#it's such a tiny thing and not that important

[pearlofamphitrite]

Yeah I personally didn’t enjoy it too much. Don’t get me wrong, I loved the sets and the props and the work that went into that. I liked the dragon designs. Stoic, Gobber and Fishlegs were my favourite characters. From an artistic point of view, everything looked visually good, but from a writing point of view, I didn’t like it.

It didn’t add anything to the story that the first movie didn’t have already. In fact, one of the important scenes (the terrible terror scene) was removed. The first half of the movie felt rushed, scenes didn’t have enough time to breathe, dialogue was kept in from the original movie even when it didn’t make sense/flow with the scene. Some of the characters told us what we should be focusing on instead of showing it to us like the original movie. (Prime example was when, during the final battle, we hadn’t seen that the creature had wings and Hiccup points out “oh it has wings!” And then only we see it’s wings. It’s a tiny detail, yes, but things like that add up.)

I just don’t see the point in remaking a movie if you aren’t adding anything to the conversation. And you can’t expect to remake a shot-by-shot film to the original and not have me compare the hell out of it. Yes, I may be nitpicking, but I’m sick of live action remakes and the fact that their only purpose is to say “hey I’m better coz I have real people”. Animation is a cool medium of storytelling and it’s perfectly okay to create a film in animation that’s not supposed to be translated into real life/real people. That’s the point of animation.

Anyway, it wasn’t an awful remake, but I don’t understand why (I know because of money) they had to remake it in the first place.

people saying that the live action how to train your dragon is good actually because it's basically just a shot for shot remake of the original... then why the fuck would I watch it when I can just watch the (more visually stunning, not a blatant cash grab) original

[kingkaisen]

Prompt idea: Royal knight Kento or Suguru that falls for the princess they’re protecting

VULCANIA — Kento N.

♛ — 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘: the king has given kento nanami one very important task and no say in the matter: protect you, the beloved princess, with his life. however, the knight can’t help but wonder . . . if you ever found yourself in danger, could he protect you? Would he protect you?

♛ — 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓: spicy kissing scene but overall sfw, feral nanami, angst, fluff, major violence, mentions of war, minor character deaths, slight enemies to lovers, brief mention of arranged marriages, geto, gojo, & sukuna make an appearance. this takes place in a mythical world! oh, and animals adore you.

♛ — 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓: 10k (sorry, I was having a blast)

♛ — 𝐀𝐔𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐑’𝐒 𝐍𝐎𝐓𝐄: dividers by @uzmacchiato!

Kento Nanami wanted to hate you.

Truly, he did. He tried.

After all, his bloodline’s only purpose was to shed blood; to die in service of whomever sat on the throne, as well as their spoiled spouse and privileged offspring. 

An unstable, overemotional king would often start a war over a bruised ego and an insatiable thirst for power. And every time — every single time — a king declared war on another nation, be it near or far, members of Kento’s family would die a pointless death on a battlefield.

More land and subjects for the king. Another funeral to attend for Kento.

The Nanamis were widely known as one of the most loyal families within the kingdom of Umarith, born and bred to serve the royals through knighthood.

Therefore, he was prepared for the day he kneeled before the king and received the title of a knight, as he had practically learned how to hold a tiny wooden sword and swing it before he learned his ABCs.

However, what he wasn’t prepared for, was to be less of a new knight — an honorable warrior who maintained order within the villages while protecting the weak until called into battle — and more of a personal bodyguard, one who would be responsible for protecting you, the princess.

“Your Majesty,” Kento Nanami glanced up from the polished ground he kneeled on, locking eyes with the king himself. “With all due respect, protecting the princess sounds like a task that should belong to a knight of a higher ranking than myself. I’m just a newbie.”

“You officially became a knight only a month ago, yes, however, your ancestors served the throne as knights! Your descendants will too! I cannot think of a knight more worthy of protecting my beloved daughter than a Nanami.” The erratic king paused, stepped away from the kneeling warrior, and headed for his gold-lined throne. A sigh escaped his lips as he sat down. “Your father was the first knight to throw himself in front of me when an enemy drew his sword during the Cursed War. I trust that, should the princess ever find herself in danger, you will do the same for her. That is how you were raised! Raised!”

Kento lowered his head. If it wouldn’t send him straight to the dungeons, he would have slammed his gauntlet-covered fist against the king’s jaw.

His father’s death was pointless. Unnecessary. He took a sword to the heart to protect a man who wanted wealth. And here Kento was, kneeling to said man. Kneeling to the man who expected him to do the same thing. Expected. It was expected.

But if the palace was overrun by murderous thieves, or the kingdom found itself in war yet again, or a massive fire-breathing dragon released scorching flames throughout the palace, would Kento save you?

The daughter of the man who was responsible for his father’s demise?

And his uncle’s?

And his suffering mother’s misery?

He didn’t know if he could truly be so selfless. 

Even with a cloud of angered confusion hanging above his head and the burden of being responsible for a royal’s life resting upon his shoulders, he simply stared down at the marble floor, parted his lips, and mumbled, “understood, Your Majesty. I will protect her with my life.”

— ♛ —

The stranger he promised to protect with his life was waiting for him at the other end of the palace.

What an exhausting walk. Kento grew to despise you more and more with every step he took. The servants that lingered behind him had undoubtedly climbed the never-ending grand staircases multiple times a day, but even their faces had grown red, their chests heaving as they waited on you hand and foot.

The endless torment that was knight training — was this all it would amount to? Had he unknowingly been preparing to just climb stairs, nothing more? At least he wasn’t sweating or breathless like the servants who darted back and forth around the castle.

No, that wasn’t quite right.

He was sweating a bit. He could feel the warm droplets accumulating on his forehead, making his loose blonde strands stick to his skin, but it wasn’t from exhaustion.

He was nervous.

When Kento was four and the royals celebrated your birth — which would become an official holiday honored with festivities and balls — it began then. The kingdom-wide worship.

His own mother would tuck him into the straw-filled bed he shared with his siblings.

“Goodnight, my loves,” she’d whisper, kissing their foreheads. “May the Vulcania Princess bring us warmth and bless us all.”

While your father ruled Umarith officially, it was you who mattered most. The Vulcania Princess. The precious gem of the kingdom. Everyone, from the privileged to the peasants, praised your nickname during their prayers before mealtime or before their slumber.

Those with the right amount of gold and the right amount of time traveled for days to fall to their knees before you, begging for you to bless their children or their crops. 

As Kento aged, the curriculum surrounding his education primarily focused on knighthood and the royals. He sat criss-crossed on the floor of his raggedy one-room school that smelt of old wood, and listened to his elderly teacher ramble on, on, and on about you, you, you, her eyes glistening with admiration behind her round glasses. 

The people of Umarith originally attached the name Vulcania to your princess title following your birth, as during that cherished year, the brutalizing cold seasons came to an end, and the warm seasons were the hottest they had ever been in centuries. Sleeping volcanoes were once again active. Creatures of all kinds who sought warmth — even those thought to be extinct due to the prolonged cold weather — would sneak their way into your palace. Flowers bloomed. The hungry were able to grow food once again. The sun shone brighter than ever. 

Before your mother, the queen, passed away, she claimed that your skin was always warm to the touch, as if your soul was aflame. 

Therefore, the people wanted to give you a title that represented a connection to fire, warmth, and passion. 

Kento tried to recall any and all facts he was forcibly taught about you as he approached the double doors of your bedchamber. He had only come to know your appearance through the statues and famous paintings spread throughout the villages, but never before had he sat his eyes on you.

Well, that was all about to change.

Kento raised his fist. As his knuckles tapped three times against the door, he thought about The Statue of the Vulcania Princess — an enormous, intimidating sculpture in the center of his village that touched the sky. 

All at once, as Kento thought about the endless worship be it from humans or animals that followed you everywhere — and as a red-haired servant opened the door and let him inside — it hit Kento that he wasn’t protecting a mere princess.

He was protecting a goddess.

Shit.

The Goddess of Fire was sitting on a lavish sofa in front of a fireplace, that much he could tell from where he stood. It was rather difficult to make out your mysterious features, your extensive bedroom was dark aside from the flickering flames illuminating your face just a bit, and you hadn’t yet turned your head to look at whomever was entering your bedchamber, but even so, Kento ignored the thumping of his heart, cleared his throat, and bowed.

“Your Royal Highness, I-”

“Stop bowing.” 

Kento raised his head slowly. He was careful not to let his face reflect his confusion, offering a blank expression instead.

“We are going to be spending plenty of time together whether we like it or not, so we can do without the formalities. It tends to get annoying.” You paused, as if waiting for him to speak, but it was as if Kento’s mind decided to forgo any prior knowledge of how to formulate words. 

He turned his head to face one of the servants standing against the wall, as if seeking confirmation from the quiet, redheaded young girl that you had, in fact, told him to stop bowing.

“You are my personal knight, yes?” 

“That’s correct, ma’am.”

“You’re not very good at following directions, are you?”

“Forgive me. This is the first time I’ve ever been told to act informal with a royal.”

You sighed, leaning back on your sofa, which put more distance between yourself and the flames of your fireplace — It was quite identical to how your father would sigh and lean back in his throne. As if doing nothing and being a pampered royal was oh so hard. Like father, like daughter — and your new position rid Kento of the small details of your features he could see. Now, you were nothing more than a dark figure. 

Just why was your bedroom so dark?

“Come here.”

Metal clanked against metal, filling the silence, as Kento made his way around your sofa and in front of your line of sight, blocking part of your fireplace. The flames that were able to dance around him illuminated him well, and your eyes darted across every feature of the knight standing before you.

“Blonde hair, brown eyes, well-built . . . you’re a Nanami, aren’t you?”

Kento met your question with silence. 

Truth be told, he hadn’t heard your question, because from this short distance, he finally got a somewhat decent look at your face; your mesmerizing, undeniably gorgeous face. 

It all made sense now, why the Vulcania Princess was the one everyone, rich and poor, fell to their knees and prayed to during both their darkest hours and happier times. Why the Vulcania Princess was the one who could end devastating, catastrophic world wars with a couple of mere words. Why the Vulcania Princess had princes and kings from kingdoms near and far eager to start said devastating, catastrophic world wars to wipe out their enemies just for the mere chance of dancing with you at a ball. 

Never before had he seen someone so devastatingly beautiful.

The paintings and statues he had seen of you throughout his entire life failed to capture the glistening stars within your bright eyes, or the smooth, though plump appearance of your skin. Your soft, tempting lips were as enchanting as a love spell all on their own.

“Tell me the truth. Do you hate me?”

Your soft voice snapped Kento out of his daze-like state. His eyes widened for a moment before he regained his composure.

“No. I don’t hate you.”

“You do. I can see it in your eyes. I’d love to know why.” You tilted your head a bit. “Were you hoping for a different career path within knighthood? One more exciting than being a guard dog to a princess? Did you want to be on the front lines during a war, perhaps?”

Kento gritted his teeth, his jaw clenching a bit. Despite the way his body showcased his true feelings, his words tried to convey the opposite. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong first impression, but I-”

“What’s your name? Your first name?”

“Kento.” 

“Kento.” You gave him a gentle smile. It ignited a new flame of infuriation within him. “Be honest with me, Kento. No formalities, no lies. Why do you hate me? Tell me the truth.”

Kento frowned with uncertainty. Answering your question honestly went against every bit of his training, every lesson forced into his body and mind, but could he truly pass up the chance to say his peace? Could he?

“How do I know the truth won’t get me hung?” He asked.

“Rest assured knowing my father chose decapitation as a form of execution.” Your words were met with silence. This, in turn, led you to speak again. “See? You didn’t laugh at my awful joke. People who admire me would have faked a little chuckle, at the very least. So, why do you hate me?”

Kento shifted his feet. “Why do you want to know so badly?”

“I think my curiosity is only natural. I’m sure if someone hated you, you would like to know why.”

“Not if it was a complete stranger.”

“What if it were a stranger who was responsible for your safety? A stranger who was supposed to die for you without hesitation?” You crossed one leg over the other, the silk gown covering your body shifting slightly. “Do you see why I’m desperate to know?”

“That’s why.”

“Hm?”

“That’s why I . . . dislike you. I’m supposed to die for you. Becoming a knight is the fate of all Nanami whether we like it or not. My father was a knight. His father was a knight. My cousins are knights. I am a knight. If I have a son, he’ll become a knight, and he’ll have to watch as I kill and die protecting you royals, because it’s the only way to put food on the table. My father died protecting yours, and I’m sure I’ll die protecting you. I could refuse. I could pick a different career path, but then my mother and my siblings would starve, all because I’d be a disgrace, blacklisted out of every other potential career. Nanamis are expected to become knights, or to rot and die.” Kento glanced down at his heavy hand, covered with armor. “And the pay is quite low.”

“I see.” 

When Kento glanced up at you yet again, he could see the gears in your head turning, your mind taking in every word. But, even so, all you managed to say were those two, simple, meaningless words.

That was the first and last time you and Kento spoke to one another that day.

— ♛ —

TWO WEEKS LATER

One would think that protecting a dear princess who often did nothing more than sit by a fireplace would be an easy task.

One would think.

Over fourteen days in counting had passed since this aggravating honor was bestowed upon him, and one thing he learned was that your presence was indeed enchanting, and all living creatures wanted to enjoy your warmth. More often than not, the knight was pushing starstruck — or, rather, godstruck — subjects away from you that managed to break free from knight-patrolled crowds whenever you left your palace. 

Animals, however, were okay. 

And he learned that the hard way.

“A heads up next time would be nice,” Kento once said, rather breathless, releasing the handle of his sword and letting it fall back into its scabbard. His heart rate hadn’t yet returned to normal.

There you were, sitting on the floor of your private library, stroking the mane of an enormous lion that rested its head in your lap.

As massive as it was, as dangerous as it was, the lion rubbed its head against your gown as if it were pouting. Both it, and you, rolled your eyes at Kento.

“Surely you were told that animals sometimes inhabit the palace to seek out my warmth.”

“I was, but . . .” he paused, blinking in bewilderment. “A lion?”

Your lips pointed downward into a small pout as you stroked the creature, as if to comfort it and say: “It’s okay, I’ll protect you from the big bad knight, it’s okay.”

“This isn’t just any lion. This is my lion. He wandered far from his home when he was only a cub. The poor thing was cold and was hiding in my garden. I found him, raised him, and he comes and goes whenever he pleases. You should apologize to him.”

“Apologize? To a lion?”

“Yes,” your frown deepened, and your eyes found Kento’s. “Can’t you see you hurt his feelings? You pulled your sword out on him.”

“I was trying to do my job and protect you. I didn’t know it-” 

“He.”

Kento released a heavy sigh. Just what sort of nonsense had he gotten himself into? “I didn’t know he was a pet. Are there any other animals I should be aware of? I should consider making a list.”

You scoffed, knowing quite well he was hinting at the sudden appearance of bunnies sitting on his chest when he awakened one morning, just last week.

Three days ago, butterflies were swirling around your head. Four? Three birds — two small, one big — fluttered around you, landing on your hands and shoulders as they pleased.

“May I ask what a lion is doing in the library specifically?” Kento questioned.

Folding your arms across your chest, staring at him as if the answer was rather obvious, you said, “I was reading to him, clearly. Animals enjoy tales just as much as humans and faes.”

Just then, Kento’s eyes flickered over to the open book resting on the floor beside your thigh. He shook his head in disbelief. 

“Right, of course, well,” he awkwardly scratched the side of his head, fingers messing up his blonde strands. “I’m sorry to you, and to the lion.”

Your hand raised; you were motioning him over.

He was hesitant, but Kento kneeled. He couldn’t help but widen his eyes in surprise when you removed one of his armored gloves and grabbed ahold of his hand with your own.

His cheeks burned. Your eyes; they darted up briefly at his reddening cheeks, but you didn’t make a verbal comment. He was rather grateful.

His apparent blushing wasn’t due to the sudden skin-to-skin contact — at least, that’s what he convinced himself — but rather, he viewed you as fragile. Soft. Like the glass of a valuable mirror. And his hands? Well, swinging swords and perfecting the art of combat during years of knight training had left him with scars and calloused fingertips. He viewed himself as rough. Hard. Like sandpaper scratching against uneven metal. 

Your soft hand warmed his rough one as you guided it towards the lion’s mane. Gently, you rested his hand against its thick hair and released it, and Kento found himself missing your warmth.

How odd.

“Apologize properly,” you demanded. You nodded your head down to his hand. Spending all of his time with you had gifted him with the ability to understand your every intention, and with a sigh, Kento stroked the lion’s mane.

“I’m sorry.”

“Reo.”

He looked at you. There was no hint of amusement in your eyes. You were quite serious.

He returned his gaze to the big, pouting lion, and said, “I’m sorry, Reo.”

And with that, Kento left the library — only to stand outside the doors as a guard, of course. As he shut the heavy library doors behind him, he heard you mumble to the lion, “Try to forgive him, Reo. He means well.”

The creature groaned in response.

Kento ran his bare hand across his face. “Did that really just happen?” He thought.

But, a more pressing thought — one more shocking than apologizing to and petting a lion — presented itself within his mind like an intruder. 

“I miss her warmth already.”

— ♛ —

TWO MONTHS LATER

“Greetings to all! Welcome to the Vulcania Princess’s Birthday Ball!” 

Esteemed guests dressed in stunning ballgowns and extravagant tuxedos let their applause fill the enormous ballroom. Oh, was it enormous, with golden and white accents decorating the walls and pillars, and marvelous chandeliers hanging from the high ceilings. On the other side of the ballroom, there was an entire orchestra performing on a balcony, only stopping their classical music to hear the king speak.

The king stood beside your throne as he prattled on with greetings and thanks. Kento himself was like a guard dog, standing a little ways behind your throne, eyeing the crowd.

He toned out most of the king’s speech. Most of his guests did as well, but their eyes glowed with admiration — not for him, but for you. After all, it was you, and this evening, you were wearing a puffy, lilac ballgown adorned with flowers, and a bright tiara sat perfectly on your head — every strand of your hair was styled to your liking.

At some point, the king finally stopped talking, and guests continued to mingle and dance. Kento stood back and watched as three well-dressed men approached your throne. Their attire was more sophisticated than that of a standard — albeit wealthy in name or fortune — guest, and Kento gathered that they were princes from other kingdoms.

“Kneel before my daughter!” The king shouted.

It wasn’t customary for princes to kneel to someone of an equal rank, but the three men took a knee in front of your throne with no hesitation.

The king, now satisfied, looked down at you.

“I’ll leave you to it, my dear,” he said before walking off, eager to partake in the refreshments.

“Your Royal Highness,” a man with long, black hair began to speak. “I am Prince Suguru of Ravane, your closest partner in trade. We met briefly during the Fae’s Flower Festival last year. Please, allow me the honor of gifting you three necklaces made with the rarest and finest gemstones that can only be harvested by faes alone, all in exchange for your first dance this evening.”

“Pardon the interruption Your Royal Highness, but,” the man beside him, one with white hair and a boyish grin, suddenly interrupted. “As someone wise enough not to gift you something you own a thousand of, I think I should be the one to have your first dance. And you’re probably wondering why, right? Well . . .”

The man rose to his feet, wrapping his fingers around the handle on top of a tiny crate he had sat beside him. He started to approach the throne. As his feet moved, so did Kento’s. Though he was careful not to interrupt, he was close enough to your throne to make his presence known; a silent warning to the white-haired man: don’t try anything foolish.

The man opened the tiny crate. Suddenly, a small, red creature unsteadily flew out of the open door.

You held out your hands, and it landed there, as if it knew — it knew — that was where it belonged.

“A baby dragon! Oh my goodness,” you grinned down at the animal.

“Prince Satoru of Soulan, my love,” the man winked.

“Home of the dragons. Of course.” The incredibly tiny dragon spun around in two circles before settling down, resting its head on your palm. “And what kind have you gifted to me?”

