#there are just so many more layers of 'oh wow so this is...a thing' to deal with

[eats-the-stars]

I feel like there are roughly two kinds of "painfully weird kid" that you can be during your K-12 school years. the first is your "I am trying so hard to be normal but I just cannot seem to hit the mark. there's just something wrong with me and I don't know how to fix it" and the second is the category I was in, which is your "everyone around me is so incredibly weird but they obviously can't help it so I will just have to accept this."

[yanderenightmare]

Gojo Satoru

TW: yandere awakening

part two

gn reader

Thinking of having a nullifying cursed technique without knowing it…

Curses, attacks, and techniques have no effect on you—once cursed energy comes into contact within your range, it ceases to exist. You're a human erasure for all things paranormal.

And it’s beyond strange for a certain six-eyed limitless sorcerer...

Gojo sees on a molecular level—it's like converging x-ray and thermal and night-vision into one lens that's both microscopic and telescopic at the same time—he sees energy and atoms—he sees everything, he sees through everything. Nothing escapes. The tiniest shift in someone’s expression indicates exactly what they’re thinking, and he can tell—as if he can read minds even though he can’t. Everything is just so obvious. Everything. Even though he is blindfolded, he can see. All things energy, light, heat, movement, what someone had for lunch, the tiniest vibration in the ground and buildings around him, the slight shift in the wind when a butterfly flaps its wings a mile away. It’s all there for him, laid bare before his many eyes. Everything, and then he bumps straight into you.

It's by no means any powerful encounter—his body is much taller and bigger. It’s rather you who’s dealt an impact, bouncing off and staggering back until falling hard on your ass.

But he’s no less shocked because of it. Something just passed through both limitless and six eyes. An attack from a curse? A technique from a sorcerer? Here? Now? On the open street on his way to buy mochi? No… what’s going on? What on earth was that?

“Ouch—what the? Watch where you’re going! And what’s up with the blindfold, you lunatic!?”

Watch where you’re going, huh… He’s never heard that before. Even stranger, who is speaking? He peels his blindfold up and… wow.

He can see you. No, not like he can see the others around you—passing bodies full of flesh and blood and bones and food. You’re none of that, you’re just a face and body. You have a rumpled expression—sour. He can tell you’re upset, but it’s harder than it’s supposed to be. He has to think about it all on his own. Yes, you’re mad. At him? Yes. You’re mad at him.

You’re mad at him, and yet he doesn’t care. There are more important matters. Like, who the hell or what the hell are you?

“Well?” you state snappily, and yes, it was you who had spoken earlier. “Are you gonna help me up or what?”

He doesn’t know if he should. You’d only touched him indirectly before, through two layers of both of your clothing. What if your skin burns his? What if everything ceases to exist?

He does it anyway.

Reaching down his hand, he holds his breath and recites seconds within his head as if he’s counting down towards the end of the world—one, two, three, and…

It burns. But not in a bad way. But it burns—everywhere all at once—igniting him like a matchstick ripped across the red. It burns, but it feels good. And he realizes he’s felt cold his entire life.

“Uhm, you can let go now,” you drag him out of his discoveries.

He looks away from his grip on your hand and at you, now standing, and wow, really wow… It’s like he’s seeing for the first time. There’s so much he's blind to, and yet, nothing's ever been clearer—the smoothness of skin, the soft differences in its pigment, the vividness of eyes—your eyes. He knows they aren’t, but they’re the biggest he’s ever seen.

“Hey, buddy, are you alright?” you ask now, leaning towards him—a hand on his shoulder, its burning warmth seeping in through his jacket, as the other remains in his. “Is there someone I should call?”

Oh right. He must be acting like an asylum escapee.

“I’m fine. Better than fine, actually. I’m great. I’m Gojo. Satoru Gojo,” one after the other, words leave him as if he’s forgotten how to act normal.

“Okay then—that’s good, uhm, Mr. Gojo.” 

How strange. He can’t tell what you’re thinking at all—in fact, he hasn’t the slightest clue—it’s all a guessing game. It’s as if before, all he needed to do was look at a book to know what was written within, but with you, he actually needs to read. And he's never learned how to.

“Uhm, alright, so I’ll be on my way then—”

“No!” his grip tightens, and you gasp with a jolt, looking at him even wider than before. Shit. “I mean… I’m sorry. I should… I should apologize for walking straight into you. Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No, I’m good. It’s really alright. No need to worry. I should really go, though—”

You look positively freaked-out now—if he were to make a purely uneducated guess. You tried pulling your hand to yourself again, and it became more clear—he was making you uncomfortable. But still, he didn’t want to let go. Even with limitless off, nothing had ever felt as good as the contact he was feeling right now. He doesn’t think he can let go. But shit—people are beginning to stare…

“Okay, I’m sorry—” he lets go, and you instantly hurry along with quick steps, shuffling through the crowded street as if you’d just encountered a madman.

Maybe he is. He sure follows after you like one.

♡ GOJO SATORU masterlist ♡ JUJUTSU KAISEN masterlist

[bigfan-fanfic]

Got A Problem With That? (Male!Reader x Dean Winchester)

@innerpiratefun Can you make a part 2 of Dean Winchester x Male Reader he's a mechanic in California, it's my favorite fic also could you include a part where Sam realizes the collar and says something to dean but dean doesn't take it off or something like that, btw love your fics

Here's PART 1

"He's good at that stuff. Maybe better than you." Dean smirks at his little brother.

Sam scoffs. Skeptical.

Dean chuckles, turning up the music.

They've left you back at the motel - there's no way you're letting Dean travel off alone for this journey, but you're also not skilled in monster hunting, so you've made yourself useful through research.

You're currently compiling a little database on monsters through research and the brothers' anecdotes.

You're not very happy about being dragged into a search for John Winchester, but you want to support Dean, who seems to have genuinely missed his brother.

Besides, apparently Sam tried to leave, but was driven into a deeper need for vengeance when his girlfriend was killed in the same way as their mom.

"You're pretty, ah, serious with him, yeah?" Sam asks again. In the two weeks since you started traveling together, Sam has asked this quite a few times.

"Yeah." Dean responds shortly - as he has each time. He knows their dad might be weird about it. Knows he and Sam weren't exactly raised to even know about sexuality besides heterosexuality.

They both know things, but it's still... awkward to see each other after so long and have to share that.

Dean's been wearing a leather jacket and many layers - trying a little harder not to let his collar show.

It's technically just a necklace, but it serves the same purpose.

You have a thicker leather one for play, but for just wearing, it's a black chain of twisted links attached to a black circle. It's not particularly noticeable, but it is distinctive.

"So... what's this?" Sam asks, reaching out and pointing at the necklace.

Dean tenses as if about to smack Sam's hand away, as if thinking he was going to touch the necklace. "Y/N gave it to me."

"Oh. It's... nice."

"Thanks."

Sam clears his throat, uncomfortable. "Looks kinda like a BDSM thing."

Dean winces. And that tells Sam all he needs to know.

He chuckles a little. "Wow, Dean."

"Shut up." Dean growls. He's not laughing.

"Jeez..." Sam smirks, happy to get under his skin. "I was just-"

"It's something special to my partner and me. That's all you need to know. And all I feel like telling you. Got it?"

"Okay."

The drive is unbearably awkward, especially on the way to take down another spirit.

"Dean?" Sam asks as they park.

"Yeah?" Dean asks gruffly.

"I'm... I'm happy you're that close with someone. I wanted to have what you have with... with Jess."

Dean shifts uncomfortably. But he doesn't protest or shy away - you've helped him learn to communicate and part of that is listening.

"So yeah. It's really cool that you have a partner you're so close to. You're a lot less of a douche than you were." Sam chuckles.

"Yeah. Th-thanks."

"Jerk."

"Bitch."

Sam makes to open his door. "How'd you pull a guy so much smarter than you, anyway?"

They leave the car, already more relaxed.

"Yeah, well, it's actually a funny story..."

[kanmom51]

Are you sure?

A few thoughts for now.

Do we talk about the layering once again?

We got this official explanation for the name:

Layer 1 -

Them dealing with "unexpected events" and dealing with them discovering "what was "Sure" for them".

Interesting choice of wording.

What's "Sure" for them... in the situation. But see, that can take on many meanings as well.

What to eat, how to sleep, what to do in the situation can be one explanation. Another can be to do with how do they choose to behave in the situation in front of the camera. Do they allow us to see sides of them we weren't privy to until now?

And this all coming out right after JM's Muse, and SGMB (yes JM, we get that you love someone very special and want to hold their hand...and go on trips with them and hug them and....so much more).

So, more than one layer within that description alone?

We also got this for the press release:

So is that all the name is about?

Two friends in funny situations having to decide what to do?

Knowing those two...

I am kind of feeling that the answer to that is an astounding NO!!

Is the "are you sure?" a question asked by them, asked of each other, or perhaps it's also a question we, the audience, will be asking ourselves while watching those two's "undeniable chemistry" if indeed all we are seeing is just an "endearing friendship" !!!????

(To which my answer, even without seeing it yet, would be: Heck nah!!)

Yep. There you go.

LAYERS.

Next...

Let's talk about the numbers for a second.

Yeah, I know some of you don't love the topic, but t'i's what t'is, I'm going there, cause I wanna.

8.8.2024

8 Episodes.

19.9. last episode released.

Let's talk about every one of those and all of them together.

The number 8.

8

on repeat.

8 can represent eternity.

Have we seen them use this motif before?

8 is also considered a lucky number in Korean culture.

It is considered a symbol of wealth and prosperity.

But we are getting 8.8.8 (either from the full date or the partial date and number of episodes) - so, 888 Angel number.

Yeah. I went there!!! I did have help from a special someone who guided me there (not sure they want their name mentioned, so I'll keep it to myself atm, lol).

Twin flame.

Power couple.

New heights.

Wealth... legacy...

Tick, tick, tick to all of the above.

And what about the last episode release date?

19.9

Do you see it?

I do.

1- 18 (9+9)

Or dare I say...

11-8

You might ask me:

Are you sure?

Huh, see what I just did there?

🤣

I think that anyone that denies the importance of numbers and dates to those two is ignoring not only their cultural background and context but them as well, as they have showed us time and time again that numbers are a thing they do. So, could this be intentional? Hell yes, it could.

But you know, even if they didn't mean all of this with the dates and numbers, it's kind of amazing how the universe always aligns for them.

So bottom line, either it's their choice, and that says so much, or it's the universe aligning for them, which would be wow, but then again, it seems to always align for them. Oh, so yeah, not wow, but WWWWWOOOOOWWWWW then!!!

[josukebrainrot]

4&13 not sfw prompts for our baby josuke?? i honestly relate with you, josuke is just miam we love him <33 ty !!

a/n: yall really like to kill me, also this was very fem at first but it turned gendered netural so all my homies can enjoy this. also I wrote this in a normal writing format no hc/bullet point format so, tell me how I did.

warnings: not sfw, hinted at sex, hand over mouth, foreplay, hinted at voyeurism/forced masturbastion

prompt(s): 4) “You’d better be quiet if you don’t want to get caught.” + 13) “Touch yourself for me.”

——

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

nothing can explain how this started. one second you and josuke were playing playing video games. the next you two were mouths on mouths, hands on skin. nimble fingers tugging, pulling, sliding oh so down

it took until you started tugging at his jacket for josuke to pull away from you whining.

“what? you’re no fun” his lip pouting.

at this point you were in his lap, hands wrapped about your waist “josuke, please. too many layers”

he laughs before he started pulling off his jacket and white shirt leaving himself in his yellow undershirt

“seee there” he teases before pulling you over and tugged on your clothes. “now, it’s your turn”

he tugged you in to kiss you. his hands went to your shirt and pulled it off then they went down to your waistband. your hand stopped him.

“hey,” he soothes, his hand shooting up to cup your cheek. “I’m sorry did I take to far?”

“no you just shocked me” his eyes looked for anything in yours. he saw nothing out of the ordinary.

“Are you sure?"

“yes, josuke”

That’s when he put a hand behind your head, the other on the small of your back, and turned you over and on to the ground. “good”

kissing your neck as he shimmied whatever you were wearing down your legs. he smiled against your neck hearing you mewl.

his hand palmed your most sensitive area making a moan rip through you. “hey, hey”

he putting his hand over your mouth. “You’d better be quiet if you don’t want to get caught.”

right his mom was in one of the next rooms. she could all the expletives her son and his partner were doing at this very moment if she was close by. you nod as he moves his hand away from your mouth.

his hand currently on your underwear moved to removed them as he gawked in the most lowkey way possible.

“wow,” he breathed as he flicked his eyes to yours from above. “it’s like the first time all over again”

he chuckled seeing you try to curl up into yourself and to cover your face. his hands going to stop you. “hey, why are you embarrassed?”

you didn’t answer, he knew why. he liked seeing the effect he has on you by the saying things like that. things that will have you bothered in more ways than one.

“you’re embarrassing. you know that”

“oh, so I’m embarrassing” his hand started gripping one of yours that was going to cover your face, then he started dragging it down. way down. “okay then, touch yourself for me.”

[lou-struck]

A Filthy Pumpkin Drink

Izuku Midoriya x reader

Flufftober Day 1- Seasonal Drinks

WC: 1.3k

~Izuku has an awkward little slip of the tongue when he is ordering you a refill of your seasonal beverage.

~ BOO! Happy First Day of Flufftober (or whenever you choose to read this) you guys!!!

There aren't many things cozier than spending a rainy fall afternoon under the warm string lights of a. The heavenly smells of cinnamon and nutmeg dance through the air, helping numb the minds of those who object to the summer's end. 

Although the leaves of the cutie's well-maintained oak trees have long since changed to brilliant shades of carmine and amber, Izuku's brilliant green eyes still shine like springtime as he sits across from you with a tired smile. Having just gotten off of patrol, your pro-hero boyfriend's usually fluffy hair sits damp against his forehead, darkened from the rainfall as he warms himself in your presence.

As much as you adore him, it's a rarity for you to spend your lunches together. So today is a wonderful surprise. Since he managed to apprehend the villain he was tailing earlier, and got to slip away for an early lunch and meet you at your favorite café so you can try yet another one of the drinks from their locally famous seasonal drink menu. 

Today's drink of choice is a Dirty Pumpkin Pie chai. The sweet, pumpkin pie cold foam goes so well with the spiced chai that you find yourself considering getting another one. The added caffeine may give you enough sparkle to make it through the rest of your beige-colored workday.

"How is your drink, y/n?" your ever-curious boyfriend asks, eyeing your caramel-drizzled cup with interest.

You wipe a bit of cold foam from your lip with a little paper napkin and hold it out to him. "See for yourself, Zuku; it may be the best one yet."

He takes a sip carefully tasting each component of a drink. Can tell from the way his eyes light up that he's a fan. "Oh wow, it's not what I thought it would taste like at all. The tea itself isn't sweet, but when it layers with the foamy stuff, it's really good." 

"I know, right? I would definitely order it again once I try the other drinks on the menu," you smile, taking your cup back from him and enjoying another sip, only to realize that you accidentally brushed your hand against some caramel residue that dripped down the side of your cup.

"I'd like it too," he says, taking a gulp from his own drink, a blended protein shake that doesn't do much for his energy levels but will help his muscles recover from his grueling early morning patrol while he works through a mountain of paperwork. But when he spots another patron walk by your little table with a fresh, toasted sandwich from the display case, his eyes follow them out the door, filled with hungry longing.

"That looks really good," he mumbles quietly. His analytical gaze already dissecting the sandwich's components. You can tell he wants it, but he has always needed a little push to treat himself.

That's where you come in…

"You know, I think I'm going to get a refill to go." You say to the freckled man across from you; you rattle your nearly empty cup for effect. "Sit tight; I'll just head to the bathroom and order you a sandwich before you have to go back to work." 

Izuku, the king of acts of service, simply cannot stand by as you, the love of his life, go and buy himself another coffee when he hasn't gotten the chance to spoil you today. "Uhh, no worries, I'll take care of it." he pouts, pulling his wallet out of the pocket of his Uravity sweatshirt so quickly, you swear he just activated his quirk.

"Are you sure?" you ask, sensing that Izuku isn't going to back down from this. But as you look down at the sticky patch on your hands, you realize that you are far more interested in washing them than fighting a losing battle.

"Of course," he nods determinedly, "What was the name of the drink that you ordered again?"

You shoot him a grin, knowing just how to fluster the man. "I got a dirty Pumpkin Pie Chai."

His eyes widen and he shyly shifts in his seat. "D-do I really have to order it like that?"

