#naturally another concept or two thrown into the mix....

[dailycharacteroption]

Dual-Weapon Warrior (Pathfinder Second Edition Archetype)

(art by Goo Jjang on Artstation)

 Whether it be a twinned pair of scimitars in the hands of a drow ranger, a rapier and main gauche in the hand of a Flynning swashbuckler, or a warrior whose shield is as much a weapon as their axe, we all love a good dual-wield.

It takes a lot of coordination to master two weapons at once, often using one to parry while the other strikes, and attacking with both when the opportunity presents itself.

The thing is, however, aside from the ranger and the fighter, Pathfinder 2e classes don’t have a lot of options for dual-wielding… until you include today’s archetype, that is.

The dual-weapon warrior archetype adds dual-wielding abilities into the mix, either letting a fighter or ranger really double down on the fighting style, or granting it to a class that doesn’t have it naturally, such as swashbuckler and gunslinger. (Oh yes, it provides options for dual-wielding ranged weapons too!)

Needless to say, these warriors can become a blur of both offense and defense on the battlefield.

 For the dedication feat of the archetype, the warrior learns the basic technique for attacking twice with their two weapons without lowering their accuracy.

Those that favor ranged also learn to apply these various techniques with ranged weapons, be they thrown or fired.

Furthermore, such ranged wielders learn to reload their weapons without completely releasing their grip on them.

Having two weapons means learning to parry with them, and they can easily learn to ready one weapon to catch and block incoming blows.

Attacking from multiple angles simultaneously has it’s benefits, and these warriors can deal grievous wounds that bleed heavily as well as open foes up for further strikes when they strike true with both weapons.

An iconic image of the dual-wielding combatant is them striding and spinning, striking foes as they pass, and these warriors can learn to do just that.

One of advantages of two weapons is being able to use one to punish foes while the other blocks, and that’s just what these warriors do when a foe fails spectacularly against their defense.

Such twinned strikes can also cover the gaps in their attacking arc, guaranteeing at least one hit unless they fail completely.

Later on, their mastery of ripostes lets them do so with surprising speed, freeing them up to react in other ways as well.

With a flourish, these warriors can unleash another two attacks after attacking at least once before, potentially unleashing a storm of strikes in a single turn.

The most masterful of them learn to set up a stance that lets them be ready to defend with a weapon at all times, rather than having to spend time doing so.

If you are interested in using two weapons in combat, either as a fighter or ranger to further specialize in the combat style, or as another martial class that doesn’t have much support in that regard on it’s own, such as barbarian, swashbuckler, rogue, or champion, this may be what you’re looking for. Be warned though, most casting classes need a free hand for the somatic components of their spells, so magus is probably out of the picture until they come up with a hybrid study that works with dual weapons (or you could use the conversion I did of the spellblade archetype from 1st edition, available on my Patreon, wink wink.).

 As we’ve discussed with other two-weapon specialists in the past, there are many reasons to wield two weapons in battle. Perhaps shields are not in style or are too bulky for the environment where the character lives, or perhaps they see such ambidextrous styles as a way to perfect the body and mind through control and discipline. Some may see the advantage of having two different weapon types on hand at all times, such as one to catch and disarm a blade and the other a main attacking arm. Regardless, for such a simple concept, it can mean a lot of things. Be sure to keep that in mind when conceptualizing such characters.

  Capturing animals for a noble’s menagerie is not for the faint of heart, and The Iron Muzzle Acquisitions company, easily recognized for using nets, whips, and daggers in close conjunction, is no exception. However, such work does not make you any friends among druids either, especially when a desperate enough druid teams up with an episil sahkil to ruin the company forever. Of course, the fiend seeks to bring ruin to both sides, destroying the company and the slaying the druid, preferably at the hands of the very beasts he wishes to save.

 Though many consider him nothing but a mercenary, the exiled hobgoblin Elgafur thinks himself a dashing swashbuckler, and there is no denying his flair with both a saber and dagger. He doesn’t let himself get emotionally involved in his work, and will happily chat up his foes as he fights them in a decidedly chipper attitude for a hobgoblin.

 They say an immortal warrior languishes in a living wicker prison that grows back faster than it can be cut. Depending on who is asked, the warrior will either teach incredible martial techniques meant for two weapons, or go on a rampage of revenge for her long imprisonment. Which is true, as well as if the warrior is indeed immortal or even exists, is a mystery yet to be seen.

#pathfinder 2nd edition #archetype #dual-weapon warrior #episil #sahkil #hobgoblin #advanced player's guide

[darkpoisonouslove]

Creative Updates 5.0

I haven't done one of these in about two years. But I thought that recently my creative process has been so chaotic that even I have trouble keeping up with it so it might be a good idea to share what I'm currently working on. That way I could get a clearer picture of how to structure my work flow and everyone would have an easier time keeping up with my projects.

I think the first thing that everyone wants to hear about is the Winx rewrite. Now the good news is that I managed to structure chapter 3 but I still have a lot to write for it and I need to rework some of what I've already written. I might have just had an idea of how to make the beginning of chapter 4 work so much smoother than how I had initially planned it, though, so I'm definitely excited.

Another big thing that I need to address is my 200 followers celebration from last year. If you don't remember it... I can't say the same. I have 6 more requests and I have a starting point on 5 of them. 3 are almost fully outlined. I totally plan on finishing them and I'm hoping to get that done soon.

Something that I haven't talked about until now is my reviewing and ranking of all Gravity Falls episodes. I started writing those out as Tumblr posts but then decided to actually try to make them into YouTube videos. So far I have written out half the episodes (just finished season 1) but I haven't started on making the videos at all. Also, I started this project in April... 2021. I had two periods of getting stuck on episodes for months at a time, paralyzed by perfectionism and self-doubt. I really hope I will have an easier time with season 2 and will be able to get that done with time to spare by the end of the year.

I've also had an idea of doing a 31 prompts thing since January last year and, naturally, that has become way more complicated than I originally planned it to be. All chapters are now connected in one big story and I need to figure out the 4 remaining chapters and tighten the concepts of the ones I already have. The plan is for the chapters to be relatively short but when do I ever stick to the plan?

I'm trying to also write other fanfics that I've come up with so everything is going slowly.

I somehow ended up writing Erendor x Samara full-on smut. What is going on?

Of course, my brain can't comprehend passing up on Kinktober so I'm going to also have to look into that soon if I want to get anything done on time.

And last but, unfortunately, not least, I still have my final final exam to take for my bachelor's degree because I couldn't force myself to take it now in July since my brain was already fried from all the other exams I did take. So that will also be a huge energy-consumer in September.

There you have it. That's what's currently relevant. With the occasional video thrown in the mix whenever inspiration strikes.

#creative updates #update #personal #about me #my wips #my writing #winx club #wc rewrite #200fc #gravity falls #smut

[akanidaifanatic]

~ 𝙊𝘾 𝙈𝙊𝙊𝘿𝘽𝙊𝘼𝙍𝘿 + 𝙄𝙉𝙁𝙊 ~

“𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙨 𝙣𝙤𝙩 𝙜𝙧𝙖𝙨𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙧𝙣 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙧𝙖𝙫𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙤𝙨𝙚.”

—𝘼𝙣𝙣𝙚 𝘽𝙧𝙤𝙣𝙩𝙚

𝙀𝙈𝙋𝙍𝙀𝙎𝙎 𝙍𝙀𝙂𝙉𝘼𝙉𝙏 𝙍𝙊𝙎𝙀 𝘾𝙀𝙇𝙀𝙎𝙏𝙀 𝙑𝙀𝙍𝙊𝙉𝙄𝘾𝘼 𝘽𝙍𝙄𝘼𝙍 𝙊𝙁 𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙋𝙃𝙍𝙔𝙂𝙄𝘼𝙉 𝙀𝙈𝙋𝙄𝙍𝙀

— From a young age, Rose, a young nature fairy and princess, had been trained and educated to become the Empress Regnant of the Phrygian Empire.

She was raised to believe that power was a most important possession, and was to be treated as such.

Upon receiving a letter from the revered Erebus Academy at the age of fourteen, she spent four long years studying at that institution, which led to a number of events.

For one, she’d befriended one of her personal maids who attended Erebus Academy with her, Atalanta Kainda Mielikki.

After that, she and Crown Prince Johann Desmond Edison Ludenberg of the Cyclamen Empire, who was another fairy, were at each other’s throats for the role of valedictorian, which Rose eventually earned.

Two months later, Rose discovered that she was never meant to attend Erebus Academy and that her name had been mixed up with an orphan’s.

Still, she was permitted to continue attending the school since she could keep up with her peers and was qualified to attend.

She soon befriended Rosalie, the orphan whose name had been mixed up with hers.

By the end of the school year, Rose had found a friend and a lover in Johann, and she’d made more connections as well—those efforts were thrown into a garbage bin when it was discovered that she was actually the daughter of Emperor Midas and his former lover instead of Empress Consort Selene Luna.

It was also made known that Rosalie was the true heir, and was swapped with Rose at birth.

Rose hadn’t exactly been on good terms with her family for a long time, and now they saw a reason to banish her—leave her for dead, but they decided to keep her as a court secretary due to her vast knowledge.

Meanwhile, in the Cyclamen Empire, it was discovered that Johann was never the true heir as well, and given his very complicated family tree with a half-brother-cousin, it was evident that people really needed to keep track of things.

Johann’s half-brother, twin and cousin, Clarence, who was supposedly the son of the late Prince Edward IX, was actually Emperor Leonard’s son and was mixed up with Johann.

It was a laughable concept, to the people, but it wasn’t so laughable once Johann, who was also on horrible terms with his family, had his wings torn out in front of an audience before he was exiled.

Elsewhere, in the Phrygian Empire, the Emperor and Empress Consort were assassinated by a rebellion, leading to Rosalie’s early coronation as the uneducated Empress Regnant, only for her to forfeit all claim to the crown.

This led to Rose being recognized the only living heir of Emperor Midas, and was eventually coronated as Empress Regnant Rose Celeste Veronica Briar of the Phrygian Empire.

Afterwards, she provided sanctuary for Johann, who was practically infamous by now.

Admittedly, Rose did coddle him after that.

Twenty-two years later, her tale was forgotten, covered by bigger news, but she was never forgotten, either.

Her children were known for greater feats, but till her very last breaths, she acknowledged that she had always craved power, but she also craved love.

Acceptance.

And a home that she loved, not because it was opulent and she had everyone at her beck and call, but because everyone she loved was in it.

[castletown-cafe]

Castletown Café Episode 11: Giga Salad

We’re back again with another trip into Gaster’s library of cut content. I bet even the items and concepts that never made it in are just as canonical as everything in the final version of the game. It wouldn’t be too farfetched in the fourth-wall leaning worlds of Undertale and Deltarune, after all - the mere fact that they are games is canon.

This food, however, may have been cut for good reason - for one, the very description of this salad deems it useless, as it’s comprised solely of lettuce. Second, it only heals 4 HP to your team except for Noelle, to whom it heals a whopping 90. Why? Most likely, it has to do with her herbivorous nature as a reindeer, and she even comments as it being “something to graze on.” 

But a salad consisting only of lettuce isn’t much of a salad at all....unless you use a ton of different varieties. Even with all these different kinds of lettuce, of course, it still needs more: another veggie or two thrown in for good measure, and what’s a salad without dressing and other toppings to make it extra delicious? With these upgrades, this Giga Salad is not only enormous - but enormous in flavor, too. Now it’s not so useless, but I’m sure it’d still heal Noelle the most, anyway. Hope she’d like lemon yogurt dressing!

This time around, everything was my own creation, down to the lemon Greek yogurt salad dressing. Ideas like this come to me when I can’t sleep, and on one such night, all the ingredients for the salad and the dressing just clicked into place! Of course, whether or not it would work, I didn’t know. But I did know right then and there to write down those ideas - right in the middle of the night - so I could mess with those ingredients the next day and see if I got something that worked, and oh boy, did it!! That’s the great thing about cooking on a regular basis: you gain experience points for each dish you make, and with that experience, your cooking creativity and skills level up!

That said, I still learned something with creating this salad: the walnuts and dried cranberries shouldn’t be mixed in with the rest of the salad as they’ll just sink to the bottom of the salad bowl. Instead, they are meant to be a topping when serving, so I have corrected that for the recipe.

Also, although the salad in my photo contains radicchio, I’ve omitted it from the recipe. Prior to this salad, I had never tried radicchio before, and now I realize why: it’s really bitter! Despite this, the bitterness didn’t ruin the salad for me at all, because there were tons of good stuff in there to counteract it. If you’re a fan of radicchio or other bitter vegetables, you can add it back in if you wish.

As for the dressing? It turned out perfectly! And this is coming from someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing half the time for this series. I was a little apprehensive of adding lemon juice to Greek yogurt, but then I remembered that the dill sauce from the previous episode turned out just fine with that ingredient combination, so, maybe this would turn out fine. The honey adds sweetness, and the olive oil and garlic give it just the right touch of savory to this creamy, slightly sweet, but not too sweet salad dressing that’s perfectly balanced in flavor and exceeded my expectations.

GIGA SALAD DRESSING:

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove minced garlic OR 1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

Salt to taste

Wash and zest lemon, putting 1 teaspoon of the zest into a small bowl. Cut lemon in half and juice one half with a hand juicer. Fill up a tablespoon with juice and add to the bowl with the lemon zest.

Add about a tablespoon of honey into the lemon mixture, it’s okay just to eyeball it.

Peel and mince 1 clove of garlic (or just measure one tsp of garlic powder) and add to the bowl.

Add in olive oil, yogurt, and stir to combine, adding just a little salt to taste.

GIGA SALAD:

2 leaves Romaine lettuce

5 radishes

1 cup chopped or shredded green cabbage

A generous handful of the following: spinach, mizuna, chard, frisee, lolla rosa, & arugula leaves.

A generous handful of fresh chives.

Toppings:

1 cup chopped walnuts

1 cup dried cranberries

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Wash and dry all vegetables. In a large salad bowl, place your spinach, mizuna lettuce, chard, arugula, frisee, and lolla rosa leaves.

Chop up your Romaine lettuce and add to the bowl.

Chop or shred 1 cup of green cabbage and add to your salad.

Thinly slice your radishes into rounds, and add.

Finely chop up your chives, add to salad, and toss to combine.

Lastly, the toppings. Open up a bag of dried cranberries, chop up your walnuts, and grate Parmesan cheese.

To serve, grab a bowl, fill it with salad, and top with the Giga dressing, chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, and Parmesan cheese. Enjoy!

#castletown cafe #deltarune #giga salad #deltarune food #deltarune chapter 2 #deltarune fanart #cw food #deltarune swatchlings #swatchlings #swatchlings fanart #deltarune inspired recipe #deltarune cut content #salad recipe #my art #recipe

[tintinntabuli]

The myth of the “wild-type” or “straight species”

Guest Rant by Joseph Tychonievich

There has been a lot of discussion in gardening circles about “nativars.” Is the term useful? How is it defined? The latest surge of comment coming from this generally excellent article in the Washington Post.

But there is a concept that gets thrown around in all these discussions that makes me want to scream: That is the idea of a “wild type” or “straight species.” This is generally put forward in contrast to cultivars, the idea being that they are the species as it is in the wild, untouched by human hands.

Here’s the problem.

There is no such thing as a singular wild type or straight species. Wild plants – and all other organisms – do not exist in a single form, they are genetically diverse and variable populations, each individual different. So every single plant you purchase or grow, whether it has a cultivar name attached to it or not, is a selected form. Maybe it was selected because a nursery owner thought it had unusually beautiful or interesting flowers. Or maybe it was selected just because it happened to grow in a meadow where a plant propagator got permission to collect seeds one sunny late summer day.

If you think this is all academic nitpicking, let’s give a concrete example.

Here is a photo of one of my favorite native plants, Hepatica americana. I adore this plant and seek it out everywhere I can every spring. Which one is the wild type? White? Light blue? Dark blue? I can tell you that all these color forms are very common. Sometimes I’ll visit one park and find a population of nearly all blues, then drive just 20 minutes up the road to another woodland and find population that is entirely white, and other times all growing mixed up together like this. Less often, I’ll find pinks, but they’re not that rare; I pretty consistently find a pink or two every large population I’ve seen. Which form will you get if you purchase “wild type” or “straight species” Hepatica americana? Who knows. You will get some selection from natural diversity with no cultivar name attached; you just don’t get any information about what the selection is.

‘Jeana’ phlox at Mt. Cuba Center

This reality plays out in very weird ways. Every thoughtful article I’ve read about nativars cites Mt. Cuba Center’s excellent research on how attractive different varieties are to pollinators and specifically mentions the cultivar Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’. Here’s how the Washington Post article describes it: “Another surprise nativar standout was Phlox paniculata ‘Jeana’, which outperformed the species “by a huge margin,” Hoadley says.”

Let’s unpack that. By “the species” they mean a Phlox paniculata selection from the wild with no cultivar name attached. In contrast to ‘Jeana’ which is… wait for it… ALSO a selection of Phlox paniculata from the wild. And, because ‘Jeana’ does have a name, it is easy to google and find out that it was first collected by a woman named Jeana Prewitt, who found it growing along the Harpeth River in Nashville, Tennessee.

In other words, the comparison here is not between a wild plant and man-made hybrid; it is between two selections from the wild, one of which we have some information about because it was given a name, and the other about which we know nothing because no one bothered to name it.

Now, of course, not all cultivars are wild selections. Some are complex hybrids, significantly modified by years of active work by plant breeders. But it is easy to differentiate between a selection from the wild, like Phlox ‘Jeana’, and a man-made hybrid, like Phlox ‘Fashionably Early Flamingo’, because they have names attached. Names we can look up to get more information about how they were created. Names that let places like Mt. Cuba compare them and give us all useful information about how many pollinators they attract.

Keeping cultivar names attached to plants isn’t just useful for helping pollinators. Sometimes it is key information about how a plant will – or won’t – perform in your garden. My beloved Hepatica americana has wild populations around me in northern Indiana, and the range extends from the Florida panhandle and all the way up into Ontario. That means most gardeners in the eastern half of North America can grow this wonderful little wildflower, but if the nursery just lists it as “the straight species” who knows what you’ll get. It could be a selection from your part of the country, or it could be one from a far extreme of the range that is going to suffer horribly in your conditions.

So we need more “nativars” in the world. More names. More background on how and where and why a plant was selected. And we need to stop pretending that a plant without a cultivar name attached is anything other than a plant about which we don’t have very much information.

‘Jeana’ photo source.

Joseph Tychonievich is the author of “The Comic Book Guide to Growing Food” and several other gardening books. He lives and gardens in northern Indiana.

The myth of the “wild-type” or “straight species” originally appeared on GardenRant on March 2, 2024.

The post The myth of the “wild-type” or “straight species” appeared first on GardenRant.

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#landscaping landscaper

[rainymossgoddess]

I've gotten super into Magic The Gathering lore recently, even to the point of making an oc.

And like. Dude. I never make OCs. It's so rare for me to do it, for whatever reason.

Granted, they still lack a name. And a good amount of identifying features too. So they're not fully conceptualized but hey, they're in the works!

Now, as a primer for those who may stumble across this without knowledge of MTG-

The magic system is relatively simple, consisting of five colors of mana that each stem from their own biome and set of concepts;

Green is growth and strength, standing steadfast with nature - aligned with forests

Blue is shifting and cunning, diving deep and sneaking through - aligned with islands

Red is fast and hot, burning bright with emotion - aligned with mountains

White is allied and healing, bringing many together in order - aligned with planes

Black is dark and ambitious, taking and keeping whatever it wants - aligned with Swamps

There are more complicated lands that summon forth multiple types of mana or produce more, but lets stick with the simpler things for the moment.

For a mage to gain access to mana they must first connect with the lands themselves, finding what colors suit them best.

Of course, with a magic system comes spells.

And spells cost mana to cast, as one would expect. Mana costs vary, anywhere from one green and any color for a simple elf, to one of every color and then some for a massive dragon sorcerer or a spell that razes the battlefield, but keeps one creature alive.

To summon forth spells, a mage must first understand the mana needed to cast the spell, have enough mana to cast the spell, and have the skill and experience required to evoke the spell.

To summon forth creatures in another thing almost entirely. Required still is mana, but for anything more substantial than the most generic facsimile of life the caster needs to form strong memories and bond with the creatures summoned. These summoned constructs do not normally put their inspiration in danger, as they are simply memories imbued with physical form.

However, there are some exceptions, one of which are elementals and other creatures of pure mana, including demons and angels as well. These creatures can be summoned in their entirety, lending true sentience and a companion to fight alongside or travel with. However, this means they can also be truly injured or killed.

The last big thing, I promise!

Dimension travel- they're called Planes, by the way- is possible through several means, the most common- and it's still comically rare- is possession of a Planeswalker Spark. You see, one in every several million creatures is born as an Ember- with an unlit Spark.

Even fewer Embers will ever light their Spark, given that Sparks will only ever ignite under lots of stress or intense emotions. Now, while it commonly involves a near-death experience, near death experiences are not required to alight one's Spark.

I think that's good enough for now, onto the character!

Or should I say, at least for the moment, characters?

You see, this being's story begins on the city-plane of Ravnica, an entire world covered in sprawling, sky-high cities. On Ravnica, each two color pairing has a guild with its own purpose. However, that barely matters at this point in the story.

