#literally no one in the world draws slower than me

[katyspersonal]

RIP my Halloween fanart is only lined but not colored yet.. I am afraid I won't be able to finish coloring in time, so now I don't know whether I post the uncolored lineart or color it but end up being a little late

[retellingthehobbit]

Hello everyone! You may have noticed the next chapter of The Hobbit Comic is taking uhhhhh a lot longer than I intended! RIP my plan to post in April. One reason for that is because a major thing that draws me to LOTR is the level of detail and specificity in its world. People joke about Tolkien spending 30 pages describing a tree, or the original LOTR film trilogy being 90 percent panoramic shots of landscapes, but I really love that level of care for the world the story takes place in. My way of reflecting that is with very lovingly detailed elaborate backgrounds.

I know that a lot of people (including me sometimes) read comics by skimming as quickly as possible, in the way some people sometimes skim past Tolkien's descriptions of trees. But I would really love for the next chapter to be something you don't skim past, something that you can look back on and take in very slowly and appreciate the level of care that went into it. I've thought a lot about AI-generated-images lately, and why I feel a knee-jerk revulsion at seeing it in webcomics. And I think part of that is because I go to webcomics to see the kind of weird dubiously profitable deeply personal art you would never find in a more hollow corporate environment; "labors of love;" I don't like replacing that deeply personal art with literal Hollow Corporate Generated Product Imagery. If I wanted, I could shove a bunch of prompts into midjourney and "generate" this chapter very quickly; I'm spending months on it instead because I care about it, because I want to share things that I love, and because I have something to say and to show people. If anything, the rise of AI has encouraged me to be *slower* with my work-- there's absolutely no way I can compete with literal machines, there's no way I'm winning a race of speed, so instead I'm going to try to win in a race of..... the ability to feel things, observe things, intend things, and care. XD I've been going back and reading through all the kind comments people have left on previous chapters, and I'm so glad to have all this motivation!! <3 The next chapter IS coming and you'll probably see it in (*my notes fall on the ground and catch on fire*) at some point!

[minkkumaz]

DISASTEROLOGY

hyunjin dreamed of you and the things you'd do together, and not one soul knew about it. he finally draws up the courage to show you his intentions

PIERCE THE VEIL series

PAIRING hwang hyunjin x gn!reader WC 1.1k TAGS friends to lovers. lovesick hyunjin. confessions. smooching. slightly angst. fluff. suggestive implications. OMI NOTE i think out of all the members i struggle with writing hyunjin the most. i literally dwelled on this for so long but honestly turned out better than i expected. @skullverse, my ptv twin. this one is for you my schmookum wookums bc ik he's ur fav!!

a single finger traced over hyunjin’s abs, making him take a sharp breath. there were a million different kinds of fun, but that was only a figment of his mind’s eye. when he was tucked in between his sheets, a tainted dream resurfaced every night.

but this wasn’t true, no, it was completely impossible. nobody knew that he dreamt about you, the dates he’d take you on, and the way he’d hold your hand so perfectly that not one person would get a single idea besides ‘they must be together.’

this was his imagination, and when he wasn’t happily rested within it, the world felt like it was at end.

often time’s he’d wake up in a cold sweat. running a hand through his hair to detach the pieces that stuck to his forehead. his shirt clung to his body, lacking the touch of you underneath.

hyunjin sighed, looking over to his blinking alarm clock that had a small sketchbook next to it. you were meant to come over soon to spend some time with him since days like that came rarely. one quick nap later and he was soon reminded of how badly he wanted you, yet couldn’t have you.

it was everything. the way your lips parted slightly when you were confused, how you stabilize yourself by holding onto his shoulders after he teaches you choreography, or maybe when your hand brushed against his as you walked alongside him.

a low groan of annoyance fell from his lips, moving from his spot on the bed to freshen up in the bathroom. looking in the mirror was only a reminder that today was supposed to be the day he’d say something to you; imply that he wanted so much more than to just be friends.

all he saw was his fear looking back at him. out of every drawing he’s ever made, he could never sketch out a coherent idea of how he fell victim to your spell. so instead he settled with drawing you. just you.

it was now or never, right?

picking up his phone from the charger, he sent you a text to let you know that it was okay to come over. it wouldn’t take very long, as you didn’t live too far. in the meantime, he pushed down these possessive thoughts and cleaned himself up.

the clock felt like it was ticking slower than ever, but that was just a misconception when he heard the gentle knock on his door. thousands of butterflies awoke in his stomach, and he had never been more nervous than in that moment.

he walked over to unlock the door and let you inside. you were cozy in some pajamas, with a jacket hugging your body.

“hyun!” you grin, reaching your arms around him in a hug, enabling his hands to snake around your waist.

“hey, i haven’t seen your face in awhile.” he ruffled your hair gently.

“pff, only because you’re too busy with tour.” you tease him, pulling away to follow back to his bedroom.

“okay maybe i was a little busy! but i have a present for you from when i was on tour.” he tells you, grabbing the sketchbook on his night stand and handing it to you.

“for me?” you flipped it open to see an image of yourself laying prettily on the first page. 

every pencil stroke dug into the paper, getting only the finest of details. you lower yourself back on his bed, still admiring the drawing.

“do you like it?” he smiles at you.

“do i like it? i love it oh my gosh!” you bounce slightly on his mattress, giddy with endorphins.

you place the book next to you on the comforter, reaching your hands out to pull him towards you in another embrace. in the midst of this all, he falls against you on the bed.

all you could do was let out quiet giggles with the boy on top of you, his head stuffed in the crook of your neck.

he lifted himself up, leaning up on one of his forearms. his free hand traveled to your face, moving small strands of hair that were blocking your vision. a pink hue played across his cheeks; this position felt too similar to the ones in his imagination.

“i don’t know how you were able to get all those details of me. you even got one of my moles!” you beam from underneath him.

“you’re just on my mind all the time, how could i not?” 

“uh huh, you’re too busy being one of the most desired men on the planet.” you joke with him, failing to realize he was being serious. your expression shifts when he doesn’t laugh.

“did you know that i dream about you, y/n?” he says tenderly, grazing his fingertip over your jawline.

“wh– pardon?” you mutter.

“there’s so much i want to tell you, but i don’t want to scare you off.” he looked intimidating, towering over you. but there was so much care in his words that it confused you.

“hyunjin.. you could never scare me off. i value all of my time with you.” you respond calmly, trying to mask your flusteredness.

the line he drew down your face stopped, instead drifting down your neck and across your collarbones. a shiver travelled down your spine.

“are you sure that you mean that, y/n?” his voice was composed sweetly.

“i mean it.”

“whenever i draw you, i think back to these daydreams i have about you. about us. we did so much together, but none of it was real.” he stopped, “it made me second guess things a lot. but i figured that even if the world was ending, shouldn’t we spend the rest of our time in love?”

“i– i don’t know what to say.” you lay below him with a shocked look on your face, but you were far from scared. you were curious.

“don’t say anything. just imagine us, please?” there were undertones of distress in his words.

“i like you, so much. but i don’t want to ruin things between us. i was so terrified.” you confess, biting back a frown.

“you won’t ruin anything, my muse. you’re anything far from poisonous. things will be okay.” 

“how will i know for sure?”

hyunjin looks into your glazed eyes, you were looking like you were about to cry. this only made him smile more.

he leaned down closer to you, until he was only inches away from your ear. you could feel every inhale and exhale sliding down the side of your neck.

“you’ll know if you stay. i want to create something beautiful,” he whispers, “then destroy it.”

© 2023 minkkumaz, all rights reserved support your writers by reblogging + giving feedback! it is greatly encouraged and appreciated. thank you! → why feedback + reblogging is so important. ~ (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) ♡ if you'd like, donate to minkkumaz ! PIERCE THE VEIL series

[pocket-watcher]

Two men who can hypnotize with dance decide to mesmerize each other for their own purposes. They pair up, dance and fall into a trance from each other.

Ooo this is such an interesting concept. Hypnosis through dance? Let me see…

The room was packed.

Of course it was, Caleb thought.

He watched nervously as the crowd mingled and the quartet finished their number.

It was a special mission. Locate the target, coerce him into joining Caleb back to HQ.

Caleb scanned the room.

The only problem was how slippery this particular target had proven in the past

Laughter, dancing, even a few couples who had clearly forgot they were in public… but no sign of Leo.

Would Caleb spot him in time? He had to. It was all riding on him to bring the bastard in willingly.

Okay, maybe willingly was the wrong word. Hypnotised to comply, if we’re worrying about semantics.

Everything was in place. Special gear, decoys littered through the room, and a comm in his ear which he could ask for backup if needed.

Not that that was an option. He had to prove he could do this alone. He’d be the one to take Leo down.

Speak of the devil, Caleb spotted Leo topping up his champagne with some blonde woman’s glass whilst she was distracted.

Caleb scoffed at Leo’s audacity, at which point Leo caught his eye and winked, placing the empty glass back in her hand and b-lining towards the dance floor.

His hair flowed behind him as he effortlessly weaved in and out of the crowd, never breaking eye contact.

Perfect, Caleb thought.

Intersecting Leo was easy. Caleb simply swept him off his feet.

Literally.

A leg to trip him up, a hand on his waist to steady him, and the two were dancing.

All according to plan.

He rocked Leo back and forth in perfect 4/4 time. Together and apart, spinning him in dizzying circles.

Around and around.

Back and forth.

Caleb pulled him in close, and by the way Leo lingered he could tell the other man was starting to feel the effects of his dance moves.

Spin.

Dip.

Was Leo clumsy from the champagne and twirling or was he giving in?

Leo’s half-lidded stare was locked on Caleb. The only thing in focus being his iron stare. Bringing him deeper. Drawing Leo in.

The two kept up their mesmerising momentum.

Not only that, but the subliminal lyrics Caleb snuck into the performance (thank you for the performance, Madeline dear, your voice is siren-esq) had Leo eating out of the palm of his hand.

Perhaps it was too easy.

Caleb watched as the other man’s head rocked, eyes unfocused. Now, just to invite him into the corridor when…

Leo pulled Caleb close, taking the lead suddenly.

What?!

Had that just been an act?

Caleb felt his confidence falter.

Leo closed the proximity suddenly, leading to Caleb taking a sharp inhale.

And he recognised the scent a moment too late.

Sneaky bastard, Caleb thought whilst he still could.

Caleb felt the world around him slowly drift out of focus as he glared daggers at Leo. That cocky smirk, who the hell wears a drugged-up cologne like that unless-

Unless…

Gliding.

Spinning.

Caleb’s head was spinning.

He kept his stare.

There were doubles of Leo’s golden-brown eyes now. His laughter was like honey. Caleb found himself laughing along, unsure of the joke.

He needed… someone… there were eyes everywhere… why wasn’t someone helping him?

Leo dipped him deeper, making Caleb’s stomach drop suddenly. His face was red. He’d drank too much? Wait, no. That’s not right. He never drank on missions…

The music had ended a while ago. Or had it? Leo tucked a curl behind Caleb’s ear, masterfully removing his comm and crushing it under his heel.

Instinctively. Robotically.

Next went the watch; Leo’s skilled hands like butter and it was off Caleb’s wrist and into his champagne glass, crackling and fizzing.

Still never breaking eye contact.

But, if Caleb’s senses weren’t melting together into endless bliss, maybe he’d notice that Leo was slower than usual. Sluggish. Distracted.

Both men too preoccupied with trancing each other they’d barely noticed their own state before it was too late.

Falling over each other, they sleepily made their way out of the gala.

Mission complete.

[catbountry]

Does anybody else remember Pandora? Not the box, or the fictional planet where James Cameron's blue alien cat people live where there's a literal mineral called "unobtanium" that can only be harvested from that particular planet. My man literally called that shit "unobtanium," fucking portmanteau of "unobtainable" and the "-ium" suffix for newer elements. No. That has absolutely nothing to do with anything else I'm writing beyond this point. This is a post about music.

This is a post about the customizable internet radio station Pandora. And also it's going to briefly cover ClickRadio, it's going to talk about my experiences with YouTube Music, Spotify, my own iPod and how I find and listen to music, and how it's a core part of my creative process and I put a bunch of music references in pretty much all of my creative work. None of it being musical, by the way. I can barely carry a tune and I can't play any instruments more complicated than a kazoo.

It also got really long and rambly, look, I'm high, I'm sorry. You've been warned.

It's 2001. I'm in high school. My life looks like this drawing I made a few weeks ago.

Music is a big part of my life. The internet was a lot slower. It would take several minutes to download an .mp3 file of a song that was only about three and a half minutes long, so I would listen to the radio a lot. But the thing about listening tuning into radio is that it's not the internet. You can't pick which song to listen to whenever you want. If you want that, your best bet is to own the songs you want on their physical CD releases, or risk exposing your mom's computer to a million viruses. But in order to skip a song, you have to press a physical button to skip a song. And of course, if you're listening to the radio where you can discover new songs, you can't skip the latest Limp Bizkit or Disturbed track with the vain hope that maybe they'll play "One-Armed Scissor" by At The Drive-In or "Go With the Flow" by Queens of the Stone Age, or any single off of Kid A. Everything you hated the most, hated more than Britney Spears or the Backstreet Boys, was all lumped together under the formless "alternative rock" label, which weirdly included hip-hop artists like Eminem, House of Pain, Beastie Boys, Cypress Hill, Gorillaz and Outkast; all stuff that I guess radio stations looked at and thought "yeah, this can appeal to white people."

You know I heard Dynamite Hack's version of "Boyz N The Hood" before I ever heard Eazy-E's? That should be a crime. That should be considered a human right's violation. Fuck you, Dynamite Hack for introducing the entire world to the concept of ironic hipster covers hip-hop songs which led to the fucking white people with ukeleles versions of Tupac songs. I am so glad that we, as a society, have all come together against these dynamite hacks and decided this was cringe and something that belongs in the past.

But this isn't an essay on awful YouTube music trends of the early 2010's, this is listening to music in the internet age in the early 2000's.

In 2001, ClickRadio launched. It was a desktop application that allowed you to listen to radio stations via the internet, but it had something real radio stations did not; if a song like, say, Dynamite Hack's cover of "Boys N The Hood" came on, you could click a thumbs down button and it would let out this cartoonishly loud "thud" and then that station would never play that song for you again. And if they played a song you really liked? You could click a thumb's up button and it would play that song more often.

I cannot understate how fucking mindblowing an idea this was in the early 2000's. Yes, ClickRadio would slow down your computer as the Neopets Flash games you would play gringing for Neopoints to get a Halloween brush for your Lupe that you named after a member of your favorite band. Anybody else do that?

No? Just me? Okay then.

ClickRadio would quickly get enshittificated, within only about a year or two being filled with more and more unskippable ads. I went back to just loading up MP3s in Winamp and playing music that way by the time I was in college, but it was a pain having to listen to whatever song I had physically on my hard drive, or a few years later, going to YouTube to see if somebody uploaded a crusty version of a NoMeansNo song with a Spanish-speaking DJ speaking in the opening bits of the video. Not ideal.

But then Pandora showed up.

I don't remember where I first heard about Pandora, but after Napster, there were a bunch of music start-ups hoping to be legitimate in the eyes of artists and record labels. Clickradio was just a radio station. But Pandora... was an experiment of The Algorithm.

You see, Pandora started what is known as the Music Genome Project, a way of organizing music into hundreds of different subgenres across five large umbrella genres; Pop/Rock, Hip Hop/Electronica, Jazz, World Music and Classical. What Pandora did was use this as a way to allow users to craft their own custom radio stations. And not only would it play the stuff you liked, but it would be tailored to a seed artist or song; you put in Nirvana, you get a lot of 90's alt rock radio faire, but then maybe it plays Mudhoney. Maybe it plays Sonic Youth. Maybe it plays Melvins, and you like it. And when you give a thumbs up, you hear more and more artists in similar subgenres. And let's say you've been looking into obscure or underground music for years before you start using Pandora, and suddenly you're introduced to artists you never would have come across more organically. And buddy, you'd bet my Pandora station was a fucking hodgepodge of hundreds of seeds, which allowed me to discover highly influential /mu/ core bands like Swans, Animal Collective and Neutral Milk Hotel, but also bands that are so obscure that their Spotify listens are in the lower four digits at maximum and maybe a couple tens of thousands of views on YouTube. So many songs I found through Pandora are from bands that I very rarely hear a lot of people talk about, but they've made songs that have just lived in my brain for decades.

And for a couple years, I'd be listening to Pandora radio while writing up new TF2 fanfiction to terrorize TF2chan with. Certain songs would come up so often because I specifically bookmarked them. I didn't really know a lot about shoegaze before Pandora, but now I own a physical copy of all three of Slowdive's albums, and you fucking bet "When the Sun Hits" was in heavy rotation while I was writing Respawn of the Dead.

Yes, this was playing while I was writing out Respawn of the Dead, chapter by chapter. And so was "Beautiful Plateau" by Sonic Youth, "The Sound" by Swans, "Dead Flag Blues" by Godspeed You! Black Emperor and "End of the Line" by Murder By Death. And also this song by a band called The Clock Work Army, which split up and reformed into another band called Calico Horses, and I know this because I found this out while trying to track down a song that would play constantly on my Pandora station and it has, as of writing this sentence, 2,588 listens. And it might have more by the time you read this because I might just put it on loop because oh my god, I love this song so much, it hits so perfect for me, why don't more people know about this song?

It's not on YouTube, where I usually tend to listen to music, since I'll go through a rotation of songs that I call "work songs." I put on music while I write, and some songs are just so perfect that I can listen to them on loop with a very select number of songs that just never, ever get old for me. My neurons in my brain light up as though I was hearing it again for the first time.

Swans, Sigur Ros and The Dillinger Escape Plan are all artists who I found through Pandora that I've had the privilege to see live. By the time I was just discovering bands because I had a bunch of friends and mutuals with similar taste in music to mine, Pandora was slowly getting more and more ads. It was getting to the point where the free service would, if you were lucky, play only three or four songs before playing an ad. And when the length of those songs can span anywhere from less than three minutes for much of my beloved 80's and early 90's punk, to up to a half an hour for post-rock, noise, or ambient music. And the number of ads that played between songs had increased. What was just one every half an hour or so was now two to three for what could potentially be only after seven minutes of music. Pandora really doesn't like it if the music you like includes a lot of songs that are longer than an episode of The Simpsons.

I never hear anybody talk about Pandora anymore. Spotify is THE name in internet music streaming, and it favors listens of entire albums and other people's playlists. I don't like Spotify; sometimes I just want a specific song from a specific album. I could make a playlist of these "work songs," but I like when YouTube notices that I'm listening to music, and in the recommendeds, there's another song that I've listened to on repeat. Why yes, I would like you to play "Classical Homicide" by Dälek for me again. What's that? An hour loop of Deadmau5's "Professional Griefers" featuring Gerard Way? Yes please. I apologize for nothing. That dude's way better than Skrillex.

God, do you guys remember the Deadmau5/Skrillex shipping that was all over Tumblr in the early 2010's. I remember it. I remember it so hard. Everybody shipping them and the members of Daft Punk, posting Steam Powered Giraffe (blech) and Die Antwoord (lol) on my dashboard. In Die Antwoord's defense, they had some pretty funny music videos.

I got AdBlocker for YouTube, so the ads aren't a problem there. I mean, I could make a playlist for Spotify of my go-to songs, but I'd have to deal with ads. And there's something nice about YouTube's robots that sell my precious data to faceless corporations at least having the courtesy to be like "You look like you could use another stream of 'Anything (Viva!)' by Foetus. Or Scraping Foetus off the Wheel. Or... whatever, fuck it, it's J.G. Thirwell's band, okay? It's the guy that does the music for Venture Brothers."

Foetus was introduced to me through a friend but it was Pandora serving me up more of their music that made their albums "nail" and "Flow" ones that got the honor of Being Downloaded onto my iPod so I can Listen to This in my Car. I still use my iPod and even if there's albums that I haven't gone back to in years on there, I like having them there. I haven't listened to the soundtrack for Panty and Stocking in ages but having access to it so that I can FLY AWAY NOW, FLY AWAY NOW, FLY AWAAAYYYY on a long drive? I like having that option.

I still buy CDs so I can burn albums onto my iPod. My iPod doesn't have ads and switching between artists doesn't mean I have to flip through a CD binder. I also try to buy albums off of Bandcamp. Especially for smaller artists, or artists whose work I love enough to want to give them my money. I don't want to listen to ads. It throws off my workflow, shakes me out of the trance-like state that is pure, focused creativity. Whether it's working on comics or thinking about things I want to do in those comics, I'm usually listening to music. Sometimes the same album, hundreds of times over. I admit I haven't listened to that much King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, but I've listened to Nonagon Infinity front to back more times than I can count.

Nowadays it feels like I don't have a lot of friends who share my taste in music. I've so fully entrenched myself in fandom circles that I've been exposed to the average person's taste in music and I'm like "oh yeah, most people aren't as big of a fucking nerd about this as you are." You know how hard it is to get people who aren't music nerds to get into The Residents? Everybody I know that likes them already knew about them before we met, and people who had never heard of them before they met me usually find them deeply weird and never get fucking obsessed with them like I have. I own a physical copy of, not their original version of their album The King and Eye, which is an entire album of them covering Elvis that sounds like this, but the fucking remix of that album that does shit like this to their covers of Elvis songs. And you know what? I love both versions, but that remix of their cover of "Surrender" is a work song.

Listening to music is the only way I can guarantee that I'm actually working on something and not playing with my phone. I guess what I'm saying is... it sure would be nice if Pandora existed like it did back then right now.

Especially because I stopped cleaning up a page of my horrible Deltarune fan comic (MASSIVE Dead Dove warning, not even kidding, the entire story hinges on some very upsetting topics) just to write all this down and make sure there were links to every song in this essay. And like... I've even used the comic as a not-so-clandestine way into tricking them into listening to my music before. Whether it be directly namedropping bands and songs, writing about a specific character's taste in music and using that in the story somehow, or literally just making the title of one of my comic installments... this.

It is really good. 686 listens on YouTube. Absolutely criminal. And the example above? That's me not putting in hundreds of references into the comic and wondering if anybody else has noticed them.

I guess what I'm saying is that I am a huge music nerd, even though I always feel like I'm getting into artists super late (unless they're like Death Grips, but that was only after The Money Store had come out), but I fucking hate Spotify. I want more physical releases that can be preserved digitally, and I don't have the money to get into collecting vinyls as a hobby. All the vinyl I own is toys, and uh... I own a lot of those.

Thank you for reading through pure, uncut music autism mixed in with nostalgia and griping about capitalism because that's apparently where my head is at all the time when I'm not daydreaming my little stories or making up video essays in my head that will never be made. That's why I do stream of consciousness Tumblr essays full of minute details that absolutely are not necessary, but this is how my goddamn ADHD brain works. Now you know what it's like to be in my Discord server.

That post is, of course, pinned in the music channel.

As it should be.

... Fuck Pandora, I don't even fuck with it no more, I miss Grooveshark, weh, my playlist on that site was eight hours long before they shut it down in 2014. Devastated. I was in the middle of using it when it went offline.

