#i think the fandom will probably describe me as “ignorance is a bliss”

[typicalityness]

Hc that merlin is clumsy because his magic is like a limb, he just needs to keep on using it but he can't because he needs to keep it a secret.

[paperstorm]

The majority of the people I saw harassing Ronen were already haters from the 911 Fandom. They harassed him before just for happily posting about his own show and promoting it. These same people started harassing him with vigor even though he never even posted anything pro-genocide or pro-israel since Oct 7th when it was Israel attacked. But that didn't seem to matter to them because it wasn't about the war going on at all. It was them just using it as a subject to harass him more, like he just posted another promo or something. And then high fiving each other like children if he blocked them. It was not mature at all but that wasn't a surprise given how they used to act towards him in the past. He shouldn't have lashed out and stooped to their level but that's a whole other thing and he prob at his wits end with them. Understandable.

So the thing is. What you're describing is super gross, there's no doubt about that. But there are always people saying (to me, oh lord my inbox right now, and elsewhere) "everyone criticizing him is just an OG hater no one is actually trying to educate him." And then there are always people saying "nobody was hating everyone was just trying to educate him and he blocked them." Both of those things can't be true at once, and probably the actual truth is somewhere in the middle, but there are lots of people making those claims because it supports the point they wanted to make anyway - either that he's an evil monster who can never be forgiven or he's innocent and actually supports Palestine and did nothing wrong.

(I'm not accusing you personally of this, your points are good ones), but what I do want to say is that when I lurk on twitter I see a lot of people whose main motivation seems to be that they want their happy blissfully ignorant fandom bubble back. I empathize with that feeling, but I don't empathize with attempting to achieve it by bullying anyone who dares to say his response to genocide was not a good one. That directly makes this fandom an unsafe place for Muslims and Arabs, it communicates so loudly that people think their ability to peacefully stan a celebrity is more important than the lives of Palestinians. Actually grappling with the choices he made would require them to pop their bubble of blissful ignorance, to stop reducing this nuanced situation to just haters goin' hate, and they don't want to do that. And with as much respect as is due, those people's feelings are not my problem.

[princip1914]

A few thoughts on writing longfic

I’ve had this post brewing for a while and I figured since today is a Friday I might as well let it out into the wild. 

First off, this is not writing advice. I don’t feel qualified to give writing advice. This is a few observations I’ve made over the course of trying to write something that feels, well, long. Fandom is full of excellent authors writing long chaptered fic, but I don’t see a lot of people talking about how they go about producing such fics. I remember feeling like long fic was really out of reach for me when I started writing again in the summer of 2019 after not writing for years and years and I wanted to talk a bit about how that changed for me. Of course, this post comes with all the caveats that there is no need to ever write long fic if you’re not feeling it. Some of my favorite authors write mostly or only oneshots! But, if you are interested, here’s my lengthy, self indulgent, and entirely personal take on ~the longfic process~ below the cut. 

First, to get this out of the way: long fic is anything that feels long or complicated to you, the author. “I’m working on my long fic” can mean that you’re branching out from microfiction to write something that’s 2k long, or it can mean you’ve got a multi-part 800k epic. There’s no objective measure of if something is “long fic,” Your own personal definitions can also change as you grow in confidence or change your focus as a writer (a little over a year ago when I finished Doubt Thou the Stars are Fire topping out at 31k, that felt very very long to me. Now it feels….still long, but not very very long.) 

Here are a few specific things that helped me write something long. I don’t know if they will be interesting for anyone else, but at the very least writing these down has been a fun way for me to reflect on my own process. 

Practice exercises. Ok, this is going to sound exceedingly obvious, but writing one shots prepares you for writing chaptered fic. Here’s what I mean more specifically: if you know you want to write (as a totally hypothetical example) a chaptered fic set in America in the summer that relies heavily on a nature metaphors, is written out of chronological order, and features a melancholy tone--it helps to write a few one shots like that before you embark on the Big Fic. Just like artists tend to do sketches before starting a big piece, it’s very helpful to write something small that gives you a feel for the ~vibe~ of what you’re trying to do in the long fic. It’s helpful for all the usual reasons--you get to know a specific version of the characters which helps plan out a character driven plot for the long fic--but it’s also helpful because you will learn if the tone and mood of the fic has enough staying power to capture your interest for the long haul. For instance, I have a few unfinished chaptered fics that have a humorous tone. I wish I had done more short humorous fics before starting them, because I would have realized that I don’t currently have the mental stamina to hold up a humorous tone for the length of a chaptered fic (hopefully that will change and I will finish Last Days some time this century!). 