You coyly cock your head to the side. "Like what?"

"Say that it's, you know..." he looks around nervously and lowers his voice so only you can hear it. "dirty."

"I mean, that's what it is," you say gently; of course, there are other ways to order a shot of espresso in your drink, but it is so much more fun to lovingly tease him. "But if you are uncomfortable asking for a dirty little drink, I can just order it myself." you tease, watching as his features go from nervous to determined.

"No, I got it," he says, standing abruptly. Without another word, you watch as your sweet boyfriend marches over to the line, ready to order you your drink at the small cost of his dignity.

~

It only took you a minute or so to wash your hands, but you got distracted by the cafe's interesting bathroom wall decor. But when you come back, you see Izuku stepping up to the cash register to order your drink. Sneakily, you creep over to him, just in case he needs help remembering your order. 

"Hey there, what can I get for you?"  the barista with lemon-slice eyes and vine-like hair asks, greeting him with a practiced customer service smile.

"Hi there, may I please get that sandwich?" he asks, extending his scarred hand and pointing to the expertly wrapped katsu sandwich in the display case. 

"Is there anything else you would like?"

"Actually, yes." He says softly. His brows furrow as he glances up at the menu as if he is trying to remember what drink you want. He may not be able to see you from where he is standing, but he can certainly see the ever-growing line behind him. 

You can tell he is feeling the pressure; just as you are about to step in and help him out, he opens his mouth once again. "May I please get one of those… uhh, filthy pumpkin drinks, please?"

"I'm sorry?" the barista's eyes widen in shock and they look at your boyfriend like he has three heads. "Could you repeat that?"

"Oh, that wasn't quite right was it?"  he mumbles, his freckled face turning beet red as he tries to remember what the name of your drink was. 

You hold in your laughter and decide to come to his rescue. You come behind him and grab his arm with a soft smile. "That was a good try, Zuku, but I think I'll take it from here." He visibly relaxes as you give your order to the bewildered barista, who definitely does not get paid enough to have grown men asking for filthy pumpkin drinks.

"Ohh, so that's what you meant," she laughs as your boyfriend swipes his card." I really had no idea what you were talking about."

You put another bill in the tip jar and walk back over to your little table to wait for your order to be brought to you. Izuku sits embarrassedly in his seat and pulls his hood up a bit more to hide himself from the world. 

"I can't believe I did that," he sighs, toying with his empty smoothie cup. "I wanna curl up in a ball and die."

You look at the literal superhero across from you and comfortingly pat his arm. "Oh, don't be like that, Izuku; it really wasn't that bad. I'm sure it happens all the time to other people."

"R-really?" he asks. "Well, if you don't mind, could you not tell anyone? I'd hate to think of how Kacchan and the others would react if they found out about my slip-up today." 

"I promise," you say, leaning in to whisper into the shell of his ear. "Consider it our filthy little secret."

Tagging: @pixelcafe-network @ambiguouslady42

[gh0stbeeee]

Rise of the Guardians/The Guardians of Childhood is low-key my Roman Empire.

Like, specifically in the movie verse, there's just... so much that was never elaborated on. It's one of the unfortunate side effects of being kid's media, things get dumbed down for no reason.

Like, Jack Frost in general as a character. He died. DIED. He DROWNED in a pond saving his sister and??? Nothing. The entire moment when he remembered became "Oh I'm the fun guy that had a family and saved my sister!" AND DIED. Very important part that is completely glossed over other than the idea of sacrifice. Like, the other guardians were "chosen," did they not die too? Did Jack lose his memories because he died, but the others were chosen while alive, chose to leave their lives and remembered?

And just, what were his early years? For a very long time, at least a decade, he probably thought he was totally invisible, that he could never have a true conversation with another person, because I doubt that he stumbled upon another spirit/legend for a while.

Like, that would have driven him INSANE. There's no way he wouldn't be super socially awkward from the isolation, much less just totally mentally well. Are spirit's brains built different? They'd have to be, but I don't think they should be able to withstand that level. Like what was the mim thinking??? Seriously just abandoned a TEENAGER he resurrected with no memory or possibility of support, that's wrong.

And on that note, let me reiterate that Jack died. In front of his little sister. Who had to go back home and tell her family what happened. Did he have a father too? More siblings? Friends and family? They had a funeral no doubt, mourned him. Because he died.

The worst part? He was right there. The whole time. Jack came back to that pond and settlement for hundreds of years, even when it became Burgress. He probably watched his funeral not knowing what was going on, saw his family mourn him without knowing it was for him. He was there when they died, not knowing who they were to him. Did he realize later on? I can only imagine the devastation.

The worst part is Manny probably had to take his memories, because Jack would have been DEPRESSED. He would've tried everything to make them believe, and they probably never would. His parents would probably never see him again, they were adults. His sister was plausible, but she's still mortal. She would have died, Jack would have seen his little sister grow old and die while he stayed eternally young. He might've not ever recovered from that, mim taking his memories distanced him from the pain for when he remembered 300 years later.

But he also could have moved on, grown and loved her descendants and honored her. The mim took that choice away, and that's pretty fucked up.

Then yeah, 300 years of pretty much no acknowledgement. Going into live blind with no guidance or memories, trying to figure yourself out but being ignored by the once who brought you here. Jack would realistically be a little nutty, because wow. It's shown the even other spirits didn't really talk to him, he made them acknowledge him by playing pranks and pissing them off till they confronted him. Maybe it's in spirit's nature to be recluses, but it's not in Jack's. He wanted attention and to be seen, but no one wanted to or could give it to him.

That's why Jamie seeing him for the first time always makes me tear up. This is the first time for HUNDREDS of years that a human has acknowledged him, not an out of touch spirit, but a regular person Jack can connect with, that chose to see him, to believe. That's beautiful, and special.

There's just so many layers to this story that we never got to see, and I'm forever sad DreamWorks abandoned the franchise.

(If anyone has any good fics that explore topics like this, especially Jack's family, please share)

[hogwartslegacyreactions2]

hey! I had an idea how the HL characters would react if they saw that F!MC had abs.

F!MC would be all teasing and flirting at the same time.

Ominis would have felt it the most because he would have to feel it to see it.

Professor Fig would definitely think about his younger years. ( proud father )

HLC REACT TO MUSCULAR F!MC

Due to the modest dress code of the time period, MC did not have many opportunities to display her muscles publicly. However, when it was just her and her companion in the middle of the woods and she needed to retrieve something from the bottom of a small lake, she sure as hell wasn't diving in wearing three layers of clothes.

SEBASTIAN SALLOW: He arches an eyebrow as MC suddenly disrobes. "Merlin's beard, woman. If you wanted it that bad, all you had to do was say so." He laughs at MC's glare of indignation. The tone of MC's muscles is quite unexpected, but not entirely surprising. He's been traveling around the valley with them for a while and he's seen them toss enemies around without magic. He's a tiny bit jealous, honestly.

OMINIS GAUNT: "What are you doing?" All he can detect Is that MC is shuffling around in place. He doesn't put two and two together until they jump into the water. They were naked, or nearly so. Oh dear. Thoughts of their body invade his mind and he blushes furiously, trying to shoo them away. They've given him many a strong hug and he can't help but wonder what it would be like to feel their body after they come out of the water.

ANNE SALLOW: "Merlin's beard!" She quickly covers her eyes. "Kindly give me some warning, would you?" Her words may come out a bit sharper than she intends, but it's not out of disgust. No, it's the opposite. MC's body is very lovely and tempting but she doesn't want to be rude with staring. She peeks just before MC dives in.

IMELDA REYES: "Showing off, are you?" She snidely comments as her eyes elevator across MC. When MC confidently smiles and winks back at her, she flushes red and looks away. "My abs are better..." She mutters to herself.

NATSAI ONAI: "Oh, wow." She's transfixed. She always knew MC was strong in the figurative sense, but she had no idea how well it translated literally. MC looked like she could pull a carriage single-handed. If MC teases, she gets all giggly and too hot to wear her own robe.

GARRETH WEASLEY: Once he gets over the shock that MC is half naked in front of him, uppies. Doesn't matter how tall MC is. He wants uppies. MC looks like they could throw him in that lake if they wanted to. He is a happy man in the arms of a strong woman. Take care of him and he is the most loyal of golden retriever boyfriends.

LEANDER PREWETT: Nearly screams when MC starts stripping. He turns away and refuses to turn around. What would his mother say if she knew he saw a girl so undressed? It's indecent! It's scandalous! It's.... it's tempting. He can still see their reflection in the water. His face is as red as his hair. MC was going to be the death of him.

AMIT THAKKAR: His hand flies up to the side of his head to block MC from sight. "What are you-!?" His breathing hitched as more and more clothing piled on the shore. How was MC so calm about this? His heart was going mad. When they resurface, he helps them back to shore, but tries to keep his eyes shut. When they kiss his cheek in thanks for being such a gentleman, his eyes fly open in shock and he takes them in. They're the very depiction of beauty.

EVERETT CLOPTON: Surprisingly chill about the whole thing. He catches every article of clothing thrown at him so MC's robes don't sit in the dirt, and waits patiently for them to resurface with whatever they were trying to retrieve from the bottom of the lake. See, he's being smart. The less of a deal he makes about it, he figures the more comfortable MC will be about doing this in the future. Therefore, he will see more of that lovely body of theirs. Big brain.

POPPY SWEETING: She is staring unabashedly. Muscle Mommy may not be a term in the 1890s, but she's about to invent it. She has heart eyes. She might be drooling. Tease her and she might just faint.

[shikariiin]

×Cough-cough×, this is going to be a lot of text, but it's vital that I get answers to these questions(even if it's in a short format, I really need to know that urgently and just now, I'm not kidding). I beg you to answer, your art makes me live, the main AU is absolutely beautiful, please that's all I need 🙏🙏🙏🙏

Questions about the system and the war: Who and where did Spencer work during the war? Do his epaulettes indicate any rank? If so, what opportunities did their ranks give engines? Does he now know that Alice has had a sex change, does he wish her and the baby back? After all, legally Edward still belongs to the duke or his old road if Alice illegally escaped…or how does that work? What would happen if Edward was once again owned by Spencer and the duke?

Questions about Spencer and Alice: Was the decision to have a child a mutual decision, or did Spencer insist on it? Or did they both not want to, but were forced by military department? Did Spencer beat Alice during her pregnancy? Was there any reason for Alice(last straw) to finally decide to run away? What made Spencer so evil/aggressive and why did he beat Alice at all, why? What motivated him? So because person can't just beat up another person just because him feel like it 🤔 Also, did/still does Spencer drink alcohol? Why? How did the duke himself feel about Alice's escape? Did he not even try to look for the steam train he paid money for? Was punishment or double work awaiting Spencer afterwards? After all these accidents, did Spencer ever go to Sodor and did he see Thomas? What is his relationship with the duke? And does the duke have a wife as well?

Questions about Thomas and Topham: Did Charles Hat have any problems with acquiring Edward and the authorities(since rowdy Eddie could do all sorts of illegal shit)? What kind of person was Thomas brought up to be? How would Spencer raise Thomas if he got him? And does Spencer still need a Thomas if he was glad to have an heir?

This many questions is very cheeky of me, however I can't handle the desire and necessity to know more about your main AU 😭😭😭😭💕💕💕 (And yes, how does James know Russian???? That's so cute! I'm from Russia, and I know russian, but why did he learn that language? o^O)

OH WOW THE DEDICATION AHAHA, Sure I'll answer them all numerically 🩵

1. They're not necessarily soldiers, but also tools of war, Spencer was the engine that pulls high ranking officers, used for his speed, while Alice is both a transport engine that doubles as a medic. What role they're given also has it benefits, Spencer was given a special treatment while Alice is treated like everyone else.

2. He doesn't know Alice had a sex change, he does wish deep down under that layer of Arrogance his baby and wife would be back, but mostly Alice running away from him made him the laughing stock of the gresleys, it fueled his desperation more.

3. Since Alice illegally escaped, they still own her, but that's a story for another day, that has it whole arc I'm planning to make 😄, if Edward is owned again by the duke, then he'll have to leave the railway and become a private engine.

4. Spencer insists, a-lot of forcing too from her old railway, yes Spencer beats and emotionally manipulated her, he wasn't even present in Thomas's birth.

5. The last straw for her is when Spencer agreed for them to be bought by the Duke without her consent.

6. Spencer picked her because she was the most beautiful, but quickly saw her as a nuisance, she was shy and quiet, he didn't like how she wouldn't listen to him sometimes, what started as Spencer dragging her into things became a manipulative and abusive cycle, and it became a customary thing for Spencer, he thinks that's the only way he should treat Alice.

7. The Duke in this era felt angered, he deemed the engine was rebellious (this was in the era where women doesn't really have rights yet) there were a search warrant for her for months to no avail, and he chose to leave with Spencer, there's not extra work for him, but to be able to withstand his current work, the Duke upgraded his class through an experiment.

8. He did come to sodor, I do have an arc awaiting for that :3, his relationship with the current duke is like in the show, neutral, and yes the duke has a wife.

9. Sir Charles treated him with specialty, always excusing his antics like a father excusing his child for hitting someone, "they're just kids" mentality, He never had to face the Authorities because Edward never gets caught.

10. They raised Thomas as someone responsible and Diligent, although he is cheeky, if Spencer raised him he would laze around and be snobby, He doesn't need an heir, but he would want Thomas to be back just to save his family reputation.

11. James learned many languages because Indonesia at the time was a network of spice trading, alot of foreigners and people with different backgrounds (although there were an era of colonizations), I do feel like he would learn different languages just so he can know more about them. :D

Awwww thank you so much for the Questions! I'm happy someone liked my AU🩵🥰

[your-name-is-jim]

What a Kirk/Spock shipper sees in a Kirk/Female-Love-Interest story [PART 2/2]

Part 1 <- Please read Part 1 first. Part 2 won't make sense otherwise!

This panel is absolutely AMAZING and you all deserved to see it :D

So, what were we talking about? Oh, yeah, Laura just proposed.

As you can see, Jim is panicking not sure what to answer, so the first thing he does is calling his two best friends. There are so many things going on here; I'll try to mention everything I care about!

"Starfleet is getting a lot better at partners of equal rank working together."

This is an important part of this comic: apparently, in this story Starfleet isn't encouraging relationships between officers with a different rank. I know it's sort of implied in canon too, but it's not always clear if it's actually against regulations or if it's fine when the ranks are close.

As a K/S shipper, this detail just gives me an in-universe reason why Jim and Spock aren't considering dating each other in this story: a commander can't probably have a relationship with a captain. I mean, we already know from canon TOS that Jim avoids relationships with the members of his crew, so this just adds a layer to a potential forbidden love story between them. Yeah, I know this isn't what this comic is trying to do, but what can I say? Fans don't stop shipping something just because they learn it's not allowed in-universe… if anything, they can find it more exciting! :D

"We could teach at the Academy. Mind you, she laughed at that idea."

Oh, wait. Jim actually talked to Laura about their possible future together! It looks like he's thinking about them as teachers at Starfleet Academy. Hmm… this sounds familiar:

2277 — Accepts appointment to Academy faculty, moves into San Francisco apartment

This is from Kirk's biography in Star Trek official website. Between The Motion Picture and The Wrath of Khan, Jim accepts a job at the Academy. We see it at the start of the second movie, after Saavik takes the Kobayashi Maru test.

Wait, who's the other teacher here? :D

Okay, okay, in that era Jim is an admiral and Spock is a captain, so their ranks are still different, but except for that… They both teach at the Academy. And it's literally what Jim proposed to his love interest Laura in the comic! With my Kirk/Spock goggles on, what I read in that panel is "If Laura and I got married, we could both do this thing that I'm totally going to do with Spock in the future." LOL

Did the comic creators notice the parallel? Probably not. However, we K/S shippers have special skills for finding accidental implications about our ship everywhere, so here it is :)

"Your thoughts, please, Mr. Spock."

I said I had a lot to say about that single panel, so of course I can't skip the last line! A human woman has just proposed to Jim, and what does Jim do? He asks for Spock's opinion. This says a lot about Jim and Spock's friendship, and it's very sweet on Jim's part, but it also makes me think about Jim's love life. What about Jim and Laura's romantic feelings for each other? Does Jim want to spend the rest of his life with her? Perhaps the reason they don't talk about it (not even with Bones!) is that it's implied that Jim loves her and she loves him, even if they never say it. However, I still think it's interesting that Jim's discussion on the matter is mostly "logical".