What does matter in this moment is a yet-unnamed Ember that awakens her Spark, being ripped out of whatever, potentially deeply traumatizing, situation and thrown heels over head into the Blind Eternities. And they float-fall-soar through the nothingness between planes, their Spark eventually latching onto another plane and pulling the newest Walker back into existence.

Over a handful of years and mixed attempts at Walking between realities, she steadily improves as a mage, returning to Ravnica a few times to, if nothing else, take a break and exist in a familiar space and perhaps meet a fellow Walker, if lucky enough. And yet, wanderlust still pulls at her soul, driving her to go to new places and explore.

One of these new planes is a quick favorite of the budding mage- Zendikar.

This unusual plane is constantly shifting, the perpetual force of nature at its center called the Roil twisting stone and ripping earth like a sort of immune system, not allowing stationary cities to form and forcing life to constantly adapt. Huge, hand-carved, polyhedral stones exist in droves, channeling mana in strange ways- Hedrons. Even the gravity of the plane is irregular, resulting in physics-defying mountain peaks and waterfalls even higher still, spouting from islands and plummeting down to the earth below.

It is on Zendikar where this young Planeswalker finds a lifelong companion in one born of emotion, lighting, and fire alongside calming, fog, and waves, all held together with strength, vines, stone, and wood. That is, to say, she befriended an elemental.

These two would continue to wander the multiverse until called back to aid in defending Zendikar from an ancient but newly uncovered threat- The Eldrazi. These three titans, just until recently imprisoned by the Hedrons, do little but consume, stripping planes of any mana they hold, then moving to the next. The trio of Eldrazi titans begin to slowly strip the Zendikar down to her bedrock, devouring all life.

And so they fight! Planeswalkers and not, they both rally forth, eventually beating the Eldrazi titans and their drones.

Though, Planeswalkers are not indestructible. In one of these many battles against the Eldrazi, the fledgling walker and her elemental companion are both gravely wounded, barely enough mana between the two of them for an incredibly risky gamble.

You see, a Spark can be transferred between beings. Though, that's not what they did. These two's desperate gamble in an attempt to hold onto life for just that much longer got them something more.

They fused, to put it in the simplest terms.

Their own personal Roil, purging the Eldrazi's corruption from both their broken bodies and mana. This self-contained Roil meged them rather violently, shattering one's memories against the other's. Their new body, combined from flesh and stone, lightning and tooth, sinew and sea spray, is something truly new.

They roil perpetually as they try and find a new meaning in life, memories broken but spark intact.

Perhaps they will travel in search of riches? Unlikely.

More likely is a search for new and old memories, slowly piecing back together an old life and adding even more.

#magic the gathering #lore #mossy blabs #original character #cool shit #(i think so at least) #planeswalker #elemental #long post

[subbyenbywitch]

[comic review] dark horse's the thing from another world comics (1991-93 & 2011)

the thing from another world (comic 1991-92) writer: chuck pfarrer artist: john b. higgins

struggle, until thought is lost–until dreams are lost–until time is lost– swallowed by the howling maw of antarctic night.

yeah, no, this is not good. it did absolutely nothing to justify its existence.

the only thing stopping me from declaring it a soulless cash grab is that the art is actually pretty fantastic, like i think quite a bit of effort went into it, but they just didn’t have a story to tell here. and to me, that is the absolutely one essential element you need to even bother with something like this. d-rank

the thing from another world: climate of fear (comic 1992) writer: john arcudi artists: jim w. somerville & brian garvey & robert jones

“i give up. i can’t do this anymore, i just can’t.”

this wasn’t great or anything, but it was definitely an improvement over the other one.

in this one mcready wakes up on a base in mainland argentina, and it’s honestly just pretty refreshing to at least have some new characters and something different going on. also there’s a huge herd of sheep on the base and obviously one of them gets infected and it’s very tragic but also aww sheep.

the first issue is probably the strongest one, overall this is just kind of okay, but “okay” is still a definite improvement. c-rank

the thing from another world: eternal vows (comic 1993) writer: dave devries artists: paul gulacy & dan davis

“the conflict between the memories of your human nature and the needs of your cells will take time to resolve. it hurts, but it will pass. and i will always be there for you. now that our blood has mixed, we live within each other. we are one. together. forever. ’til death do us part.”

whoa, dang, one of these was actually good! (and is apparently the most-hated of these. what the heck, guys?)

i knew this one had potential when i first heard about the concept. in this story, one of the things that survived the other two stories assimilates a couple and the pair of them just want to live quietly in a small coastal town, eating as many other humans as they need to to survive.

i don’t think this quite fits in with how the things were supposed to work in the movie, but i kind of don’t even care since we finally got a wholly original story in one of these comics. macready eventually shows up because i guess he’s some kind of thing hunter now, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense imo, but again i kind of don’t care!!

issue 3 has a truly iconic moment where one of the things is in human form but with tentacles going everywhere from her, and she licks up some human blood from one of her tentacles. it was weirdly sexy?

also, just when i was starting to think there wasn’t much more they could do in their current setting, issue 4 takes place mostly on a boat!

seriously, i can’t believe this is the most-hated one of these. it’s one of the best ones imo. and it’s largely self-contained so you can safely skip the other two stories and read this one on its own. b-rank

the thing from another world: questionable research (comic 1993) writer: edward martin iii artists: ted naifeh & w. “moose” baumann & alex niño

“you’ve thrown your sense of science, as well as your common sense, out the window.”

this one was much shorter than the others by virtue of being serialized in dark horse comics’ short-lived eponymous anthology series. it appeared in dark horse comics #13-16 alongside the likes of aliens and predator and whatnot, and each of the four parts was around half a dozen pages long. so if you put all of them together you get basically the length of a single issue.

still, this one was in a similar vein to eternal vows inasmuch as it featured wholly original characters. it’s also even more disconnected from the other comics, picking up with a research team investigating the destruction of the antarctic station from the movie. macready doesn’t even show up in this one!

it’s hard to compare this to the other comics given that it’s so much shorter, but it definitely fits in with the movie better than most of them, if that matters to you. but it manages to do so while still also telling a new story with a new group of characters, which is honestly how all of these should be approaching things in my opinion. macready is great, but having him survive the movie at all never really felt necessary to me. if you want to continue this story, you really should find another way to do it like this comic did. b-rank

the thing: the northman nightmare (comic 2011) writer: steve niles artist: patric reynolds

of all the lands they conquered, the icy mass to the north proved to be one of the vikings’ greatest challenges. unlike many of the lands they explored and settled, it was not the indigenous people who were the greatest threat. the enemy was the land itself.

i really loved the concept of this. the idea of a bunch of vikings facing off against one of the things in greenland had a lot of potential. but sadly this was totally phoned in.

i know this was a single issue but it doesn’t give anything time to breathe, you don’t get to know any of the characters at all, and at the end of the day i’m just not sure why i’m supposed to care even a little. the art was good, though? so there’s that i guess. d-rank

#the thing #the thing from another world comics #the thing comics #dark horse comics #comic review #reviews #comics

[talenlee]

Decemberween 2022: Life SMP

New Post has been published on PRESS.exe: Decemberween 2022: Life SMP

Do you like reality TV? No? Oh okay that makes sense. Not saying that none of you do, but on average, I can reasonably assume

What about wrestling? Yeah! Yeah okay, probably, statistically, you do.

What about Minecraft? Yeah, okay, statistically, you also probably do!

The Life SMP is a Minecraft SMP (“Survival Multiplayer”) set up as in Hardcore mode, where you have a limited number of lives. You can die a total of 3 times and then that’s it, you’re out of the game. A bunch of professional Minecrafters get thrown into this space, with rules for each iteration and what you get is kind of a really good single season narrative you can see from multiple perspectives.

The storytelling this presents is really interesting to me — you’re basically getting a mix of reality TV, where players need resources to actually do things to affect the world and make things happen (including violence), but there’s also an element of shared fiction where people are creating things that one another needs to react to. There are grudges (real and exaggerated), there’s kayfabe (real and exaggerated), and unlike other long-form Minecraft content where there’s a sort of timeless vision, the Life setup is very clearly here for a good time, not for a long time.

There are three seasons of Life and it works well that each season gets better than the next. It’s some really good bingeable content for the holiday period – just put the playlist on the TV and let it run because it’ll have that effect where plot points may zip past, but the next video will show you that plot point in a different angle.

Playlist: 3rd Life SMP - Chronological Order

Watch this playlist on YouTube

I think the first season, just called 3RD LIFE is the weakest, because all it has as a concept is each player has three lives totally; when you die you go from having a green life to a yellow life to a red life. Notably, red-life characters are hostile to everyone and can start PVPing other players. This holds out through the season – once someone goes red, they have the option to start fights and can pull the game into, y’know, a path of violence.

Last Life #1! - You Bet Your LIFE!

Watch this video on YouTube

Last Life adds two new wrinkles. One, players start with a random number of lives from 2 to 6, which they can use as currency. You can give lives to people, but you know, there’s an inherent danger in that. This series has a lot of really clutch moments about giving people lives to disrupt plans and alliances, but also…

The other big twist this has is The Boogeyman, which means at the start of each session there’s a chance you will be selected as The Boogeyman, which means you have to kill someone non-red, or you will have your lives set to red. This means that there’s now a paranoia to the whole experience, where players may be allied and building together but also quietly wondering if the other player is going to take a shot at them as the end of the session arrives.

Last Life is exciting and it’s also funny in a really deep way that the first series kind of wasn’t. It’s not that the first series lacked for comedy, but Last Life has a bunch of genuinely hilarious moments that are also tied into big-brain plays from people doing clever moves.

Double Life: New Chaos Begins! | Episode 1

Watch this video on YouTube

The third and (maybe, when I write this) final (for now) Life series is Double Life. The gimmick here is no boogeyman but instead, codifying something that happens naturally in the game: Players get linked with another player and both of them share a life and health pool.

This series is pleasantly weird too, where the characters frame their soulmate link in a lot of… ways. Like, it’s kind of Life but Mean Girls, where everyone is trying to come up with some deliberately fruitless way of manipulating other players when everyone has a guaranteed ally.

It’s also the shortest of the seasons – it goes six sessions and you can binge one player’s perspective remarkably quickly, if you want to.

I recommend this as some solid ‘folk in the house, kid-friendly’ content that can be compared to a sporting event.

Check it out on PRESS.exe to see it with images and links!

#Decemberween2022

#Decemberween 2022

[mainslearning]

Remember when lyrics

#REMEMBER WHEN LYRICS HOW TO#

#REMEMBER WHEN LYRICS FULL#

The point is to do the same with your song lyrics and a solid concept or idea. Either way, the point is that your brain has associated that word with something definitive. For instance, with the word “apple”, the first thing that would come to mind for most of us is a shiny red fruit or perhaps the ubiquitous logo of one of today’s hottest technological brands. This sounds like a mouthful but what it essentially means is that you associate or connect the words – or first word – in your lyrics with a specific person, location, event, feeling, what have you. Proceed with playing the tape back and sing along as best as you can! Using Word Association Tacticsįinally, another strategy that you can employ to help you effectively remember your lyrics is using word association tactics. Again, familiarize yourself with the lyrics, and once you feel that you’ve somewhat got them down, record yourself singing them. This will help your brain wrap itself around the entire concept of knowing not just the lyrics but the accompaniment or melody as well that the lyrics are set to. You can then play back the recording, listen to it, and try your best to sing or rap along. Recording Your Lyrics Then Playing The Recording BackĪnother way to help you remember lyrics is by recording yourself singing the actual song once you’ve become slightly familiar with the words. Most importantly, sleep deprivation has also been linked to forgetfulness so if you want those lyrics to stay in your head, be sure to make getting your shut-eye a top priority. Efficient learning is compromised without adequate sleep. Additionally, sleep deprivation has also been linked to impeded learning and thinking as it hampers one’s cognitive processes.

#REMEMBER WHEN LYRICS FULL#

Go to bed after a full day of singing the lyrics and test this theory in the morning by gauging how much you’ve managed to memorize before taking a peek at the lyrics. Once you’ve gone through the lyrics repeatedly, sleeping on them will protect the new memories you’ve created from being disrupted by experiences that you would inevitably encounter if you were awake. Study after study has shown that our memories consolidate or gel new information far better when adequate, restful sleep is thrown into the mix. In fact, you might be surprised at just how crucial sufficient and proper sleep is to ensuring that the lyrics you’ve been repeating/singing throughout the day actually stay in your head and don’t just go through it. While hard work, determination and persistence will go a long way in helping you memorize your lyrics, pulling an all-nighter isn’t exactly the best idea.

#REMEMBER WHEN LYRICS HOW TO#

This is one of the most important things to remember when learning how to memorize lyrics. It is important to say or sing the lyrics out loud and not just in your head because when you do this, you utilize two of your senses at the same time and this action helps to anchor the concept in your long-term memory. Afterward, you can move on to the chorus, verse 2, bridge, and so on and so forth. For instance, before memorizing the entire song, focus on verse 1 first. It will also help you to memorize the lyrics per section as organization is key to effective memorization. Recite or sing your lyrics out loud as often as you can throughout the day and take constant breaks in between so that your memory is able to jog and refresh itself. And I don’t just mean in your head – but out loud. The fact of the matter is that the fastest way to make anything stick is by repeating it over and over. Repetition is known as “the mother of learning”.ĭo you remember having to forcefully memorize the The Star-Spangled Banner or Declaration of Independence when you were a kid? You probably don’t as having the words stick in your head came naturally as a result of reciting them every day with your teacher or your classmates. Recording Your Lyrics Then Playing The Recording Back.Remember Song Lyrics Through Repetition.

#Remember when lyrics

[unproduciblesmackdown]

post full color lighthearted affection riawin pics

#corned beef #riawin #winston billions #for the past few days it's been like ''haha this time i'll easily start drawing before 3am'' only to Not do so.... #the idea here like ''well time to draw more affectionate quantent'' of course but ft. the vague extra ideas re: posing like #winston leaning in....this arrangement mostly makes sense if rian's hanging out on a kitchen stool or something like. sure maybe lol #naturally another concept or two thrown into the mix.... #further behind the scenes lore saved for later if anything lmao it being. 7am pensive #can be usually verbose without limits after a recharge....

[yelenabelovasbxtch]

Hey, I have a Kate Bishop X reader request.

Reader and Kate being best friends, Kate crushing big time on R. Reader is hiding something from Kate, (the secret being that she is Spider woman) and she tells Kate after she catches K when she is thrown off the roof in episode 5.

I am Spider-Woman

a/n: Hey everyone! Just a quick one-shot tonight based on this ask. Hope you enjoy reading!

Warnings: Not much, brief mention of anxiety. Spoilers for Hawkeye if you have not yet seen it.

Word Count: 2688

Concept: You are Spider-woman and it's a big secret you're keeping from your best friend that eventually comes out when you are forced to intervene with her late-night superhero calls. However, yours is not the only truth that comes out that night.

Taglist: @imapotatao @kacka84 @sofisnn @hoeforwandanat @variant-l0852 @mellowladyangel @violetwitchmcu @m-zne237 @laaurrel @chloe7076 @miphas-trident @chickenlittlsblog @sapphic-girl @simp4haiz @hardwastelandbread @thorya22

You and Kate had been best friends for quite some time. You first met in high school when you found out that you both had a passion for sports, more specifically the uncommon kind. You were naturally gifted with really good aim so taking up archery was one of the best choices you ever made. You and Kate bonded over your love for the sport and once you two became friends you were pretty much inseparable. All throughout high school, you were as close as could be until you met a nice boy who was on the varsity basketball team. You and Kate were still super close of course but dating someone took part of your time away from her of course. You dated for your last two years of high school and through your first year and a half of university until one day you both decided it was best for you to part ways. At the time, you had already moved in together and seemed as he had no family in New York anymore, therefore having nowhere to go, you told him you’d move out. Luckily for you, your best friend came from a fairly wealthy family and she had a place of her own in the city. She let you move in with her and it’s only been you and Kate for the last year and a half. However, four months ago, something out of the ordinary happened. While you were on summer break, you interned in a lab in order to get some experience under your belt. The lab was called Oscorp where you got to work under some of the most intelligent scientists to live in your time. Being an intern, you ran a lot of stuff around, lots of lab work and many, many coffees. One day while you were asked to bring a specific set of files to another scientist, you managed to get mixed up in which room you were heading into. Long story short, you accidentally got bitten by a genetically enhanced spider where the DNA of that spider mended with yours thus giving you powers that allow you to do incredible things. Being the person that you were, you insisted on using your powers for heroic things. You never stepped outside your comfort zone, you always were the one stopping thieves, returning bikes…you know…friendly neighbourhood stuff. You didn’t really want any attention for it and made sure to keep your identity a secret but after time had passed and enough YouTube videos of you had surfaced, people started calling you Spider-Woman based on your web-slinging-like abilities and wall-crawling talent. And no…you’ve never met Spider-Man nor do you have any relation to him. Keeping this part of your life a secret was tough, especially from the person who mattered the most to you, Kate. You wanted to tell her so badly but she has always been so obsessed with Hawkeye and his ability to be human and still be a superhero. You didn’t want her to treat you differently because you all of a sudden had these powers, plus if she didn’t know it would keep her out of harm's way. You knew Kate could hold her own against people, but taking extra precautions to keep her safe could never be a bad thing, especially because of what she’s been up to as of late. She comes home every night beaten and bloody, and by home, you mean her aunt's house. The two of you had to move in there since your apartment was torched by some wackos. She told you that she wasn’t there when it happened nor did she know who the men were but you had this tingling feeling that she wasn’t telling you the truth, so you decided to investigate a little further. She was out late hours and would come home with stories that made no sense to explain her cuts so one night you decided to follow her out. You were careful to not get caught but apparently not careful enough. You were in a one-stop-shop store when you accidentally knocked over some containers with band-aids in them. You tried to duck as fast as you could but she made you.

“y/n?” You hear her say

Shit.

You pop up from behind the counter.

“Hey, Kate!”

“What are you doing here so late?” She says.

“Oh…you know…we needed tampons so I just ran out to get some.”

“y/n…two things, one, I know we have tons of them under the sink. Two, why would you come to get tampons from a store ten blocks away from our place when there is a pharmacy, not even a block away?”

“Just felt like going on a walk that's all.” You say trying to act as nonchalant as possible.

“Are you…following me?” She says in a confused and mild accusatory tone.

You start walking towards her, “look, Kate, I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to invade your privacy, I have just been really worried about you. You are out for super late hours and you come home with all of these cuts and bruises and you won’t be honest with me. I can tell that you’re lying whenever you try to make up a reason that you have a new injury.”

“y/n, I–”

“Y/N? Like the y/n?” You hear a voice say from behind Kate.

“I’m sorry, who are you?”

“Hi uh, I’m Clint. I am Kate’s “partner”, I’ve heard lots about you.”

“Partner? Wai-what? Kate are you dating this old dude?”

“Wha-WHAT NO! Oh my gosh, no, definitely not. He is like my spy partner. Y/n it’s *hawkeye*” She whispers that last bit.

“Oh my goodness, Mr. Hawkeye I am SO sorry. I didn’t recognize you. I’m not gonna lie, Kate and I have talked about it, you definitely have a branding issue. I didn’t even know who you were.” You say as you extend your hand to shake his.

“Yeah, yeah, branding issues. I’ve heard it, kid. Kate has told me everything. But anyway it was great to finally meet you. When she’s not talking about my branding issues, Kate doesn’t shut up about you.”

You turn and look at Kate and she turns bright red in the face from embarrassment as she then looks at Clint with wide eyes and he catches the hint to leave you two alone.

“I- uh, have to go pay for this stuff. Nice meeting you y/n, Kate I’ll meet you outside.”

Clint walks up to the register.

Kate turns back around and looks at you. “I know this must all seem really confusing but basically to sum it up, Clint and I have been working together on this case that could involve my mom's boyfriend being a really bad dude and this gang called the tracksuit mafia who may or may not have been the people who blew up our apartment.” She says with a guilty smile on her face. “And…I’m super sorry for keeping this from you. You’re my best friend and I’ve been dying to tell you this…trust me you have no idea what keeping a secret like this from your best friend is like, it’s exhausting.” You knew at that moment in time you should come clean about your powers to Kate but you froze and just couldn’t.

“Are you in any danger Katie?” She only lets you call her that. She usually gets really mad at other people when they do because it doesn’t make her seem as intimidating.

“I know I said I’d stop lying so yes, yes I am but Clint’s a really great teacher and he’s helping me out. He is teaching me how to be a superhero! He will always have my back so there’s no need to worry.”

“Kate. You know me. I will worry no matter what. Can you try to keep in touch with me every now and then so I know you’re alive at least? And please don’t hesitate to call me if you need help.” Kate lets out a little giggle, “are you going to show up and be a superhero too.” She says.

“You never know…maybe I will surprise you.” You say. You put some more thought into it and decide that maybe it is time to tell Kate, but not here, definitely not here.

“Hey Katie, are you heading somewhere after this or going home?”

“I actually have to run and grab something with Clint, it is top secret and he won’t even tell me.” “Okay, so how long do you think that’ll take?”

“Hmmm. I shouldn’t be long, maybe an hour? Then I’ll come home.”

“Okay great. I have something I want to talk to you about.”

“What is it?” She asks with curiosity.

“You’ll just have to come home soon and find out.” You say with a soft smile.