Okay now I'm done for real, sorry.

[miela]

Dear Reader

Hey, Hey, Heeeeeeyyyyy

Long time no update, eh? I hope you're all doing well! Let me know down in the comments I miss all of you truly.

Let's get this out of the way: No, I'm not here to tell you that I won't be continuing the fic. I certainly am going to. Really I just wanted to give you guys updates on what's going on and why my hiatus took 7 plus months unexpectedly. I won't go into the nitty gritty details of it all but I will give a general idea because it may result in other hiatuses (I’m working around trying to find a way to prevent that though).

Firstly, I have been dealing with chronic pain for the past few months. I feel it in my back, knees, neck and hands mostly. Which you can imagine, prevents me from typing, drawing or doing much of anything as much as I would like to. At most I can properly type a few paragraphs at a time before my fingers want to give out. Regarding my hands, I have no idea where this stems from (certainly not me cracking my knuckles as a teenager, not that can’t be it…), but I’m doing different things and exercises that have been helping me. For the rest of my body, I couldn’t tell you but I’m working on doing better health practices to keep myself functioning.

Secondly, I’m a uni graduate (yay). And I have been STRUGGLING at finding a job in this post-pandemic economy. I’m not even gonna go into the absolute outrage I feel about this. Either way, I got a small job at a cafe that lasted a month and it put me in such a depressive state that I just recently was able to pull myself out of it (it was seriously THAT BAD, guys). And on top of that I’ve been feeling like a failure for not being able to find a job in my field. Either way, I’m in my Miles Morales era and doing my own thing.

There’s more to it but those are the main ones. I have been thinking about this story NON-STOP so don’t worry I haven’t given up on it. I promise I will be back. I’m going to be writing, but I probably will be updating slower than usual. I want to improve in my writing and make sure the chapters are the best they can be for you guys to enjoy (literally I was reading Manacled and Crimson Rivers and the writing is soooo good that I was mad at myself for not being at that level even if I did have a decade long writer’s block LMAO). If you sent in any request for me to write, I haven’t abandoned you guys either! Don’t worry! I SEE YOU! I will give you your requests!

Speaking of, I am planning my next fic (literally ignore my trello I have to organize it honestly). It’s going to be Marauders Era one. I have a few ideas of what I want to do but I am excited to write it! More OCs to come! (Disclaimer: FUCK JKR, Let’s all steal the wizarding world and make it lgbtqia+ AF). 

Anyways, I didn’t say all this to gain pity. Please don’t pity me. I just wanted to keep you all updated on what's going on. 

It’s good to be back! I missed all of you. 

(Literally i'm such an asshole for leaving ya'll on a cliffhanger like that. I am SO SORRY. Literally tf is wrong with me fr.)

Tags:

@i-love-mommy-wanda @riordanness @peterdarlingg @thecrystalclarity @brckenmemories @paleprincesssxo @blackcanary130 @kindlover @i-have-no-life-charlie @melodicheauxxlovesfood @hufflepuff-n-fluff

[kvothe-kingkiller]

Edit: No longer looking for Alpha Readers but I’m keeping this up for posterity and info

I’m looking for alpha readers for an ongoing fantasy project which I am currently releasing chapter by chapter. I’ll also make a post when I finish it in case you are the type to prefer to read it in one go. 

You do not need to have editing skills or experience. I am only looking for basic commentary.

Blurb: In an unsteady time of peace following a generations-long war, Mila, an 18 year old farmer, finds herself unexpectedly thrust into the world of nobility upon discovering she can wield a power thought only to be possessed by the upper class. Struggling to find her feet in this new environment and shunned by those around her, she juggles learning about her abilities, her identity, and the truth of the war behind the propaganda. When her equally ostracized mentor gets a tip about a plot to assassinate one of the country’s leaders, it’s down the dysfunctional teacher with a shady past and his apprentice who can barely control her powers to prevent the country from falling back into conflict.

(This is adult fantasy, not YA)

tags/highlights/themes: non-european-based fantasy world, adult fantasy, many queer characters and relationships (including aces), discovering sexuality, struggles with mental health and addiction, physical disabilities, dealing with trauma and taking responsibility, race relations, eat the rich, government propaganda, political intrigue, war is for money, war hurts the most vulnerable, etc

more info under the cut but if you’re interested or have questions, please DM me

(scroll down for info about setting, plot, and characters. content warnings and ‘rating’ under plot)

General Info:

Like I said, no experience needed. All I want to hear about is what you like/dislike, what is clear/unclear and any theories you have (for foreshadowing). You can be as detailed as you want or you can leave a single sentence comment for each chapter, anything helps. 

This is a first draft to be clear. I want alpha readers so I can make large changes to plot before rewriting everything for the second draft. On one hand it’s still fairly rough, on the other hand you don’t need to know anything to help. I just need opinions on plot and pacing and characters and foreshadowing etc etc. Again I am still writing it, I usually do ish a chapter a month sometimes faster sometimes slower. The chapters are usually ~10k, and I already have 27 out. (it is long)

This is going to be done through google classroom (yes, google classroom) because I need it to be inaccessible to anyone not invited and because I want people to be able to comment without being influenced by others and google classroom was literally the only thing I could find to do that for free. This does mean that whatever name you have on google will be seen by me and possibly others, just as an fyi. Also I have to add you to the ‘class’ but I can send you the prologue first if you want to try-before-you-buy (tho be aware the prologue is a bit more action packed than the start of the plot)

misc. pros for doing this: it already has art! because I do be an artist as well and I only ever draw my characters because motivation be finicky. Also, if you get through the entire thing I’ll do a commission for you (for free). plus I’m always looking for art ideas so if you say ‘it would be funny/cool if x did y’ then chances are I will actually draw it lol. also, free book ig?

Setting: 

Magic: Low fantasy with scarce/rare magic. The magic is called forging and is basically element magic but I wanted to explain all the hand movements people do with those so I incorporated more rules and ‘science’ to make it more rigid. there are ten basic ‘facets’ (air fire water stone earth wood iron copper blood bone) and people can be born knowing any number, or special different ones, but it gets exponentially rarer with more facets. the magic is genetic and mostly confined to the upper class and has become a way of oppressing the lower class. this actually gets addressed rather than mentioned then ignored (cough, korra, cough)

Culture: The culture of the main country, Odrad, is based on african, middle eastern, and mediterranean cultures, with a bit of southern asian. However most of that is simply due to the setting being dry and hot, and so developing dark skin and loose clothing and making most things out of stone and plaster due to the scarcity of wood. Religion is polytheistic based around an all mother type goddess and the god of the sun with the biggest festival being the start of the wet season. Other important countries include Acrait, the biggest on the continent, which is more south asian based, and Sheiro, which is steppe-type culture. Odrad is an ex-monarchy ruled by a council that has morphed into capitalism and feudalism’s horrid little baby with ‘nobles’ controlling everything. 

Queer Culture: First of all I use the word queer a Lot lol so if you aren’t into that, might not be for you. There is oppression since I am one of the queers who prefers an overcoming story than a setting with no oppression, but it is similar to current western culture in the sense that it’s not Horrible (so no like legal death sentences for gay sex etc), not As bad as it used to be, is worse in rural areas, and is rapidly changing in the cities. for the most part people hide their queerness but there is underground culture. Most of the characters are queer so there’s a lot of rep including ace and nb

Plot:

So far, it is Long. I am 200k words in at chapter 27 and probably only halfway through and this is only the first book. A lot of the first bit is just Mila’s struggles at the school where she’s learning forging. It is taking a turn into much more political intrigue than I planned but I’m leaning into it. so just know that its long and not just constant action, there is a lot of downtime since I enjoy my character interactions and developments and fluff etc. 

It is very R rated. Mostly due to dark subject matter, blood/gore etc, and lots of swearing (I come from a family where they’re just used as emphasis words really lol, so that’s somewhat leaked in...and it’s a first draft so I can’t be bothered to spend that much time removing them). There is a Lot of discussion around sex but no actual sex scenes. It has many things which could be triggering so just lmk if you want me to warn you about anything specific. It is dark and has dark themes, however, it is not a grimdark vibe, the vibes are actually fairly light all things considered. The characters have a lot of bantz and mess around and have fun, so it’s much less constantly serious than most ‘dark’ adult fantasy. I wanted to make them more relatable as people rather than just ‘whatever badass magic user’ (they’re actually mostly fairly pathetic pft)

General CW list: violence, gore, emotional abuse, abusive relationships, child abuse, sexual harassment, bullying, homophobia, transphobia, racism, ableism, frank depictions of mental illness, alcohol/drug use, addictions, intrusive thoughts, self harm, suicide ideation/attempts, war, war crimes, torture, mind control

CW list of things mentioned and discussed or that happen but not shown directly ‘on screen’: rape, pedophilia, forced pregnancy

Characters:

I’ll just give a very brief (and not great) description of the main three

Mila: (pron. ‘mee-luh’) the MC, disaster lesbian but more in a cringe fail way than a messy bitch way. tiny (4′10) but v powerful, just can’t quite use it yet. country kid way behind on the times. needs a break so badly

Ardev: imagine if you gave a wet rat the power to take over the world but he couldn’t be bothered. gay/ace and has so many things deeply wrong with him. short king

Endel: the only competent one. bi. BDE. femme. a slut. perfect at everything. his biggest flaw is that he likes Ardev. also has things deeply wrong with him.

thx for reading and again, DM if you’re interested or have questions <3

[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

It was certainly the longest and the least tethered to reality -- and showed that Trump, an elderly man in decline, is unfit for the presidency.

JILL FILIPOVIC

JUL 19, 2024

I hope that you were not, like me, required to watch Donald Trump’s speech at the Republican National Convention on Thursday night (and into Friday morning), and were instead doing something more enjoyable: Going out with friends, sleeping soundly, driving hot fireplace pokers into your eyes, literally anything. The former president rambled on for more than 90 minutes in a speech that was incoherent, wildly digressive, and often bizarre without being at all entertaining.

Anyone who managed to stay awake for the whole speech could only draw one conclusion: This is not a well man, and this is not a man fit for the presidency.Subscribe

Donald Trump has never been a coherent or linear speaker, and during his 2016 campaign there was much speculation about how mental acuity and cognitive health, not to mention the smattering of personality disorders he appears to live with. But then he won, and he held office for four years, and when he ran again in 2020 his flaws were familiar and so didn’t garner as many headlines — “Donald Trump still an unhinged maniac” wasn’t exactly new, and so it didn’t make the news.

But now we’ve had a four-year-old break from Trumpism, and when the former president reemerged on stage at the RNC, he exhibited all of his previous flaws, plus a marked decline: He was slower, even less coherent, less connected to the crowd, less tethered to reality. It’s hard to overstate just how bad his speech was. If Joe Biden gave a speech that colossally disjointed and tortuously boring, the headlines tomorrow morning would all be about just how severely he has deteriorated — and how Democrats are crazy for running him.

Trump is an elderly man in decline. He has always been a narcissist, the kind of guy who will ramble on and on because no one in his life has ever told him no. Eight years ago he made clear he was living in his own reality, and has long put forward his own facts and his own version of the truth, all of which is pretty well divorced from the reality in which the rest of us live. This in and of itself should be disqualifying. For most Republicans, though, it was not. Eight years ago, Trump was exciting. He stuck it to the establishment. He was actually very funny (I know someone will get mad at me for saying that, but the guy — and especially his crude insults — is not exactly crafting sophisticated comedy, but he is funny). He was, as has been observed many times over, the Id of conservative America, willing to cast “compassionate conservatism” aside for something more muscular and aggressive. He gave an angry, coarse base permission to hate immigrants, hate feminists, hate racial justice activists, hate the coastal elite (except for Trump himself), hate all of the people who don’t look like them or think like them and who had in recent decades challenged their position at the top of the social and economic hierarchies. At the time, this was all very fresh and new. To people like me, it was shocking and appalling. But a lot of American voters do not see the world the way I do.

Those same Americans, though, have heard this song-and-dance before. The same way that Trump’s insanity doesn’t garner headlines because it’s old news, Trump himself may be less magnetic because it’s also familiar — and now aped by so many Republican politicians.

All of this is to say that Trump is far from invincible. He is, by any reasonable measure, a weak candidate. His RNC speech made clear just how weak he is — and how much weaker he has gotten since 2020. And with the right candidate opposing him, Democrats can make clear just how mentally unfit he is to run the country.

Trump is surrounded by yes men in a movement more akin to a cult than anything else. These people will stand by him. They will deny the obvious reality in front of their faces. That can be beneficial: They can flood social media with heavily-edited videos and insist that their invented narrative is the truth; that may persuade some voters.

But Democrats’ broader (although far from universal) refusal to deny the reality in front of them is a strength, too. It means Democrats can pivot and adjust. This, in the worst-case scenario, can result in chaos. But it can also mean getting off of a path that only leads us over an obvious cliff. Elections are not won only by turning out the most engaged and dedicated portion of your base. Right now, I fear that’s what both parties are banking on: Republicans are hoping MAGA loyalists will propel a clearly declining candidate across the finish line, while Democrats are hoping their voters see that the stakes are high enough that they would vote for the corpse of FDR over Donald Trump.

Trump’s biggest fans are also either delusional or dishonest, and I doubt they will admit that his speech was an abject disaster. But the rest of us should say exactly what we see: A man who is simply not cognitively, emotionally, or temperamentally equipped to sit in the Oval Office.

xx Jill

[apocalypticavolition]

Let's (re)Read The Dragon Reborn! Chapter 12: The Amyrlin Seat

I hope you weren't expecting me to take a long break and come back with a long chapter, because this entry is shorter than Moiraine! And yet I still manage to casually drop spoilers for late in The Wheel of Time, so you probably shouldn't keep reading if that's a problem.

This chapter starts with the Flame of Tar Valon icon because it's a POV of the very flame herself: Siuan.

For the hundredth time since being told that Verin had returned, she readjusted her stole on her shoulders without realizing what she was doing.

It's funny that it no longer quite fits her now that her successor Egwene is in the Tower. IIRC, her other successor is present as well...

A small Tairen rug lay in front of the table, woven in simple patterns of blue and brown and gold. A single drawing, tiny fishing boats among reeds, hung above the fireplace. Half a dozen stands held open books about the floor. That was all. Even the lamps would not have been out of place in a farmer’s house.

Siuan parallels with Rand quite well here, two leaders of the world who came from low places and prefer simple lives.

The tall Aes Sedai, as tall as most men, was second only to the Amyrlin in the White Tower, and though Siuan had known her since they were novices together, sometimes Leane’s insistence on upholding the dignity of the Amyrlin Seat was enough to make Siuan want to scream.

On the other hand, we get hints that Siuan isn't a perfect leader. Considering that Egwene's arc is all about upholding the dignity of her position even in the lowest of circumstances - and that it ends specifically on "belief and order lend strength", Siuan's chafing against Leane's respect is something of a mark against her.

“Begin where you will,” Siuan said. “These rooms are warded, in case anyone thinks to use childhood tricks of eavesdropping.” Verin’s eyebrows lifted in surprise, and the Amyrlin added, “Much has changed since you left. Speak.”

A little foreshadowing of how badly things have gone offpage.

Mazrim Taim is in the hands of our sisters in Saldaea, and the poor fellow in Haddon Mirk, the Light have pity on his soul, was taken by the Tairens and executed on the spot. No one even seems to know what his name was. Both were taken on the same day and, according to rumor, under the same circumstances.

I love the lampshading, poor Tairen bastard. I suspect that the suddenness of the falls of these False Dragons has a great deal to do with how poorly this particular iteration of the Third Age is doing against the Shadow: barely enough time for fate to squeeze them in even though at least Taim is necessary to the Pattern and as soon as Rand gets moving reality literally tosses them aside. In other turnings of the Wheel, the falls of the last False Dragons probably happen a little slower than the speed of causality.

“What do you mean? He is to fight Tarmon Gai’don. The Horn is to summon dead heroes from the grave to fight in the Last Battle. Has Moiraine once again made some new plan without consulting me?”

We see again how communication is breaking down among the light; Moiraine has made very few plans except when she's been desperately trying to patch the main plan together while Rand and the Shadow are busy tearing it apart. Yet still Siuan blames her due to the distance and time separating the pair of them.

“So long as Mat lives,” Verin went on, “the Horn of Valere is no more than a horn to anyone else. If he dies, of course, another can sound it and forge a new link between man and Horn.” Her gaze was steady and untroubled by what she seemed to be suggesting.

Of course, just because Siuan isn't a perfect Amyrlin or fully trusting of Moiraine doesn't mean she's evil either. It would be a lot easier for the Tower if Mat were to die that very day - and under the circumstances, few would even think it a deliberate failure of the Aes Sedai. But Siuan keeps Mat alive just the same.

“An apt metaphor, Mother, the lionfish. Once I saw a large shark that a lionfish had chased into the shallows, where it died.”

Verin wasted her life researching the Black Ajah. She should have taught Egwene how to tear Siuan's fish metaphors to shreds instead.

“That is already causing us trouble, Verin, and will cause more as the stories spread, and grow with the spreading. But I can do nothing about that. I am told these people are gone, Daughter. Do you have any evidence otherwise?”

This is another big mistake of Siuan's, as the Seanchan will indeed return very quickly, take a huge chunk of the inhabited continent, and enslave plenty of Aes Sedai and other channeling women before things are over.

But we're nowhere near that yet. Next time: Siuan interviews the Wondergirls!

[sweetescapeartist]

HOW NETWORKING IN THE DB FANDOM IS USED AGAINST EARTHLING FANS

Warning, this is a long post & will probably upset some Saiyan fans. But this is meant for Earthling fans. So...yeah.

Networking.

That's how they do it.

Ppl want Vegeta to cuck Krillin? Network with ppl who have Roshi cuck Krillin. They use their influence to convince others to do what they like. You want to be part of their group and become more popular? Well, you better draw or voice or write or animate stuff they like. This way they can say "Look what this person did for me. Support them." Then they say to that person "Can you do more of that for me? I'll make sure to get your name out there more."

When ppl network, they often make others feel like they owe them "favors." But they don't always do so when they also have common goals. If they dont have common goals as the ones in positions of power, then they better get in line.

Why do you think a lot of these big DB YouTubers, certain artists, certain voice actors, ect know each other? And why do you think they all have similar ideals? Saiyan this, Saiyan that, make fun of Krillin & Yamcha and downplay anything they do, overhype Saiyans, ect. Ppl who don't do those things, they grow their audience at a slower rate OR they are prevented from growing by the influence of ppl who support Earthling hatred.

The fans of Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, or other Saiyans who want to cuck the Earthlings all do networking. This is part of the obsession with Saiyan males x female characters.

(Personally I view that obsession as the same as the obsession of woman being "blacked" or "bleached" or whatever. The Saiyan obsession is race based and with a superiority complex. So when I see posts like the one linked below... Its literally the same as having Saiyan males with all the women because fans present this idea that Saiyans are superior.)

(Replace "black guy" {or a guy of any race} with "Saiyan." When its a Saiyan, its acceptable. If its not a Saiyan, its bad despite both being nearly identical ideas. Ironic. Don't ppl realize that many Saiyan fans use Saiyans the exact same way? They view themselves as Saiyans and hate Earthling men but desire their women. Its the same as "This race is superior and will humiliate the men of this race and take their women." except now they use a fictional alien race instead of real world races.)

MY RESOLVE

I know some about networking because I've worked in the business. I don't like those kinds of jobs, but I have knowledge of how they work. (I'm sure some of y'all have a better understanding of networking than I do.)

If I wanted to (but I have no desire to do so), I could draw 18 x anyone but Krillin or 18 x Saiyans & grow quickly. Then once I'm big, promote Krillin & K18. But that's foolish. I'd be "cut off" in a way. If I'm no longer producing what the big influencers want me to, then I have lost their support as well as the support of their fans who only like me because of my association with the influencers. Then my most popular art would consist of things that I dislike but drew for clout or money. And cause I understand how networking functions, I wont compromise myself just to gain popularity. I'll take the slow route & make it so that ppl either end up enjoying what I do, or make it impossible for them to ignore it.

WE NEED TO NETWORK MORE

Negative networking has made most of the fandom trash on K18. Big influencers promote Krillin being a cuck or 18 leaving him to be with anyone. And like brainless sheep, many in the fandom follow the "popular" ppl. And then when you try to find art of Krillin with 18, most of it is of him getting cucked or it's art where 18 is not with him at all. They make it so you cannot ignore it. Use that tactic against them. We've had to fight against it for years & have come to understand how it works. Flip that on those ppl who have never battled against that strategy, & they will not know what to do. Besides lie & claim victim as they always do. If not that, they try to silence you in multiple ways. But they do that all the time.

There's a reason why my twitter is permanently stuck on "marked as sensitive." I posted facts about Vegeta's flaws when he was evil, then got a bunch of angry Vegeta stans coming my way, then suddenly I'm permanently on "marked as sensitive." And after that, the angry Vegeta stans don't come around as much. A very odd coincidence. But I've seen crazy Vegeta stans threaten to report YouTubers for making videos that made fun of something Vegeta did. Even saw them threaten to report when a YouTuber simply criticized Vegeta when he was evil. This is how they try to silence ppl who they view as a threat. (Twitter won't help me with this either.)

An illustration;

Because most of the population is right-handed, a left-handed swordsman trains to fight battles against right-handed ppl. But how often do right-handed ppl train to combat left-handed people? Never. And when right-handed people face a left-handed swordsman, they are at a disadvantage despite being the majority.

Those "left-handed swordsmen" are the fans of the Earthlings who endure lies & hate all the time. We know how to fight the "right-handed" majority. Been doing so for years. But we've been doing so separately. But if we were to network amongst ourselves? We can change how the fandom views our favorite characters quicker than we may believe. We have to gather & network. Sure we can take on a bunch of hateful liars without help, but think about a group of "left-handed swordsmen." If 1 of us can take on 100, then 100+ of us can take on 10,000+. Being the underdogs makes us stronger.

We can deal with more than they can because they don't have to fight daily lies & hate.

We can reason better than they can because they have no pressure to be accurate.

But they want us divided so that never happens. They want us to fight amongst each other so that their fight against us can be easy.

Of course there would still be debates between us about which Earthling fighter is the strongest (its Krillin btw 😝) but we dont let that divide us in our goal. Do Saiyan fans let it divide them when they argue if Goku, Vegeta, or Gohan are the strongest? No. Many are still very much united against the Earthlings. We need to be the same, but present logic and rationale instead of lies.

Ppl will tell you as the have told me "Why dont you just stop talking about Saiyans or Vegeta and just do your Krillin stuff? I hope you lose everything!" The reality is that they are fearful. Because we speak truth and facts about the characters while they build fanbases around lies. We can easily tear down the lies they built. They want us to be peaceful while their side keeps attacking without mercy. Only a fool remains peaceful.