Anyway, I swear I won't post every single panel of this comic, but Spock's reply is an absolute gem you all must see:

"I AM SOMETHING OF AN EXPERT ON THE SUBJECT OF JAMES T. KIRK."

(dkjflsdjlkdjglk brb losing my mind again)

Ahem. Okay, Spock. Noted. Also, wow, nice make up. Did I say that the art in this comic is great? Good.

"I believe someone of equal status would offer you the best possible chance of happiness."

Maybe I'm reading too much into it, but I find interesting his use of "equal status" instead of the more specific "equal rank". Status makes me think less of their official position in Starfleet, and more of how two people actually see each other. It's not just about Laura and Jim being both captains; it's about them seeing each other as equals.

Anyway, Jim jokes about Bones and Spock finally agreeing about something, and the conversation continues.

Jim's best friends are both encouraging him to marry Laura. In this panel, I zoomed in on Bones because his words are especially interesting. Based on everything we've seen so far, it looks like having a romantic partner when you're in Starfleet is a pain in the ass in general in this comic; however, Bones is pointing out that for the first time, Jim has someone who really understands. Of course, that's because she's a Starfleet captain too.

About Spock, I won't share the entire conversation, but I just want to say that as a K/S shipper who likes to think Spock is secretly in love with Jim in this era, I find his dialogue where he's supporting Jim's relationship with Laura totally reasonable. It's important to remember that this comic takes place close to the end of the five-year mission. We know that Spock is going to run away after that, trying to erase all his emotions in Gol. So, in this specific part of his story, I find pretty in character that he'd tell Jim to find happiness with someone else. That's what he'd do, regardless of his own feelings.

So, Jim knows his two best friends think he should say "yes" to Laura. What happens next?

During a mission, Jim meets his ex Carol Marcus. She is surprised to find out that Jim is considering settling down. This is not completely related to this analysis, so I won't post it, but I found interesting that Carol knows about every single woman Jim dated before he became captain (the only one she doesn't name is Ruth), and she even says "And that woman in 1930, what was her name?" Just… how the hell does she know? LMAO

At least Jim hasn't told her about Miramanee and Rayna (well, technically he doesn't even remember the latter), but seriously, Carol does know a lot about Jim's private life, even if it's clear she doesn't want her or their son to be part of it. (Not really related to this plot, but in case you're confused about the timeline: David is a child in this era; however, he doesn't appear in this story.)

Anyway, this is what she eventually tells him:

So, I like to think that Carol is genuinely trying to help Jim here, because the spiteful ex girlfriend is another thing I don't really want to see in 2020. I want to think that the creators meant well; however, what happens in the story is that, despite Jim not seeing himself outside the captain's chair, and despite his best friends telling him to marry the captain that is just like him… Jim keeps thinking about Carol's words.

He knows from Starfleet that he's going to be promoted to admiral the moment he reaches Earth. What is interesting here is that Jim could refuse the promotion and be a captain with Laura. This is definitely a different situation from everything else I've seen before. It's obvious to anyone who has watched TOS movies that Jim is not happy as an admiral. He didn't really want to be one. He doesn't want to be one in this comic series either (you can see it explored in Star Trek: Year Five main story). However, thanks to The Motion Picture, we also know that he will accept promotion at the end of his five-year mission. This isn't a canon divergence story: the writers can't really change any major event, so they have to work with what canon offers.

What I find interesting is that in this 2020 comic, Jim finds himself in the opposite situation he is in Gene Roddenberry's The Motion Picture novelization from 1979. In Roddenberry's novel, it's mentioned briefly that Jim starts a relationship on Earth with a vice-admiral, a woman that was basically asked to use her charm to keep Jim grounded. Jim could refuse promotion, but he finds himself lost, without his ship, without Spock, and eventually without Bones. So he tries to convince himself that a life as an admiral with a perfect woman by his side will be good for him (it will not; Jim himself will realize a year later that his lover was an "Enterprise-surrogate").

Now, I understand trying to write something fresher and more modern in this Valentine's Day special, but I confess that I find a little hard to believe that Jim would accept a promotion as admiral if the alternative was keeping both a starship AND a wife. Also, let's not forget that Spock and Bones are both telling him to choose the married captain life. So, while I totally get from a writer's point of view that if you can't change canon, you have to work with what you have, I'm also not sure that Carol reminding Jim that he's always wanted to challenge himself is enough to make him doubt everything.

I guess I can sort of see that as part of a bigger problem: Jim knows he can't be a captain for life; during his first date with Laura, as we saw in Part 1 of my analysis, he talks about it.

"I've been thinking lately about whether I could ever stop being a Starfleet captain. Whether I could ever want to. A friend of mine talks about 'infinite diversity'. That applies to the Federation, too. But here I am, only built for one thing."

So, Jim knows he has probably avoided the subject for too long. Carol is forcing him to think about it. And, more implicitly, we could say Spock and his IDIC philosophy are also making him think, even if it's not what Spock would have expected. After all, Spock told Jim to marry Laura (in the comic), and he'll tell him that being a starship captain is his "first, best destiny" (in The Wrath of Khan).

Anyway, Jim eventually decides to meet Laura and talk to her about his personal concerns. First of all, we find out that the two of them haven't called each other for six weeks. Laura is still waiting for Jim's answer, and she didn't want to call him. If you ask me, their lack of communication is yet another a big clue that perhaps getting married is not a great idea.

Well, now Jim is at least trying to talk to her.

Aaand that's how she breaks up with him.

I'm not sure how to feel about this. I mean, in a sense, Jim doesn't say "I decided to be an admiral instead of marrying you", but Laura definitely sees it that way. I think he was genuinely looking for help, but that just proves that Laura isn't the right person for him. Why marrying someone you can't communicate with? They are such a great team as captains, but it looks like that doesn't apply to their relationship. I pointed out other clues in the previous parts, and now we got this. It's interesting to see that Jim in this comic can have a normal conversation about his future with Spock, Bones, and even Carol Marcus, but not with the person he's supposed to build a future with. Unless something changes between them, it can't work out.

Anyway, this isn't the end.

A year later, when Jim is an admiral on Earth, there's a sudden emergency. A miniature black hole appears out of the deep structure of the universe (don't blame me for the science, I'm literally quoting the comic LOL) and it's attracted to Earth gravity. Short story: they're all going to die, but fortunately the Drake (Laura's ship) can cause an anti-matter implosion that will shunt the black hole outside their reality. Unfortunately, that also means the Drake will have to go inside the black hole. Laura evacuates her crew and asks Admiral Kirk to give her the order to proceed. Reluctantly, Jim tells her that he knows she'll do it, and he gives the order.

Now, please appreciate The Motion Picture aesthetic:

Okay, I know I could have chosen a panel with Jim and Laura, since this is literally their love story, but I did say this analysis was going to be biased, so here is Laura with her two closest friends instead; they would never let her risk her life alone! <3 They are very obviously meant to be a parallel to what Spock and Bones are to Jim, which is very cute to see. Now, Laura, listen to me: I know the three of you have different ranks, but you may die in a few seconds… And I just think that the few times your friends appear in this comic, you have a lot of chemistry with them, sooo maybe you should forget about Jim and just smooch one of them, or both… just saying :)

Ahem. Anyway, after Laura and her girlfriends disappear into the void, there's another timeskip. This time it's 15 years.

Oh, damn.

I said in the premise of this analysis that one of the reasons I decided to read this comic despite shipping Kirk/Spock is that, in my headcanon, Kirk and Spock get together after The Motion Picture. Until this point, this comic hasn't really gone against my headcanon. I can genuinely believe that Jim had another girlfriend during his five-year mission; it's not a big deal. Unfortunately for me, this comic has its last part taking place around The Final Frontier era. Dammit.

Well, it's just one comic. I read until this point; it'd be illogical not to read until the end, right? Nah, it's not logic. It's human curiosity. I know I won't like it, but I still want to see it.

Also, if there's something that I really don't want to see in modern media anymore, is female characters dying just to make male characters suffer. I can accept that in TOS show because it was made in the 1960s, but even TOS movies got better about it! Characters like Saavik and Gillian can have their own lives without having to die for a man's pain. It's not a coincidence that the writers had to kill Spock to make Jim suffer. Without digressing too much, I just wanted to say that K/S bias aside, I went into this comic hoping to read something different from another dead woman for Jim. I'm very glad that, at least about this, the comic creators didn't disappoint me!

So, in this story, it's been 15 years since Laura's disappearance (actually, it should be more, but I'll try not to nitpick, despite being the trekkies' favorite hobby :D). Anyway, the one with the whales The Voyage Home happened, and Jim is not an admiral anymore. He's happy to have a starship again, but he hasn't stopped questioning his life decisions.

We can also see that, 15 years later, he's reading the book Laura liked.

HOLD IT! WAIT WAIT WAIT! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? ARE YOU FUCKING KIDDING ME??? WHAT THE--

*inhales deeply*

(Friendly reminder to myself that what is obvious to me may not be obvious to everyone else, so I need to explain. Fine. I'll try.)

The screenshots I posted are from The Wrath of Khan, right after Spock's funeral. What Jim is doing there is reading the end of the book that Spock gave him for his birthday. He's mourning Spock.

In the comic panel, Jim has a new pair of glasses, because it takes place a little later in the timeline. But, except for that…

It's the same scene.

The same fucking scene.

I mean, come on! I can't even post the "they're the same picture" meme, because it's not funny if they're literally the same picture! Even the bookmark is the same!

The comic creators literally took a canon scene about Jim reading Spock's book after Spock is gone, and they redrew it with Jim reading Laura's book after Laura is gone. In a Valentine's Day special. Where Laura is Jim's love interest. They made a romantic scene with Jim and a woman that was originally about Jim and Spock.

(Brb, I'm going to chew a pillow until I calm down.)

So. Well. If you wondered why I thought there was something about Kirk/Spock in this comic… you have your answer. Perhaps the artist didn't think anything about it. I certainly do.

And I guess someone could say, "But Jim is still reading Laura's book 15 years later! That's true love!" Why yes, he's not reading Spock's book 15 years later, because he didn't stay without Spock for 15 years; he risked everything and lost all the most important things in his life to save Spock's soul.

Anyway, back to the comic. Starfleet receives a signal from the edge of Federation space. It's the Drake. Laura and her friends are alive.

Jim and Laura have a reunion after a long separation. Since they're both captains now, Jim thinks they are given a second chance.

Oh, whoops.

It's her turn now. It looks like being away for 15 years has changed her (as you can expect, honestly), and she's now glad to become an admiral. In this comic, that means Jim can't marry her. So, this is how the story ends:

So. Um.

This isn't a bad ending, but I also wouldn't exactly call it a happy ending. It's certainly not a happily ever after story. I'd call it open, maybe hopeful? Honestly, pretty much what I'd expect from a love story between an original character and Jim, so I can't say the writing is disappointing about that.

On the other hand, I can't personally imagine middle-aged Jim being so eager to start a romance again with someone he hasn't seen in 15 years who broke up with him 16 years ago. Perhaps he felt guilty about Laura's disappearance because if he had married her, they would have been part of a colonization fleet somewhere else and the incident wouldn't have happened the same way? Maybe. Personally, I would have found more believable an ending where Jim asks her to have dinner together or go for a walk, and then something romantic happening as they get to know each other again. But I can see why the creators wanted to bring up the marriage proposal again, just to close the circle. The comic is just 32 pages, so they did what they could.

"Unless there's someone else." "Not so much. I've been really busy."

Busy with what? Oh, right: Spock's death, Spock's body on Genesis, Spock's rebirth on Vulcan, the time travel (okay, that one wasn't 100% Spock-related), Spock's brother… Honestly, just say there's been a lot of Spock in your life, Jim, because that's the truth :)

On a more serious note, I guess that dialogue could mean that Jim has someone, but "he's been too busy" to do anything serious with them. However, as a K/S monoshipper I don't really like the idea of Jim being in an open relationship with Spock, so Jim's character in the entire scene in the end is just a big NOPE for me. Sorry.

That said, I found very interesting that in a few panels they show very clearly the "captain" rank on Jim and Laura's shoulders, to point out that it's the same. They can't be together forever, but they can have fun for a few days as captains. Because of that, I went back to the start of the last timeskip, just to check out something:

Fascinating.

This is a pretty detailed panel, where you can see the ranks on the shoulders of Jim's friends; the colors of their pins are also pretty good, close to the ones in the movies… except for Spock's.

Oh, please. Did you really expect me not to pay attention to this? :)

Captain Kirk and Captain Spock.

And unlike Laura, this is what they are until the end! The end of a very long life! Generations? What's Generations? Spock will eventually become an ambassador, but that's just a different job. How did Spock himself put it earlier in this comic?

"I am something of an expert on the subject of James T. Kirk. And I believe someone of equal status would offer you the best possible chance of happiness."

Did the comic creators just play themselves? I don't know, I'm quoting their own story here! LOL

And what about Jim's words from the same scene? :D

"Starfleet is getting a lot better at partners of equal rank working together."

Partners. Of equal rank. Working together.

That's literally what Kirk and Spock are since the end of The Voyage Home! Without an expiration date!

The comic creators made a big deal in their universe about relationships being better between two captains, and how good Jim and Laura may have been for each other if they had married as captains; and now they can't have their happily ever after because Laura is going to be an admiral… But even if the comic tries to hide it, we know there is a captain in Jim's life. And to make things better, Jim lost his admiral rank to bring him back. Listen, I'm a huge Old Married Kirk/Spock fan, so there's no way anything can make me forget that in the last TOS movies they're both captains. And there's no way I can forget that Jim risked his entire career (and everything else!) for Spock, and that's literally why he's not an admiral anymore.

This is almost ironic in this Valentine's Day comic. If it hadn't been for Spock, Jim would have still been an admiral, and he could have married Laura. Whoops. Too bad.

Speaking of admirals, I didn't notice it at first, but there's also something about this line Laura says in the last panel I posted…

"And don't you dare 'Admiral' me."

Ah, yes, a typical thing you tell someone you're planning to have sex with. Right, Laura? Agreed :)

Honestly, at this point I should just stop checking this comic, because I wonder if I'd just end up finding a Kirk/Spock version of every Kirk/Laura Rhone line LOL

By the way, I have other thoughts to share now that the story is over, but there's one more thing first. Do you remember the last panels of the comic? Middle-aged Jim and Laura kiss; END.

Okay. After that, the comic has a picture of the cover, with Jim and Laura kissing when they're younger.

And then it has this:

dklsfjlskjflskjlksjlkdlkgjdlfgsnfjekniuwanf LISTEN, HOW--

Just how am I even supposed to say anything that makes sense about this…??? I'm just… I can't…

Okay. So. We're talking about a Valentine's Day comic. It makes sense for it to include a cute Valentine card. I also get that Spock's iconic line has become so mainstream that it can be quoted out of context. And you can make parodies.

But… But… A Star Trek TOS fan can't really forget the original context of "I have been and always shall be your friend"? Someone could just not think about it, I guess… But, well, I know that at least I can't forget that this is literally Spock's line to Jim rewritten in a romantic Valentine's Day version. I can't possibly NOT think about it!

And I know it's very possible that the people who worked on the comic story weren't even aware of this extra, but the fact that I'm seeing this after reading about Jim Kirk's romance without happily ever after… Jim kisses a woman he can't stay with forever, and then there's Spock's "I have been and always shall be your Valentine". It's just so fucking funny. I can't. If I was feeling a little down after seeing middle-aged Jim wanting to marry Laura, now I'm laughing again. Thanks, Spock's silly Valentine card. I needed it! :D

Anyway, what did I say about this comic taking things originally created for Kirk and Spock's relationship and making them romantic when they're not about them? I can believe that sometimes it's a coincidence, but this card? Please… In a sense, this is the perfect ending.

---

Conclusions.

I started this comic with a question: in 2020, how do you write a story about TOS Kirk falling in love? I wanted to see this attempt. Overall, I think the creators did what they could. Laura is different from every other woman in Jim's life; they didn't kill her off, and they also didn't force a happy ending. I think they did a good job with the canon limitations they had, especially in 32 pages.

Do I believe that Laura could have been a good match for Jim in different circumstances?

As a temporary girlfriend? Yes.

As a lifelong partner? No.

Of course, I'm aware my answer is biased, but I can try to be a little more "logical" about it.

First of all, I think that the comic itself supports my interpretation: of course, like in every story, different people are going to see different things; however, as I already pointed out, Jim and Laura never say that they love each other, and before the marriage proposal their relationship is pretty casual.

