#Part 7 of 19

[liminalpsych]

Not sure of Tumblr's rules anymore around anything remotely mature, so while it isn't at all explicit, I'll skip the alluding-to-sexual-content scenes. They're in the AO3 edition.

7. You know with me you never need to hide

Arthur and Gwenhwyfar lay entwined in the drowsy warmth that comes after love-making. Their breathing slowed and synchronized. Gwen lay her head on Arthur’s broad chest, letting the steady beat of his great heart soothe her into relaxation, like the rhythm of a lullaby.

Even so, traces of worry remained within the long muscles of her back, pinching and tightening. Apprehension pushed and pulled at her neck. She breathed in the heady bear-like scent of her husband’s musk, filled her mind with his heartbeat and filled her core with the warmth of her love for him. The tension refused to surrender.

The queen sighed, and let fly the arrow of her thoughts. “I suspect Sir Lancelot du Lac is in love with me.”

She felt rather than heard Arthur’s breath catch; felt the sudden stutter of his heart, the steady rhythm interrupted. Gwen lifted her head to better see his face and the furrowing of his brow.

He frowned. “I doubt your suspicion, my queen.”

Her laugh was as soft and dry as an autumn breeze. “You think me not fair enough to draw your knight’s attentions?”

Under her hand, his heart quickened again. “Ah, no, that is not…”

Gwenhwyfar kissed him with a smile. “I only jest, my love, to see you scramble.”

“May the gods save me from womanly sadism,” he muttered, pulling a merrier chuckle from her throat.

Still, her teasing had the desired effect: Arthur’s muscles loosened. Uncertainty continued to furrow his brow. “I doubt,” he said slowly, “because Lancelot is as a brother to me. He is as loyal as any of my knights - more, perhaps, than many.”

“Oh, my king. Love is not traitorous. He has said nothing, acted on nothing. What is more loyal than loving, yet refraining?”

The creases in his face deepened. “You yet assume…”

The queen paused for a long moment, considering her words. “Your skill is in sword and shield, and your power lies in command and inspiration.” She met Arthur’s gaze with a steady confidence. “Mine lies in the dance of court, and in the reading of intent and desire. I am very seldom wrong.”

Arthur exhaled long and slow. His attention shifted to the shadowed textures of the ceiling.

Gwenhwyfar watched him, measuring her breaths by his heartbeat, waiting in the silence.

“Let us say you are correct,” he said at last, in measured tones. “What are your feelings toward him?”

It was she who tensed, then, a hind scenting a bear or a wolf in the midnight wood. “He is charming in his own rough way,” and her voice was low and cautious, “and bright with passion. It is not uncommon for a lady to be drawn to such.”

Arthur’s expression did not change; she could read no reaction in him. Her own limbs tightened all the more in the unknown. A cold prickling crept across her shoulders, up her neck, dread’s icy fingers dancing across her scalp.

“He loves you,” she said with increasing speed, half-breathless. “He loves you more than anything. I think it would kill him to betray you. I have seen him staring at the sun the morning after I arrived at Caerleon, as if to burn this attraction from his mind. I fear for him, for you, because he is the greatest of your men, and for him to exile himself the way of Trystan from Cornwall would be a loss—“

“Gwen.”

Her name rumbled in his chest, low and firm yet somehow soothing. She quieted, inhaled, and stared down at her tight-clenched hands.

“Do answer plainly. Please.” Was that a note of strain in Arthur’s voice? “What are your feelings for Lancelot?”

Fear clenched her chest like a bear-trap. “I… I feel for him, too, my king.” She looked up at him, a rush of words and reassurance spilling out in the next moment. “And I love you, oh so much; I would never betray the vows I made on our wedding day, and nor would I seek to deceive you, I…”

“Gwen,” he said again, gentler this time, a faint smile hovering at the corners of his lips. He touched her cheek; the callouses from his swordcraft were rough and oddly comforting. “Gwen, it is well. I trust the both of you.”

“I — oh.” The fear left her in a dizzying rush that stung her eyes. “That is a weight from my heart indeed.” Even so, she recognized the distance in Arthur’s countenance. He yet had more to say. She waited, curiosity and apprehension warring within her breast.

