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o-craven-canto · 2 years

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Tree of Life 4: Angiospermae (flower plants)

[Disclaimer: taxonomy is a complex, ever-changing field, and this overview is certainly not going to be exhaustive, especially concerning extinct groups]

← Part 3 (Archaeplastida: green plants) Part 5 (Unikonta: amoebae, fungi, and such) →

Angiospermae “vessel seeds”: The clade including all plants that produce flowers and fruits. The name refers to the fact that ovules (the female gametophytes, see part 3) are enveloped in structures carpels, which are accessed through a pistil. The pistil may be surrounded by the stamina (sing. stamen), the male structures that produce pollen grains (which are the male gametophytes). In some species, male and female structures coexist in the same flowers; in other, they are found in different flowers of the same plant; in yet others, only on different plants. Finally, these structures are surrounded by the perianth, concentric whorls of modified leaves that are commonly called petals (for botanicists, petals are only a subset of the perianth). The entire structure makes up a flower.

Pollen granules, falling upon it, produce tubes that enter the pistil and release non-flagellate sperm cells right next to the ovules. Upon fertilization, each ovule develops into a seed: each contains an egg cell that will become the embryo, the part of the seed destined to sprout into the daughter plant. At the same time, other sperm cells fertilize the egg’s companion cells, which develop into the endosperm, the seed’s “pulp” or nutrient reserve, usually mostly starch. (The endosperm is triploid, which means it has three copies of each chromosome.) The fact that the formation endosperm requires fertilization ensures that it is never wasted on an un-fertilized egg. The lower carpel matures into the fruit surrounding the seed, while the rest of the flower withers away.

Flower plants arose somewhen between the very end of the Jurassic and the earliest Cretaceous, some 150 to 140 Ma (million years ago), quite late for plant evolution, and went through an explosion of diversity in the early Cretaceous. (An early form of the ovule coating leading to fruits is found in † Caytonia, a seed fern (see part 3) from the Jurassic.)

By 100 Ma, most of the orders we recognize today were in place, and flower plants had replaced Gymnosperms as the main component of worldwide flora. This explosion was probably driven by co-evolution with pollinating insects (at first beetles and scorpionflies, then early bees and butterflies), which carried pollen from a flower to another in exchange for sugar-rich nectar. Flowers evolved large and colorful perianths as signals for these insects. Later, many sub-groups of Angiosperms gave up on insects and entrusted their pollen to wind or water, like their pre-flower ancestors.

Let’s go into detail below the cut. As per botanical tradition, plant orders are named after a representative genus: for example, Vitis (the common grape) → Vitales. Note that because of the way plants grow (by elongating and branching at the end of their stems), they tend to take irregular fractal shape that vary even between individuals. Their body is not organized in systems like that of animals, but rather it’s composed of small modular elements that are highly variable; therefore, clades of plants often cannot be identified by obvious morphological features -- "trees”, for example, evolved independently from herbs dozens of times.

The earliest fossil plant acknowledged as an Angiosperm is † Archaefructus, from Early Cretaceous China (about 125 Ma): it was a small semi-aquatic shrub which had carpels and stamina arranged along branches, rather than condensed in a flower, and no perianth. Combined with the aquatic nature of Nymphaeales and Ceratophyllales, this suggests that flower plants first evolved in aquatic environments, and spread their pollen with water.

Reconstruction and fossil of † Archaefructus, possibly the “uncle” of all flower plants. (Simpson 2019)

1. Amborellales: Actually only one species, Amborella trichopoda from the jungles of New Caledonia; the most basal of all Angiospermae. A small shrub with almond-shaped leaves, it has rough-looking flowers with white proto-petals and green carpels, still very clearly modified clusters of leaves. Unlike all other flower plants, the carpels are clearly separated from each other.

2. Nymphaeales: A clade of aquatic plants sprouting from buried rhizomes, with disk-shaped floating leaves and flowers emerging from the water on stiff, vertical stems. Water lilies (e.g. Nymphaea, the giant Victoria from the Amazon basin) are here.

3. Austrobaileyales: Tropical trees and shrubs whose leaves contain aromatic oils. The flower perianth is a compact cup whose carpels form peculiar star-shaped fruits: for example, the star anise (Illicium verum), which is used as spice in dried form.

4. Mesangiospermae: The group that contains all Angiosperms except for the three basal orders we just saw. Here a new type of water vessel appears, formed by short and wide hollow cells with sieve-like plates at both ends. They might be more efficient at carrying dissolved salts and sugars than the old tapering, pitted conductive cells; however, they're more likely to be clogged by gas bubbles at lower temperatures, which might be the reason sub-polar forests are still dominated by conifers.

4a. Magnoliidae: An ancient group put together on molecular basis.

4a1. Piperales: This order contains the ornamental Aristolochia, with a hanging red three-petaled flower. More importantly, here is Piper nigrum, whose small fruits grow clustered on a vertical spike, and give us red, black, and white pepper (ripe fruit, unripe dried, and bare seed, respectively). Right next to it, kava (Piper methysticum), whose dried root is consumed as a narcotic in Polynesia.