In The Original Series, Jim isn't lucky when it comes to romance because the women he falls in love with can't really understand his nature as a space explorer. Sometimes they can, like in Carol's case, and that's why they break up with him. Laura is the opposite, because she's just like Jim. But here is the thing: I think Laura is too much like him.

What would have happened if Jim had accepted to marry her at the end of the five-year mission? They would have been both captains. On different ships, though. Sure, they could have been part of the same colonization fleet, as Jim says in the comic, and maybe it would have worked for a while. However, would they really have seen each other as much as Jim needs?

I don't know about Laura, but we see multiple times in canon that behind his mask as a starship captain, Jim is definitely more lonely than what someone may think.

First of all, don't get me wrong: in these screenshots from The Naked Time, Jim is single, so of course his attraction to Janice Rand is related to that. It's not the same situation he'd be in if he were married to Laura. Early in the series, he has thoughts about his yeoman exactly because he doesn't have anyone else. Contrary to his fame as a womanizer, TOS Jim in canon always has one woman at a time in his mind, never more.

So, why am I sharing those lines? To show that when Jim is always inside the Enterprise, he does feel lonely. He needs a romantic partner's physical touch. However, we also know that Jim does not want a relationship with one of his subordinates, so Janice Rand and the rest of his crew are off limits.

Laura is good for him because she's part of Starfleet, and not a subordinate. But is that really enough? From what I've seen in the comic, no. At the end of the day, it looks to me that Jim and Laura don't really know how to plan a future together. Perhaps it's because they're so similar, but they don't really think of themselves as a couple, especially Laura. There's Captain James T. Kirk and Captain Laura Rhone; they both love their ships, so they should get married? That's not how it works.

Their relationship is casual. Jim doesn't want to define it. Are they friends with benefits? Are they in an open relationship? Either way, when Laura decides to marry him, she asks around if Jim has someone else, and only after that she asks him. Jim, on the other hand, doesn't talk to her for six weeks after her proposal. He talks to Spock and Bones immediately, but not to her. He even talks to Carol first.

Then, when Jim finally tries to talk to her about his problems, she doesn't listen. Their lack of communication is the cause of their break up.

16 years later, what we see is even worse. It's obvious that Laura has just different priorities. Maybe it's because of what happened to her lost in space, but I'm not sure. If they had married at the end of the five-year mission, would have Laura always refused a promotion to admiral? Would she have tried to get a promotion with Jim? Based on what we see in this comic, it doesn't look likely to me.

Now, as I said, different people are going to see different things, so I'm sure that someone really invested in this romance can imagine that Jim and Laura are really meant to be, and they can get their happy ending after their retirement, or in other ways. However, I admit that Jim and Laura's huge communication issues make hard to me to picture a long happy relationship between them. They should both try to get better, but in those 32 pages there was no hint towards that direction.

There's another thing that makes really hard to find any love interest for Jim as a plausible "happily ever after" option: the stakes. I know that it's just a single comic, so the creators had to focus on a few things; however, I couldn't help but notice that Jim and Laura never really save each other from dangerous situations. They work together as a team, and Jim watches Laura disappearing into the void, but does he do anything about it? Does he try to reach her inside her ship before she disappears into the black hole? Does he try to bring her back from the void? No, he doesn't.

In TOS show and movies, Jim Kirk risks so much for his crew and his ship that a Star Trek fan can't believe that a new woman is the love of his life, unless Jim is willing to do for her everything he does for his friends. And honestly, after The Search for Spock… how can he even come close to do that?

And it's not just about Jim's actions. There's his language too. At the start of the third movie, Jim refers to Spock as "the noblest part of myself". What could he say about a love interest that is as deep as this?

Let's be honest here: the reason it's so hard to write a story about Jim Kirk's true love is that the real love story for him has already been written. You may not see it romantically, but Kirk and Spock's story is absolutely a love story. And when a character has someone he loves so deeply, it's not easy to convince the audience that he could have someone new to love as deeply. In Jim's case, the combination of his personality and his canon life makes it almost impossible.

Anyway, before I end up not so accidentally turning this analysis into a complete Kirk/Spock ship manifesto, I'm just going to mention one silly thing about the Valentine's Day comic. Please, don't take it too seriously, I'm half-joking :)

So, there are two kiss scenes in the story: one when Jim and Laura start to spend a lot of free time together, and one in the last panel. Well, I can't believe Jim isn't holding Laura's shoulders when he kisses her! That's just the basis of the way Jim kisses women! D:

Different Star Trek characters kiss in different ways; it fits their personalities. And because the rest of my TOS posts are probably too gay for these gifs, I'm dropping them as references here:

Sorry, but if Jim Kirk doesn't grab someone's shoulders before a kiss, it just kills my immersion! :P

Okay, a little more seriously: Jim doesn't always kiss women the same way; however, his "shoulder grab" is common enough that you definitely notice it if you pay attention. Because of that, I think it would have been nice to include it in the Valentine's Day comic.

After reading this comic, what kind of person would I consider perfect for Jim?

Well, my answer is obvious. However, I'll try to elaborate.

First of all, this story definitely convinced me even more that Jim can only be really happy with another Starfleet officer (or at least someone who's been deeply involved with Starfleet). He also needs someone who understands him as a space explorer, without trying to keep him grounded. And someone very smart, of course. These are all traits Laura has. But they're just the basis.

I don't think Jim needs someone in command of their own ship as a lifelong partner. As I said before, I can't really imagine it working out. Another starship captain would have their own goals and their own ambitions; that doesn't mean Jim shouldn't marry someone with specific plans for their own career, but I think these plans should keep the two of them close, not on different ships. Jim needs his partner physically at his side; if he could be happy in a long-distance relationship, I believe we would have seen at least one working out in canon. But it's never the case. Working on different starships from the same fleet would be a little better, but in my opinion not enough, unless it's for a short period of time.

And there's also the matter of his partner's personality. Jim is a natural leader; that's why he's so good at his job. I don't think he needs a similar kind of leader as romantic partner. This is just my personal opinion, but I believe they would just fight about everything they disagree about. I think he needs someone calmer in his life, not someone who'd encourage emotional outbursts.

More importantly, he absolutely needs someone he can communicate with. If he can't talk to his partner about everything important, they're not the right person for him. That doesn't mean they can't have disagreements or miscommunication issues, of course, but they shouldn't happen all the time, and Jim and his partner should be able to talk about them and make up.

In conclusion: someone at his side on his ship, smart, calm, trustworthy :)

Now, I know what some of you are thinking about: what about the "no relationships with subordinates" personal rule Jim has? How can Jim be in a relationship with Spock (or anyone else on the Enterprise) if he's everyone's superior officer? Well, first of all, I already said that after The Voyage Home, Jim and Spock are both captains. And before that… I think that Spock in the comic phrased it the right way. Jim can find his happiness with someone of "equal status". I think it's pretty clear, in my opinion, that Janice Rand and Spock aren't the same kind of subordinates to Jim. Just think about it: which members of the Enterprise call their captain "Jim"? Bones, Spock and (occasionally) Scotty. These are the three people I believe are "equals" in private to Jim, no matter their ranks when they're on duty. Because of that, a relationship between Jim and Spock could work pretty well.

By the way, another thing the Valentine's Day comic made me think about is that in TOS movies, Jim sort of does with Spock pretty much everything he does with Laura in this story. Not the same way, of course, but does it matter? Spock is his own person, he's not Jim's copy. That doesn't mean he can't indulge Jim, have fun himself… and try to stop Jim from doing dangerous things "for fun", as an old spouse would :)

Okay, perhaps throwing each other into the water doesn't count as dancing, but it's so much better :D

In conclusion, this is the way I can read the Valentine's Day comic as a Kirk/Spock shipper:

Jim mentions Spock on his first date with a woman.

Jim questions his life choices as he thinks about Spock and IDIC philosophy.

Jim does with Laura everything we see him doing in TOS show, except for playing chess (just the thing he does with Spock).

Jim says Laura and him are a good team in Starfleet because they had a lot of sex (is that true about other people he works well with??)

There haven't been many ladies or gentlemen in Jim's life because he's busy (not because he's not into men, apparently).

"Starfleet is getting a lot better at partners of equal rank working together." Good for your future with Spock, Jim!

If Jim and Laura got married, they could both teach at Starfleet Academy, something Jim is totally going to do with Spock someday.

Mister "I am something of an expert on the subject of James T. Kirk" Spock.

Also, Mister "I believe someone of equal status would offer you the best possible chance of happiness" Spock, which is actual foreshadowing of his own future status with Jim.

Hey, look at Jim reading a book that reminds him of his lost love! I wonder where I've seen LITERALLY THE SAME PICTURE???

"Don't 'Admiral' me". This is totally not similar to what Jim tells Spock in The Voyage Home, of course.

Hey, we're both captains now! Just for a few days, but isn't that great? I wonder if anyone else is a captain now, and forever? :D

"I have been and always shall be your Valentine". Totally not a Kirk/Spock line, I don't know what you're talking about! :)

Okay, okay, that's all.

As a Kirk/Spock shipper, I won't deny that I'm a little jealous of this Valentine's Day special comic, because I wish we could get something with amazing art like this where Jim is in love with Spock. On the other hand, Star Trek: Year Five comic series has a few scenes about Jim & Spock's friendship that I really liked. Platonic, sure, but good enough for my K/S goggles!

Thank you so much for reading this post until the end! I hope you enjoyed my analysis! Live long and prosper!

[ticklystuff]

Day 24: Acting (Off-Script)

a/n: ler!navia, lee!clorinde — from my own personal tickletober list!

i did this before finishing clorinde’s story quest and i think i might have gotten her wrong lol but enjoy!

———

"Honey, are you home?"

For Navia.

"I brought you your favorite dessert!"

She was doing this for Navia.

"How was your day?"

"Oh, golly gosh!" Clorinde finally forced out, her voice painfully cracking, lips twisted into a forced smile. "Wow, pistachio macarons, my.. favorite! And my day has been gr-"

"Cut!"

With a sigh, Clorinde finally gave up the act, relief setting in once her body let go of the forced expressions. There was a subtle pat to her shoulder and Clorinde turned to see Navia beside her, flashing an expression of reassurment.

"Clorinde," the two turned front and center, "do you think that maybe you can be a little more.. hmm, natural?" Furina asked from the director's chair, script in hand. "Maybe a little less forced?"

"My apologies," Clorinde huffed, bowing her head. It felt good to speak in her natural voice, if only for a little. "Perhaps this is not the right role for me. Might I suggest a side character or someone more in the background?"

"No, no, you're perfect, I promise! With just a little polish, even the most unsightly pebble can sparkle like the brightest of diamonds."

That was a compliment.. right?

"Don't worry, you're doing great," Navia leaned in, whispering into her ear as Furina rambled on, a reassuring layer of sincerity to her voice. "Furina is a phenomenal director, so just trust her vision."

"Yeah, but who wrote this script?" Clorinde scoffed. She wasn't even sure what it was about. Two women madly in love and living their best lives work out their own detective case? At least that's what she managed to glean just from a quick glance.

"Perhaps I should rewrite some parts of the script," Furina mumbled, flipping through the script.

"Well, Furina, maybe we can try a different scene," Navia spoke up, shifting her eyes to make eye contact with Clorinde, communicating in their own silent way. "The lake scene doesn't have too many lines and might help ease both of us into this whole acting thing."

"Right, right," Furina nodded, sitting back in her director's chair. "Okay, let's start from the top of the scene."

Thank archons for Navia; Clorinde wasn't sure what she'd do if she weren't here. Well, there was also the fact she wouldn't be here in the first place if it weren't for Navia's insistence on starring in one of Furina's pieces, but she was willing to overlook that for the time being if it made Navia happy.

Flipping through the pages, the two set themselves in position, Navia wrapping her arms around Clorinde's waist from behind, the blonde's chin resting atop her shoulder. There was a slight sway to Navia's movements that Clorinde found herself mimicking as she stood in Navia's close embrace, following her lead.

"Okay, this scene leans more romantic," Furina called from her seat. "You both are are madly in love. And action!"

"The moon looks beautiful tonight," Navia recited in-character, her voice tender and soft.

"Yeah," Clorinde winced, her voice still pitchier than ideal, "if only it was always like this."

There was a moment of silence as the two stared forward at the "lake", or rather where Furina was currently sitting. "I love you," Navia finally spoke, following the script, before turning her head, planting a tiny kiss into the crook of Clorinde's neck.

"A-Ah!"

Without realizing, Clorinde found herself prying away from the blond, rubbing her neck with her palm as turned to face Navia. She wasn't sure what was more embarrassing: the squeal that just had to echo throughout the room that even she wasn't aware she was capable of, or her visceral reaction to such a minute unexpected gesture.

"O-Oh, sorry!" Navia rushed over to Clorinde, grabbing her free hand and gently squeezing her fingers. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"Ah, no.. i-it just," Clorinde hesitated, glancing away from Navia, "it just.. tickled. That wasn't part of the script and I just wasn't.. expecting, that's all."

Navia put her hand to her mouth, nodding along in surprise. "Sorry, Furina," she called from where she stood, "could we restart the scene? I shouldn't have gone off script like that!"

"No, no, no need to apologize!" Furina didn't even look up from her script, furiously writing away. "I liked that, I loved that a lot actually! Let's do this again," her arm raised to the air, directing the two to fall back into position, "but Clorinde, refrain from making that ghastly sound this time, okay? And Navia, maybe add in a few more kisses."

Clorinde's mouth hung slightly agape, blinking at their director, the turn of events playing out in the most unfortunate way. She turned to Navia, hoping the blond would speak up again, but Navia just mouthed a silent "sorry" and Clorinde found herself being pulled by the wrist into their initial starting positions, bracing herself for the inevitable, her acting skills, or lack thereof, being her only hope in getting through the scene.

"Alright," Furina cried out, winking at the two, "and action!"

[seospicybin]

ONE MORE DANCE.

Hyunjin x reader. (s,f)

CHAPTERS: ONE DANCE / VESPER.

Synopsis: Successfully sold his painting, Hyunjin fulfilled his promise to spend all of his money on you. (9,8k words)

Author's note: As always, enjoy this one :)

"Oh! I know this one!"

Hyunjin was carefully picking up his paintbrush when you grab the sleeve of his shirt, showing the poster of famous paintings stuck to the wall of the art store.

He puts down the one he's holding and back into its wooden box to look at the poster you're pointing at.

"It's The Scream by Edvard Munch," you confidently say with a smile but it slowly fades as doubt slowly settles in your face, "right?"

He puts his hand around your shoulder and sneaks a quick kiss on your temple, "you're right," he says.

You brightly grin at him and place your hand on the small ok his back, lightly caressing it with your knuckle as you look at the poster, then asks, "what is it called The Scream though? What is he screaming at?"

That's the one thing that he likes about you, you're always curious and open to learning new things.

"See? This is why this painting has been misinterpreted for over a century," he says.

Your eyebrows furrowed in question, "how?"

"Most people assume that the figure in the painting is screaming in terror and agony. But that's not actually the case," he explains.

You stop caressing his back and scoot closer to him, putting your hand around his waist, "so what it's actually about?"

Hyunjin licks his lips before answering your question, "the artist, Edvard Munch painted it after experiencing a deep red sunset that overwhelmed him and triggered a panic attack."

He guesses you can see that from the intense combination of colors that visually describes what the figure was seen in the painting.

"At that moment, Munch felt though as the world was closing in on him and the only way to escape was to cover his ears and shut out the noise," he then gently pulls you to stand in front of him so he can cover your ears with his hands.

"So the figure in the painting isn't screaming at all, he's covering his ears in an attempt to block out the overwhelming sensation that is causing him to panic,"

He puts his hands away from your ears, then places them on your shoulders, "so it's not just a painting of a screaming figure. It's a powerful and relatable depiction of the human experience," he finishes.

You seem to get the truth behind the painting is much more interesting and poignant but what amuses him the most is this moment of enlightenment every time he tells you one of those bits about paintings.

"If he isn't screaming then why it's called The Scream?" You ask with pure confusion.

You have very critical thinking and he loves that about you. He slips his hands under your arms and holds you, "it's the world that is screaming at him," he simply answers.

"Oh, wow!" You lowly gasp in awe.

You place your hands on top of his, "that completely changes the way I interpreted and adds layers of depth and meaning to this painting," you say, still a bit bewildered by the revelation.

You turn your head to look at him, "why are you so smart?"

Hyunjin nonchalantly shrugs with a cocky pout that makes you giggle in response.

"Save some brain for the rest of the men, please?" You turn around to face him while keeping his hands wrapped around you.