But if you are a K18 fan, Krillin fan, Yamcha fan, or Earthling fan who doesnt want to meet their "sword" with another "sword" and would rather use a "shield" then, that is fine. Your positivity without combat is also required. What good is a soldier if they do not have ppl to equip them? To help them strategize, to build defenses, to give them knowledge & intel, to motivate them. Not everyone has to fight or lead publicly. Some can lead behind the scenes and fight by continuing to post positivity about the Earthlings.

My only regret in "going to war" against Earthling haters is that it may ruin some friendships I have with friends who love the Saiyans but wish the Earthlings nothing wrong. But fans of Earthlings and fans of Saiyans are not on the same playing field. And until we make it so that were are on the same playing field, some friends will be lost if they refuse to understand logic & reasoning. But if a Saiyan fan understands you? They are a reasonable person but will be considered a "traitor" by the Saiyan stans. They must make their decision. You must make your decision.

I've made my decision, and I still have some of my friends who Saiyan fans. I lost one in particular who claimed they were tired of seeing Krillin in hentai all the time. They said that they did not like Krillin x DB ladies, only if Krillin was with 18. But oddly enough, they enjoyed art of Saiyan characters x 18 and other women. I made sure the friendship ended peacefully, but it ended nonetheless. They had some sort of misinformed bias against Krillin. I dont know where exactly it came from, but I've spoken with popular & influential ppl who inaccurately & purposefully claim that there is more hentai of Krillin with DB women than Saiyan characters & that 18 is not the most used female in DB hentai. Those ppl play victim and poison the minds of others with their lies and use their position of "power" to do so. I've fact checked them and all they can do is deflect because they know they are lying. But their lies have already influenced many.

WHAT WE CAN DO...

I have a lot of ideas, so I'll be reaching out to certain artists I respect to get comms done. I can't draw it all myself 'cause I dont have near enough time. I'm also turning my comic ideas into fics that I can draw later.

But what can we do as a community?

Build a respect for your fellow Earthling fan before you build a trust. Trust without respect can be easily broken. If a fellow Earthling fan doesn't make themself deserving of respect, then leave them be.

Come up with ideas together (as some have reached out to me & I with some of them). This strengthens the respect and trust.

Work together with other Earthling fans who will help make those ideas a reality.

Help promote each other's fics, art, blogs, videos, ect. (Best way to get me to help promote something you've done, then DM something you want me to reblog.) (I'll try to do better in this regard to promote others.)

Give each other corrective criticism when needed and realize that not all cristicism is bad. But if you personally find no use for parts of the criticism, disregard it and continue on.

When an artist cucks Krillin or Yamcha, they will claim to like Krillin or Yamcha in order to protect their butts. But, try flipping their false logic on them and say "You like (insert Saiyan characters here) too. Now cuck them in your next one like you did with Krillin/Yamcha." And keep doing so often. They will either try to find a way out with excuses, refuse, or give in and do it. Then we just keep pressuring them to do so more often. They are weak to pressure if enough is applied. Pressure to be popular is one reason why they cuck Krillin & Yamcha. We just need to do so in our favor. If they like Gohan or Vegeta like how they like Krillin or Yamcha, then why dont they draw the Saiyans getting cucked? Why don't we just apply a little pressure and see what happens? 😉😈

Have each other's backs in disputs if possible, but try to remain more composed than your opponent. But if a Saiyan fan is too ignorant and too stubborn to believe reality, dont waste your time & just leave. No reason to prove your point to someone who denies truth. They are a waste of your time and energy. Let your "opponent" stay wrong sometimes. Most of the time they just want to fuss. A correct person doesn't need to argue if they've made their point clear.

Make sure that you understand the Earthling characters as well as the Saiyan characters. You must know your "enemy" to defeat them. (Which is why I have informative posts about Saiyans on my blog instead of only Earthling information. Knowledge is power.)

My personal addition is our alliance of Earthling fans would exclude Roshi & Oolong fans. And even certain Mr. Satan fans.

I use actual character traits to make my comics and art believable to combat the hatred towards Krillin. They base their cuck/NTR stuff on lies. If we make any stuff where the Earthlings cuck/NTR the Saiyans, then we base it in truth. Lies attract eisier, but truth is undeniable.

Sidenote; Aint it crazy how Saiyan fans will work hand-in-hand with certain Earthling fans who make content of Roshi, Oolong, or Mr. Satan cucking Krillin & Yamcha? (But more often its Krillin.) This is a clever tactic. How so? They promote the idea that Saiyans are stronger and superior while working with people who promote that extremely weaker characters both cuck Krillin & Yamcha. They have managed to weaponize Earthlings against Earthlings for their own gain. They mind little if it effects their favorite Saiyan character so long as it greatly & continuously damages the reputation of certain Earthling characters. (Its a "Do more art of Krillin & Yamcha getting cucked by Roshi & Oolong instead of Goku & Vegeta. Or better yet, since we're friends now, do more art of Saiyans cucking Krillin & Yamcha. You'll have my support and the support of my fans.")

Because of this, I plan to exact some sort of justice through indisputable facts. Examples being that Roshi is an extremely elderly man who likes getting beaten up by weaker women & watching women he's attracted to be with other guys; (a masochist cuck with E.D.). Oolong would rather peep instead of engage, & the girls he kidnapped made him their servant; (a submissive cuck). Mr. Satan is a coward who is easily turned into a "bitch" by anyone slightly stronger than him and will do whatever they say as he quickly became Majin Buu's servant without even being threatened; (can also be described as a submissive cuck). The battle-addicted Saiyans are built for battle instead of pleasure (small penis size like the primates they're based off of) and prefer combat over family as they gain pleasure from fighting & will leave their wives alone for a loooong time; (NTR anyone?).

°Twitter link that explains more of my thoughts.° 👇

EVENTUAL DISCORD SERVER

I do plan on making a Discord server. That way us like-minded individuals can converse and work together. But one of the rules would be to have some sort of respect for each other. Aint gotta always agree, but if we respect each other, we can still get along and build towards our goals. Keep it as civil as possible amongst ourselves. Many Saiyan fans want us to fight amongst ourselves to make their job easier. Dont give them what they want. And I'm sure some of us in the server will hate Saiyans while others will like them but are tired of them being worshiped because of lies and other dumb reasons. I may have to make a specific channel for ppl who want to vent about Saiyans. We'll figure it out as we go. All in due time.

Also gotta think of a cool name for the server that represents the Earthlings. "Earth's..." Idk. "Defenders of Mankind." Too much? "Earthling Defenders." Maybe? "Earth's Genki Dama." Might be better.... Kinda creativity bankrupt at the moment 😅

[sealinth]

Hello, Guidelines and Info

This is a Sideblog

Hey, I'm Mar! Any pronouns you feel like is good. I'm gonna be calling myself a woman, a guy and whatever I feel like. Muses here!

Here you'll find more about Me, and How and What I write :) Português lá no fim!! (em construção)

Me

I write in english and portuguese

Born in 1995. Will only write with adults, and all preferably 21+, ideally 25+.

Blog title is sea + labyrinth, because i was thinking of concepts i like and mashed words together like my brain works less than a bot. naming blogs is really hard. But this works (even if it sounds like a pokemon name)

I'm a huge nerd and am usually going on about a book, a game, a series or whatever else really

Timezone is GMT -3

I'll be liking from a blog called "mar0la"

Writing Hows

I've been writing for 11 years now

Only via discord! Love a cute organized server :)

Will only move to discord after we decided on plot and characters. I don't like having my discord full of people that don't talk to me and having to clean it every once in a while :/

Can use tupper or not

Can do short replies but would rather we have at least a full paragraph to work with. That said, if writing too much brings the rp to a halt let's just write :)

Only write OC's. I prefer to write males or masc coded people. favored dynamics are, in order, mxf, nbxf and fxf

Usual style is what I think it's called literate with like 2 or 3 paragraphs usually

I have a little trouble with certain letter and words sounds so it's possible I'll be making mistakes like trading "will" for "you" or stuff like "brief" for "breath". I usually pay attention but it happens, so let me know and I'll edit the reply

I don't currently want to join any groups as they take too much attention

Will be replying at least once a day but I usually manage to squeeze in 2 or 3 replies. Depends on partner speed too! :D

I will let you know if I'm in a particularly busy period of my life and we can either do shorter replies or wait a bit. Of course all the same goes for you!

OOC Communication

Love plotting and headcanoing together

Playlists, graphics, pinterest boards, art or just memes - whatever we talk about with our characters is fun

That said I truly would like to make friends and made some greats ones writing so I'll be open to talk about other things as well

It's a habit to say good morning and good night for me (if my adhd let's me remember) precisely because it keeps the rp and the partner fresh in my darn brain (and it's polite and I enjoy it :) ). It's not in any way, shape or form a sign that I'm pressuring you to write, ever

If you take longer to reply (always beyond 24 hours) I'll be asking if everything is okay and that's it

Writing Whats

Plot comes before anything for me and I'm looking to create worlds together

Also love romance, love shipping and that's always what I'm looking for the most, but without forcing anything and just having fun and seeing if the characters hit it off

I'm an artist and as such I'll always be more inclined to draw my characters or just stick to the descriptions on text

If you want a irl faceclaim from me, I'm probably just going to pick one from your own wanted opposite list

A partner can draw, have an irl faceclaim, use picrew or whatever other means they want of presenting their character

I prefer fantastic plots in some way or another over slice-of-life things. That means if the setting is modern there's got to be something else going on

It doesn't mean I won't write slice-of-life, it's just harder and I get slower

My favorite setting are fantasy (low or high), scifi stuff and I'd like to try at least one fresh apocalipse here and there tbh

I don't focus on smut ever, but I can write it if you really want to. Otherwise it's all fade to black and headcanons

Trigger Warnings and the such: I have no triggers for content except characters that smoke weed, specially if they keep talking about it. Otherwise it's all good. We can always talk about content deeper depending on the sort of rp we're planning to do!

WON'T WRITE: Serial killer/slasher, incest, abusive/toxic/mean spirited relationships im general - I'm all in for complex, angsty, grey area ships. Stuff like too much devotion or forbidden love and all. Just not obsessive, destructive, controlling etc

Ok I can't think of anything else so whatever you need to know, ask me!

That's all! Thank you for reading all the way here :)

[mellowdiplomattrashpsychic]

Ok so- I just thought of this randomly as an add on, but you know the ghosts that do mental damage? (*cough* spectra *cough*)

Well- what if Amity could too? I imagine her as a kid with chaotic energy. Like- a psychotic villain with only 1 thing holding their moral compass together.

Amity Park is a "middle of nowhere" town turned city (if they counted the ghosts as legal civilians). And in most AUs, none of the Supers can hear the shit going on over there, the magic welders either ignore or don't sense/know about anything going on there, and none of the Justice Leaguers found out about a media blackout or whatever.

What if it wasn't because of GIW? I mean, they'd only enter the scene later on, so there's ample amount of time for people to report before the blackout.

What if the reason why the GIW are incompetent isn't because the literal government branch is actually stupid?

What if Phantom's plot armor and extremely quick power evolution isn't just the luck of the draw?

What if Amity had been taking control of it all?

In a lot of fanfics, Lady Gotham bestowed some of her power to the bats, her protectors. Had helped here and there with stray gunshots and whatnot.

What if Amity had bestowed her power, which is a lot stronger due to her lack of curses and illness, to Danny? And with his connection to the dead, it only amplified it more.

What if she used her powers to affected the minds of the GIW? Hallucinations, red herrings through elevating her ecto-signature in random places away from Phantom, disruptions in their communication tech, maybe even physical atmospheric pressure to make them slower and run out of breath quicker.

What if she shielded her city long ago to keep away those who meant harm? Lady Gotham is extremely old, centuries at least if you think about Gotham City lore (I think at least). So I wouldn't down that Amity would've seen the witch trials. That she got angry for her own people and banned all outsiders.

What if the reason the Drs Fenton only found Amity because a distant relative was from there and the connection reached them? Maybe since Jazz and Danny are considered pure Amitians/Amity Parkers because they were born there, Amity had helped keep them alive and unharmed from the danger of their parents. Though this incidentally distanced their parents from them for their own protection.

It just feels like that if DC and DP are the same world, the GIW would be more competent if they were a real branch of government. I mean- DC plays mind games for lots of rogues, antagonists (Amanda Waller), etc. So I'd think that there's more to it than that if it's a mixed dimension.

As for titles for Amity...

Well, Lady doesn't fit with how young she is. It also just doesn't sound right to me. Lady Amity.

She can't outclass Lady Gotham either. So calling her other synonymous titles to Lady could end up referring to Lady Gotham as a lower class to her.

Dame Amity. Feels a bit too... fancy.

Little Miss would end up being a good one. I don't really know, though. Little Miss Amity. Little Miss. The Little Miss. Ms. Amity. Mistress Amity. Idk...

So- what if we ignore the royal side of things? Maybe-

Saint Amity. The Young Saint. I kinda like this one.

Priestess Amity. Not that one.

Abbess Amity.

Prioress Amity.

Idk. But I like to think of divine titles for Amity. You know the whole thing with "Father" as the Christian/Catholic God? What about The Infinite Realms being the Mother.

Yandere!ish Amity being extremely close to "mother," thanking her for the present of Danny Phantom being one of hers but also one of Mother's. Like a little brother to her maybe. Yandere!ish Amity asking Mother,

"What should I do with the infestation, Mother? If I get rid of them all at once, I'll be back with you but... the infant wouldn't be very happy with that now, would he?"

Idk, I could see Saint Amity being a bit crazy. And then she finds Lady Gotham and feels a different type of connection to Mother. A sort of strength that she admires.

The Lady Gotham is just- she doesn't care about the realms or mother. Maybe she once did but loved her children, her city, much more.

And Amity could understand it somewhat. She's growing attached to Danny and wanting him to succeed as a human. So much so that she bestows more power to allow him to protect but also finish the fights quicker. To be able to not find those "intruders" difficult to fight against.

I know this was meant to be a little more wholesome and that I trailed off a bunch, but it would make sense for centuries old spirits to see things as fleeting. See them more as passing entertainment. So when/if they do get noticed, they get a bit too... fond.

The spirit of Amity Park and Lady Gotham

Amity was a strong spirit. stronger than any city her size or age had any right to be, but she was, and she was going to make it matter.

Gotham was old, she was strong but sick and cursed so she couldn't do much but make her shadows that much darker, enough to be unseen, make her sounds that much louder enough to be unheard, guide the debris or a stray bullet a little to the left so that it would only graze not kill. even sick and hurt she was stubborn and she would make it matter.

Amity was younger than Gotham, most were, but Gotham was impressed with her. just like her Protector Amity was way too strong and way too young and very ambitious and protective of Hers.

they had that in common, Gotham was protective, Possesive. Her people were hers and hers only if they weren't Amity's first she couldn't take them, she would.

Amity was like her people, she was adaptive, sceptical but friendly, hard to gain trust from but loyal if you did. Amity was like her Protectors, she was determined and protective, she was fun but serious.

Gotham was like her people, she was a survivor, untrusting and brash, stubborn but flexible. Gotham was like her Bats, she was curious but secretive, protective to the point of possesivnes, calculated but quippy.

Amity was young and her form reflected that, she looked like a pre-teen like most her Protectors, her wheat blonde hair in star clipped twin-tails, a replica of the Ops Centre for a hat, eyes bright green and glowing freckles dusting her cheeks. her clothes were bright like her houses, always having funny accents and accessories and teared holes, her nails were painted but always chipped.

her laughter was loud with explosions and honking of cars and her voice was chipper and cracking.

Gotham was mature and so was her form, her hair black, iridescent and dripping like an oil spill, her face sickly pale(or ashen) and eyes solid yellow with bat shaped pupils (they were blood red before, just like her lips are) she is always dressed in black, blending with her shadows, clothes elegant but ripped and dirty, bloody pearls on her neck, black claws dripping oil like her hair, breath fogging with smog.

her laughter had clanking of weapons and banging of shots, her voice was raspy and strangled.

Amity looked up to Gotham, her determination and stubborn persistence to protect Hers, her funny quips and sarcastic comments.

They weren't too far by city spirit standards, they were on the same continent after all. And Amity could be that much farther, that much closer, just on the other side of the veil. Amity was in the Realms once, she knew the way back.

[mari-roleplay]

Rain World

Here's the list of characters that I feel the most comfortable writing. Includes a short interpretation of them and few headcanons I have about them

---Hunter---

I may be a bit biased, but this campaign broke me emotionally and mentally.

Interpretation of story:

Hunter is a purposed organism, created by No Significant Harrasment. His goal was to reactivate Moon by delivering a special neuron fly. However, the Iterator had been tried to speed up the process to bring Moon back as fast as possible, which caused rot to start develop within Hunter's body. Nontheless, Hunter was still send on a mission regardless of his health. As time progressess animal's condition worsens, he times to move slower, and suffers from seizures, and hallucinations. Against all odds he completes his mission successfully, bringing Moon back to functional state. However what happens with his body as his time runs out...

Headcanons:

While loyal to NSH, I think Hunter would partially resent him. You wake up with a parasite living within you. The only other person that is alive, is capable of doing anything is the robot that speaks to you. Wouldn't you blame them if you didn't know what was going on? Even a little bit?

NSH while adores fauna and flora, he treated Hunter a bit colder. Their reasoning to do so was because they belived, that they already hurt the creature, if he got too much attached he would feel even worse for doing so. An Iterator who can't create even a simple slugcat correctly...

While calm and harsh on the outside, Hunter is internally panicking just as much as we are when a King Vulture or a Red Lizard shows up.

Scavangers don't like him not because he's hostile to them, but because they can see the rot. They can see something's wrong with him, and they're rather be safe than sorry.

While at begining he could survive of fruits and vegetables with no issue, the rot inside made his hunger grow more and more, so now he must consume meat, because nothing else is filling enough.

Will take care of a slugpup if he finds one, but will leave them most likely with a Moon. Internal heartbreak throughout the whole travel

---Spearmaster---

Heavily modified purposed organism originating from a very distant land. Createdy by Seven Red Suns they follow the Iterator's instructions. Over the time they have traveled the world many times. Often caring inside their body pearls with sensitive informations. One of the pearls they have delivered caused a tragedy. The other pearl was rewritten and served a purpose of a final goodbye from Looks to the Moon. A sad consequence of one too many informations shared.

Headcanons:

The reason why Scavengers are so scared of them at begining is because, Spearmaster is so modified, they look like they crawled out straight out of uncanny valley

Cheiftain simulator goes brrr. Literally all you have to do is sit in front of the toll and create them a bunch of spears

While they can communicated via gestures, they had a bit of a hard time understanding Iterators before they were given a mark.

Communicates with Scavengers via drawings

While nice to Scavengers, they are pretty much a public enemy number one to all the other animals.

[w0lp3rtinger]

So… I’ve been thinking.

Shadow’s immortality has always been a subject of interest to me. There’s no one neat definition that ‘immortality’ fits into and so until otherwise given frame and limitations, it’s very ambiguous.

Is it a pristine immortality, where they will never age?

Is it a limited immortality, where they age very slowly and in a fundamentally different way than regular people?

Is it a conditional immortality, where they will live longer and age slower, but those bonuses are dictated by how often a regenerative factor is needed, or how often they are in contact with Chaos Energy?

But then, I was listening to Dawson’s Christian by Ernie Mansfield, Leslie Fish, and Vic Tyler, and I realized there is a fourth option I had not considered.

Is it an immortality of the soul, long after the corporal form has ceased to be?

In Sonic Battle, Rouge tells Shadow that Gerald gave him ‘Maria’s Soul.’ … We’ve no idea what that means. (We also don’t know how seriously to take Rouge in regards to Gerald since we don’t know what information she is privy to and as such cannot judge the quality.) You could take it literally, you could take it figuratively, you could do a lot of things, and each one has its own implications.

But for the sake of this headcanon…

I think Shadow’s soul is immortal.

No matter what happens to him, if there’s enough of a body to come back to, he’ll live. If there is no body left to come back to, or the body is no longer salvageable/viable, he will go on without it. The guy runs on Chaos Energy, and we’ve seen Chaos energy do strange, wonderful, terrible things. We also know for a fact that ghosts exist within Sonic’s world (SA1 and SA2 are the examples that come to mind).

However you think their immortality would or would not affect their body, would or would not affect their ability to physically age, the soul would continue on after and continue to do the job Shadow has taken upon themself, which is to protect the world.

What would this look like? Oh man. I can’t draw, so for those who need a visual of what is swirling around my head before I give a written description, I point you to these two very, very talented individuals who have inspired me with their art.These designs I’m linking come with their own lore, or the lore is being developed. I am not claiming them to use here, merely pointing towards them as an example of something akin to what I’m mulling over. @soloiho has an amazing design called Black Hole Shadow which is positively ghastly, whereas @redsunlight has a very interesting design for their lore called Prismatic AU which utilizes all the different colors of the chaos emeralds due to Shadow crushing them all for reasons detailed in their story.

In my mind, I see Shadow - for clarity’s sake let’s call it Wraith Shadow - as pitch black. There is no noticeable muzzle. You can’t even see his mouth. Where his hands and feet would be sort of becomes whispy and fades into nothingness unless he requires a limb to be solid (like to kick someone in the face, he’d need a foot, right?)

The only change in color you would see would be the light that emanates from where his red stripes use to be, from his eye sockets, and a swirling dark hole where his chest fur used to be. If he opens his mouth, there is light there too. When he moves his limbs with purpose, to attack or gesture or anything of that nature, there is a light trail that drifts from them. The light would be brighter when experiencing intense emotions and fainter when not. They very, very rarely speak. It requires a very special person or situation for them to be so moved as to do so. They can touch without the intention of causing harm, but it feels like running into very dense, warm air.

What color other than the darkness is there? Reds and oranges, like in the old SA2 style. Maybe even with a translucent sort of grainy texture, like looking at space dust.

And please make no mistake- Wraith Shadow is the most boiled-down components of Shadow, all of the critical best and worst parts smashed together and concentrated. You thought they were bad before, it’s about to get ten times worse. I’ve always thought that the main motivating components for Shadow were Love and Spite and they’ve been cranked up to 300% of what they were when alive.

And they’re not happy about this situation, not at all. Upon no longer being able to inhabit their physical form, which Wraith Shadow had assumed would mean that FINALLY they die, they are understandably upset because they know now there is no rest for them.

There will never be rest for them.

As such, though they fight for Justice, and Hope, and Mercy, they are not a pleasant thing. You do not WANT to run into Wraith Shadow. If they show up, it’s bad, and more likely than not, you would have died had they not shown up… but maybe that would be preferable than having to live with what you just saw.

When they are not doing their duty to protect the Earth, an unfortunate or unwise trespasser may find them haunting the halls of the ARK, or passing through the remains of a garden where the lavender bushes are massive and the roses are overgrown.

More likely than not, however, you’ll probably catch them sulking about the Master Emerald shrine and deep below the earth where the chaos emeralds sit and gather dust in their ancient chamber.

After the last protector passes away, someone has to do it after all.