When her and Clint left, you swung home and decided to grab some of her favourite snacks on the way. You were hoping the snacks would ease how she would feel about you lying to her all of these months.

You got home and set up all the snacks eagerly waiting for Kate to come home. You started growing nervous and anxiety was building up inside of you. What if she doesn’t want to be your friend anymore because of your powers? What if she’s mad and can’t forgive you for lying? All of these thoughts were rushing through your head when you suddenly remembered all of the times that Kate has been there for you. One of the biggest was when you and your boyfriend broke up. Although you spent lots of time away from each other, it felt like no time at all had passed because of how close you were. You began to reminisce about your friendship and things Kate’s done over the years. She’s been your biggest hype woman, calling you beautiful, hugging you when you needed it, even if you didn’t know it and just always being there to catch you. Then, all of a sudden a thought popped into your head, something Clint said earlier regarding how much Kate talks about you and Kate’s reaction to that. Then, you started thinking about your friendship, the last few years at least, in a new light. Holy shit. You think your best friend is in love with you. You telling her that you had something important to talk to her about with a side of cheeky grin might have given her the wrong impression. But…you’d be lying if you said that you hadn’t thought about her that way before. When you first met, you had the biggest crush on Kate. Eventually, you accepted that she’d never feel the same way about you and decided to move on. That’s why you ended up getting a boyfriend. All of these thoughts and emotions were rushing through your head when you checked the time and realized that it had been an hour and a half since you saw Kate. You started to worry about where she was and if she was hurt. So, you log onto her computer and track down where her phone was last located.

“Perfect, seen at this location 8 minutes ago.”

You head over there and on top of a tall apartment building. You look down to see four dark figures moving on top of the roof of the building across the street. You try to take a closer look when you recognize that two of them had bows and arrows.

“Kate and Clint.” You say under your breath.

Kate nailed one of the dark figures in the arm with an arrow. The individual ran off as soon as they were hit without hesitation.

She really can hold her own against these bad guys I guess. You think to yourself. A small smile comes across your face as if you’re proud of her. You look back up to watch her a Clint try to take down this one person when Clint is knocked on his ass and the individual is heading right for Kate. You see this person go to pick Kate up and as this happens the whole world slows down for you as you realize what’s about to happen. You immediately lunge off of the building shooting a web in her direction when you see this mysterious figure throw her off of the building. As you dive off of her, your web reaches out and wraps around her one arm as you are holding onto the building she fell from. She looks up as she realizes that somebody caught her and sees you looking down at her.

“Y/N?” She says with the most panic behind her eyes.

You slowly set her on the ground and jump down to see her.

“I- How- You’re Spider-Woman!”

“Look Kate I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was going to tell you, I had it all planned out, I got all your favourite snacks ready and I was waiting for you but then I got paranoid that you weren’t home yet and was worried you might be in danger. I didn’t mean to lie to you for so long I just didn’t want to put you in harm's way.” You get out in one breath.

“You have superpowers.”

“Yeah. I guess I do. Again, I’m really sorry for lying to you Kate. I wanted to tell you earlier but the time didn’t seem right. Clint was there and we were in a shop and you seemed embarrassed after he implied you had a crush on me and I just–” oh shit.

“Sorry what? I don’t remember Clint saying anything about me having a crush on you.”

“Sorry I just– I um, assumed. Based on him saying you talked about me all the time.”

“I– ah, I don’t–, trust me I–, I don’t have feelings–”

“Kate it’s okay.” You say cutting her off as she was tripping over her own words.

“I’m sorry. I know we’re best friends. I’ve been trying to push them down.” She says.

“Don’t apologize. Now might not be the time to have this conversation because god knows what’s happening to Clint right now but I feel the same.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

A look of relief comes across Kate’s face with pure happiness to follow.

“Oh shit. Clint!” She says as she’s about to run back through the front door.

“Kate! Wait!”

“What?”

“Allow me?” You say, extending your hand.

She grabs your hand with the cutest grin across her face as you pull the two of you to the roof in one swift motion.

You see Clint get shocked in the neck by red electricity and the mysterious individual kicks you in the stomach to knock you halfway across the roof. Kate grabs her bow and aims it at what looked to be a blonde woman. She shook her head at Kate as she anchored herself to the roof and jumped off. Kate came running over to you.

“I’m fine, I’m fine, she just caught me off guard. I swear I’m usually much better at this.” You say with a laugh. “Go check on Clint.”

The three of you made it out alive but only by a hair. You all headed back to Kate’s aunt’s apartment where you enjoyed some snacks and watched movies with ice packs taping to your bodies and lots of margaritas.

Clint looks over at Kate who is practically sitting on your lap on the couch next to him.

“Did I miss something?” He says.

Kate shoots her head around with a big smile directed at him and says “y/n’s Spider-woman.”

Well, I guess the cat’s out of the bag now.

“OH! And she admitted her undying love to me.”

You turn your head and look at Kate because you definitely did not say that but you couldn’t help but just laugh because of how adorable she was when she said it.

“This true?” Clint says, mostly regarding your secret identity.

“Yup. My love is in fact, undying.” You say with a chuckle.

– The End –

#kate bishop x female reader #kate bishop smut #kate bishop x reader #kate bishop #kate bishop fanfiction #florence pugh #florence pugh fanfic #marvel #cooking with flo #florence pugh smut #mcu #yelena belova fanfiction #florence pugh x reader #black widow #yelena belova #hawkeye fanfic #hailee steinfeld #hawkeye show #hawkeye series #hawkeye #clint barton

[missgeniality]

A Date With Destiny (m)

“Love is our true destiny. We do not find the meaning of life by ourselves, alone - we find it with another.” - Thomas Merton

➺ Pairing: Jungkook x Female Reader

➺ Trope: Strangers to Lovers, Idol!AU

➺ Genre: Fluff, Smut, one comedian in the mix

➺ Rating: 18+

➺ Word Count: 11k

➺ Summary: You are a boss lady in the tech industry travelling to world for work. He is a chart-topping artist touring the globe to perform in front of millions of fans. In the cosmos of life, you are not likely to cross paths. Luckily, fate has a different plan for you two.

➺ Warnings: dom!jk, unprotected sex (sex is cleaner when you pack your weiner!), hickeys galore, lot of spit, oral (male and female receiving), balls receive attention, throat fucking, cum eating, edging, masturbation kinda?, cum play, pussy slapping, pussy sniffing, fingering, squirting, spanking, pain kink?, tit slapping, reader teases a bit but this man is a tease maestro, cum stuffing (is that a thing even?), Jungkook’s THIGHS need their own warning

➺ Author’s Note: @ppersonna​​ is an angel among us peasants. Thank you so much for all your help with this!   This is my first attempt at writing, and the tiniest feedback goes a long way! Hope you enjoy! 

When you die, the first pit stop you make is to the coffee gods. 

Without coffee, this whole month would have been a disaster. Back-to-back meetings, daily flights, countless documents being read, it’s a miracle your eyes are open and fully functioning. 

Being the Chief Technical Officer of a well-established company at your age had been anything but a cakewalk. You had strived hard and crossed many boulders to come to where you are. But if reaching that point required huge amounts of effort, now your work is tenfold. 

“Why can’t I just get longer flights so I can nap in them?” You mumble into your nth cup of coffee - not keeping count is for your own sanity. 

“Because longer flights apparently have crying children. You, our resident baby-magnet hypothesized that shorter flights equal more time in hotel rooms ‘sleeping’. Guess who sleeps in said hotel rooms? Everyone but you.” Your personal assistant and part-time truth-spouter Jake offers helpfully. 

“Past me was such an idiot.” You shoot back, wondering if you could inject the espresso right through your veins.

Jake pouts. “Woman, you take on jobs that an intern could do. If you weren’t such an unnecessary perfectionist I would be on the beaches of Thailand, getting sensual massages and eating some pretty pussy. But here we are, on our way to Seoul. So quit your whining because clearly, I have lost more.” 

“What if I wanted to do that too?”

“Can I watch?” 

“Right.” And that was the end of the conversation. 

Passengers on flight KE654 from Bangkok to Seoul are requested to report for boarding at Gate 45A. First Class passengers will be boarded first, followed by Business class and lastly Economy. Please keep your boarding pass ready for checking.

Jake stands up, groaning. “This is where we say goodbye. Do you wanna pretend like we’re strangers and have a hot one-night stand when we land?” 

“Sometimes I think it’s your natural response to flirt with a breathing being. Do you ever accidentally just, you know, flirt with a tree?” You try to sound sarcastic, but you’re genuinely curious. 

“If a day comes when a hot specimen like me has to flirt with a tree, humanity is doomed. Catch ya later!” He blows you a kiss before leaving for the restroom. You shake your head in awe, a small smile finding your lips. He knew how to get your mind off things.

For all his flirting, Jake’s interest in you is perfunctory. He looks after you, keeps you from starving or gouging your eyeballs out, and calms you when things are too hard. He’s seen your worst. You’ve seen him drunk out of his mind, bailed him out when he “accidentally” smoked up, and heard every new pick-up line his ingenious brain churned out. Basically, you’ve seen his worst as well. 

You take a look at your boarding pass. 3C. Jake would be in business class, and you in first. Not your choice, the company makes the rules. It's for the better, he says. Apparently, he can ‘prowl for his hunt better’, without your judgmental glare. You nearly vomit on him just for his choice of words.

Entering the flight, you stash away your hand baggage the first place you find the room and head to your seat and-

Holy. Shit.

Jeon Jungkook is sitting on your seat.

Jeon Jungkook is on your flight? 

BTS is on your flight? 

What are the odds?

Granted, you’re not a 16-year old obsessive fan, collecting photocards and waving light sticks through the screen, but even in your adulthood you’ve admired their music and shows, routinely keeping up with their discography. 

Hell, you even learned Korean years ago to better understand their songs. Maybe you are an obsessive fan.

But you can’t approach them like that. They no doubt want some privacy and not be recognized. God forbid you approach Jungkook with crazy eyes, just to be escorted off the plane for stalking. While you liked their work, you had your own, and getting thrown off this flight does not help you there.

So, you’re just gonna have to speak to him like just another passenger. 

BTS who? 

Biggest boyband who? 

You only listen to Frank Sinatra. 

“Excuse me?” You call out, a shiver of a whisper leaving your lips. You immediately chastise yourself for being so star-struck.

Big, round eyes glitter under the bucket hat. The softest ‘huh’ throws a lasso over your heart, and holds it captive. He adjusts his hat, inked fingers making a brief yet lasting appearance. The epitome of tenderness, you muse as his eyes flit here and there to figure out the situation. After finding no one to help him out, he gently offers “Yes?”

You feel extremely guilty for marring his serene face with creases of trouble. “I think this is my seat. See, 3C.” you say, pointing to the seat and then to your ticket for good measure. Did he suspect you recognize them? No. Do you look like you’re over-gesticulating? Totally. 

“Oh.” His brow distresses further, the sight has you ready to give the man your seat and hide in the bathroom for the rest of the flight. “But even I am 3C.”

His ticket shows the same characters as yours. 

Huh?

With both your faces contorted in confusion, an air hostess comes forward to help. 

“We both are booked on the same seat. How does that happen? Do I need to catch another flight?” You suddenly pour out, remembering the countless commitments you have in Seoul that would go down the drain if you don’t make it by tonight.

She's quick to reassure you. “Do not worry ma’am, I’m sure there must have been an error in the printing. I’ll be right back.” At the same time, Jungkook is approached by someone, probably one of their staff, to discuss the issue.

The air hostess returns smiling. “Ma’am, you both were booked on the same seat but this adjacent seat was left empty. We are extremely sorry for the error. You may take 3B.” She reiterates the same message to Jungkook in Korean, who then looks mighty relieved. 

Goddamn, his eyes got bigger. How much bigger can they get?

“All okay then?” He glances sideways, smile irradiating your senses and waking you up better than all the coffee could. 

“All good. Sorry for the trouble.” You add, even though it isn’t your mistake in any way.

“No no. No trouble” He beams back. 

Aw, you are in trouble. 

As the flight is about to take off, you can see the rest of BTS in the rows ahead of you, with some other staff members taking up other seats. There’s one old man with a scowl on his face, whom you can’t place with the BigHit group. Great, no crying kids. Unless the frowning grandpa snores to the heavens, you can actually catch a good four-hour snooze. Take that, Jake. Hope a kid blows snot in his face. 

Looking at your neighbor, you find him busy searching for a good video game on the screen. The other members seem to be using this flight to catch a nap, except him. You always wondered whether their on-screen persona was real or not. Now you could say at least one of his characteristics is true. 

Turning away, you bring your focus back to the document at hand. The schematics for a new product your company was launching. You had spearheaded its conception and looked over every single detail in its manufacturing. The Seoul branch is one of the main players in its production, and your last stop before heading back home. You must have every word in this file burnt in the back of your eyelids to make this deal smooth. 

Reclining your seat, and putting your legs up, you got down to business.

An Angel was calling you. 

You want to wake up, but you couldn’t, fearing the Angel would stop singing to you. Something is poking you, but the voice just drowns it all out.

Wait...

Fluttering your eyes open, you see Jeon Jungkook staring right at you. 

“Hi... They, umm--Food? Want to eat?” the Angel utters. Jungkook utters. Tomato, to-mah-to. 

“Oh!” you exclaim, wiping non-existent drool on your face. His palm on your shoulder quickly retracts at your exaggerated attempt to hide your embarrassment. “Thank you so much.”

Then, he does that thing. He smiles. Eye scrunch and all. 

Fuck the coffee gods. When you die, you want to meet the Grand Master and ask him what crack he was on to hand over so much power to one man’s smile. 

The food is placed on your table, and you thank the hostess graciously. 

“Do you need anything to drink?” She asks, to which you only shake your head. There was enough caffeine in your system to shoot a horse to the moon and you were still drowsy. There was no need to catalyze this process with booze.  

“Your Korean accent is pretty good.” Your next-seat resident comments. Ah, you had conversed with the hostess in Korean. 

“Thank you very much.” You giggle, roleplaying an acne-prone teenager talking to her hunk of a crush.

“Have you been speaking for a long time?” He pops a huge morsel of food after asking. Well, that’s another on-screen quality found to be accurate.

“Six years now. Comes in handy for my work.” 

“Oh! Did you have to learn it for work? That’s fascinating.” Another mouthful went in. You didn’t even know it was physically possible to hold that much rice using chopsticks.

“Uhh.. no..” You tussle your hair, trying to stop your cheeks from turning beet red, “I just listened to some music and consuming more content.. and subtitles are a bore, plus I needed a hobby at the time so..” 

Your unnecessarily long explanation was cut short by Jungkook’s child-like laugh, enjoying the pickle you were putting yourself in. 

“Hey! I just didn’t want to put you in an uncomfortable situation, that’s all.” you try to be cross, knowing it’s inconceivable since God himself seems to have given him whatever he wanted. If big ol’ Almighty can’t stand against his charms, you are but a mere pleb. 

He looks at you kindly. “Thank you, that was very thoughtful. I’ve been speaking to so many foreigners trying to get across to them I got surprised when you spoke so fluently.” 

He went back to chomping on his food like it was his last meal, completely unaware of your staring.  

You both speak for a long time. He explains their latest shoot and fan meeting, and you listen to him pour out his love for his job and fans as much as he could articulate. The rest of the emotion is portrayed by his now widest eyeballs (they cannot get any wider, you confirm by asking him - a request he apparently gets a lot) and intense gesticulation. It is very gratifying to listen to his past schedules, and you slip in a quick prayer for not having a job where you had to maintain public appearances while having a schedule as persevering as theirs. Sure, you had a ton of commitments. But can you throw your hair in a bun and aggressively scowl at a monitor and still meet your target? Fuck yeah.

You went on to tell him about yourself - your job, your travels, the reason you were in Seoul. He listens to them with rapt attention throwing in appropriate questions without interrupting your flow. He gives the right amount of sympathy; just enough to show that he understands why you have three sets of nightwear and a futon in your office, but not too much where it seems like you should “take a break” and “think about the joys of motherhood” - as you are often told. 

During the conversation, you digress a little to take in his slight features. The apple of his cheeks, in full display, when he tells you about how he pranked his members. The light pout of his lips when he talks about the times their path seemed too far-fetched, when every single obstacle felt like the end of their career. The stars in his eyes when he speaks of how he feels during tours, meeting the endless number of fans, the drive that keeps him going. They all make an endearing package. Eager to please, you kept the conversation going with gusto. The meal is followed by a snack break, after which you had effectively exhausted all conversation topics that could be brought up with near-strangers.

A quick alcohol break later, (yes, you caved, the catalyst was welcome) you both doze off, seemingly exhausted from recollecting respective timetables. He wakes up soon after to play video games and talk to the other members. But you fall into a deep slumber, with an Angel’s chuckles in the background guiding you through the sleep. 

Jungkook wakes up to see his character dead. The video game was forgotten after his conversation with you began. 

He spent an inordinate amount of time talking to you. And now that you’re asleep, he is only thinking about how much he enjoyed the conversation. Jungkook is not a speaker. His introversion leaves much to be desired in that department. Most of the time, his members cover for him, play the role of dutiful wingmen, and introduce him to their friends. And still, it took him a long time to talk freely.

But something about you made him open up.

Maybe it was the way you listened to him, lips slightly parted when you were absorbing every single word he let out. Maybe it was the questions you asked, treading lightly and skirting any personal questions. Maybe it was the fact that you pretended to not know him at first, mindful of his privacy. The butterflies in him could be explained by this.

But.

It could also be how graceful you looked, even though you’re dressed in sweatpants and an oversized t-shirt. It could be how you carried yourself, with great elegance and poise, even though your work was taxing. It could also be your toe socks, and your glee when he showed you his.

Your personality is infectious. He already misses you, despite you being inches away, desperately wants to exhaust every second of this journey engrossed in you. 

He wonders if you feel that way too.

Speaking of whom-

A snicker escapes his lips when he turns to face you. 

In your sleepy haze, Jungkook sees that a) your mouth is wide open, b) your hands mindlessly fiddle with the reams of pages on your lap, and c) your eyes scrunch as sunlight pierces through the flight to bounce off your face. Cute, he muses, trying to locate the source of the criminal rays irking you. 

The window letting the sunbeam in is beside an old man sitting on the other end. He is eyeing the magazine in his hands with abject disapproval, like the booklet had sullied him and his family. 

Gathering up the courage, Jungkook calls out for the man.

“Excuse me, sir. Do you mind pulling the window shade?” He asks, in the sweetest voice that his hyungs would melt at first listen. 

Puppy eyes are met with the geezer’s piercing glare, making Jungkook wonder if he accidentally said something strikingly offensive instead of what he thought he said. About to backtrack his words and try again, he gets interrupted by the man letting out a big grunt, after which he continues in his endeavor to telepathically set fire to the magazine. He does not forget to give a nasty side-eye but completely refuses to comply with Jungkook’s request. 

“And my team thinks my glares are spooky.” You pique, having witnessed the whole interaction, “I ought to have him on board”. Jungkook snorts, and you take that to be his agreement. 

Pausing, you throw caution in the wind and add, “Thank you though, that was very sweet of you.”

He eyes you demurely. “No problem, you looked like you needed the rest.” 

“Listen, I-”

“So I was think-”

Ladies and gentlemen, we have just been cleared to land at the Incheon International airport. Please ensure your backpacks and suitcases are stowed away in the overhead compartments or underneath the seats ahead of you. The flight attendants are currently passing around the cabin to make a final compliance check and pick up any remaining cups and glasses. Thank you.

High-quality curses almost make it to heaven (speakers). The announcement dissipates all the courage you had mustered, feeling a rush exit your body. You had almost asked for his contact - and by the looks of it, he had wanted it too. Or maybe your hair is a rat's nest and he was just going to point that out. Guess you will never know.

You shyly smile at each other before going about following the instructions. Your half-read document gets stuffed back into its bag, to be read once you have no distractions in the form of eye candy armed with saccharine speech. Well, you have Jake to distract you plenty, but you can shoo him away by threatening his paycheck. 

As the flight descends, you look over to your neighbor - one last time, you guess - and surprisingly lock eyes with him. Anything that had exited you comes rushing back, veins in full alertness. A moment’s awkwardness later you both burst out laughing, each doing their best to hide their crimson cheeks. You find one more online fact to be true - Jungkook’s peak happiness laughter, eye crinkle and nose scrunch, can melt your whole entire heart. 

“Hey mami, come here often?”

“For the last time Jake, I will not hesitate to donate your bones for science.”

“Well, I heard bone, it's already a win for me.”

You let out a sigh of exasperation. There is no reforming him. 

“How was the flight?” Jake questions as you approach the baggage belt. Looking out for your somber black suitcase, you try to play it off like you did not spend the whole time in the company of a stranger who is on the fast track to your heart.

“The usual. Sleep, eat, read needlessly printed out documents that could have been shoved into on email, repeat. What about you?”

As Jake starts an account of his flight experience in exorbitant detail, you took the opportunity to try and find your ride. Once you locate it and get in, you catch the end of his sermon. 

“-and the name of the book will be ‘How to manage a farm - ‘cause chicks gon’ be crazy!’. What do you think?”

“I think it was a good idea I chose to zone out.”

“Y/N come on! It’s a self-help book for poor souls born without my raw charisma. Men and women out there want me, but I can’t satisfy them all. I will just resort to making more of me! It will have pointers, DIY’s and pick-up lines crafted by yours truly - wanna hear one?”