He shakes his head, then gently kisses your nose.

"I have the perfect boyfriend," you compliment again with a sly smile on your face, but he knows you're just fishing for another kiss from him.

How can he refuse when he likes kissing you? He leans in but you turn your head to the side, looking at something behind him.

"I've seen that one so many times!" You say.

Hyunjin turn around to see the printed poster of the Rococo painting known as The Happy Accident of The Swing. He sucks air through his teeth and turns you around to look at the poster together. He leans into your ear, then whispers, "it's about sex."

You snort in disbelief, "yeah, right."

Hyunjin flashes you a daring stare, "you don't believe me?"

"How is it about sex? The lady is having fun on a swing," you tell him your simple interpretation of the painting.

He lightly shakes his head at you in disagreement, "for one, that man is looking right up the lady's dress," he says.

Your mouth pursed into a doubting frown, "please, proceed!"

With the chance you've given him, he's more than eager to enlighten you once more.

"The one who's pushing the swing is her husband and he's unaware of the presence of the other man hiding behind the rose bushes, which, in rococo art was a classic symbol of female sexuality," he explains with his hands steadily holding you by the waist.

"The young lover thrusts his cap in the bushes and at the time, a man's cap was often used to conceal an erection."

Your mouth hung open at that bit of information and shot him a glance.

"The lady's shoe has been cast off in her swinging movement and I think you know what exposed ankles got to do with sexual desires at that time, right?"

"Oh, yes, definitely," you shortly reply while nodding.

You suddenly turn around to face him and grab the front of his shirt, "talking about sex..."

His heart pitter-patters just from you mentioning it, oh... the power you have over him.

"You want to do it at the art store? Really?" He teases you.

You burst out laughing, gently pushing him away, "you're deranged!"

He chases you as you walk through the hall of kinds of paintbrushes in different sizes and colors and materials.

"Finish your shopping quickly because we have to go somewhere," you say with a sly grin.

Since you pique his interest, Hyunjin hurriedly picks a few things around the store and paid for everything.

It feels good that he finally gets to pay for his things himself and not only that, he gets to buy you things just like he promised you.

What he doesn't expect is you take him to a lingerie store. He stops you as you're about to push the door of the store.

"I'll just wait outside," he says, refusing to come shopping with you.

You pout at him, "you said you'll spend your money on me."

He takes out his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans and offers it to you, "take it with you," he says.

Instead of taking the wallet, you grab him by the wrist and drag him inside.

There's only another lady looking around the store and another one is the staff working behind the checkout counter, but Hyunjin can tell that his cheeks are heating and reddening.

"What are you so shy about?" You ask with a low laugh.

It's that obvious and Hyunjin gets even more flustered so he keeps his head down low. He knows he's being silly, it's not like he's in there to feed his strange fetish.

"Help me pick!" You link your arm with him, taking him to a section of matching hanged matching underwear in various colors and fabrics.

To be honest, Hyunjin can't pick any because he knows you look way better without them and he likes it that way. But to pass the chance to see you in something like this, not when he has seen how extremely dangerous you can be in them.

There's something he's curious about though, "you're buying some for work?"

You scoff and strongly deny, "no."

He looks at you with a questioning face.

"I'll buy them myself for that," you say as you take an underwear in electric blue color and feel the fabric with your fingertips.

You slip your hand under and rest it on his back, "I make you choose because I'll be wearing them for you," you say with your wide, innocent eyes.

He knows that he shouldn't be performing anything obscene in this very place but knows that you want to wear something of his choosing just to please him, making his blood pump in the direction that he doesn't want it to go. At least, not right now.

He swallows air to calm himself down and focus on the task at hand, his hand awkwardly scanning the selection of matching underwear on a railing.

It's not hard to imagine you wearing them but he gets uneasy with every image flashing through his head, raising the temperature of his body.

He thinks you'll look pretty in white lace but on the other hand, he likes seeing you in red silk fabric. When he thinks about it again, it doesn't matter which one you're wearing as long as he gets to be the one taking them off of you.

"I'm going to try a few of them. Do you mind waiting?" You ask.

He pecks your lips and smiles, "not at all!"

Hyunjin sits on the small round sofa facing the fitting rooms and waits for you while trying on your lingerie picks. He checks his phone for any new emails related to his paintings.

The door of your fitting room creaks open and he glances up to see you pop your head between the door, "baby, can you help me?"

He puts his phone away and comes to your aid, "what happened, beautiful?"

You open the door a little wider for him to get in, "something stuck... my hair..." you answer.

Hyunjin quickly gets in and closes the door behind him after, "let me see!"

The next thing he knows, you pin him against the wall and kiss him hard. It takes him a moment to finally get a grasp of the situation, that you're wearing nothing but your underwear, and your breasts are squashed between your chests.

He slowly pulls away from the kiss to catch a breath, "babe, we're—"

You shut him up with a haste kiss, "shh..." you hushed him, "we're doing a little misdemeanor."

He recognizes this combination of a sly smirk and naughty hands that are going down his body, and he knows how it's going to end: he’ll let you have what you want.

"It's small and tight and hot. It's the perfect place to do it," your lips graze his lips as you speak.

"To do what?"

You seductively giggle, "I'll show you," you say, sinking your mouth in his neck.

Hyunjin gasps as you slip your hand inside his jeans and start touching his clothed cock, getting hard with every gentle stroke.

He's getting a little antsy, afraid that someone would come knocking on the door or worse, barging into the fitting room even though he clearly sees that it's latched.

"Maybe we should—"

You shut him up with another rushed kiss on his lips, then whisper, "be quiet!"

The eyes you're giving me telling him that you're up to no good and he's right, you're going down until you kneel on the floor.

Slowly, you unzip the fly of his jeans and pull it down low enough to let his semi-hard length out of its confine. You wrap your hand around it, your thumb rubs the tip of his cock in circular motions.

"Be good for me and keep quiet, mmh?" you tell him as you keep pumping his cock right in front of your face.

Hyunjin can't find it in him to promise you anything, he knows that's going to be one hell of a task. He knows what you are capable of, especially with that pretty mouth of yours.

His chest is heaving as his breath grows heavy, he can't look away when you begin taking him into your mouth, little by little.

You wet the tip with your tongue and smear the saliva down his length as a lubricant, you put your hair to one side before putting his cock in your mouth again.

Your mouth is easing down his length until it fully disappeared in your mouth, your lips wrapped around him so beautifully.

A low moan falls out of his mouth and echoes in the small space. You pull away after a moment with a gasp and a string of saliva connecting your lips to his cock.

This is a view that even he doesn't dare to dream of yet secretly yearns to see from time to time.

Hyunjin wipes the mess around your mouth with his thumb, "can't even wait until we're home, mmh?"

You put his thumb into your mouth and suck on it, you let go with a satisfied grin, "I want it so bad," you answer.

Fuck! You know how much he likes your blunt, shameless answers and it's making him incredibly hard it starts twitching in response.

You put your hands on your lap and look up at him with those big, innocent eyes, then sweetly you ask, "Please?"

How can he say no? The only right answer is yes.

Hyunjin brushes all of your hair to the side and holds your face for a while, "have it as much as you want, angel," he replies.

You flash him a delightful grin and don't waste time taking him into your mouth again, this time you add your hand to compensate for the rest that your mouth can't take.

Not only are you pumping his cock, but you're also sucking it at the same time. With those stimulations going all at once, Hyunjin's eyes are fluttering shut, overwhelmed with pleasure.

His erratic breath grows louder and he fears everyone walking past the room can hear it but that's the excitement of it.

The fact that everyone else is unaware of the lewd thing you do together inside the fitting room introduces him to this newfound thrill. He looks down and sees you enjoying pleasing him with your eyes never straying away from his.

"Want to let everyone know what you're doing to me?" He asks you.

You don't answer but keep sucking him harder so that a moan slipped past his mouth. He takes it that you chose to give him a hard time to keep it in the room.

Hyunjin tries to stop looking down only to see it through the mirror, your head bobbing in front of him and your ass resting on your folded legs.

It's getting hard to hold it in when your mouth feels so good around him, you know how to twirl your tongue to add more to it.

"Baby, you should stop," he softly tells you with his hand in your hair.

He sighs as you ignore his words and keep going, he tries again and desperately says, "I'm going to cum."

You finally let go but keep pumping it with your hand, "cum in my mouth," you simply reply.

You don't wait for his agreement but put it back into your mouth, this time you mercilessly keep going without any sign of stopping.

Hyunjin unintentionally tugs at a fistful of your hair as he lowly grunts against the wall, almost slumping down as his knees grow weak.

"I'm cumming, I'm cumming," he repeatedly says with a ragged breath.

You stop sucking but keep the tip in your mouth but your hand continuously pumps his slick cock. Hyunjin can feel it shooting out of him and he watches as you take it in your mouth.

You open your mouth to take a little more of him as his load keeps spurting out of him. You lick it clean for him and for a few seconds, he can see the white of his seed on your tongue before you swallow it all down.

After zipping up his jeans, Hyunjin immediately helps you wipe the mess around your mouth and gets you up from the floor.

"Did you like it?" You ask.

Hyunjin places his mouth on yours, the same one that has just pleased him a while ago. He kisses you deep with his hands around your waist.

"I got so tempted to let everyone know how much you pleased me," he answers.

You giggle in response and let him kiss you down the column of your neck.

And even though there's still enough space for two, he keeps pulling you close until there's no gap between your bodies.

-

"Need help with the bags?"

Hyunjin watches you taking the shopping bags from the backseat as he waits in the car. He's dropping you off at the entrance of the apartment building since he's heading to his new rented studio a few blocks from here.

You collect your purse next from the passenger's side and he pouts when you're about to close the car door.

"Are you not going to kiss me first?" He asks.

You chuckle and rush to bend over with half of your body inside the car, "you're such a baby," you cutely fuss.

He unbuckles his seatbelt so he can meet you in the middle, "I am your baby," he simply answers.

He hates it whenever he has to part with you, but Hyunjin doesn't want to slack off anymore. He has to get back to the studio and paint so he can always spoil you like today.

You're not specifically asking for it but after what you've done for him, he must do so.

When his lungs start to scream for oxygen, that's when Hyunjin allows himself to pull away from the kiss.

"Are you still going to work tonight?"

You nod.

"Told you I can provide for us now," he playfully remarks but deep down, that's what he wants.

He wants you to stop working and let him provide for both of you. However, you are your own person and he believes you have personal goals to achieve, there's nothing he can do about it but be supportive like you've always been to him.

"And I'll keep making you spend your money on me," you say back with a chuckle.

"I don't mind at all," he says and kisses you again, his hand that is on your neck slides down to your chest, and smoothly, he thrusts in hand into your cleavage.

"Stop seducing me and go to your studio, please?" You say against his lips while putting his hand away from your chest.

With one last kiss on his neck, you get out of the car and close the car door after. He watches as you carry your shopping bags in both hands and walk into the apartment building.

When he gets to the studio, his heart is content and ready to paint.

It's when he's alone his emotions can show and he'll pour it out onto his canvas, expressing what he feels in strokes of paints and mixes of colors.

He has no specific muse for his art but life itself. Lately, though, he paints with his head filled with you. Your smile, your laugh, your face, your body... the whole you are a source of inspiration to him.

You may have become his muse.

Apart from the obvious fact that you're his biggest supporter, not only financially but also emotionally. You never stop encouraging him and making him believe in himself, that he's on the right track.

If it wasn't for you, he wouldn't be back here in the studio painting his second series for his next exhibition. He's been diligently working on it for the past few days that he forgot the time, that he was supposed to be at home to welcome you home and takes care of you like he always does.

He comes home at dawn to find you already sleeping on your side of the bed, looking so peaceful that it feels like a crime to wake you up.

Hyunjin consoles himself by placing a tender kiss on your forehead and lips, "Sleep well, my love," he whispers to you.

As if you heard him in your sleep and sense his presence, you snuggle to his side with your head nuzzling into the crook of his neck.

Hyunjin guesses you must be so used to sleeping next to him, your body fits right into him like a piece of puzzle slides into place. He affectionately caresses your face that he longed to see whenever he closes his eyes.

He slides his hand down the curve of your body and whimpers at how your skin is soft like a floating cloud in the sky.

But what he likes the most is the heart of yours that lies beneath your skin and bones, the heart that tirelessly loves him past his shortcomings and mistakes.

He puts his hand there and feels it beating under his palm, then softly, he whispers, "I love you."

-

Hyunjin patiently waits for you to wake up to tell you good news.

His face lights up when you come out of the bedroom, trudging your way to the kitchen while twisting your hair into a messy knot.

"You came home later than me but how come you woke up earlier than me?" You mumble as you go right into his arm, hugging him.

Hyunjin firmly holds his coffee mug to not slosh it, he hugs you back with an arm around your shoulder, then kisses the top of your head.

"What do you want for breakfast?" His hand starts going up and down your back.

"Cereal," you shortly reply with your head resting on his chest.

"With cold milk?"

You nod again and look up at him with a smile on your face.

"Why don't you sit and I'll get it for you?"

"Okay," you place a quick kiss on his cheek, then walk around the kitchen island to the dining table.

You start eating once Hyunjin is served a bowl of cereal with milk in front of you while sitting cross-legged on the chair. Hyunjin goes back to the kitchen to get you a cup of coffee and comes to sit next to you, watching you eat while sipping his coffee.

He waits until you're done to ask you something, "will you be working today?"

Your eyebrows raise for a second and he guesses you get the hint that he has a plan for you today, "well if you have a better plan..." you say with a playful smile and a shrug.

He chuckles seeing you already got excited even when he's only hinting at it, "I do have a plan," he says.

Your smile grows wider, "yeah?"

He can't help but smile along with you, "I'll be taking you out for dinner tonight."

You smack your lips together as you start to guess in your head, "where?"

Hyunjin puts a stray hair behind your ear and holds the side of your face, it's hard to look at your face and not get the urge to kiss you so he allows himself to give you a long kiss.

"Somewhere special," he finally answers.

"How special?"

He leans in close to the side of your face, "very special."

You bite your lower lip in anticipation, "should I know why?"

He leans back in his chair and sips his coffee, "do I need a reason to spoil my girlfriend?"

You take your coffee mug as well, "of course not!"

Hyunjin admires the effort you put into dressing up for tonight.

He's been waiting in the living room in his attire of black suit and slicked-back hair for almost an hour. It's getting too long that he starts to get worried that something is happening behind the bedroom door that you keep closed so he can't watch you as you get ready.

He knocks on the door, "are you okay?"

A second later he heard a faint answer from inside the room, "In a minute!"

He softly chuckles at your irrelevant answer but now he heard you still respond to his question, he takes it that you still need time.

He's walking to the kitchen to get a glass of water when the bedroom door finally opens, he spun on his feet to look at you.

Goodness, you look stunning in a black dress! It doesn't expose any skin except for the part below the hem of the dress that falls right above the knee but the dress is skintight, perfectly capturing the beautiful shape of your body.

His thirst intensifies, a glass of water wouldn't be much help at this point.

When his eyes land on your face again, he sees your scintillating smile, "I'm ready," you tell him.

The problem is he's not ready yet to share this sight with everyone else.

"Can you twirl for me, my darling?" He nicely requests.

You don't hesitate to do what he asked but slowly turn on your heels until you face him again.

Hyunjin has to consciously remind himself to breathe but it seems useless to do so when you're so breathtaking, he can't keep your eyes off of you. If he can't keep himself in control, it would derail his entire plan for tonight.

He holds his hand out at you which you eagerly take, "you're so gorgeous," he sweetly praises.

You place a hand on his chest, "and you should say that to yourself," you say back with a flirty smile.

The urge to take a look at you at any chance possible is making it hard for him to stay focused on his driving, the night has just started but he gets impatient already.

He consoles himself by holding your hand and kissing it, knowing the night is special already because you're in it.

"Have you made a reservation?" The waiter asks when Hyunjin is about to enter the hotel restaurant.

"Yes, it's under Hwang Hyunjin," he answers.

The waiter checks on his computer and delightfully gasps at the sight of his name on the list, he walks to the front of his desk then says, "this way Mr. and Mrs. Hwang!"

He glances at you at the way the waiter addressed both of you and sees you smiling as he walks with you to the table.

It's not the first time you've both been having dinner at a fine dining restaurant.

With the money he got from the painting he sold, Hyunjin is finally able to afford it. This will be his first time taking you out on a proper date and paying for everything.

It's even nicer that he's not getting any complaints from you because you know this is his way of spoiling you. He's happy that you're thoroughly enjoying what he offers you.