[weishenbwi]

Allo, I want to preface this by saying I've not only been out of the fic world for a minute but also (and especially) out of the y/n/reader world for even longer so grab a snack (or be a snack) because this is going to be a bit of a long one. 😂💙

TLDR; It turned out really sweet and very hot! 😮 There are such cool concepts I've never heard of or even considered (like souls merging!!) but also it's just really such a healthy dynamic and such an amazing example of world and relationship building!

“You are the greatest blessing I have ever received in my entire life, Hongjoong.” You breathe. “I hope you never forget that.”

When I read that, I knew this fic was going to be a treat and it did not disappoint.

“Light tones would work best. Specifically, a blend of white and gold.” His brow quirks, “White and gold?”

Flashback to how I never saw that blue/black dress as anything other than white and gold no matter how hard I tried. I literally looked today a few hours before reading this part in the fic and yet... I realized then my whole life is a lie… unlike this fic. 😉 Another interesting coincidence was me lighting this strawberry sponge cake candle earlier and then reading strawberry cheesecake mentioned. 👀

“Given that our blood seems to have such a profound effect on you, I’m honestly very curious what the merger of our souls will do.” He adds, plucking your liquid liner from the table. “I do know that the more souls you merge with, the more powerful you will become.”

God tier idea really!! And it is executed flawlessly!

Every movement of his tongue over your clit is precise. His eyes never leave your face for a single second as he traces specific patterns over you. Not just any patterns, special ones he has long since desired to draw over this precious cunt of yours. Each stroke begins directly over your clit before he’s dragging his tongue outwards, as if tracing a very specific design over you.

He is.

In the ancient tongue, Hongjoong delicately traces his name over your clit. The movements are precise, and with each stroke, his eyes darken.

Bruh. Imagine this. 😭 No, but I just watched Prey (2022) and they speak Comanche (Uto-Aztecan language) so maybe I pictured that. (You can watch a version with Eng subs and Comanche Dub; which is really!!) Of course, that's not what this means but it was fresh on the mind and maybe the brother in that was too (so was the sister (🐐) and so was the predator). 😛

The next time Hongjoong presses his lips to yours is slightly different than all of the rest. This time, it’s slower, and much more tender than anything you’ve ever felt from him before. His lips move against yours as if telling a story - the story of your love, and how it will forever be interwoven in your lives for years to come. It tells of the hardships you’ve faced, the struggles and fights, but more than all of that, the unyielding strength and resolve you’ve both had to come this far.

Yes, I'm in the club and I'm crying. @mint-yooxgi How dare you. 😭

The fact that, despite his own raging desires - his very need for you - as he is mere seconds away from pressing into you, he still holds your comfort and wellbeing so highly, lets you know exactly how to feel in this moment here with him. You have no hesitance, nor regret for your decision right now, and time and time again, Hongjoong has proved just how worthy he is. How worthy he’s always been, especially to you.

😭😭😭😭😭😭

The merging and the memories part was written so beautifully too. It speaks to not only how much they love each other but also their trust in each other and how comfortable they are letting each other in. I would never be able to do this with anyone because it would be like that part in Black Mirror's Black Museum and someone is going to end up "Mommy loves you. Mommy wants a hug." 😂 Maybe that's the point. You have to know that this is THE one for you because you're opening yourself up to this type of vulnerability but when you love and trust someone enough, that type of vulnerability can be beautiful.

As someone who is ace and nb (and even sex repulsed some days), I still found this fic really well written and it absolutely deserves every bit of praise it has received and more. And Jackie deserves just as much praise (more. real.) from writing it! This is one chapter in many and she has how many fics, drabbles, replies now??? Like even if you look at the entirety of only fic-related things, that is still such an enormous undertaking and accomplishment. All the kudos in the world x 1000, bestie! 💜💚

{15} - Paradise Gardens - Yandere!Demonic Entities!Ateez X Reader

Yandere AU & Demon AU - Book Two to Hotel California

Genre: Mature, Horror, Angst, Fluff, Slight Humour, Smut

Pairing: Ateez X Reader (Focus on Hongjoong)

Words: 23,108

Warnings: OC get her makeup done (I based it on my own routine, please don't @ me). Smut: Biting, Marking, Blood and semi-bloodletting, Knife Kink, Oral (m. and f. receiving), fingering (f. receiving), slight orgasm control (if you squint), minor dom/sub dynamics and switch tendencies, one mention of Mistress, Begging (m. and f.), Overstimulation, Desperation, Squirting, Multiple Orgasms, Cockwarming (at the end), intense emotional intimacy. I think that's everything. This is a Yandere story, it will contain themes such as stalking, violence, obsession, possessive natures, and just general overall creepiness and swearing. You have been warned.

A/n: Finally! The moment you've all been waiting for! I really hope it lives up to everyone's expectations. This smut has been months in the making honestly, and he even surprised ME at times. I'm really happy with how it turned out, so I hope you all enjoy! As always, feedback is greatly appreciated! Enjoy~

Also, gentle reminder that I don’t do tag lists.

Mini Masterlist - Part One - Part Two - Part Three - Part Four - Part Five - Part Six - Part Seven - Part Eight - Part Nine - Part Ten - Part Eleven - Part Twelve - Part Thirteen - Part Fourteen

A soft tune drifts through the silence of your room curtesy of you. Lowly, you hum to yourself, eyes focussing in on the task at hand. Meticulously, you turn the small products over on the table, making sure that everything is in its place, perfectly set up and ready to be used. All that’s left, is to begin.

Smiling down at your handy work, you give one final glance over the various brushes, containers, and bottles of various sizes and shapes. There is not a product you’ve missed laying out, save for one. However, if all goes according to plan, you’re saving that one for the very end.

Letting out a content sigh, you straighten back to your full height. The small table you’ve set up for this occasion rests before you. The black fold out chair, reminiscent of a director’s seat, stands proudly beside it.

Without wasting another moment, you sit down.

Joongie, The call of his name is nothing short of sweet as you drop your void for the moment, but only for him.

His red string hums with movement. Yes, My Love?

Are you busy? You make sure to keep your voice even, not letting on even the slightest bit as to what you have in mind.

Never too busy for you. Comes his earnest reply, and you can hear the pleasant hum in his tone as he says this.

You cannot help the way your lips pull upwards tenderly. 

Well, when you’re free, come and see me. You say, making yourself more comfortable in your chair. I have a- 

In the blink of an eye, he’s appeared in front of you. Lightly, he wipes his hands on his jeans, as if they’re still wet after having just washed them. 

You chuckle lowly, finishing your thought out loud, “…Surprise for you.”

The first thing he notes as soon as he appears in your room is you sitting in that chair. Your one leg is crossed over the other as you lean back comfortably in your seat. That small table rests beside you, and he cannot help the small quirk of his brow as he takes note of the various makeup products placed meticulously on top of it. 

The door to your room seems closed to give the both of you some privacy. One of the doors to the balcony rests open, letting in a gentle breeze as the curtains sway. Sunlight streams in, casting a warm glow on the surrounding area, and bathing you in golden hues as you smile at him.

There you sit, in a plain shirt and loose pants, looking as beautiful as ever.

“A surprise?” He grins, stepping in closer.

“A while back, Seonghwa told me that you’re a very skilled makeup artist.” You begin, meeting his gaze. “I was hoping to spend some time with you today.”

His heart warms, and he steps in closer. Gently, he places his hands onto the arms of the chair, leaning into you slightly. Not enough to crowd you. No, never. Yet, enough so that he can stare deeply into your eyes with a loving look of his own.

“Would you like for me to do your makeup, My Love?” There’s a slight teasing quirk to the corner of his lips, but you can hear how tender his inquiry actually is.

Gently, you bring your hands up to cup his face. “I would love nothing more.”

Leaning forward, you place a brief, loving kiss to his lips. 

The smile that tugs at his features as he pulls away to look at you is nothing short of radiant. Almost immediately, he turns to the table, observing the products placed out before him carefully. Meticulously, he begins to roll up the sleeves of his button up shirt to his elbows, noting how your eyes briefly trail over his now exposed forearms. A subtle smirk tugs at his lips, and after nodding to himself, he grabs your moisturizer off of the top of the table. Opening the lid, he turns to face you once more.

“Is it okay if I touch-“

“Please.” You cut him off with a kind smile, sitting a little straighter in your chair.

Hongjoong cannot prevent the way his heart skips a beat, nothing but love swelling in his chest as he looks down at you. Carefully, he steps in closer, gathering a bit of the product on the tips of his fingers before he’s applying it smoothly to your skin.

“You don’t wear makeup often, My Love,” he hums, the caress of his touch nothing short of gentle. “What’s the occasion?”

You quirk a brow at him, your lips tugging upwards lovingly. “Can I not wish to spend time with a man I love?”

The way his touch physically trembles against you for a moment as his expression softens has your heart warming inside of your chest.

“You can spend as much, or as little, time with me as you desire, whenever you wish, My Love.” He meets your gaze, briefly shifting his hand to cup the side of your face. Softly, his thumb traces over your cheekbone. “As long as I get to call you mine.”

Turning your head, you place a tender kiss onto the palm of his hand. Your gaze is nothing but adoring as you glance at him through your lashes.

“Always, My Love.” Your reply is low, so as not to disturb the moment between the both of you. “Just as you will forever be mine.”

A content rumble escapes his chest then and there as he reluctantly pulls his hand away from you. Though, despite his best efforts, he cannot hide the way his fingers still tremble, even the slightest bit. Sharing this moment with you is like a dream come true, and the fact that you trust him enough to indulge in such an intimacy like this with him warms his heart more than you’ll ever know.

His soul has come alight, and it’s all because of you.

Capping the moisturizer, Hongjoong turns his attention back to the table of products beside you. His eyes scan over the contents carefully, eyebrows twitching slightly in recognition once he finds what he’s looking for. The liquid foundation is then plucked from the table top, and it takes no time at all for him to start applying it to your skin.

“There was also another reason I wished for you to do my makeup today,” your eyes glance to his own, noting how he seems quite focussed on the current task at hand.

He hums in response, wordlessly asking for you to continue.

“Seonghwa told me about the coronation we’ll eventually have for me when the time is right,” you admit. “I would love for you to do my makeup for when the celebration takes place.”

The slight hitch in his breath is audible as he pauses his movements for the time being. His eyes dart to your own before flitting all over your face, as if he’s memorizing every feature and committing this moment to memory for years to come. He swallows, his Adam’s apple bobbing as his eyes begin to shine with that all to familiar adoration and awe you’re so used to from him.

“You do?”

You smile gently, bringing your own hand up to cup the side of his face. “Of course, My Love. I wasn’t lying to you when I said I was ready to become Your Queen.”

Leaning forward, he nearly presses his forehead to yours before stopping himself. Instead, he opts to take your hand in his, bringing the back up to his lips to place a loving kiss onto your skin.

“My Queen,” he breathes, tongue darting out to wet his lips. “When the time comes, I would be honoured.”

The smile that stretches across your features is nothing short of brilliant, and Hongjoong swears the room gets even brighter in the light of the afternoon sun. His whole being floods with nothing but love for you, awe and wonder clear in his gaze as he returns to making sure to apply the foundation evenly over your skin.

The giggle that you let out is music to his ears.

“I know I’ve said it before,” You begin as he turns back to the table beside you in order to grab your stick of toner, “but I truly am lucky to have you, Hongjoong.”

The popping of the seal on your toner is synonymous with the way his breath catches in his throat.

“My Love, it is I who is lucky to have you.” He replies earnestly, managing to pull himself back to reality and lightly begin applying the toner to certain areas over your face.

You reach up to grasp his hand, causing him to pause in his movements for the moment. Your gaze is unfaltering as you meet his own, making sure he knows how serious the next words that fall from your lips are. 

“You are the greatest blessing I have ever received in my entire life, Hongjoong.” You breathe. “I hope you never forget that.”

His expression softens, and you can see the beginnings of tears gathering in the corners of his eyes. “My Queen.”

“We’ve already been through so much together, Hongjoong,” you squeeze his hand held in yours. “Things weren’t easy at the start, but looking back on it now…” This time, it’s your turn to swallow lightly, “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

His lips part in a silent gasp, and he swears that you can hear his heart beating within the stillness of your room.

“You have taught me what true happiness feels like.” You cup his hand in both of your own now, holding onto him tenderly as you continue staring deeply into his eyes. “I know what it’s like to be loved, and what it feels like to be in love. Hongjoong, you have saved me in more ways than I can count, and I can never thank you enough for that.”

He blinks back his tears, feeling his heart thundering away inside of his chest as he looks at you. Nothing could take this moment away from him right now. Absolutely nothing.

“You don’t have to thank me, My Love.” His voice is a little rough; strained from the sudden onslaught of emotions you’ve just given him.

“I know that’s what you think.” The soft upturn of your lips has his eyes instantly tracking the movement. “I just thought you should know what you mean to me.” You squeeze his hand once more. “What you’ve done for me.”

“Anything.” He breathes. “I would do anything for you.”

Your heart swells inside of your chest at his response.

“I know, Joongie.” Slowly, you drop your hands back to rest in your lap. “And I will always do the same for you.”

There is no hesitance in your tone, nor falter in your voice as you speak these words. A fact of which that has his head spinning. Truly, this moment, and your admission, means the world to him, and he wouldn’t trade this feeling inside of his soul for anything.

Silence, brief and tender, surrounds the both of you as you stare deeply into each other’s eyes. That is, until Hongjoong is finally clearing his throat, seemingly snapping back to the task at hand. Not before sparing a glance at your lips first, of course.

“Is there a specific style of makeup you’d like to have for your coronation?” His voice nearly catches as he says those words, the full weight of what they imply settling over his entire being.

You said yes. You really are ready and willing to become their Queen. It’s no longer simply just a fantasy of theirs, but will soon become a reality. A reality they have all been longing for since the decision was made to crown you alongside them all those long months ago. Back before you had even truly known of their existence.

You tilt your head slightly, humming lightly, “Nothing too overtly dramatic.”

He huffs out a laugh at this, finishing off with your toner only to grab a blending sponge and start lightly dabbing at your face. His touch is nothing short of gentle as he ensures the toner is blended into your skin evenly before moving on from one area to the next.

“Are you sure, My Love?” His gaze flicks to your own, a teasing quirk to the corner of his lips. “Why not simply decimate everyone who attends with your ethereal beauty?”

This time, it’s your turn to huff out a laugh.

“As tempting as that sounds, I think a softer look might be more fitting for the outfit I have in mind.” Your eyes flutter shut as you say this, simply revelling in his touch as he finishes blending your toner into your skin.

“Outfit?” The quirk of his brow goes unnoticed by you momentarily as he reaches for a new brush and your container of blush.

Blinking your eyes open, you nod, a knowing gleam to your gaze that screams nothing but devious intent.

“It’s a surprise.” You wink, grin tugging onto your lips as you finally see that look of inquiry pulling at his features.

“Then, I look forward to whatever you have in mind.” He sighs, almost wistfully as he begins to apply the lightest dusting of blush to your cheeks.

“Well, I suppose I can give you a little hint,” You hum, noticing how he attempts to not look too eager. “Light tones would work best. Specifically, a blend of white and gold.”

His brow quirks, “White and gold?”

“Let’s just say I have something else in mind that even Seonghwa doesn’t know about yet.” You grin. “Well, if everything works out how I hope it will.”

“You are always full of pleasant surprises, My Love.” Hongjoong hums, closing the container of blush and swapping it for your mineralizer in the next second.

“I’ve got to keep you all on your toes somehow,” you giggle, wiggling your brows playfully at him. “You guys can’t always be the ones surprising me, you know.”

“Try as we might, I suppose you’re right.” He chuckles along with you. “That won’t stop us from trying, though.”

You smile, allowing your eyes to flutter shut once more as he begins to apply the product to your face. “I wouldn’t want it any other way.”

What you fail to see, though, is the fond look that settles onto Hongjoong’s features in that moment. However, you do feel the way his hand trembles once more against your cheek, the brush tickling over your skin as he finishes off with your mineralizer.

Feeling him pull away from you, you blink your eyes back open.

“I’ve been doing a little research myself these past few days,” You admit lowly, suddenly avoiding his gaze as a light heat rises to your cheeks.

“Oh?” His inquiry is soft, his full attention on you for the moment.

Neither him, nor his brothers, knew you had been looking into anything. It’s not unusual for you to spend your time in the library, browsing their own collections. The fact that Jongho didn’t mention anything means he either had no idea himself, or you swore him to secrecy.

Hongjoong meets your gaze, and he notices how your own eyes flash.

“Soul merging.”

The hitch in his breath is audible, synonymous with the way his whole body stiffens lightly.

“Have you-“ he swallows thickly.

“I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, lately.” You begin, thumbs suddenly brushing over one another nervously as you hold your hands in your lap. “I remembered what you all told me about it that one day and I got curious.” A moment’s pause where you swallow the building dryness in your throat. “I wanted to learn more.”

“My Love-“

“I know I could have just asked you all about it, but I didn’t want anyone to think I was broaching the subject with them to imply I was going to merge with them over another first.” You explain. “I also don’t want any of us to feel pressured into a decision like this. I understand you’ve all talked about such a…” you search for the right word, “delicacy before with one another, but I wanted to come to a better understanding about the subject myself.”

Hongjoong hums, “We do have a tendency to take certain liberties regarding certain excitements when it comes to you.”

You share a small chuckle with him. “You could say that again.”

“May I assume you were looking into it as more than just a meek curiosity, My Love?” His voice is soft; tender, as he gently grabs your hands into his own.

“Perhaps.” The slight upturn of your lips is nothing short of sweet. “Of all the accounts I found, none were of concern to me. I had to be sure there weren’t any negative side effects, or risks for me involved in such a process. I know none of you would ever lie to me about such a thing, but I wanted to come to this specific conclusion by myself. It’s a-“ your voice catches, and you know he can feel the way your hands are currently trembling within his own grasp right now, “It’s a big decision for me, not to mention a big change.” You blink, finally lifting your gaze to his own. “For me to become like you. I want to make sure you’re all ready, as well.”

“Whatever you decide, know that we will support you.” Nothing but sincerity shines behind Hongjoong’s eyes as he says this. Gently, he squeezes your hands. “Of course, we all have our own hopes and desires, but we would never force such a decision on you. It’s like we’ve always said,” he smiles softly, “we want you to want us in the same ways we want you. This sentiment has always, and will always, apply to every aspect of our lives together.”

You squeeze his hands back. “I will let you know when I’m ready to take that step with you. With all of you.”

“Oh?” There’s a light teasing quirk to his brow as he smiles. “So, the orgy isn’t off the table.”

A snort of laughter escapes you, and you extend your leg out to tap his shin with the tip of your slipper, as if you’re pretending to kick him. “Keep dreaming, Joong Bug.”

“Hey,” he shrugs, pulling away from you slightly as the tips of his ears begin to turn red, “Never say never. Look how much fun we all had together that day in the cinema room.”

Now, it’s your turn to splutter as he winks at you. A teasing grin pulls at his lips, and you’re glad he’s diverted his attention back to the table beside you for the moment. You don’t think you’d be able to sit still if he brought that up again. Especially not today, not with what you still have planned.

Shifting slightly, you notice him looking over all of your products with a slight frown on his face. Every which way, his eyes dart, seemingly scanning over the table in search of something.

“What’s wrong?” You tilt your head in inquiry, glad for the momentary distraction.

“You didn’t put any lip products out.” He observes. “I normally do lips next.”

“Ah, I only have the one colour.” You’re quick to explain, and from the way his whole body stiffens, you can tell he’s thinking back to that first dinner all those months ago.

Looks like you’re not the only one consumed by memories right now.

“Oh,” he swallows, somewhat thickly. “Should we plan a trip to get you more, then?”

Briefly, his gaze flicks over to your face, his hands hovering over the table as he begins to pull an eyeshadow palette off of the surface, along with another brush. Not even a moment later, he flicks the palette open, scanning over the various shades found within.

“No, that’s quite alright.” You smile, though with the way his attention is off of you for the moment, he fails to see the flash of excitement that lights up your eyes. “I figured it would be better to leave it out for now. I typically only wear red for two reasons, anyways.”

He turns back to you, gathering some eyeshadow onto the tip of the brush, “Oh?”

“One, and probably the most common,” you begin, eyelids fluttering closed as he steps into you once more, “I want to feel beautiful.”

It’s almost frightening how you can feel his hand pause right before your face, that brush mere millimetres from your eyelid.

“You are beautiful, My Love.” There is no room for argument in his tone, voice firm, and always, always so sincere.

A bashful smile pulls onto your features as a slight heat rises to your cheeks, “Thank you, Joongie.”

Gently, he continues. The soft press of the brush against your eyelid is almost synonymous with the light exhale you breathe out.

Hongjoong clears his throat, retracting that brush to gather more product onto it so he can dress your opposite eye. “And the other?”

“Oh, the second reason?” Your brow quirks, despite your eyes remaining closed.

“Yes.” He repeats the process, touch just as careful as the first time.

Only, you wait to respond. You can just tell that Hongjoong is holding his breath in anticipation. Except, it isn’t until he pulls away that you finally speak. 

A sultry smirk tugs at the corner of your lips, your eyes flashing open and seemingly holding him captivated, “I want to seduce someone.”

The way his breath hitches is quite prominent, and you notice his hands begin to shake lightly once more. Then, a moment later, he seemingly composes himself, swallowing thickly as his gaze darts to your lips, “I see.”

All Hongjoong’s mind can supply him with now is that dinner all those months ago. He knows he shouldn’t, but he cannot help but to hold onto a hope that maybe, just maybe, you had worn that shade of lipstick that night for the second reason you have just divulged with him here.

It’s a long shot, but that will never stop him from dreaming. Besides, you’ve both come such a long way since then, so he’s holding on to an even bigger hope that the next time you do wear red, it will be for him.

“This applies to any time I wear something red, not just lipstick, by the way.” You mention casually.

Hongjoong nearly loses his balance, tripping over thin air as he steadies himself using the one arm of the chair you’re in.

“Joongie?” Your voice, amused and playful, reaches his ears. “You okay?”

Blinking, he refocusses his gaze on you, noticing how you’re leaning slightly forward in that chair to get a better look at his face.

Your lips rest mere millimetres from his own. He clears his throat. 

“Yeah.” Shaking his head, he focusses back in on the task at hand. “I’m good.”

You giggle, and he swears you’re doing this on purpose, just to torture him. “You sure about that?”

The way your brow quirks, somewhat deviously, has him chuckling lowly.

“It’s like I always say, My Love,” he rights himself, moving back in to start blending another shade of eyeshadow in with the first. “You hold more power over me than you’ll ever know.”

Despite your eyelids being closed, you still manage a small, knowing smile. “I think I’m beginning to have some idea.”

Gently, you feel Hongjoong cup your chin, lightly tilting your head from side to side to see if the eyeshadow he’s applied is even.

“Should I be worried?” There’s a teasing lilt to his voice, and you can practically hear the smile he wears clear in his tone.

“Depends.” You hum. “I think you may just like what I have to offer you.”

“And just what is it that you’re offering me, My Love?” He leans in, noticing how your eyes blink open to stare deeply into his own.