4a2. Laurales: Another order of tropical trees and shrubs producing aromatic oils. Accordingly, we find more spices (Cinnamomum verum, cinnamon), herbs (Laurus nobilis, laurel or bayleaf, from which the crowns of Roman poets and generals were also made), and perfumes (Cinnamomum camphora, camphor), as well as the avocado (Persea americana).

4a3. Magnoliales: These plants have large flowers with a pillar-like structure bearing both stamina and carpels. Here we find magnolias (Magnolia) and tulip-trees (Liriodendron tulipifera), whose fruits are pinecone-like aggregates of woody seed-vessels; as well as Myristica fragrans, from which both nutmeg and mace are made (the first from the seed, the second from the gummy red pulp that covers it).

The relatively primitive flower and pinecone-like fruit of Magnolia grandiflora (Magnoliales) from Southeastern USA. (Wikipedia, Ianaré Sévi/Berthold Werner)

4b. Monocotyledonae: One of the big groups of flowering plants, accounting for about a fifth of all their species. The name refers to cotyledons, the proto-leaves that are first to sprout from the embryo before mature leaves are ready, and to the fact that Monocotyledon embryos have only one, rather than two like all other Angiosperms, which were once known as “Dicotyledons”. Monocotyledons, for unknown reasons, also have many small vascular bundles scattered in the stem, as opposed to a single central bundle or a ring; this gave no problem to early grass-like species, but it means that they have very little secondary growth (see part 3) and cannot produce true wood. Accordingly, very few Monocotyledons are trees. These plants can often be recognized by their leaves, since their veins are either parallel, running along the leaf’s length, or sideways in a feather-like pattern from a single central vein.

4b1. Alismatales: At the base of this order we find the family Araceae, whose distinctive trait is a spadix, a fleshy pillar-like structures carrying small flowers on its surface. The spadix is surrounded by a modified leaf that resembles a petal; thus, what you might think is the flower of a calla lily (Zantedeschia aethopica) or a taro (Colocasia esculenta, farmed for its root in Polynesia), is actually a whole complex of flowers or inflorescence, which develops into a pineapple-like compound fruit. One such inflorescence, that of the titan arum Amorphophallus titanum, stands 3 meters tall. At the opposite extreme, the little floating duckweed (Lemna and Wolffia) measure only a few mm. Other members of Alismatales took to the sea: the alga-like seagrasses Zostera and Posidonia, which form vast meadows on the bottom of shallow warm seas, spreading thrugh floating fruits.

An undersea meadow of turtle seagrass (Thalassia testudinum, Alismatales) at the Bahamas. Despite appearences, these are not algae but proper plants with roots, leaves, and flowers (which are very small, since pollen is carried by water). (Wikipedia, James St. John)

4b2. Dioscoreales: The stars of this order are yams (several species of genus Dioscorea), whose starch-rich roots are staple crops in Africa, South Asia, South America, and Oceania. Unlike most Monocotyledons, they have re-evolved back the old reticulated leaf veins. Yams also produce an estrogen-like hormon, diosgenin, that was used for the earliest birth control pills.

4b3. Pandanales: The screw-pines (Pandanus and other genera) are considered the only true Monocotyledon trees, but the inability to produce thick wood forced them into strange shapes. The trunks are thin, twisted, splitting in large clumps, and are propped up at the base by thick roots. Individual flowers are small and sometimes lack petals: the inflorescences are effectively bundles of naked stamina and carpels.

A screw-pine in Hawai’i (Pandanus tectorius, Pandanales). (Wikipedia, Forest & Kim Starr)

4b4. Liliales: The most illustrious family is Liliaceae, distinguished by radially-symmetrical flowers with a single whorl of six petals and six large stamina. Here are true lilies (Lilium) and tulips (Tulipa). They grow from onion-like bulbs. Among other Liliales is the autumn crocus (Colchicum autumnale), whose colchicine, is both a poison and a drug with many medical uses.

4b5. Asparagales: A highly diverse order, which has the honor of including the largest family of Monocotyledons: Orchidaceae, with some 28,000 species. Orchids (whose name is Greek for “testicle”, after the shape of their tubers), with their distinctive bilaterally-symmetrical flowers are here, from Vanilla planifolia, whose seeds give vanilla, to Angraecum sesquipedale, with a 45 cm-long tube that can only be pollinated by a moth with a proboscis of equal length. The windborn seeds of orchids are so small that they carry fungal cells from which they depend for nourishment. The other Asparagales (recognized by black seed coating) include the common asparagus (Asparagus officinalis); the day-lily (Hemerocallis) and the saffron flower (Crocus sativus), whose stamina are dried and ground into the most expensive-by-weight spice in the world; the genus Allium, which encompasses onions, leek, and garlic; the sharp-leaved agaves (Agave) and Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) of the American deserts; and the strange Australian “grass trees” (Xanthorrhoea), with meters-long spikes rising from a clump of grass-like leaves; and many, many others.