Plan it out ahead of time. I used google sheets for The False and the Fair. I do not think God intended google sheets to be used for fiction, but that was not going to stop me. On a more serious note, I think the best tool for planning fiction is the one you’re the most comfortable with--the notes app in your phone, handwriting, word, google drive, sheets, chalk board, summoning circle, the blood of your enemies, etc. The reason I chose to use sheets is that I knew from the very beginning that I wanted certain things to happen at specific places in the story--for instance, I wanted the first kiss to happen at the end of the first third of the story and I wanted the “reveal” about the mine accident to happen at the end of the second third of the story. But, I didn’t know what was supposed to go in between those elements. A traditional outline for a story at this point in development might have looked like: 

Meet cute

Kiss

Reveal 

Ending 

But, what my brain needed was to preserve the blank spaces in between these story elements, and specifically to preserve the right amount of blank space between these story elements so that it didn’t end up, for instance, that the first kiss was halfway through rather than a third of the way through. In this way, I found google sheets an invaluable tool for pacing in the early parts of the planning process. I simply made 30 rows assuming 30 chapters, and started plugging in the elements I knew I wanted in the locations I wanted them. Then I filled in the blank spaces by asking myself “how do we get from X plot element to Y plot element in Z amount of chapters.” I’m not a mountain climber, but I’ve often thought about the first things that go into the spreadsheet in terms of mountain climbing terminology.  In climbing, a crux move, which can be anywhere along the route, is the most difficult move of the route: if you can’t do it, you can’t do the route. I think of the first things that go into the planning spreadsheet as the crux moves of the story, the most important pieces around which everything else turns. It was not an accident that those were also all the first scenes of the fic that I wrote; if I couldn’t do those scenes, I couldn’t do the story the way I planned it so I wanted to know early on if I needed to make changes.

Make changes if you have to: even though it helps to have things planned in advance, don’t resist the story if it tries to change on you while you’re writing it. Usually the feeling that you have to make changes stems from having a plot that is not entirely character driven. As you write the story, the characters reveal themselves and sometimes the plot has to change to change with the characters’ motivations. Here’s an area where fanfic writers have a leg up on everyone else: if you write fic, you already know the characters really well. That means, (in my experience anyway) it’s less likely that you’ll have a surprise character development which leads to a rethinking of the whole plot. Less likely, but not completely unlikely, unfortunately.

Lie to yourself: The False and the Fair was supposed to be 90k words. I thought that sounded reasonable, a little less than 3x the longest fic I had ever written. Now it's 161k and will probably top out a little over 170k. Ooops. But I never would have set out to write something that long. I wouldn’t have thought I could do it, even though anyone more experienced looking at my plans for the fic probably would have laughed at the idea I could cover all those plot points in 90k. Ignorance is bliss. Protect your ignorance.

Scrivener: Long fic for me means “fic that is long enough you can’t hold all the parts of it in your head at once.” That’s where Scrivener comes in (or another app if you’d rather, but I really like Scrivener for the ability to see the project either linearly or as condensed notecards). You can put together an organizational scaffold in Scrivener that allows you to move back and forth between the forest and the trees. So, for instance, you might be going for a jog and come up with the perfect line of dialogue for chapter 27 when you’re only up to chapter 5 in terms of writing progress. With Scrivener, you can go home, and put that dialogue in the “bucket”/index card/whatever for chapter 27 without compromising your ability to see chapter 5 clearly or muddying up your google doc. You can then use the fact that you’ve started writing bits and pieces of the later chapters in conjunction with the tool of lying to yourself that, actually, you’ve written a lot more of the fic than you realize and that when you get to chapter 27 it won’t be as hard as chapter 5 because you’ve put in the groundwork already. In my experience, this lie turns out to be true about 50% of the time, which is better than 0% of the time.

Digestible mini arcs: The False and the Fair was originally broken up into thirds. I thought it would be 90k and 30k was the longest I had written, so thirds seemed to make sense. Also, 3 is a nice, time honored storytelling number. I think it’s good to give yourself seemingly achievable milestones along the way to completion. These milestones (for me anyway) lined up well with the “crux moments” I’ve described. If you’re someone who likes to write out of order, writing your way to an already written milestone can feel like sailing to an island where you get to rest for a bit from the stormy seas before setting out for the next island in the archipelago.