“You’ll see, Joongie.” You grin softly. “Like I said, I want it to be a surprise.”

A hum is all you receive in response as Hongjoong releases the gentle hold he has on your chin. Carefully, he blends one final light colour in with the other two on your eyes, allowing the silence as he works to settle over the both of you. It’s comfortable, and warm, both of you basking in the other’s presence for the time being. The calmness of the moment does not go unnoticed by either of you, and neither of you would want it any other way.

“So, multiple sources I was reading up on depicted the recipient, or recipients, receiving some traits from the other when their souls had finally merged.” You comment, and you blink your eyes open just in time to watch Hongjoong fumble that eyeshadow brush in his one hand. Luckily, it seems he catches it before it can hit the ground. “Do you think this means I’ll receive a sort of portion of your powers, or that I’ll just be able to use the same powers as you?”

The way you’re looking up at him, with wide eyes full of curiosity, sets his heart racing inside of his chest.

“I’m honestly not entirely sure how it works, My Love, but I think it’s correct to assume both.” He breathes out, tucking the palette away, along with the brush. “It’s also entirely plausible that you may gain powers entirely different than ours. When the time comes, of course.”

“Yes, yes,” you nod along with his words, almost absentmindedly. “When the time comes.”

“Given that our blood seems to have such a profound effect on you, I’m honestly very curious what the merger of our souls will do.” He adds, plucking your liquid liner from the table. “I do know that the more souls you merge with, the more powerful you will become.”

“That makes sense.” You agree with a hum. “I’m assuming there’s different levels to the types of entities you all are. I’m aware you all have different forms you can take on. Jongho explained them to me, briefly.”

It’s slight, but you do not fail to miss the way he stiffens before you. 

“He did, did he?”

Again, you hum. That same spark of curiosity shines brightly within your gaze as you meet his own, “When you were born, were you as you are now, or in your true form?”

Hongjoong pauses briefly once more before noticing your eyes flutter shut. Luckily, you miss the way he swallows thickly, blinking a few times before beginning to work on your eyeliner.

“When we are born, we appear as human infants do. As we grow, our true forms emerge, our more demonic appendages and appearances making themselves known.” He explains, his voice low and a bit strained. “Each… clan has specific markers they tend to pass on to their young. The more,” he pauses, as if searching for the correct term, “extremities that appear, the more powerful the entity. Or so it is said.”

The gentle brush of the liner over your one lid lifts, signalling his completion for the moment. Yet, before he can move on to the next, you blink your eyes open.

“Do you believe that?”

You can tell he’s a little stunned by your question, for he freezes before you. Your liquid liner rests in his hands, one holding the cap while the other holds the bottle, both held in the air.

“I believe there’s a certain truth to it.” He replies, seeming to choose his words carefully. “The more physical features one’s true form has: horns, antlers, tails, wings, scales, spikes, you name it, the more magic the entity seems to have in reserve.”

Your gaze narrows slightly, mind reeling at this information. “You all seem pretty powerful to me.”

“Some demons are born with a natural reserve of magic, others have to meticulously train themselves to store such an abundance of power if they want to make a statement.” The words almost sound bitter as they fall from his lips.

Carefully, you sit forward and on the edge of your seat. Your hands reach out to grasp his own, lowering them so you can have a better view of his face.

“My Joongie,” your voice is soft as you call his name, “You don’t need to prove yourself to me. It’s clear how hard you’ve worked to get here, and there is nothing you can do or say to chase me away at this stage. I don’t care about your lineage, or about who has the most power out of all of you. That’s never mattered to me before, and it sure as hell isn’t going to start mattering to me now. All I care about, is you.”

Tenderly, you squeeze his hands in your own.

“I love you. I am only asking to get to know more about one of the men I plan to spend the rest of my life with.” Your voice is firm, not wavering in the slightest. “I don’t know the personal struggles you’ve been through to get this far, but if it means anything in this moment, know that I am so proud of you. I am happy you chose me, of all people, to share this life with you, and I promise to stay by your side through it all. No matter what happens, you will always be My King, My Love,” you swallow lightly, a smile tugging at your lips, “My Joong Bug.”

The way his breath hitches, tears threatening to escape the corners of his eyes once more this afternoon, does not go unnoticed by you.

Your smile widens. You’re starting to understand yet another reason as to why Miyeon’s whole plight affected him so much. Seeing you hurt like that must have reminded him of his blood status, and how he had been supposedly ‘born weak’. A fact which is completely and utterly false, especially to you, and you make sure to tell him as much.

“You have come so far. We have come so far.” You say, settling back into your seat properly. “And I wouldn’t want you any other way.”

A single tear escapes his one eye, the traitorous drop spilling onto his cheek as he stares down at you with nothing but tender love and affection in his gaze. You can feel a deeper understanding of each other settle over you, too, and it warms you right to your very core.

“My Queen,” he stutters out a breath, his Adam’s apple bobbing as he swallows his emotions. “How you always know what to say to make me feel better sets my very soul alight.”

The words you had spoken to him that one day in the garden all those months ago come back to you now, and a loving smile pulls at your lips.

“I have come to realize that we’re all more alike that we realize, Hongjoong.” You voice gently. “I’m happy to know we all have each other.”

He mirrors your expression, smiling lightly as he wipes at his lingering tears with the back of his hand.

“You say how lucky you are to have me, but it is truly I who is lucky to have found you.” He says, barely above a whisper. “You mean everything to me, My Love. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you. Please, I know I always say it, but never forget that.”

“I believe you, Joongie.” The sincerity alone in your gaze says it all. Only, in the next moment, you begin shifting slightly in your seat. “Now, as much as I’m enjoying this lovely moment, may we quickly finish my eyes. I have to pee.”

“I can wait, My Love,” he chuckles, wiping his final tears away as he goes to take a step back.

“No!” A pout tugs at your lips as you whine. “I don’t want to spoil the surprise before you’ve completed your masterpiece.”

“My Love, you’ve always been a masterpiece, even without my influence.” He grins, shaking his head lovingly at you as you bounce slightly in your seat. “But alas, whatever My Queen desires, she shall have.”

You giggle, smiling wide as you look up at him. “Love you, Joongie.”

“And I love you, My Queen.” Comes his immediate reply.

Stepping back into you, Hongjoong is quick to finish lining the opposite eye. He takes a moment to observe his work again, making sure the product is applied evenly over your lids before switching your liquid liner out for your mascara. Softly, he instructs you to either look up or down as he applies the product to your upper and lower lashes. Not even two minutes later, and after inspecting your entire look once more, he smiles to himself, motioning to indicate that he’s finally finished doing your makeup.

“Yay!” You hop up from your seat, placing a quick kiss to his cheek. “Thank you, My Love!”

Hongjoong chuckles at your enthusiasm. “I simply hope you like it.”

“I know I’ll love it.” You smile, eyes crinkling slightly as you scurry passed him and to your bathroom. “Don’t go anywhere. I want to praise you when I get back.”

The playfully stern look you send him before you enter the bathroom has him grinning to himself. Lightly, he shakes his head, turning back around to at least attempt to start cleaning up that little table of products before you get back. It’s the least he can do, and besides, he should probably clean the brushes anyways. Clean tools are always preferable when starting fresh the next time they’re used.

Hongjoong pays no mind to the slight shuffling he can hear coming from behind him as he wipes off his hands. He knows that it’s just you in the bathroom, moving around. Your little gasp of awe he can hear only causes his grin to widen, knowing you must have finally taken a look at your reflection in the mirror. He just can’t wait to hear what you think.

Holding that eyeshadow brush in his one hand once more, Hongjoong hears the bathroom door finally swing open behind him.

A moment of silence.

“Oh, Captain,” your voice, sultry and sweet, drawls out from the open doorway.

The sight that greets Hongjoong as soon as he turns to face you sends him tumbling to his knees. He cannot contain the darkness that swirls deep within his eyes as that brush clatters to the floor, his heart skipping a pleasant beat inside of his chest.

There you stand, leaning against the edge of the doorframe, looking like his own personal divine sin. Your opposite arm rests lazily against your side, and Hongjoong finally notes your nails, which have been painted a bright red to match the outfit you currently wear.

A short, red silk robe hangs over your figure, barely covering your mid-thighs. The string is tied loosely around your waist, the fabric artfully caressing your form. White peonies are littered across the fabric, hues of blue and yellow dotting the petals in what appear to be smaller floral designs. Your left shoulder is exposed, red lace peeking out from beneath the silk. It’s as if the material is meticulously draped over your skin to provide but a taste of the delicacy you seem to be hiding for him beneath such a thin piece of fabric. Though, that’s not what draws in Hongjoong’s attention the most.

On your lips, the most sinful shade of red is painted over the most seductive of smiles the male has ever seen in his entire life.

There you stand, sin incarnate, and all for him.

“My Love…” He breathes out, voice barely above a whisper.

His eyes never leave your figure as you slowly begin stalking towards him. The look in your eyes is dark enough to mirror his own, and he cannot help the way his tongue darts out to wet his lips as he continues to stare up at you.

“I told you I had a surprise for you,” you chuckle, leaning slightly forward as you come to rest before him. Gently, you bring a finger beneath his chin, tilting his head up to meet your seductive gaze. “Do you like what you see, Captain?”

Hongjoong’s chest heaves, and he can barely suppress the growl that rumbles out from deep within. “My Love, you are the most captivating beauty that I have ever had the pleasure to behold.”

The upturn of your lips shifts from sinful to soft, your eyes shining with nothing but love as you continue to stare down at him.

“I am yours, Hongjoong,” You say, cupping his face gently in the palms of your hands. “There’s a reason I planned so meticulously for this moment with you, and you alone.”

“There is no honour greater to me than spending time with you, My Queen.” He exhales, eyes flitting around every inch of your face and committing this all to memory for years to come. “No feeling greater than your love for me.”

“Truly, the honour is all mine.” Your thumbs trace tenderly over his cheeks. “I am prepared to offer myself to you in every way this evening, My King.”

His breath hitches, and his lips part. His hands, which he has been resting on his knees this whole time, continue to tremble desperately as he attempts to ground himself. This is everything he’s ever wanted, and so much more. Finally, he is going to get the chance to show you what you mean to him. What you have always and truly meant to him.

“However,” this catches his attention, and he waits patiently for you to continue, “there is one thing I want to request of you first.”

“Anything,” he breathes, searching your gaze for any hint of what it is you could want from him. 

Always, he is ready and willing to provide at a moment’s notice.

You inhale deeply, as if to steady your own racing heart as you stare deeply into his eyes.

“I want to see you. All of you.” Gently, you kneel before him, lowering yourself to his level. “Please, Hongjoong,” you swallow softly, “I wish to see your true form.”

You physically feel him freeze beneath your touch, but your stare is unwavering. 

Within your eyes, Hongjoong cannot see even a hint of hesitation, or fear. There is no uncertainty he can decipher, or regret you seem to hold from those words. Simply, there is that same spark of curiosity, and now, love. An undeniable fact that only serves to solidify his decision.

Your painted lips can only part in awe as you see Hongjoong slowly begin to shift before your very eyes. His ears sharpen into fine points, eyes hallowing and swirling with that all too familiar black hue you’ve become so use to from him. Thick, canine-like fangs protrude from his mouth, lips stretching wide over the sharp points almost naturally as his skin grows taunt and pale. Claws extend from the tips of his fingers, and you notice how he seems to be digging them harshly into his knees, the faintest bit of blood seeping into the material of his jeans. Even his limbs appear slightly elongated as he sits there before you, averting his gaze to the side.

Softly, you guide his head back upwards, eyes searching his own.

Hongjoong holds his breath.

“You are so unbelievably beautiful, Hongjoong.” You lean forward, resting your forehead on his own. “Thank you, for sharing this part of yourself with me.”

Slowly, he begins to shift back into his human form, his lips parting slightly as he attempts to control himself for the moment. Of course, Hongjoong did not fail to miss the sudden spike of arousal that permeated your scent just now as he revealed his true form to you. Really, it is you who makes all of his dreams come true.

“I love you, Hongjoong,” your voice manages to pull him back to the beautiful reality before him. “I’m ready now.”

He blinks, a little caught off guard by your words. Though, as his eyes trail over your form once more, watching as you shift to loosen that tie holding such a flimsy material together, he cannot help the way his brow quirks.

A low groan escapes him as the intricate lace ensemble you wear is now fully revealed to him. It wraps delicately around your figure, showcasing every dip and curve he admires so much. In his favourite colour, too.

“Do you understand what I’m telling you, My King?” Your voice is soft as you kneel before him, your one hand coming to rest on the side of your own thigh.

Hongjoong’s eyes nearly bulge right out of his head as he sees you pull out that jewelled dagger from beneath the red laced garter around your upper thigh. The blade had been artfully hidden beneath the robe, but now that you’ve fully opened the silk, he can see that it’s been held there carefully this whole time.

“Not only do I fully offer myself to you in every way tonight,” you begin, meeting his gaze once more as your one hand still gingerly cups the side of his face, “but I have every intention for us to become whole.”

His lips part, and a soft gasp escapes him, “you mean…?”

“Yes, My Love,” you smile. “Tonight, I wish for our souls to finally merge as one.”

The hitch in his breath is audible, and you cannot help but fixate on the way his one hand trembles as he brings it up to cover your own. Nothing but the deepest, most sincere form of love you have ever experienced in your life can be seen in his gaze, and you swear that you can feel his heartbeat pounding right alongside your own.

“Are you-“ he swallows thickly. “Are you sure?”

“More sure of anything I’ve ever been in my entire life.” You tell him earnestly. “I want it to be you, Hongjoong. I need it to be you.”

In the blink of an eye, he has you laying on your bed. Carefully, he hovers above you, his chest still heaving with every breath he takes as he stares deeply into your eyes.

“My Queen,” his voice is full of emotion, threatening to choke him out at any second as he leans into you. Gently, he kisses you, pouring every single emotion he’s currently feeling into the movement of his lips on your own. Pulling away, he rests his forehead tenderly against your own. “I would be honoured.”

The smile that stretches onto your features is nothing short of brilliant, and you can feel him shiver beneath your touch as you trail your one hand up the back of his shirt. Softly, teasingly, you allow your nails to trace over his spine, pulling him in closer.

“Everything I have to offer is yours tonight, Hongjoong.” You say, shifting slightly so you can nuzzle his nose with your own affectionately. “My blood, my body, my mind, my soul.” You meet his gaze. “I want you to have it all.”

Leaning in, Hongjoong wastes no time in kissing you passionately, successfully stealing your breath away as he presses closer into you. A pleasant hum escapes him as he feels you pull him in closer, the hand you have resting beneath his shirt digging into his back desperately.

“You have all of me, My Love.” He whispers against your lips. “You always have, and you always will.”

Gently, you nip at his bottom lip, eliciting a low growl from deep within his throat.

You smirk.

“Now, do you want to cut me out of this,” you lift that dagger held in your one hand, holding it with the pommel towards him in offering, “or shall I?”

The way his eyes flash black, an animalistic snarl tearing from his throat, has you clenching pleasantly around nothing. Your whole body thrums with excitement as he takes that dagger from your hand, gaze trailing shamelessly over every inch of you that he can see.

“A shame to remove such delicate lace from such a perfect body,” he hums, twirling that blade in his one hand as he sits back onto his knees. His eyes are dark as he stares down at you beneath him, a smirk pulling at his features. “I have half the mind to make you ruin these panties of yours before I tear them off of you.”

Once more, you clench pleasantly around nothing. “Why don’t you?”

“Believe me, My Love, I plan on taking my time with you tonight.” That familiar darkness swirls within his gaze as he takes in your figure beneath him on the bed. “Let me admire you just a bit longer like this. Then, I swear to you I will fulfill every promise I’ve ever made of ravishing you until the sun comes up the next day.”

This time, it’s your turn for your breath to hitch. Not even a moment later, and without giving it much though, your hands reach up to fist his shirt, pulling him back down into you for another kiss.

The movement of your lips on his is desperate, fingers fumbling over the buttons on his shirt as you shift your hips up against him. The way he groans into your mouth has you smiling into the kiss, and before you know it, he’s slipped that dagger back into your one hand.

Without wasting anymore time, you tear through the rest of his buttons using that blade. Once the last one has been cut from the material, he pulls away to tear the remaining fabric off of his torso, tossing it somewhere in your room.

Shamelessly, your eyes rake over his body, licking your lips as you do so. There is nothing but pure love and lust in your gaze as your free hand comes up to trace over his chest, eyes catching on two very specific details.

Your expression softens, “You’re still wearing it.”

Briefly, his own gaze darts downwards, as if to glance the golden ring hanging from a thick, silver chain around his neck. He smiles, eyes flitting back to meet your own, a tender look swimming within.

“I haven’t taken it off.” He admits lowly, his one hand coming up to clutch the One Ring lovingly. “It’s… precious to me.”

Your eyebrow quirks, amusement tugging at your features.

“My Love gave it to me.” He says, matter of factly, a knowing twitch of his lips upwards.

Lifting you free hand, you cup his cheek tenderly once more. 

Almost instantly, Hongjoong brings a hand up to rest over your own, turning his face to place a gentle kiss onto your open palm. He purposefully allows his lips to linger, revelling in the feeling of your skin beneath his own. For too long has he dreamt about this moment, and now that it is here - you laying beneath him and pressing against him in every way he’s only ever wished for - he finds that words escape him. One thing he does know, is that he will savour this moment here with you for all eternity.

Again, your gaze darts to his chest, but instead of catching on the ring gleaming from his neck, you focus in on another monumental detail. 

There, a thin, white line sits a few inches below his left collarbone.

The scar you gave him from that knife rests proudly on his upper chest. In fact, it appears to be the only part of his skin that is marred by any sort of blemish for the moment, other than a few moles you can see dotted here and there.

Carefully, you shift your hand, sliding your fingers down the side of his neck in order to rest your touch on his shoulder. Your thumb traces over the faint scar, nothing but adoration shining within your gaze.

“I told you I still had the scar,” he chuckles lowly, that same fond look reflected in his own eyes.

Darting your gaze to his own, your thumb finally freezes over his skin. Nothing but pure love blooms in your heart as you think of how far the both of you have come since you gave him this scar. To think that you’d be here right now, in such a position, is almost unreal. Yet, looking back on it now, and knowing what he means to you - what they all mean to you - you wouldn’t change it for the world.

Softly, your lips pull upwards in a smile. Leaning froward, you press them against his chest, directly over that scar. The fact that there is now a faint stain of red marring his skin has you chuckling fondly, revelling in the way his chest rumbles in content as he sees you looking at the mark you’ve just given him.

“You know I’ll always wear this proudly, My Love,” he keeps his voice low, gazing down at you as if you’ve hung all of the stars in the night sky.

To him, you have.

“I would say to give me a matching one, but I don’t think you’d ever agree to stabbing me.” You say, and you notice how his one eyebrow twitches. “Remind me to discuss the idea of tattoos with you all sometime.”

The grin that stretches across his face is radiant, if not devious. “You wish to have matching tattoos with us, My Love?”

“It’s something else I’ve been thinking about lately,” you admit, your one hand back to trailing over his chest. Lightly, your nails scratch at his skin and he hums in content.

“You know, My Love,” his grin turns teasing, “Tattoos are quite permanent. They can last forever.”

“Oh?” The playful pull of your lips upwards matches his grin in every way. “It’s a good thing, then, that I don’t plan on going anywhere any time soon.”

He laughs, his eyes crinkling in joy, “We’d chase you to the ends of the earth.”

“I’m aware,” you hum, letting that blade settle beside you onto the mattress as you fully pull him back into you. “Let’s start with this first. Okay, Joongie?”

A content rumble escapes him once more. “As you wish, My Queen.”

His lips are back on your own without another moment’s hesitation. Gently, he grinds his hips into you, letting you feel just how hard you’ve already made him. The way you gasp lightly into his mouth as you feel all of him pressing against your core makes his smirk.

“You don’t know how long I’ve fantasized about this.” He moans, nipping at your bottom lip. “About you.”

“Oh?”You quirk a brow, heart fluttering inside of your chest. “Just what have you fantasized about, Captain?”

His eyes flash, gaze briefly roaming over your entire body once more as he licks his lips.

“I can’t count the amount of times I’ve fantasized about you sucking me off.” 

The admission knocks the wind right out of you. 

“I’ve thought about you worshipping my cock: the way your lips would feel wrapped around me, and fuck- the feeling of your tongue licking over every inch like I’m the best damn thing you’ve ever tasted in your entire life.” He pants out, voice but a low drawl. His chest heaves, rising and falling dramatically as he watches your tongue dart out to wet your lips. 

“And of course, once you were finally sated with pleasing me, I would absolutely fucking devour you. Fuck- ever since that day you allowed us to indulge in you, the way your scent fucking hypnotized me, I’ve been dying for a taste.” His tongue darts out to wet his lips this time, as if to emphasize his point. His eyes darken significantly. “That little gift of yours could only satisfy me for so long; I’m afraid that your scent has long since worn off of them, given the amount of times I’ve tried to suckle whatever last drops of your sweet nectar that I could that clung to the material.”

Your breath hitches at his confession. The mental image alone of Hongjoong desperate and aching for you, your panties caught between his teeth as he strokes his throbbing cock to completion to the mere thought of you has you immediately clenching around nothing. You can practically feel yourself soaking through the material of the panties you currently wear, and the fact that he’s already mentioned wanting to make you ruin them only adds to the immense pleasure that currently floods your veins from his words alone.

You let out a low moan, eyes nearly rolling as he presses himself firmer against you.

“Fuck- I’ve always thought about you.” He leans in, nipping at the shell of your ear. His lips trace down the side of your neck, sending a pleasant shiver down your spine as his voice deepens, “The way you would taste; how your thighs would tremble around my head as your juices dripped down my chin. I’ve always fantasized about how sweet my name would sound falling from your lips, pulling me in closer as I brought you to ecstasy over, and over, and over again just from my tongue alone.” 

He’s panting at this point, but he doesn’t care. All he cares about is letting you know exactly what you do to him, just as he’s always so desperately craved.

“I want to feel you falling apart because of me. I want you to flood my every sense with you as you continuously drip down my face because you cannot help how wet I make you. I want to make you tremble. I want for you to experience a bliss unlike anything you’ve ever felt in your entire life, and then I want to drown you in my love, in pleasure, so that the only thing you can think of, the only thing that you can feel is me.” His eyes flash as he stares deeply into your own, beginning to grind himself into you in time with his words. 

“I want to have you shaking as I make you come over,” he presses deeper into you, “and over,” another shift of his hips over your own, “and over again for me and me alone. I want to hear you sigh my name, and then I want to make you scream it until your voice is so raw from the pleasure I am providing you that all you can do is whimper and moan.”

Desperately, your hands claw at his back, nails biting into his shoulders as a small whine escapes your throat. Already, you can feel yourself trembling beneath him, close to tipping over the edge from the sheer want coursing through your veins. The same want - need - that you know he feels in this very moment, too.