“Well, in my kingdom, rumor has it that you spend most of your free time sitting in front of your fireplace. I figured there must be some truth to it, considering you’re called the Vulcania Princess and the Goddess of Fire for a reason. Because of that, I think it’s only right for you to own a Flame Dragon. Whaddya think?”

“Damn, giving her the most common type of dragon in your kingdom, huh? Sounds to me like you don’t think she’s worth the effort.”

The interjection came from the third prince, a buff man with pink hair and an unfriendly gaze.

Satoru turned to face him, stepping away from your throne. “Oh my god, get lost, Sukuna. Didn’t your kingdom try to burn hers to the ground, what, two or three years ago? Why are you here to begin with?”

“Something about makin’ peace with your enemies,” the buff prince smirked.

“You’re both being awfully informal in front of the princess. Watch your mouths,” Suguru, now joining in, rose to his feet.

Satoru rolled his blue eyes, mumbling, “I heard that your little kingdom is surviving off of tomatoes or something. Is that why you . . .”

The three bickering princes continued on and on, but you paid them no mind, too preoccupied with the tiny creature in your hands.

Kento leaned down a little ways across your throne.

“Perhaps I should hold on to the dragon for you. It could be dangerous,” he said.

“No way! He’s already bonding with me. Look!” The dragon alternated between crawling on its four legs and fluttering its way up your arm with its tiny, dark red wings. “What should I name him? What should I feed him? I know nothing of raising a dragon. Do you?”

“Afraid not.” He watched the dragon make a bed out of your shoulder, resting against the crook of your neck. “They only taught us how to slay one.”

That statement made you glare up at Kento.

“I won’t hurt him, I promise,” he said defensively, yet gently. “Once he grows, I might be out of a job. He and that lion of yours could protect you better than I ever could.” 

“I have a feeling you could protect me very well, you just refuse to do so.”

Your words caught him by surprise. His disdain for his career was no foreign topic between the two of you, but even so, he hadn’t expected you to bring it up. Not right now. Not like this.

Especially considering that, well, he instinctively found himself doing just that in one way or another. Protecting you.

“I-”

“I understand, Kento. I don’t like the idea of anyone dying for me just as much as you don’t like the idea of dying for someone.” You paused, looking away from him and back at the three, arguing princes. “Let's go for a stroll. I have a feeling these men are about to start fighting one another. I’m not looking forward to picking one to dance with.”

— ♛ —

There was only one place you deemed perfect enough for a stroll: the vast gardens surrounding the palace. Hedge mazes, luscious trees, and colorful, blossoming flowers of all kinds were illuminated by the bright moonlight. Together, you and Kento walked in a comfortable silence.

A little while after passing one of the greenhouses, Kento spoke.

“When I was younger, learning about you royals was just as important as learning how to read or put on armor. I remember what they taught us about you.” “Oh?” You mumbled, though you didn’t give him a look of surprise. “What kind of things did they teach you? Can you recall any of it?”

“Well, for starters, they told us how much you adored spending time in the garden, especially during the warmer months.”

“I don’t see how that knowledge benefits any of you.”

“It doesn’t, but now, I enjoy figuring out what might have been true or false. Clearly, that part was true.” 

A soft smile as gentle as the moonlight appeared on your face.

“What else is there to know about you?” Kento asked. 

Internally, his curiosity puzzled him. Just why did he care? 

He couldn’t explain it, but his heart and soul felt like it was caught in a game of tug-of-war, and the rope was a very thin line between love and hate. Love.

No.

No . . . that couldn’t have been it.

Not for the woman who sat by her fireplace all day. Not for the woman who never had to work a day in her life. Not for the woman whose biggest obstacle in life was deciding which ballgown to wear or which animal to cuddle with.

Not for the woman who was the daughter of the asshole of a king who got his father killed.

Kento tried to grimace at the thought, but that thought brought him no trouble. 

Oh, how he wished it did.

A small, baby fox with large ears dashed out of the shrubbery surrounding the walking path, darting across his foot. 

“Hmm, well,” you paused in thought, paying no mind to the sandy-colored creature that decided to follow you, hopping along with every step you took. The sudden sound of your soft voice snapped Kento out of his pleasant — though he wished they were unpleasant — thoughts. “My tiara makes my head itch. I’ve been told that my taste in music is . . . unique. I secretly add extra spices to my food when the chef isn’t looking. I’m a very sensitive person, believe it or not. It took everything in me not to cry after finding out you, a complete stranger at the time, hated me. Lastly, I have saved and nurtured twenty-seven creatures, and that only includes the ones I claim as pets, not ones I’ve simply befriended on a journey.”

“Were any of them as humongous as that dragon will turn out to be?” Kento asked, pointing to the dragon fast asleep on your shoulder. 

“Can’t say. I’m struggling to wrap my mind around the fact that this tiny creature will grow into a gigantic, fire-breathing being. I’m excited.” You halted your footsteps. The small fox trailing you took the opportunity to climb up the back of your dress, claws digging into the puffy, lilac fabric that adorned your body until it sprawled across your other, free shoulder, but you didn’t seem to mind. It was a tad bit bigger than the dragon, and Kento figured that having two small animals resting on your shoulders couldn’t have been comfortable, but you simply smiled, and greeted the baby fox with, “Hello, sweetheart,” before turning your attention back to Kento. “Anyway, I’m sure my father will oppose the idea of me keeping a dragon. He thinks I’ll be responsible for my own demise.”

“We have our differences, but I might have to agree with the king on that one.”

“Be that as it may, I refuse to let him take little Blaze away from me.”

“Blaze?” Kento raised his eyebrows, stifling the urge to laugh. “I wanted something related to fire in any sort of way. Is it too uncreative? Silly? Should I keep brainstorming? I want to name him something he’ll like.” You gazed off at the stars above, biting your lip, puzzled.

After a moment, you glanced back at Kento, and a small pout grazed your moonlit face. “What? You’re being very unhelpful.”

“Blaze is a perfect-”

“You’re trying to flatter my dear dragon so he won’t set you ablaze when he’s older.” You smiled gently. Kento blinked. You then sighed and continued to stroll through the garden. “We talked about this, Kento. You’re supposed to laugh at my terrible jokes to boost my self-esteem.” 

“What?” Kento cleared his throat. “Sorry, I’m pretending that I couldn’t hear you.”

“Oh,” you shook your head. “Just you wait until I teach Blaze how to . . . bite your ankles.”

A genuine, heartfelt laugh escaped Kento. God, how long has it been since he managed to do something like that? It wasn’t anything drastic, nothing more than a somewhat small chuckle, but it occurred to him that, perhaps, he couldn’t remember the last time he was blessed with the chance to truly laugh.

His laugh made your smile brighten — not a gentle, polite smile that he had gotten used to seeing, but a real, full grin that made Kento wonder why the world’s most gifted artists never painted you with such a facial expression.

It was breathtaking.

The stroll resumed for another six minutes. During that time, you and Kento discussed everything from his mother’s favorite meals to make to the new hit play that premiered last week. However, the closer you both ventured towards the entrance to the ballroom, the more your precious smile started to fade.

Kento glanced down at your hands, which fiddled with the necklace around your neck.  

“What troubles you?” He asked.

“You’re wise, so I’m sure you’ve already put the pieces together, you’re great at that I’ve noticed, but . . . this evening, I am not just picking a dance partner, but someone to marry.” You spoke softly. Kento could tell from your tone that this was a bothersome topic for you. “I get to choose, but my choices are limited to those three men. I know how it feels to be born into a role you didn’t ask for. I understand what you’re going through, Kento.”

The knight stopped walking.

As soon as that last sentence slipped from between your glossy lips, Kento’s heart and soul once again felt like it was playing a game of tug-of-war. Love and Hate. And right now, as a wave of anger washed over him, the latter was winning.

“With all due respect,” Kento released a shaky breath. He wouldn’t lose his composure so easily, but he had to speak his mind. He had to. “You don’t know what it’s like. You live a pampered life. Your hands are free from scratches or burns or anything that signifies hard work, and you have never known hunger and loss like I have — hunger and loss that is a direct result of the actions you royals take. I’m sorry you have to pick between three rich, attractive princes who are ready to go to war for you and you find yourself incapable of doing anything more difficult than sitting on a sofa all day, but that in no way compares to . . .” 

He felt his composure slip. His tone was getting dark. Voice was getting harsh. Taking a deep breath, avoiding your gaze all the while, Kento parted his lips, preparing to let an apology slip from between them, then suddenly, you said, “You should take a break. Stay out here a little longer to get some fresh air by yourself. I’ll be fine.” You gave him a sad smile. Pulling the dragon, Blaze, off your shoulder, you held the sleepy creature against your chest, as if seeking its comfort. Though you tried to hide it, your smile couldn’t disguise the glistening hurt within your eyes. You were sensitive. That’s right.

“I should head back inside,” you mumbled. “Everyone will be looking for me.”

“Your Royal Highness, please forgive me. I’m sorry. Not having a say in who you want to spend the rest of your life with is terrible. I don’t know why I . . . please forgive me.” Kento called out, his words sincere, face twisted in anguish, but you continued walking. 

Then suddenly, you paused. He thought that, perhaps, you were reconsidering parting ways with him, that you were going to smile and tell him to drop the formalities, but your momentary falter was just to let the small fox descend your body before you reentered the palace.

The tiny creature ran across the gardens, and you were gone.

— ♛ —

Kento sat on an outdoor bench made of stone. The garden that stretched before him represented you in every way. After all, it was you who brought the very warmth that made the variety of flowers in this garden bloom. Your existence, the flame within you, brought an end to a Cold World; saved the shivering animals and children on the brink of death, blossomed plants that fed the poor and starved, and ended the days of endless freezing. 

Kento was only four when you were born, but, as he sat on the soft cream-colored bench that you undoubtedly picked out yourself, he thought about the faint memory of that day. The day of your birth.

The terrifying blankets of snow and ice melted. Animals thought to be dead and extinct were running, jumping, and hopping about. Fleeting citizens from the western villages crowded the cobblestone streets as a sleeping volcano suddenly awakened. Flowers and plants sprawled spontaneously — his mother, who was pale and shivering as she held on to her children moments before, stepped outside and plucked a fresh grape off a grapevine that had appeared outside of their raggedy cottage.

Suddenly, the rope involved in the game of tug-of-war between his heart and soul had snapped, and it hit him all at once.

Your father was responsible for his father’s death, yes, but you . . . you saved him. You saved his mother.

A bittersweet smile graced Kento’s face. His stomach churned; was it butterflies? Knots? He didn’t know. Perhaps, he’d never come to understand the feelings you evoked within him.

But he knew one thing for certain.

The idea of your beautiful face frowning as tears threatened to fall from your eyes — on your birthday, nevertheless — from the words he spoke made his heart ache.

Kento rose from the bench. Just as he took a step towards the entrance of the ballroom, a sudden force of energy made the ballroom windows shatter. Heat and light filled the sky. The world itself shook as an ear-shattering boom blasted from one side of the palace. 

The knight found himself falling to his knees, as the impact was strong enough to send a shockwave through the garden. His wide eyes witnessed the enormous puff of flames, and part of the palace started to cave in.

Rubble filled the ballroom.

“No. God, no.”

Kento’s legs were numb, but they carried him out of the garden — where frightened animals screeched and ran — and he forced his way inside the ballroom through a broken window. Dark smoke, dust, flames, and never-ending screams of terror filled the air. He coughed, his brown eyes burned which created tears that slipped down his ash-covered face, but he hoisted himself over fallen rubble until he made it to where your throne used to be. 

Now, it was nothing but . . . it was nothing.

His eyes couldn’t make out the mess of debris and flame. The smoke made it difficult to distinguish bodies from stone, but he knew well that before him was that familiar gigantic beast, clawing at the rubble, whimpering. Your beloved lion was searching for you, digging for you. The sight of it gave Kento the devastating confirmation he needed that you were there.

Underneath smoldering embers, a destroyed throne, and pieces of a collapsed ceiling, Kento saw the scraps of a torn lilac ballgown. He ran for it.

Armored hands pulled and pushed away at fallen wreckage so heavy, Kento gritted his teeth due to the pure strain on his body. But, damn it all, he used every bit of his solid muscle to lift, pull, and push, until he saw a bruised, ash-covered leg and heard a weak cry.

Then, all of the debris felt weightless. 

“I’m right here,” Kento called out, careful to keep his voice steady and calm. “I’m coming, just hold on.”

Slowly, your injured, trembling body revealed itself to Kento after he shoved shattered pieces of one of the massive chandeliers. You were face down. As if you were made of glass, fragile, he carefully flipped you over, only to see a scared, but otherwise okay, tiny dragon cradled in your arms.

Your position, and thus, your wounds, told him that you must have shielded it. 

He gritted his teeth. Seeing you like this . . . it was unbearable. Who could have done this?

Kento pulled you into his arms, holding on tightly to your smaller frame.

You whimpered. Blood spewed from your lips, decorating your chin, and Kento pulled you close.

“Shh, it’s okay. I’m going to get you out of here-”

The ballroom shook again. There was another deafening boom, followed by a wave of piercing screams. Another explosion within the palace. Kento could hear the crackling walls and ceilings, and he knew what that meant.

He folded your body underneath his. Reo, your lion, too placed his body over yours. Kento shielded you with his bigger, armor-covered frame, and more rubble started to collapse. Feeling it fall against his protected backside — god, did it hurt. It hurt like hell. But it wasn’t enough to kill or bury him, so he hooked his arm underneath your knees, his other arm cradling your upper half, and he rose to his feet.

“Stay with me,” he glanced down at you as best as he could through his blurred vision. “I promise I’ll protect you. Just stay with me.”

Your eyes fluttered open. Suddenly, they widened, and you began to turn your head frantically every which way as Kento carried you. He parted his lips to tell you to lie still, assuming that you were falling into a state of panic, but before he could utter a single word, you started to squirm around. You wriggled yourself out of his grasp.

You landed on your feet and started running — or rather, limping — in the opposite direction, breathing erratically with every twist and turn of your head.

“Where are you going? We need to leave, now!” Kento shouted.

In your condition, you couldn’t make it far. All he had to do was reach forward, wrap his arm around your waist, and pull you backwards until your back hit his chest.

“Blaze,” you cried. “ . . . Must’ve dropped him! I can’t . . . can’t find him! And there are people still in here, a-and my animals . . . Reo . . . just let me go!”

He tried to ignore your cries. Saving you was his only priority. It had to be. But, as he went to lift you yet again, another explosion, further away this time, sent a violent vibration throughout the ballroom, and he lost a bit of his balance.

That was enough for you to wiggle free. 

Kento shouted your name, but you paid him no mind. The fires scattered throughout the ballroom wouldn’t hurt you, but the collapsing rubble? It could.

You ran across rubble and shoved your way through panicked, running guests, but alas, through the smoke and ash clouding the air, you made out the tiny red creature amidst the debris, fluttering and shrieking. Your dear, frightened baby dragon was searching for you, calling for your help.

You extended your arms, reaching for him. 

That was when you heard it; it, being an unfamiliar voice, one that shouted, “There’s the princess, fucking take her already, dead or alive!”

Someone was charging at you. The nearby burning fires gave you enough light to make out a masked figure, dressed in black, who clenched a knife between his fists, so ready and eager to drive it into the side of your stomach.

Just as the knife nearly grazed your corset, a sword suddenly pierced through the attacker’s stomach, blood and sharp silver steel poking out of him as the light left his murderous eyes.

The sword was then yanked out of him. 

Kento watched the man he murdered fall to the rubble-covered ground with a thump, then his eyes were on you, quickly scanning your body for any new injuries.

But there was no time for you to thank him. No time for him to grab you and run. 

More masked men with knives and swords drawn started to charge at you both.

“Run,” Kento commanded. 

But it amounted to nothing. The masked men circled you both. There was no escape.

Kento turned slowly, counting them. There were five. Five men he would have to kill.

He sighed, deflecting an oncoming attack with ease, driving his own sword into the guts of yet another man. Though he was actively taking someone’s life, his eyes were on you, watching as two men charged at you without weapons: clearly, their preference was to take you alive.

“Shit,” Kento thought, pulling his sword out of the man. 

Your tiny dragon rapidly flapped its wings, fluttering high enough to latch its small mouth to the ankle of one of your attackers. The victim of the little attack winced, reaching down to his ankle in an attempt to pull him off, but you tried to reach for your baby dragon first.

The other masked man took that opportunity to grab a fistful of your hair. He yanked you. Hard. Your head was already bruised and battered from the initial explosion, and this forced a pained cry out of you. 

Kento heard it. He was in the process of stabbing two other masked men when he heard it. 

He clenched his jaw. He gripped the handle of his sword with such force, he could hear his own knuckles crack.

When the masked man who held you by your hair felt the presence of someone behind him, he turned around. His eyes widened at the sight of that massive knight looming over him, one who was already quite big to begin with, but seemed twice as big now. More like a beast than a human. 

“Get your hands off of her,” Kento warned. 

The man was going to reach for his knife, hold it against your neck, and prattle on with some ultimatum, but Kento didn’t give the man a chance to even gasp at the sight of him before he strategically placed his hands around his head and snapped his neck with an unpleasant crack.

As for the final masked man, between dealing with a pesky little dragon who was biting at him and spitting tiny little bouts of flame at his flesh and that pissed-off giant of a knight making his way towards him, he shouted, “Damn it, to hell with all this!” and tried to run away.

He made it four steps before Kento threw his blood-covered sword like a javelin, and it was launched through the masked man’s chest. 

“Are you alright? Did they hurt you?” Kento leaned down. He gazed at you with the softest, worry-filled brown eyes. His thumb grazed your cheek with an utterly surprising gentleness, considering how brutally he had just murdered several men moments before.

You shrugged. “I’m . . . alive. Thank you, Kento.”

He smiled. 

But as the sound of stomping footsteps approached, Kento rose to his feet. This wasn’t over. Whoever was attacking your kingdom, so desperate to capture you, they weren’t planning on giving up just yet.

Kento walked over to the man he had killed last and pulled his sword from his chest as more masked men charged at him, and he found himself in another battle.

You scooped up your dragon and limped towards a broken window, crawling over a mix of fallen debris and corpses. 

“Go,” you mumbled to Blaze, extending your hands to release the small creature. “Return to me when it’s safe, sweetheart.”

Though he was hesitant, the baby dragon groaned with understanding and fluttered away.

You didn’t have the strength of a knight, nor a hard-working subject. But you didn’t let that stop you from grabbing hold of the collar of a random person  — the first living person you could get your hands on. You dragged the whimpering, injured person towards the window, tripping over your ripped lilac ballgown as you gasped and strained, breathless, but you hoisted the person over the window’s ledge and out of the smokey, collapsing, fire and rubble-filled ballroom.

Thank goodness it was on the first floor of the palace.

You fell to your knees. Your breathing was loud. Strained. Every bone in your body ached. New spouts of fresh blood seeped from your wounds, mixing with the ash and dried blood coating your body, but, even though your heart pounded as if it wanted to give out, you rose to your feet. You moved your hands throughout the rubble, and they landed on a torso. One that was rising and falling with shallow breaths. 

One that was small.

“You’ll be alright, my love. Help will come,” you whispered, though your voice was shaking with uncertainty. 

You cautiously put the child out of the window. Then another person. Then another.

You hoisted one woman over your shoulders. She was a tiny thing, but with your exhausted and bruised body, you were certain you’d struggle to carry a small bag of potatoes. But you recognized this woman’s uniform. Though her youthful face was covered with soot, she was one of your servants — the redheaded one who was always in your bedchamber, tending to your needs. 

You couldn’t bring yourself to check whether or not her chest was rising or falling. You only carried her to another broken window, your knees threatening to buckle, and you pushed her out, hearing a little gentle thud as she hit the shrubbery.