“It's all part of the process”: I’m categorically incapable of describing things without resorting to running metaphors, and so I apologize in advance, but I am now going to do the insufferable thing of comparing writing a long fic to running a marathon. Here’s the thing with a marathon. You are not going to feel good every step of the way. We all know this. It’s a marathon, it’s supposed to hurt a little bit, especially at the end. In the same way you literally cannot write something novel length or even novella or long short story length without, at least at some point, feeling bad about yourself and your writing. But you also can’t run a marathon if the whole thing is agony, and for most people, it’s not--your meat sack shuffling along the course is subjected to the slings and arrows of all sorts of weird body chemistry that only happens when you push it to its limits. So, you’ll be in agony and then the endorphins will kick in for a while and you’ll be thinking “this isn’t nearly as bad as everyone said,” and then you’ll drink some water at a rest stop and feel like a God for half a mile before you crash and you’re in agony again until that one perfect song comes up on the playlist...and you get the idea. Writing something long, for me at least, is a bit like that. There are massive ups and downs. The key for me is to just understand it’s all part of the process, a necessary step on the way to the finish line. If the fic is 10 chapters long, at some point you have to write chapter 5. Just like you have to write chapter 5, at some point you also have to go through a bit of despair before reaching the end. It is unfortunately non-optional. In fact, despairing is something you can check off your list each time you’ve done it. Cut dialogue tags, check. Feel awful about my writing for thirty minutes, check. Write ending section, check. Often I feel that the stress and shame and fear that come with bad emotions while writing are worse than the bad emotions themselves. It really helps me to remember these emotions are all part of the process and nothing to worry about. If I didn’t have them, then I would worry! 

I certainly have plenty more to say about writing, but this ramble has gone on long enough. If you’re interested in any of this stuff, please feel free to send me an ask. 

I would also love to know more about everyone else’s writing processes, so feel free to pop into my ask box to talk about your own approach too! I am very interested in this stuff! 

[shels-kpop-main]

Queen Guys Dating Girls With a Disability (Fluff Blurbs)

I’ve been wanting to do these blurbs for a while, bc this fandom has a lack of representation for those with disabilities. I hope y’all enjoy these, I’m so excited and proud of them <3 Thanks to @zodiacal-dust-and-curls for proofreading for me, and generally being great!!

Roger’s Girlfriend Is Deaf

Roger has always been known for his temper and melodrama, but he softened up quite a bit after meeting you

He took a liking to you the moment you met, despite the fact that you wanted nothing to do with him

He asked you out on many, many occasions, to which you said no every time

Because, although he’s cute and seems charming enough, dating someone who isn’t deaf has never been something you saw as feasible

Until the day that Roger gently taps you on the shoulder, while your translator is in the bathroom

You turn to face him, immediately looking to his lips to read the words falling off them

But they only twitch a little, because he isn’t speaking to you verbally

You watch in surprise as Roger nervously, but clearly, signs, Will you go to dinner with me?

You’re touched and impressed at his effort, and you smile back a silent Yes.

Your first few dates are attended by the ASL translator, but Roger learns more and more of the language over the course of the next several months

The two of you always refer to your first date without your translator as “the second first date”

One evening, you’re laying on the floor reading while Roger practices his playing

He looks up at you, then back at his drums, and smiles to himself

He gets up and comes to you, softly pulling you up and over to his drumkit

He signs to you, telling you he has an idea

You watch, amused, as he presses your hand flat against his bass drum

Tell me what you think of this beat, he says

You watch him as he starts playing, but soon close your eyes to focus

The beat is strong and steady, and you smile, keeping your hand against the drum and pressing your free hand under his snare drum

Roger plays for you every time he practices at home, from that point on

When he brings you to the studio for the first time, you’re already friends with the guys

So Brian accompanies you while Roger is busy in the recording room, making sure people know to face you while speaking so that you can read their lips

One day, one of your hearing aids, which mostly provide white noise and background sounds, stops working

John is more than happy to take the hearing aid apart, and clear out the moisture that had gathered in one of the tubes, thus fixing the problem

And Freddie’s always looking out for you, too

You’re in the engineering booth, watching Roger play with a pleasant smile on your face

This happens to be the day that Reid brought his nephews into work with him

Freddie looks up from his magazine to hear and see them sniggering behind your back, making fun of your hearing aids, knowing you can’t hear them

He knows better than to make a scene --Roger would go ballistic if he knew the little punks were being mean-- but he does the next best thing

He slinks up behind the two boys, figuring he could probably snap their prepubescent asses like twigs

Freddie reaches forward, as you continue to watch your boy playing in blissful unawareness, and grabs each of the boys by the scruffs of their shirts

He yanks them back, away from you, ignoring their yelps and pleas for mercy

“Why don’t you fuck off to the playground, dears, where you belong?” He suggests smoothly with acid in his tone