“Selfishly, I want to please you until I am satisfied. Until you’re either begging me to stop, or you pass out from the feeling of it all.” He breathes out, the slightest of smirks pulling at the corner of his lips. “I want to feel your nails digging into my back as I make the sweetest love to you, letting you feel my devotion to you in every movement that I offer you. I want to feel you pressing against me in every possible way, and even then I fear that it will never be enough to satiate my need, my desire for you.” 

A gasp escapes you, your eyes fluttering shut as you absolutely revel in his confession. Your heart feels as if it is about to burst from your chest, whole body heating until you cannot tell where his desire ends and your own begins.

“I want to love you, until the stars fall from the sky, and the entire world goes up in flames.” A moment’s pause so he can stare deeply into your eyes as you blink them open to meet his gaze. “I will love you. Until the end of time.”

“Hongjoong,” his name is no more than a whisper on your lips, eyes staring deeply into his own.

You hold him tighter, your one hand coming up to cup the side of his face.

“Please, My Love,” he reaches up and grasps your hand in his, placing your palm directly over his racing heart. “Feel how my heart beats for you. How it pulses and aches for you and only you. With everything I am, I am yours. My every breath, my every thought,” his hand tightens over your own, and you can feel the way his heart skips a beat inside of his chest, “my very soul, belongs to you.”

Subconsciously, your thighs tighten around him, your fingers digging into his chest as you stare up at him with nothing but tender love and affection in your gaze. The need to be closer to him rushes through your mind, and you hardly register how your vision blurs through the appearance of happy tears. 

Blinking them away quickly, you smile up at him, lips parting slightly as you attempt to catch your breath.

“You are the greatest love I have even known, Hongjoong.” You say softly, your other hand coming to cup his face as he still holds the one tenderly against his racing heart. “Everything and anything you want from me, I will give. All of your desires, I will fulfill. I am yours as much as you are mine, and nothing will ever change that.”

His own breath hitches as he looks down at you so fondly, “My Love-“

Quickly, you shift your hand on his chest so that you now press his own to yours. Even you can feel your heart thundering away beneath your skin against the tips of your fingers, and you make sure to squeeze his hand just as tenderly as he did your own.

“Know that my heart beats just as fiercely for you as yours does for me.” You keep your voice low, feeling as he begins to tremble above you. “There is no power in this world that could tear me away from you, nor change what you mean to me. You have made me believe in love again, and nothing will ever change that. Just as you give your all to me, I give everything I am and more to you. You are My Everything, Hongjoong. My Soul lives on for you.”

The small sob that escapes him surprises you, and not even a moment later, you feel something wet land on your chest. However, before he gives you time to think, his lips are on your own, kissing you breathless as he clings to your very form.

“I am so deeply in love with you, My Queen,” he mutters against your lips through kisses. “I love you more than life itself.”

“I am in love with you, My King,” you breathe out, clinging to him desperately as your arms hold him flush against you. “And I always will be.”

Hongjoong buries his face into the side of your neck, his hands caressing your sides tenderly. His fingers dance along your skin, toying with the intricate straps wrapping around your body that he can reach. His heart positively sings for you inside of his chest, whole body overwhelmed by his emotions. This feeling that consumes him currently is unlike any other he’s felt in his entire life, and he knows it’s only just the beginning.

After all, the two of you are only getting started.

“You drive me crazy, you know that?” He nips at the skin of your neck, soothing over the bite with his lips shortly after. “I can never get enough of you.” His tongue darts out to lave over your pulse, and he loves how your whole body arches into his touch. “Of your love.”

“It’s endless, Joongie,” you reply, words but a whimper on your lips as you tilt your head to the side so he has better access. “I will never stop loving you.”

You can feel the way he smiles against the skin of your neck, “Took the words right out of my mouth, My Queen.”

Gently, the fingers of your one hand begin to thread through the hair on the back of his neck.

“I want you to act on your desires tonight, Joongie,” you breathe out, nipping at the shell of his ear. “And I will finally act on mine.”

The way his whole body shudders in your hold does not go unnoticed by you. You smirk.

He bites down on the side of your neck a little harsher this time, eliciting the sweetest of whines from you.

“As you wish, My Queen.”

Slowly, meticulously, Hongjoong grinds himself into you once more. His lips swallow the gasp you let out as he presses his own to yours, hands holding you tightly as he moves above you. He wants you to feel every inch of his love tonight, and he doesn’t plan on making any exceptions.

“You’re so fucking beautiful, did you know that?” Again, he nips at your bottom lip, a pleased rumble escaping him along with his words.

“All for you,” you hum, cupping his face in your hands tenderly. “My Handsome King.”

A low, pleased growl echoes around the room, his one hand coming up to cup your breast over the lace material of your bra. Slowly, he begins to squeeze your flesh, moaning as he feels the warmth of your skin against his palm. Teasingly, he traces his thumb over your nipple through the fabric, loving how you arch desperately into his touch.

“Joongie, please,” A small whimper escapes your lips as your hips shift beneath his. “Touch me.”

The corner of his lips quirk, “I am touching you, My Queen.”

As if to emphasize his point, he gives your breast another appreciative squeeze, his teeth scraping against your pulse in tandem.

A whine slips passed your lips, chest stuttering as you attempt to catch your breath. Then, something within your eyes flash, a sort of devious intent shining within.

“If you don’t want to feel how wet you’ve made me,” your voice is low, rumbling out as you slip a hand between your two bodies, “I will.”

There is no mistaking the animalistic snarl that tears from his throat as his one hand comes down to halt all movements of your own. His touch is nothing short of gentle, contrasting the darkness swirling within his eyes at this very moment as he stares deeply into your gaze.

“Still wish to tease me, My Love?” You grin devilishly, licking your lips as your gaze darts down to where he pins your wrist to your stomach.

“Who’s teasing who now, My Love?” His voice is low, nothing more than guttural in tone as his eyes flash black. “I thought I told you I wish to take my time with you tonight.”

“You did.” Your expression softens the slightest bit, a warmth lighting up behind your eyes. “And I said I wanted us to fulfill our deepest desires, as well.”

You feel his cock twitch against your clothed core as he grins above you. “Fuck- I love you.”

The words have barely finished escaping him when his lips are pressed against your own. The hand holding your wrist finally lets go. Only, before you can so much as react, you find your breath hitching, a pleasant thrum travelling throughout your body. The feeling radiates out from your very core, spreading down towards the very tips of your toes.

The dagger, which you had left resting beside you on the mattress, is suddenly at your throat. A wild, desperate look shines within Hongjoong’s eyes as he holds the blade mere millimetres from your skin.

“Beg for me, My Queen.”

The soft gasp has barely finished falling from your parted lips when your hands tighten around him again for the nth time this evening. A fact of which has his own hips involuntarily shifting forward, cock twitching against you once more.

“Please, Joongie,” your voice portrays every bit of desperation you feel for him in this moment. “Touch me.” You swallow lightly. “I need you to touch me.”

Slowly, the corner of his lips quirk upwards, and that hand he still has tenderly cupping your breast begins to sneak down your body.

“Feel how wet you make me, My Love.” You breathe out. “Please, I’m tired of only fantasizing about what your fingers feel like on me.”

Hongjoong’s own breath hitches, those very fingers of his halting all movement as the tips teasingly trail along the top of your panties. He can feel his heartbeat ringing in his ear, threatening to burst right out of his very chest at any second.

For too long has he fantasized about such words falling from your lips, and now that they have, his head spins. Hongjoong has to hold himself there, desperately telling himself to calm down, lest he want to come before you can even touch him, or even better, he can even touch you. Such a simple phrase means everything to him, and the way you begin squirming beneath his hold says it all.

“You’ve thought about me.” Not a question, but a statement of fact.

“How can I not think about you?” Your response is airy, hips lifting off the bed as you seek the warmth of his hand that he holds just above your panty line. “You’re not the only one with desires, Captain.”

“Tell me.” Hongjoong growls lowly, his fingers slowly dipping beneath the band of your panties.

A small whimper escapes you, and you attempt to raise your hips to meet his touch. Only, this time, he’s expecting you to do so, pinning your hips in place with his own as he presses that dagger firmer into your neck.

You swallow, excitement thrumming through your veins.

“You have such pretty hands, My Love,” you whisper, gaze briefly darting downwards as if to glance them. “I can’t count the amount of nights I’ve spent in your arms, thinking about your hands all over me. I’ve always dreamt of your fingers digging into my flesh, pulling me in closer to you as we lose ourselves in each other. I want to feel your nails piercing my skin because you can no longer control yourself, sinking your fangs into my neck and drinking your fill of me as we come together.”

A low snarl tears passed his lips as Hongjoong finally shifts his hand down to cup you over your bare pussy. He can already feel the dampness on the back of his skin from where you’ve soaked through your panties, and as he finally dips a finger through your folds, he nearly loses himself right then and there.

“Fuck- My Queen,” his whole body shakes as he moans lowly. “You’re dripping.”

“All for you, My King,” your eyes flutter as you feel him repeat his movements from only a moment before. “All because of you. Do you see how wet you make me? What your words alone can do? How much I’ve been craving your touch?”

Again, he growls, the tips of his fingers coming up to lightly begin circling over your clit. The way he can feel your pussy practically pulsating beneath his touch has him smirking into the skin of your neck.

Another low moan escapes you, your whole body shuddering as he increases the pressure slightly over your clit. Already, your legs begin to tremble, high pitched whimpers falling from your lips as you toss your head back onto the pillows.

Only, he immediately halts all movement over you, drawing a desperate whine from your throat. Yet, he never lifts his fingers from your dripping cunt, making sure to keep the tips pressed firmly against that sensitive little clit of yours.

“I didn’t tell you to stop.” His voice is low, nothing more than an animalistic drawl in your ear. He circles your clit once. Slowly. “Keep going. I want to hear it all.”

Your lips part in a breathless moan, and you are more than happy to oblige.

“I’ve-“ you inhale sharply, feeling him adding the slightest bit more pressure as he resumes circling that sensitive little nub of yours, “I’ve always enjoyed the idea of being marked.” Your chest heaves as you feel him nip at your neck. “Of being claimed.”

He hums, his lips placing wet, open mouthed kisses along your racing pulse. All the while, his fingers never halt their movements over your clit for even a second.

“The mere thought of you-“ your eyes squeeze shut as you attempt to hold back that impending wave of your orgasm, toes curling prematurely. “Oh god-“

He smirks against your neck, adding even more pressure over your clit as his fingers circle that swollen bundle of nerves skillfully.

“Go on, My Queen,” he nips once more at the shell of your ear. “Tell me.”

“Hongjoong-“ The gasp of his name is a mere warning on your lips.

“Tell me, and then let me feel you drench my fingers in your love,” his voice is but a mere growl on his lips, hips slowly grinding against your side in time with the movements of his fingers.

A loud moan escapes you, your brow furrowing as your whole body tenses beneath his touch.

“I don’t think I’ve ever come harder by myself than to the thought of you claiming me as yours.” Your words are rushed, voiced hushed as your hands come up to desperately cling onto the sides of his arms.

The second that admission escapes your lips, your eyes are rolling into the back of your head. Your back arches off of the bed, his name falling in desperate whines from your lips as your orgasm crashes into you. You can feel your release dripping out of you and onto his fingers, your whole body trembling beneath his touch.

A pleased snarl escapes him, both from hearing your admission and watching you fall apart immediately afterwards. The fact that he can feel you soaking his fingers as he teasingly drags them through your folds, circling over your entrance lethargically has pleased growls building continuously in his throat with every exhale he makes.

Only now, Hongjoong wants more.

That dagger at your throat gets tossed beside you once more on the bed in favour of his hand cupping your face. Instantly, his lips are back on yours, swallowing all of your sounds as he gives you no time to recover from your first orgasm of the evening. Dipping two fingers through your folds, he pushes them inside you, moaning lowly as he feels your whole body shudder beneath him.

“Another,” the feral command is growled against the skin of your lips as his teeth sink lightly into the tender flesh. “Give me another.”

His pace is ruthless, fingers massaging your inner walls as his thumb finds your clit once more. His movements are precise, albeit desperate as he continues to grind his hips against your side, his cock twitching in tandem with the way your warmth squeezes his digits so delicately.

You can no longer form words. The intensity of your first orgasm has barely subsided as he begins to coax another from you. All you can do is moan, lips moving against his own as he swallows all of your sounds greedily, fingers curling within you as he begs for you to fall apart for him again.

“So fucking beautiful, My Queen,” he whispers against your mouth. “Such an ethereal sight, watching you fall apart for me.” He hums pleasantly, his chest rumbling in content. “Because of me.”

Again, your whole body begins trembling in his hold, and all you can manage are loud moans as his name falls from your lips in desperate whimpers.

“Give it to me, My Love.” Lightly, he nips at your neck, sucking gently on your skin. The softness of his lips completely contrasts the eager movements of his fingers, his thumb pressing firmly against your clit as he adds more pressure to each of his digits within your cunt. “I want to hear you scream.”

As if your body is set to obey his every command, your second orgasm crashes into you, much more intensely than the first. Your whole body shakes, a loud cry of his name escaping your lips as you arch into him. Your chest presses against his, legs twitching as you feel your walls spasming around his fingers still buried deep inside of you.

“Yes,” his voice is but a low, pleased snarl as he helps you through your release. “That’s it, My Love. Just like that.”

A breathless whine of his name escapes you, attempting to catch your breath as your chest heaves. Luckily, his fingers have finally stilled within you, and the next kiss he places upon your lips is tender. Even if he still growls with every exhale.

Softly, he begins trailing kisses down your jaw and to your neck, sucking lightly over certain areas that have your breath stuttering. Slowly, he removes his fingers, feeling as you shudder beneath him once more.

“You’re doing so well for me, My Love,” his voice is nothing short of tender as he cups your face with his opposite hand. Gently, his thumb strokes over your cheek. “My Beautiful Queen.”

Your eyes flutter shut, basking in the gentle caress of his touch as he kisses you. The movement of his tongue over your own is languid, and he hums lowly into your mouth as you finally release your hold on his arms.

The fact that he can still feel the dull press of your nails against his skin, even after you pull your hands away, makes him smile.

Pulling away, he rests his forehead against your own.

“I just-“ You lick your lips, chest still heaving as you rest beneath him. “I just need a moment.”

A pleased rumble shakes his chest, “Of course, My Love.”

“You truly are insatiable, aren’t you?” Your voice holds nothing but amusement as your eyes blink open, the faintest of smirks tugging at the corner of your lips.

“When it comes to you,” he pecks your lips softly. “Always.”

You hum contently, your one hand gently stroking over his spine as he rests above you. Nothing but love can be seen in your gaze as you stare deeply into his eyes, smiling tenderly up at him as he looks upon you in the exact same way that you’re gazing at him.

In fact, he’s so enraptured by your gaze that he fails to see your other hand sneaking up the mattress beside you.

Finally, you seem to catch your breath.

In the blink of an eye, that dagger is now at Hongjoong’s throat. The tip rests mere millimetres beneath his chin, and you can feel the pleased growl that reverberates through his chest against your own as his gaze darkens.

“My turn.” You smirk, wrapping your one leg around his hips and flipping your position instantly.

The way he gazes up at you, his eyes flashing black as his hands settle lovingly onto your waist, says it all.

Still, you press that blade to his throat.

“You certainly know how to please a woman.” You grin, licking your lips. A movement of which, you notice, he follows.

Subtly, his grip tightens on your hips. “I live to please you.”

Your expression softens, a tender smile pulling at your features as you gaze down upon him.

“Well, now I wish to please you.” That knife gets trailed gently down his torso, the tip of the blade caressing his skin and causing goosebumps to raise in its wake. The shudder that wracks his body as you trace the tip over his scar does not go unnoticed by you. “How about it, My King? Shall I reward you for always taking such good care of me?”

Hongjoong’s breathing deepens, eyes trailing over every inch of your figure as you move to slip that silk robe from your shoulders. His lips part, a choked moan escaping him as he feels you beginning to grind yourself down into him.

Your brow quirks, amusement tugging at the corner of your lips.

“Did making me come for you please you that much, My King?” Your voice is but a sultry drawl as you begin to shift down his body.

Once more, his eyes flash black. “You have no idea what you do to me, My Queen, nor how long I’ve desired only to please you.”

Your breath catches in your throat, and you can feel your heart skip a beat in your chest. Warmth blooms beneath your skin, for you know he only speaks the truth, especially given the way his dark eyes drink you in.

Sitting back on your knees, you settle between Hongjoong’s legs. A small pride blooms in your chest as you see the prominent wet patch on his jeans, his semi-hard cock already straining once more against the material.

Hongjoong observes your every movement carefully. Every twitch of your brow, every subtle upturn of your lips, he sees. The way you hungrily trail your own gaze over his body has his shivering in contentment, anticipation clawing at his chest as you hand that dagger back to him.

Gently, he takes the blade from your hand, silently asking you with his eyes what you wish to do with such an item.

“Stick it in my headboard for all I care,” you grin, hands finding purchase on his thighs and rubbing over the clothed flesh tenderly. “I’m about to have my hands full.”

The way his hips buck upwards, a low groan escaping him is completely involuntary. His mind runs wild with the implications behind your words, and he hardly registers slamming that dagger into the wood above his head.

You giggle, and the sound is pure music to Hongjoong’s ears. “Someone’s eager.”

“My Love-“

“I know, Joongie,” you grin, glancing up at him through your lashes. “You’re not the only one who’s fantasized about feeling my tongue on you.”

This time, it’s his turn for his eyes to roll to the back of his head. His back arches, cock twitching beneath his jeans as your words settle over him. Knowing you’ve desired the same things as he has only makes his head spin, his need for you growing tenfold as he feels your fingers trailing up his thighs.

A blink, and you’re leaning over him, hands splayed over his chest as you kiss him deeply. His hands slip down to your ass, and you giggle into his mouth as you feel him squeeze you appreciatively.

Slowly, you begin to trail your own lips down his neck, biting and sucking marks into his skin along the way. His hands never once leave you, holding onto you for as long as he can as you shift over him, kissing and nipping your way down his bare torso. Not before laving your mouth over that scar once more, though. A fact which has his whole body shuddering, hips bucking upwards to seek any sort of friction that he can.

“So handsome, Joongie,” You hum, teeth grazing the skin just above waistline of his jeans. “You are everything I could have ever asked for, and so much more.”

A shameless moan escapes him, his fingers reaching for you desperately. Only, you chuckle, moving just out of his reach.

“Patience, My Love,” your own hands grasp his waist, squeezing gently. “It’s like you said before,” you grin, “we’ve only just begun.”

The moment your fingers start to undo his belt, Hongjoong’s lips part. His eyes never once leave your figure, drinking in the sight of you, still in that sinful red ensemble, ready and willing to please him. Truly, this is everything he could have ever wanted, and so much more. The fact that you’ve already given so much to him today, and that you plan to give him more, makes his whole body come alight, his soul singing beneath his skin.

The slow, meticulous movement of your hand undoing his zipper only serves to tease him further. Your touch is like electricity, making his skin come alight in the best ways wherever you choose to caress his body. The way you lick your lips eagerly as you hook your fingers beneath both the waistline of his pants and his underwear has his cock twitching in tandem, straining against the material until such a time where you remove them from him.

A low, pleased moan slips passed your lips as you watch his cock spring free of its confines. The tip is already an angry red, and you swear that you can practically see it throbbing from where it sits, pressing firmly against the skin of his stomach.

You toss his remaining clothes somewhere in your room, mouth practically salivating as your eyes stare down at his cock. The way you lick your lips makes him twitch, and you cannot help the grin that tugs onto your features as you realize this.

“Such a pretty cock, Joongie,” you slowly lower yourself to him, letting him feel the warmth of your breath on the skin of his thigh as you place a tender kiss to his flesh. “I haven’t even touched you yet and you’re already this hard.”

“All for you, My Queen,” he replies breathlessly. “You should see how hard I get just from you merely looking at me.”

Your heart positively flutters inside of your chest, a warmth blooming within.

Softly, your hands trail up his thighs once more, nails scratching lightly over his skin.

He shudders.

A smile rests on your face as you begin placing tender kisses along the inside of his one thigh. Your hand comes up to settle over his hip, thumb gently stroking over his skin as you hear him moan.

“My Queen,” his voice is desperate; airy.

Using your opposite hand, you push his thighs further apart, settling between them comfortably. Your head rests just above his aching cock, and with every exhale, he seems to twitch against his stomach. Out of the corner of your eyes, you notice how his hands fist the sheets at his sides. A fact which makes you smirk.

“I had also planned to worship you tonight, My King.” You tell him lowly, hearing how he whimpers your name so beautifully in response. “Let me make all of your fantasies come to life.”

A loud moan escapes Hongjoong’s lips as he feels you drag your tongue along the underside of his cock, slowly. You repeat the action a few times, drawing different patterns against him as you trace your tongue over a prominent vein. The fact that his breathing picks up, his head getting tossed back against the pillows only makes you smirk, loving the effect you’re already having on him.

Slowly, you bring that hand you had resting on his hip to his cock, holding him firmly in your grip. You pump him a few times, thumb swiping over his leaking slit as you spare a glance up at him through your lashes.

The sight that greets you has your stomach twisting in pleasure.

Never have you seen Hongjoong look so dishevelled. His hair is a mess, sticking out in odd ends as some damp strands cling to his forehead. His chest continues to heave, lips parted as low growls slip through with every breath he takes. Already, his eyes have bled black, his gaze fixated on you.

No matter what, he refuses to tear his attention away from the glorious sight that is you. Too many nights have been spent fantasizing about what you’d look like between his legs, and now that he finally gets to observe such a breathtaking scene, he swears to engrave it into his memories for all eternity. 

The feeling of your hand holding onto him so delicately, occasionally gifting him a tender stroke has low groans escaping him. The wet heat of your tongue dances across his skin, his cock throbbing with every desperate beat of his heart as you continuously lick him from base to tip, just like he’s always dreamed.

The second you shift to lave your mouth over the underside of his cock, Hongjoong’s whole body twitches. He can feel himself internally battling with the feeling of both loving and hating the slow, languid pace you’re taking with him right now. Yet, it’s embarrassing to him how quickly he feels like he’s going to come.

He wants you to make him scream. He wants you to make him beg for you, to make him so desperate for your touch that he falls apart just from a single glance. Yet, he also wants you to be rough with him, to please him until he has nothing left, his come dripping over his spent cock as you force another orgasm from him. For you, and only you.

He wants you to make him cry from the pleasure of it all, but he has a feeling that, somehow, deep down, you most certainly will.

The tender brush he feels of your mind against his own has another shudder caressing his spine. The fact that you immediately open your void to him to let your thoughts shamelessly pour over him as another low, desperate moan of your name falling passed his lips.

So hard for me, Joongie, Your voice echoes shamelessly through his head. Fuck- I love the feeling of you against my tongue.

As if to emphasize your point, another long lick is given to him from base to tip. Only this time, the moment you reach the head, you wrap your lips around him, suckling him gently into your mouth.