“Please let help come. Please let it come,” you whispered.

There was another vibrating explosion in the distance. Orange flames that could be seen from the windows brightened the ballroom. It knocked you off your feet for a moment, but you regained your footing and grabbed the arm of someone on the ground. You strained as you attempted to pull the person free from the fallen pillar they were stuck under, but there was no use. You collapsed in defeat. 

Their visible body was hard to make out, but you ran your hand across their face until you found their nose. No puff of air hit your finger.

With a defeated sigh, you rose to your feet. It was then that you noticed those lifeless, open eyes. And you recognized that shade of blue.

A shocked gasp escaped you. Reaching down, you closed the eyes of Prince Satoru with trembling, bloodied fingers. “I’m sorry,” you cried. “I’m sorry.”

The next several minutes were a blur. 

There you were, using the last of your strength to drag the unconscious, heavily injured body of Prince Suguru across the wreckage, when heavy hands gripped your waist. One second, you were lifted into the air, and in the next, you were being thrown against a fallen, sharp stone. The impact resulted in an explosion of searing pain that was too much for your mind and body to tolerate. You could taste blood.

You were screaming, but you couldn’t hear it. You couldn’t hear anything. You could barely see anything — the last thing you caught a glimpse of before slipping into a realm of unconsciousness were the black boots of a masked man walking towards you, and Kento . . . Kento dashing in front of the man’s raised sword, and getting stabbed through a gap in his ruined armor nearest his lower abdomen.

Your surroundings became nothing more than a black abyss, and there was one, final explosion.

— ♛ —

TWO DAYS LATER

He was staring at a familiar ceiling. 

It was brown. Wooden. Raggedy.

As Kento Nanami blinked, blinked, and blinked, it hit him.

He was home.

He sat up in bed, fighting the burst of pain that surged through him from the bandaged wound on his shirtless lower body. When he looked down, there was a familiar, tiny red dragon resting on his thigh.

“You’re awake. That’s great.” The soft voice startled him. Only then, turning his head to the side, did he realize that you were sitting at his bedside. A brown cloak was draped across your head, a choice clearly made to conceal your identity while walking among your subjects.

Or, given the recent events that were coming back to Kento’s memory, bit by bit, it was, perhaps, a choice made to conceal your identity for your own safety.

“How is it that you’re awake and I wasn’t ‘til now?” Kento’s voice was hoarse, and he coughed. “Last I remember, I was the one carrying your unconscious body out of-”

He coughed yet again.

You walked away for a moment and returned with a cup of water.

“Drink this,” you said.

He took it with thanks. As he gulped it down, he recalled the last of what he could remember. 

He took a sword to the stomach to protect you. There was another explosion. The biggest of them all. Part of the ceiling collapsed on the man who stabbed him. The entire ballroom was becoming a sea of falling rubble and flames on a greater scale than before. Kento scooped up your unconscious body and ran, jumped; did whatever he had to do to get across the debris. He used all of his remaining strength to toss you out of the window first. With the ballroom falling apart second by second, he wasn’t certain if he’d have enough time to crawl out of the window and save his own life, but that didn’t matter. 

Your safety came first.

You came first.

He didn’t remember anything after getting you out of that ballroom. He was alive still, but-

“After our medics found you and patched you up, I decided to bring you home. Your mother and I spent the last two days taking care of you. I actually just finished washing your face and brushing your teeth.” You suddenly spoke, as if reading his thoughts. “It wasn��t out of kindness, really. Our hospitals are . . . it’s a nightmare. Thank you for saving me, Kento.”

“You’re welcome,” he said, holding on to the empty cup of water. His thumb tapped rapidly against the side of it, and he frowned. “That attack was a long time coming, wasn’t it?”

Your teary eyes locked with his. You gave him a sad, knowing smile. “Like I said, you’re great at putting the pieces together.”

It all made sense. 

After all, why now did the king insist on you having a personal knight? 

The king must have known that there was a group from another kingdom who wanted to get their hands on the Vulcania Princess, dead or alive. 

Kento rubbed his face out of pure exhaustion.

“Why host a ball when your life is in danger?” Kento questioned. “Greed. That’s it, right? The king couldn’t pass up the chance to receive praise and gifts and kick-start your engagement, even if it meant putting you at risk. What is he thinking?”

“It doesn’t matter. He’s dead.”

Kento allowed the silence to fester. During which, he grabbed ahold of your hand, stroking your soft skin with his rough thumb.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“Don’t lie to me.” You mumbled, but despite your cold tone, you didn’t pull your hand away from him. “There’s no time to mourn. The kingdom is in shambles. We’re vulnerable. Weak. People are dead, from our kingdom and others. And now? Now I’m queen. How am I supposed to . . .”

There it was, the mourning you tried to swear off.

Tears fell from your eyes. Kento didn’t waste a second before gently moving the sleepy dragon to an empty spot on the bed before swinging his legs off the side, and ignoring the pain as he leaned up and pulled your chair closer to him. He wrapped his arms around you gently — aware of your potential wounds though he couldn’t see them right now — and he pulled you against his bare chest.

“It’s okay,” he said soothingly. “It’s okay.”

“Sorry. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t cry in front of anyone.” You pulled away from him, wiping the tears that fell from your right eye, and he stroked away the ones that fell from the left with his thumb.

As he did so, he couldn’t help but let his thumb hover over a deep, healing scratch on your cheek. 

“It’s okay to cry. You’re just a person.” 

“Am I?”

“Of course you are,” his brown eyes gazed into your sad eyes. “You like warm things. Warm drinks, warm weather, warm blankets, fireplaces, fire-breathing dragons . . . you take a walk through your garden when you need to clear your head. Though you’ve never held a sword or a shield, you don’t hesitate to protect others, and not just people who are important to you, but strangers as well, and all kinds of creatures. Your jokes are so awful, they’re funny. You bite your bottom lip when you are lost in thought, and if those thoughts are worrisome, you play with your necklace. You cut people off when they’re speaking, but you don’t do it out of malice, you’re just brilliant, and you already know what someone is going to say. You’re unintentionally ignorant. Quite ignorant. But you try your hardest to overcome it once something is brought to your attention. It was you who ended wars with a simple speech. Recently, you argued for an increase in pay for knights of all ranks, I’m certain of it. And yet, you didn’t tell me, because you don’t feel the need to brag about your good deeds either.” Kento’s thumb hovered over your bottom lip. He whispered, “Hm, maybe . . . maybe I’m wrong. Maybe you aren’t just a person, because I’m certain I’ve never met anyone else like you.”

Amidst the sadness, there was a shimmer of something else within your eyes. A little spark of hope.

“Is that really how you see me? I think . . . this is the first time someone has given me a compliment that has nothing to do with beauty. At least, most of that was a compliment, I think.” You gave a soft smile that stretched the scratch on your cheek. “Wait, did you fail to compliment my beauty because you no longer find me attractive? I couldn’t exactly blame you if that’s the reason.”

“You’re mesmerizing. Inside and out. Your wounds don’t change that. But don’t worry. I’m sure they’re mixing up the strongest healing elixir known to all just for you. Your wounds will exist only as a memory, just you wait.” 

That shimmer of hope within your eyes brightened. Kento wanted nothing more than for it to stay that way, but it couldn’t. Not when your life was still in danger. Not when there were people out there who wanted to hurt you.

Kento placed his hands on either side of his legs and started to push off his bed, but suddenly, your hands shot out, pushing against his thighs and seizing his movements.

“What are you doing?” You asked urgently.

“Trying to leave my bed, if you’ll let me.”

“Have you gone mad? You were stabbed. I won’t let you leave this bed until you’ve recovered fully. Try to leave again and I’ll . . . tell your mother . . . when she returns.”

Kento frowned. “Your life is in danger. I can’t just-”

“It’s not your duty to protect me anymore.”

That frown deepened, his brows furrowed in utter confusion. “What are you saying?” He asked.

You were silent for a moment, but when you spoke yet again, you couldn’t look him in the eye. You didn’t have the nerve. “I'm the ruling monarch now. I call the shots. I’ll pass a law to make it illegal for employers to discriminate against members of certain bloodlines that have decided to stray from the career path chosen by their people.” Your eyes fell on his bandaged abdomen. “In other words, you no longer have to serve as a knight. Go on and enjoy a different career of your choice. In the meantime, I’ll make sure your family is well fed. It’s the least I can do.” 

“No.”

You looked at him, eyebrows shooting up in pure shock. “I’m sorry?”

“I’m not leaving you. Not now,” Kento said.

“Kento, there’s no need. There are plenty of other knights who actually want to be knights. They can protect me just fine.”

“I don’t care. I’m not leaving your side.  I don’t mind dying for you-” 

“Damn it all, Kento, I said no. Look at your condition! Look!”

Your sudden shouting stunned him. Based on the way your tears fell, and your hand clenched and unclenched around nothing, it surprised you too. “That wound of yours is all my fault. I should have left when you told me to. I won’t allow something like this to happen again. I won’t have it.”

“Look at me.” His hand was once again on your face, but not stroking your cheek. This time, his long fingers gripped your chin, forcing you to stare into his eyes. “I won’t have you dying a preventable death because of incompetent knights while I waltz around my village baking bread or sharpening knives.”

“Is this an ego thing?” Do you think you’re the only knight strong enough to protect me?”

Though your question was a serious one, Kento couldn’t help but laugh a bit. “I understand everything about you down to which foot you step with first, but you don’t understand me at all.”

“What do you-”

It was sudden, but Kento was fed up with your lack of understanding. He released your chin, but only to snake his hand around your head and pull you close, closing the gap between you by crashing your lips together. The kiss was warm. Your lips were soft — so damn soft — and he couldn’t help but hold on to you even tighter, melting into the kiss because he needed more. Though his tongue rubbed against yours, though he was breathless, and though it hurt his injured stomach to do so, he still wanted more; one large hand hooked around your thigh, the other against your back, and he pulled you onto his lap.

Your hand pressed against his muscular, broad chest. He swallowed a soft moan that escaped your lips. 

“Kento,” you gave a little whimper.

“I know,” he whispered against your wet lips, the words barely leaving his own lips before he reconnected his mouth to yours. He pulled you against his mouth even harder, made you straddle his lap even tighter, and kissed you with lips and tongue even deeper.

When the kiss ended, Kento looked at your face, your skin softly illuminated by the flickering light from the candles scattered throughout his house. 

“Do you understand now?” He asked softly.

You nodded, then smiled. “I didn’t know that was coming, but I'm glad I brushed your teeth for you.” 

Kento couldn’t help but shake his head and laugh, pressing a kiss against your cheek.

Your fingers played with the blonde hair at the nape of his neck, and he pressed yet another kiss against your jaw, then your neck, all before pulling away.

“Tell me the truth. Do you love me?” He asked, his breath patting against the skin of your collarbone.

“I do, but if you have to ask, then you might not understand me as well as you think you do.” 

Kento pulled away from your neck, but when his eyes met yours, all he saw within your gaze was pure sadness. 

“But, Kento, Umarith finds itself in yet another war, and our enemies won’t give up until they have me-”

“Then let me kill them all for you.”

“Kento,” you frowned.

“Your Majesty,” he gave your chin a quick kiss, his large hand rubbing your thigh. “I mean it. I will save you. I just need you to let me.”

You bit your lip in thought. “Fine, but on one condition. No, two conditions.”

You leaned in; you were so close, he could feel your breath pat against his ear.

“I refuse to be a kindhearted damsel in distress once again. They want to capture or kill me, the Vulcania Princess- or I guess, queen now, because they think it’ll put an end to the brutal snowstorms killing their crops and their people, so I’ve been thinking, since they crave my warmth so badly . . . I should burn their kingdom to the ground. Allow me to fight by your side and do so.”

“And what’s your second condition, Your Majesty?” Kento whispered.

You pulled away from him, staring into his brown eyes. Your warm hands cupped the knight’s face.

“You drop the formalities like I’ve been asking you to,” you paused. “Unless, in due time, you allow me to call you my king.”

Kento couldn’t help but gaze at you with pure astonishment. It was the same look he had in his eyes when he first saw the enormous statue of you in his village. He should have put the pieces together then — that he was nothing more than someone else who worshipped you.

Kento’s lips found yours, once again letting his kisses speak for him. And this kiss told you several things: 

Kento Nanami wanted to hate you.

Truly, he did. He tried.

But in the end, he couldn’t stray from his bloodline’s only purpose to shed blood; to die in service of whomever sat on the throne, but this time around? A Nanami would survive, and Kento would become your cherished spouse and, when the time came, protect your offspring. 

Kento Nanami wanted to hate you, but now, the knight’s soul wanted nothing more than to love you, and kill for you.

♛ — What did you think? Please let me know! Reblogs & comments are appreciated!

♛ — @sad-darksoul @priv-rose @yihona-san06 @keriaonmarz @luvvmae @thequeenofcurses @underworldsheiress @notgoodforlife @thewondrousdreamer @levisfavoriteteashop @preciousamethyst @iwanttohitmyself @lil-apple-pie @prettypixigrl @averysmolbear @starstoru @starlightanyaaa @he11okitty-mari @dolphin1135 @ioveartfilm @filhadaanarquia @blackdxggr @jaegergirl @gunslxtz @he11okitty-mari @koikohib @http-bell

[menlove]

Hello! I saw your post about how you deeply believe that John and Paul had sex frequently, and honestly I'm on the fence on whether or not I believe that they did. I was wondering if there were any particular reasons as to why you believe this or if it was just a feeling lol.

there's fsdfasdadf a lot To Me that convinces me but i'm not sure how solid it is so i'd say it's Mostly a feeling/vibe but i'll work through my reasoning under the cut (separated into The Vibes and then actual shit they've said/done that makes me go uh. hm.)

disclaimer: obviously i can't know if they fucked. at the end of the day it truly does not have any impact on my life if they did or not. this is also solely getting into whether or not they fucked, not the rest of the crazy shit they had going on bc that would genuinely take a 1000 page novel. i'm also not getting into proof about either one of them having gay sex bc if we take them both at face value that answer is a resounding "no" and this isn't about proving their queerness

i will say first of all we know for a fact they jerked off together & had sex in the same bed so i'm gonna go ahead and count that as sex bc it's 2025 and queer people have made leaps and bounds away from considering penetrative sex the only kind of sex that exists. but i don't think they would've considered either of those things sex. but in my view? that was sex. does also mean they've had sex with the other quarrymen though #happypride

vibes

first of for me is their personalities/circumstances. i mean it's obviously all very nuanced and i never knew them so there's aspects to their personalities that we obviously aren't privy to. but they were both very sexual people with incredibly loose sexual boundaries, neither of whom really ever had (or at least expressed) religious hangups around sex, and who were Both at the like forefront of the whole changing culture of the 60s to become freer, looser, less repressed. obviously them being free with heterosexual sex doesn't automatically equate to them having the same feelings about homosexual sex, but it's a factor in the way i think about it anyway.

we already know they were loose with sex with Each Other as well. there's ofc the beat the meatles thing (group wanking with the quarrymen/early beatles) but there's also the fact that they'd all have sex in the same tiny ass room in hamburg & the fact that john and paul allegedly had a foursome with a couple of girls whose pictures they took back in liverpool (on the same bed). again, that doesn't Necessarily translate to "yeah they'd have gay sex" but it just sets up that they weren't really prudish about sex and they weren't shy about having sex around/near each other. there's ALSO a different version of the story john told to pete floating around somewhere (can't find it rn so don't quote me on this) where in addition to everything else he mentions it (as in letting brian jerk him off) not being different than what he does with his friends. which does also implicate everyone Else, not just paul, but it's interesting.

i just do Not think that john would've had the self restraint to not make a move on paul if he wanted to. and from Well Everything, we can tell that he wanted to. john wasn't someone who had a lot of self control & i don't think his relationship to paul being "too important" or anything like that would've stopped him either. and i think if he'd made a move & paul shot him down, we would have never heard the end of it and there would've never been the beatles in the first place bc i don't think john would've taken it well at all. on paul's end, i can't see him turning john down either. if they were already jerking off together, potentially jerking each other off, having sex in the same bed, etc, i don't think it's a stretch to say he wouldn't have shoved john off for going further. and again, if he had, there would've been a more dramatic reaction. which means either john Never made a move, or he did & paul went with it.

ofc there's the whole india theory but i do not buy into that even remotely and i'm not getting into why again but tl;dr i just don't think it would be in character for Either of them to have this big dramatic rejection of john's feelings and for john to wait and simmer in it for 2 years before breaking up the band. i think if anything like that happened he would've lost his goddamn mind immediately and the band wouldn't have made it beyond like two more months lmao

i can however see paul making a move and john shooting it down due to His Issues, but i don't really see any time period where that would've potentially happened yk like there's not enough there to speculate on that one. but i can see it more than the opposite

they were also on so, so many drugs. you take two people with loose sexual boundaries and you put them on uppers/alcohol/weed/lsd/coke and i truly think it's more unlikely that they didn't ever fuck. i think most anyone who regularly gets drunk/high has at least one story about making out with/fucking someone they shouldn't. oftentimes when you can't remember shit.

there's also the severe lack of personal space between them & just the way they watch each other. ofc there's a severe lack of space between All the beatles, but it's glaringly obvious and embarrassing when they're all 4 in the same space and the blowjob brothers are over there ass to dick while everyone else has a respectable friend distance.

i won't put a photo/gif dump here i'm sure we've all seen them but this is the single one i have to add bc genuinely what is their problem:

and the way paul stops and then looks over at john after noticing he's watching his ass? they're as subtle as a brick to the head lmfao

tl;dr on the vibes: it's a if you give a mouse a cookie situation to me. if john was attracted to paul (he was), he would've made a move -> if john made a move on paul, paul would've said yes -> if paul had said no, there would have been 0 way john would've just gone on like normal -> nothing ever blew up like that sooo -> i think they fucked (in our definition- idfk what they would count it as). throw in their drug use & lack of personal space................

actual shit w substance

i don't think unless john's diaries leak or paul slips in his old age that we're Ever going to get any kind of Actual confirmation about if they did or did not have a sexual relationship of any kind. BUT there are some things that make me go. well okay !

and a disclaimer i don't think this is the only way you can interpret these things and i'm well aware i look like this rn

i mean this so seriously when i say the thing that convinced me they did actually fuck was john's real love (real life) demo. we know he's talking about paul bc he says "was i just dreaming, or was it only yesterday? i used to hold you in my arms. and now a baby and another on the way la la la farm" and then the added fact from this post that the daily news from that same year around the time john would've made this demo has a page dedicated to linda & paul expecting a new baby and in the same paper it's talking about cruises. which in the demo he says "picked up the paper, read the daily news, nothing doing anyway, same old bs, doot doot doot doot cruise." so we've got him singing about someone he used to hold in his arms that now has another baby on the way on a farm, which he found out about reading the daily news that mentioned cruises. when there was a paper from that day from the daily news announcing that linda & paul were expecting and talking about cruises. so i can say with confidence that he's talking about paul there. unless he was just wildly in love with linda lmfao. and of course "i used to hold you in my arms" doesn't exactly translate to "i fucked you" but like......????? there's really not much else you can infer from that. the rest of it is true to reality, so why would he embellish that bit with something he wished happened? why would he wished to have held him and then lost him anyway? and like it'd just be a weird thing to say about a platonic friend. i can't exactly imagine them just platonically laying around cuddling. i mean sure, maybe, but come on.

speaking of john's demos, there's also his weird paris shit (ignore that title lmfao. it is definitely a real demo & i actually accidentally own it on vinyl- it was one that got leaked during the lost lennon tapes). in it, he's singing to "my pau pau" about his little prod (lmfao) at a cafe on the left bank (hysterically also the title of a wings song ABOUT john and paul's trip to paris). i mean does that mean they fucked? maybe not. but also fucking bizarre to refer to your friend as "my pau pau" and start talking about his little dick while calling him my cheri..... like. again. come on.

speaking of paris there's also the whole skywriting by word of mouth thing. this one's the loosest bc it's fictional, but john based a lot of the sexual stories in skywriting by word of mouth on his own sexual exploits. also realizing for some reason i didn't put this in the original post, but leading up to the paris bit, it describes the man as a journalist who's in the middle of writing a play. but tl;dr on that link: john wrote a short story full of references to gay sex/gay culture about a man leaving writing a play to meet up with his lover in paris where they stay at the george v and fuck to god only knows. in 1966, john left filming how i won the war to meet up with paul in paris and they stayed at the george v. that's the same year pet sounds came out & paul got obsessed with god only knows as well. now this one could Also be taking the details of a very platonic meetup (paul did have one of his girlfriends, maggie mcgivern, with him) and adding a sexual connotation to them retroactively, but....................

i'm also throwing this paul song into the mix bc .....????? sure man. i'll also throw let me roll it into that category bc of the "he gave me loving in the palm of my hand" thing like okay man. i'm sure he did. and best friend/call me back again are just self explanatory.

this one is EXTREMELY loose and i don't believe 99% of them but there Are a ton of rumors/blind items if you go digging around about them kind of openly fucking during the 60s (as well as paul & linda having threesomes with men lmao). not linking those bc i wouldn't count them as even a remotely reliable source but they exist and all say just about the same thing

am i 100% certain they fucked? i mean no. but it just seems way less likely to me that they didn't. and i've seen historical narratives built on less so i'm gonna go on w my interpretation that they did fuck nasty in whatever way

[unsoundedupdates]

Epilogue p15

•LATEST UPDATE HERE•

Look at Emil's face. He loves her~

Okay! At last! ANNOUNCEMENT! :D

After over 15 years, Unsounded finally has a publisher! The comic is going to be put to print by Iron Circus Comics, a very cool company that's done webcomics as illustrious as Rice Boy, Lackadaisy Cats, and TJ and Amal. Pretty rad, right? Our tiny baby has finally grown up, and it's all thanks to you, readers. Your support all these years helped the comic reach its end, and that's really what got a publisher to consider it. So thank you.