The boys scamper off, and Freddie nudges your elbow to announce his presence before slinging an arm around your shoulder

Roger is sweaty by the time the recording session concludes, but that doesn’t stop him from patting Fred on the back and pressing a kiss to the side of your head

The two of you sign back and forth to one another for the next few minutes, and Freddie smiles to himself, amazed at how well you bring out the best of Roger

Brian’s Girlfriend Uses a Wheelchair

You’re a physics doctorate student at the same university as Brian

And even though he left to pursue a career with Queen, he made sure to give you his number

Because he really likes you

He asks you if you’d like to go to the museum with him as a first date, and you accept, smiling into the phone receiver

So you move through the science museum side-by-side

Brian asked if you prefer him to push you, and you politely declined

And he gets it right away, that you’re not helpless, and you can get around just fine without assistance

Your determination and resilience are part of what attracts him to you

So your second date is, of course, star-gazing

Brian finds a flat, neatly-trimmed field, and leads you out to the middle of it, where you can see all of the stars in the galaxy so clearly

Brian pulls out a blanket and sits down on the ground next to you

But you look at him, and feel yourself wanting to be closer to him

“Brian?” “Yeah?”

“Will you pick me up? So I can sit with you?”

Brian smiles so sweetly you feel warm and fuzzy inside

He picks you up from your wheelchair, gently as he possibly can, and sets you down on his blanket

Brian sits behind you so you can lean back against his chest

He points to different constellations above you, whispering their names in your ear

At one point, you turn your face to look at him, and press your lips to his

That’s the moment he knows he’s all in, kissing you under all the stars in the Milky Way

So a few weeks later, he invites the guys over for a dinner party so they can meet you

You and Roger become fast friends, and John and Freddie are equally charmed by your wit and humor

When you eventually come to visit them at their recording studios, Freddie always makes a fuss to ensure that the buildings are fully wheelchair-accessible

“Fred, it’s fine, Brian can carry me up the st--” “No! I was told this building would have a ramp to the front door!”

…. “No, Brian, I will not calm down!”

Nevertheless, when you and the band arrive at the new studio --fully equipped with wheelchair ramps and elevators, per Freddie’s insistence-- you and Roger have way too much fun while Brian is busy recording guitar solos

Brian walks into the hall to find you and Roger zooming by on your wheelchair, laughing and hollering

You’re trying to make it from one end of the hall to the other in less than fifteen seconds

“What in God’s name--” “Watch out, love! We’re trying to break a record here!”

“You’re going to break a bone,” Brian frets, glaring at Roger for being so reckless

But the two of you are having the time of your life, and Roger manages to run you down the hallway in thirteen seconds

Brian is fussing the entire time, but gives you a small laugh when Roger spins you around, making you crack up

But when you’re wheeling yourself back into the recording booth, one of your front wheels locks up for no apparent reason

You, Brian, and Roger all look down at the stuck wheel, before looking up at John pitifully

“Alright, alright. Let me have a look.”

So Brian picks you up and holds you to his chest as John kneels next to your wheelchair

He’s a skinny guy, but his upper body strength has improved immensely since dating you

John finds a piece of metal behind the wheel that smacked against the door jamb, thus bending it and jamming the spokes

He hunts down a pair of pliers, and straightens the metal out with relative ease

“Thanks, Deaky,” you smile, as Brian sets you back down in your chair, pressing a soft kiss to your temple

For all of Roger’s antics, and Freddie’s fussing, Brian is glad to have friends and bandmates who care about his girl

They’ve brought you into the group with ease and humor, and he’s grateful for that

John’s Girlfriend Is Blind

You’ve known John all your life, and he’s always referred to you as “my girl”

Even before you started dating, you loved the pet name so much

But now that you’ve been together a while, it’s even more touching when John introduces you as “my girl”

You were up late one night in college, just talking in your living room

“Love, can I ask you a question?” “Go ahead.”

“Do you know what you look like? I mean- I mean, has anyone ever described your appearance to you?”

You chuckle and shake your head, because you were born without sight, and no one’s ever thought to tell you what you look like

So John describes your hair type and texture as best he can, and does the same for your facial features

The last word in his description is “beautiful”.

And you can hear the love in his voice; in fact, you can almost feel it

“So what do you look like?” you ask, giving him a small smile

You can’t see it, but John blushes a deep red, and shakes his head sheepishly

“I’m nothing special,” he chuckles, but you raise your eyebrows

“I don’t believe that for a second,” you insist. “Can I… Can I touch your face, John? To feel what you look like?”