Everything is so perfect, the food, the candle laying low on the center of the dining table, the smile on your face, and the eyes that are looking back at him.

"Am I forgetting something? Your birthday? Our anniversary?" You ask with eyebrows furrowed in panic.

Hyunjin lowly laughs, "no."

You let out a sigh of relief and take a sip of your wine, "okay, we're good," you say.

You prop a hand under your chin and look at him, "this is perfect!"

He shakes his head, "you're perfect!" He says back.

You reach for his hand on the table and lace it with him, "we're perfect," you correct him.

There's so much to say but words can't do justice to what he truly feels at the moment, but the way he looks at you tells so much. His finger trails the back of your hand and the smile that never leaves his face for a second.

He's content, happy beyond what his heart can contain.

-

"Honeymoon suite, huh?" You playfully say once both of you got into the elevator to get to your hotel suite floor.

Hyunjin holds his smile as he pushes the button on the panel but you're relentless, you crash your body against him and push him backward until his back meets the mirror walled the elevator.

You lean in close to his face and tease his lips with yours, "we skip the wedding and go straight to the honeymoon part, mmh?"

You tip your head to the side with your eyes looking through your lashes you say, "I like that."

What is this small space with a mirror remind him of? The fitting room where you gave him a glorious blow job that he gets shiver still whenever he thinks about it.

His heart starts to beat out of his chest and he found his hands wrapped around you. He can't think when your lips are so close to his that he gives in immediately when it grazes...

He aborts his plan as the elevator doors slide open and an elderly couple got in. He puts one hand away and the other rests on the small of your back.

"You almost got me," he whispers to you.

And he keeps his guard up as he stepped out of the elevator, holding your hand to guide you to the suite which he specially booked for the two of you.

He gives you the privilege to open the door and be the first to get inside, he can hear your soft gasp as you go further inside the suite.

"Champagne and roses?" You raise an eyebrow at him at the spread of delicacies on the table.

You take a strawberry out of a bowl of them and walk to the double doors that lead to the main bedroom. He chases after you and leans against the doorway to see you admire the level of romantic gesture he puts in it.

You flash him an impressed smile at the sight of rose petals forming the shape of a heart on the bed. You run and throw yourself at him, "ugh, it's so romantic I'm so jealous of us!"

After a little tour around the suite, he takes you back to the living room and sits on the sofa. He starts by opening a bottle of champagne and fills two flutes with the bubbling alcohol.

Clinking your glasses together, you both take a sip and don't waste time refilling them again.

"Okay, it's the right time to tell me the truth," you say as you take your champagne flute from his hand.

"You're not sick, right?"

Hyunjin's eyebrows knitted into a question mark, "sick? I'm not sick," he innocently answers.

You let out a sigh again, "I can't help but think that you're taking me here because you have bad news to tell me," you say and gulp your champagne in one go.

He lets out a low laugh, "It's partly true."

You abruptly swallow down your wine and let out a hiccup.

"I have news but a good one," Hyunjin immediately clarified his previous remark.

You gently punch his arm, "just tell me what is it!"

"Ouch!" He yelps in pain, then laughs.

While rubbing his arm, he decides that it's the perfect time to break the news he's been keeping to himself, "I sold another painting today!"

Your hand flew to your mouth as you squeal in excitement, "oh, my God!"

Without thinking, you throw yourself at him again and he topples onto the sofa. He may as well holds you back as you lay on top of him.

"I was so happy today that I thought I was going to hear something bad from you," you nag him.

He laughs from under you and slowly, he puts you down to lie beside him on the sofa, he sees your eyes brimming with tears.

"These are tears of happiness," you tell him before he gets the wrong idea.

He pulls you close and holds you again, "it's because of you," he says.

You groan in disagreement, "it's because you're talented and passionate and hardworking and—"

"And you endlessly supported me throughout everything," he finishes your sentence.

You coo in response, "don't mention it, baby, I know I'm a great girlfriend," you brag.

The celebration continues with more glasses of champagne and feeding each other strawberries dipped in chocolate, it gets messy when you intentionally smear the chocolate all over his lips.

"I'll clean it for you," you enthusiastically lean in and clean the mess on his lower lips in kitten licks, finishing it with a long smooch on his lips.

"Thank you," he mutters after.

"You're very welcome," you cheerily answers.

Hyunjin dips another strawberry into a bowl of chocolate sauce and eats it right in front of you which you intently watch without blinking.

"Let me!" You say as you take his hand and slowly, you take each finger in your mouth to clean the chocolate sauce on them.

It's too late to avoid getting into your trap when he's already down the rabbit hole.

You just know how to raise the temperature and intensify the tension. When you get to his middle finger, you take all of it into your mouth and suck gently at it, you do it without straying your eyes away from him.

Hyunjin slowly pulls his finger out of you and sees it glistening wet with your saliva. Fuck! Now all he can think about is how your red-painted lips would look wrapped around his cock.

He's losing it and his body reacts faster than his brain, he presses a haste kiss on your lips, hard and deep that you're having a hard time catching up with him.

Everything is out of control. His lips, his tongue, his hand, and your hand that go down his body only make his slacks tighten around the crotch.

Hyunjin reminds himself again of his initial plan and stops your hand from going lower, he breaks the kiss with a gasp that surprised you as well.

"What? Why? Didn't you book a honeymoon suite so we can have it?" You ask in confusion.

You put your hand on his neck and tug at the collar of his shirt, "by it I mean sex, just so we're clear," you explain.

Hyunjin softly chuckles and pecks your lips, "that's true," he says.

"Then why did you stop me?" You ask with an uneasy smile.

He smiles at you and gives you a look of fondness, "I have something to ask," he says.

You swallow air and turn nervous, "does it have something to do about the way the waiter called us Mr. and Mrs. Hwang?" You ask with squinted eyes and a sly smile.

He enjoys torturing you by keeping you second-guessing his intentions, "Uhm... maybe," he vaguely answers.

Your face slightly turns into an expression he can't quite decipher, it's a mix of excitement, confusion, and a little fear. But your eyes tell him something different, they're full of twinkles, of hope.

You get up to sit on the sofa and fix your hair quickly with your fingers, "go ahead then. Ask!'

Hyunjin fixes his sitting position and looks at you without saying anything, he wants to build the suspense by stalling and making you wait in anticipation.

He has a conflict inside of him, a part of him hesitates to ask for it and the other part of him wants it so much, the thing is it's not something that he can easily ask from you which is what makes it special.

If he gets rejected, he sure as hell won't ask for it again.

"Ugh, the suspense is killing me," you groan as you grab him by the shoulder, then shake it to snap him out of his head.

He takes your hand and holds it close to his chest.

"Now that I sold another painting..." he stares at your face that turns serious once he begins talking, "can you perhaps..."

He bites his lower lip as hesitancy stops him from talking.

"Can I perhaps what?" You ask, shaking his hand this time.

He bites his lower lip while mustering up the courage to continue talking, "can you perhaps..." he takes a deep, shaky breath, "give me a lap dance?"

Your face turns flat for a second then drastically changes into an amused one in the next second, "a lap dance? That's what you're asking for?"

Hyunjin stifles a nod.

You drop your head onto your hands and laugh, "baby, why did you hesitate so much to ask me that?"

He shyly shrugs in response.

You lean in close to press a gentle kiss on his lips, you hover above him as you speak, "give me a minute to get ready, okay?"

You press another kiss on his lips, "be good and wait for me," you tell him.

Hyunjin nods and takes his task seriously, as you get inside the bedroom to get ready, he gets up from his sofa and takes his suit jacket off.

He decides to sit in the middle of the sofa and nervously waits for you to return, drinking a few gulps of champagne straight from the bottle that it drips down the corner of his mouth.

When he sees you walk out of the bedroom only in your lingerie, he almost choked on his drink but he managed to swallow it all down in time.

You're wearing the one he chose for you, the red silk one that makes you look like a flourishing bud of a rose. You keep your hair down and slightly tousled, you applied a fresh coat of lipstick which only makes him crave a kiss so badly.

You steal glances at him as you walk around the room like a feline creature, your hips swinging and your heels clacking against the floor. Standing against the wall, you start dimming the lights in the room.

Hyunjin's chest feels heavy as his heart is pounding faster and faster. His eyes won't let go of his sight on you, following your figure as you play music from your phone and it starts easing the tension in the room.

As you take steps closer toward him, he can finally see your face and he sees no warm smile on you but a piercing gaze and a seductive smirk.

It's like looking at a forest fire, beautiful yet so dangerous. But he can feel his heart burning in desire as you start dancing, bending your body over into sensuous shapes that lure him to keep looking.

You get down on the carpeted floor and lay down, running your hands down your body, feeling yourself with your close. He likes seeing you enjoying your own touches that he wants to put his hands on you when all he can do is claw the sofa.

You crawl over to him and part his legs open, your hands are on his thighs, gliding them up to the pulsating member inside his slacks.

He almost groans when your hands stop going and get yourself up from the floor, bending over against him while batting your eyelashes at him.

You lean in and tease his slightly parted open mouth, the warm breath brushing his face sweet and intoxicating. He caves in immediately, leaning in to kiss you but you pull away right on time.

You triumphantly giggle as you stand between his legs, enjoying the loss drawn on his face. Then you put up one leg on the sofa next to him, taking his hand you place it on your thigh.

He hesitates at first, thinking that it's just one of your teasings. Once he glides his hand to the back of your thigh and all you do is just look at him in with fierce eyes.

Getting braver, Hyunjin places the gentlest kiss on your inner thigh. He looks up to see you smiling at him and without warning, pushing him until he reclines on the sofa.

You get onto his lap and begin to slowly grind on him, back and forth, making friction against the growing bulge under you.

You cup his face and softly gaze into his eyes, "you like it?"

Hyunjin, wide-eyed and foggy mind, innocently nods.

You hold his face with both hands then say, "you'll like this more."

You bring his face close to your chest and bury his face in between your breasts, keeping him there with your hand holding the back of his head.

Hyunjin is more than eager to drown in your soft mounds, drinking in the natural scent of your skin and having a taste of it by taking the flesh in his mouth.

Again, he is caught off guard as you push him back and keep a space between your bodies with him. You look down to see the wet marks he made on your skin from his kisses.

Hyunjin unapologetically smiles at you, the glints in his eyes are far from satisfied but he is impressed by what he did. That only lasts for a few seconds, until you get up from his lap to stand in front of him again.

"You like this too much," you say to him with a warning glare.

That could go two ways but he gets excited for both turns out, all he knows is that you'll make it harder for him not to shoot his load right there and right now.

Your hands reach to the back to unclasp your bra, slowly you slide it down your body until it's off of you. You toss the bra at him and he shamelessly takes a sniff of it, it smells as heavenly as you.

You don't give him a break but back to sit on his lap once more, dropping your ass right on his crotch he lets out a gasp and rests your back against his chest with your head lolling on his shoulder.

It's getting hard to focus when his brain is so close to short-circuiting, not when you take his hands and use them to cup your breasts.

"You like this way too much," you lowly say to him while looking up at him through your lashes.

You sound so small and fragile but at the same time, undeniably seductive and fierce, it gives him the feeling of petting a wild animal.

But Hyunjin is more than willing to get a scratch, a bite, getting his body devoured by you. He's willing to go through that much pain just so he can touch you.

His heart feels like bursting when he finds you returning his kiss with the same eagerness, setting his body ablaze.

"I want you so much," he whispers against your lips.

You give in to his want and cater to him, laying on the sofa so he can have you however he wants. There's nothing more beautiful than you trust your life to him.

He completely loses it as he entered you, slowly burying his length inside you. He continuously groans about how good it feels to finally be inside you after that much teasing.

You rip his shirt open as he hovers above you, placing kisses on his warm, soft skin.

The room is quiet, except for the sound of your bodies colliding and the moans escaping both of your mouths. Hyunjin steadily lifts your hips and your legs wrapped around his waist, thrusting into you so hard that his slicked-back hair is falling over his head.

The sight of your body moving along to his hard pounding is what keeps him going, your breasts bouncing on your chest and your hands holding onto the headrest of the sofa.

"Hyunjin, please!"

There you go again, calling his name with that begging voice that arouses him so much and makes him feel like that man who can make you cum.

"Please, want you to cum," you breathlessly say between your moans.

He picks up the pace without intending to, relentlessly thrusting into you with his fingers dug into each side of your hips. He groans as he's getting closer to his release.

"Want you to cum, baby," you whine again with your eyes screwed shut, enjoying the pleasure, the pain, and everything in between.

Hyunjin lets go of his hand and splayed it on your abdomen, he knows he's on the brink of climaxing and that it only takes a few more thrusts to do it.

"Cum on me, please?" You plead once more.

You're lucky you told him right before he snaps, he quickly pulls out of you and keeps stroking his cock until strings of his seed paint your body white. His mouth hung open but nothing comes out of it while his hand tirelessly pumps his cock until the last drop of his cum landed on your stomach.

The sensation of finally getting his release overwhelmed him and he can only watch you squirming on the sofa while smearing his cum all over your body with your low moans spilling out of your mouth.

You look down at your body and flash him an impressed smile at him, "we're in a honeymoon suite but doing it on the sofa."

Hyunjin chuckles at your words, he reaches for a clean napkin from the table but you stop him as he's about to wipe the mess on your body with it.

"I want a bath, please?" You sweetly ask with your elbows propped against the sofa.

He tosses the napkin aside and nods, "I'll get it ready then."

-

Another bottle of champagne is being opened as you waited in the tub filled with a bubble bath.

You squeal as the cork pops open and he joins you in the tub, drinking champagne straight from the bottle in turns. You take a handful of suds on your hand and blow it until it floats in the air for a second.

You look over your shoulder at him, "are we going to do this every time you sold a painting?"

Hyunjin puts down the champagne bottle on the bathroom floor and gasps, "we can do it every day if you want," he says.

You shake your head, "no, I don't want that."

He wipes the suds covering your neck to kiss you there, "why?"

You rest your back on his chest, "I want to keep it special," you simply answer.

"Good point!" He agrees.

Hyunjin's hand dives under the water to clean the mess he made on your body, gently rubbing it with his fingertips. He teases your hard nipples once in a while, pinching them between his fingers.

You scold him a few times just to have him shut you up with a kiss and you melt right away against his lips.

"You know what I need right now?" You ask.

His hand slides down to the delicate flesh between your legs, "yeah?" He seductively responds to you with his mouth pressed close to your ear.

"Cheeseburgers," you answer.

He chuckles because it's not the answer he expected, he wraps his hands around your waist and feels it too, the hunger grows inside his stomach.

The night feels exceptionally long and that rarely happens. Time usually runs out so fast when he's with you but that won't stop him from enjoying every second with you.

That includes eating burgers on the sofa in a bathrobe with you, it tastes like the most delicious and expensive food he ever had.

In reality, it's not the food, it's you that elevates the whole thing and makes it precious.

After done with late-night meals, he can't find it in him to clean up and stays on the sofa with you, while you rest your head on his shoulder.

"I'm so full," you say with a contented sigh.

"Me too," he says back and presses a quick kiss on your temple.

You hold his hand resting across your shoulder and lazily rub it with your fingers, "tonight is so perfect," you say.

He angles your head to place a kiss on your lips, "you're perfect."

You brightly smile hearing his words and kissing him back in gratitude, "were you planning this for a long time or came up with it at the last minute?"

Hyunjin feels cornered by the question.

"Be honest," you tell him while squeezing his hand.

"Honestly..." he stalls by drinking his can of cola.

"I booked the suite at the last minute," he honestly confesses.

You chuckle at his answer, "it doesn't matter, okay? I just wanted to know," you assure him.

Should he be relieved that you didn't ask further about it? The real reason why he took you here apart from the fact that he sold another painting? He figures he should keep it that way.

"Want to go to bed?" He asks.

You nod.

Suddenly, he lifts your body into his arms and carries you to the bedroom. He puts you down and helps you take off your bathrobe.

He watches as you slowly lay your body down on the petals scattered on the bed. Feeling mischievous, he scoops some petals, then showers you with them.

If only you know how beautiful you looked with those rose petals scattered around you.

"Come here!" You tell him with your hand stretched out at him.

Firstly, he takes his bathrobe off and climbs onto the bed. He lays next to you on the bed and blows on a rose petal on your chest. He keeps blowing on it and makes you giggle at the ticklish feeling of his warm breath and the rose petals brushing your skin at once.

Hyunjin stops blowing on it and starts kissing your body, dragging his mouth to your heating core. Slowly, you spread your legs open for him and let him have a taste of you, hungrily and ferociously drinking your essence as it revives him for every sip of it.