Now, please, please head over to the Kickstarter campaign page, and give it a follow! The campaign will be launching in a bit over a month. There'll be LIMITED bonus goodies - including commissions and free shipping - but you'll have to act fast once it launches! Let's get lots of followers on there before then, it makes us look sick and cool.

There are some crucial logistical things for current readers to know though. The most important one is these two books are NEW COMPILATIONS. They do not sync up with the old self-published books, and the old shop is coming down this weekend. Those old books are beloved, but now outdated. The NEW books - in addition to having new covers and newly retouched art - are LONGER. Volume 1 contains chapters 1-4 as well as a Duane in Sharteshane bonus comic (this is the old v2 comic). Likewise Volume 2 is LONGER, containing chapters 5-8, a newly illustrated Tainish guide, and a brand new Knock and Anadyne comic.

I had no choice but to recompile the books, my darlings. In order to get the entire massive story into 6 books, I had to squish more into the early volumes. I know it's a little disappointing, please don't be too mad at me. Compromises had to be made in order to ever see the entire story in print. I wanted to also publish a third book at this time, and even did a rad new cover for it to try and sell it to the publisher, but there simply was not room in their schedule for 3 huge books this year. To get the rest of the books, we have to make sure these first two sell well! So please consider purchasing them when the campaign starts. I really busted my ass to make them worth it for you! Even as I've been drawing the final chapter and epilogue the past year, I've been working on these books :)

So! Contact me on Tumblr if you have any questions! And please follow that preview page so you'll know when the crowdfund launches! Thanks, everyone! :)

-Ashley

•••••••••••• Discuss the comic on Discord or Reddit

[angrylittlesliceofpizza]

(clarifying for those like me who just. skip over usernames most of the time: this checkmark is verifying that there's A Girl in the post. the Club thing was a couple months old already by the time these tags happend.)

… important addition: Perco LOVED Ponyo when he was smol, and i was barely older than this queen when i had him… so now i'm wondering. WAIT. was she an great positive influence on my parenting style? or at least a very needed moral support, given that perco's life (and ours) got Complicated™ before he was 2yo because of t1 diabetes??

…yeah that's. not entirely unlikely. i mean, here she was, dealing with *a whole unnatural flood* on her tiny island, husband away most of the time (oop, same here), and yet she kept Doing What Was Needed in the emergency, trusting her kid to be able to deal with the easier basics while she was busy. and she actually showed him how to do it first! and didn't forget to have fun with him, and let him have fun with a friend!!

I MEAN

i’m obsessed with the mum from ponyo. driving single lane on a cliff edge? drift those turns in your nissan cube. husband has to work an extra shift? tell him to fuck off in morse code. pet fish turned into a child on your driveway? adopt her. town drowned in a tsunami? leave your 5 year old in charge, he’s the man of the house now

[stonedtaemin]

you stupid girl

❕brat taming, ass slapping, mutual masturbation, lots of name calling (esp. whore, bitch, slut), cum eating | ao3 | wc 3.1k

mc is a brat and caleb decides he has to teach her a lesson *requested ♡

it first started as little joke, a prank, if you will. caleb was just so easy to rile up, so what was the point in not having a wee bit of fun?

fancy dinner with the fleet? her foot was rubbing sensually onto his leg across the table, slipped out of it's heel and toes pressing hard onto his crotch. on a phone call with one of the higher ups? she started mouthing at his cock through his pants.

even when he was cooking, god dammit, she would come up behind him and massage his ass. manhandling him and then snickering off, a knowing smirk playing onto her lips. each time he swore under his breath, shaking his head.

today was no different. caleb had had it up to here with her shannanigans, hands fiddling with the hem of his sweatpants, trying to focus on putting together a new plane model.

"would you stop that? you're gonna make me mess up, pips." he choked out, a tent already trying to form in his pants.

she was laying onto the floor next to him, chin resting on her hand in boredom. she let out a long, disgruntled sigh. her fingers did not move an inch. she wouldn't listen to his pleas.

"but it's so much fun and this is so... not fun."

he snorted, sitting up and stretching his back out. this was his third model of the day, he started as soon as they woke up and now the sun was setting. today had been a lazy sunday, one that was full of nothing but lofi and coffee. his stomach grumbled just at the thought of food.

"for you, maybe. i thought you liked helping me with this stuff..." his eyebrow cocked, eyes focusing back onto the important project at hand.

"i mean, yeah. but you look so handsome when you're focused. and i really wanna sit on your cock."

he choked on his own spit.

"horny fuck." he laughed at her, heart beating fast.

"yeah. what're gonna do about it?" she taunted, eyes squinted at him. he looked at her from the corner of his eyes.

"maybe if you're good and let me finish, i'll reward you." he hummed, eyes sliding back to the model.

she grunted, head falling downwards onto the carpet. she wiggled her legs into the air as if to throw a mini tantrum. she would never get his attention.

"whatever." she got up, knees cracking.

he smirked, not even throwing a glance her way. suits her right, putting him through all of this hell lately.

she padded away from him, closing their bedroom door behind her.

if she wasn't going to get his attention that way, then she had another thing coming for him. she searched far and wide through several drawers, hands looking for purchase.

bingo, she smirked to herself.

not even 5 minutes later she walked out into the living room again, watching as caleb has repositioned himself onto the couch. he's leaning back, considering what step to do next. he still didn’t even bother looking up at her.

she bit her inner cheek, groaning in annoyance. she pressed further, standing right in front of him, clearing her throat. finally, caleb's eyes fell onto her. he immediately regretted it because what he saw was so insane. here she was, dressed in nothing but a tiny red thong and a cropped old t-shirt of his from high school, nipples of her breasts poking out from the distressed seam. she was fucking glorious and he was but a mere man. god. damn.

"so now are you gonna fuck me?"'

"jesus christ." is all he could manage to blurt out. his fingers went up to rub his forehead, eyebrows furrowed.

she pushed his work further away from him, then turning back to straddle down onto his lap. heat rushed and pooled into his cock, growing harder with each time she circled her hips onto him.

"c'mon and fuck me." she whined, bouncing up and down in frustration.

he growled with annoyance. evol wrapping around her whole body. she was frozen in place, eyes widened with slight panic.

"god, you're such a needy slut. like you're in heat, just begging to be fucked all the time. you know that?" his voice wasn't like his normal voice... this was like when he was in his colonel suit. like she was a soldier that had overstepped her duties.

"i—"

his hand snapped up and grabbed her by the chin, yanking her face hard. she immediately shut up.

"been such an impatient little shit lately. i've been real nice about it too. right, baby?" he cooed menacingly, a devious smile spreading onto his lips.

she nodded slowly, a soft moan escaping her lips with anticipation. if she was horny then she was super horny now.

"tell me."

"y-yes..." she whined, struggling against his evol. she so badly wanted to rub against the growing bulge that sat perfectly against her folds. she was sopping wet, his pants getting ruined.

"i don't think you do..." he whispered, pulling her face closer to his. his lips hovered dangerously above hers, breath fanning across her.

she closed her eyes, trying to initiate a kiss. he pulled away.

"i do, i swear. i just wanna make you feel good, caleb." her words were almost convincing.

his fingers roamed down her chin to her neck, pushing her hair aside to expose her neck. he leaned forward, biting hard onto her. she whimpered at the pain, back arching. he pulled and sucked, skin already bruising from the abuse of his mouth. his hands made their way down her torso, cupping her exposed breasts.

he massaged them slowly, grabbing hard and pinching her nipples.

"don't believe you for a second. you're just an impatient whore that needs to be filled with my cock." he spat out, teeth nipping at her sensitive skin.

“yes, need you to fuck me caleb. i’m a whore. your whore. p-please!” she thought she would burst into tears if he didn’t put something inside of her. she ached for his touch. need to feel him against her walls. she was dripping down her thighs and onto the couch.

he stared at her like she was a prize that he needed to take. his tongue rode up the valley between her breasts then lifted up. his hands cupped her sex but didn’t do anything. he just grabbed her, panting at how soaked she was. he was deciding what to do with her.

she cried out, not knowing how much more she could take of the pulsating heat that knocked at her cunt.

"caleb, please... oh god."

he mouthed over the peak of her tits with hunger, hot puffs of breath sweeping over her skin. his hands kept fondling her and pulling and tugging. he couldn't get enough of her against the palm of his hands. couldn't decide which breast he wanted to suck on the most. he wished he had two heads and two mouths.

she threw her head back in ecstasy, feeling caleb's mouth devouring her chest. her fingers hooked through his hair, nails clawing at his scalp.

"gonna fuck you real nice and good so that you can finally shut up.” he groaned, eyes darkening as they locked onto hers.

“ye-yes please…” she sighed, thighs burning from the grinding she was finally able to resume.

his hips rocked up to meet hers, a moan tearing through his lips and spilling onto her bare torso.

his fingers finally found their way down to her folds, again, this time letting his fingers swipe into her slick. her breathe hitched when his touch finally graced her, immediately riding onto his hand as he pumped one, then two fingers in and out of her. the squelches of his fingers stroking her pussy filled the thick air around them. it was sinful. his cock grew bigger by the second just by the delicious noises. a groan resounded from deep within his chest.

“fuck, you drive me crazy. listen to yourself.”

she cried out, caleb biting the shit out of her shoulder as he finger fucked her.

“yes, yes, yes— love your f-fingers, caleb, ah— shit!”

her cries echoed throughout the house.

his lips kissed gently onto her chin, tongue tracing her jaw.

“bad little bitch— take that shit.”

she nodded fast as his thumb circled onto her clit, her moans falling out in a jumble. just as she was about to claim an orgasm his hands stopped, pulling out abruptly and rudely, if you asked her.

she whined with agony, about to say something but his fingers shoved into her mouth, her slick coating her tongue deliciously. he clicked his tongue in disapproval.

“be a good girl for once and don’t say anything, ‘kay? gonna give you what you need, baby.” he whispered.

he fingered her mouth just as he had to her pussy, going in and out of her wet mouth. she gladly took it, eyes locked onto him and glistening with lust. her cheeks were blossoming with heat, eyebrows bowed in arousal. she looked absolutely divine and caleb couldn’t stand it. he hummed in approval as her tongue swirled around his meaty fingers.

his fingers retracted with a pop, a trail of saliva falling after.

“get on your hands and knees, on the couch. face the window.” his words were short and straight to the point.

she stood up from his lap, slightly dizzy with how hot she was. he watched her as she backed away. he moved to the opposite side of the couch so she could get into position. she did as she was told, crawling onto the couch and ass perched up. she gripped the arm of the couch to ground herself.

she looked behind her to watch as caleb pulled his pants off, underwear wet with her slick and his own arousal. he threw his shirt to the side, sweat falling down his carved chest. she licked her lips with hunger, eyes never leaving his fit body. he smirked as she did, arms flexing for show. she wiggled in anticipation, letting out a deep groan.

“caleb. please hurry.”

his underwear was finally off, cock swelled up against the front of his abdomen. he was huge as always, veiny and thick. she needed him now.

he got on his knees behind her, hands grabbing onto her hips harshly. nothing would have prepared her for the loud crack and harsh feeling of his hand coming down onto her ass cheek. she bowed forward, a scream emitting from her mouth. her forehead rested onto the arm of the couch, eyes screwed shut.

“i told you to shut up.” his words were heavy. he massaged her cheek afterwards, thumb kneading against the reddened skin.

“mmph— yes sir.” she cried out.

another slap landed onto her, harder than the last. she swore she could cum just from the feeling. he was so rough.

“the more you whine the more it’ll hurt.” he said, fingers trailing and brushing against her slit. it was a ghost of a touch. she stopped herself from grinding them into her.

“yes sir.” she repeated again.

he chuckled deeply, his hand going to his dick to stroke slowly.

“touch yourself.” he commanded.

her fingers went down and between her thighs, pushing her thong aside. she took two fingers and rubbed her clit slowly, parting her legs some more for him to get a good view. she watched behind her as he stroked himself to her masturbation. his lips caught under his front teeth, a hiss slowly coming out as he shook his cock a few times. he couldn’t stand watching her anymore, he had to be inside of her, right now.

she wiggled her ass a little, moaning softly. she was making herself feel so nice and warm. she couldn’t help but circle to her motions, fingers dipping in and out of herself in the process.

“please baby, need you here. so fucking horny for you.” she whined, two fingers taking her lips and opening them wide for him, her ring clenching in desperation.

he didn’t even feel like smacking her again for being impatient, he himself was getting impatient.

“think you can take me in one go, sweetheart?”

she nodded frantically, arching her back even further. she looked like a feline stretching, ready for him to dive in.

he lined his cock up with her pussy, making her bite her lip hard in anticipation. his tip dove down quickly into her folds, cock being sucked in past the threshold of her entrance. she cried out as he thrusted deep into her, tip already grazing her cervix. he was so big and deep, she could feel her insides being absolutely wrecked. she loved it.

“oh— fuck!” she screamed, hands gripping onto the couch fabric for dear life.

she tried moving against him but his evol forced her in place, a whimper escaping her mouth. she rolled her eyes back in annoyance, huffing.

“just sit still and take it like a good slut.” he purred, hand splaying over her back, the other gripping onto the handle of her hip.

and with that, he slammed in and out of her slowly and so fucking good.

her moans sounded every time his cock sank all the way inside of her, skin smacking against hers. her breasts swung back and forth with each time he pounded into her, legs shaking. the small crop top was even beginning to feel hot. she pulled on the collar of it, feeling sweat trickle down her neck and onto her tits.

“fuck yes, feels so good. god caleb— right there, yes!” she squealed.

he huffed out heavy breathes, each time his cock bottomed out a wave of pleasure washed over him. he knew he couldn’t last long.

“you look so beautiful taking me like this, baby. pretty little flower blooming just for me.” his voice came out in a whinier tone than he wanted, but god dammit he was feeling so good.

she took her hands to spread her cheeks more, pink asshole puckering as he fucked her pussy like it was the last thing he would ever do. he moaned at the sight, a slight wail bubbling from his chest. he was definitely going to fill her up if he kept going like this.

“so— fucking— good! need to cum, please caleb, please let me cum. i— i can’t…” her pleas bled together, eyes squinting and welling up with tears as she looked back at him.

his purple iris’ swirled with desire as they bore into hers, hands massaging her hips with a gentle reminder that he loved her so much. she was such a beautiful creature, in his shirt and sexy underwear. being a good little fuck toy for him. he couldn’t get enough.

“yes, baby. cum. let me feel you.” he gave in.

immediately she fell apart, cries spilling out of her. her hands went back behind her, caleb’s hands pinning them together as he rode her orgasm out. he wanted to cum so bad, but he had other plans. she circled her hips slowly onto him as he kept thrusting, soft whines dying out. she was breathing hard, body slumped onto the couch, face buried.

“oh, f-fuck. baby…” she whispered, voice muffled.

caleb chuckled, tapping her ass softly with his palm as he let go of her wrists.

“sit up onto your knees, baby.” his voice came out gentle but she knew to obey.

he pulled out reluctantly, wishing he could keep pumping in and out of her delicious hole.

she hummed, sitting up slowly onto her knees. caleb got up, feet planting onto the ground and standing over her like a skyscraper. his cock was covered in her juices, slick and hot. it stood proud and hard as hell, hovering over her face.

“make me cum, sweet girl.”

her hands went to wrap around his length, twisting languidly and achingly well. she knew the perfect way to do it, an expert in calebology. he threw his head back, eyes staring at the ceiling. she watched as he swallowed thickly, adam’s apple bobbing. she hummed at the sight, thinking about just how gorgeous he was like this. she was in awe. her man.

“you’re so fucking big caleb. love how big you are.” she moaned, breath fanning over his cock.

he smirked, biceps flexing slightly. his hands cupped her cheeks, grazing over her skin softly.

“yeah? look so good next to my dick. pretty girl. mine.” he was so close.

she fluttered her eyelashes, mouth opening and tongue sticking out.

“wanna eat your cum, please, please, please. give it to me, caleb, i need it.” she begged, eyebrows pinning in plea. she begged like it was her own personal prayer.

he cried out in pure bliss, not handling the situation as composed as he wanted to. she was going to be the death of him and he was going to be totally okay with that.

“fuck yeah, you want that? wanna swallow my cum like a greedy little bitch, hm?”

“yes!” she cried out.

“f-fuck!” his fingers gripped onto the back of her head, tugging hard at her hair.

she dragged the tip of his dick onto the center of her tongue, smacking it as thick ropes came out of him.

“fuck yes, you fucking whore.” he seethed, teeth gritting as he watched her lap up his seed. his dick twitched violently into her hand, as if he could see each rope push itself out and into her mouth.

she took his cock deep into her throat, sucking up and down his length. he thrusted into her, gagging the shit out of her. her guttural sounds as she choked onto his cock made his orgasm hit harsher with each time he hit the back of her throat.

“pip-squeak…” he moaned softly, fingers loosening as his orgasm finished.

she slowly pulled off of his length, lips glistening with spit and cum. his slumped with finality as it popped out of her mouth. she licked the bottom of her lip, smiling lazily. his fingers hooked onto her chin, pulling her face up.

“did you swallow like a good girl?”

she opened her mouth, proving that she had consumed every last drop. he leaned down, lips smashing onto hers, tongue licking against her own. he kissed her nice and slow, thumb grazing her cheek softly in praise.

she pulled him down hard, straddling him once more. he huffed out a laugh, lips trailing down to her chin, then her neck.

“was i good for you?” she pondered, voice soft.

he pulled away, planting a kiss to her temple.

“yes, baby. you were so good.” he smiled.

“does this mean you’re not annoyed with me anymore?” she taunted, her head falling onto his shoulder. she poked his neck with her fingers, rubbing her hand onto his hard chest. he was covered in sweat.