John is flustered, but excited, so he slowly reaches down and lifts your hand up to his face

His fingers brush yours as you press your palm to his cheek

Then, you move your hand to his forehead, and down to his other cheek, then gently sweep over his long nose

Lastly, your fingertips brush down over his lips, and they part as John’s breath hitches in his throat

“I think you’re very handsome,” you tell him with a shy grin

You feel John smile under your thumb, and heat rises to his cheek under your fingers

It’s then that you realize you never moved your hand

But John doesn’t mind; he reaches up and places his hand over yours, holding it to his face

And you’re leaning in, so slowly, to avoid hitting his nose with yours

But it’s perfect, and John tilts his face to greet your lips

The soft kisses shared between the two of you eventually turn into rougher adventures as you explore each others’ bodies via physical touch

These touches, in turn, eventually lead to quiet evenings spent in each others’ company and trips to the coast, the days blending together as you and John settle into your feelings for one another

The first time John invites you to a Queen show, you call Freddie in a panic

“Freddie, thank God you’re home.” “Darling, what’s wrong?”

“I need you to do my makeup for tonight.” “Oh, yes.”

Freddie is at your apartment hours before the show so that he has enough time to get ready himself

By the time he’s done with you, you’re all dolled up, with painted eyelids and lips, and eyelashes up to your eyebrows

“You didn’t overdo it, did you?” You ask nervously

“Dear thing, you have to trust me. You look marvelous. John’s gonna burst out of his trousers.”

“Freddie! For God’s sake,” you scold him, but you’re both laughing

You and Freddie meet the guys at the venue, and John just about falls over because he’s never seen you in makeup before

He just says “Wow” a lot

The show is fantastic, and you let the music surround you, knowing that they all look up amazing up on that stage

The after-party is great, too

Brian guides you around the club to introduce you to people while John goes to get drinks

He’s gotten pretty good at leading you through crowds, making sure your hand is on his elbow at all times

Roger and Freddie are waiting at the table when you and Brian join them

Brian does his best to guide you into the booth, but he’s not as experienced at these little things as John

You’ve got your cane, but it slips under the table, and Brian doesn’t see it in time to stop you

So your hip makes contact with the table, and you utter a soft Oof when you bump into it

“Oh no, love, I’m so sorry--” Brian rushes to apologize, but Roger’s and Freddie’s attention is elsewhere

A group of younger guys at the table next to yours make no secret of their laughter, pointing at your cane

You hear them, but try to ignore it, desperately wanting John

But the next thing you hear is a loud shuffling movement, a cracking sound and yelling from the next booth over, and Freddie shouting, “Get ‘em, Rog!”

“Oh, dear,” Brian sighs, sounding disappointed but not surprised

“What’s going on?” you ask him, concerned

“Roger’s just launched himself into the next booth, and he’s now attempting to fight three men at once.”

You hear John setting the glasses down on the table, immediately sliding your drink into your hand so you can hold it securely

“What’d they say?” John asks, sitting next to you and throwing an arm around your shoulders

“They were laughing at me,” you explain, feeling a bit better as you hear a yelp from one of the men, presumably having just been punched by Roger

“Ah,” John responds, annoyed at the ridicule but not surprised at Roger’s reaction

Truth be told, he was thankful for his friends looking out for you when he wasn’t there

And as Brian hauled a still-very-enraged Roger back to your booth, you could have sworn you heard John high-five the drummer

Taglist (message me to be added!): @letmelivetaylor @boozeleatherandstache @attatchment-issues, hermajesty-queen, @night-turns-into-day, @universallytragicpeach

[ikementally-deficient]

Advanced Entomology - Chapter 1: The Etymology of Names

Fandom: Mr. Love: Queen’s Choice/Love and Producer

Rating: Carolina Reaper (See Masterlist for rating descriptions)

Warnings: dubious/uninformed consent, see masterpost A/N

Due to the nature of the questionable consent in this fic, if you enjoy this story enough to reblog it, please reblog the masterpost rather than individual chapters.

Author’s Note: Mostly just necking in this chapter. Necking and Gustav Klimt. (if you check this fic out on AO3, there are links to the paintings described in the text.)

********************************

The museum is silent and empty, except for two figures.

“I thought there would be more people here,” she mumbles, blushing. Lucien smiles down at her, hands in the pockets of his white coat.

“We’re just lucky, I guess.” He admires the way his smooth voice makes her blush deepen.

“That’s true.” She perks up a bit. “At least I don’t have to try and see the paintings over someone’s shoulder.” No matter how many times it happens, she never guesses that he’s orchestrated their public isolation. Her naivete is touching. Ridiculous, but touching. It does make his mission easier; she trusts so easily, his butterfly.