"Oh, my God!" You lowly gasp with your hand in his hair.

You arch your back as he sucks hard on your clit and twirls his tongue around it, "you don't need to do all that I'm ready for round two," you tell him with a giggle.

His face hovers between your legs as he looks at you to speak, "can you at least let me show you how good I can make you feel?"

Your hips dropped onto the bed and you start laughing, "but baby, you're already so good at it," you tell him.

You bring his face close to kiss him and taste your essence all over his mouth, licking it clean for him.

Hyunjin has to admit that you're good at distracting him, next thing he knows, you have him pinned under you.

"Let me make love to you now," you say.

Oh, having you straddling him and making love to him in painstakingly slow motions making him flutter inside.

He places kisses all over your chest and neck, anywhere he can land his plush lips on. He likes how you clung to him as you desperately chase your high.

"You feel so good, my love," he whispers into your ear.

He kisses your neck and nibbles on the skin, "always so good," he adds.

He can feel you clench around him, making his brain works at a sluggish pace to keep whispering sweet praises at you.

"Want to cum inside you, angel," he softly whispers.

He guides your hips to keep moving, knowing that you're getting close to your climax.

"Will you take all of me, beautiful?"

He rushes a kiss on your open mouth, "let me fill you full with my love, mmh?"

You hastily kiss him on the mouth, "yes, please, yes," you breathlessly say.

He brushes all of your hair to the side and peppers your shoulder with kisses. He drags his mouth back to your ear and whispers, "let go, baby, cum around me."

With that being said, you slowly let go and slip into immense pleasure, cumming around him. Hyunjin tightly holds you as you relish your orgasm.

Once you calmed down, he gently lay you down on the bed and pulls out of you, he doesn't want to overstimulate you so he decides to pump his cock with his hand.

When he feels it coming, he hurriedly pushes his cock deep enough to plant his seed inside you. His hand gropes around to clasp it with yours, "take all of me, my sweet love," he coos at you.

You put your legs around his waist and pull him, sending him toppled on top of you.

"I love you," you softly tell him that he can it in your eyes, filled with nothing but warmth in them.

His heart quivers still whenever he heard those three words coming out of you even though he knows without you needed to tell him.

"I love you," he says back without a beat.

That's just how certain he is with his feelings toward you and the faith he has in the future you would have together.

-

Today is the beginning of that future.

Hyunjin has been watching you sleeping for a while that he loses track of time. You sleep so well that he can't bring himself to wake you up.

A moment later, he sees your eyes fluttering open like two butterflies about to take flight. He can never get tired of seeing this face that lights up when you see him.

"Morning, my love!" He sweetly greets you with a kiss on your lips.

"Morning," you sleepily reply as you slip one hand under your head.

He removes the strands of hair covering your face, "breakfast?"

You pull the duvet to your chest and hold it close, "yes, please!"

He places another kiss on your cheek, "have a few more minutes of sleep and I'll wake you up when the food arrives," he says with a tender caress on your face.

You nod and close your eyes again while clutching the duvet close to your chest.

Hyunjin picks up the phone to order room service and waits for a few minutes, he puts on a bathrobe to get a trolley full of breakfast food.

He takes it to the bedroom and climbs onto the bed to wake you up again, gently placing kisses on your bare shoulder.

"Breakfast is here," he informs you.

"Mmh," you respond.

Slowly, you get up to sit on the bed while rubbing the sleep of your eyes. You take Hyunjin's shirt hanging on the nearest chair and put it on you.

Hyunjin gets everything ready on the tray, a plate of toast, and a cup of coffee for you. He can see that you're getting more awake with every sip of coffee you take. He takes this so that he can start talking with you now.

"How's your sleep?" He begins.

"Splendid," you answer with a bright smile and put down the drained cup of coffee.

"Want more coffee?"

"Yes, please."

He likes it whenever you say one of the magic words, it makes him want to give you the world because you deserve nothing less than that.

He pours more coffee into your cup and you see something on top of the tray, "what's that?"

"It's a card," he answers while handing a cup of steaming coffee.

You crawl over his legs to get it and read the card, written on it are the words, 'Good morning to Mr. and Mrs. Hwang!'.

He's been wondering what you thought about it so he asks, "what do you think?"

"The coffee is excellent," you innocently answer.

Hyunjin softly chuckles, "no. Not that."

"Oh?" It only registered to you that he's not asking about the coffee.

You hold your coffee cup in one hand and start thinking of an answer, "the name rolls off the tongue, don't you think?" You say with a sly smile.

He nods in agreement and takes a piece of toast, then shoves it into his mouth.

"How about we make it official?" He casually asks.

You dryly laugh before taking another sip of coffee, thinking that he's just pulling a prank on you.

He picks up his suit jacket that hanging on the chair and pulls out a ring from inside the inner pocket.

"What do you think?" He asks, showing you the ring it catches the light, reflecting the morning sun at you.

"It's a nice ring," you answer.

Hyunjin was wrong to think that you're already functioning well from one cup of coffee. Should he wait until you finish your second cup or...

"Oh?" You gasp.

"OH!" You gasp again, louder and a hand flew to cover your mouth.

You turn your head at him with your eyes wide open, you finally got what he meant with his question earlier.

"Are you proposing to me?"

Okay, maybe you're not truly getting a grasp of the situation but Hyunjin is eager to ask you again.

"Yes, I am," he replies.

He slips the ring into your ring finger and it perfectly fits you as it belongs there in the first place and forever.

"What do you think?" He asks again.

"Perfect!" You reply as you admire the ring on your finger.

You crack a laugh and look at him, "yes, please, marry me," you properly answer his proposal this time, "I mean, yes, I do."

You throw yourself at him and almost spill your cup of coffee all over the bed, Hyunjin hurriedly secures them back onto the tray, then puts it away.

"You don't look so happy," he teases you.

You jerk back and shot him a bewildered look.

"I was just joking," he immediately adds with a pat on your head.

You scoot closer to his side and rest your back on his chest. You keep admiring the ring on your finger, then turn to look at him, "you know what?"

"Yes, my love?" he asks back.

You take his hand and rest it on your lap, "I'm not saying I'm overconfident or... I don't know how to explain it but I just knew that this time will come," you explain and gently squeeze his hand.

You shyly laugh and turn away from him, "I know it sounds silly but... I can't think of the future without you in it."

You look at him and deeply stare into his eyes, "I don't know about you, but I believe that we're meant to be together," you say with your eyes twinkling against the pale morning sun.

Hyunjin smiles because now he knows he's not the only one having this faith that your lives are meant to be intertwined forever.

He puts his forehead against yours and kisses your nose, "want to know something?"

"Do tell!" you softly respond.

"That I am meant to get a lifetime of free lap dances from you," he jokingly remarks.

You burst out laughing at his answer and reply back, "Congratulations on that!"

Hyunjin should congratulate himself for a lot of things, for you, for your unconditional love and endless support, for making him better as a person and an artist. However, on top of all that, he should congratulate him for another thing and that is getting your love for free.

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[kaiserouo]

Wow i actually have enough rendered pieces to make an art summary this year. Just barely tho

Ramble below, also template ref

Oh god where do i even start. This is the part where i reflect on myself and do nothing about it afterwards.

In thems of topics, it's mostly just apex d2 and wf. I've never made my own world and characters because most ideas that i have the motivation to make into art comes from me playing the game. Maybe that's why I don't really treat a lot of my original character as "original characters", because they're still bound to a game instead of, you know, born out of the blue i guess.

I barely did render this year... I mean, not just this year of course. I think I slightly got the hang of it these two months? At least I kinda have a pipeline that I can follow and could tolerate / fix some of my mistakes in the later stages (e.g., picking wrong colors for flat color and wanna fix it during rendering etc.). It's... kinda like OOP? Decoupling code? I think it just comes down to opening a million layers and not feeling bad about it. Anyway I think one of my improvements comes from here.

Another improvement would be the speed of doing sketches and the complexity of the lineart I can handle (idk how to say that). I need to draw comics and there would be a lot of people in there, so even if I don't practice specifically I still need to draw some human figures. The complexity part is due to me getting into warframe just because of how fucking complicated they all are. Maybe instead of lineart complexity I should say I'm comfortable drawing somewhat complex characters now without my brain overloading and immediately giving up. Still haven't drawn BT though.

That's probably all the obvious improvements I can think of. I didn't read as many books as last year, but the two main books I read last year are for perspective and anatomy, which I do find very very useful. I still often go back to check some anatomy stuff this year, and with me spam drawing comics I think I can draw human figures better than before... if I only consider proportion that is. I think I have to redo anatomy all over again especially for the muscle part. Also probably should do more real human reference practice... Well, you can probably guess why I said that at the start.

I do think the reason why I do so little rendering is because I mostly do comics. Most of my ideas have a plot and my idea list is waaaaay too long to actually color the comics. And as I feel more comfortable drawing comics I fear more when I wanna do rendering because of the skill gap I have between the two subjects. Also most of you come for silly comics so why do I do full rendered pieces anyways... Yeah, after typing that sentence I do feel wrong thinking like that. But oh well, I guess I can't escape the curse of liking to see numbers go up.

Speaking of numbers, here's some of them. Good thing I don't have to deal with Tumblr API myself.

That's... quite a lot of followers, for me. I mean I don't stay in only one fandom so I have no idea why most of you followed me. Also sorry to ultrakill fans I just don't draw a lot for that game but I see some of you liking a ton of ultrakill post and immediately follows me. Kinda felt that I baited you folks for following me tbh...

Also 3 of my top 5 posts (2234 > 1726 > 1641 > 1531 > 1321) are ultrakill and I only have 27 ultrakill art posts (a lot fewer than other games) so... um, maaaaybe you should consider unfollowing me to clean up your timeline...?

Aaand here are the note stats per month because I've already typed this much so why not just include literally everything in one post

The only thing I can analyze is that the note and post number started to lose correlation due to how much ramble shitpost I have these months.

Okay that's it. I intended to make another art summary for the lineart / unrendered art pieces, but there's just too many to choose from and I don't think you can infer more from these given that the rendered pieces already has lineart in them. Mostly.

[cookieblobber]

The Possible New Future of the Sonic Franchise - Thanks to fucking Sonadow

WOW! SO…THIS ACTUALLY HAPPENED 💀

A few days ago it was rumored a Sonic Generations remaster was happening and will be revealed in the State of Play, which then revealed Shadow will be playable. It was really unknown what the hell this meant, but many theorized this was going to be a Bowser’s Fury/Kirby Return case: Game from an old console is remastered/ported with a whole brand new campaign that may or may not be related and possibly intertwined with said game’s story or lore.

They were correct.

Oh yea did I forget to mention BLACK FUCKING DOOM IS BACK?????

There isn’t much yet to go off of right now in terms of what’s being planned here besides this excerpt on steam

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Alright, enough showcasing, what the hell am I talking about by this game (that was just revealed) being a new future for the Sonic franchise? Well, it’s mainly due to these two things: the usage of Black Doom, and this fucking logo

A little bit of a history lesson -

Shadow the Hedgehog (2005)

….wasn’t really a well received game. Besides how many viewed it to be trying too hard to be edgy and dark and gritty, its gameplay was a lot left to be desired. Confusing and lore retconning writing, weird awkward gameplay, you probably already know by now, it was arguably where SEGA/Sonic Team got scared of doing spin-offs with other characters. The concepts and ideas were there, there were still reasons to like the game and like how Shadow improves as a character in the canonical story of the game, it was a small shiny stone in a pile of coal. Besides 06, this was the most development or focus Shadow would ever receive as a character before his massive change in writing in 2010.

Due to the 2010s change in writing style and how characters were written thanks to SEGA to avoid any association from “erm Sonic tried to be serious at one point? Cringe!”, Shadow possibly became the most controversial character of the cast, with him going from a really intriguing 3 dimensional character about trauma, loss, and trying to move on from the past, to many feeling like he’s regressed into a Furry Vegeta or a tryhard loner who doesn’t need friends to help him, the IDW comics being a big example of this. He still had a few good moments like his whole prologue in Sonic Forces, but even then it wasn’t anything intriguing like his story in Sonic 06 where he learns to accept his future might turn out shit, but he’ll always fight back with his team if things get dark (see what I did there?).

Before I continue, I would like to say - blaming Ian Flynn for how Shadow’s written in the IDW comics where he’s more brute and moody…..doesn’t seem correct, imma be real. I know he may have the occasional odd idea of the characters, but it’s very clear the way he’s written is due to certain mandates from SEGA and how characters/the world should be like. If Shadow’s whole moody brute demeanor is truly how Flynn views the character…..how does that explain how he was written in the Archie comics? aka the older comic series Flynn wrote for before SEGA started to get strict with the franchise, aka the series many believe to have had really great Shadow moments? I’m not saying there can’t be criticism for how Flynn may sometimes write characters, but in the case of him being the sole reason for how Shadow is written, that assumption made on him is a lil unfair.

Regardless, in recent times, it’s no doubt that the franchise is starting to rebuild it’s confidence again: acknowledging the old 3D games, including 06, having a more serious story with layers and depth like in Frontiers, Frontiers itself reintroducing Sonic’s friends and their struggles, making them playable once again in a 3D game (again, Shadow was cool to see in Forces but, you could only go so far with a simple reskin of Sonic). Not to mention after the update that brought back these characters, we got Sonic Superstars where the main selling point was that it was a co-op game, and Sonic Dream Team having a focus on the franchise’s more forgotten character: Cream the Rabbit (not to mention bringing back a sorta SA2-style gameplay where 6 characters were grouped into 3 styles of controls). Oh yea also prior to all that, Amy was made playable in the original Sonic genesis games via Sonic Origins.

———————————————

So, what does all that have to do with the future of the franchise, and why is Shadow 05 important here?

First off: Shadow is getting that same treatment as other friends, but possibly on an even bigger level: being a new playable character in an older title and being a big enough deal to get his own story and reintroduce people to what makes him who he is sadly no co-op gameplay but hey that would require completely changing this game from what it was initially was. This is really perfect timing as with the upcoming release of Sonic Movie 3 and Shadow being the next foe for Sonic to face off, Sonic x Shadow Generations will be a perfect title for new fans to dive into and learn more about Sonic’s history and dive further into Shadow’s history, just like what Sonic Origins was for fans who just came back from watching Sonic Movie 2.

This whole thing is also a massive implication that other characters than Sonic may start to get their own campaigns again, building more lead-ups to possibly full on spinoff games. I should say this again: Forces did try to do something with Shadow, but for the most part it was just reusing whatever the game already had to create a quick and easy 3 level prologue that…doesn’t really add all that much to the overall story (at this rate you can probably assume Forces tried to do a lot of things Sonic is now attempting to do, however due to the kinda era it came from, it didn’t have much going for it). Sonadow Generations seems like something bigger and more personal to the character involved, something that could possibly rival the OG game’s campaign.

The fact in this story, they’re going so far as to make Black Doom the main antagonist of this campaign and giving back Shadow’s tribal logo is a massive sign that this is a true attempt to revisit Shadow’s entire legacy. They could’ve easily just made his whole ordeal involve what happened in Sonic Adventure 2, after all that’s what he’s most remembered for, but going as far as to properly acknowledged a lesser known game as being part of the Sonic lore instead of dismissing it simply because it wasn’t well received, it continues to show the confidence this series has started to regain. Sure, it’s weird, it’s wacky, it’s wild, but it doesn’t make it any less something to acknowledge or at the very least make good out of something bad. While we did get hints of Shadow 05 still being part of the canon via the Eggman logs in Frontiers mentioning Black Doom, having him come back officially was still a completely wild thing to see; never in a million years would anyone have thought he would come back as the main villain.

The biggest part of this whole thing is: if SEGA is allowing for Shadow 05 to be fully acknowledged

.

this might mean they’re starting to pull back on their restrictions on the character.

——————————————

As I stated before, it is very clear they wanted nothing to do with this game or anything similar to it ever again, I mean the fact we never got any spin-offs after this really shows they weren’t gonna come back to other characters ever again. But now…everything’s on the table. If Black Doom is making an appearance, if Shadow’s tribal logo is back as part of his identity, what else could there be next? Will Shadow start to use guns again? Will he ride his motorcycle, and other vehicles like in 06? Hell, will motherfucking Mephiles come back again for this campaign?