The moan that escapes Hongjoong is nothing short of needy, his hips bucking upwards in pursuit of the warmth of your mouth. Except, you’re faster, releasing him with a slight chuckle as you pull away from him.

He whines, the loss of contact making his thighs twitch.

“I control the pace, My Love,” you tell him, voice firm as your dark eyes meet his own. “Touch me all you want, but I determine when you come.”

“Yes, Mistress,” 

The whine he lets out goes straight to your core, lips parting in a silent moan. Only, you feel his whole body stiffen beneath you.

Glancing up reveals him staring down at you worriedly, his bottom lip caught between his teeth. You’ve never discussed the use of certain names within the confines of the bedroom, and he’s not sure how you may react. However, at the way you’re staring at him, eyes dark with nothing but love and lust for him, he has a feeling you’re rather enjoying yourself right now.

You quirk a brow, the corner of your lips twitching upwards, “Good Boy.”

The moan that tumbles from his mouth is shameless, and his cock twitches once more. He can feel your hand tighten slightly around him, pumping him a few times as you begin placing open mouthed kisses along the underside of his cock.

“Oh, fuck- My Queen,” he hisses, hips shifting involuntarily beneath your hold. “Your mouth-“ he pants, eyes squeezing shut as a high-pitched whine escapes him. “Your tongue.”

A pleasant hum is all the response he gets as you suckle one of his balls into your mouth. The second Hongjoong feels your tongue caressing his skin, his hips jerk, more precome leaking from his tip.

“Feels so-“ a choked moan escapes him as you hum around him, “Fuck- you feel amazing.”

A soft giggle slips passed your lips as you release him, wasting no time to take his hard cock into the warmth of your mouth. Gently, you suckle at his tip, swirling your tongue around him as you lower yourself further onto him. The pleased hums you continuously let out only serve to reverberate sinfully against his shaft, making his thighs shake as his one hand comes up to cup the back of your head.

“Don’t stop,” he whimpers, gaze desperate and pleading as he meets your own. “My Queen-“ he gasps, eyes nearly rolling to the back of his head. “Don’t fucking stop.”

The whole time you move over him, you make sure to watch his every expression. You can feel yourself practically beginning to drip down your thigh through your ruined panties, the sounds he’s providing for you going straight to your core.

A pride builds in your chest as you work your tongue over his hard cock. You’ve never seen Hongjoong look this disheveled, his normally composed appearance giving way to a man absolutely lost within the pleasure you’re providing for him now. It makes you wonder if this is how he always looks when he thinks of you, if you’ve always been able to make him lose his composure just from a single touch.

From the way he’s moaning for you now, your name falling like a sinful mantra meant only for your ears, you know it to be true.

Simply knowing that you have this profound effect on him makes your whole body come alight in awe. The fact that he can allow himself to be this vulnerable with you, and you with him, means the world to you. To have him, an all powerful King at your complete mercy with his cock down your throat, has you smiling against him. To know that he trusts you, that he has always trusted you is a feeling unlike any other. A feeling which you gladly share, for there is no one else you could ever want - no one else you could ever need - when he is right here, ready and willing to provide you with everything and anything you could ever possibly desire.

Such a pretty cock, My King, you repeat your words from earlier, your mouth full of him as your tongue continues to swirl around his shaft. I could worship it all night long.

A choked moan slipped passed his lips, his hips bucking upwards slightly. The hand he has holding onto the back of your head tightens its grip, and his chest heaves with every breath he takes.

“Please, My Queen,” he whines lowly, thighs tensing as he attempts to hold himself back.

Coming so soon, My King? Your voice feigns concern, and it only causes him to twitch within your mouth again. More intense than just a mere fantasy, isn’t it?

“Better.” He moans, head being tossed back upon your pillows. “Better than any fantasy.”

You hum around him once more, your free hand coming up to start caressing his balls.

A loud curse and cry of your name are the only warnings you get before you feel him twitch, coming down your throat. His hand on the back of your head holds you there, and you feel the faintest of pricks digging into your skin, but not enough to draw blood.

You smile around his cock, helping him through his orgasm and letting him lightly thrust into your mouth as he comes down. Your tongue works to gather any of his release that might have escaped you, finally moving off of him with a small pop as you giggle lowly.

You lick your lips, absolutely revelling in the low growls that rumble out of his chest with every exhale that he makes. His hand finally loosens its hold on your head, bringing it around to cup the side of your face. Gently, his thumb begins stroking over your cheek as he attempts to catch his breath.

“Could you get anymore perfect?” His voice rumbles out, lips parting as he watches you smile up at him from between his legs.

Again, you giggle, wiping at the corner of your mouth with your thumb almost teasingly.

In the blink of an eye, Hongjoong has you pinned beneath him again. His kiss is desperate, tongue stroking over your own as he moans deeply into your mouth. His hands trace down your sides, and you faintly register the feeling of something sharp trailing in their wake.

A shiver caresses your spine as you realize he’s teasing you with his claws. The moment his hands settle on your hips, you feel those familiar little pricks digging into your skin and you moan shamelessly into his mouth.

The briefest of flashes of a thought within your mind has him smirking against your lips.

“I promise that I’ll ravish you in my true form another night, My Love.” His words are but a whisper against your lips, but you still cannot prevent the way you shudder for a second time in his arms. “Right now, I wish to take my time loving you.”

You smile up at him, meeting his tender gaze for the nth time this night, “I’m yours, Hongjoong.”

“As I am yours, My Love.” He returns your soft expression. “Now, as tempted as I am to tear this stunning ensemble from your body, I’d rather not ruin such a precious memory. Would you?”

“I couldn’t agree more, My King.” You reply gently.

Carefully, Hongjoong helps you sit up. His hands slip around your back, skillfully undoing the clasp of your bra and watching as you slide the material from your shoulders. His gaze is nothing but loving as he trails it all over your now exposed torso, hands reaching out to caress your breasts as he helps you lay back down on the mattress.

“Like I said before,” he breathes out, eyes darting from your figure to your own as nothing but awe shines within his. “Perfect.”

He emphasizes his words with a tender squeeze of his hands, massaging your breasts as his thumbs flick over your pert nipples. Slowly, he kisses back down your neck, nipping along the swells of your breasts once he reaches your chest. He continues to cup them so eagerly in his hands, humming lowly against you as he takes his time pressing his lips to your skin.

The second his mouth encases one of your nipples, sucking gently, you moan. The sound is but a sweet melody, one which Hongjoong wishes to continue to elicit from you for as long as he can this evening.

Flicking his tongue over your nipple, he’s quick to release it and move to the other. Giving the opposite the same attention, his low, pleased moans only serve to echo your own, his cock twitching excitedly against you once more.

Slowly, he kisses his way down your stomach, his hands taking their time to caress your sides. His movements are precise, making sure you can feel how much he admires you in his every touch. He hums, laving his tongue over your skin and smiling into each press of his lips against you every time your chest stutters. Wet, open mouthed kisses are placed, almost like a halo, around your stomach, his hands squeezing and massaging your flesh appreciatively.

“There is not a single part of you that I am not in love with,” the admission is but a low drawl against your skin, his dark eyes peeking up at you as he settles himself further between your legs.

“Joongie,” the sigh of his name is nothing short of tender.

“Every part of you is absolutely sinful, My Love. You have enraptured me with your very being, and I will kill anyone who says otherwise.” A low growl reverberates in his chest.

Your breath hitches, heart fluttering inside of your chest as you stare down at him.

Again, Hongjoong meets your gaze.

“You got to taste me this evening,” his voice is but a mere rumble as he hooks his fingers beneath the waistline of your ruined panties. “Now, it’s my turn to taste you.”

In one swift movement, he’s helping you strip yourself of your panties, pushing your thighs open as he settles between them once more. A guttural groan escapes him as his eyes zero in on your pussy, seeing you clench around nothing from his gaze alone. The fact that he can see your essence glinting in the light of the setting sun has a pleased growl rumbling in his chest, your scent completely surrounding him and making his head spin.

You are absolutely intoxicating. The sight of your bare pussy, which he has desperately longed to worship himself, dripping and practically begging for him to touch, has his cock absolutely throbbing against your sheets. For too long has he simply fantasized about this moment, and now that it’s here, he’s going to savour it for all eternity.

“Fuck- look at you,” he pants, licking his lips as his eyes flash black. “Already a mess; just begging for my tongue to have a taste.”

A low moan escapes you, and from the smirk that pulls at his features, you can tell he can physically see you clench around nothing.

He looks up at you, meeting your gaze as his eyes shine. His fingers sink firmly into the skin of your thighs, holding your legs apart as he watches you carefully. Every breath that escapes him boarders on a low growl, his lips parting as he breathes you in.

Softly, your one hand comes up to comb through his hair. Your fingers gently brush the strands away from his eyes, and you smile as you feel him lean into your touch.

His eyes flutter shut.

“You are my greatest desire,” he breathes out, fingers tightening ever so slightly over your thighs. “I will never stop wanting you, My Love. My heart beats for you, and you alone.”

Your heart swells with warmth, spreading outward from your chest and to the very tips of your fingers. A feeling you are becoming all too used to this evening, and you wouldn’t want it any other way.

Briefly, his eyes flit back to your weeping entrance, moaning lowly. “How I’ve been longing for a taste…”

Hongjoong goes to lean into you, except, he doesn’t get very far.

The hand you have resting in his hair halts his every movement, holding him mere inches away from your pussy as his chest rumbles in discontent. Only, before he can protest, his eyes catch on the way your free hand comes down to part your folds using two of your fingers, putting yourself on full display for him.

You meet his gaze.

“Beg for me, My King.”

Hongjoong’s lips part, his heart stuttering pleasantly in his chest. His nails dig into the skin of your thighs, eyes flashing black as he stares, transfixed, at the way your cunt weeps for him, and him alone.

“My Queen,” the words are hardly audible over the sound of his own racing heart, “Please- I need to taste you. You don’t know how long I’ve been dying for a taste.”

The corner of your lips twitch upwards, “How long, Joongie?”

“I have been craving you for what feels like an eternity, My Love,” his eyes glance up to meet your own. “Please, won’t you let me devour you? Won’t you let me make you come on my tongue? All I want to do is worship this gorgeous cunt of yours. So, please, let me make you feel good.”

Your breath catches, stomach twisting pleasantly from his words.

His gaze lowers back to your quivering pussy, tongue darting out to wet his lips.

“Let me feel you dripping down my chin,” he’s panting again, but he doesn’t care. “Let me bring you to the highest of pleasures as you drown me in your cunt. I need you, My Love. You know I won’t ever be able to get enough of you…”

He trails off, and the small whimper he hears you let out sends a pleasant tingle shooting down his spine. Before he can say another word, though, you’re pulling him into you, pressing his face right into your weeping cunt.

The snarl that reverberates against you is nothing short of feral, the vibrations sending pleasant shivers up your spine as Hongjoong wastes no time at all. There’s no need to. Not when the greatest temptation of his entire life is spread out before him, whining desperately for him.

Who is he to deny His Queen?

The first taste of you on his tongue has him moaning shamelessly into you, his hands parting your thighs even further as his nails bite into your skin. Slowly, languidly, he suckles at your sweet nectar, the sloppy, wet sounds of his actions filling the space around you and making your head spin.

Hongjoong is shameless as he laves his entire mouth over your dripping cunt, humming contently as he feels you squirming beneath him. His lips have never felt a finer warmth pressing against him, his tongue delving between your folds in chase of the high you offer him with every drop. There isn’t a chance in all of the realms that he will ever get enough of this: your sounds, your taste, your cunt. The way you cling to him, thighs threatening to close around his head were he not holding them spread for himself is simply icing on the cake.

He’s desperate, and he’s not afraid to let it show.

Finest cunt I’ve ever had the honour to devour, My Love, his voice echoes lowly through your head, making you moan. Knowing you’re this wet because of me only makes me want to make you wetter.

“Hongjoong,” Tossing your head back onto the pillows, you begin to shift your hips against his mouth. 

Again, the wave of your impending orgasm approaches fast, the past events of the evening having worked you up so beautifully and kept you on the brink of pleasure this whole time. That, and the added fact that it’s him that’s currently devouring you like you’re the best damn thing he’s ever had the pleasure to taste in his entire life is making your head spin. You know it’s only a matter of seconds before you’re falling apart for him once more.

Your whole body twitches as his nose brushes against that sensitive little nub of yours.

Should I finally touch that aching clit of yours, My Love? Suckle it between my lips and make you come for me? He hums, and you don’t even have to look at him to know that he’s watching your every movement carefully.

“Yes, yes! Fuck- please!” You whimper, both hands now finding purchase in his hair as you tug him in closer to you.

The pleased rumble he lets out only adds to the immense amount of pleasure you’re currently feeling. Another whine tumbles shamelessly from your mouth as you feel him dip his tongue between your folds, soon dragging it upwards.

Your whole body twitches, a loud moan falling from your lips the moment he flicks his tongue over your clit. His movements are quick, yet precise, watching you carefully as he suckles that little bundle of nerves between his lips. The eager way his tongue swirls over that swollen bud immediately afterwards has your head spinning, voice close to breaking as your moans rise in pitch.

I know you’re close, My Love. The smile he wears can be felt against your cunt, and it makes your heart flutter. I don’t want you to hold back.

“Never,” you shake your head, too lost in the moment to realize what you’re saying as the word spills from you like a mantra.

Give it to me, His voice is but a growl inside of your mind, his grip tightening on your thighs. Let me feel you drowning me in your love. Let me get lost in this gorgeous pussy that could only belong to My Queen.

A pleasant feeling begins building within your abdomen, intense and tight. You’ve only recalled ever feeling it once before, but you’re too far gone to care. The way he’s making you feel is like having your whole body floating in ecstasy, head spinning as you attempt to ground yourself.

“It’s yours. I’m yours,” you mutter, eyes fluttering shut as you succumb to the pleasure he’s providing you.

You fail to see the way his brow quirks slightly, nothing but a feral devotion and love shining within his eyes as he snarls against you.

“Mine.” The word is muffled into your folds, the touch of his one hand leaving your thigh only to immediately slide two fingers into your dripping cunt. “All mine.”

The moment he curls those two fingers within you, pressing right up against the most sensitive part of your walls, you scream.

His name is no more than a high pitched wail, your entire body trembling as your back arches off of the bed. Your orgasm crashes into you, vision going white as you feel yourself let go, your release flooding out of you and onto his hand.

Snarls, deep and feral, greet your ears. Still, your vision is fuzzy, and you attempt to blink your eyes back into focus as your chest continues to heave with every breath you make. You can feel a certain wetness coating your thighs, dripping down your skin only to be caught by something warm tracing the trails back upwards along your flesh.

Finding enough strength within, you tilt your head to peer down at Hongjoong still resting between your legs. He’s taken the liberty to remove his fingers from you, his hand back on your thigh and spreading you open for him. Your feet are no longer pressed against the mattress as he holds your thighs, pushing your legs towards your chest so he has unrestricted access to your dripping cunt.

Though his eyes remain fixated on your entrance, walls still spasming from the aftereffects of your orgasm, he takes his time to trace his tongue along your inner thighs. Every last drop of your release, he cleans, tracing over the paths of your sweet nectar that shine enticingly against your skin. Pleased rumbles continue to shake his chest, of which gleams with that same essence, that silver chain with the One Ring dangling almost hypnotically over his heart.

Sensually, he begins laving his mouth over your thighs, creeping closer and closer to your weeping cunt with every kiss.

“I didn’t-“ his chest heaves, “know-” a kiss to the innermost part of your one thigh, “you could do that.”

Lightly, you swallow, your throat already feeling raw and overused.

“It’s still a shock for me, too.” Your voice is a bit rough, managing to speak through your own heavy breaths.

A pleasant hum greets your ears, and your whole body shudders as you feel him lave his mouth sensually over your entrance once more. Gently, he begins tracing his tongue over your swollen lips, licking every last drop of release from your pussy that you have to offer him.

I’m tempted to see if I can make you squirt again, My Love. He moans against you, the thought alone driving him insane.

Your one leg twitches in response, feeling just how wet you’ve made your sheets as they press into your ass.

As much as I want to please you until you pass out from pleasure tonight, he begins, languidly licking from your entrance all the way up to your clit. Gently, he circles that sensitive little nub with the tip of his tongue, hearing your breath stutter pleasantly as another choked moan escapes you. I want to slow things down for a bit. Let you feel every aspect of my devotion to you with every flick of my tongue.

“Joongie,” A soft gasp is all you can offer him as he completely slows his pace, sensually moving his lips over your cunt as if he were kissing your mouth, just like he did earlier.

That’s it, My Love, his own eyes flutter closed as he wraps his lips around your clit. Carefully, he suckles on that little bundle of nerves, shaking his head lightly from side to side. I want to hear how good I’m making you feel.

“So good, My Love,” you breathe out, lips parting as your chest rises and falls in uneven pants. You hum, your nails scratching at his scalp faintly as you continue to hold him in your grip. “Incredible.”

Hongjoong’s pleased rumble reverberates against your core. Using his tongue, he parts your folds once more, letting the warm muscle explore every inch of you that he can reach. The way you feel around him, let alone the way you continue to positively drip down his face, makes his whole body come alive. Not to mention the way you taste.

Such a pretty pussy, My Love, his voice continues to echo shamelessly through your head as he flicks at your clit. And all mine to devour.

A moan tumbles from your lips as you clench around his tongue, “Yours.”

Hongjoong shifts impossibly closer, pressing himself deeper into you.

Is this really my pretty pussy to devour? His already dark gaze flashes black, emphasizing his words with a pointed suck to your clit. Are you this wet because of me?

“Yes,” the admission falls like a chant from your lips, nothing but pure pleasure coursing through your veins. “All yours.” You pant. “All for you.”

A pleased chuckle reverberates against your core, making you moan.

Mine. One of his hands shift, pulling one of your own free in order to intertwine your fingers with his. Carefully, he rests your joined hands on your stomach, gazing upon you with nothing but love in his gaze. You’re mine, My Queen. And I am yours.

“My King.” A soft gasp causes your breath to hitch in your throat. “My Joongie.”

That’s right, My Queen, Slowly, Hongjoong begins to grind himself down onto your mattress in time with the movements of his tongue over your dripping cunt. I am yours. I will forever only be yours.

A smile tugs at the corners of your lips as you moan lowly.

He squeezes your hand.

Now, let me claim this pretty pussy just like My Queen has always desired me to. A pleased rumble shakes his chest as he focusses his attention back on your clit for the moment.

Your eyes nearly roll to the back of your head from his words alone, clinging onto his hand for dear life as the fingers of your opposite hand tighten once more in his hair. All you can offer him are whimpers and whines of his name, accompanied by low moans as you completely succumb to the pleasure that he is providing to you.

Every movement of his tongue over your clit is precise. His eyes never leave your face for a single second as he traces specific patterns over you. Not just any patterns, special ones he has long since desired to draw over this precious cunt of yours. Each stroke begins directly over your clit before he’s dragging his tongue outwards, as if tracing a very specific design over you.

He is.

In the ancient tongue, Hongjoong delicately traces his name over your clit. The movements are precise, and with each stroke, his eyes darken.

Each flick of his tongue brings you closer and closer to the edge once more, and you absolutely revel in the slow, languid pace he’s set this time around. The gradual increase of pleasure from such a slow build up seems to only intensify every feeling, your chest heaving as your eyes flutter shut. Pleasure threatens to drown you at any moment, and you find yourself eagerly jumping into it without a second of hesitation.

You know that Hongjoong will be there each and every time you fall to catch you. So, you let yourself go.

His name falls like a mantra from your lips in desperate whines, combined with breathless whimpers of your nickname for him. The fact that you call him your Joongie has his cock twitching once more against the mattress as he watches you fall apart for him. All because of him.

That’s it, My Love, he hums, suckling your clit between his lips and helping to ride you through your high. Such beauty. He moans against you. I can never get enough of you falling apart on my tongue.

Your lips part in a silent gasp, gazing down upon him with such a fond look in your eyes, that Hongjoong is sure to drown in it. Not even a moment later, he feels you attempting to pull him back up to you, and he is more than happy to oblige.

Without wasting another second, Hongjoong is hovering over you once more, pressing himself flush against your body. A moan escapes him as he kisses you just as eagerly as you kiss him, holding you to him in every way that he’s only ever dreamed about. The fact that you wrap a leg around his side to pull him in even closer makes his head spin.

Slowly, your one hand creeps up his chest, and he pulls the slightest bit away out of curiosity. His throat bobs as he swallows, noticing how you hook that necklace he wears through your hand, your one finger seemingly slipping into the golden band hanging from the silver chain.

Gently, you caress the side of his face, the cool of the metal contrasting the heat from his skin.

“I love you, Joongie,” you meet his gaze, your own flitting between his dark eyes as you stare lovingly into them. “So much.”

“You are everything I could have ever asked for, and so much more, My Queen.” He breathes, holding himself above you as nothing but love for you pours into his every movement.

“The feeling is very much mutual, Joongie.” You smile, thumb caressing his cheek tenderly. A breath, and your gaze darkens. “Now, become one with me, My King.”

Leaning forward, Hongjoong rests his forehead against your own, a content rumble building within his chest. “It would be my honour, My Queen.”

The next time Hongjoong presses his lips to yours is slightly different than all of the rest. This time, it’s slower, and much more tender than anything you’ve ever felt from him before. His lips move against yours as if telling a story - the story of your love, and how it will forever be interwoven in your lives for years to come. It tells of the hardships you’ve faced, the struggles and fights, but more than all of that, the unyielding strength and resolve you’ve both had to come this far.

He loves you. Desperately. Unwaveringly. Unconditionally.

Forevermore.

Nothing, absolutely nothing will ever take this moment - you, him, your love, your very souls - away from each other.

Gently, Hongjoong shifts his hips, bringing a hand down to align himself with your entrance. Teasingly, he drags the tip of his cock through your folds, bumping against your clit a few times and making you moan. Only, he pauses, the head of his cock just pressing against your entrance as he looks up to meet your gaze once more.

“Are you-“ he swallows thickly, “Are you sure?”

You take this time to study his features, eyes flitting everywhere over his face. You note the slight furrow of his brows, the clenching of his jaw as he holds himself above you. His jaw ticks as his chest heaves, nothing but tender love and affection shining within his gaze as he looks upon you like you are his entire world.

To him, you are.

The fact that, despite his own raging desires - his very need for you - as he is mere seconds away from pressing into you, he still holds your comfort and wellbeing so highly, lets you know exactly how to feel in this moment here with him. You have no hesitance, nor regret for your decision right now, and time and time again, Hongjoong has proved just how worthy he is. How worthy he’s always been, especially to you.

“More sure of anything than I’ve ever been in my entire life, Hongjoong.” You reply, reaching up to cup his face tenderly in both of your hands. “I want this.” You lean up to peck his lips. “I want you.”

Nothing but love shines within his gaze as he fully presses himself against you, slowly beginning to push into you as he claims your lips with his own. The languid movement of his tongue on yours is synonymous with the gentle push of his hips, moaning into your mouth as he sinks into you inch by slow inch.