Arthur studied her for a long moment. “I love you each dearly. You are my wild queen, and he is my brother-in-arms. You have my trust, but love denied is a slow poison of temptation. I would rather you explore this desire between you with my blessing, rather than let it fester and wonder how it might corrode your loyalty and love to me.”

“Arthur…” Her mind filled with incomprehension and surprise, unexpected possibilities churning together with concern and uncertainty, saltwater and fresh meeting in a brackish muddle. “I do not know if I understand. I would not betray you; nor would Lancelot. This is not an inevitability.”

“I mean to say that I would rest easier if you and Lancelot were to explore your desires for one another.” The king’s smile seemed true, yet touched with a melancholy she could not quite interpret. “Act upon them. Let none find you out, but do speak to me of how you progress.”

Incredulous wonder tinged with the golden hues of joy unfurled within her like lilies to the morning sun. “My king,” Gwen said, eyes wide. “Thank you. I did not expect such openness.”

He chuckled deep in his throat. “You see, my hunting hawk… I can surprise you yet.” He enfolded her in a gentle embrace and a warm kiss; she returned it with heated passion, intensifying with every heartbeat and every whisper of skin on skin.

With all the years between us

I know your heart, you know I'd never lie

Let other people judge us with all their own assumptions

You know with me you never need to hide

[feathercreates]

"Genesis...that's rude!" - Angeal Hewley

In which a salty teen Genesis gets a little bit cheeky over losing a spar with Sephiroth again.

Angeal still thinks it's a hilarious addition to his growing photobook, though. :P

[mayasdeluca]

CARINA DELUCA AND BEN WARREN STATION 19: 7x10 'One More Time'

[cubbihue]

due to my adhd urge to make everything line up and be nice round numbers

i'm stretching out chimmy's arc with an intermission between his leaving his parents' house, and his arrival to the new location

that man will be TORMENTED

he will SUFFER

he's gonna get HIS WALLET STOLEMB

[bugmistake]

sometimes its so crazy to realize that there's actually a lot of things i like. that i thought i didn't like because i was a depressed teenager. i love being outside! i love swimming! i love talking to people! even strangers sometimes! i love getting dressed in fun outfits and doing makeup! i love reading and going to art museums! i just thought i was doomed forever to a life of complete and total apathy and void! and now look at me! still a little shaky but i'm doing it!!!!!

[re-velogs]

so fucking busy the rest of the year. being alive is awesome :]

[bewitchedmold]

I'll be having a great day and I'll suddenly think about my fav jjba charact and then my day gets better. Then I remember how araki killed them off for no reason and my day gets 10x worse.

[mceproductions]

Best of 2023 TV Shows #19: Outlander (Starz)

The drumbeats of revolutionary war never seem more imminent for Jamie and Claire as they see the conflict inch closer to Fraser’s Ridge.

While Roger and Briana are forced to return to the present to help their expanding family.

Sinead O’Connor graces us with her musical talents one more time as we get her take on The Skye Boat Song.

The bone really does echo.

SUM 22: Outlander returns to form with the first half of its penultimate season. The Fraser’s really do need a break after all this.

[declanisms]

I’ve always been a luke forgiver but recently I’ve fully become an apologist bc u know what I’m 18 (almost 19) and I now understand that luke was fully a child like he should’ve been able to rely on a parental figure at 19 he should’ve been able to rely on any adult at all bc 19 is not the fully fledged independent adult ya fiction presents it to be. he was just a boy in need of support. like it’s such an obvious conclusion that he would rebel when he has never been able to rely on an adult in his life bc of the gods and the systems they’ve put in place

[shouldertallabyss]

WIP Last Lines Tag Game

Tagged by @racfoam @youknowmevj and @leafiloaf!!! Much love to literally all three of you for the encouragement, so I felt each of you deserved your own snippet. Hope you enjoy and thanks for including me, it was so fun to read and even SEE (the ART✨, leaf!!!!!!!) your beautiful works. Absolutely incredible talent from everyone 😇💚

Rules: Share 7 (or more) lines of a WIP you've been working on. (I am amending that you can def share sketches for this too 😋)

All of mine will be from Love in the Dark (LitD), of course-- chapter 19 has taken a millennia but we float on!

