamn easier if all of these stupid masks weren’t in the way. Fucking hell, where the fuck is he?’

-- 

Samuel Collins saw the sun set down the horizon and into the main ballroom.

They say to never look directly at the sun, but Sam decided that advice to be horsehit and glued his eyes onto his sunlight.

They look… there weren't words in the human language that could describe how beautiful Darlin’ looked walking down the stairs. Their confident stride and dazzling smile captured the eyes of everyone in the room. With every step they took, Sam heard most of the vampires' halt their breath in awe of his wolf. Had it been any other context, Sam would feel bothered, not jealous as some people would insist, with so many eyes on his Darlin’. 

But how can he blame them when Darlin’ looked as enchanting as they did? 

Somehow, a room full of vampires were put under a trance by a wolf.

His stubborn, reckless, lovely, beautiful, Darlin’ wolf.

“You know, instead of standing here with your mouth watering like a newborn, maybe you should go up to them and ask them to dance?” Vincent teased his best friend. He wore a cocky smirk to accompany his equally cocky comment. His partner lightly hit their lover on the chest and chastised him for his smart comment.

Sam turned to face the vampire prince with a smirk of his own. “Well I’m sure your partner here would love to hear about the look on your face when they walked into the room.” He couldn’t finish his description, one he so desperately wanted to tell, before Vincent slapped a hand over Sam’s mouth. Vincent stumbled over his words, trying to make a lie that he can use to maintain his pride.

Vincent’s partner covered their own mouth to muffle their laugh at sight of two normally dignified men fighting like children. “While I would love to hear about Loverboy gawking over me, you may want to help your mate Sam. It seems as though they have some unwanted attention.” The two men turn around to see an Old Blood noble talking to Darlin’. Not even a second later, Sam ran to his Darlin’ ‘safety,’ leaving behind the bemused vampire prince and his equally bemused partner.

“Oh he is so whipped for them.”

“Don’t tease him, you'd do the same for me, Loverboy.”

 Sam ran through the crowd of nobles on the dancefloor. His masked silver, determined eyes locked onto the vampire that was talking to his Darlin’. ‘Thank the Lord for vamp speed.’ He stopped right behind Darlin’, who was blissfully unaware of their mate standing behind them.

“Excuse me, Darlin’,” he says, tapping them on the shoulder. Darlin’ turned around to look at Sam. Their masked eyes sparkled with happiness at the sight of their mate. The noble seeing Darlin's attention completely on Sam, understood that they weren’t relevant anymore and so they left the vampire and shifter alone. “Care to join me for a dance, my love?” He bent on one knee and exaggerated the action of holding out his hand for them to take.

Darlin’ let out a heavenly giggle and accepted the outreached hand. “I can’t let my cowboy stand there like an idiot.” A soft smile adorned his masked face and he placed a gentle kiss on their held hand. He let his lips linger on their skin, not wanting to leave this bubble of sunlight. 

Darlin’ dragged Sam up to his feet, their lips barely touching. They looked into each other’s eyes, lost in the galaxies swirling in them. They were close to each other, but Sam wanted them to be closer. He wanted to pull Darlin’ into his heart and hold them there for as long as they live. He wanted to keep them away from all the hurt they’ve been through. Away from all the harm that may befall on them. 

He knows they can protect themselves, but that doesn’t stop the need he has to take care of his Darlin’.

Darlin’ was the first to look away, glancing at the dancing vampires. They cleared their throat before saying, “so, we should probably join the others, if you’re still up for that dance.” 

Sam gave a low chuckle. “Lead the way, my Darlin’.”

The two walked onto the dancefloor hand-in-hand. Sam noticed that Darlin’s smile was shaky. Most people assume that Darlin’s confidence was unwavering, and for the most part, they’d be right. Sam knows them, though. He prides himself on the fact that he knows them better than most. And he knows that Darlin’s nervous about something.

“Hey, you alright? Something buggin’ you?” Darlin’s eyes widened at the question. They chuckled nervously before giving an answer.