Lucien leads her down the hallway to the gallery, their footsteps echoing. “I was so pleased when you told me about this exhibit. Gustav Klimt is one of my favourite painters.”

“Really?” Her smile is a beam of sunlight. “I had never heard of him before Kiki passed me the tickets.” Lucien schools his face into neutrality; Kiki is a most useful tool, with her schoolgirl giddiness for romantic contrivances. They pause at the large double doors. Lucien pushes one open and guides her inside with a hand on the small of her back. Her smile turns shy as she blushes again.

“Really. Klimt was a founding member of a group known as The Vienna Secession.” The gallery is a huge rectangular room. One side is entirely windowed, and the afternoon sun paints the wooden floor a warm chestnut hue. She stutters to a halt, taking in the collection. “He started as a painter of murals, but Viennese society at the time was very conservative.” Lucien leads her to the first painting of the exhibit. “His early works did not stand out from those of his peers.” He shoots a sidelong glance at her.

She leans close to the painting , squinting at the tiny faces. “It’s so detailed!”

“Yes,” Lucien chuckles. “Despite his lack of innovation in this period, Klimt was always very technically skilled.” He waits for her to return her attention to him before continuing to the next painting . “He was fascinated by the female form, and started incorporating the figures of myth into his work.”

“Is that a harp?”

“A lyre. This painting is of Sappho, an ancient Greek poet.” Lucien tucks his chin into his hand and smiles. “She was known for her words on love, particularly . . . between women.” She turns to stare at him, not sure if he’s joking. He nods.

“So Sappho was --?” She trails off, going red.

“From the isle of Lesbos, yes.” He ignores her luminescent blush and moves on. “Klimt wanted to incorporate sexuality into the existing symbological context, but was derided for putting ‘pornography’ into his public works.” His hand finds hers, tugging her to the next painting . “The Nuda Veritas was his response.”

She mutters under her breath for a moment, and he waits, pleased to see she’s working it out for herself. “Nuda Veritas . . . that’s ‘naked truth’, isn’t it?”

“Very good.” He squeezes her hand gently. “She was Klimt’s way of telling his audience that he was done trying to please everyone. Her mirror is an invitation to examine one’s own prejudices and interpretations.” He watches her face as she takes in the nude woman, painted larger than life. “Klimt and several others who wanted to break free from the traditional semiotics started the Vienna Secession and created the first space in Vienna dedicated to contemporary art.” Lucien’s gaze wanders over the painting’s border, shining in gold. “This was the beginning of Klimt’s ‘Gold Period’. Many of his paintings from this point incorporate gold leaf.”

The golden paintings had been the start of his fixation with Klimt. In the sterile grayscale world of Black Swan, such visual warmth drew him, like a moth to a flame. He reaches out and places one arm around her shoulders, gathering her to him under the guise of placing her at the best angle to see the next painting in the row: a woman curled, naked, with copper hair and a waterfall of gold pouring down onto her most secret places. Danae. Eventually, he thinks.

She looks up at the painting and her eyes widen. “Who is that? What’s happening to her?”

He leans down to speak directly in her ear, gaze remaining steady on Danae. “The princess Danae. She was the daughter of the King of Argos. Her father was told by an oracle that his grandson would kill him, so he shut her up in a tower to prevent her ever having a child.” He shakes his head. “Zeus, the king of the gods, was taken by her beauty and visited her in the form of a shower of gold.” He tears his gaze away at last. “Danae’s child from Zeus was named Perseus, who later became famous for defeating the Gorgon.”

“The woman with snakes for hair?”

“Correct. All Zeus’s children were heroes, and he sired many of them with mortal women like Danae. Not always as a shower of gold, of course, but rarely ever as a man. He disguised himself as the goddess Artemis, an eagle, a bull, even a swan once.” He chuckles at the private joke, returning his attention to the painting.

“And was the oracle right?” The sun is starting to sink towards the horizon. The warm light has crept up the wall to hit the bottom half of the painting, setting the golden shower ablaze. It blinds him for a moment.

“Hmm?”

“Did Perseus kill the King of Argos?” Her eyes are avidly tracing the path of gold leaf on the painting.

“Oh, yes. Many years later, by accident. Perseus never held any acrimony towards his grandfather. He didn’t even know who he was until after the king was dead.” Lucien shrugs. “Sometimes fighting fate only brings you closer to your destiny.”