“mhmm. for now.” he jabbed her side.

she was sure to be a brat again. how could she not be, when her boyfriend looked like adonis and fucked like a god?

[sevarchive]

‎taste test ༄.°

a umemiya hajime oneshot. 800 words

synopsis: in which umemiya invites you over to cook with vegetables from his garden, only for the evening to simmer into something neither of you planned but both of you hoped for.

a/n: hi windbreaker community! this is my first time writing for this fandom and i'm planning to write more in the future! i hope you like my first one ♡⸜(˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝

the first thing you noticed when you stepped into umemiya’s kitchen was the little glass vase on the windowsill. inside it, a tiny sprig of mint floated with its roots in water, green and delicate. beside it sat a photo: a slightly faded print-out of a dish you had once made together, stuck to the fridge with a cat-shaped magnet.

he had kept it.

umemiya greeted you with a bright grin, sleeves rolled and white hair tied back, the scent of soil still clinging to him.

“picked the tomatoes just now,” he said, holding up a basket proudly. “basil’s looking smug about it.”

you laughed. “your veggies are always smug. you talk to them too much.”

“only the stubborn ones. but the carrots have been on their best behavior since i told them you’d be eating them.”

the cherry tomatoes were warm from the sun. something in you softened, he’d really grown them just for you.

as you washed the vegetables, umemiya moved around you with casual ease, always close, never in the way. the kitchen was cleaner than before. you noticed a little potted flower sat on the corner of the table. a gift, maybe. or a sign that someone very important was coming over.

he leaned on the counter, chin in hand, eyes on you as you began to slice. quiet. unreadable. but warm.

“you like watching me cook?” you teased.

“only if you promise not to cut yourself this time,” he said, smiling softly.

you smiled back.

you didn’t cut yourself on purpose.

but when your mind wandered and the knife slipped, a sharp gasp escaped your lips.

“ah—ow—”

umemiya was there in an instant. his hands were gentle as he took yours and guided you to the sink. he didn’t say anything for a moment. his brows were furrowed and his jaw tight, but his touch was so careful it made your eyes sting a little.

“you’re okay,” he finally said, rinsing the small cut with cool water. “but next time i’ll do the slicing.”

“i didn’t mean to get distracted,” you muttered, embarrassed.

“i distracted you?” he asked, a teasing smile peeking through his worry.

you rolled your eyes, but the blush gave you away.

he helped you onto the counter, cradling your waist in strong hands as he lifted you with no effort at all. your knees brushed against his sides when he stood between them, holding a tiny bandage between his fingers.

“you keep first aid supplies in your kitchen?” you asked.

“only started after you came over the first time.”

your breath caught.

he finished wrapping your finger. his hands lingered around yours, holding them like something precious. he didn’t pull back. his gaze rose to meet yours.

“i used to wonder what it’d be like. having someone here like this. cooking. laughing. filling up this place with something warm.” his voice was low and soft, almost shy. “but then you actually showed up, and it stopped feeling like a daydream.”

you looked at him, heart fluttering in your chest.

“hajime.”

his name felt like something fragile in your mouth.

“i keep thinking,” he said, his voice almost a whisper, “about how i want you to stay. not just for dinner. i want to grow things for you. set the table for you. make this place yours too.”

you leaned in slowly.

“can i kiss you?” he asked, breath brushing your cheek.

you nodded.

he kissed you like he'd been starving for it, all slow hunger and months of quiet ache finally spilling out. the second your fingers grabbed at his shirt, his body pressed flush to yours, anchoring you both to the edge of the counter.

his hand slid to your waist, the other curling into your hair as his lips moved rougher now, deeper, like he couldn't stop himself. your hands drifted higher, one slipping beneath the hem of his shirt, fingertips grazing warm skin that made him shudder against your mouth. he groaned, low and quiet, the sound caught between restraint and everything he had been holding back.

your palm almost pushed his shirt higher when his breath stuttered against your lips, and he kissed you again, needier this time, a little desperate, a little undone. the room smelled like basil and something new blooming between you, and you were so close to giving in, to tugging him impossibly closer—

beep. beep. beep.

it was the rice cooker. you both froze.

then he let out a laugh, resting his forehead against yours.

“guess dinner’s ready,” he said, voice still a little breathless.

you giggled into his shoulder. “so rude of the rice cooker to interrupt true love.”

he pressed a kiss to your bandaged hand. “let it beep. i’ve got what i came for.”

and when you finally slid off the counter and joined him at the table, the sun dipped low through the window, casting golden light over the small vase, the plate of garden-picked tomatoes, and the smile he wore that told you—without a single word— you were home.

જ⁀➴ © sevarchive ✦ masterlist like/reblogs are appreciated ꣑ৎ

[yushi-ni]

I actually want a reaction to you dodging their kisses with the wishies now that you said it

ෆ NCT WISH ෆ 𝖽𝗈𝖽𝗀𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗂𝗋 𝗄𝗂𝗌𝗌𝖾𝗌

꒰ᐢ. .ᐢ꒱ masterlist

summary; wish as your bf (𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇) to you dodging - avoiding - wiping off their kisses. you saw a trend on tiktok and decided to try it out on your bf;

genre; established relationship, fluff, maybe a teeny tiny little angst (if you squint your eyes)

warnings; obviously kissing, mentions of jealousy, a little playful pettiness, pda. !!!!! contains mentions of quick, innocent, kisses - pecks on the cheek for sakuryo but nothing more than that !!!!!

notes; ok so to make it a little more fun and diverse i tried to do different scenarios and locations for each member. so it’s not just all the exact same context yk, i hope you like it!!! lmk what you think!!!

──୨ৎ────────୨ৎ────────୨ৎ──

oh sion (𝗇𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗌 𝖺𝗍 𝗁𝗈𝗆𝖾)

absolutely flabbergasted, won’t immediately show it on his face but he definitely noticed how you turned your head away from him as he leaned in to place a kiss on your lips. silently scoffs to himself, out of disbelief, needs a few seconds to collect himself but will just continue on like you didn’t just leave him hanging. i mean, you didn’t do it on purpose. right?

the 2nd time he tried to kiss you, he was 100% sure you intentionally avoided him, nudging your face the other way, not even looking up from your phone. you were sitting next to each other on the couch, just doom scrolling, enjoying doing nothing after a long day. you noticed the way he kinda freezes on the spot, staring at the side of your face, looking for any signs of discomfort. were you mad? did he forget something important? what day is it? did he smell bad?

he sat back, still eyeing you from the side, why do you look so relaxed? was he imagining things? no he definitely saw you shift your position a little. his mind was racing, but sion being sion he was trying his hardest to keep his cool, at least from the outside perspective. with emphasis on trying because you had to swallow a giggle when you looked at him, question marks literally dancing over his head. visibly fighting inner demons. he tried so hard to maintain a calm demeanour but he’s literally made out of glass. his face quite literally has subtitles

by the 3rd time he already forgot about his previous missed tackles, “baby” he walks into the kitchen where you’re busy attempting a new smoothie recipe, you only hum in response. you can see him walk up to you in the corner of your eyes, coming to a halt when his chest comes in touch with the side of your body. one of his hands on your lower back, he looks over your shoulder to see what you were up to “that looks.. uh.. healthy” - “10/10 observation sir” you mix the whole bunch together, ending with an interesting colored drink. “you wanna try?” you looked at him, he shakes his head, watching your every move. you turned around, leaning against the counter, holding the glass in one hand and the other bringing the straw to your mouth. your face scrunched up immediately, sion can’t help but laugh at your expression; “eww who even comes up with this” more laughing as he moves over to stand infront of you, both hands leaning behind you, strapping you in between the counter and him. “i guess that’s what healthy tastes like, ugh” he snickers at your words, clearly amused. his face lit up by his usual bright smile and sparkling eyes, his previous worries long forgotten.

naturally he grabs you by the chin, leaning down to place a kiss on your lips, giggling in the process. you moved your head to the side as soon as his lips were almost on yours. he was quickly pulled out of his loved trance. you didn’t just dodge him. again. “wha- ya! baby!?” his mouth was hung open, eyes widened as he looked at you. scanning your face. thoughts racing through his head, some worse than others. then he saw a little glimmer of joy on your face, he knows this look in your eyes. you can’t suppress the little smirk, tilting your head to the side, batting your eyelashes up; “what?” you said, clearly teasing. he scoffed in absolute disbelief, betrayal if one could, “what’s wrong with you!?” he tackled you in a bear hug. you yelped, amusingly laughing. “i thought you were mad at me” he whined, leaning his head on your shoulders. “maybe i am, how’d you know?” his head shot back up, you sounded serious but the same grin was still plastered on your face. “oh fuck off stop playing with me, i’ve had enough” he cupped your face, almost aggressively, not letting you move this time, lips pressed on yours as he couldn’t help but giggle in the kiss

maeda riku (𝗌𝗅𝖾𝖾𝗉𝗒 𝗍𝖾𝖺𝗌𝗂𝗇𝗀)

many emotions; offended, hurt, somehow also unbothered, surprised. he’s going through 10 different stages of grief as he’s processing what’s happening. he was tired, eyes heavy, fighting to stay awake as he was doing his nightly skincare routine, you were brushing your teeth next to him. he was looking at you, admiring what he’s able to call his, you leaned down at the exact same moment as he leaned forward to kiss you on the head. he stopped in his tracks, slightly taken aback by your sudden movement but not even thinking twice. you were brushing your teeth, ofc you had to wash your mouth. he just continued on with his own things

you were laying in bed, scrolling through your phone, catching up on some last updates you missed. riku was laying next to you, body turned towards yours as he was staring at you. half asleep, his eyes heavy as he sighed out. he had a habit of boring his eyes into you, he doesn’t even realise it sometimes. you put down your phone, swaying your body around, laying on your side, facing your bf. “you look pretty” his hand cupped your face, brushing your hair behind your ear. you only hum, closing your eyes for a second, feeling his fingers brush over your skin. his are focused on you, a combination of sleepiness and adoration. his hand on your cheek, thumb softly brushing over your skin. he leans forward, slightly hovering over you, hand more firm to keep your head still, leaning down, closing his eyes in the process;

“can you turn the lights off please” you said what? did you not read the room or was he the one misinterpreting the mood he was trying to set? “y-yeah ofc, baby” he stuttered, scooting over to reach for the night stand. “m so sleepy” you yawned, a mischievous smile plastered on your face that he didn’t notice. “goodnight riku” you yawned again; “mhmh goodnight baby” goodnight? where’s his gn kiss? is he hallucinating? he looked at you, eyes closed, peaceful as your soft breathing filled the room. no. no he was not making this up.

you woke up before him, reading your book when you felt the mattress move with your bf waking up. he turned around to you, arms up in a much needed stretch as he hums satisfied. he slept so well, last nights worries long forgotten. “g’morning baby” his hand rests on your thigh, softly massaging your skin. “morning” you smiled at the sight of your boyfriends cute morning look. puffy eyes, messy hair, lips slightly swollen and glossy. you brushed a hand through his hair, he opens one eye to look at you, adjusting to the bright light shining through the blinds. you put your book aside, laying down completely, nestling yourself into riku’s chest, arms around his waist. you can feel the warmth coming from his body. his arms pulling you impossibly closer by the waist. holding you close, his head resting on top of yours.

he feels your head coming out from under his. your eyes still a little drowsy, he smiles softly; “you look so cute right now” he brushed another strand of hair out of your face; “just right now?” you said sarcastically. riku softly laughed, “no, you’re always cute” you hum, earning another laugh from your bf. he looks down at you, his eyes sparkling even at this early hour. you can feel his body shifting as he stretches his neck down more, eyes slowly closing as he leans down. “woman! really!? are you still at it?!” he whined, throwing himself on his back. hands dramatically covering his face as he groans. you can only laugh, laying on his chest as you pull his hands away. “i’m joking, ‘m sorry” you lean your head on his chest, not able to hold your laughter. “i thought i was going crazy yesterday” he whined, laughing in utter disbelief. you giggled into his chest. “don’t do that again, idc about your jokes, put salt in my drinks or whatever but don’t pull this on me again” he pulled you up so you’re hovering over him. “i’m deadass, pinky promise to me” you laugh, earning a death stare from your bf; “ok, ok! i promise!” a deep sigh coming from him; “mygod woman, you’re actually worse than sionnie-hyung and his stupid pranks sometimes-“ he mumbles more to himself than to you; “can i get a kiss now or are you not done finished yet? i missed out on some because of your stupid jokes” you laugh, pressing your lips on his. both smiling into the kiss as you move together in a soft, almost perfect rhythm.

tokuno yushi (𝗇𝗂𝗀𝗁𝗍𝗌 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌)

shock, betrayal, fear, sadness, surprise and anxiety is literally rushing through his body when you move your head away. did you mean to do that? did you not see him? he was literally next to you. 10 different emotions written all over his face, eyes boring into you. you were hanging out with sion, riku and your best friend. you were all seated on the floor around the table, playing card games with some snacks and lots of laughs. yushi was next to you, he sat sideways, leaning back against the couch, his legs open with you settled in between. your side to his chest.

maybe you just didn’t notice? he thought to himself. you looked very immersed in the game but he swore you moved an inch when he leaned down to kiss your cheek. his eyes shut up into the room, catching sion’s already focused on him, having witnessed the moment he couldn’t help but laugh to himself as he saw the expression on your boyfriends face, so you did dodge him!? the night went on, ditching the game as soon as the food arrived. pizza’s being passed around along with drinks and sides. you were joyfully munching on some pizza, yushi took a napkin and brought it up to your face to wipe away some sauce. smiling to himself seeing you so happy eating; “thwanwk wyou” you said, nodding your head satisfied. he could only giggle, pulling your face closer pressing a kiss on your cheek.

huh? another wave of surprise rushing through him. he looked at you. taken aback at the sight of you wiping your sleeve over the exact spot he just touched. did you just wipe his kiss off? stunned is an understatement to the way this man was now questioning every single thing that was on his mind. he scanned your face, desperately looking for some sort of explanation or sedating sign. nothing. you continued eating, focused on the conversation happening infront of you. not looking back at your bf for even a second.

you were all seated comfortably on the couch this time. drinks and snacks on the table, excitedly talking and laughing in a loud conversation. yushi was more quiet than usual, his fingers fidgeting with yours as he listened to the joyful laughter from his hyungs, talking about recent events that happened at their dorm. he wasn’t really interested in what they had to say tbh. his mind wandering elsewhere. he looks up every now and then, sighing, hands brushing through his hair or clearing his throat in an almost awkward way. you looked to the side, catching your bf already staring at you. you could clearly see the pleading look in his eyes, his eyes flickering from left to right, trying to read your thoughts. you smiled, your hand squeezing his, a quick wave of relief visibly seen on his face as he smiled back. ok maybe he was actually just imagining things? you wouldn’t smile if you were mad at him right? i mean, you’re holding his hand now? so you can’t be upset with him.. right?

you were on refill duty, busy filling up the tray with more chips, cookies and anything else you could find. your bf followed behind you, pretending to be helpful. you opened a new bag of sour gummy worms, taking one yourself as you held another one out for yushi to eat. you felt a bit playful, slightly grinned to yourself; “are you having fun, baby?” you eyed your bf, who was nodding his head only humming in response; “mhuh” you held out another gummy worm, but as he tried to take it from you, you pulled it back, his eyes following the candy like it was his prey. “what’s wrong?” you ask, an innocent tone in your voice. “nothings wrong” he shot back. he followed your every move as you scooted closer to him. “what” he asked, your eyes burning on his face, his hands naturally rest on your hips, yours draped around his neck. “nothing” you said this time. he sighs, a breath he wasn’t even aware that he was holding. you pulled him down, slightly, almost unnoticeable but he leaned down, eyes still on yours, lips slightly puckered when you swung your head to the side again. “ehhhhh!?” (yk the ‘eh’ habit yushi has, pls he’s so cute) you burst out laughing, “i’m joking, i’m joking!” he throws his head back, letting out a mix between a whine and cry. you pull his head back, still laughing, your hands cupping his cheeks, pulling him down, pressing repetitive kisses all over his face. “i was just joking, i would never avoid your kisses” you said in between kisses. yushi let out a soft chuckle, relieved, he looks at you, rolling his eyes at your amused look; “that was not funny” he whined. now both giggling, relaxing in your hold as he finally pressed his lips on yours, letting out all the build up tension in his body.

kim jaehee (𝗌𝗍𝗎𝖽𝗒 𝖽𝗂𝗌𝗍𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌)

he’s a little hurt. sadness rushing through him, brain working overhours as he tries to figure out why you avoid his kisses. at first he thought you unintentionally moved your head away, so focused on your notes infront of you. you sat at your desk, one knee up the chair, your head resting on top, eyes drowsy as your pen is ticking against the desk. jaehee was sitting next to you, watching a video on his phone, airpods in his ears so he won’t distract you. a smile on his face, literally from ear to ear, eyes glittering with adoration as he pats your head, not being able to hold back his cuteness aggression. you slightly lean into his touch, a sigh slipping past your lips, jaehee chuckled to himself, leaning forward to give you a kiss on your temple. stopped in his tracks when you move away. what? did you not see him? did you do see him but intentionally moved forward? he leaned back, his hand resting on the backrest of your chair, looking at you. an uneasy feeling rushing through his chest. he doesn’t move, staring at you, deep in his thoughts. you can feel his eyes boring holes in you. you feel bad immediately, your lips pouting as you fight back the urge to throw your arms around him a bear hug, right here and now.

you don’t know how much time passed. you sigh out, throwing your head back, hands covering your face, you cry out dramatically; “i can’t do it,” your bf takes out one of his airpods, his attention back on you, his hand comes up naturally, wanting to pat your back in an encouraging way, but he stops midway, hesitant to touch you. your previous action still fresh on his mind. he softly chuckles, unsure what to say next. you turn your head towards him, lips in a pout, eyes pleading at him. he opens his mouth, rethinking his words before he smiles his infamous smile; “you got this, i believe in you” a smile with his mouth, but it’s not reaching his eyes like it usually does.

you finished studying, well no in all honesty; it finished you. you push your chair back, getting up from the spot you’ve been sitting in for the past 3-4 hours. your bf got cozy on your bed a little while ago, eyes glued to his screen, super focused on whatever is playing. you throw yourself on the bed, face down. you groan into the pillow. jaehee looks up from his spot next to you, giggle at the sight of you. his hand softly stroking your back. after a moment you sat up straight, your attention on your bf who eyes you from the corner of his eyes. “i think i’m going to drop out, i’m so done” he laughs, a genuine laugh; “it’s not funny” you whine. “i know, i’m not laughing at you, you’re just cute” his hand finds yours, intertwining your fingers. “i’m not cute” - “ok princess” he laughs. he looks at you like you’re his whole world, nothing can ever make him feel the way you do. he pulls you closer by your hand, faces inches apart as his eyes flicker from your eyes to your mouth. his hand cups your face as he leans in, until there’s nothing. his hand is empty, the heat of your body left as his eyes open wide. his heart sank to his feet, what did you? why did you pull away, suddenly the thought of your previous move playing over in his head. he swallows loudly, lowering his hand, he’s searching for your eyes, you lift your head, eyes locking with his; “b-baby, what’s wrong?” you stutter, guilt rushing through your body seeing the tears form in his eyes. you scoot forward, throwing your arms around his neck, pulling him down as you hold him close to you. “i’m sorry baby, i didn’t mean it, i was just joking, i’m sorry, p-please, i’m so sorry” you stutter as you mentally slap yourself in the face; you kiss the side of his head, repeatedly, pulling his face back so he’s infront of you. his eyes are confused, relieved, processing. “i thought you were mad at me” voice trembling; “noo ‘m so sorry, i was joking ‘m not mad, i promise” he sighs out in relief, you pull his face closer. pressing kisses on his lips. again and again and again and again. kissing away his tears, until you hear a little giggle coming from him. “don’t do this again, i don’t think i can handle it” he chuckles, “never again, i promise” he laughs, his lips finding yours again. a quick peck, pulling away, dropping his head in the crook of your neck, squeezing your body in a tight hug; “you and your stupid tiktok pranks”

hiroshe ryo (𝖻𝖺𝖼𝗄𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗀𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗇𝗀𝖾)

he’s quick to catch up on your little jokes, used to your pranks and teasing by now. he was on tour, selling out concerts with his members (hehe). you came to support the boys, bags full with snacks. he noticed, immediately. he always greets you with a kiss, it’s not a new sudden thing that you weren’t aware of, there wasn’t even anyone around other than sakuya. he lets out a little “eh?” when you tilt your head away from his. he pulled back, unsure of what was going on, a quick wave of fear going through him. that was until he saw your face. eyes glistening, lips widely smiling, a hint of a little teasing falling on your face. he nods, grinning to himself, already seeing where this is going. he leaned down again, but you were still faster, head swung to the side before he could press his lips on yours. “agh, girl stop playing” he whined, pulling you back in a bear hug, holding you in place as he kissed your cheek. again. and again. you laugh, trying to free yourself from his grip; “nooo,” you giggled. “you and your stupid jokes all the time” he lets go of you, satisfied; “you should stop scrolling on tiktok so much”

the rest of your night it was ryo avoiding your kisses, you whined as he stops your face midway, lips puckered to give him a peck; “nuh uh, go kiss someone else” you hit his arm playfully; “what! ryo! why would i kiss someone else!” he laughed, taking your hands in his as he was holding you back from hitting his shoulder again (playfully!!!!) “idk, you didn’t seem to want my kisses earlier” he was clearly enjoying this. saved by one of his hyungs calling out for him to join a tiktok challenge.