“Nah, it ain’t something bugging me… I just,” they paused and lowered their voice. “I’ve never danced in a place like this. Like all fancy and shit.” They looked up at Sam’s face with a reserved smile. “Don’t get me wrong, I want to dance with you, I don’t want to… embarrass you.”

Sam shook his head and held Darlin’ cheek. “You’re not going to embarrass me, love. Besides, you’re one of the most graceful people I’ve ever met. I promise you, you'll be alright.” He gave them a reassuring smile and used his other hand to hold their waist. Darlin’ turned their head and kissed the palm of the hand on their cheek. They held his hand in theirs and placed their free hand on his shoulder.

The couple glided across the room, in perfect sync. He spun them a few times, and every time Darlin’ let out a cherished giggle. As the dance went along, Sam pulled Darlin’ even closer. The early need of holding them close came back. The two slowed down, moving away from the main dancefloor so as to not clog up space.

Sam and Darlin’ had both of their arms wrapped around each other. They swayed slowly to the music in the background. Darlin’ leaned over to whisper into Sam’s ear. “Have I told you how devilishly handsome you look tonight?” They said it with a flirtatious smile. It was enough for Sam to tense up with how good their voice made him feel.

Sam tilted his head over to whisper back “you look…,” yet again Sam was at a loss for words. How does one describe the celestial beauty Darlin’ possesses in a mortal language? For no language, however modern or ancient, could capture their divine essence. But he had to say something. 

Sam cleared his throat before whispering back in a husky voice. “You have bewitched me body and soul, and I love, I love, I love you. And wish from this day forth never to be parted from you.”

Darlin’ shivered when his breath had reached their ear. “I didn’t know you’ve read ‘Pride and Prejudice?’” The truth is, he hadn’t.

One of the more surprising facts about Darlin’ was how much of an avid reader they were. Their taste in literature was grand, from Arabic poetry from millenia ago to a children’s tale about demigods. Their eyes would absorb the words from the page, committing it to their brain. 

Along with their reading habit was their hobby of annotating their books. They would highlight lines and write little notes in the margins. Sometimes, they’d use little sticky notes to mark their favourite passages or scenes to go back and reread later. Sam loved to look through these annotated books, finding all of the quotes that Darlin’ adored to better understand them. It was how he came to find out that Darlin’ was more of a Romantic, with a capital ‘R’, then they let on.

One day, he was looking through their copy of ‘Pride and Prejudice.’ The famous quote was underlined and was accompanied by a message in the margins.

‘On Goddd, if someone said something like this to me, I’d fucking marry them on the spot.’

And Sam really wanted to fucking marry them.

“Well I decided to look through the book and thought you’d appreciate me saying it.” He acted as though he didn’t memorize that line so that he may use it in a situation like this.

Darlin’ rolled their eyes and leaned closer to Sam’s face. “My, my Samuel, how cheesy of you.” 

Sam let out a low, husky chuckle. He leaned in as well, his lips ghosting theirs and his beard brushing against their skin. “Well my Darlin’, I thought you’d appreciate the cheese.”

A beat of silence went by before Sam spoke up.

“Darlin’, can I kiss you?”

They answered with a breathless “yes” and leaned in to kiss Sam. He snaked a hand up their back and cradled their head, pulling them closer. Darlin’ had begun to run their hands through his hair, earning a groan from the vampire. The kiss was full of love and passion. Of words that were unsaid because the magnitude of their feelings couldn’t be explained. All they knew was that kissing each other, that holding each other, that being with each other was the only thing right in their world.

Sam leaned back for air. He stared at Darlin's swollen lips and love filled eyes, and could only say one thing.

“I love you so damn much Darlin’,” he whispered. He wanted the world to know who he loves.

He wanted to make sure that they knew he loves them.

Darlin’ closed their eyes and leaned their forehead to touch his. They let out a huff of laughter. 

“I love you too, Samuel Collins.”

–

[Staring at the couple from across the ballroom was a pair of cold silver eyes. 

The man looking at them quickly felt anger towards the southern vampire for touching what’s his.

The southern vampire walked away from the wolf. Delighted by this, the man started walking towards the shifter, wondering if they’ll accept a dance from him, for old time’s sake.]