After a moment she turns her head to look at him. “Ah!” Her fading blush blooms once more as she realises his face is close enough to share breath. The sun reflects in her brown eyes, painting them the same gold as Zeus’s waterfall when her pupils contract in the sudden brightness. She tries to step back, but Lucien keeps his arm firm about her shoulders. He straightens, removing his lips from her personal space, and she relaxes a little. “Wh-which painting is your favourite?”

“You want to know my favourite?” Lucien smiles down at her. She nods, hesitantly, then firmly.

“Of course I do.” She bites her lower lip as if debating the next sentence. “You’re such a mystery to me, Lucien. I’ll take any opportunity to learn more about you.”

He crinkles his eyes at her in the innocent expression he’s practiced for years. “A mystery? Me?” Without waiting for an answer, he sweeps her past several paintings, coming to a stop in front of a large depiction of a man clasping a woman. His face is hidden, buried in her neck as her head tilts back. The expression on her face is blissful. “This is my favourite.” Lucien steps behind her and slides both arms around her, pulling her against his chest gently. She resists out of reflex, then relaxes against him, letting her head fall back against his shoulder.

“I’ve seen this one before,” she whispers as her gaze roams over the scene. “On posters.”

“It’s probably Klimt’s most popular work,” Lucien admits quietly. “The Kiss.” He breathes deeply, reveling in the faint sweet smell of her tawny hair. He doesn’t see the painting in front of him; the vision of her eyes blazing gold in the sun is superimposed over the couple in their gold robes.

“That’s ironic, isn’t it?” She rolls her head to look up at him, not surprised by his nearness this time.

“Ironic? How so?”

“Well, you said Klimt was your favourite because he wanted to please only himself. But your favourite painting of his is the one that pleased everybody.” He wonders if she’s mocking him, but her warm amber stare is guileless.

“That’s true, I suppose.” His eyes unfocus as he considers this. “I don’t think I can justify it, though. Something about this work just . . . appeals to me.”

She takes a deep breath, gives him a tremulous smile and turns to face him, still in the circle of his arms. “Maybe it means you’re not such a mystery after all, Professor.” Her eyes gleam with -- hope? Desire? He stares down at her for several seconds, long enough for the light in her eyes to fade as he tries to analyze it. She begins to stiffen, and he realises he’s wasting his golden opportunity.

“Maybe you’re right.” He puts a hint of apology in his voice as it lowers. “Sometimes I forget to be anything other than the Professor.” He brings his right hand up to cup her chin, and tightens his left arm around her waist. “But perhaps I’m just a man after all.” Slowly, slowly, determined not to startle her, he dips his face towards hers. As his lips near hers, her eyelids flutter shut and her lips part slightly. He meets her mouth in a chaste kiss, savouring her flavour of salt and candy.

She sighs as they part, but seems to have forgotten about moving away from him. He brushes her hair back with his right hand and brings her face back to his. This kiss is still controlled, but his lips separate to suck gently at her lower lip. He can feel her face heating, but he’s too close to see the blush moving down her neck; he can only follow it with his mouth, pressing slow kisses across her jaw to the pulse in her throat. His fingers trail through her hair and curl against her nape. She shivers in his arms and buries her face in his chest.

“Don’t be shy,” he chuckles.

“I’ve never -- I’m not --” She mumbles abortive sentences into his shirtfront. He catches her chin again and urges her to meet his eyes.

“I know this is new for you.” He gives her his most reassuring smile and kisses her forehead. “We’ll take this slowly.” He releases her from his embrace, but catches her hand, letting their fingers tangle as they start to walk along the row of paintings again. He glances at her from hooded eyes, noticing that she’s too flustered to take in the artwork now.

As they leave the gallery, walking close enough that their shoulders brush and their fingers rub with each step, she looks up at Lucien and gives him that sunbeam smile again. “Thank you for coming with me today, Lucien.” She looks like she wants to continue, but uncertainty crosses her face. He takes pity on her.

“Are you free tomorrow evening? For dinner?”

Her expression firms again, that gleam of yearning shining in her eyes again. “L-like, a date?” she stutters out, determined to achieve clarity despite her embarrassment.

He nods. “A date, yes. I would like to continue our relationship on a more . . . intimate level.”

“Then, yes. I am free. For you.” She holds out her hand to him and he raises it to press against his cheek before leaving one last kiss against the delicate tracery of veins in her wrist. Her fingers twitch, curling against his.

He whispers against her wrist. “I’m looking forward to it.”

[annaaelisaaa]

Another :)

Do you watch the Olympics on the television? usually only the gymnastics because I'm obsessed with it. 