you were all chilling together in the little lounge zone. saku and yushi busy with a new game on their phones, jaehee fully invested in a video he was watching while sion and riku were just chatting. you and your bf were sitting next to each other. he was monitoring the video his manager made of their performance. “you did well today,” your hand came up to brush through his hair. a satisfied hum coming from ryo., too focused on his phone to form a proper sentence. you looked at him, an idea popping up in your mind, you smirked as you took his face in your hands, pressing kisses all over his face, from his cheeks to his forehead to his nose and to his lips, only letting go after multiple yelps came from his lips. he whined, pushing your hands away as a red blush flushed over his face. “ok i get it, i get it” he whines, his members now laughing at the flustered look on his face. “you win, okay” you laughed, satisfied with his reaction. “i always win, baby” you scoffed sarcastically; “i aaalwaaays winnnn” dragging out your words as you hugged your bf, “stop now everyone’s looking” he hid his face in your neck, already preparing for the endless teasing from his members later.

fujinaga sakuya (𝖺𝗋𝖼𝖺𝖽𝖾 𝖽𝖺𝗍𝖾)

girl, just punch him in the face right there and then. he’ll rather throw away all his keychains (poor little babies) and go through the heart break of saying goodbye to all his bagcharms than having to feel the peng in his chest when he realised you repeatedly avoided his (attempts) on kissing you. his heart instantly drops to his feet, he didn’t notice at first, he genuinely thought you were just so into the game you didn’t see him and the way he reached for you. but this time you did, he won a cute plushie for you, winning the battle with the claw machine, you joyfully jumped up, so excited and happy with your new plushie. sakuya looked at you, love and adoration filling his sparkling eyes. he smiled, you smiled, eye contact was definitely there but when he leaned forward, you already spun around, leaving a confused and visibly hurt sakuya behind as you hopped to the next machine. it took a few seconds before he followed, collecting himself and joining you in whatever game you picked out this time

you immediately noticed the change in his behaviour. feeling bad for even pulling this prank on him. ofc you’d never intentionally dodge his kisses, but you can see the look on his face and he’s clearly doubting and second guessing that same thing. his mind is racing; why did you dodge? why would you avoid his touch, did you not like him anymore? did you not feel the same about him anymore? did he upset you? the boy was clearly upset and unable to focus on the game. he swallowed deeply, eyes flickering from you to the machine and back to you. his eyes looked so sad, you could tell by the way he was fidgeting with his hands and feet that he was going through it. you initially thought you could drag this out longer but your heart broke at the sight of your bf (almost as hard as his broke a few moments ago) you dropped the grabber back on the machine, you turned your body towards your bf, pulling him towards you by his arms, his eyes looking everywhere but at you. “sakuuu” you pout, shaking his arms lightly; “don’t be sad. i’m sorry. i was just joking, i saw this trend on tiktok and i wanted to try it out,-“ you let out; “i would never avoid your kisses, ‘m so sorry saku, pls don’t be sad”

you could literally see the relief in his eyes, 7 different emotions rushing over his face, sadness, confusion, realisation, relief, happiness, his eyes were flickering in between yours. desperately trying to see if you were being fr. his face softened, a deep sigh leaving his lips as he threw his head back slightly. “agh” he groaned in a mumbling way; “why do you have to do this to me” it’s his turn to shake you this time, “out of all the pranks you have to pick this one? in public!?” playfully whisper screaming. you laugh, so does he, “i’m sowrry!!! i thought it would be fun” you pouted. “fun!?-“ mouth open in disbelief; “is this your definition of fun? yk what’s fun? playing mermaids in the pool. this is not fun, i thought i was going to die” you laughed at his dramatic face. “i don’t think you’ll die from a lack of kisses saku” - “that’s easy to say for someone who’s kisses never gets dodged” he pointed his finger at you. you giggled, grabbing the hand of his stringent finger; “ohkay ok!! i promise i’ll never ever ever avoid any of your kisses ever again!!!!” you intertwined your fingers, squeezing his hand with yours. “next time you want to pull a prank, please discuss it first, at least let me mentally prepare for it” you giggled; “that’s not how pranks work saku, how would i be able to pull a prank when you know it’s coming?” he shoke his head in absolute seriousness, only the mischievous look in his eyes giving away the playful tone of his words; “exactly my point, no more pranks, let’s live in peace” you both laughed, he took your other hand in his free one, swinging them infront of your bodies, “i’m serious, no more pranks or i’ll tell sion-hyung” - you only laughed at his words; “ok, ok, ok!!! no more pranks, just peace” he nodded his head in approval. a quick peck on the cheek before he spun around on his feet, excitedly looking for a next game to play. you let him drag you around, only the sound of laughter and some cute little stolen pecks on his cheek filled up the rest of your day

[girllblogging777]

IN WHICH you force spencer to help you with the only thing he doesn’t know about. makeup.

the video of your makeup routine pops up on your phone, and you press the mic to record the voiceover, a smile on your face “go ahead baby…”

spencer braces himself, rolling his eyes “remind me why i agreed to do this again ?”

“because you love me, obviously” you answered with a shrug, and a tilt of your head.

“right. i do”

you gesture your hand towards your phone, signalling him to finally start talking. internally, you’re giggling, because you once again got him to indulge in your weird little activities he doesn’t know the first thing about.

“ahem, so… hi, hello everyone, whoever’s watching this video of my beautiful girlfriend making herself even more beautiful. i’m spencer… spencer reid - the boyfriend, and i’m supposed to explain what exactly she’s doing in this clip.”

you grin and give him a thumbs up, motivating him to keep going.

“so, she begins by washing her face with some fancy cleanser, which is very important because it maintains hydration, prevents breakouts, exfoliates and removes dead skin, - too many details ? right, sorry.”

he purses his lips when you glare at him, amused.

“then, she proceeds to use some serum, as well as eye cream and moisturiser, which surprisingly works wonders - don’t ask why i know, just… i know. and she also uses sunscreen, as all of you should because, well… it prevents aging and skin cancer.”

but then, the clip shows you opening your makeup bag, and his eyes widen a bit.

“uh, now’s the part where my IQ slashes to 60… this is uh… foundation ? oh no, that’s concealer to conceal blemishes and eye bags she doesn’t have - damn babe, i could use some of that too. now this is foundation ! she puts it on her hand for… some reason, and applies it with a brush… so, that’s kinda like painting-“

you facepalm yourself. painting ? really ?

“wait, why is this so dark ? oh, she’s drawing shadows with a stick… to try to make it look like her nose is tiny and her cheekbones are sharp… baby, you really don’t need that-“

okay, this was really getting amusing to watch, especially because he was analysing the video so carefully, his brows furrowed as he stared at the phone.

“glitter ! liquid glitter… on her cheeks. wait, that’s why you always look so glowy… gives her that ethereal look, you know ? i very much approve of the glitter. oh, and that’s blush. i know that too. but my favourite blush is the one she gets when i kiss her. or the one she’s got right now because i’m very much embarrassing her-“

he’s looking up at you, smiling like an idiot before you point back at the phone.

“right, sorry. i got distracted. baby, who’s even gonna watch that, seriously ? this is some fancy powder… i don’t exactly know what it’s for, but it originates from ancient egypt !”

“spence, come on”

“this is mascara, i know that too… woah, is that some kind of torture device ? hey, what are you doing to your lashes !”

you giggle, covering your mouth as he goes on about the lash curler.

“this is a pencil. for her lips. she uses it like twenty times a day, but i don’t know why. it tastes bad too. oh, and the lipgloss of course, couldn’t forget the lipgloss.”

his words are slowed down, because he’s too busy staring at your lips on the screen.

“uhm… and now she’s spraying something all over her face ? i’m guessing that means we’re done, damn, that was something. thank you for listening, i hope you enjoyed this video because i sure did - enjoy the video, not voiceovering it”

and with that, you take the phone from his hand, pressing the stop button. he lets out a relieved sigh, looking at you with puppy eyes. “how did i do ?”

“not bad at all, spence. but glitter, really ?”

of course, over the next few weeks, the girls at the BAU never stopped teasing him about it. jj kept calling him a “lovefool” and when emily asked penelope for her lash curler, they both warned him “careful, genius, we’ve got a torture device in the room”

okay, makeup may not have been the subject he mastered the most. but he was still glad he had complied and made the stupid video with you, because the smile that had formed on your face back then might have been the most precious thing he’d ever witnessed.

no makeup needed.

[mariacallous]

Wraps are awful. At best, they ruin perfectly serviceable fillings by bundling them up in a gummy, cold tortilla. At worst, they do this with less-than-serviceable fillings. They’re like a salad, but less refreshing, or like a sandwich, but less filling—a worst-of-all-worlds Frankenstein’s monster, an indistinguishable food slurry wrapped in edible cardboard, like the world’s rudest present. They’re desperation food—“the stuff,” Lesley Suter wrote a few years ago in the food publication Eater, “of refrigerated airport deli cases, conference center lunch trays, and the dark side of a Subway menu.” Every single part of them is the wrong texture.

And yet: This month, McDonald’s announced that it would be bringing back its chicken Snack Wrap, after nearly 19,000 people signed a Change.org petition arguing that it was “easily the best thing” on the chain’s menu. The announcement came a day after Popeyes introduced three new chicken wraps. TikTok is now filled with wrap-recipe cook-alongs and clips of attractive young people hunting for the best chicken-Caesar wrap in their given city.

If you are over 40, this might sound a bit familiar. Wraps were one of the biggest eating fads of the 1990s, after a group of enterprising friends decided to put Peking duck inside a tortilla and see if San Franciscans would buy it. They would, and they did, and then so did the rest of the country. Soon enough, the nation’s leading newspapers were running careful, anthropological explainers about wraps, as though a sandwich were a newly discovered animal species. (The Washington Post, 1996: “They’re called wraps—big, fat, tortilla-wrapped bundles similar to burritos but with a wild choice of international fillings.” The Post again, six months later: “It looks like a giant egg roll.”) Tavern on the Green, which had at that point been selling down-the-middle American classics in New York City’s Central Park for two generations, introduced a pork-and-potato wrap. Around the country, as The New York Times wrote in 1998, “tiny stores selling wraps sprang up like weeds.”

Wraps, like garbage cans, can hold anything; for this reason, they aligned perfectly with the ’90s fascination with so-called fusion food, which combines dishes from different culinary traditions. But more important, they were a vessel for the era’s body anxieties. Extreme thinness was trending; Dr. Richard Atkins had recently reissued his diet guide, one of the best-selling books in history. Wraps were—in marketing, if not always in reality—lower-calorie and lower-carb than normal sandwiches, all that pillowy, delicious bread having been replaced with a utilitarian tortilla forgery that tasted and looked virtuous, especially when it was flecked with spinach or tomato. If traditional sandwiches were greasy and chaotic, the province of children and cartoon slobs, wraps were tidy and sensible, the province of working women with slim hips and pin-straight hair. They were fuel more than food, practicality more than pleasure. The fact that they didn’t taste good was maybe even part of the point. A couple of weeks ago, I was talking with a woman about this story at a party, and she mentioned that she used to eat a lot of wraps. I was incredulous—until she explained, breezily, that she had had an eating disorder for many years.

Trends are pendulums. Wraps and extreme thinness eventually became less fashionable, but not because they were a terrible waste of time and imagination—they became less fashionable simply because new orthodoxy about how to eat and how to look replaced them. Bowls became the dominant healthy-ish working lunch, and a curvier silhouette—less ruler, more Jessica Rabbit; less Kate Moss, more Kim Kardashian—became the aspirational female body type. Third-wave feminism and its attendant media turned dieting (or at least talking about it) into something archaic and deeply uncool. But America’s golden age of body positivity had its limitations: People were still expected to fall within a narrow band of acceptable sizes and shapes, and they were expected to have a particular body by accident, without effort or deprivation or shame or depressing sandwiches. For a while, the feminine ideal was a beautiful woman with a tiny waist, a giant butt, and a hamburger in hand, meat juice spilling down her forearm.

But recently, the mood has shifted again. Hip bones are jutting out once more from above low-rise jeans. The Kardashian sisters have been talking about their “weight-loss journeys.” Estimates suggest that up to one in eight American adults have taken Ozempic or similar drugs since they were introduced. In the extreme, influencers are building social-media empires by bullying women into cutting calories and exercising for hours a day. Everywhere I look, the aesthetic values of the ’90s have returned, even if the vocabulary has changed: Low-carb has been replaced with high-protein; dieting has been replaced with wellness; starvation has been replaced with fasting. Diet culture is being revived, repackaged, and resold for a new era, and so are the foods that fed it.

Two decades ago, when Subway launched a new line of wraps, they were advertised as a “carb-controlled” option compatible with the Atkins diet. In 2024, when Subway launched a new line of wraps, a company press release foregrounded their protein content and promised to “fuel you up without weighing you down.” The Snack Wrap Change.org petition explicitly cites the wrap’s calorie count, which is typically below 300. On TikTok, fitness bros are bragging about the “macros” on their “XL Grinder Salad Wraps,” and women are posting recipes for 300-calorie buffalo-chicken wraps to a chorus of comments such as “YALL THIS IS SOOOOO FILLING. I LOVE HIGH VOLUME LOW CAL EATING 🔥🔥🔥.” A thinness-obsessed nation is turning once again toward joyless tubes of functional slop, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

[lyricwritesprose]

And don't discount those physical conditions either. Not only does chronic pain of all kinds lead to brain fog, but sometimes you perceive the brain fog and do not perceive the chronic pain. The way my rheumatologist explained it to me (while I was trying not to scream on the floor after he poked all the pressure points that tend to indicate fibromyalgia) is that pain is, fundamentally, processed in the brain. Every time a nerve sends a pain signal up to your brain, there is like a little tiny part that effectively makes a judgment call on each signal: is this important or is this background? Important gets through to the rest of your brain. Background gets shunted away. However, having that little imp sitting there all day pressing, "Ignore, ignore, ignore," every thirty seconds does use up some part of your valuable store of Make Brain Go energy, and thus you can essentially become brain-exhausted without doing a single damn thing. Hence. Fog. Having had fibromyalgia since I was in fourth grade, my relationship to pain is so fundamentally fucking weird that I don't always present normal symptoms for anything. This is something to keep in mind if your brain fog goes back to times when your brain was especially engaged in growing or changing (such as teenage). Go at this from both ends, mental and physical.

Old man, is it normal to feel like as if you were awake during surgery all the time when you're 16-19

When I started Therapy I was informed that brain fog and dissociation are not universally normal and that it’s a pretty reliable symptom of stress and other mental health issues, though brain fog can be part of physical conditions. My “brain fog” has never really gone away but has lifted a bit through a combination of meditation, grounding techniques, and ADHD treatment, supplemented by trauma counselling and a stable environment

[mikimakiboo]

Lord Noot lore as promised

So as you know he has antlers, and I decided they would work like deers' antlers

Which means that in late winter, the antlers will fall, and since he is a magical creature and the antlers are quite small to begin with, they grow faster than deers' ones, so in one month and a half approximately they would grow back, all soft with velvet

They stay like that during spring, and in summer Noot will rub the dry velvet off, and he would be back with his usual black wood antlers until the end of winter when the cycle repeats !

It is not an important bit of lore lol but I did find it pretty funny to imagine the gang experiencing this for the first time and seeing Noot arrive only to be like "... didn't you have antlers ???", then when it is time to shed the velvet and Noot has these tiny bloody bits hanging from the antlers they would be panicking like never before

Nightmare kinda forgot to warn them, it has been a while since he let Noot roam around this often and so he had forgotten about the whole antlers cycle thing

[solaris-amethyst]

💫Meteor Shower💫

✨Pairing: pokémontrainer!Mingi x pokémontrainer!gn!reader ✨Prompt: Mingi decides to take you to see the meteor shower and ask you some very important questions. He just have to manage to ask you to go watch the meteor shower first. That shouldn't be too hard now should it? ✨Genre: pokemon au, fluff, romance (Mingi is doing his best to confess), ✨Rating: pg-13 ✨Word count: 7.4k ☀️Authors note: Mingis oneshot is here! Did I have lots of fun writing this one as well? Yes I did! Had to fight autocorrect on how to spell Bagon because it wanted to change it into Bacon all the time... And yes Yunho's and Mingis oneshot is loosely connected to each other😅 let's pretend I didn't post this one day later than I said I would. 🌟Tag list: @hongjoongspoetry @tournesol155

This was so frustrating. You, Mingi and Yunho were supposed to start your journey together through Hoenn after graduating from college. The three of you had even decided on who would pick which starter before you'd visit Professor Birch's lab in Littleroot town.

And now all of that planning had gone to waste.

Yunhos parents had decided that all of them would move to a far away region named Alola after you three had graduated and there was nothing none of you could do or say to put a stop to it. Yunho barely got any time to say goodbye to you two before he was whisked away on a plane.

Therefore the carefully crafted plan the three of you had made for how you'd travel and what you'd finally do on your journey had been ripped apart.

You and Mingi had still gone to get your very first pokémon's together. Yunho had specifically told the both of you to start your journey together and to make sure to do all you both wanted to do. He had then also whisked Mingi away from you and the two of them had whispered to each other looking very serious as they were bent trying to hide behind a plant as they spoke. Only problem was the plant may have been tall but they were significantly taller than said plant.

You had ended up laughing so much at their silliness you'd almost tripped over your own feet when making your way over to ask them what on earth they were doing. To which both had fumbled and almost knocked the plant over as they both denied even talking to each other.

And now here you and Mingi were, partners next to each other as you wandered into a new little town called Misty Village which is located in-between Slateport city and Mauville city. Mingi was holding his partner torchic in his hands, the tiny little chick pokémon could not keep up with her trainers long legs and would constantly make a fuss if she had to walk on the ground next to Mingi, resulting in your friend carrying her most of the time to please "her royal highness" as he had lovingly dubbed her. Your partner on the other hand was happily trotting next to you, finding joy in just walking with you. You glanced down at your mudkip who was easily one of the happiest pokémons you'd ever come across. There never seemed to be a dull moment with him around and was there one thing he loved doing then it was sightseeing.