Not to mention the description of the game stated that Shadow will confront painful memories, will we see Maria in HD getting shot, or the commander from Shadow 05 who was out to get him making a reappearance? This might be the first time in a whole decade since other human characters (not counting Sage since she isn’t exactly fully human) making an appearance again in the Sonic franchise. Again, we may have gotten hints of them still being a thing with the likes of Frontiers’ Eggman logs bringing up GUN and Maria, but actually showing up in-game means other humans can still make appearances in-game.

(Take this part with a massive grain of salt but I’ve heard that Ian Flynn in the past has expressed he wanted to bring back Black Doom and Mephiles, but SEGA didn’t allow it, now that one of them happened, it proves that there indeed has been less restrictions now)

If there are less restrictions being made on stuff like acknowledging Shadow’s game, what could this mean for how Shadow himself may be written now? We’ve seen how apparently well written Shadow was in Sonic Prime, could this carry over to the games and comics where he has a less frustrating depiction? I mean, the fact Ian Flynn was hired for one massive mainline game (Sonic Frontiers) and suddenly they’re doing all these lore related things for the franchise or going back to pull up any old stuff and see what they can do with it, it shows there is a level of trust between SEGA and Flynn and letting the man cook. And it makes complete sense too, he’s been a long time writer for the franchise since the Archie comics, he seems to have a great understanding of the characters.

If Shadow 05 is getting this level of acknowledgement, what about other more forgotten games? Will we one day see Sonic 06 be better acknowledged, or more likely a character like Silver having a bigger role in something related to the events of 06? I mean for some reason recent episode titles of the upcoming Knuckles show revealed one episode called “Flames of Disaster,” who’s to say they aren’t already looking into 06 for some ideas for not just the movie canon, but as well as the main canon?

—————————————

I’m drifting off a little but I’m sure you get by now what I’m tryna say. This game, as it may seem like just a simple small remaster with extra content, may end up creating something bigger for the franchise going forward. Seeing how Sonic Team is behind this remaster and not Blind Squirrel (the people who made Sonic Colors Ultimate; while possibly rushed by SEGA, they’ve also have had a questionable track record with remasters), and hints that Flynn is behind this story, I think we are in great hands with this game. This may be the first remaster to finally be flawless in every level, which I know is a little sad to say when it comes to this 30+ year old franchise, but hey, can’t win them all!

——————————————

Before I end this comically large essay, I would like to make one final note on this whole topic. As I was writing this and taking breaks last night, I came across a tweet that was kinda starting to go around about this game.

To summarize, the tweet essentially claimed that Sonic was still stuck in the past. The franchise was still relying on nostalgia pandering as its identity, and due to the contents of Generations being a whole celebration of Sonic’s history (and what unfortunately started SEGA’s cling onto Green Hill and Chemical Plant), aka alleged nostalgia pandering, it proves the franchise’s identity is still about how when Sonic used to be cool. It hasn’t attempted to evolve in the past 14 years.

You can probably guess what my thoughts on that take is after reading this whole post.

.

.

.

.

.

No.

I don’t think so.

As I already showed, the addition of Shadow’s story more than proves this is still stepping forward. It’s taking an old beloved game and instead of just updating graphics or performance and leaving it at that, they’re making something brand new out of it that may define future ideas for other characters that isn’t about Sonic. Not to mention this game barely attempts to be all like, “Revisit all these iconic locations from your childhood!!!” SEGA is clearly looking at Generations not as that one game they can rely on for easy nostalgia pandering, but as a successful and fun game from the last decade in its own right. I mean to the general public, it’s considered to be “one of the few good Sonic games.”

It can be argued that the addition of Shadow and Black Doom may be pandering to the audience into Shadow but…really? They’re tryna solely pander and play on the nostalgia of a small minority of players who liked a game that was considered to be the start of Sonic’s downfall in the 2000s and make that the selling point of this remaster to the general public? Where some in said general public may argue that they’re about to ruin a rare good Sonic game with stuff that they think no one ever liked??? I don’t really believe it.

Hell, speaking personally, I’ve never played Shadow 05, I don’t own a GameCube, maybe a PS2 but even then I didn’t get much games at the time. While I sorta played around with the franchises growing up, I fully got into it around when Sonic Mania came out (and even then it took me a while to finally play it). So even though I may be hyping up Black Doom’s return, I myself am not coming from any rose tinted glasses or anything, these are just observations from the many discussions I’ve seen online or videos showcasing these games. Same would go for a lot of people into that game as many while loved it, still would acknowledge where it fumbles and how it’s definitely not the definitive Sonic experience to have.

Sonic has begun to evolve, experimenting with new ideas and offering new and different ways to enjoy the franchise. As mentioned earlier, lots of shit happened in the past 4 months. While I agree that something like Frontiers relying on the same old levels for Cyberspace to be stupid, that shouldn’t undermine the actual new stuff it offers for the franchise. I feel like we’re already far beyond the franchise needing to be like “hey remember Green Hill???” as it’s main identity for a game/the franchise. And even then, this shouldn’t mean Sonic can’t look back on previous entries anymore ever again.

Many want Sonic to be like other franchises, like Mario, Kirby, etc, they’ve been also occasionally doing the look back on an old title or old past, so why not let Sonic do the same? We shouldn’t immediately respond to a callback with claims that it’s poor nostalgia pandering, as the take away imo always should’ve been that there should be a balance between original and new and looking back on what worked.

I am happy to say that regardless what this remaster is, we are in good hands again.

———————————————

also unrelated as hell but pray for this man, he has not uploaded a Sonic video in 4 months, I think SEGA killed him by over feeding him with content 😭

[forbidding-souda]

Hii!! May I please have some headcannons with Gundham, Kazuichi, and whoever with a gyrau s/o!!! Please and thank u!!

Gundham Tanaka and Kazuichi Souda with a SHSL Gyaru S/O

here's another gyaru s/o fic i did with mondo, shinguuji, and kaito! it was rather recent too since when was i posting in 2022 what the fuck. i didn't add any characters because i realized i had three that i have already done so there's more mwahahahahaha

i love gyaru's rawr rawr i'm so excited to write this ty anon

-Mod Souda

Gundham Tanaka

❤ It's clear you two are a couple. You both have a very eccentric way of speaking which makes you guys such a good couple wow, nobody is surprised when you tell them you're together. They can probably guess that. With you two having voluminous hair and heavy eyeliner, it's as if your aesthetics were compatible. Though being in two different subcultures, the overlapping stylistic details adds a charm to the times you've walked together hand in hand. Your both overdramatic way of talking makes people group you together.

He departs from the barn, quickly making his way back to the main building, where you wait on your phone. He doesn't have to look for you. Your appearance is eye-catching. Your loose shirt, a more casual one, is heavily wrinkled from how quickly you put it on this morning. You're not even wearing any of your iconic belts. You wanted to join him despite how early it was. Your eyes flick up to his once you hear him approaching. "Are you done?" You ask. You turn your head towards him, makeup still perfectly done (you focused more on that then your outfit, which you did last). Before he can respond, you squint at his name tag. "That's cute." He grumbles and unpins it. His mind was too busy for a proper conversation. He was logging all of the animal's names in his head and the medications and treatment they needed it. While you two walk, he places his hand on the small of your back, a simple form of affection to tell you he was still paying attention. But when you yawn, it breaks his thought process. "You're tired?" You nod. "Sorry, I didn't mean to yawn like that." "Nonsense. Perhaps we can arrange an hour of slumber." You nod. "Can it be more than an hour?" He hums, thinking for a second. "As many as you need, my dear enchantress."

❤ Oh my god if you wear more dark colors or purples (else a goshikku gyaru) you could absolutely be the same color palette as him. Purple and black pleaded skirt with eyeliner in your waterline omggg. Or a zip-up with skeletons on it.

❤ He absolutely loves your style, he adores anything vaguely alternative and subnormal. Ur definitely getting some more romantic nicknames like "my muse" or "my agony".

❤ Ya ya ya it's unhygienic but you can share makeup if you can't find something (aka you probably left your eyeliner in your purse but completely forgot).

❤ You will scream and cry when you tease your hair and then you go to visit animals with him and a giraffe just starts licking it.

❤ But the hamsters love your hair / wigs.

❤ You can probably convince him to wear more eccentric earrings.

❤ And necklaces. Omg matching necklaces. From the one dogtag he wears, you can convince him to wear a chain or a bunch of layers of silver.

❤ I doubt he has social media so he doesn't see your persistent presence, but he will take pictures of you with the animals for some posts.

❤ When you start using a bit of his lingo online no one questions it.

❤ Also in the scenario thing above I fought the urge to say you were playing dress to impress.

.

Kazuichi Souda

❤ He was so nervous around you. He wasn't as bold as he was with Sonia. He'd give you compliments and then promptly walk away after you say thank you. It takes you and your boldness to finally get him to have a lingering conversation ("No, no, you get back here"). He's such a charmer, you loved the conversations, and whenever you gave him compliments back he was fighting the urge to completely melt.

❤ You post a lot of photos of you two together. You just love his pink hair and it tends to fit your layout perfectly. Some of them aren't just cutesy selfies, it's things like him with his jumpsuit tied around his waist as he's too focused on his work to realize you have your phone pointed at him. He's started to do the same to you. Taking pictures as you're posing yourself for your own camera. You love the candid photos he takes of you so much you end up posting them instead. He loves your online presence. He's gonna pick up the slang you use and it's gonna be funny LMFAO.

Upon entering the house, he spots you sitting on the couch with a sugary snack in your hand. You immediately smile. "Sorry," you say, "I couldn't help myself." He was planning on a real meal for tonight, but of course, you've indulged in the popular snacks you love so much. At least your well, that smile on your face says as much. He kicks off his shoes, leaving them scattered by the door. You study him for a moment, wondering if his sour mood is because of you or whatever job he had outside. "Are you good?" You ask mid chew. He eyebrows furrow a bit and he nervously scratches at his jaw. "I lost the necklace you gave me." "What?" "I took it off and I don't know where it went, I'm an idiot." You place your snack aside and stand, approaching him. "Dude," you place your hands on his cheek. "It's not that serious. I have a thousand of them. I'll get you another one." "But you gave me that one." "And I'll give you another 'that one'. You worry too much." He sighs, placing his forehead against yours, the small thunk drawing you back, but you don't pull away. He's constantly fearing offending you or disappointing you. But you always assure him that things are alright. The simple things he stresses over are never things that will push you away, and he needs to understand that.

❤ He loves it when you scratch his back with the long, decorative nails. Or when you massage his scalp when he's trying to sleep. His small, half-awake hums are soooo cute.

❤ He'll want you to do his hair. He trusts your stylistic abilities with his life. You're not going to be able to do the dramatic makeup on him, nice try. But hair yesss. He'll want to add small braids to your style as well.

❤ His work is a little too messy for you and if he gets motor oil on you you're gonna fight the urge to throw a fit. On your yellow shirt? Kaz. You piece of shit.

❤ ^ Frantic cleaning-related google searches.

❤ ^ On the rack beside the front door, you keep your shoes far away from his.

❤ He gets you a lot of those glitter, bajeweled (or whoever it's spelled) reusable cups. He uses them a lot for himself though. He wanted an excuse to have them, and you definitely figured this out LOL.

[zahri-melitor]

League of Shadows: Detective Comics #951-956

Wow. Just wow.

I knew Tynion IV was working overtime to try and get a level of normality re-established in Rebirth Batman, but he has so many moving pieces going on here.

First up: this is the Cass and Shiva story, so it’s rehashing and re-exploring the most vital elements of Perfect For A Year and Destruction’s Daughter.

It’s not a perfect blend, for a bunch of reasons, but I respect the effort involved.

The bit that blew me way however? Tynion brought in Carolyn.

Cass content where she is given inspiration by her aunt’s words??? I mean. I am listening.

Kate Kane gets to approximately play Babs’ role in the push-pull over what Cass needs against Bruce.

Cass in the Mud Room obsessed with winning fights and working through her problems of course perfectly reflecting Cass in Babs' equivalent holoroom doing exactly that as a way of dealing with her emotions.

Cass gets two fights with Shiva, and she of course loses the first and wins the second.

Cass running around with swords? Some people might say that’s not Cass, I say hello Kasumi and BatO 2008 references!

(Tragically Cass didn’t get to stab Kendra and keep that motif running, but alas no Justice League appeared in this book)

Cass and David together flashbacks still don’t feel entirely on target: previously when Cass has gone to David to answer her questions he would eventually give her what she asked for, not deny it to her. But David Cain was left in a horrible state post B&R Eternal so any writing even slightly more on track was helpful.

It's also fascinating to me that we go to this very heavy Cass story, leaning into her growth as a person and moving from being a lurking shadow who is a vigilante only to someone who is making civilian friendships and connections and doing things outside of simply being a vigilante (going to the ballet in person with Bruce and Kate escorting her) happens in a period when Steph has left. This is echoing Cass' Bludhaven arc! Argh Tynion knows the whole of Batgirl 2000 so well.

And Shiva. Oh, Shiva. I have to say, as always, I’m not thrilled when Shiva is directly linked to Ra’s Al Ghul, but admittedly we were redoing Destruction’s Daughter, so Shiva being called in to train League assassins is on target (though it was Ra's this time, not Nyssa), as was Shiva not actually working with Ra's ordinary troops so much as the set he was using for the League of Shadows.

What I also liked: Ra's trying to manipulate Shiva using what he knew of Cass, and Shiva not being fully on board with what Ra's was selling but synthesising it in her own way.

I don't love Ra's being more involved in Shiva's backstory, but I did enjoy her arguments with him, and the way Shiva, despite herself, became compelled and interested in Cass as a fighter more than as her daughter. (Daughter? raw material, boring. Fighter with that skillset who happens to be my daughter? deeply fascinated).

Just picking out a few scenes here, but I feel this does add an additional layer of depth to Shiva's motivations? That she knows she burnt everything away in the fire of Shiva, but also she has a level of regret over it all.

And then that being reflected in part of what gave Cass the understanding of how to defeat the League and Shiva was the words of Carolyn and her message of how to act as a shadow yet still find yourself? A message Sandra has lost but Carolyn protected even in her death, because Shiva has worked to slough off Sandra, but that is still a loss.

On top (on TOP) of this storyline being a synthesis of Batgirl 2000 into 5 issues, Tynion was just packing in the references.

The atomic bomb to open a faultline under Gotham and *checks notes* make the city fall into a cavern below? Is that Cataclysm, 'Quakemaster' (aka Ventriloquist) holding the city hostage over an even worse earthquake I spy? Because. The vibes were very much there. But on top of that, it's also a version of the Batgirl story of Alpha hiding a fusion bomb in Gotham and Cass needing to track him down to work out where that bomb was.

Shiva and the League of Shadows having a special technique of stabbing people with swords through their chest in a way that doesn't damage any organs. Shiva, is that you saying The Widower was bad at his job? Because most of those sword wounds were similar in location to Tim's one from The Widower but specifically on the other side of the body to avoid the spleen.

Ulysses Armstrong continuing to be the creepiest kid absolutely obsessed with Tim as Robin and trying to 'get into his skin'? Ulysses being in the military now via Jacob Kane's secret organisation yet still completely and utterly hung up on Tim and trying to prove himself is commitment to Tim's Robin run.

And then we get to this: to Ra's telling Bruce that inside the League of Assassins he has a secret League of Shadows, which he has concealed from Bruce and forced him to forget.

But the important bit here to me is Ra's saying Bruce has uncovered them three times before. And we get this series of pictures.

The first is an underground cavern lit by an orange glow (this looks very much like an orange Lazarus Pit in the background: references this resembles include Son of the Demon, any of Nyssa's pits, Matt Wagner's Trinity and a bunch of others).

The second is Bruce standing shirtless on a frozen lake, surrounded by mountains. (Can you say Batman Begins? But also technically you could map this to Bride of the Demon I guess by the art team not realising Antarctica doesn't have trees. Or frozen lakes like that. His first shirtless duel with Ra’s is Batman #244 but that’s in the desert. The various Nanda Parbat and Himalaya fight scenes I reviewed don't look much like this)

The third is Bruce being taken down in what looks like a fancy office (my first thought was possibly Tower of Babel & Dependence, but this again could be a lot of occasions).

And the focus here on Ra's having concealed Bruce's memories and forced him to forget events, in Rebirth stories where we are pushing at the timeline to extend it out again and backfill it with post-Crisis content? A genius way of focusing on there being stories that n52 Bruce doesn't know.

I've been trying to work out exactly which stories Tynion is claiming these three 'discoveries' of the League of Shadows occurred during, and I can't quite pinpoint three specific occasions. But they are so very, very familiar. I do wonder which he was specifically thinking about.