Are your nails painted right now? What color? yes! the prettiest light pink. 

Have you ever played truth or dare? used to be my favorite game!!

Are there any tv shows you keep up with religiously? not so much anymore since girls ended </3

What is your favorite iPhone app? as lame as it is it has to be insta...although I'm getting over it.

How far away is the closest McDonald’s to you? hmm idk i try not to think about poisonous establishments. 

Would you ever meet someone in person that you met online? no thank you. 

What was the last film you watched? hmmmm...i can't remember. 

Does it snow where you live? unfortunately it does. 

Have you ever been to an art gallery? so many. 

What are your neighbours like? great. 

Do you visit your town’s library often? no libraries kind of gross me out lol. i love reading though i prefer to purchase my books so i know that there are no random germs lurking in the pages. 

Have you ever had to take care of an intoxicated person? yep! 

What flavor was the last ice cream you ate? omg vegan pistachio. 

Can you do a cartwheel? i can. 

What can you smell right now? my hair that i just watched. 

Do you read fanfiction? If so, what fandoms? nope. 

What accent is your favorite? I love most accents. 

How did/will you celebrate your birthday this year? my birthday was december 29th so technically last year but it was amazing. my boyfriend surprised me by taking me to an amazing resort on this island and we spent the day by the pool drinking mojitos and then had an amazing private dinner. it was a blissful 21st. 

Are you more introverted or extraverted? introverted for sure. 

Do you tend to repeat yourself all the time? yes i have been told I'm a very repetitive person haha. 

How was the last chicken you ate cooked? im vegan. 

Is there anybody you always find yourself thinking about? nando <3

What was your last argument about? not quite sure. 

Are/were you part of any extracurricular activities in school? not really lol. 

What colors are on your country’s national flag? red, white and blue. 

Does your mom like the last person you kissed?                                               yes she does!

Now your cell phone, what color is it? rose gold & white. 

Last text? Who was it from? from my best friend and i cannot say lol. 

Do you use your speed dials? no. 

Does anyone completely understand you? probably not but thats okay. 

Ever stayed up all night on the phone? not really. sleep is very important to me lol. 

Are you a forgiving person? i try to be. 

Do you like cats? not as much as i should :( 

Has someone promised you something and broke it? probably. 

Did you kiss or hug anyone today? yes &yes.

Does your phone ring in the middle of the night? i really dislike when that happens. 

Is there anybody you’re really disappointed in right now? no. 

Would you rather spend a day outside with friends or inside alone? depends on my mood. 

What should you be doing? homework or studying or both as always. 

Describe how you feel right now in one word. tired. 

Do you prefer drinking water from a bottle or a sink? bottle. 

Will you ever run away and get married in Las Vegas with no notifications to either of your families? no haha. 

Have you ever thrown your phone in anger? i probably have but not that i can remember.

Who did you last have a heart-to-heart conversation with? nando. 

Do you believe that there’s good in everybody? unfortunately i know that theres not. 

Has anything happened to you within the past month that has made you mad? probably. 

Would you ever get a tattoo? i have one. 

Do you think someone is thinking about you right now? not quite sure. 

When is the last time you took a nap? yesterday but it was so short :( 

Do you talk about your feelings or hide them? talk because my feelings are usually very overwhelming haha. good or bad. 

Are you missing someone? always. 

Is your phone beside you? it is. 

Are you wearing jeans, shorts, sweatpants, or pajama pants? shorts.

Realize anything lately? yeah.

Did you accept or ignore your last friend request? accepted. 

What would your name be without the first two letters? na. 

Do you wish it was Friday? I'm good right now.

Vanilla, chocolate, or strawberry? vanilla bean. 

Ocean, pool or lake? ocean! i do like a nice pool with a yummy bar though. 

Do you judge people before getting to know them? i really try not to. thats a toxic habit. 

Would you fight for love? surely. 

Was the last time your heart pounded like crazy for a good or bad reason? probably every day. 

Do you consider yourself a bitch? no?

Are you a hard person to get along with? i really try not to be. 

Can you dry swallow pills? not without water. 

Do you enjoy wearing dresses? i do sometimes.

Do you believe everyone deserves a second chance? not everyone. 

How long does it take for you to fall asleep at night? usually it happens very quickly especially if I'm reading lol. 

Could you go a month without cursing? yes i actually really don't like cursing. 

Would you break up with someone your parents didn’t approve of? no lol. 

If you could go back in time and give yourself one piece of advice about dating what would it be? when someone tells you who they are, believe them. 

Do you think long distance relationships can work? Why or why not? if you want them to work they probably could.