You throw your bag in front and turn to him. “Do I have a choice? Go ahead.”

Grinning like a Cheshire cat, he starts. “Am I cute? Squish my cheeks. Am I hot? Clap my cheeks.”

You raise an eyebrow. “Points for creativity. You’ll still get wine splashed at you.”

Jake was not one to give up. “‘It’s good we don’t need eye condoms, or you’d be on your way to delivery.’”

“Just… don’t have kids, okay? This gene must be stopped, right here.”

“Okay, this one is my all-time favorite. ‘Rack so big, I don’t motorboat, I motorship.’”

That’s it. The guffaw itching you since the start of this conversation is out of its cages, populating the air in the car. Wiping stray tears from your face, you face Jake, seeming very pleased with himself. Undoubtedly, he is coming up with absurd scenarios to ease your nerves. No book is in the works (one could only hope).

“Thank you, I feel much better now. You can stop coming up with these.”

The goof has the gall to look appalled. “I was going to cut you ten percent of my book commission but I guess that’s out. Hmph.”

“I’m at the receiving end of all these pick-up lines. I should make twenty at least for all the nuisance I’ve put up with.” 

“All right mami, we’ll shelve this for later. Here’s the schedule for today. You have a 10 a.m. breakfast meeting with Dr. Park Shin Young, Lead Research Scientist of the project. Then you have a bunch of seminars to attend, which will go on all afternoon. There’s a bar right beside this venue.”

“How is that pertinent?”

“So you know where to find me.” He continues, unperturbed. “After which there’s an evening meeting with the whole team to demonstrate the product and a marketing meeting right after.”

“Am I required for the marketing meeting?” Your expertise is limited to the technical field. PR work isn’t your cup of tea, but they stubbornly demand your presence. 

Jake exhales. “We’ve been through this. You CAN doze off during the meeting, but you have to be there. Just pretend you’re a college student, sitting in one class, completing assignments for another.”

“But if I’m there I feel the need to pay attention.” you whine.

“Clearly you weren’t one of those college students,” Jake says, perusing through his diary, “Stop being a pedant and do one of those things people do. Loving their jobs and whatnot.”

Before you can retort a reply, the driver pulls up to your destination and you exit the car. 

Eleven at night is when you finally check in to the hotel. The tedious day warrants your heels coming off before you even reach your floor. There’s an irritant drumming, from the balls of your feet right up to your temples, that beg for your attention. Setting your footwear on your bags, you massage your feet for temporary relief as the lift took you closer to a more permanent one.

Once your suitcase gets parked in the closet, you head to the bathroom to soak your day away with the bath bomb kit you were gifted in one of the seminars. The ball fizzles as soon as it hits the water, dispersing in tiny bubbles and a heady aroma of vanilla and lavender. The soft amber tones of the walls, the lambent gold lighting, and the ambrosial air put all your senses at ease. You sink in; the bathwater permeating warmth through your skin. Crackling bubbles with every move; the water teases your neck, soothing the laceration with every lick. Every pulse point on you is enhanced - you let yourself float wherever your mind takes you. 

A familiar face makes its presence known. You allow yourself to think about him, after pushing his visage away all day. Something about him… felt like home. Soothing, comforting, always speaking in dulcet tones unless something humorous pulled out a loud laugh. Even that wasn’t jarring; it was the exact opposite. Felt like sunshine filled your lungs every time he cracked up. Made you want to keep talking to him, keep him amused and entertained. You can’t imagine he converses with every stranger like that. 

But maybe he did; maybe this is some unspoken celebrity culture you were unaware of. 

All you know is that this was a once in a lifetime experience. There’s no way you are encountering another personage ever again. There’s no way you’re encountering him again. Luck can only thrive so far. 

So when you exit the bathroom, clad in a towel, remnant bathwater dripping from every end, the last thing you expect is Jungkook, spread out on the bed, casually flipping through his phone like it’s his own abode. 

“J-Jungkook?”

Y/N. In his room. In a towel. Dripping wet hair. Emanating a delectable aroma. 

Y/N. In person.

He is dreaming. He has to be. He's been thinking of you ever since the flight, so now he is delusional. Nothing else. There’s absolutely no chance that you’re in his room, let alone… like this. 

Right?

“What are you… what are you doing in my room?”

Wrong. 

Jungkook knows he should say something. He should not be gawking at you like he is doing now. But God. You look so pretty, eyebrows arched up in confusion, jaw about to be unhinged, hands fluttering around not knowing what to do. 

He forces his body to action.

"Y/N!" He exclaims, finally averting his eyes to face the wall. 

Pause.

"Wait, what do you mean MY room? This is my room!"

You’re baffled. "Huh? How is that possible? This was given to me!" 

“I really don’t know, Y/N, there must have been some confusion! Please, you have to believe me!” 

Jungkook wants to turn around and face you. He desperately wants to clear the air. He can see that this looks bad. He obviously looks like an enamored creep, waltzing into your space. You probably think he does this all the time. Many a time people have misunderstood him, his celebrity status not earning him many points. You must think the same.

And now you’re going to tell him to get out and never see you again, he hypothesizes. His brain is working overtime trying to remedy the situation, without noticing your now relaxing demeanor. 

“Oh, okay.”

“I’ll fix this, I’ll go to the reception and fix this. You don’t worry, I didn’t see anything, you can trust me, I’ll go an-”

“Hey, hey,” your tone gentle, “it’s okay, trust me. Just, let me get dressed and I’ll come down with you.”

Your soothing response almost has Jungkook on his knees. Whoever orchestrated this meet, he is just thankful for this good turn. Anyone else would go berserk, and rightfully so. 

But you’re not anyone else. 

He isn’t just anyone.  

Technically, he isn’t a stranger, you try to justify. You should have been more shocked, enraged, or at least doubtful of his intentions. But you weren’t. You had accepted his explanation, let him stay in your room while you changed in the bathroom, and now are en-route to the main desk to rectify this error.

The air around you two is strained; he won’t even look you in the eye. Any question you have is replied to concisely, leaving no room for a chat. Nothing to disperse the tension between you two. 

Like now, in the elevator, Jungkook has done the math and maintains the maximum distance between you. Opposite ends of the diagonal of this lift, his peripheral vision probably barely picks you up. However, his evasion helps in a way--you are able to study his full form.

He is dressed casually, and any lesser man would have seemed casual enough. On him, it is a whole new game. Ripped jeans hugging his sturdy legs, the slashed fabric allowing you a peek of his dangerous thighs. A plain white t-shirt tucked in to show off his lean waistline. The only thing holding you back from having a full-blown wet dream, wide awake, is his chestnut overcoat, saving his modesty and yours. 

Jake was right, eye condoms are the need of the century. 

To be fair, Jungkook had the worse end. He saw you scantily clad, post-bath glow and everything. You wonder what is going through his mind. 

Definitely nothing like the debauchery unfolding in yours. 

He has probably seen his fair share of women, and one hot to trot lady isn’t anything new. If anything, him dodging you is a sign of his civility, something you are lacking apparently--ready to jump his bones.

Stop thinking about his thighs, you whore. Get back home and trusty old Vlad the Impaler will take care of you.

The employee’s jaw almost hits the desk as Jungkook explains the situation. 

“Ma’am, Sir, we are extremely sorry about this confusion. We usually keep another key for family members, but somehow you got them both. We are deeply apologetic.”

“Yes, it’s okay, I’d just like my room key now and-”

“We will give you the best of our service to make up for this disorder. Not that we didn’t plan on giving you the best anyway, but now it will be top-notch! Please allow us to have your room cleaned again ma’am. Kyuyoung-ah! Get the people to prep 5338 and set 5337 again, and add more flowers!”

“Hey, that really won’t be necessary, we can just go back and forget about all thi-”

“And!” She continues, relentless, fully intent on doing her job, “Here are coupons for our round the clock pub! The ambiance is phenomenal, and our bartender makes a mean drink! You can use the facility for free during your stay. Hope this compensates for our gaffe. Once again, we are extremely sorry!”

She extends two passport-sized coupons that you hurriedly grab, wanting this quandary to end. 

The walk back to the elevator is less tight-lipped, only because Jungkook starts his deluge of apologies. Even though you had felt the same way on the flight, he was going overboard. You quickly assuage him and deflect his concerns.

“It’s okay, Jungkook. It really is. I know it was a mistake.”

“I know, but I shouldn’t have just walked in like that. I should have checked.”

Your expression is the visual form of a question mark. 

“Do you go around making sure your hotel room doesn’t have a surprise occupant?”

You’re taking this too lightly; it's obvious you are doing it for him. He can only laugh, broad delicious shoulders loosening in relief.

After a delay, you add, “You can’t help it if fate wants us crossing paths like this.” 

The quip makes Jungkook lose a beat. He cocks a brow in surprise - at that juncture, his features lose all boyish charm and turn unquestionably irresistible. 

Then, in a flash, the expression is replaced by his usual grin, back to his boy-next-door spirit. Are there world records for this speed? Jungkook needs to sign up to one.

Collecting the stars floating around your head, you return the favor, thankful that the barrier is now broken. 

After a quick break of courage gathering, you turn to him. “How come you’re staying in this hotel? Thought you’d be home.”

A thought is building in your mind; that this is too personal a question. But before you can take it back, you hear a chime. Jungkook moves. And somehow, you are moving with him. 

The elevator door opens, and people walk out. 

But that’s not where your attention is. 

You are focused on the sole patch of your body in contact with Jungkook’s arm. 

The palm of his hand sitting at the small of your waist is what had guided you away from the elevator. Even through the fabric of your t-shirt, his hand is sending goosebumps all over your body. The air feels twenty degrees too hot for you.

Jungkook is simply being his chivalrous self, while you are ready to get arrested for public nudity.

Woman, you are a disgrace. Get laid.

Jungkook will high five himself once he gets to his pad. 

Is it right to get so euphoric about the smallest act of intimacy? That too with a near stranger? He has no answer. You are special to him; that much he knows. And someone up there agrees with him as well, letting him run into you again (albeit under crude circumstances; he’ll take what he gets). In this proximity, he can hear the slight gasp that escapes you once you recognize his hold, feel your muscles tense, smell the flowery fragrance you still carry. The fragrance that takes his mind on a rewind routine; one he forces to a halt. He feels lewd for taking pleasure in that misfortune, but he can take pleasure in the present. 

Entering the elevator, Jungkook has taken note of one thing: the roles have been reversed. On the downward voyage, it had been him avoiding you. Now, even with the closeness, you refuse to meet his eye. Something on the carpeted floor has your unrelenting attention. Letting his gaze dip to you, he bit back a smirk. Good to know you are as affected by him as he is by you.

“It’s a shoot.” 

You relent, looking up to him. “Huh?”

“You asked me why I’m here, it’s a shoot. The site is close by, so we don’t waste time traveling. Once the shoot is done, we will get back home.”

“Ah, that makes sense.” 

You beg your grey matter to find some topic of conversation to halt the blood rushing to your cheeks. The atmosphere is frozen again, but not like last time. Any unease earlier present has drifted. The tension that once kept you from closeness now keeps you from moving apart. His hand sits unmoved, continuing to rest on your hip. Jungkook can hear the loud thudding of a heartbeat, but he cannot discern whether they are from his heart or from yours.

Continuing after a pause, “I will be here for a few days now.” he adds, the suggestive hint of the words masked by his innocuous smile. 

“Ah.” You lamely add. You ought to kick yourself - but at this closeness, you might hit him too. 

The span of your separation is contracting, even though none of you move. Like the land underneath you is shifting, because even Mother Earth can’t handle the sexual tension in this confined space. 

“Ma’am, Sir, you’re here!” 

The booming voice of an employee disrupts the scene. You jump, wondering how you didn’t hear the door open, while Jungkook takes a graceful step back unscathed. 

“Your rooms are ready, please follow me.”

The walk back is quiet, except for bashfully exchanged glances and racing pulses. When you finally reach your respective rooms, he speaks again. 

“Want to accidentally cross paths with me at the bar?”

The heat reaches your ears. A moment of silence prompts you to look up, and you are held hostage by his eyes. His gaze flickers, intense and probing. Then, as if it never happened, his eyes narrow and his smile softens, harmless and easy. Again, this has to be witchcraft.

“Maybe we’ll let destiny decide. Hasn’t failed us so far.” 

Now, alone in bed with nothing but your thoughts, you wonder when it will ever happen again.

Three days. Three days before it happens again.

Three days filled with conferences, a ton of files, and a lot of battery acid disguised as coffee. Apart from the success of your work, the highlight of your time is when Jake tried to fix his shoe heel at a meeting and ended up gluing his fingers together. In a quiet room filled with immersed employees, he had yelled, “Superglue, my ass!”. 

The punctuation was not vocalized. 

Tonight was your last night in Seoul. It was supposed to be a night to yourself, but an office party pulled you out of your cavern to get dressed. You put on an elegant dress, a black and silver number, only to find the ‘party’ was the most monotonous excuse of networking. High-end businessmen exchanging cards over non-alcoholic fizz was not your idea of a party, so you quickly excused yourself. 

The coupon still weighed heavy in your purse, carrying memoirs of the last time you saw him. You had wanted to go earlier, but always held yourself back. What if he wasn’t there? What if you missed your chance? Why did you have to sashay away with a cool statement that night instead of clawing your way through the lust-filled air and settling things then and there? 

You supposed a drink at the hotel bar on your last night couldn’t be a bad thing, even if Jungkook didn’t show up.

So here you are, sipping on your wine and trying to appear nonchalant as you look out the window overseeing the city’s skyline. One ear is trained to the door of the pub, the slightest peep from that corner alerting your antenna. 

So far, no sign of him. 

This won’t work, you tell yourself. Second time’s a charm, third time’s pushing it too far. 

But as you wave the bartender to top up your drink, the corner of your eye catches movement; one, two, three heads appear through the door. Signature multichromatic mops of hair make their way in, forcing your pulse to marathon mode. 

And then you hear it. 

You hear his trademark cachinnate echoing through the structure. Multitudes of contrasting sentiments fill your gut. Are you sensing relief, that fate served its purpose without fail? Or is it the anticipation of how events will unfold? A sense of titillation, that a three-day old bond makes you feel more than year-old relationships you’ve had? You pry your eyes from that direction, trying to appear aloof when you are anything but. 

When you think you’ve gathered your composure, you look up. Like a hare falling for its bait, you are trapped, because he is looking right back at you.

Jin and Jimin are laughing about something that happened on set today, but Jungkook only has eyes for you. He can’t believe his luck. 

The past few days, his schedule had no give. After every shoot, the only thing he remembered was taking off his shoes and falling into a deep slumber.

So today when the shoot wrapped up earlier, Jungkook grabbed his trusty wingmen and open bar enthusiasts to utilize his coupon, and possibly test his kismet.

“Wasn’t she on our flight?” Jin observes, tracking Jungkook’s sight. 

“Oh yeah! Dude, is she the one?” Jimin keenly notes. “How do you keep bumping into each other like this?”

Jungkook downs his whisky, the burn felt from the throat to his diaphragm. “I don’t know, hyung. I don’t know what to do.” Beckoning the bartender for a refill, he tears away from your sight. 

 “Okay, liquid fortification is all good but how about,” Jin stops briefly to pluck the coupon out of Jungkook’s hands, “we handle the drinks department while you attend to her?”

Jimin nods in assent. “The worst thing you could do is spend time with her slurring and garbling while she ditches your sorry ass.”

“Hey! I won’t do that. Just, ” Jungkook gulps, “I don’t know... We’ve met like, hardly a few times. It really doesn’t make sense. What if we’re not on the same page?”

Jimin frowns, and even Jin seems unhappy with his reasoning.

“Things don’t have to make sense. You’re two consenting adults. You like her. By the way she’s eyeing you right now, I’m sure the feeling is mutual. You said it’s easy to talk to her right?”

Jungkook pouts, but sees his point.

“Then go with that. Don’t chart out a plan, just go with your heart.” Jin adopts a soft smile of encouragement. 

“Meanwhile we will grab the others and exploit this coupon to the full extent!” Jimin gleefully appends.

Jungkook’s eyes crinkle as he laughs with the other two. They are right. Carpe diem, right?

Finding you again, his breath hitches. You look beautiful. The sleek black dress with silver embellishments over the torso. It hugs you in the right places, accentuating your already alluring frame. Your shoulders bare, elegant collarbones waiting to be tasted. Hair tied up, exposing the delicious curve of your neck, a stretch Jungkook wants to pepper kisses onto, without missing a spot. You look exquisite against the backdrop of the night.

Carpe noctem it is. 

“Did you really dress up to use the coupon?” The tongue-in-cheek query breaking your line of thought.

A breathy chuckle leaves your lips, hopefully masking the frenzy in your heart. 

“I had a party. A very dull party. Figured I preferred my own company over that.” 

“Do you prefer your own company over mine?”

He’s still standing, tall frame waiting for your permission to occupy the next seat. God, he looks amazing.

“Not at all.” The words leave huskier than you intend, but they convey the message.

He takes the seat, a mere step away, his cologne wafting over to your side. The alcohol buzz makes the scent feel stronger, every bone in you wanting to dive in nose-first. 

Apparently you have been staring, because he nervously chuckles “Why are you looking at me like that?”

Should you go the modest route or fuck it?

Fuck it.

“You look... great today,” is all you get out. Stupid brain spewing half-baked goods.

Understatement of the year. He looks like sin incarnate. All black attire highlighting his golden skin, the dichotomy of his whole look has you understandably tongue-tied. Black jeans - no rips, sadly- with a dark grey high-neck t-shirt, tucked in of course, because pain is the only constant for you. A black trench coat is thrown on top to seal the look. The obsidian outfit sends desperate need through your body, an intense desire to rip it all off surging through you. Somehow, through all these layers you can sense his fit body, his rippled muscles, his sturdy pecs, like they have an aura of their own. 

“Ah, thank you. You look amazing as well.” Halting a moment to sip his drink, he resumes.  “Sucks that you dressed up for nothing.”

“Well, you liked it. So it's not for nothing.”

If looks were potent, Jungkook’s own could set you on fire. Gaze coolly raking over your figure, the tick in his jaw betrays his reaction. A chill passes through every part of your body under his intense scrutiny.

“Are there other things you would wear… if I liked it?” He carefully treads.

“There are certain things I’m wearing right now that I’m sure you would appreciate.” 

If not for the shrinking distance between you two, you couldn’t have caught the low hiss. His animalistic need, usually kept well under control, is raging against its bonds, screaming to let go. Your exquisite gown, flowing down your curves, accentuating the swell of your ass - God save this dress from his feral hands. Against his will, he restrains himself. He would make this a lasting encounter. 

“How many drinks have you had?” He needs you to remember every single moment.

“Two glasses of wine, don’t worry. You?” 

“A shot of whisky, that’s all. Haven’t even finished my second drink.”

Gone were his cherubic appearance and dimpled smiles; the man in front of you is oozing pure sex appeal. His clenched jawline, furrowed brow, and perfectly placed tresses add to his raw masculinity. The cusp of your thighs is damp; if this is his effect here, what will it be behind locked doors? You wonder whether this is the same man that gushed about old-era video games in the flight. 

“Well, if you are wearing them for me, I’d be a fool to miss them.” he brings you back to the present. Twinkling eyes match your eager ones as you give a small nod.

Every step you take shoots a thrilling tingle through your spine. Every inch of distance closed forces you to close the next with doubled speed. Every foot forward adds to the thick air, laced with hunger, desire, and an inordinate amount of trust placed in the hands of a stranger. 

The first time you two walked back to the elevator, his move had caught you unaware. 

Now, the arm wraps around your entire waist, body flush against his, yet you yearn to get closer. 

Last time, you couldn’t match his gaze, skin burnt a crimson hue. 

Now, your eyes are locked together, any movement in your surroundings be damned.

Michael Jackson rising from the dead and performing Thriller wouldn’t tear you away from your current view (sorry MJ, maybe next time).

When the doors close, he places a palm on your bare back, bringing you to his chest.

“I’ve wanted this so bad, ever since I met you. It’s insane.”

The hand caressing your back makes you sigh. “Not if I wanted the same.”

His grip tightens. “The things I want to do to you...” eyes searching yours, ”tell me you can handle it.”

“Oh baby,” you drawl, “I’ll do whatever you want. Whatever it is,” your lips hover on his, “I can take it.”

The elevator doors opened too soon for your liking, and Jungkook drags you through the corridor. You’re practically hanging on to him, feet barely responsive, the faint buzz of wine making you giddy. His hawkish gaze soaks in everything you do, memorizing every response to his touch. 

You lean over to lay wet kisses on his neck. Pleasure searing through his veins, Jungkook’s knees almost buckle. He pushes you against a wall and locks you in with his form.

“Uh-uh-uh, honey,” he tsks, “you’re not making this easy on me?”

You pretend to ponder. “Well, I didn’t plan on making it easy.”

He smirks, all sex, and the wetness between your legs is making its presence known. Leaning into your ear, he whispers, “Unless you want me to have my way with you right here…” and all your brattiness dissipates. 

Satisfied, he grins. “Your place or mine?” 

“Hmmn, depends.”

He cocks a brow. “On?”

“Am I gonna be able to walk tomorrow?”

That damned smirk. “Your place it is.”