Sometimes when you two sat up camp he'd find the most scenic place to just sit and take it all in, often your whismur would join him in sightseeing while your third and currently final pokémon shroomish would scoff and follow you instead like a little shadow.

It was funny really how both you and Mingi had three pokémon each, the two of you hadn't meant to have the same amount of friends but it just happened so naturally that neither of you questioned it. You're brought out of your daydreaming when you hear Mingi chuckle for himself causing you to look at your friend curiously.

"What are you giggling about?" You ask, taking in his smile and how his eyes are shining with such happiness.

I wonder if he'd ever look at me with such shining eyes. You muse to yourself before focusing back on what Mingi is about to say.

"I just realized I got two pokémon's who refuse to walk next to me because I walk too fast for their little legs and that both want to be carried all the time. Imagine if all of my friends ends up like Torchic and Bellossom?" He asks and torchic looks up at him with curious eyes letting out a little "Torchic?" as Mingi smiles and give her little head a kiss.

"Hmmmm it's either that or they turn out like Bagon who likes headbutting you from time to time." You mention and with that he giggles again.

"Then if I can choose I'll take a few more passenger princesses rather than more friends who will headbutt me or perhaps bite me." He says, thinking back to the most recent time bagon had headbutted him in the stomach.

He knows the little dragon pokémon means well and that that's how he shows affection. Mingi just wishes from time to time that he would show affection in a less brutal way. But the last time, Mingi had made a little cardigan for his friend with a pair of wings. It hadn't looked good at all and he had worked weeks upon weeks to sew the cardigan but bagon had been so happy he'd shed tears upon seeing the wings on the cardigan and then he had promptly headbutted Mingi in affection.

It was to the point where he never took it off and if Mingi tried just so he could wash it his friend would run and hide behind your leg, peeking out and scolding him from afar.

"Awww but he's just showing his affection for you Mingi! Plus you literally gave him wings, the one thing he wishes he could have so he could fly. That probably meant more to him than you know." You muse, nudging Mingis arm with your elbow.

"You're right, I know. Bellossom have now started to ask for a little bracelet... she often points at mine and then show her own little arms." He confesses and you feel your heart slowly melting at the affection he has for his friends.

"I think that would be cute, I could teach you how to bead a bracelet if you'd like? I just need to buy some material first." You tell him.

"You'd do that for me?"

"I'd do anything for you."

"I'd do anything for you as well Y/n." He says sincerely and he's reminded of the two tickets tucked away securely in one of the many pockets in his backpack.

Two tickets to the meteor shower in Mossdeep City at their Space Center. He wished to ask you if you wanted to go with him there and watch the meteor shower. It would be the perfect place to confess and ask if you wanted to be his partner. Yunho had encouraged him before he had to leave for the plane that he should take this time to actually confess to you. Claiming that it was easy to see you also had feelings for him, something Mingi had denied and said that couldn't possibly be true. Then Yunho had the audacity to say alright bet! So now if Yunho was correct he'd owe him lunch, drinks and dessert next time they see each other.

What Mingi doesn't know is that you also have feelings for him, it's just that you don't know how to bring it up and tell him about it. You had once confessed to Yunho about how you had tried once when you and Mingi worked on a project together in college only to chicken out in the last minute to which Yunho had tried to urge you to confess with a beaming smile and an attitude that said just do it you won't regret it.

"Hey Y/n, I was just wondering... Do you think you'd like t-" Mingi starts but is interrupted by your mudkip.

"Mudkip! Mud!" Your partner screeches in joy as you see him rush forward in happiness.

"Mudkip! Wait don't run too far!" You call after the little blue creature, sprinting after him in worry that you'd loose him in the crowd at this new place. Mingi sprints after you as well trying to keep his eyes on both you and your partner. He doesn't want to loose sight of either of you.

Your partner just calls back to you in happiness as he jumps into a fountain in the middle of the square you have entered where he swims around in happiness and splashes about.

"Mudkip! You can't just run away like that! What if I lost sight of you or you got lost!" You scolded your friend whose only response is to splash some water in your face and jump around laughing adorably.

"God you're impossible to stay mad at." You sigh as you bring out a towel to dry your face.

"Mudkip next time just tell us where you wanna go instead of running away and giving us both a heart attack thinking we might loose you." Mingi joins in on the scolding and the two of you can hear an older woman who's sitting at the fountain chuckle about how the two of you look like two parents scolding their child.

Does it cause Mingis face to turn beet red and yours to heat up to the point you think your face is on fire? Yes, yes it does and the two of you are quick to splutter out apologies to her for the commotion you four caused.

"Oh don't worry dearies, it's nice seeing trainers really care for their pokémons, it warms my heart. And this sweetheart just seemed to want to have some fun." She pets your mudkip who had swam up to her in curiosity as she spoke.

"I hope he didn't splash you with any water when he jumped in?" You ask worriedly, ready to offer up your towel in case she'd say yes.

"Oh no he didn't. I'm completely dry."

"That's good, Mudkip you and I will have to have a talk about running away after this." You grumble and he just nods happily as he swims up to the two of you and jumps up on the stones so you can pick him up with your towel to dry him.

"Well... At least we know people here are nice." Mingi mumbles as he looks around, he's slightly bummed he didn't manage to ask you about the tickets but the day isn't over, he will just try again soon he tells himself.

"We have a festival going on here in Misty Village if you two would be interested? There's all kinds of things to do, eat food, learning how to do pokéblocks, vendors selling things and more." The old lady kindly tells the two of you before she stands up and bids the two of you goodbye.

"Pokéblocks? I wonder what that is." You ask as you hold mudkip, still wrapped in your towel.

"Perhaps we should go and find out? It must be something for our pokémons and I wouldn't mind learning something new if It could benefit her royal highness." He says as torchic chirps out in happiness at her nickname.

"Let's go and see what they have to offer!" You grab his hand and wander into the crowd and towards all the different stalls.

Mingi has to fight the blush on his cheeks from you holding his hand and he can see how torchic laughs at his blushing face, she's clearly enjoying him being flustered over you taking action and holding his hand.

"Don't you laugh at me." He grumbles towards her quietly.

"Hey look! That stall is teaching about berries and their benefits! Let's go there! I wanna know more so we know what to pluck next time we see them!" You gasp as a young man is standing at a stall, berries lying neatly on his table with small notes next to each one.

"Hello! Care to learn a bit about berries and their benefits? You'll get some berries at the end of it if you'd like?" He asks when he spots the two of you walking closer.

"Yes please! We wanna know more!" You say happily and Mingi looks at you from behind with a fond look.

"Mudkip!" Your partner agrees with you.

"Of course I'll tell you everything you need to know!" The young man smiles happily as the four of you stand looking at what he's got displayed.

"Are all of these all of the berries you can find in the wild?" Mingi asks as he eyes the wide array of colorful berries on the table.

"Oh no these are only a handful of them! There are about 43 different kinds of berries in the wild here in Hoenn." The vendor tells him and both you and Mingi stare at him with wide eyes.

"43?!" The both of you exclaim at the same time and the vendor laughs heartily at your reaction.

"I know I reacted the same way when I first learned how many there were and they all do different things you know!" He picks some up and showcases them for you.

"I think I recognize some of these." You murmur as you point towards what you think is an oran berry and a pecha berry. "That one is an oran berry right? It helps heal your pokémon when they need energy and the pink one is a pecha berry which helps heal your pokémon if it's been poisoned right?"

"You would be correct! This one over here is commonly mistaken for a pecha berry but it's actually a magost berry and is more commonly used in either cooking or when making pokéblocks!" You and Mingi look closer at the two pink berries he's holding up, you note that the pecha berry has more of a heart shape and is a darker pink closer to the stem and down at the bottom is a lighter pink while the magost berry is just one solid pink and round instead of heart-shaped.

"Hey what kind of berry is this one?" Mingi asks as he picks up an orangy red berry that is round with what looks like spikes coming out of it.

"That is a tamato berry, it's very very very spicy. I would not recommend eating it or giving it to any of your pokémons. It will only lower their speed, if you wanna spice up your cooking it could be good to use in small quantities unless you can tolerate spice of course."

You look at Mingi as the vendor speaks and you can practically see the cogs turning in his head thinking that it cannot be that spicy and you just know he wants to try it despite being warned not to.

"Mingi... don't do it..." You try and take the berry away from him but that causes him to only turn his body away holding the berry as high as he can.

"No! I wanna try it."

"Mingi please last time you ate something super spicy you couldn't taste anything for three weeks."

"It can't be that spicy!" He argues as he looks at you with those big round eyes and you groan knowing you cannot say no or change his mind.

"Fine but don't come to me whining that you can't taste anything or that it's too hot for you!" You grumble, knowing that if he came to you whining that it's way too hot and spicy you'd try and help him in a heartbeat.

"Are you sure you wanna try it?" The vendor asks and Mingi just nod before taking the largest bite he could out of the darn berry. You stare at him as he chew slowly but surely and then he swallows it and at first you'd think there was nothing wrong at all until you notice the small beads of sweat traveling down his forehead and then you notice the red starting to creep up from his neck.

"T-torchic?" His partner looks at him concerned before wiggling out of his grip and jumping onto the table and runs over to you with worried eyes.

"Torchic?" She leans into you and you pet her little head as you watch Mingi go bright red in the face as he tries to pretend everything is fine.

"Mingi... you okay?" You ask, fearing he might pass out from how red he is.

"I'm... I'm fine." He says and he manages to uphold that facade for about three seconds before he starts gasping trying to cool his mouth down.

"It's hot! Y/n it feels like my mouth is on fire!! What do I do what do I do what do I do?!" He waves his hands around as he takes deep gulps of air and you panic looking around for something to cool him down.

"Umm water... we need water!" You start searching your bag but can't find anything. "Argh! Okay uhhh.. Oh! Mudkip!" You turn to your partner and point towards Mingi.

"Use water gun on Mingis face to help cool him down!!" You say and you can barely hear Mingis little "wait what" before mudkip blasts him with a stream of water in his face.

"Do you feel better now?" You ask hesitantly as he shakes his head trying to get rid of the water from his face.

"Yeah... Thanks to the both of you, I genuinely thought I was gonna explode from how hot it was."

Torchich runs back up to her trainer and look at him with worried eyes, is there another thing she absolutely hates then it's when one of you gets hurt. She's always very sweet and right now she's doing her best to check up on Mingi as tears forms seemingly as if she thinks he was hurt very badly.

"Hey, hey your royal highness, don't be upset. I promise I'm okay, I was just dumb trying to impress Y/n but I made a fool out of myself. I won't do it again okay?" He says with a gentle smile as he crouches down to her eye level. She looks at him with teary eyes before running up to him to nuzzle his face chirping.

Mingi picks her up and kisses her little head before turning to mudkip and crouching down to him.

"Hey buddy, thanks for blasting me with the water, it really helped." He smiles and mudkip jumps forward into his arms with happiness.

"I think we should abandon any thoughts of eating things people say are super, super, super spicy for the rest of the day." You mutter as you place your hand on your hip and he looks up at you and chuckles.

"Were you worried about me?" He teases with a smirk and you roll your eyes.

"Nooo..."

"You sure?"

"Okay maybe a little worried, you looked like you'd explode with how red you were." You confess trying to act nonchalant even though you had felt panic for a split second before remembering that mudkip was a water type and could therefore help out in the situation.

The two of you apologized to the vendor for the scene Mingi caused by going against what he had recommended and the young man only laughed and said that it was nice seeing two young adults actually interested in berries to the point where he gifted the two of you a book on berries in the wild and other herbs you can eat or use to help heal your pokémons. The two of you had tried to deny it but he insisted, saying it might be for Mingis best if you two had one so he don't go around eating other berries he shouldn't and end up in trouble again.

That had made Mingis face burn in embarrassment.

The two of you then wander down the street after bidding the man goodbye. The street is filled with people, old and young and their pokémons. It's surprisingly cozy and the atmosphere is great and it's a nice break from always being out on the road and sleeping in sleeping bags under the stars.

Which is great until it starts raining and the two of you have to try and set up a tent in panic. Leading to both of you sitting in said tent absolutely drenched.

"Hey Mingi." You start trying to muster up the courage to tell him you like him more than a friend since Yunho had encouraged you to do so a few months back.

"Yeah?"

"You know I-" You start but when you make eye contact with him it's like the words get lodged in your throat and you can't get it out. "You know what never mind, I forgot what I was gonna say." You say laughing awkwardly.

"Mudkip! Mud Mudkip!" Your partner points one of its stubby little legs at you with an accusatory tone as if scolding you for not telling him.

Mudkip did after all know about your feelings for your friend. You had told him plenty of times during restless nights when Mingi snored away in his sleeping bag. Your other friends knew as well as they sometimes refused to go to sleep if you were awake, shroomish would plop himself in your lap and just sit there, sometimes staring at you, sometimes chatting with you and one time he had even put you to sleep by using sleep powder on you. Something you had berated him for the next day and then promptly after that thanked him for the good nights sleep.

"Hey buddy I'm sure whatever Y/n wanted to tell me will come back soon. It happens to the best of us that we forget sometimes. Plus you know you can tell me anything, I'll always listen." He says in that lower voice he gets when he's being very sincere and mudkip looks at him and then huffs looking away to the side.

"Speaking of that ummm I was wondering if you want-" Some kids rush in between the two of you laughing as they chase a balloon and it stunts Mingi who once again feels like his moment to ask you about the meteor shower has been lost.

"What did you want to say Mingi?" You look at him, mentally making sure him and your partners are okay.

"Oh nothing we can take it a bit later I promise." He says before he barely have time to process the fact that he failed yet again.

You nod and look around seeing a place you wanna go to, it’s a stand where you can learn a bit more about taking care of your pokémons and they seem to be giving out bags with things inside for people visiting.

“Oohhh I wanna go over there! They seem to be helping with pokémon care and I’d like to ask them for some tips on taking care of Whismur, do you wanna come with me?” You turn to face Mingi who looks thoughtful for a moment before noticing another place.

“I think I’m gonna go over there to the flower stand, Bellossom would probably enjoy all the flowers.” He says as he thinks of his little grass friend and you smile fondly at him.

“Mudkip wanna come with me?” You ask your partner who is still in Mingis arms.

“Mud!” He wiggles out of Mingis grip and then jumps down onto the ground before trotting up to you happily.

“Shall we meet over at the gigantic flower pot in twenty minutes?” You ask thinking that that would be an appropriate time for the both of you to explore the two places you’d like to visit.

“Sure! See you soon?”

After that the two of you split up and as you walk over to the stand you’re greeted by a kind lady who asks what she can help you with and you tell her you’d want some tips on taking care of your whismur, letting her know that she often cries and doesn’t like when her fur gets wet leading to you finding it hard to clean her if she’s gotten extra dirty.

“Ah I see, it could just be that she has a very gentle nature, sometimes if they do they can feel a lot of things be very overwhelming all of the time. For cleaning her I’d suggest you try using a damp cloth instead of water, that way it might not feel as unpleasant as she thinks it is.” The lady explains and you nod thinking that what she has said might actually be true.

“Would it be okay if I brought her out so you could just perhaps do a little check?” You ask wanting to make sure her tips would actually work on her and not make it all worse.

“Of course, I’ll gladly have a look at her.” She says and you’re quick to bring whismur out of her pokeball.

“Hi Whismur.” You say happily as she looks around before spotting you and she perks up giving you the cutest little smile as she runs up to you.

“Whismur!” She greets you happily and the lady smiles at your interaction as you let her hold your hand in her little paws.

“Just from this interaction alone I can tell you care a lot for her and that she’s well taken cared of. She is probably the happiest Whismur I’ve ever seen and I’ve seen a lot of them. None have been this happy as yours.”

“Wait really?!” You look at her in surprise before looking down again, happiness spreading in your chest at the thought of getting such nice praise for how you’re raising your pokémon.

“Yes really, Whismurs can be notoriously hard to take care of since they have such sensitive hearing and a lot of people dub them as cry babies so seeing yours calm, happy and generally content is a sight to behold. Good job!” Her praise makes you grin, it’s not often you get praise and getting this good praise from someone who knows what they’re talking about is something else.

She then brings over a damp towel and hands it to you so you can see if whismur will prefer it over just water. You take your time at the stall, asking her lots of questions regarding pokémon care and getting more tips for how to continue to take care of them in the best way possible.

In the other stall Mingi is sitting on the ground with his torchic on his left side as bellossom dances around in happiness at being surrounded by flowers everywhere. The vendors had told him he could make his own bouquet if he wanted to and hand it to someone he cared about and his first thought had been to create something for you. You had once during college mentioned offhandedly how you’d love to be gifted a bouquet of flowers some day and now he had his chance to gift you a bouquet he had made all on his own.

“Okay Torchic, Bellossom you two will have to help me here.” He leans down and gathers them closely as he lowers his voice to tell them what’s going on. ”I want to make a bouquet for Y/n but I need your help in picking which flowers goes nicely together. Think you two can help with that?”

Torchic jumps up and down before nodding happily while bellossom does some little twirls around as she puts her little paws up to her face looking absolutely delighted at the request.

”Bell, bellossom!” She’s quick to point out some baby’s breath together with some sunflowers as she looks at Mingi with intensity.

”Okay yeah we can go with those two.” He nods as he plucks some and starts building the bouquet together.

”Do you two think I should add some carnations?” He adds as he holds up some darker red ones together with a few white ones as well and torchic nods seemingly approving of his choice to add the two pretty flowers.

The three of them sit for a while building the bouquet together, torchic demands he add some thistles as she spots them to which he does because who is he to deny her anything? He soon sits in silence, tongue sticking out lightly as he concentrates on making the bouquet pretty and after what felt like an eternity he thinks he’s done. He had added som greenery to give it variation and made sure to show both his little friends for approval before he went and asked for a ribbon to tie it all together.

”Think Y/n will like this?” He asks and to his surprise his third and final pokémon decides to come out of his pokéball just at that moment.

”Bagon?”

Mingi is surprised, usually this little fella stays in his pokeball unless Mingi calls for him. Bagon ignores him as he studies the bouquet intensely, his little arms crossed making it look like he’s thinking really hard of it’s okay or not.

“Torchic tor?”

“Bell bellossom!”

“Bagon Bagon!” The dragon nods after he and the little ladies seemingly discuss it back and forth before all three giving Mingi their approval.

“Thanks you three.” He chuckles finding their actions funny. All three of them looked at him encouragingly as if saying you got this go ask them about it now! Bagon was even holding out its little paw as if he were doing a fist bump upwards to show that he was supportive.

“Oh what a lovely bouquet you’ve made! So full of beautiful meanings.” One of the older ladies holding a bucket of flowers says as she passes Mingi.

“Oh thank you! And meaning? What do you mean by that?” He asks curiously to which she responds by telling him that every flower has a hidden meaning and then explains what the flowers he’s picked means. By the end of her explanation after she’s walked off his cheeks are tinted a rosy color before looking at his partners.

“Did you two know about this when you helped me pick out the flowers?” He asks suspiciously and torchic just giggles before hiding behind bagon and his little cardigan while bellossom just gives him an innocent smile pretending like she doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

He clears his throat as he tries to will away the blush that's crept up his cheeks after knowing the meaning behind his bouquet and stands up.

"I think the time is up now, let's go and see Y/n and hopefully I can ask about the tickets this time."

The four of them wander out and towards the big flower pot you two had agreed to meet at. It seems he's the first one there so they stay there and wait for a while before spotting you, mudkip and whismur making your way over there. When you spot him you wave excitedly before holding up a big bag as if to show off the presents you got from the stall you had visited in excitement.

"Look at all the things I got for us Mingi!" You say as you open the bag for him to peer inside and see the large amount of things you had been gifted.

"Woah that's a lot of things."

"It is and I learnt so much so now I will be even better at taking care of our pokémons! I can teach you as well if you'd like."

"I'd like that." He smiles before looking down at the flowers and then he holds them out quickly towards you.