Involuntarily, you clench around him, walls fluttering against his cock as you feel him fully sheath himself within you. The way he fits, almost perfectly, inside of you makes you moan, your hands shifting to his back to pull him into you closer.

Parting from your lips, Hongjoong groans. There’s a slightly deeper furrow to his brow as he focusses on remaining still inside of you until you give him the okay to move. For too long has he dreamt of this moment, and now that it’s finally here, nothing could have prepared him for the absolute euphoria that is your tight, wet heat surrounding all of him.

“Fuck- Joongie,” your breathless voice reaches his ears, and he focusses on placing small, tender kisses against the skin of your neck to ground himself. “You feel so good inside me.”

His cock twitches, feeling your walls clench around him almost rhythmically.

“My Love-” he manages to get out through pants. “Fuck- My Love-”

Gently, your one hand comes up to begin threading your fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck. You hold him to you, purposely clenching around him as the nails of your opposite hand dig into his back.

“I was made for you, My Queen,” his nose trails gently up along your racing pulse, his lips finding purchase on the skin right below your ear. “Made to hold you, to cherish you, to worship you.” He nips at the shell of your ear, voice rumbling out in a low growl. “Made to love you.”

He can hear the hitch in your breath, and it only makes him smile.

“Please, Joongie,” Your grip tightens around him, a small whimper falling from you lips.

The slight shift of your hips against his own is everything he craves, his heart racing alongside your own. It’s all he needs to know that you’re ready, simply waiting for him to fulfill his every promise, and become one together like you both so strongly desire.

Pulling away to stare deeply into your eyes, Hongjoong slowly begins grinding his hips into yours. The gasp you let out as he pulls almost all the way out of you, only to roll his hips back into your own has another small smile pulling at his features.

Gently, he reaches up to take your hand in his. Ever so carefully, he turns his head, never once faltering in the slow, sensual grind of his hips against your own with every soft thrust into you. With the utmost of grace, he places a kiss onto the back of your palm, his eyes fluttering shut as he absolutely revels in this moment, right here, right now, with you.

“There is nothing I wouldn’t do for you, My Love,” he breathes, intertwining your fingers together as he rests your hands on the mattress beside your head. “You are mine, and you always will be. Just as I will always be yours.”

A tender moan slips passed your lips, feeling as if your heart is close to bursting from your chest with how much it swells with nothing but love for him inside of you.

“You are worth every second I spent without you in my life, just to be able to get the chance to love you now.” The admission is but a whisper on his lips, but still, he never once stops the movement of his hips.

“I-“ A low moan escapes you, your hand on his back pulling him in closer as you nearly lose yourself to the feeling of him sensually grinding himself into your. You wet your lips. “I’m sorry for making you wait so long.”

Immediately, he’s shaking his head as he stills inside of you.

“I would wait forever if it meant getting to be with you like this, even just once.” There is only the deepest form of both love and sincerity shining within Hongjoong’s eyes as he meets your gaze. “Forever, and a day.”

Your breath hitches, heart swelling once more inside of your chest. Your expression softens and you bring the hand you have resting on his back around to tenderly cup the side of his face.

“How lucky we are, then, to have finally found each other.”

He smiles softly, resting his forehead against your own. “I couldn’t have said it better myself, My Queen.”

You mirror his expression, the tips of your fingers beginning to tingle where you cling to him.

“Now, make love to me, My King,” Your voice is but a whisper as you stare into his loving eyes. “Let us finally become one.”

His heart flutters, gaze darkening as he shifts himself above you, “With pleasure.” 

Rolling his hips sensually into yours, Hongjoong absolutely adores how you immediately sigh so blissfully in response. Your eyes flutter shut as his free hand comes down to grasp your thigh, pulling your leg up and around his waist as he slowly thrusts into you. Every grind of his hips into yours has you sighing, lips parting as soft breaths escape you.

Each movement of his is slow. Precise. He needs you to feel his love, needs you to understand that his every breath, his every thought, all of him, is for you. Always and forever, he is yours. He lives for you, and only you. Right now, he intends to make you drown in him, just as he’s always been consumed by you.

“You’re taking me so well, My Love,” He moans lowly, teeth grazing the side of your neck.

A pleased hum escapes you, “Made for you.”

Softly, he growls, his hips snapping the slightest bit harder into your own from your words.

“Filling me so well, My King,” You clench around him in time with your words, and his hips falter only slightly. “I can never get enough of you.”

His lips are on your own without another thought, increasing his pace as he thrusts into you. Still, his movements are sensual, but there’s a slight urgency to the way he buries his cock within your warm walls now, loving how he can hear every whimper and whine you give him.

“Fuck- I love you, My Queen,” he emphasizes his words with a sharp thrust into you, his fingers harshly digging into the skin of your thigh as if to pull you even closer. “I love everything about you,” his voice is strained, low and guttural. 

“I love your body,” another sharp thrust is given, his voice but a growl on his lips. 

“I love your mind,” his forehead presses against your own as he snaps his hips into yours. 

“Your very soul is perfect.” A pleased rumble reverberates in his chest as his eyes flash black. “Perfect for me.”

“Hongjoong,” you pull him flush against you, your head getting tossed back onto the pillows as your eyes flutter shut. You clench around him.  “Hongjoong, please-“

At another particularly sharp thrust, your breath catches in your throat. Your eyes roll.

“Again,” his voice growls out. “Say it again.”

Immediately, you comply, moaning out his name as your one hand desperately begins to claw at his back.

The shiver you feel caress his spine makes you smile.

A deep, guttural groan escapes him, burying his face into the side of your neck as he increases the pace of his thrusts. What truly makes him snarl is the feeling of you wrapping your legs around his waist, pulling him ever closer into you.

You can do nothing but whimper beneath him now, the nails of your one hand raking down his back as you squeeze his with your other. Each thrust he offers you is angled precisely, the tip of his cock rubbing against that special spot inside of you as you can do nothing but lose yourself to the pleasure he is providing you.

“My Beautiful Queen,” he snarls, teeth nipping at your tender flesh before he’s soothing over the bites with his tongue. “Fuck- your pussy is mine. Mine to please. Mine to love. Mine to fill until you’re satisfied.”

A moan escapes you, and your legs tighten around his waist. Lightly, you nip at his ear, your walls squeezing him so sinfully. “Your cock is mine, My King.”

A feral snarl, deeper than any you’ve ever heard him make before, tears from his throat.

“All for you, My Queen.” His hips snap desperately into your own, the wet sounds of skin on skin only serving to fuel his every movement further. “I was made to serve you, to please you in every way. My cock is yours, let me use it to fill you with my endless love.”

An endless stream of ‘yes’ falls from your lips, eyes nearly rolling as you feel the familiar prick of his claws against your ass as he angles you to meet his every thrust.

“Do you feel how wet I am for you, My Love?” You manage to choke out, voice low and gravelly. “Feel how my love drips endlessly for you.”

Hongjoong’s hips stutter, his cock throbbing deep within you as his brow furrows. Your words nearly have his own eyes rolling, but he forces himself to hold off for now. He needs to see you come again for him. He needs to be the sole reason you’re screaming his name once more.

Slowly, the gentlest of touches begins to caress your mind. It’s warm, and soft, not unlike the feeling of sunlight on a beautiful summer’s day. It originates from the very tip of his red string at the edge of your void, beginning to seep outwards through your mind as you feel a gentle tug pulling at your whole being. The feeling is like being opened and surrounded at the same time, but it’s pleasant none the less, and you begin to feel an intense pressure building within your very core.

He has to time it perfectly.

“I need you-“

“You have me, Joongie,” you whisper, tilting your head slightly to the side to give him better access to your neck. “You will always have me, My Hongjoong.”

A earth-shattering roar tears from his throat.

Reaching his hand up, Hongjoong doesn’t even realize he’s grabbed onto the handle of your dagger. Harshly, he drags the blade through the wood of your headboard, eyes the deepest black they’ve ever been as a complete and utter feeling of euphoria floods his veins. His face buries itself in the side of your neck, fangs piecing your flesh right at the juncture where it meets your shoulder.

Instantly, your blood is flooding his senses, but that’s not all.

Memories begin appearing in his mind as he feels his soul and yours finally becoming one, dancing within the very depths of your beings and finally merging as he has always intended. 

Memories that are not his own.

Through your eyes, he sees you turning around to face that makeshift front desk they set up all those long months ago. He feels the genuine surprise you felt when you first laid your eyes upon him, but also the spark of attraction that announced itself upon your first meeting.

He sees flashes of memories here and there of the very first days you had known each other. He feels the uncertainty, the caution, but soon, those originally negative emotions give rise to more gentle, pleasant ones. A fact of which that makes his heart swell inside of his chest.

The garden appears before his very eyes, and he sees himself gazing upon you with such fondness in his eyes as you thank him for creating such a space for you. He hears you telling him that maybe, just maybe, loving him won’t be such a bad thing after all. The way he can feel your heart warming in that moment says it all.

The time at the mall spent with all of them is the next memory to flood his senses, and he is privy to how good you felt after you condemned that bastard all those months ago. He observes the various subtle glances you gave him that day, all of which he thought were too good to be true. Yet, there he sits, directly across from you at that table, and sure enough, you keep glancing towards him. That fact that your curiosity is now running unfiltered through his mind, combined with the fact that you’ve always wanted to know more about him makes his head spin.

So many of these scenes, and more, play out in his mind as he feels you completely consuming him in the best of ways. All he knows in this moment is you, and he wouldn’t want it any other way.

The garden makes a reappearance, and he sees himself holding your hand tenderly in his own. His arm is wrapped around you as you both sit on that bench together, gazing upon the fountain. His breath hitches as both your thoughts and feeling wash over him, whole body stilling as he hears your voice echo throughout his head.

“Yeah,” you sigh to yourself, settling further against his side. “I think I might be falling in love with him.”

Hongjoong doesn’t exactly know the precise moment you fell in love with him, but if he thinks about it, he can’t exactly pinpoint the moment he knew he was in love with you, either. All he does know, is that every single emotion you’ve ever felt towards him, both the good and the bad, flood his very being right now. Emotions which overwhelm him in the best of ways.

Then, a more recent, unfamiliar memory makes itself apparent. It’s of you, alone in the shower, your back pressed firmly against the wall. It’s as if he’s an outside party, getting the first glance at the beautiful sight that is you, naked and wet, pleasing yourself to the thought of him.

His breath catches.

You’ve thought of him. You weren’t just telling him what he wanted to hear earlier. You’ve actually made yourself come to the thought of him.

Carefully, his eyes trail over your figure, noting the hand you have over your mouth in attempts to keep quiet as you press the shower head to your aching clit. Slowly, your hips begin to grind against the spray of water, small whimpers escaping you. Though, that’s not truly what makes his head spin.

Your thoughts from this exact moment in time shamelessly wash over him now, and he gets a front row seat to such fantasies you’ve seemingly always had about him. A fact which makes him smirk, a pleased rumble building within his chest as he fully submerges himself to the feeling of you and your thoughts flooding his mind.

He wouldn’t want it any other way.

You, on the other hand, are fairing no better.

Just as you speak those final words to him, you feel Hongjoong twitch deep within you. His claws only sink into your skin for a brief moment before you feel him burying his fangs deep within your neck. The sensations, combined with everything that has built up to this moment makes you scream his name, back arching as your eyes roll into the back of your head.

Suddenly, you see yourself walking through the front doors to the house. Though, you suppose it was considered a hotel back then. Still, the thoughts that flood your senses now are not your own, and it only takes you another minute to realize that you’re living his own memories of you right now.

You can feel his excitement at finally getting to see you in person, and the way he shudders at the first whiff of your scent that graces his senses. You hear his thoughts, shamelessly praising you and your beauty as you talk to him, and your heart feels as if it’s going to burst from his lingering emotions the very first time you smile at him.

A blink, and you’re watching yourself flee the dining room that night where it all went down. You can feel the pleasant growl that reverberates within him as he pulls the knife out of his chest, staring down at that blade fondly as thoughts of your bravery and skill fill his mind. You even feel just how affected he is by your actions, pure pleasure coursing through his veins as he chases after you without a second thought.

An array of moments you don’t recall flit through your mind next. Some are from before you came to them, while others are longing glances he’s given to you while you’ve been in the same room together. You feel his every need, his every desire for you - the desire to prove himself to you and make you his in every meaning of the word.

You feel his jealousy, especially when he barges into Seonghwa’s tailor shop to see you inches away from kissing his brother. 

You feel his hope in the garden, bright and vibrant, as your words echo like a siren’s song through his mind after that very special moment you shared. The first of many more to come.

You see him, in the shower, cracking the tiles on the wall beneath his grip as he strokes himself to the thought of you. Shamelessly, his thoughts wash over you. Every fantasy he ever had that night is yours to behold, watching him beg and moan to the mere thought of you. You hear his desperation in the way he moans your name, spilling all over his hand as his heart beats for you, and only you.

Slowly, you drift through all of his memories of you until you finally feel yourself coming back to settle within your own mind. It’s heavy, and a bit cloudy, but you’re finally able to pinpoint the tingling feeling of your limbs, fingers twitching as you continue to hold Hongjoong so delicately to you.

Carefully, you blink, eyes focussing in on the ceiling above you to further ground yourself. You can feel his lips placing tender kisses against your neck, tongue already soothing over the bite you’re sure now sits proudly against your skin. His cock still rests buried deep within you, and you can feel your combined fluids leaking out of you onto your thighs. 

Except, you don’t care.

You pull him closer.

A low chuckle greets your ears, “Welcome back, My Love.”

All you can mange in response is a hum, nuzzling your face into the side of his own neck. You inhale deeply, humming pleasantly at the intoxicating scents that begin filling your every sense.

“Come on,” he goes to pull away. “Let’s get you cleaned up.”

A loud whine escapes you, and all you manage to do is tighten your hold over him, ensuring that he cannot go anywhere.

“My Love, you need to at least drink some water,” his own voice is rough, albeit amused, and slightly gravelly in tone as he strokes a tender hand down your side.

Your body suddenly feels as if it’s made of lead, eyelids threatening to fall shut as sleep tugs at the edges of your subconscious. Already, your vision begins to blur at the corners.

“Alright, My Love,” he chuckles lowly once more. “At least drink this.”

Your brow furrows in slight confusion until you feel him lean into you. His neck is presented to you, and you notice his one hand coming up to attempt to create a small slit in his skin for you.

Only, you’re quicker.

It’s as if your body immediately knows exactly what to do, recalling the moment you bit into Jongho’s wrist. Your one hand comes up to grasp Hongjoong’s hair, tugging his head to the side as you lean in to begin suckling softly at his neck.

A low moan greets your ears, and you feel his cock twitch deep inside of you.

You smirk.

A choked moan of your name escapes passed Hongjoong’s lips as he feels you bite down on his neck. He feels your teeth, suddenly sharper than he ever recalls them being, sinking into his flesh, soon followed by the gentle laving of your tongue over the bite.

His eyes flutter closed in bliss.

A soft, albeit pleased hum escapes you as you feel his blood flooding your senses. The subtle taste of strawberry cheesecake greets your tongue, and you suckle all too eagerly at the wound.

Lowly, a growl rumbles from deep within your chest.

You freeze, pulling away to blink up at him owlishly, his blood now painting your lips that sinful shade of red, “I- uh-“

Before you can get another word out, his lips are on yours, calming your mouth with a slow, yet sensual kiss. His own chest rumbles in satisfaction as his hands settle lightly onto your waist. Then, ever so carefully, he flips your positions, letting you rest on his chest while his cock still remains buried deep inside of you.

“Get some rest, My Love,” he places gentle kisses over your face, arms wrapping securely around your waist. “I’ve got you.”

The sound of gentle chimes seem to echo in the distance, and it makes you smile.

“I love you, Joongie,” you mumble, eyes already fluttering shut as you settle your head onto his chest, resting softly above his beating heart. “I always will.”

Hongjoong smiles, a low, pleased hum escaping him at your words.

“And I love you, My Queen.” He places a tender kiss onto your forehead, relaxing fully into this moment with you as his eyes fall shut. “Until the end of time.”

Again, the soft sound of chimes echoes in the distance, and it’s that thought - that warmth - that you feel surrounding you as you rest in his arms which lulls you to sleep, basking in the embrace of the one who loves you most.

The one who will always love you. 

More than life itself.

[tarydarrington]

Veth doesn’t know who she’d expected to be waiting on the other side of the knock at the door, but if she’d had to guess, Essek Thelyss wringing his hands like a worried grandmother would have been near the bottom of her list.

“Oh,” she says. “Hi?”

He bobs his head, almost more a quick bow than a nod, tenting his fingers in front of his chest. “Good afternoon,” he says, with the distinct cadence of someone who has repeated the words to himself in the mirror all morning. “I hope you are well?”

“I’m all right,” Veth answers haltingly.

The two of them stand there for a moment, awkward silence hanging between them. Then, finally, Essek gives her a nervous smile.

“I do not wish to impose, but, ah…” He gestures past her. “May I enter?”

“Yeah. Sure.” She steps aside, and Essek gives her a grateful nod before walking - walking? - past her into the living room. “Take a seat, if you like.”

He takes the invitation, perching gingerly onto the very edge of the armchair they keep for their larger-sized guests. Veth follows him in, shutting the door behind her and wondering if this isn’t all a very strange dream. Essek barely meets her gaze as she circles around to stand before him. She leans forward, narrowing her eyes.

"What is this? Why are you being weird? Did something happen? Did Caleb die?"

"No!" Essek reins in his volume, pressing his palms together in apology. "No, certainly not. It is simply…"

Veth raises her eyebrows to prompt him.

"Well, I, ah…" His fingers draw little circles in the air, as though he can pull the words out like a spell. "I have read that it is custom in the Empire to request the blessing of a guardian if one wishes to…" The pained look on his face stretches even further. "Court."

Veth blinks at him. He’s serious. He has to be. That face, all pinched up towards the middle, reminds her of the way the neighbor boy looked when he admitted to breaking her dining room window. It looks absolutely absurd on the former Shadowhand.

"Well, I'm sure he would be flattered, but even with the slower aging, Luc's a little young for you."

She can practically see the joke fly over his head. "No," Essek blurts hurriedly, eyes blown wide with mortification. Veth might have laughed if she didn't feel a bit guilty. "No, I…" He brings one hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, eyes squeezing shut, and she suspects he's rooted out the sarcasm.

"If you're talking about Caleb," she says as a peace offering, "I'm certainly not his mother."

"No." Essek presses his palms together again, this time in his lap. "I have considered ways to make a meaningful gesture regarding his parents, but…"

He shakes his head. Veth can fill in the blanks. She wouldn't want the beginning of a new relationship to be tangled up in past trauma, either.

"So," he continues. "I had thought, perhaps, that as his closest friend, you might be a suitable alternative."

Well, that’s… She isn’t sure if it’s flattering, exactly, but she’ll accept the show of respect. She takes a moment to scrutinize him as he watches her apprehensively. Essek and Caleb. Caleb and Essek. It makes a certain kind of sense. Once, years ago, she might have railed against it; despite his growth, it’s still difficult sometimes to look at Essek and see anything other than her husband’s former jailer.

But lately, these last few years, Veth has been at home. She’s been with her family, the most important people in the world to her, and Caleb… well, he’s been off on his own adventures. And without Veth there to look after him, it’s been on Essek’s shoulders to make sure he comes back from said adventures alive and whole. Which he has, so far, without fail.

And that look Essek is giving her, as though if she says no, it might actually dissuade him?

"First of all," she begins with a sigh, "you’re not at court. You’re not courting. You're dating."

At the look of confusion on Essek's face, she takes a deep breath.

"You'll take him to have a meal together, or to see a play, or to watch a lecture. Don't do the lecture thing, that's a bad idea. That would be a terrible date." She pauses. "Although, with you two, maybe."

She can tell from the look on his face that she's losing him, so she waves her hands. "Nevermind that. Disregard all of that. The point is, you'll take him to nice places and do enjoyable things together."

Essek shifts uncomfortably. “I… don’t know if I can do that,” he admits. “I cannot be seen outside of the confines of his home or areas outside of the Empire.”

Veth frowns. “Well, you’re going to have to take him somewhere. You have disguises, right?”

Essek seems to consider it. “I do,” he says. “I suppose it would be worth a small risk, from time to time.”

“You’re darn right,” Veth agrees. “And don’t skimp, either. Caleb deserves the best.”

Essek nods entirely too seriously, as though he’s filing all this away in his mind. Veth makes a mental note to pester him with a progress report in about six months’ time.

Not one too rigorous, though. It’s hard to imagine prodding at him for entertainment’s sake when he looks so pathetic.

“Is there anything else?” he asks tentatively, when the silence persists.

“Well, let’s see.” She runs a finger over her chin, theatrically deep in thought. She already knows her answer. “Do you care for him?”

“Of course.” The sincerity on his face almost makes her feel bad about this. “More deeply than I have ever cared for anyone.”

She shouldn’t ask. It’s probably not something he’s discussed with Caleb himself, yet, if they’re only just now getting together. It would be prying, even for her. “Do you love him?” she asks, anyway.

A little, lost smile turns up one corner of Essek’s lips, and it’s almost a whisper when he replies, “How could I not?”

A pang of something that has never quite left Veth’s heart smarts for the first time in years, and she looks away with a matching smile.

When she and Caleb had been traveling with the others, people tended to hem and haw when she brought up how amazing Caleb was. They thought he was talented, sure, but it sometimes felt like none of the others could see the unquenchable light in him. But looking at Essek’s face, at the way his eyes are shining, Veth can’t help but think that maybe, finally, somebody gets it.

"Alright." She reaches out, and before he can flinch away, pats his hand. "You've convinced me. You have earned my permission to have regular sex with my adult, human son."

“I…” His brow furrows. “Truly?”

“Yeah, go nuts.” She waves a hand dismissively. “Caleb’s a grown adult. He can make his own choices, and if he’s choosing you, then good for both of you.”

Essek blinks at her like she’s just handed him a full pardon from the Bright Queen.

“I mean, obviously, if you hurt him, you will have all of us to answer to,” she says. “But you’re the guilt guy, so I think you’ll probably have yourself to answer to, first.”

"I…" He clasps his hands together. "I expected more… what is the word? Pushback.”

Veth braces her hands on her hips. “You know what? Fjord and Jester didn’t even tell me they were dating until I literally saw them kissing, and Beau and Yasha were barely better.” She jabs a finger towards Essek’s chest, ignoring the way he startles at the movement. “So you have just made it to the top of the Winter’s Crest card list.”

Essek presses his steepled fingers against his mouth, but not before Veth catches the bashful smile spreading there.

“Thank you,” he says. “Truly, I… This means a great deal.”

“Heck yeah, my blessing’s worth a lot,” she replies with a grin. “You know what? Tell Fjord that. He doesn’t have my blessing. I’m gonna make him work for it.”

This time the joke doesn’t pass him by, and she can read in his small smile that he’s grateful for the show of familiarity.

“I should hope he will rise to the occasion,” he says, and Veth gets the feeling he isn’t just talking about Fjord.