Jungkook’s lips are on yours the moment your door is locked. He cages you against its frame, teeth clashing and biting anything they find. You let your hands roam all over, searching for something to hold on to. A throaty sound leaves Jungkook when your digits card through his hair and tug on it, a sound you gladly swallow.

Time seems to have taken a break. Your thoughts are blank. You chase the kiss like it's the only thing you know, the only thing you’re born to do, your sole mission in life before you die. The bruising pace Jungkook set is eagerly matched by you. Gravity is slowly losing its meaning, and you’re nothing but a stray entity floating in space. And this kiss is your only source of air. 

Jungkook pulls you towards him, closing the nonexistent distance between you. Heat rises from his chest, the feeling is hypnotic beyond reason. A taste of you has ruined every other flavor. He kept his eyes half-open, sneaking peeks at your flushed face whenever you come for air. His fingers explored your body, grabbing your ass and pulling you into him. Your clothed crevice jolts at the friction, hips hounding for more.

The moan that leaves you gets muted, because Jungkook takes this opportunity to take control. Tongue forcing its way in to explore every corner of your mouth, it melds with your own muscle. If this were a dance, it would be a fierce tango, oozing with sexual tension. Breathing is now trivial, this kiss is imperative. 

Jungkook’s hands grab your hips and twirl you, both of you now facing a full-length mirror. You can witness your neckline being abused, mulberry blossoms left in place. The sight has your sex clenching, and lips liberated, you couldn’t stop yourself from mewling.

“Fuck, Y/N. I’m going to make you scream so loud, the hotel reception will hear you.”

With your head spinning in lust, you try to form your words right. “An- And what? Discuss how a second room for you was - oh god - was useless?” 

Jungkook pauses to admire his craft; your neck, shoulders, and collar are now littered with bruises, like a garden of hyacinth at his disposal. The view is maddening, your lusty gaze locked on to him in the mirror. His mane is tousled, no doubt your handiwork, and his hand is tracing the outline of your dress. 

“That cursed day,” He chokes out, “You were so fucking hard to resist you know?”

You turn back to face him, hand reaching back to undo your halter neck, “You have me now.” Stepping back, you let your gown fall.

He froze. You are standing in front of him, robed in only your black lace-embroidered strapless bra, and matching panties, each adorned with a white bow. The swell of your breasts barely caged in the cups, making Jungkook drool at sight. All the wind was knocked out of his lungs; you look like a prisoner’s last meal, waiting to be devoured. 

“On your knees.” he commands.  

Not a second is put to waste. You begin undressing him, unbuckling the pants and aggressively pulling them down. Next come the boxers, and you are faced with-

Wow.

You mean this in the nicest way, but, what a dick.

He is already hard, the mushroomed tip angry and red, leaking a drop of precum begging to be tasted. The girth exceeds your expectation, already visualizing the delicious visual of your cunt stretched thin. He is going to reach places even Vlad the Impaler couldn’t; you are already brimming with anticipation for the final act.

And his thighs. Nothing angelic about them. Taut. Muscular. Sinewy. Something uncivilized in you wants them to trap your frame between them, caging you, pinning you down. You press kisses on his inner thigh, letting your tongue poke out when you hear him exhale. A sharp bite shocks Jungkook, but you only smirk.

“Wanted to do that since I saw you.” 

The stare that meets you is practically challenging you to try that again, and perhaps reap some delicious consequences.

You bring yourself back, giving his cock the full attention that it deserves. Looking up, you see his half-lidded eyes, assertive and arresting, compelling you to go on. 

You bring your palm up to him. He raised a brow in question.

“Spit for me.”

Jungkook almost busts his load when he hears you. “Fuck, so dirty.” he garbles out. Rolling his neck in an attempt to divert his blood, he takes your hand and drops a thick glob at the center of your palm. 

A throaty moan arises from you, and his dick is harder than ever.

“Go on baby, show me you can suck dick like a champ.”

You give him a confident look; you’re about to rock his world. Starting with small licks, you tease the slit and taste the pre-cum lodged in it. Meanwhile, you work the spit along the shaft; you spit on it again, the original amount insufficient to cover the length. You can feel his dick twitching against your attention, eager to be sheathed. Interspersing with some long drags on the underside, you zero in on the pinched skin under the head. 

Jungkook is staring at your jerking him off. The sight of you, clad in lingerie is blowing his mind. If that was not enough, the mirror in front is providing a sumptuous secondary perspective. The smooth stretch of your back, the swell of your ass, the panty fabric barely able to cover the expanse, everything on you is making him short circuit. Seeing you on your knees, your deferential nature stirs something in him. If he doesn’t control himself, he will bend you in half and ride you to sunrise. He doesn’t want to scare you, but fuck, his depraved early man instincts are telling him otherwise. 

“What are you- ohhh, holy shi-”

Instead of slipping his cock fully into your mouth, you hold it up, and pay careful attention to his balls. Jungkook’s hands come to rest on your head, a telltale sign of his unraveling. With a smile, you let your tongue swipe through every nook and corner till they are coated in saliva.

“You think you’re such a fucking tease, ” He grabs you by your now unraveled tresses and pulls you back, “Ease up baby, your throat is in for a treat.”

In one quick swoop, he lodges himself at the base of your throat, provoking your gag reflex, but you restrain the urge to pull back. Breathing through your nose, you suck and swallow whatever you can; his girth isn't giving you much to work with.

Jungkook growls. “Such a tight fit. Like you’re meant to be like this. Forever.”

The last word slips out unwittingly. 

Alarmed, his eyes flit down to gauge your response, but all you are doing is looking back at him. 

Fuck, your dovelike eyes are captivating. They look so angelic, a complete contrast to the perverse posture you are in. Not an ounce of displeasure in response to his words. Pure, unadulterated affection for him. Only for him. 

“God, you’re going to be the death of me.” Jungkook husks. “You’ll do anything for me, you said?”

Muffled whimpers impart your compliance, and you bob your head up and down for good measure. The tip of his cock hits every ridge of your throat, the vibration releasing more fluid down.

“Pleasure yourself, baby. Touch yourself, but don’t you cum.”

Your brow distresses further, a disgruntled whine leaving you and reverberating around him. Already so turned on, the lightest friction would make you combust.

Jungkook’s teeth clench. “Edge yourself for me, sweetie.” 

It's like your body is tuned to his command. Slipping two fingers under the band, you part and slide them on either side of your throbbing nub. Despite you avoiding any pressure point that might push you over the edge, the pleasure threatens to tip you over. 

You look over for his approval. Swallowing, he nods. Your self-stimulation is making him dizzy. It's time to get serious.

“Such a good girl. Don’t stop, okay? I’m going to fuck your throat raw.” Starting with mellow jerks, “Hope you don’t have to speak anytime tomorrow.” he rasps.

The carpeted floor grazing your knees only adds to the revelry. You’re not in control of yourself anymore. The back of your gullet is aching as Jungkook shoves into you again and again. An amalgamation of his salty juices and your dribble lewdly coats your chin and neck; you must look ravished. Everything with Jungkook feels augmented; every single motion of his making your sex clench. 

He is close - you can feel his grip on your hair tightening. 

“Can I cum on you?” words slither through his clamped teeth. You frantically nod. 

With a loud grunt, he pulls you off and releases all over your chest, a stray pump landing on your chin. Thick liquid, dripping from your jaw onto your collarbones and breasts, the whole scene is filthy good. Your unfilled cunt is aching to be replete with the cum. 

Post-orgasmic glow is dazzling on him--hair drenched in sweat, tufts sticking to his forehead. His breathing is heavy and resonant as dilated pupils take in your soaked state. Bending down, he crooks a finger under your chin, anchoring his attention on your dewy stare. The onyx embers in his eyes bore into yours, studying for any hesitation in them. A microscopic moment of tenderness, unspoken words exchange between you. 

Satisfied to find only searing hunger, his digits collect the beads of cum on your jaw, pushing them back into your mouth. Your eyes roll skyward, relishing the briny taste, nearly asking him to do it again. Leaning further, he grabs the wrist of your hand that is thoughtlessly rubbing your sex - you didn’t even realize you were still doing it. You feel drained, like you orgasmed vicariously through him. 

“My turn.” He wears a devilish expression on his archangel eyes.

Lips connect once again as he pulls you up. If he tastes himself, he is relishing it, with his tongue exploring the deep cavern. With wobbly ankles, you let him guide you to your bed, dropping on your back. He follows you, pouncing on you, plunging into your mouth again like a beast hungered. Bodies melting together like an icicle under the summer blaze, your hands hunt to frisk his skin. Realizing he is yet to undress, you yank at this t-shirt, attempting to liberate him from the offending fabric.

“Tsk, greedy.” he bit your ear, soothing the sting with a kiss. 

“Cruel is what it is.” You huff, like everything he’s doing is not a blissful affair. 

How do men do that? Violently ripping their shirt off and leaving a messy mop of hair in its wake, nevertheless looking like they could walk a runway the next instant. Jungkook was no exception. The moment he pulls his shirt off, you are rendered speechless.

Chiseled chest like the work of an artisan. Droplets of sweat race down the paths traced by the sculpted abs, an intense desire to taste them forming in you. He is a mesomorphic dream who puts Greek gods to shame. Swallowing, you let your hand trace the outline of his pecks, feeling him shudder against your touch.

“Jungkook, please.”

Who was he to deny you?

Leaning up to you with a wicked smirk, Jungkook drops a thick line of spit right on your hardened nipple. The concoction of his cum and spit soaks through the lacy material. A lone finger circles, avoiding the spot that requires the most attention. You arch your back, begging him for more, just more of anything. The wet fabric amplifies the emptiness in your cunt. 

“Aww,” he coos, clearly amused by your neediness, “undo this for me, sweetness. Let me see you.”

Moving at lightning speed, you unhook the bra, swinging it away to a corner of the room. 

“Oh no.” He mock-frowns, veins bulging on his arm as he controls himself. “Look at these tits, fuck.” Mind reeling with ideas, filthy ideas, of all the things he wants to do to you. “You’ve ruined everything else for me.”

You tremble. “Good, so have you. Want you for myself. Want you,” pulling him close, “to do your worst.” you end with a whisper.

Jungkook’s jaw tightens. “Careful what you ask for,” he grits before diving headfirst into your bosom. 

He licks and laves and bites and laps--your breasts are on fire. Continuing his marking spree, new blemishes make an appearance on your torso. Nibbling on one nipple, he pinches the other; pulling moan after moan from you. 

Your hips barely touch the bed, bucking up in response to Jungkook’s sinking teeth into your ample bust. He has decided to not leave an inch without his saliva, and like a man on a mission, covers every part with rapt attention. 

“Yo- You don’t have to--oh holy fuck--you don’t have to, cover me in marks you kno--ohh my go-” The sentence is spastic, piercing mewls breaking your flow of speech and thought. 

“These fucking tits,” roughly clasping your pert breast in his large palm, “they look so much better like this.” The proud smile he shows has not the slightest hint of regret. 

Catching a break, he twiddles your nipples, letting his other hand sit on your covered sex. He is teasing you; you recognize that. Just giving you opportunities to disobey, to take all the pain he has to offer.

It’s a good thing you like the pain.

You slowly roll your hips, trying to grind against his palm, taking whatever help you can get.

A sharp smack lands on your clit, shooting your eyes open - you don’t even know when they closed. Jungkook’s hand is soothing the site of the blow, the pain converting to pleasure under his touch. 

“Patience, sweetness,” the gravely whisper sending tingles down your spine, “such a good girl for me.”

You give him a slight nod - he smacks you again, once, twice, thrice, without a break. Your entrance is smarting, but you want to give him everything. Biting your lips to stop the labored moans escaping, you clench your eyes and savor the burn.

Your show of obedience has Jungkook’s heart thronging. Fuck, he was enjoying toying with you. Playing you like a fiddle. You produce every tone he desires in the form of wanton melodies, he wants to play them over and over again like his favorite song.

“How are we doing?” he asks, a shit-eating grin plastered on him. Before you could answer, his fingers shallowly enter your soaked pussy, still hampered by the cloth. 

“You- fuck, you said I was the tease here?” Your hands are at his wrist, begging to pull the scrap of cloth aside and have his way. 

He comes to face your sopping mound, pausing only to speak “Never said I wasn’t,” and starts pressing soft, feathery kisses. “That day, seeing you dripping in that towel, I dreamt of having these legs around me.”

“I swear, at least take it off - oh Jungkoo-”

Without warning, he kneads your ass and pushes you into his face. 

You feel like you’ve been on the edge for hours. The suckle on your engorged clit along with the abrasion of the lace gets you so close. So damn close. So, so clo-

The tightness in your belly finally snaps and you howl, gushing your vat of arousal onto his face. The high was more intense than you had imagined, so high that you wonder if you will ever find your way back to reality. You feel like a rock in space, aimlessly floating in the vast nothingness.

You dimly notice Jungkook toying with the lacy hem of your panties, pulling it back to snap it against your hip. The sting is soon forgotten, along with your panties flung across the bed, as he parks himself back between your legs.

“You smell incredible.” He approves, taking a long whiff of your honeyed center. “Look at you, so messy.” He licks a long stripe along your crease. “Messy girl, I should clean you up.”

“Wait Jungkook-” you oppose, lids heaving in pleasure. “I need you inside me, please. I can’t take -oof”

Gnawing at your sodden folds, he let his nose press against your clit. “You’re so fucking tight, you think you can take me?” He shakes his head. “Gotta stretch you out, gotta make me fit.” He presses his tongue against your nub, feeling it throb in anticipation. “And I think you can give me one more.” He ends, before invading your drenched channel with two fingers. You are putting up with his torments the best you can; walls fluttering against his lips, legs entwined behind Jungkook’s back trapping him between your thighs. 

“Ah! God - I, I can’t-” Your eyes are screwed shut, hands bunching the sheets in your grasp.

His fingers fluctuate between scissoring motions, their lengths opening you up for him and curling inside, fingertips finding the rough patch inside. He adds a third finger, pussy straining to accommodate them all. Your thighs clench in the burn, and he groans into your pussy at the pressure. Increasing the pace, he pumps into you harder and faster, sucking your puffy lips in tandem. 

“Please, please, harder - let me cum - please oh go-” 

“Fuck yeah baby, your pussy is just sucking me in. You like that? You like me shoving into your cunt?”

“Uungh yes yes I love it!”

“Doesn’t it hurt? Or are you such a slut for pain? Tell me, tell me you’re a pain slut.”

“Fuck, Jungkook, don’t you stop- I am! I am a pain slut! Your pain slut!”

“Goood girrrll,” he husks out. Even though he is taking charge, your words are what control him. “Only mine. My pain slut will come for me now.”

A spray of cum ejects out of you, coating Jungkook’s chest and inundating your legs. The coherent part in you recognizes that you just squirted, but the neanderthal side shuts all recognition of anything that is not Jungkook’s cock. Even after two climaxes, you are hungry to get more. More of him. 

If you don’t fuck him now, you will lose your capability to reason. 

Limbs still heavy and reeling from the ravaging, you pick your pieces and drag Jungkook to the headboard. 

“I’m going to ride you.” you declare and straddle him. 

Jungkook is staring fixedly at your still-leaking cunt. Running his tongue over his lower lip, and licking the remnant syrup of your release. You position yourself, letting the drippage fall directly on his erection. He twitches, eyes still feasting on the mess you are making. 

Finding purchase on his shoulders, you lower yourself. Jungkook’s breath staggers as you drag your inner lips along his hard shaft. You repeat this motion till your fluids drip to his balls. 

“Y/N, I swear to God, if you don’t stop with this-”

“You’ll do what?” you challenge, an eyebrow raised in response to his threat. 

He grabs you by your waist, jerking you up before bringing you down on his dick. Your cunt, creamy from his earlier ministrations, gives no resistance to his hardness. His cock twitches inside as you bottom out. Pulling you closer, he bites your lip and tugs at it. 

“I’ll do this.”

A sharp spank makes you clench around him, the supple flesh of your ass ricocheting in response. 

“Go on baby, ride me.” 

The low-grained command sets you in motion. Slowly gyrating your hips, you feel every ridge of this length inside. Jungkook’s grip on your waist tightens, and you’re sure you will see evidence of it tomorrow. Your grasp on his shoulders isn’t faring any better. 

“You’re so tight, fuck, and so wet. Who made you like this, huh?” A second spank punctuating his question.

“Oh God, you-”, you barely manage to recognize your own voice, “You, Jungkook! Only you!” 

“That’s fucking right, only me.” 

Hips snapping, he meets you halfway. Both of you are lost in each other, lewd sounds of your skin slapping and juices quelching barely muffled by your desperate whines and moans of passion. Eyes locked in like magnets, neither of you could look away. 

Jungkook pulls back a little, slapping your jiggling tit. Your sex clenches, and the following slap has you lodging yourself in the crook of his neck, searching for a reprieve. 

“Want some help?”

One swift move and you are on your stomach, face pushed into a pillow, and ass out. A final spank lands right in the middle, and you can feel it pulsate everywhere. He pushes back into your glistening core, taking control of your pleasure and pain. One hand carding through the nape of your neck, pushing you down, the other hand grabbing your waist and setting the pace. The new angle hits deeper, you feel so full. 

“Jungkoo--unghh I need to cum! Need to- umph- cum so bad!” You are wailing at this point, shame lying somewhere near your flung clothes.

“Fuck, babe, me too. Go ahead and play with yourself, nice and slow.”

It takes a few swipes for the tightness in you to detonate. Tears flood your face as you unravel, your orgasm crashing into you like waves of a tsunami. You clench tight, wetness flows out of your hole as Jungkook pumps in and out, chasing his high. 

He comes undone soon after, ropes of his ejaculate filling your insides. He stays in, plugging you as if to not allow any of it out. But as his member softens, he gives in, turning you on your back to meet his face. 

Butterfly-soft kisses are exchanged after the blazing encounter. He asks you if you’re okay between breaths, a tender murmur you almost miss, as if you weren’t screaming your lungs out moments ago. Nuzzling into his neck, you confirm.

A snort disrupts the silence. Looking up, you see Jungkook chuckling.

In response to your cocked eyebrow, he says “Want to talk about what a freak you are?”

“Want to talk about what a hypocrite you are?”

“Hey, you asked me to spit on you!”

You mock-gasp, hand on chest for the extra effect. “My breasts need medical attention after your attention! Freak!” 

Laughter echoes in the room as you two tumble in the blankets, and you feel his release seeping out of you. Turning to him, you pout, “Your mess is leaking out of me.” 

Jungkook gets up to leave the bed, and you expect a wet towel coming your way. 

What you don’t expect is him parting your legs, gunmetal eyes following the rivulets escaping your abused hole. 

“Your cunt smells so good with my cum on it,” he purrs. 

He gathers the escaping thick liquid and pushes it back into your quivering core. 

Jolting with oversensitivity, you try to stall him but he is fingering you with a vengeance. The ache and soreness soon dispel, bringing forth a new wave of ecstasy. His unrelenting stare concentrates on the mix of fluids on his fingers. With a few strokes on your sensitive bundle of nerves and fingers stuffed inside, you come again, legs shivering and pussy overflowing, his juices intermingled with yours. 

You are dazed; you’ve lost track of everything. The room is spinning in front of you and your body feels like lead. All you can manage is to arch your neck, and plead, “No more, you freak.” 

Jungkook giggles, eyes crinkling in good humor. Ah, the duality of this man is a force to reckon with. You can’t believe this is the same man that fucked you into your bed like a primordial beast. There’s no way you can move anytime soon. 

After a clean-up interval, you are wrapped in each other's arms, melting into the embrace. His musky fragrance putting you at ease, you tuck your in the nook of his neck, basking in the aroma. Hands pressed against his broad chest, exuding warmth for you. His hand cradles your head, snuggling in closer till there is no space to cover. Sweet nothings whispered into each other’s lips, tender kisses exchanged in place of the scorching ones that had passed. You drift in and out of your slumber, fearing the sun would ascend too soon and break you apart. 

A dim glow from the other end of the bed wakes you up. On turning you find Jungkook, dressed in his now-wrinkled clothes, seated on the edge. His gaze, pensive. You lay a hand on his thigh.

“Oh, did the light wake you?”

The alarm on his face makes you smile. “No, your absence did.” 

The corners of his mouth turned up, eyeing you with softness. 

“I have an early schedule. I didn’t want to wake you, but, ” he lets his palm rest on yours, “I also didn’t want to leave without it.”

Neither of you know how to walk away from this. The silence is deafening, unuttered sentiments hanging in the still air. Jungkook’s chest is heavy. 

This is insane. He wants to lay you against a bed of flowers, treat you like the delicate petal you bear resemblance to, worship your body till the sun succumbs to your blazing passion. How is he to explain that his heart is beating through his chest for someone he knows for mere days? He rifles through his memories for a similar instance. 

He finds none. 

Maybe you don’t feel the same way. Maybe, you are blissfully unaware of the tumultuous emotions lurching in the pit of his belly. He can’t assume you will echo his lovesick needs, but he can’t let go. 

You inch closer. 

Fervid feelings die hard. He probes your eyes searching for an intensity matching his. 

You let your lips convey the answer.

Passionate as ever, you draw him into the kiss. His lashes flutter against your rosy cheeks. At the moment, there is no dominance in him. Almost like his tongue, dragging across your swollen lips, is healing the brutality of last night. If you pull back, he comes after you; an incessant tug of war no player wants to win. 