[fawninthewinter]

DTV Disney Sequels: Introduction

So it was reading week. During this time I get a week off from my school as I don’t have any exams. Yeah, that’s a positive that comes with being in art school. Almost no exams in any classes. Anyway, a week with no classes and no plans made can get surprisingly boring and even a lazy shit like me needs some way to entertain herself. Well, Besides working on my animation portfolio but that’s besides the point. For whatever reason I’ve been thinking about the direct to DVD sequels lately. Actually, I might have a reason. I had a very distant but good friend from this website ( yes, believe it or not this website can be of value for something though it’s more for some of the awesome people on it) visit me and another friend for a couple weeks and we spent most of the time watching Disney films for the sake of nostalgia. Including a few direct to DVD films. That’s what probably got me thinking about them. We talked and joked about them and shared our opinions with one another on them, etc. Stupid stuff like that. That got me thinking about some of the various reviews, top tens and what not I’ve come across relating to DTV Disney sequels. I like hearing other people’s opinions on them just as I do their opinions on Disney films in general. So I thought to myself; you know what? I love Disney. And even at their worst I can find at least something to enjoy from it whether it be ironically or not. And when they make mistakes it leaves for something to talk about. Naturally, this especially applies to the DTV movies as they’re considered notorious for being bottom of the barrel content from the company. I thought it would be fun to give my opinions on them all as I’ve seen so many other people and reviewers do. Since I don’t have the right technology to make these in video form, I figured I’d just post them here on this mess of a blog. Admittedly, I’ve actually seen almost all of them (yeah, I was quite a Disney fanatic as a child. Not much has changed) though it has been a long time so for the next month or so I’m going to watch them all again (maybe twice if I have to. Just for analysis) and give my honest thoughts on them from the lens of a ‘mature adult’. I can’t believe I actually typed that out with a straight face. I’m a nineteen year old with a Tumblr blog whose talking about movies for children. I feel kind of… pathetic now. Hehe 😑.

Before I get into this I have an important thing to say that some people should keep in mind. First of all, as opposed to a lot of people, I don’t think the majority of these sequels are god awful. In fact, there are some I actually find pretty fantastic as far as direct to video movies go. A couple I almost like even as much if not more than the original. Yeah. There are a few I generally really enjoy or love. More than I think one would expect from someone giving their opinions on direct to DVD Disney sequels/midquels/prequels/failed TV pilotquels/ok enough of this. My point is there’s not going to be a lot of frustration or a lot of movies I’m going to tear apart simply because that’s not like me. I don’t like to be angry at things unless I find them extremely insulting in one way or another. And even then I remind myself that at the end of the day, what I’m looking at are just forms of entertainment. Nothing more and nothing less. I’m just gonna watch some of Disney’s ‘table scraps’ and give my personal opinions on them. So take these thoughts with a pinch of salt. Secondly, keep in mind that these are just my personal opinions. If you like or dislike any of these movies there’s nothing wrong with that. And I do like talking to people who have different opinions than me on movies, TV shows, video games, etc. It allows me to views things in a way I hadn’t done so before. And this shouldn’t have to be said, and it certainly doesn’t apply to everyone as I know most of my followers are mature and civil people, but I know there might be a chance of somebody out there who can’t grasp the meaning of the word ‘opinion’ who might stumble across these and take them personally so here it goes; there is now way I’m going to share my opinions on things with everyone. We’re all individuals, and we all have differing opinions on things. It’s part of what makes us unique. And if you can’t except that then I don’t know what to tell you. Getting offended over someone else’s opinions on forms of entertainment is simply childish. I’m all open for hearing your own thoughts on these films but let’s all try to be adults about it. Ok? That clear? Good. Though I trust anyone reading this didn’t need to be told that. Then we’re good to go.

So to my friends and followers( by the way thank you for staying with me for so long. Means a lot) and anyone else who might be interested in what yours truly has to say about DTV Disney sequels/movies of all things, keep your eyes peeled while scrolling your dash for my thoughts/reviews on them for the next month or so.