I'll do the tags up here for my any authors, poets, or artists would would like to take part in sharing WIP stuff, whatever the fandom/theme! (and if you don't want to share, just know I'm thinking of you and you're cool):

@metalomagnetic @riddleandpottersittinginatree @helloliriels @kayewritessometimes @limonium-anemos @madfritter @stelariss @therulerofallpotatos @jensenacklesisloveislife @teal-addict @ngkiscool

21 sentences from Ch 19 of LitD below:

I'm laughing to myself because this snippet is so misleading without giving any real spoilers. BUT all three are 7 sentences long, which I thought was cool for this:

Snippet #1: Miss Led

“Hermione! Oi, where are you?!” Ron called in a second.

The three of them should have left when things were dire. They should have dragged Harry with them, no matter what his opinions. Because Voldemort could scour the world, but they could have had a life away, on the run but alive and well away from Britain. It was a horrid, selfish thought, but one that speared her through with the difference it could have made.

Evading problems seemed simple, because it was. It could only be a delay, because true life does not entertain childish, ill-thought-out hopes for long.

Snippet #2: The Red Flag

Harry opened his eyes slowly, feeling the two tears trickle out the corner of his eyes, across his nose.

“That’s who my blood-traitor cousin was,” Bellatrix’s voice came faraway above him. “A shell. He escaped Azkaban as a coward and was fated to be a dead man.”

Harry stayed silent, mostly because he didn’t want to hear anymore, didn’t want to prompt more discussion about Sirius.

“You depend on blood-traitors and Mudbloods, and you fear seeing the truth of their disgrace. You hope for a fiction. My Master was real. Worth serving.”

and #3: What's Past is Present

The sun was rising and he had vanished from the groups of students around her. Hermione never believed he would go to Voldemort’s call... it was unthinkable.

Wasn’t it?

Bellatrix’s shrill jeering fell to the background as Hermione turned to look at Ron beside her. His face was a stone, numb, his expression completely locked. Hermione wanted to grab his hand, something to show that despite knowing that Bellatrix might kill her if she saw her in the crowd, they could still get through this. They needed to get through this, to find Harry, find him even if the worst had happened.

Hope I did that right lol. Sorry I didn't put any Harrymort, but that really would be a spoiler ;) thanks again @leafiloaf @youknowmevj @racfoam I better get back to typing!

Much love to you until ch 19!! <3

[samuraixsliced]

GAME DEVS BE FR WHAT IS THIS FIGHT!? | God of War Ragnarok - Part 7 [x]

[mekanikaltrifle]

top 10 Den Haag Chronicle transcription moments number 10: this shit

[mayasdeluca]

[doritofalls]

Just read that fic you recommend and gooooooood it was good, looking for kiyo fics is hard bc I get stuck in a cycle of 1) opnening a fic 2) Think "He would not fucking say this" 3) close it. No judgement to the writers bc he is a very specific flavor of weirdo and he is hard to get, but goooooooood I truly need some toxic kiyo fics

i KNOW it's SO good in every aspect. in character but also elevates the character and even the setting by building onto it!! all while written SO well... easily the most based kiyo fanfic i've had the pleasure to read. i wish i had more recs, but while i read a lot of decent kiyo fics this one's the only one i've found myself revisiting.

i understand the feeling about "he wouldn't fucking say that" though 😭 character voices are just hard man, and some are more difficult than others to pinpoint.

i have immense respect for fanfic writers. i also cannot judge when it sounds off, because i struggle with dialogue/character voices a lot too. drawing feels like a cheat sheet for it really, because you can plausibly draw a character saying whatever the fuck you want, but you have to sound CONVINCING in writing. you must convince an audience they would do a thing instead of just sliding a picture over of them doing the thing.

one of the biggest reasons i've decided to focus on art instead of writing is because art is just.... so much simpler. writing is so hard and writers are so brave for continuously banging out the tunes.

[theamazingannie]

Saw some hypothetical post about going back to when you’re six with all the knowledge you have now, and that would be torture. Why would I want to be six years old with knowledge of all the Horrors? You can’t do anything to stop them. You’re six

[yahoo201027]

Day in Fandom History: November 23…

Dipper, Soos, and Wendy finally enter Mabel’s bubble that was created by Bill and must get her out of it, but refuses to leave her bubble as Bill’s forces now begin to make their next move. “Weirdmageddon 2: Escape from Reality” premiered on this day, 7 Years Ago.