“Please Jungkook,” you choke between kisses, “Please tell me this isn’t the last of us.”

He is hovering on top of you, the galaxy in his eyes twinkling at your words. 

“Please, I don’t want this to end.” You continue against his lips. Head versus heart, you fought a losing battle; how were you to stall the inevitable? Fueled, you plunge your tongue into him, determined to make your ardor known. The void of ferocity is filled with slow sensuality; like he is the sole reservoir to quench your thirst. 

“Y/N”, he breathes out, “I feel like I know everything about you and nothing about you at the same time.” Resting your foreheads against one another, he continues. “I’m not about to let fate decide when we cross paths again.”

A grin finds your lips. “Destiny really pulled its weight here, didn’t it?”

He wordlessly nods, not wanting to break the tranquility in place. However, it is short-lived; his phone’s ringer makes sure of it. 

“Yeah, I’ll be right down.” Something the speaker says turns Jungkook scarlet red. “I said I’ll be right there!” he yells before ending the call.

“The members are asking why I wasn’t in my room.” he clarifies, waggling his brows.  You join his laughter, happy to have just the simple moment with him. 

After exchanging numbers (and a photo for keepsake), Jungkook presses one last kiss, lips promising to find each other again. Somehow, you don’t say goodbye. You just stare at his disappearing body, confident that the next encounter is not far. 

Jake is babbling about his night, how he managed to ditch the god-awful party and hang out with some overenthusiastic college-goers who paid for his drinks with their trust fund dough. This is usually the time you ask him if he’s proud of mooching off of children, but today his exaggerated narrative is cracking you up. 

His forehead creases. “What’s up with you today? You haven’t vowed to skin me alive even once.”

“You like it when I threaten bodily harm?”

“I’m kinky like that.”

You just shrug. Erotic images make a fleeting appearance in your mind, but they are interrupted by your flight announcement. 

“Aren’t you glad this is over? You can go back to overworking yourself in your office instead of a hotel!” Jake remarks, throwing his bag over his shoulder. “At least your back won’t break in the travel.”

Thinking over your experience in the city, you confess “Actually, I look forward to returning here.”

A thought slips in, curving your mouth into a smile. You quietly add,

“And yeah, my back was broken all right.”

Thank you for making it to the end! Please do let me know what you think!

#bts #bangtan sonyeondan #bulletproof boy scouts #bts fanfic #bts fanfiction #bts smut #jeon jungkook #jeon jungkook fanfic #jeon jungkook fanfiction #jeon jungkook smut #jungkook #jungkook fanfic #jungkook fanfiction #jungkook smut #jjk #jjk fanfic #jjk fanfiction #jjk smut #bts jungkook #bts jeon jungkook #bts jungkook fanfic #dom!jungkook #dom!jk #dom jk #dom jungkook

[sineala]

Tony Stark and Arthuriana

Coming to you by special request, a very long post about 616 Tony's interest in Arthuriana, with a focus on all of Tony's run-ins with Morgan le Fay!

I feel like I should disclaim the extent of my knowledge here, which is that I still haven't managed to read anywhere near every issue of Iron Man -- at least, not yet, anyway -- so I'm just going by the things I know I've read, and Morgan le Fay's Marvel wiki entry is frustratingly under-cited, so it's very possible I've missed something relevant, but I'm pretty sure I've got the big stuff down. My other disclaimer here is that I'm not as big an Arthurian nerd as Tony is, which is to say that most of my familiarity comes from modern retellings -- T. H. White's The Once and Future King, Marion Zimmer Bradley's The Mists of Avalon, Mary Stewart's The Crystal Cave, Rosemary Sutcliff's Sword at Sunset -- and not so much the usual classic sources on the Matter of Britain, though I've read bits and pieces of them.

(This is because I wanted to read versions of them that were as close to the original as possible but so far have not ended up finishing any of them because, well, that's hard. So I've never read the Mabinogion because I do not know Welsh. I've got the Norton Critical Edition of Malory's Le Morte d'Arthur, which is probably the best student edition if you're looking for something without modernized spellings, as I was. I've also got -- well, okay, it's my wife's but I'm borrowing it -- a relatively recent Boydell & Brewer edition (ed. Reeve, tr. Wright) of Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae (History of the Kings of Britain), which is, you guessed it, in Latin with a facing English translation. I haven't gotten very far in it because, in case you didn't know this about Latin texts, the beginning is pretty much always the hardest, so I gave up and read some Plautus adaptations instead. Anyway, if for some reason you too want to read Geoffrey of Monmouth in the original Latin I'd recommend that one, but I can't recommend any particular English translations because I've never read one by itself. I bet you didn't think you'd be getting Latin prose recommendations in this post. I mean, maybe you did; it is me, after all.)

Okay. Right. King Arthur. Here we go.

We've got:

Flashbacks to Tony's childhood in late Iron Man volume 1

A brief discussion of Morgan's origin story and Avengers #187

Iron Man vol 1 #149-150: Doomquest

What If vol 1 #33: What if Iron Man was trapped in the time of King Arthur?

Iron Man vol 1 #249-250: Recurring Knightmare

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom #1-4

Avengers vol 3 #1-4: The Morgan Conquest

Civil War: The Confession

Mighty Avengers vol 1 #9-11: Time Is On No One's Side

In terms of universe-internal chronology, we know from Iron Man #287, from 1992, that Tony has been a fan of King Arthur since childhood. This is an issue of a fandom-favorite arc which features Tony having a lot of childhood flashbacks, including the famous "Stark men are made of iron" line (in #286) that for some reason MCU fandom decided it loved; I mean, seriously, I've seen that quoted in way more MCU fic than 616 fic. But slightly later, in #287, we get an entire page devoted to Tony's love of King Arthur.

The narration reads: "Over the next few years, I learned as my father intended. Discipline of body. Strength of character. But in what free time I was allowed, I worked my way through the school's library. At thirteen, I discovered Mallory [sic], who showed me a whole new world. A world of dedication to a cause greater than oneself. Of chivalry and honor. And the fantastic deeds -- of armored heroes."

The art shows Tony as a child sitting under a tree, reading a book labeled Mort D'Arthur by Mallory [sic] -- no, don't ask me why nobody at Marvel checked how to spell either the name of the book or its author -- and daydreaming of King Arthur, the Sword in the Stone, knights, et cetera. Just in case you somehow missed the extremely blatant hint that we are meant to understand that Tony's knight obsession heavily influenced him becoming Iron Man as an adult, we see one of his armors mixed in with all the drawings of knights. So, yes, canonically Tony is Iron Man at least partly because he's a giant King Arthur nerd, which I think is so very sweet. I love him. He's such a dork!

(This issue is currently in print in the Iron Man Epic Collection War Machine, should you need your own copy.)

This isn't actually the only reference to Tony as a King Arthur fanboy in this era of canon, either; a little later, in IM #298, we see that one of Tony's passwords is actually "Mallory." (Yeah, no, they still couldn't spell. But it's cute.)

But in terms of actual publication order, this is definitely not the first time we have seen in canon that Tony is into Arthuriana, as I'm sure you all know. I would assume, in fact, that giving Tony a childhood interest in Arthuriana is because Doomquest is one of the most beloved Iron Man story arcs of all time, and that all started at least a decade before IM #287 here was published.

The villain of Doomquest -- the one who isn't Doctor Doom, at least -- is Morgan le Fay. Yes, that Morgan le Fay. Yes, Arthur's evil half-sister Morgan le Fay. Yes, all of this King Arthur stuff is canonically real history on Earth-616. Morgan's first appearance in Marvel, per the wiki, was in Black Knight #1 (1955), which I have not read, and judging by the summary I feel like this is probably just supposed to be a straight-up comic retelling of Arthurian legends for kids; I don't think Marvel really had the whole Marvel Universe in mind as a concept in 1955, so I'm not sure this was meant to connect to anything else. I feel like this is another one of those instances of Marvel discovering that they can write comics about characters in the public domain for free -- like, I'm pretty sure that's how we also ended up with, like, Norse, Greek, and Roman mythology wedged into 616.

As far as I can tell from the wiki, the first time Morgan tangled with the Avengers (or indeed the larger 616 universe) in any way actually predated Doomquest -- it was in an early arc in Spider-Woman (#2-6) and then Avengers #187, which came out in 1979, actually right when Demon in a Bottle was happening over in Iron Man comics. If you read #187, Iron Man is not in it because he's off the team due to his drinking problem and also his accidentally murdering the Carnelian ambassador problem. So Wonder Man's filling in instead. This issue is part of Michelinie's rather sporadic Avengers run, which makes sense, I guess, considering where we see Morgan next.

Anyway, Avengers #187 is the classic issue where Wanda is possessed by Chthon, but what you may not remember from Chthon's backstory (I sure didn't!) is that he was summoned by Morgan le Fay because she was the first person who tried to wield the Darkhold to summon him. As you can imagine, this did not work out especially well for her and her followers and they had to seal Chthon away in Wundagore Mountain, which was where Wanda found him. (The Spider-Woman stuff is only slightly earlier and also appears to be about Morgan and the Darkhold; the Darkhold is not one of the areas of 616 canon I am especially conversant with, alas. It's on my to-read list.)

Doomquest, as you probably know, was a classic Iron Man two-parter in Layton & Michelinie's first Iron Man run that set up Tony and Doom as rivals; Doomquest itself was IM #149-150, in 1981, and then in their second IM run they came back and did a sequel in 1989, Recurring Knightmare (IM #249-250), and then the much later four-part sequel to that was the 2008 miniseries Iron Man: Legacy of Doom, which was also by Layton & Michelinie but generally does not seem to be as popular as the first two parts. They've all been reprinted, if you're looking for copies; I have a Doomquest hardcover that collects the first four issues and then a separate Legacy of Doom hardcover. Currently in the Iron Man Epic Collection line there's a volume called Doom, which confusingly only collects the 249-250 part of the storyline (as well as surrounding issues), because for some reason the first Layton & Michelinie run isn't in Epics yet but the second one is. So the beginning of Doomquest isn't currently in print, as far as I can tell. I'm sure you can find it anyway.

So what's Doomquest about? Okay, so you remember how Doctor Doom's mother's soul is stuck in hell for all eternity? Well, Doom's obviously interested in getting her back, and the strategy he has embarked on is to try to team up with other powerful magicians who can help him out, and he thinks Morgan le Fay would be a good choice, for, uh, his quest. Doom's quest. A Doomquest, if you will. (If you've ever read Doctor Strange & Doctor Doom: Triumph & Torment, you're familiar with the part where he later ends up waylaying Strange for this and they go to hell together. And if you haven't read Triumph & Torment, you really should, because it's amazing.)

So Doom is off to his time machine to go team up with Morgan le Fay and Tony thinks Doom is up to something -- Doom has been stealing components for his time machine from a lot of people, including Tony -- and he follows him and it turns out one of Doom's lackeys has a grudge and wants to trap Doom in the past forever, and Tony gets caught up in it. Now they're both in Camelot. Surprise! #149 is actually all setup; they don't get to Camelot until #150.

IM #150 begins with Doom and Tony thrown back into the past; there's a fandom-famous splash page of them locked in combat, only to realize that they have found themselves in Camelot.

They are then discovered by knights; Doom would very much like to attack them, but Tony, who naturally would be happy to LARP Camelot forever, persuades him to play nice. Also Doom thinks Iron Man is only Tony's bodyguard so he keeps referring to him as "lackey," much to Tony's annoyance. Somehow everyone thinks they're sorcerers. Can't imagine why. The knights take them to meet King Arthur himself, and Tony has clearly had his introduction all ready to go, as he introduces himself in a timeline-appropriate manner, says he's here to apprehend Doom, and demonstrates his "magic" by levitating Arthur's throne. Doom's response is essentially "I'm the king of Latveria," which is, y'know, also valid. So they're guests at Camelot for the night while Arthur figures out what to do with them.

We then have a page devoted to Tony alone in his room, musing sadly about how alien he feels, how he doesn't know if he'll ever get home, how he could never fit in here without his beloved technology. Then a Sexy Lady shows up to keep him company for the night, and he decides maybe it's not all bad. Thanks, Marvel. I guess they can't all be winners.

Doom is using his evening much more productively; he compels one of the servants to tell him where Morgan's castle is, because he's still interested in having that team-up. Then he jets off. Literally. He has a jetpack.

The next morning Arthur's like "one of you is still here and one of you has punched a hole through the castle wall and flown off to join Morgan so I guess I know which of you is more trustworthy." He then explains to Tony who Morgan is, because Tony professes ignorance, because clearly we had not yet retconned in Tony's love of Arthuriana. Tony offers to go fight Doom and Morgan with Arthur; meanwhile, Morgan and Doom have teamed up and Morgan has offered to help get Doom's mother out of hell if he commands her undead armies against Arthur because for Reasons she can't command them herself anymore. So that's a thing that happens.

So, yes, it's Tony and Arthur versus Doom and Morgan. Fight fight fight!

Tony tries Doom first but then decides to hunt Morgan down, and in the ensuing fight we get what I think is Tony's first ever "I hate magic," a complaint that we all know he still makes even to this day.

Anyway, Tony freezes a dragon with Freon (mmm, technology) and Morgan gets upset and disappears, so the battle comes to an end, and of course Doom is extremely mad at Tony because he blames Tony for Morgan not sticking around to save Doom's mom, because I guess Doom trusted her to keep her word? Weird. (Like I said, for the next chapter of Doom saving his mother, go read Triumph & Torment.)

Doom says if he and Tony work together, the components in both of their armors can send them both home. So Tony has to trust Doom. Which he does, because he really has no other choice. They build a time machine and Tony makes Doom agree to a 24-hour truce when they get back, so they can both get home. So it all works out okay, and they end up in the present, and Doom tells him, ominously, that they will meet again. Okay, then. That concludes the original Doomquest. It's fun! You can see why fandom likes it.

So that's all well and good, but you might have noticed that Tony's ability to get home hinged on Doom actually being trustworthy. And Doom was. But what if Doom hadn't been? What if he'd just stranded Tony in Camelot forever As you may have surmised from the form of that question, that is in fact a question Marvel asked themselves, because, yes, there's a What If about this! What If v1 #33 is "What if Iron Man was trapped in the time of King Arthur?"

The divergence point from canon, as you can probably guess, is the very end of Doomquest. Instead of Doom bringing Tony home, he deceives him and leaves him in Camelot. And since Tony cannibalized a lot of the tech from his armor to make the time machine, he doesn't have a way to go home.

This is not a story where Tony comes up with a way to go home after all. He really doesn't get to go home. But instead of drowning his sorrows in mead -- because, remember, Demon in a Bottle has already happened and Tony is sober now -- he decides he might as well just play the hand he's dealt. So with what's left of his armor, he defeats some enemies that Morgan rounds up to send against Camelot. And for his services, he's knighted. He is now Sir Anthony.

Tony acknowledges that he is both living the dream and would also like very, very much to go home.

He does end up having some fun in Camelot; it's not all miserable. But he obviously doesn't want to be there.

So if you're at all familiar with King Arthur, you know how this goes, right? Arthur fights Mordred and Mordred kills him. And that does happen in this version. Except Tony is right there, and with his dying words, Arthur asks Tony to rule Camelot... and Tony agrees.

So, yes, Tony Stark becomes king of the Britons after Arthur's death and he never goes home again. The end. Man, I love What Ifs.

Heading back to main 616 continuity, there is still more of this arc to go. The original Doomquest was only two issues, yes, but it was popular enough that Layton & Michelinie did a sequel a hundred issues later, in their second run of Iron Man, and that's Iron Man #249-250, Recurring Knightmare. (In the intervening issues were Denny O'Neil's IM run, specifically the second drinking arc (#160-200), and then Layton & Michelinie came back and most famously gave us Armor Wars (#225-232). I would have to say that Armor Wars is definitely the standout fandom-favorite arc of their second IM run; for their first one, I think a lot of people would have a hard time choosing between Doomquest and Demon.) But anyway, yes. Recurring Knightmare.

Recurring Knightmare is... well, the best way I can describe it is "a trip." It is definitely a sequel to Doomquest, and it is also definitely not a sequel you  would ever have expected to see for Doomquest.

Much like #149, #249 is pretty much just setup. Fun setup, but the big action is in the next issue. We open with Doom in Latveria, on his throne, pondering which of his servants he should have disintegrated. Anyway, he's just hanging out there when a mysterious object appears. In California, Tony is suited up and entertaining the crowd at a mall opening when the same object also appears! He takes it to his lab. Please note that this is after the Kathy Dare incident, so Tony is still recovering and is walking with a cane. Doom sees on the news that Iron Man has found the same object, which cannot be carbon-dated, and he shows up at Tony's house. He criticizes Tony's taste in art.

Anyway, Doom basically orders Tony to work with him. Tony refuses, and then Doom sends some robots to attempt to steal Tony's version of the object because he thinks if he has them both he will be powerful. Doom manages to steal it, and when he puts the pieces together, both he and Tony disappear.

So where do they go, you might ask? Camelot?

Not exactly. The future! There is a great callback to the Doomquest splash page.

It turns out they are in London in 2093. Merlin brought them there. Tony still hates magic. And in the future, King Arthur is still there, except he is now a child, because he has been reborn. But he does remember Tony from Doomquest, at which point Tony kneels. Doom, of course, is not impressed. He asks why they have been brought to the future.

The answer is that things are going wrong in the future. If you do not personally remember United States politics in the 1980s, I need you to google the words "Strategic Defense Initiative" right now. I'll wait.

Back with me? Okay, so this is a future where Reagan's Star Wars program actually happened the way he wanted it to, and the satellites are still hanging around the Earth in the future and messing everything up, and Arthur and Merlin need Tony and Doom's help to stop them. Doom once again flies away with his jetpack, of course.

Tony is game to help, but he's not in an armor that can stay in space for long. This is when Merlin takes him and Arthur to the mall and Tony manages to get everything to upgrade his armor at Radio Shack. You see what I meant about this issue being weird.

Tony is out in space trying to disarm the SDI platform, which is where he runs into his future descendant, Andros Stark, who is in armor you will probably recognize from Iron Man 2020. He is referred to as "the resurrected spawn of Iron Man 2020" so I assume he's actually directly related to Arno rather than a direct descendant of Tony; Wiki confirms that Arno is his grandfather. This is all from way before Arno was contemporaneous with Tony in canon. Anyway, he's fighting Tony.

Oh, by the way, Future Doom exists. Future Doom would like to rule this future Earth and for some reason Andros would like to help him. Meanwhile, Present Doom finds out from Merlin that he can't leave except by magic and he can't leave without Tony, so he is reluctantly on Tony's side.

They need help from the Lady of the Lake, except the lake has been paved over and is now a parking lot. Merlin makes the lake come back and then of course they get Excalibur. Arthur is a kid, so he can't wield a longsword; Doom assumes he's going to take it because he is basically a king, and he's pretty grumpy when the sword picks Tony. Tony then uses Excalibur to destroy the space lasers, and I bet that is a sentence you never thought you would read. It's pretty cool. Tony concludes that magic has its good points. Tony stops Andros and Doom stops, uh, himself, and the world is saved and they get to go home. Also, Doom finds out Tony is Iron Man, but when Merlin sends them back he conveniently erases their memories, so neither of them remember anything about this and Tony's secret is still safe. And that's the sequel to Doomquest.

And if you think that's weird, wait until you see Legacy of Doom.

Iron Man: Legacy of Doom is a four-issue miniseries from 2008, also by Layton and Michelinie. Even though it's from 2008, it's set during a much more classic time in Iron Man, continuing on from where we left off in this Doomquest saga. We start with a framing story in 2008. Tony, who has Extremis now, is busy scrapping some of his older armors and reviewing his logs when he suddenly remembers that there was a whole thing with Doom that happened that he seems to have forgotten about until right now. So the whole thing is narrated by Tony in flashback.

Tony's in space fixing a satellite when a hologram of Doom shows up and summons him to Latveria. It's not really clear why Doom needs Tony's help in particular here, but Doom tells Tony that he's discovered that Mephisto would like to bring about the end of the world, which Doom finds, and I quote, "presumptive." So Doom has his Time Cube, and with it he takes Tony to hell.

(Yes, I promise this is relevant to Doomquest. There will be some Arthuriana shortly.)

Doom brings Tony to Mephisto, and it turns out it's a setup! Doom trades Tony for an item he wants from Mephisto, leaves, and Tony's going to be trapped in hell forever! Oh no! (I mean, he's not. But it's quite a cliffhanger.)

At the beginning of issue #2, we find out what the Arthurian connection is, which is that we learned that after the events of Doomquest, Morgan had been granted sanctuary by Mephisto in exchange for a shard of Excalibur that she had somehow stolen. Doom still wants Morgan's help with some magic -- he doesn't mention what it is here, but he says he needs someone of Pendragon blood, and that'd be her -- so he traded Tony to Mephisto in exchange for, I'm guessing, Morgan and the Excalibur shard.

I have probably mentioned this elsewhere, but Legacy of Doom #2 is one of my favorite issues of Iron Man ever, solely because of the next scene. We return to Tony in hell. Howard Stark is also in hell, and he is now a demon, and Tony has to fight him. Mephisto brings popcorn and watches. This is the one time in canon when Tony actually confronts his father, and okay, yes, it's a fistfight in hell and Howard is a demon, but that's comics for you. Howard spends several pages insulting Tony -- specifically insulting his masculinity, but that's a whole other essay -- until he finally insults Maria too, and that's when Tony fights back, because his mother taught him to be good. Honestly if you're a Tony fan I'd recommend this issue just for that scene.