"I made these for you."

"For me?" He can hear the surprise in your voice and when you take them from his hands he dares glance at you and nod. "You said you wanted a bouquet of flowers once in college remember?"

"You remember that?" You asks not believing he'd actually remember your offhanded remark about being gifted flowers.

"I remember everything you tell me." He mumbles as bagon nudges his leg trying to make him remember what they wanted him to do.

"Hey Y/n do you think you'd like to go with me to umm."

"Yes? Go with you where?" You ask looking at him, part of you feel hopeful that perhaps he'd ask you to go with him somewhere special and when Mingi makes eye contact with you the words get stuck once again in his throat and he doesn't really know what to say.

"Go with me to the stand over there? They're teaching you to make pokéblocks." He can hear bagon groan down near his leg and he opts to ignore him knowing that if he looks down the little dragon type will 100% scold him from backing down once again.

"Oh sure!" You say, trying to hide the disappointment since you had thought that Mingi would ask you something else entirely after gifting you flowers.

Your little gang ends up sitting on the ground with two pots in front of you as the instructor goes over how to make pokéblocks for your pokémons, describing them as a kind of snack a lot of them will prefer and going over the different colors which co-respond to a different flavor and how certain pokémons will prefer one flavor over the other.

You and Mingi sit and concentrate as you put in the berries you've chosen and the other ingredients, stirring around as you make sure nothing will burn. Mudkip looks at what you're doing with concerned eyes, he trusts you a lot but right now he's not so sure he trusts what you're doing with how much steam is coming out from the pot.

"Hey look! I managed to make some blocks!" Mingi shows off his blocks proudly from the little dispenser you'd pour the batter into to then plop one block out at a time. They are a bit wonky looking and you weren't sure they were supposed to look like that at all.

"You sure those are edible?" You ask and he gasp at you looking offended.

"You don't think my pokéblocks are edible?! I put in blood sweat and tears into these." He says dramatically before plopping three of them out.

"Here guys don't you wanna try some? I made them for you!" He beams and his pokémons eye the pokéblocks with suspicion. Torchic is the brave one and tries one and she makes the strangest face, looking similar to how you feel when eating a lemon, before running around in circles and crying out seemingly how bad it was.

"Don't think she approved of it." You muse forgetting to momentarily stir your pot.

"Whismur! Whis!" Whismur is quick to remind you in fear of yours turning out worse than what she had just witnessed.

"It can't be that bad Torchic!" Mingi looks at her surprised before looking at his other friends, bellossom is pretending to be asleep while bagon just stares at him with a don't you even dare type of face.

"Here I'll try one and prove they're not bad!" He says before plopping one in his mouth and he chews a bit trying to pretend it tastes good but his facial expressions betray him.

"That bad huh?"

"Yeah ummm this needs some more practice I think, eugh don't worry guys I won't feed you any more until I'm better at this." He makes sure to throw his away.

"This is why you leave the cooking to me." You boast proudly and Mingi gives you a massive side eye.

"I don't think they should be a burnt color like yours are." He hits back and you look down at your blocks.

"They're not that bad! Here Whismur! Try one!" You hold one out and she just pretends she couldn't hear you, looking around hoping someone would save her. "Mudkip? You wanna try one?" You try again and he trots up and sniffs at one of them before taking the tiniest bite with a polite smile.

"See!"

"He is not enjoying that at all!"

"It can't be that bad!"

You quickly eat one as well only to start coughing at how bad the taste was.

"Yeah no no ew that wasn't good at all... I think I need more practice at this as well." You mutter before apologizing to mudkip for having to eat that.

"I guess making pokéblocks isn't our forte at all."

The two of you start snickering and giggling after making eye contact finding this whole scenario funny. You both agree that if you are to create any for your friends that the two of you will work together and always taste before giving any to your friends to make sure they actually taste well.

"Oh yes you wanted to ask me something earlier Mingi? When those kids ran between us and right before we split up?" You ask curiously, it's been on your mind the entire day the fact that he's tried to ask you something but every time something has come up which has made him unable to properly ask what he wants to.

"Oh hehe." He laugh as the two of you stands up ready to walk out from this place and bagon stares at Mingi with so much intent ready to do something drastic in case Mingi doesn't ask you this time.

His patience is running thin.

"Oh it's nothing don't worry about iitt!" Mingi barely has any time to finish his sentence before bagon headbutts him in the back causing him to fly forward and land onto of you with an oof.

"Ah! I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen! Bagon! You can't knock into me like that." He berates the pokemon before checking up on you.

"Ar you okay? Did I hurt you?? I'm so sorry..." He sits up and makes sure you're okay.

"I'm fine my butt hurts a bit but otherwise i'm fine.. Are you okay?" You ask.

"I am. Okay here goes nothing I guess." He says taking a deep breath before continuing. "Y/n, do you want to go and watch the meteor shower in Mossdeep city with me at their space center? I got two tickets and I would like to go with you if you want to? I know we weren't suppose to head to Mossdeep next but I'd really want to do this with you." He blurts out before he lets the opportunity go again.

"Meteor shower?" You say before your eyes light up. "Of course I wanna go! Oh Mingi that would be so much fun!" You say as you also think about how it would be pretty romantic to watch the stars fall together with him.

"Yeah?" His gummy smile is making an appearance again and you giggle at bagons proud look behind the two of you before nodding.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

It takes a few days to get to Mossdeep city but the two of you manages to hitch a ride with constable Jenny to the closest port to take a boat over so you'd get there quicker than you would walking. You still have the flowers Mingi had gifted you sticking out of your bag and every time you looked at him your heart warmed at the sight. Getting these tickets to the space center wasn't an easy task meaning Mingi had gone out of his way to get them behind your back just so he could ask you to go with him.

A part of you wondered if this was a date or not. Perhaps you should take Yunhos advice and confess to him when the two of you are watching the meteors. What could go wrong? Yunho had insisted that Mingi wouldn't reject you and that you'd get the outcome you were hoping for so perhaps it would be a good idea to tell him today?

Those were the thoughts running through your head as the two of you got off the boat and steered your way towards the space center. It was almost time for the meteor shower to start since the boat had taken up most of the day when traveling.

"Hello and welcome to Mossdeeps space center, are you here for the meteor shower?" The receptionist asks kindly as you two enters, hand in hand.

"Hello! We are! I got two tickets right here." Mingi tells her before handing over the tickets. Once they were scanned the lady let you both inside and told you to go up the stairs to gain access to the top floor to be able to sit outside and enjoy the beautiful show.

"I'm so excited to see the beautiful show, especially now that I'm here with you." You confess, cheeks heating up slightly at the confession.

"I'm just glad you said yes." He admits, cheeks turning a slight rosy color as well.

Mingi guides you to a spot in the middle of the open balcony where a little bench is sitting and the two of you sit down together. Your hands still linked together as if it will help the both of you to gain courage to say what you want to say.

In Mingis head Yunhos words from right before he left for the plane echos. "You should confess Mingi, I know they'll say yes I promise they feel the same about you. Go for it." Should he go for it? He thinks he should, it's the perfect place to confess and if he doesn't do it now he might regret it for the rest of his life.

In your head unknowingly to Mingi, Yunhos words are also echoing in your head. You think back to that conversation and wonder if Yunho knows something you don't, you haven't been able to figure it out if he's telling the truth about Mingi liking you back or if he's just being a nice friend who's encouraging you to speak your truth. And in this moment you decide it's best to do so. No matter what the consequences might be.

"Hey Mingi I need to tell you something."

"Hey Y/n I need to tell you something."

The two of you look at each other in surprise before chuckling at the fact that you both said the same thing at the same time.

"Sorry you go first Mingi."

"But you spoke first." He says and you shake your head insisting he should talk first thinking he just wants to tell you something normal.

"Okay then... Here goes nothing. I really like you Y/n, not like like you only as a friend, I like you more than a friend." He starts before looking you in the eyes and holding your hands in his tightly. "I love you like a lot. More than I think I realize myself and I just had to tell you before I explode from keeping it inside for much longer." He confesses sincerely and you gape at him in surprise, never would you have thought that he'd confess to you.

"It's okay if you don't feel the same I just had to tell you."

"I love you too!" You blurt out to stop his ramblings.

"Wait really?"

"Yes! For a long time now actually, ever since college when we first met, that's when my crush started which then developed into something more. I was actually gonna confess to you as well but you beat me too it." You smile and the smile Mingi gives you could rival a thousand suns before he dives in for a hug.

"Would you want to be my partner?" He asks quietly as if he's scared you'd say no right after confessing you have feelings for him.

"I'd love nothing more than that Mingi." You tell him before lightly holding his chin after breaking the hug. "May I give you a kiss?"

"You may." He giggles and you lean in giving him a quick little kiss on his lips before settling in next to him, leaning your head on his shoulder as he leans his head on yours.

The two of you continue to cuddle as the meteor shower starts up in the sky, everything is just perfect in this moment in time and you couldn't be happier. Perhaps you need to thank bagon later on for giving Mingi the push he needed to ask you to come here with him.

Speaking of said pokémon, he and the others bursts out of their pokéballs to join you in watching the sky. Some cuddle in your laps while others sit on the ground in front of you enjoying the scenery.

"You know what I just realized?" Mingi muses and you tilt your head up to look at him. "I owe Yunho a drink, lunch and dessert now the next time we see him."

Yeah you think, perhaps neither of you would have had the courage to confess had he not urged the both of you to say something.

But for now you'd enjoy the perfect evening with your friends and boyfriend.

[alllgator-blood]

I need to ask, because of it I CAN'T SLEEP AT NIGHT.

How do you make, not only long comics, but also VERY FAST. Like- I read one part that has 2/3 like pictures and then next day are again 2 or 3 and I'm like grabing my head and just screaming HOW??? (Also these comics are very yummy and I feel like getting stabbed after each one but in a good way cuz I like being stabbed (Kallamar got a bit too relatable in that one comic 💔))

THAT'S REALLY IMPRESSIVE AND ALSO SHOCKING FOR ME. Like- what is your secret??? 🤨🤨🤨

HAHAHA OH GOD I DID NOT THINK I WAS VERY FAST BUT- I'll try to do a list of tips I thought of off the top of my head, in case any of these help you or anyone else??? I try to not gatekeep anything I do because I think the world needs more comics honestly, so I tend to ramble a lot when giving advice.

click the read more to unleash many paragraphs of tips:

Okay these tips aren't 100% about being fast but also being efficient/keeping a good pace, I hope that's okay!

1: Originally the first tip was "draw every day even if only a little bit, so you don't lose steam" but I'm sure everyone has said that at some point. So I'll just say I Pavlov myself into drawing better by having little "rituals". Liiike...the only time I have energy drinks is when I draw. Or the only time I light candles is when I draw. I have specific songs I put on when I START drawing to get me into the Zone. I find that when certain circumstances are met, it helps the time fly by 'cause I stay focused enough to keep a steady pace. After a while of doing those things when you start drawing for the day, it tricks the brain into going "oh shit, we're drawing now? aight bet" and then you just. Go

2: SETTING DEADLINES FOR SURE HELPS. It's definitely nice hearing from people that there's no Real Pressure on me when I post comics...for free...of characters I have no obligation to draw...just for the enjoyment of doing it. BUT I work best when I have a fire lit under my ass, so I set deadlines like "I need to post this on saturday/sunday at noon so the algorithm will actually let people read this comic". I usually slip those into a description so it's a very casual announcement and I feel okay with postponing it if necessary, rather than making a text post like "NEW COMIC SATURDAY!!1" and then feeling terrible if I can't finish it in time. Lmao

3: I just fuckin GO when I make a draft. Like for this new comic I'm working on, I just sat down and started drawing like the world was gonna end; there's a lot of panels with very off model characters/wonky anatomy because I just wanted to sketch enough for future me to get the idea. I try not to look back on my progress for any reason besides continuity, because then I see how long the comic's getting and I sweat bullets. Literally so many comics have been ditched because I got spooked thinking about how hard it'd be to finish them. So if you just shut your brain off and don't think about the technicalities of it, just keeping mind the story you want to tell- it's SO much easier to complete. Breaking comics into parts is ABSOLUTELY necessary for completion :')

4: Maybe the most important piece of advice I learned from a published comic artist, is that people are gonna look at your comic panels for an average of like 10-20 seconds and will move on to the next. You don't wanna spend hours on a single panel that basically only exists to convey a tiny bit of the plot. So I like to draw just *enough* to convey the general environment/mood, but not feel obliged to put in a million little extra details. I really hate doing backgrounds but my art, to me, feels incomplete without them. So I'll add like PART of a room or a general Nature area just to say hey, this takes place in the temple/outside/whatever! As long as your story is engaging and the pacing is comfortable, I don't think people will mind (or notice) if you take shortcuts.

5: I listen to specific things to help maintain a good speed while not being distracting or understimulating. During the sketch stage, I usually have something slow/instrumental going so I can focus on the little movie that plays in my head and draw what I feel like a scene would look like. It also helps not distract me from what they're saying. For tasks like lining/coming up with color schemes/reworking dialogue, I have something more stimulating playing but not like distracting, so a video essay I've already watched or fast music I already heard a lot of times. THEN for the absolute fucking slog that is the coloring stage, I blast shitty breakcore or put on an actually interesting video so I can zone out while I click my mouse ten billion times to fill in all the colors >:)

Basically, comics are funny to me because it's like a frantic fucking race to the finish line before your motivation completely abandons you. There's been a few comics where I was ABSOLUTELY sick of even looking at them, I think it was specifically "in little ways, everything stays" where the comic itself is sweet and inoffensive but OMFG. I WAS SO TIRED OF DRAWING GRASS AND REWORKING DIALOGUE. KALLAMAR AND LESHY JUST HUG IT OUT ALREADY SO I CAN STOP DRAWING.

This post probably reads like "I HATE COMICS!! I HALF ASS THEM TO GET THROUGH!!" but I really do love making them and it's kinda the only thing I like doing nowadays, so the other aspect of why I get them done fast comparatively is just that it's what I spend all my free time doing. Some comics take weeks of me working on them daily to finish them, because working on them is my main coping skill rn so it always feels worth doing. I know it can't last forever so I try to just get as many stories as I can out before my circumstances change! Maybe don't be motivated by fear of the future though. Just do these because it's fun and people love reading your comics :') I KNOW I DO

In any case- here are the lines for the beginning of the new comic, I KNOW you love the funny squid so here's mine as a kid flexing on narinder for being able to summon his crown weapon:

[ominouslemonnade]

tiny rant

ok im just gonna ramble a bit here.

So, to be honest, not really happy with the whole paywall thing slashfic got going on, every other painfully obvious important option that changes the course of the story's trajectory is hit with the hearts thingy, it kinda feels like the mc is being trapped in some sort of inescapable box . Ive noticed that everytime theres this "upcoming big moment" it leads to another downer and the authors are really milking and dragging it out for very long— by adding more characters that do not play a vital role to the main story, plotlines being stacked one after another ,it has gotten to the point that the whole of slashfic is getting difficult to keep track of, the storyline is messy with all these new plotlines, the character writing being done dirty. Despite all that, i think slashfic can *still* be made into something more interesting , something that is not as uncomfortable as the questionable ads they have...

Another thing— the development of relationships of mc with the main 4 is too quick, too forced i feel. Would've been more reasonable if the slashers slowly , and i mean by their own pace, gain trust in mc and not just literally jump right into "spice" .

So heres my conclusion to this: Slashfic has a very messy story, tricky to keep track of because of unecessary plotlines that add nothing to its supposed horror element. The whole mystery behind camp nevermoor, was working well enough JUST FINE. The settlers, the tree, lysa monroe and the cultists, and the involvement of the dunlaps with magic was a driving point.

And it got me thinking and brew more ideas.

1.) A comic, all things orgainzed into one. A comic where it gives us more insight, background or info/depth to camp nevermoor and the events that took place before the main conflict happened. This way, it could give more easy to navigate and understandable context to the main story and why it happened.

2.) A game, it has fun mechanics like a minigame and all. The game explores more on the main story, aka the recent events happening. This could also be an opportunity to see more into the lives of the slashers or camp counselors and explore their character by being given more information on each of them, be it their history or life growing up where you can play in their perspective to understand more, to feel the characters complexities and the nuances of why they are the way they are. For hearts, you dont have to pay, you earn them! Example: By playing into a sidestory of each character or do simple tasks that correlates to their preferences (Basically a whole grind system) So ; more hearts earned = increased bloodlust. As for the minigame, it could help build up your skills! (Stealth, agility, speed, strength, reaction) with each score adding to the percentage of each skill, and these skills helps you progress even more in the story.

Other games i played on dorian they were at a nicer level of decent , not too much paywall options and the story is consistent and progresses from its main point. Character writing is not very questionable but actually put into thought. Slashfic seems to be the leading game in the app but the way i see it, if the expensive paywall options and the excuse of supporting creators keeps going on coupled with not adhering to criticisms or suggestions , the game will be overshadowed by other games and it will soon loose its current spotlight because the way it is drives players further away from interest in playing because of its paywall problem. Each characters writing are just watered down blatant tropes and thats basically all that they are, its sad. I really thought slashfic would improve more on because the nevermoor story really did got my attention. Its a shame to see ive came this far along in the game to be met with a downgrade. But i still keep playing anyway and i do not know why, and honestly??? Im also starting to slowly loose interest having to wait so long and the episodes have gotten so short (lord spare me).

I already have art and redesigns in mind, these ideas aren't really much of a help to my motivation of finishing the plans i already have in motion😅

Anyway this is all!

@ xoxo-chrmy has a great concept for a slashfic rpg game! Check em out :]

[unsoundedupdates]

Epilogue p16

•LATEST UPDATE HERE•

Elka is very sensitive. Good thing she thought better of bringing along that Get Well card she had everyone sign back at the depot, the one that said: "YOU'RE OUT OF THE ARMY NOW LOL!"

Check out the print book ANNOUNCEMENT if you missed it! :D

After over 15 years, Unsounded finally has a publisher! The comic is going to be put to print by Iron Circus Comics, a very cool company that's done webcomics as illustrious as Rice Boy, Lackadaisy Cats, and TJ and Amal. Pretty rad, right? Our tiny baby has finally grown up, and it's all thanks to you, readers. Your support all these years helped the comic reach its end, and that's really what got a publisher to consider it. So thank you.

Now, please, please head over to the Kickstarter campaign page, and give it a follow! The campaign will be launching in a bit over a month. There'll be LIMITED bonus goodies - including commissions and free shipping - but you'll have to act fast once it launches! Let's get lots of followers on there before then, it makes us look sick and cool.

There are some crucial logistical things for current readers to know though. The most important one is these two books are NEW COMPILATIONS. They do not sync up with the old self-published books, and the old shop is coming down this weekend. Those old books are beloved, but now outdated. The NEW books - in addition to having new covers and newly retouched art - are LONGER. Volume 1 contains chapters 1-4 as well as a Duane in Sharteshane bonus comic (this is the old v2 comic). Likewise Volume 2 is LONGER, containing chapters 5-8, a newly illustrated Tainish guide, and a brand new Knock and Anadyne comic.

I had no choice but to recompile the books, my darlings. In order to get the entire massive story into 6 books, I had to squish more into the early volumes. I know it's a little disappointing, please don't be too mad at me. Compromises had to be made in order to ever see the entire story in print. I wanted to also publish a third book at this time, and even did a rad new cover for it to try and sell it to the publisher, but there simply was not room in their schedule for 3 huge books this year. To get the rest of the books, we have to make sure these first two sell well! So please consider purchasing them when the campaign starts. I really busted my ass to make them worth it for you! Even as I've been drawing the final chapter and epilogue the past year, I've been working on these books :)

So! Contact me on Tumblr if you have any questions! And please follow that preview page so you'll know when the crowdfund launches! Thanks, everyone! :)

-Ashley

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