Anyway, we go back to the Doom and Morgan plot, and Morgan casts the spell Doom wanted, which was fusing the Excalibur shard with Doom's armor. Then Doom sends her back to Camelot rather than hell, because he's still mad that she never helped him get his mom out of hell like she said she would.

Tony freezes Howard with Freon -- yes, the same trick he pulled on the dragon back in Doomquest -- and tells him, "You're no father of mine." It is immensely satisfying.

(I had been going to mention that I thought it was a shame that neither canon nor fandom seems to have really engaged with this confrontation, and I know canon never believes in narrative closure but fandom sure does -- and then, anyway, it occurred to me that since the framing story of Tony remembering this is set when Tony has Extremis, there's a very good chance that he no longer remembers remembering it. Goddammit, Marvel.)

(If I got to retcon one canon thing about Tony, I think "the entirety of World's Most Wanted" is up there. I mean, okay, a lot of things are up there, but WMW is definitely on the shortlist.)

Okay. Tony has now engineered his way out of hell, and he's back with Doom in Latveria. Doom has Excalibur. Doom would very much like to fight him. While wielding Excalibur. You get the sense that this is going to be bad. Another cliffhanger!

Legacy of Doom #3 opens with Tony destroying Doom's lab to buy time and running away from Doom and Excalibur. I should probably mention that Doom still doesn't know Tony is Iron Man (anymore), so he thinks he is dealing only with Iron Man, Tony Stark's lackey. Meanwhile, some scientists at SI think there's something weird going on with space. Meanwhile meanwhile, Tony is in a forest taking a breather when a mysterious old man walks up to him.

It's Merlin! Surprise! Merlin wants Tony's help to stop Doom from doing whatever he's doing with Excalibur. The sword makes you invincible and the scabbard makes you invulnerable, so Merlin sends Tony to Scotland on a fetch quest for the scabbard. Doom has now magically sent the sword in search of the scabbard, so the sword flies away to meet it and Doom follows. Turns out the thing that's wrong with space is a thing that's going to hit Earth at the exact place Tony and Doom are. What a coincidence! So Tony and Doom get trapped in a stone circle and fight some stone warriors and then Tony ends up with the scabbard. And by "ends up with," I mean it fuses to his armor. Next issue!

Legacy of Doom #4 is when things really, really get weird. A giant demon made of eyes (???) appears, and this demon is apparently what Doom had been preparing to fight (because it's mad that Doom stole one of its spellbooks), and now he can't, because the sword and the scabbard aren't together. Thanks, Shellhead.

That's when Merlin shows up and says all is not lost. They can defeat the demon... if they put the sword into the scabbard.

"But I'm the scabbard now!" Tony says, uncomprehending.

"Yes," Merlin says. "You are."

Then Tony gets it.

So, yes, Doom has to, um, penetrate Tony. With Excalibur. I love comics. I love comics so much.

So that's a thing that happens.

And then Tony flies off and, I guess, resolves to never, ever think about any of this again.

We head back to the framing story, in which Tony, now having remembered all of this, flies to Britain, buys the land the lake is on, and paves it over, presumably so it will be there for Merlin to bring back in Iron Man #250. The end.

Whew.

Okay, yeah, I know I didn't have to summarize the whole thing, but Legacy of Doom here really is one of my favorite Iron Man miniseries. And I just want to share the love. Please read it. It's great.

But the Arthuriana fun doesn't end there! In fact, now we get an Arthurian-themed arc that actually isn't in Iron Man comics. It's in Avengers! Iron Man is involved, though.

(There is also apparently a Morgan arc in Avengers #240. I actually haven't read it. It seems to be yet another Spider-Woman arc. I get the impression that this isn't really Arthuriana other than having Morgan in it fighting Jess, though, so it doesn't seem quite as relevant. Morgan also apparently has some appearances in FF, Journey into Mystery, and Marvel Team-Up, but those seem like more of just basic villainy. Also, probably not involving Tony.)

Kurt Busiek's 1998 Avengers run, volume 3, is in large part the kind of Avengers run that is a nostalgic love letter to older comics. Heroes are heroes and villains are villains and good triumphs over evil. The Avengers all live in the mansion and are BFFs. I love it. It does assume that you are already a fan of the Avengers, because it starts out by summoning pretty much everyone who has ever been an Avenger and is available to the mansion, and that is... a lot of people. Thirty-nine, by my count. Also, when the entire team is magically whisked away, we are treated to the following narration, as Steve disappears: "And Captain America's last thought, as the world goes white around him, and he with it -- is that Iron Man would hate this."

The narration doesn't tell you why Iron Man would hate this, or how Captain America would know that Iron Man hates this. This is not explained later on. But if you have read comics -- or if you have read the above summary of Doomquest -- you know that Tony is absolutely, one hundred percent, thinking, "I hate magic." And Steve knows it.

The reference is not relevant to the plot; if you don't get it, you'll be fine. But that's what I mean when I say this is a nostalgia run. There are definitely Easter eggs for people who have read a bunch of comics. Busiek does this a whole lot in his work -- there's a reason you can buy an annotated edition of Marvels -- and, yeah, it happens here too. Just know that there will be references you're not getting, if you're new to comics.

Anyway. So Busiek's run actually starts out with an Arthurian arc, #1-4, "The Morgan Conquest." The name is a dead giveaway. Yes, Morgan le Fay is back. Again. For once, Doom is not involved.

The Avengers are all back from their sojourn on Counter-Earth after fighting Onslaught -- don't worry about it -- and mysterious things are happening. There are a lot of monster attacks. So pretty much everyone who has ever been an Avenger is summoned to the mansion, at which point we learn from Thor about some mystical artifacts that are being stolen. (They are the Norn Stones and also the Twilight Sword. That sounds like something from a Zelda game, doesn't it?) The Avengers go to try to stop this, end up in Tintagel, and then they run into Mordred. He wants to capture Wanda, presumably for Magic Reasons. Morgan le Fay casts a spell on all of them, reshaping reality. Yes, all of them. Surprise!

So now all the Avengers are living in a medieval castle and/or town; Morgan is their queen, and thanks to the power of mind-control they are all basically living in Ye Olden Times. The Avengers are all some variety of knight, except for Wanda, who is chained up in the dungeon so Morgan can steal her magic and use it to fuel all this reality-warping.

Wanda calls for help, and that snaps Steve (Yeoman America!) out of the mind control (or altered reality or whatever you want to call it) pretty fast, because Steve's always been very good at resisting mind control, and then Steve promptly goes and snaps Clint out of it, because I guess Steve is also good at inspiring people to snap out of mind control. "Oh, man!" Clint says. "Not another alternate reality! Not again!" (I assume he's referring to Counter-Earth? Maybe?)

So Steve and Clint go around reassembling the Avengers and orienting them as to reality. They get Jan and Monica easily, but then Steve insists on trying to get Tony because, I guess, he likes Tony and would really like to hang around Tony, who is half-naked and asleep in his bedroom, and certainly I am reading nothing whatsoever into this. Clint tells Steve it's not going to work. Tony has historically been fairly susceptible to mind control; it was only pretty recently at this point that he'd been doing Kang's bidding in The Crossing. But the more serious impediment is that this is Tony Stark and he would obviously like to LARP being a knight forever and ever. Tony, therefore, does not believe Steve, and throws him and Clint out of his bedroom and into the barracks.

"Iron Man's a good guy, normally," Clint says. "But he's waaay too into his whole nobleman/lord of the manor trip. That spell musta hit him right where he lives!"

Clint speaks the truth, clearly.

Anyway, they go around and manage to make pretty much every Avenger in the room other than Tony snap out, and attempt to rebel against Morgan while Tony is stil fighting them because he is Still A Knight. There's a lot of punching, because some of the Avengers still aren't free; they weren't ones Steve found.

The day is saved when Wanda manages to channel Wonder Man and break free. This gives the Avengers a fighting chance against Morgan and the Avengers are all lending Wanda their power when Tony finally snaps out of it and is on the side of good. 

Then they take Morgan down, go home, and attempt to figure out which of these thirty-nine people should be on the active Avengers team. Hooray.

But that's not the end of Morgan le Fay showing up to screw around with Tony's life! There's more to come! Not much, but there is one that I know of, and at least one more memorable reference. 

(I haven't read all her appearances or anything, but one of them definitely involves Tony; I can't swear that he doesn't appear in any of the other books Morgan shows up in, but it'd be a cameo for him, because I only know of one more arc that she's in in a book that Tony stars in.)

In a few more years, we have now entered the part of Marvel Comics history where Brian Michael Bendis writes all the Avengers books at the same time for, like, seven years running. It was sure A Time. There were a lot of word bubbles.

And the thing about Bendis is, Bendis looooooves Doomquest. If you're familiar with the very end of his tenure at Marvel where he made Doom be Iron Man after Tony got knocked into a coma in Civil War II, you have probably figured out already that he likes Doom. But he also likes Doomquest, specifically.

I mean, if nothing else, the giant splash page in The Confession where Maleev redrew the climactic Doomquest fight while Bendis had Tony talk about how deeply meaningful to his understanding of the world this all was -- and how it allowed him to predict Civil War -- was probably a big clue, right?

As far as I am aware, Morgan le Fay makes exactly one more appearance in Tony's life. And that's in Mighty Avengers vol 1 #9-11. Only one of those issues is named, so I'm going to assume the arc is named after it: Time Is On No One's Side.

You remember Mighty Avengers, right? The deal with the Avengers books at the time was that after Bendis exploded the mansion and made the team disband in Avengers Disassembled, the main Avengers book was no longer called just Avengers. Instead, the main Avengers book was New Avengers, and that was the only Avengers book. Then Civil War happened, Steve got killed, and New Avengers became the book about what was left of the SHRA resistance (i.e., Steve's side) after the war. So about halfway through New Avengers, Mighty Avengers starts up, and Mighty Avengers is about an extremely fucked-up and grief-stricken Tony Stark trying to run the official government-sanctioned Avengers team, with Carol's help. This is the comic with the arc where Tony turned into naked girl Ultron. You remember.

So, anyway, there's this Mighty Avengers arc where Doom is Up To Something (there are symbiotes and a satellite involved) and somehow Tony and the Avengers end up in Latveria, punching Doom. Also, by the way, Doom is visiting Morgan in the past because he likes her. The Avengers attacking his castle made him have to come back to the present, so he's kind of cranky. And he fights Tony, and in the course of the fight, his time platform explodes and sends Doom and Tony and also the Sentry to... the past.

This is one of those times where you should definitely look up the comics if possible because the way the past is visually indicated here is that it's colored with halftone dots the way you would expect old comics to be colored, although they have modern shading and color palettes. It's very charmingly retro.

So the three of them are stuck in New York in the past, and naturally they would like to leave. There's one person in this time who has a time machine and it is, of course, Reed Richards. Doom and Tony have a lot of banter in this arc; I think it's entertaining.

Sentry has to be the one to break them all into the Baxter Building because of that power he has where no one will remember him. So they do that, travel forward in time, and end up in Latveria in the present again except Doom is gone and also things are currently exploding where they are.

Doom, of course, has made a side trip to visit Morgan again and he asks her to help him build an army, because I guess this is what their relationship is like. So the rest of the Avengers are captured by what look to me like Mindless Ones and are in a cave in magic bondage, because comics. Jess comments that at least they aren't naked, because she too is remembering that memorable New Avengers trip to the Savage Land. Doom threatens Carol in some creepy sexist ways and eventually it turns out that Tony and the Sentry are fine and everyone kicks Doom's ass. Business as usual.

And the last page of the arc is Morgan alone, wondering where Doom is. So technically Morgan and Tony don't come face to face here, but I think she counts as being at least partially responsible for ruining Tony's day here. And then Secret Invasion happens and Tony has a very, very bad day.

There are a few more Morgan appearances after this, but, as I said, I don't think any of them involve Tony. She shows up in Dark Avengers, apparently, which was one of the post-Civil War Avengers titles I didn't read, and I know that recently, on the X-Men side of things, she's been in Tini Howard's Excalibur one, which I have only read a little of. No Tony there. Just a lot of Morgan and Betsy Braddock and Brian Braddock and the Otherworld.

If you are interested in Morgan's other appearances, you might like this Marvel listicle that is Morgan le Fay's six most malicious acts. I pulled some of the Darkhold backstory from their discussion, but it's not really focused on Morgan and Tony.

So there you have it! That's everything I know about Tony's love for King Arthur and every run-in I know about that he's had with Morgan le Fay! One of two terrible people in Tony's life named Morgan! Actually, I don't think we've seen Morgan Stark in a while. I wonder if he's alive. There should be a Morgan & Morgan team-up. I should probably stop typing and post this.

The tl;dr point is that you should all read Doomquest and its sequels, especially Legacy of Doom. They're great!

#posts i actually wrote

[fayeimara]

Sakusa Kiyoomi || Quiet Corners of Our World

SUMMARY. A busy Sunday becomes something else entirely when your typically routine-loving boyfriend has some unexpected surprises in store.

PAIRING. You x Sakusa Kiyoomi

GENRE. Fluff <3

WARNINGS. Suggestive

Reader Request Part Two | This is a continuation of the story in Small Moments.

It's a small kiss behind your ear that wakes you up, along with a whispered, "Good morning, love." You turn towards the deep baritone, seeking its owner even though you've barely roused. Sliding one hand forward to squeeze in between the cool pillow and cooler sheets, enhanced by the press of Sakusa's head still lying atop it, your other hand finds his cheek even before you've opened your eyes. When you do briefly flicker them open, it's to meet his amused gaze for just a moment before the bright rays streaming in from your windows compel your lids to flutter shut again. There's an enticing aroma in the air and it's not just your boyfriend's aftershave.

Tilting your head up in a silent plea for his soft lips to meet yours, you hear a low chuckle instead before you feel something light brush the tip of your nose back and forth. A butterfly kiss. A smile tugs at the corners of your mouth but quickly turns into a pout when he his teasing tone breaks the silence again.

"I'd like a proper kiss, love, wouldn't you?"

You nod with an assenting hum and it seems he'd anticipated your non-verbal answer because he's already continuing. "Then you'll come brush your teeth, won't you? I have a surprise for my little butterfly."

The words are still soft with temptation and your eyes peek open again, this one longer than your first attempt. This time, when you meet Kiyo's deep gaze, it anchors you to him as you fight off the last hazy remnants of your sleep. If only you didn't feel like you could lay there falling into the dark, mesmerizing pools of his eyes instead.

You're tempted to close your eyes again just to regain your equilibrium but it would be quite futile. That, and you're realizing it's Sunday, which means both you and Sakusa have your respective engagements for the day. Your mind wanders back to the previous day, an improvised but perfect lazy date indoors, which already seems so far from reach.

What if the two of you canceled your plans to pursue a whole, lazy weekend? Would the world stop turning? You smirk, tempted to be a little bad and see if you can convince Kiyo to join your sudden scheme.

"What's that little smile about, sweetheart?" You startle, realizing your thoughts have wandered while he continued to study you, holding your unfocused gaze. He has his own little smirk on his face, as though he's actually able to peer right through your eyes and view your most intimate daydreams.

A blush works its way onto your cheeks, you can feel the warmth even if you can't see it but you're definitely aware of his eyes tracking every miniscule change with that beguiling smile still curving his lips. You pretend to stretch out in order to hide your clearly telling expression, hoping to compose yourself again quickly. With your arms hovering over your face you miss his movement, only feeling the slightest shift before his fingers caress the now exposed skin at your stomach and waist.

"Kiyo!" You're jackknifing so fast in order to jump out of the bed as you reach for his wrist to pull his arm away but he's not done with flustering you when you're in your sleepy state because his other arm catches you mid lunge and you're drawn back against his hard body before you can even register that you're trapped.

Kiyoomi's long legs stretch out alongside yours, shepherding them with light pressure so that he can form a cage around you, finally complete when the hand with the wandering fingers enters your line of sight before dropping to your shoulder. Arms criss-crossed around you, one across your waist and the other crossing that space just below your collarbone, he finally leans in with a brush of his lips to the shell of your ear and whispers, "Didn't you want to stay in bed longer? Isn't that what you were just thinking... How you might convince me to stay?"

Even as your stomach flips at his seductive tenor, your face burns as you're caught at your own game before you could even begin to truly consider it. What a dangerously perceptive man you've chosen to call your own. And how like him to torment you when you're caught unaware. He had better be prepared for some payback. Much later.

"Ah..no."

"No?"

"No." You shrug as much as you can in his hold, thankful you're at least facing away as you boldly lie, "I was... thinking about you brushing my teeth."

You might have actually thrown him for a loop as he pauses and then, his flirtatious game forgotten, warily repeats, "Me brushing your teeth?"

Oh no. You can't laugh. But it's difficult as you can quite literally imagine the exact look of distaste on his face at this very moment. He might end up thinking it's an amusing or even cute concept some day but this reaction is pretty typical when he processes new actions that go against his natural instincts. Exactly why you chose this very visual.

"Mhm. You withheld my rightful kisses because you wanted me to brush my teeth first, didn't you?" Okay, so maybe there's a little payback for him sooner than you'd planned. Three birds, one stone. What a feat.

"So... you think I want to brush them for you...?" He trails off, completely unsure where you're going with this.

You shake your head, tone quite glib when you elaborate on your lie, "Not quite. I just imagined you might force me, like a bad puppy or something you apparently think you can order around. That why I was smiling. The imagery and all."

"You were smirking." He corrects with authoritative tone completely ignoring your subtle admonishment. Is that humour seeping back in, as well? "But if you want me to treat you like a pet..."

You jerk forward again, trying to slip his hold as he manipulates the conversation to regain the upper hand. This isn't where the conversation was supposed to flow.

"Not a pet, Kiyoomi."

"Really? If you like that stuff, I guess I can give it a tr-"

"It was a joke!"

"You sure, pet?" His amusement is back full force and you have to roll your eyes at your now failed attempt to regain your composure because, well, maybe you walked into that one by being impulsive.

"It was actually a lie, wasn't it?"

You stay silent, debating if it's better to just refuse to talk until you're completely awake with a cup or two of coffee to fortify yourself from your boyfriend's unexpectedly bold banter today. It seems like Sakusa is in a playful mood but you have no idea why, given that you each will be going separate ways for your respective commitments in less than two hours.

You find yourself suddenly lifted up in his arms, as he effortlessly carries you off the bed before swinging you up like a ragdoll, in a maneuver that ends with his arms cradling you bridal style as he walks you both to the adjoining bathroom. Now you're actually speechless, without deliberate intention, as you find yourself staring up at the elegant lines of his face, hands having wildly grabbed his shirt at the chest and behind his neck when he moved.

His dark eyes are filled with mirth as they connect with yours, "Your silence is incriminating, love. I may just have to follow through with your request in retaliation for ever uttering such a suggestion."

"I didn't ask-" You start of indignant but end up cutting yourself off as a thought occurs to you, "Wait. Do you actually like the idea?"

His eyes narrow down at you, face falling into his classic inconvenienced expression as if you've somehow disrupted his rhythm. Isn't it the other way around? Hey, you should be the one giving him that look!

"Of course not." His voice is clipped and slightly unconvincing.

When he finally sets you down on your feet, you lean on the counter to watch him as he reaches for your toothbrush, neatly squeezing out the perfect amount of paste on its bristles before letting it swing quickly under a soft, brief stream from the tap.

It's when he turns back to you, holding it up holding the instrument up to your mouth and going, "Say ahhh." as if trying to feed a toddler, that you realize he's actually going to try to brush your teeth. You suppose neither of you have been good at backing down from the others' challenge and it's placed you in odder scenarios than this. A giggle spills from your lips at how silly this one is and it's his small answering smile, with a mix of self-deprecation and good humour, that prompts you to obediently follow his instructions.

It's... intimate, to say the least. He's very methodical, probably too gentle, as he makes sure to count out the strokes at each and every side. You find yourself with rare minutes of being able to study him completely unfettered, starting with the tiny dent between his brows from the intense concentration to his task at hand. The way his head tilts and mouth purses between instructions to you is quite endearing.

But as his eyes wander up to yours, the bristles begin to tickle your gums, as if he's applying exactly the wrong amount of pressure, enough to make it unbearable so you're pulling your toothbrush from his fingers to finish the job with ingrained, thorough efficiency.

You notice he doesn't move for his own brush, watching you instead with a silly smile that no one else would believe Sakusa Kiyoomi could produce. When you finish, mouth clean and minty fresh, he leans down to present another butterfly kiss but this time you finally feel the soft melt of his lips onto yours before he pulls away again. Hm.. he's already brushed his teeth before you woke?

You can't help but tease, "So that's it, huh? I suppose my kisses were denied on account of morning breath."

"Not quite." He mimics your own words from just earlier and it has you arching an eyebrow in challenge.

"Mhm.. convenient timing to receive my first kiss of the day, then."

"Love, I would kiss you any time of day or night. There's nothing about you that could push me away."

The absolute certainty with which he says that makes it feel like your heart could beat its way out of your chest just to go claim its space in the undeniable warmth of his.

But.. "Then why use it as a bribe?"

Instead of answering, Kiyo curls his fingers around yours to draw you back into the bedroom as he throws over his shoulder, "It's probably cool by now, so it might be a little late but..."

And with a little gesture, he reveals the source of the heady aroma that you couldn't place earlier, the savoury scents of grilled fish, rice, and miso soup permeating your room, scents which now feel quite familiar and easily placed once you see the prepared breakfast tray perched on his side table.

"Oh Kiyo.. breakfast in bed?"

"We missed it yesterday and I was up early so I wanted to surprise you." He sounds a little disheartened but you've never been one to shirk food even if it's not piping hot.

It couldn't have been sitting too long either, it hasn't been more than ten minutes since he tried to wake you, maybe fifteen. You move back to the bed, careful to fold the soft down duvet to the lower half of the bed. It's a pretty big step for him to bring such spillable and worse, stainable, meals into your room, let alone on the bed.

You look him over carefully but truly can't find a single tell that it's bothering him, so you accept your tray gracefully, seating it on the bed between you both as you notice two pairs of chopsticks. A shared breakfast in bed. While he's long since gotten over his aversion of sharing food, at least with you, it's definitely a monumental milestone and an incredibly romantic gesture in his special way.

It's over this new shared moment that you're tucking away in your memories, that Sakusa give you his biggest surprise yet.

"I've canceled our plans for today." "You ca- our- what?" You're at a loss for words, wondering what's prompted these sudden impulses in your typically steadfast boyfriend.

"I've canceled out plans for today and made us new ones."

You're speechless again, in the calm face of Sakusa Kiyoomi, who has managed to spend the little time you've been awake completely blindsiding you with new experiences and developments. Why is he pushing himself so?

"Baby-"

"Love. Don't question it. Just follow my lead, yes?" His question is so openly trusting, as if the only answer you can give is an affirmative yes, that it takes your breath away. This man..

"...yes."

The first place Sakusa takes you on what you've now realized is a second attempt at your much anticipated but canceled date from yesterday is far more extravagant than the simple park picnic you'd planned. The two of you spent about an hour's car ride before finally arriving at your destination - the breathtaking botanical gardens you're now strolling through.

It's everything you imagined and more, having never had the chance to visit previously, and it's the perfect time to see almost all the flowers at their very peak, in full, resplendent bloom. The air is heavy with the natural fragrance of the vast gardens, the scents tantalizing without becoming overwhelming, possibly due to the natural paths that divert from extremely aromatic sections at just the right pace and lead into refreshing contrast of scents as you weave through each of the different environmental hotspots.

Even Kiyo has his mask tucked down under his chin, the clean air and lack of crowds enabling an easy freedom from his usual concerns. You trail through most of the flower gardens in the southeast portion up to the northeast corner of the sprawling land before spying a maze of many tangled trees, all twisting and twining together in various formations.

As you approach, letting go of your boyfriend's hand to pull slightly ahead, you realize it's actually been cultured to grow as a real, living maze. There are arched entrances made from the same twisting bark, strands about the size of your wrist or smaller twining to cover more surface area in specific spots. You duck through one of the entrances to explore, marvelling at being able to hear Kiyoomi so clearly as he calls to you in exasperation to wait for him.

You don't intend to, of course, because you're delighted to discover this little marvel and that excitement only heightens your urge to tease and play with him a little. You're certain he's picked up his pace, hot on your trail as you duck through many different types of 'doorways' and 'windows', sacrificing your sense of direction to barely keep ahead.

He remains mostly quiet, calling your name softly every now and then, but you're undeniably attuned to his fall of his steps and continue to choose the direction that will take you most opposite him so as to avoid sudden junctions where the gnarled maze might allow him to cross your path in his pursuit.

As the sounds of nature start to dull around you, as if soaking into the depths of the maze, you realize that you too have already traversed further than you intended. It becomes more difficult to identify Kiyo's steps around you, lush grass growing steadily the farther in you seem to progress, even the curled branches seem to soften but you soon catch on to the reason why.

Soft buds are now visible and as you go deeper still, you encounter their full blooms, sprouting in a light pink blush. The path is more linear now, with almost no more forks or diversions to choose from, and before you realize it, you've arrived at the center of the maze. Directly in front, at its very heart, stands an elegant marble gazebo adorned with the same pink flowers yet with a complimentary mix of pale white and even dark red flowers threaded through, their striking petals peeking out as if from behind a latticed shield.

You've stopped entirely, taking a deep breath in as your eyes land first on the layered fountain, also gleaming marble, beyond the gazebo and then quickly shift to what's in between the two structures. Two wrought iron benches sit facing each other so that one only has to turn their head to each side to admire a different view and on one of the benches is what seems to be an abandoned picnic basket. Between the two benches sits a pastel picnic blanket, spread out with more than enough room for two.

You feel Sakusa's quiet presence behind you a second before his arm loops your waist and his smug whisper reaches your ear, "Caught you, little butterfly."

Your mouth drops open as you realized how deftly and thoroughly you were enticed into and maneuvered through this seemingly random maze. He really does know you too well, this beautiful man.

"You planned this?"

"You wanted a picnic, didn't you, love?" You don't have to see that small, satisfied smile of his to hear it in his tone. He's practically glowing with the success of achieving his goal.

You suppose, since you had to cancel the reservation at that special restaurant yesterday, he might have felt compelled to make it up in some way. At this point, however, everything starts to overwhelm you and the light sting at your eyes warns you that one of your rare, emotional moments might just intrude on this small moment.

It's Sakusa, grasping your chin to turn and tilt your face up to his, who answers your unspoken question, the one you need answered.

"Not a single moment for this day was planned from guilt. I just.. wanted to make you as happy as you make me."

"But Kiyo.. are you happy?"

He pauses as if to contemplate his current state but when he answers, he's clear and unhesitant, "I'm so incredibly happy, love. I get you all to myself in our own little corner of the world."

There's something about his words that sparks a memory of a thought you had yesterday, when you made what could have been considered sacrifices for him but was really an incredible, restful day you thoroughly enjoyed yourself from the very moment you'd committed to it. Fair enough then, you trust Sakusa to be unfailingly honest with you and can do nothing more than accept his genuine words. It would be a waste of his careful, meticulous plans to let any doubt ruin the day.

He leads you forward through the beautiful gazebo, moving slowly so you can admire the dedication that has gone into cultivating such a striking space, before helping you down onto the blanket. Once he retrieves the basket sitting idly by on the bench, because it was not in fact an abandoned item but a planned one, he rejoins you on the blanket so that you can examine the contents as you help him lay out the spread.

Incredible, he's somehow got your favourite food and drinks together, from substantial meals for you both, to delicious dessert, and even the drinks have remained chilled in the heat of a midsummer afternoon peak.

Hm.. "How exactly did this get here? You were with me the entire hour it took us to make our way up here and I would definitely have noticed you carrying this."

"I had some help."

"Not going to elaborate?" You give him your most pleading look, you actually think you have an idea but your curiosity is more focused on confirming your guess between several most likely possibilities.

But he just smiles and it's almost maddening when he replies, "No. I'd rather talk about what portions of the gardens you still want to visit. I definitely don't want to rush you but I was hoping to leave before it gets completely dark out."

"That's about three hours, right? "

"Yes, love."

You consider what you know of the gardens for a moment and then with certainty, you answer, "There are only two spots I'd like to see before dark. The butterfly garden and the pools, the ones they say make you feel like you're on some other, magical world."

"That's perfect," Sakusa reviews his mental map of the gardens, "They're both on our way through the loop that'll take us completely through the rest of the gardens. It shouldn't take us more than maybe an hour and a half to finish our tour here once we're done lunch."

You hesitate, something on your mind from his earlier statement about leaving before it's too dark, but decide to say, "There's also a whole section fitted with beautiful lights that turn with the sunset, it's been described to be mystical, like finding fairies playing in the gardens..."

"We'll be able to enjoy that on the way out, love, I've already checked."

"Oh." You pause for a moment in both surprise and appreciation, "You're just so well prepared today, aren't you?"

He arches an eyebrow with indignation, "When am I not?"

"Hm," you let out a chuckle at his expression before clarifying, "I mean, with the finer details of the date, Kiyo. You usually leave that to me?"

"Are you disappointed so far?"

"I'm as far from disappointed as I can be, baby." Without knowing, you answer Sakusa with a smile he's seen countless times today.

It's a stunning one but that's not what's so special about it - it's the very smile he loves to see adorn your face, this expression of complete joy and abandonment. A testament to your free spirit thriving even anchored to his grounded beast, the two of having met in the middle to ruin each other in the best way possible.

The remainder of the afternoon flutters by as you and Kiyo finish your meal before following the plan of action you discussed. The butterfly conservatory and oasis of pools are as breathtaking as expected, creating a multitude of small, precious moments for your memories. The fairy lights quite literally seem to be out of this world, almost as if you've been transported into a beautiful fantasy that's really just another perfect little corner of your shared world.

When you finish up at the gardens with the sun having set, you find out that Sakusa has yet another surprise in store for the day as you both first head home to change into semi-formal outfits. He looks decadent in his black silk button up and you finally get to wear the stunning cocktail dress he gifted to you on your last birthday.

You're moved to tears for the second time that day when you realize where he's taking you for dinner, the very restaurant you had to cancel the reservation for the day before. The same restaurant you both shared your very first date together, back when it was still a little known but elegant spot, long before becoming as popular as it today.

It's there, as you sit on the towering balcony, so unnervingly close to the skies and under a carpet of twinkling stars that you feel you could almost reach out and brush, that Sakusa finds his breath becoming shorter and hands shiver with nerves, as one slips into the pocket of his slacks to brush against the small velvet box that he's carried with him since your third month together.

There have been many small, perfect moments today, ones where his hand slipped in and out of his pocket as he debated if it was the right moment. This weekend has been an unexpected whirlwind of worthwhile compromises but the best example of why he knew, that very day he was drawn to step into the jewelry store, that there would never be anyone else he wanted by his side more than you.

It's at this small moment, in this quiet corner of his world with you, that your eyes meet his with your brilliant, perfect smile painting your lips, and Sakusa's hands suddenly still. His breath evens out, certainty calming his thoughts as his answering smile curves at his mouth. There's no doubt that with you, every moment is exactly the right moment.

A/N: Surprise! It's your date with Sakusa (adorably planned by Sakusa) <3 :D This is partially why completing your request took a little longer - I'm honestly so happy to be able to explore writing a request (so excited that I made it two oop-) and as I've mentioned by now, you were my first lol so I really wanted to make sure it was commemorated with something special. Also, how could I give you only just one or the other with the love of your life? He's literally perfect and has a piece of my heart too so once I thought about how to fulfill your request and landed on the first part, the second just kind of bloomed from it. An expected date turning into a lazy day and now a day that begins lazy but is really the most thoughtful of surprise date days planned by the man who treasures your love... I really hope this was along the lines of what you were looking for and that you enjoyed reading <3

Vibe. Oh, and in case you're curious, I had Daydream in Blue by I Monster on repeat for these :)

© 2021 fayeimara. All rights reserved. Please do not repost, modify, or claim as yours.

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[midnightsslut]

Can you tell us more about your concept of the lover trilogy made up of false god/afterglow/me? Would love to read a proper analysis with all the connections, similar themes etc + obvs your thoughts x

Hey! First of all, thank you for being interested in my lyric analysis omg that’s very flattering!! This is actually my first ask lol.

This got super long, by the way, so I’m adding a cut.

Anyway, let’s get to it. First, let’s talk about the structure of Lover’s tracklist, because that’s part of the reason why I consider False God, Afterglow, and ME! to be a trilogy of sorts, all foreshadowed by The Archer. From the first time I heard the album, I’ve always thought that Lover can be divided into a few main parts. The first five tracks serve as a primer for what’s to come. Taylor is also careful not to have too many bops or too many emotional ballads together. We get the dark, desperate, escapism-themed Miss Americana & the Heartbreak Prince between happy love songs like I Think He Knows and Paper Rings. The emotional core, however, lies in the second half. Cornelia Street acts as a bridge between the carefree songs and the more vulnerable ones, since there is a mix of tenderness and a fear of losing what she has.

This trilogy in particular is foreshadowed by The Archer, which discusses Taylor’s anxieties that stem from her past relationship (something she described as ‘phantom tragedy’ in her Live Lounge interview iirc). She has ‘a hundred thrown-out speeches’ ready for him, but she’s still ‘searching for a dark side’ on purpose, which runs the risk of ruining their honeymoon phase. Again, that risk is reflected on Cornelia Street, but that’s still a very romantic ballad about ‘sacred new beginnings.’

Taylor’s fears reach a new peak on Death By a Thousand Cuts. Once again, she’s ‘looking through the windows of this love,’ even though they ‘boarded them up’; in other words, they said they wouldn’t question the relationship in the same way you don’t question your god in the religion that her love has turned into (see: ‘sacred new beginnings that became my religion’ in Cornelia Street), yet here she is.

The False God trilogy is placed at the end of the album because it offers a resolution to this conflict. First, we get False God, where Taylor essentially announces that the honeymoon phase has come to a close. She has finally found the dark side she’s searching for (‘I can’t talk to you when you’re like this’). She’s no longer keeping her thrown-out speeches to herself; she’s daring him to leave her outright. Just three tracks earlier, she says she’s dying by a thousand cuts, but she flips that theme on its head and names the notion of dying for him as one of the things they were crazy for thinking. These doubts harken back to Cruel Summer. However, they also bring the story full circle; just as the then-friends with benefits stuck with each other through physical intimacy when they couldn’t confess their emotions, they are still hanging on, as if by a thread, because ‘they might just get away with it’ if they turn sex into their object of worship (‘the altar is my hips’). Cruel Summer’s theme of both angels and devils being involved makes a return as well, as the lovers end up in Heaven and Hell by turns. Whenever they do confess their sins, they use the sacramental wine to get drunk, have sex again… and refuse to actually address their issues, because neither of them can talk to the other ‘when [they’re] like this.’ When they have nothing left, their intimacy, the same thing that first brought them together, is ultimately what keeps them together. False God is ultimately more hopeful than Death By a Thousand Cuts, however, because Taylor is still adamant to hold onto her faith ‘even if it’s a false god.’ It doesn’t matter if their religion is a hoax. As long as they can stay together, she’ll keep worshiping. The title of the song is therefore a bait-and-switch à la peace and happiness.

After the bop buffer (lol) of You Need to Calm Down, we get back to this story with Afterglow as Track 15. The theme of sticking together through sex is affirmed by the title of the song, which basically refers to the period after an orgasm. That’s another, albeit partial bait-and-switch, however, because Afterglow involves Taylor finally admitting that she’s at fault. She did beg for forgiveness in False God, but she followed it up with daring him to leave her in the next pre-chorus (this cyclical nature of their fights resurfaces here, as she says she either ‘punished him with silence’ or ‘went off like sirens’). Here, all she does is ask him not to walk away (whereas she was literally threatening to do so herself two tracks earlier). The morning after a fight, Taylor suddenly realizes this relationship is worth it. This ‘ultraviolet morning light’ is the turning point in their relationship, for Taylor is now resolved to make things right with him again instead of patching things up temporarily. All she wants now is to share the light of her newfound insight with him… or, in other words, to meet him in the afterglow.

Despite its blissful title, Afterglow is still anxious, because she doesn’t yet know if he’s also decided to stay with her. Meanwhile, ME! is absolutely mutual (again, note the title vs the theme here lol), which is why it’s a duet. They now look at the flipside of all their troubles. She might have gone off like sirens/gone psycho on the phone, but that same fiery nature of hers causes her to be his summer. His nonchalant nature might have been the cause of her despair in Cruel Summer, but that same unpredictability is also the reason why he ‘will never bore her.’ ME! is all about them embracing all their flaws and declaring that their relationship is one of a kind and worthwhile because of them. This triumphant acceptance (as evidenced by the literal marching band she used for its debut performance) is a bookend to the self-loathing in The Archer and all the doubt scattered throughout the record.

The album ends with a short, calm summary of the whole story in It’s Nice to Have a Friend. On the album’s closer, Taylor finally puts all this turmoil, which stems from external (‘I trusted the wicked’)—something her relationship helped her through—and internal factors (‘I wounded the good’/‘maybe I’ve stormed out of every single room in this town’), behind her to step into the daylight. A frequently overlooked part of the song is the plural in ‘threw out our cloaks and our daggers because it’s morning now,’ which indicates that he is also stepping into the daylight with her. Without the aforementioned trilogy, including the blind faith in False God, the watershed moment of epiphany in Afterglow, and the declaration of self-acceptance in ME!, none of this would have been possible.

#lover #Taylor Swift #lyric analysis #false god #me #daylight #afterglow #dbatc #death by a thousand cuts #lyrics #analysis #cornelia street #miss Americana

[bigbadredpanda]

Hi, I have another question if you don't mind! Lots of people say while he was dead wwx didn't age mentally, so he's much younger than lwj or jc in the present. This always confuses me, because when he comes back he looks much more mature and calm compared to how he was before, so if time didn't pass for him, if he was the same as before, how could that be? ----

Hi, pleasure to see you again! This question is a very interesting one, I don’t have a straightforward answer to explain Wei Wuxian’s character development while he was gone, just a mix of several conjectures:

- Wei Wuxian was dimly aware of the passing of time while he was dead

As you’ve mentioned, to the question how did Wei Wuxian spend his time during these thirteen years, MXTX said in her own words that “he was in a muddled state, not quite fully conscious but not unable to feel either, it is like being trapped in an unending nightmare”.

Although it’s unclear just what kind of recollection he has from this time, we also have some insight from Wei Wuxian’s thoughts just after his rebirth as he wakes up by being kicked by Mo Ziyuan for playing dead (ch.2):

魏无羡半死不活地思索：
本人作古多年，真的不是装。

More dead than alive, Wei Wuxian mused, “I’ve been dead for several years, I genuinely wasn’t faking.”

他怎么就被划分成“十恶不赦的厉鬼邪神”了？

虽说他名声是比较差，死状又非常惨烈，但一不作祟，二不复仇，他敢发誓上天入地绝对找不到一个比他更安良本分的孤魂野鬼！

How could he be classified as a “ferocious ghost of the most irredeemable kind”?

Although his reputation was substandard and his death happened in particularly miserable circumstances, he did not haunt the living or seek revenge. He could assert that one could search heaven and earth and not find a more peaceful and well-behaved wandering soul in the wild.

The concept of afterlife is not well-defined in the lore of this story but there is evidence that Wei Wuxian does know that time has elapsed since his death and retained some sort of awareness.

- Wei Wuxian is highly adaptable

When he is the only one concerned, Wei Wuxian is not fazed by much, not even by death itself. When faced with the prospect of losing his right hand due to Wang Lingjiao’s cruelty, he is able to discard his fear and focus on a new objective (ch.57):

恐惧过后，魏无羡咬了咬牙，一狠心，心道：“……也罢！要是能换家里的安宁……一只手就一只手，他妈的大不了老子今后练左手剑！！！”

After the fear passed, Wei Wuxian gritted his teeth and hardened his heart, he thought to himself, “... Fine! If that can be traded for peace at home... A hand is just a hand, if it comes to that, I’ll fucking learn to use a sword with my left hand!”

That’s an aside but in this part of the text, Wei Wuxian does not use the regular first-person pronoun 我, he employs 老子, a cocky way to refer to oneself that is used when one is furious. It comes off in Chinese as a bit of a boast, as a manifestation of his indomitable spirit. In comparison, in my first example (“I’ve been dead for several years”), Wei Wuxian uses another first-person pronoun, 本人, a humble way to refer to oneself. This kind of little details is unfortunately easily lost in translation ^^’

Even in the worst situations when there is no hope left, he is able to bounce back and carry on just like after he was thrown in Burial Mounds.

- Wei Wuxian came to terms with the events of his past life before meeting his end

There is a vital part of the timeline that is not explored at all, the three months between the Nightless City massacre and the siege of Burial Mounds that ultimately resulted in Wei Wuxian’s demise. We have this blank between two key events in his life and not much to shed light on his physical and mental states during these last days. He lost his shijie, annihilated thousands of cultivators and passed the point of no return. He found himself back at Burial Mounds with only the last surviving few of the Wen remnants. He must have known that he was cornered and that there was no way out. I don’t think that he just gave up and resigned himself to his own fate though, that’s not in his temperament. I imagine that he must have tried to do as best he could about the things that were still in his control. Perhaps setting up some last defenses. Making contingency plans for the Wen remnants. We do know that he destroyed one half of the Yinhufu so that this ominous artefact would not bring tragedy again.

Three months is a relatively lengthy period, I don’t think Wei Wuxian could have left unaddressed all the pain, the grief and the guilt he surely felt. The philosophy of his character hinges on his ability to let go and move forward (ch.24):

江厌离说，他天生就是一张笑脸，一副笑相。无论什么难过都不会放在心上。无论身处什么境地都能开开心心。听起来像是有些没心没肺，但这样很好。

Jiang Yanli said that he was born to smile, it was his natural expression. No matter what hardships he met, he would not take it to heart. No matter the circumstances he found himself in, he would be able to find happiness. This sounded a bit simple-minded but it was a good way to live.

So I believe that despite it all, despite the overwhelming despair and hopelessness, he still managed to come to terms with all that happened and faced his end calmly with no regrets.

#answers #mo dao zu shi #wei wuxian #mdzs meta #kameeee