The bee orchid Ophrys apifera (Asparagales), found in Europe and the Mediterranean region, does not attract its pollinator, a solitary bee, with nectar. Rather it, pretends to be a receptive female bee; when a male bee attempts to mate with the orchid, it will coat itself in pollen to be carried to the next flower. (Wikipedia, Bernard Dupont)

4b6. Commelinidae: A group of Monocotyledon orders, mostly put together by molecular data, but also by the presence of particular fatty acids in their cell walls that happen to glow under UV light.

4b6a. Arecales: Palm “trees”, from coconut palms (Cocos nucifera) to date palms (Phoenix dactylifera) to many others (though some species are herbs or lianas). The trunk is unbranched (except in Hyphaene), mostly formed by the leftover sheath of fallen leaves.

4b6b. Zingiberales: Plants in this mostly tropical order have in common a stem filled with air chambers and leaves whose edges roll around each other. Leaf veins usually have a feather-like structure. One one side of the order we find the banana (Musa paradisiaca), another woodless “quasi-tree”, with large hanging inflorescences that develop into banana bunches. On the other, a variety of spices including ginger (Zingiber officinale), turmeric (Curcuma domestica), and cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum). The order also contains several exotic flowers, such as the bird-like Strelitzia and the flame-like Heliconia.

A pictorial cladogram of the Zingiberales. (Simpson 2019, credited to Ida Lopez)

4b6c. Poales: Here we find all true grasses (Poaceae), which includes not only humble lawn grass (Poa, Festuca, &c), but also all cereals, from wheat (Triticum) to rice (Oryza sativa) and from maize (Zea mays) to sorghum (Sorghum); as well as the sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum). Most are wind-pollinated plants with reduced stems and numerous, tiny flowers, which develop into ears or spikes. Seeds, of course, are very rich in starch-based endosperm. They have a hollow stem, divided in compartments, that manages to grow very tall compared to its width even in absence of true wood, reaching its extreme of course in bamboos (Phyllostachys edulis, which is farmed for wood and edible shoots in China and Japan, can stand 28 m tall). Leaves develop as sheaths surrounding the stem. Another important family of Poales is Bromeliaceae, many of whom are herbs with reduced roots that grow on the branches of tropical trees -- although the one we see most often, the pineapple (Ananas comosus), does not. In other families we find swamp reeds (e.g. Typha), and sedges (such as papyrus, Cyperus papyrus).

An unripe pineapple (Ananas comosus, Poaceae), sole fruit of its plant (actually developed from a whole cluster of flowers, one for each scale) growing in the Hawai’i. (Wikipedia, Diego Delso)

4c. Ceratophyllales “horn-leaves”: Just like the not-closely-related Anthocerotophyta (see part 3), these too are known as “hornworts”. They are a handful of species of small aquatic plants with whorls of leaves growing at regular intervals out of the thin, flexible stem. Flowers are tiny, with fused petals. Ceratophyllum demersum is commonly grown in aquaria. Slightly older than † Archaefructus, † Montsechia from Early Cretaceous Spain (130 Ma), an aquatic plant with thin stems and paired almond-like fruits, was likely an early member of this order.

4d. Eudicotyledonae: The bulk of modern plant diversity, making up about 75% of all Angiosperm species. They all share tricolpate pollen (or later variants thereof), meaning that each pollen grain opens with three grooves, as opposed to the single-grooved grain ancestral to seed plants.

4d1. Ranunculales: Mostly herbs and shrubs with colorful flowers, most notably poppies (including the opium poppy, Papaver somniferum, from whose fruit morphin and its derivates are extracted) and buttercups (Ranunculus).

4d2. Proteales: Another one of those clades that contains multiple subgroups very unlike each other. Here we have the aquatic lotus (Nelumbo nucifera), whose flowers fuse into the perforated seed capsule that usually pops out when you look up “trypophobia”, and whose waterproof leaves and periodically flowers rising out of water made it the symbol of enlightenment in India. We also find plane trees (Platanus), as well as the ornamental flower Banksia, whose elongated stamina far outgrow their own petals, and macadamia nuts (Macadamia). All Eudicots listed here save the two we’ve just seen form the clade Pentapetalae “five petals”, whose flowers are indeed formed by five-parted whorls -- five petals, five series of stamina, five carpels, and such.

4d3. Santalales: A member of Superasteridae, related to Asteridae here below. Named after sandlewood (Santalum), whose perfumed wood is sacred to the Hindu goddess Lakshmi. Here we also find mistletoe (Viscum album), a parasite bush that grows on tree branches, sucking nutrients through its roots, and spreading its seeds by sticking them to birds with a gluey (”viscous”) pulp.

4d4. Caryophyllales: Another Superasteridae. Family Cactaceae includes all varieties of cactus, from the massive saguaro (Carnegiea gigantea) to the prickly pear (Opuntia ficusindica), which have turned their leaves into defensive spines -- all of them native of the Americas, except for Rhipsalis baccifera, which may have spread to Africa by sticking to birds its mistletoe-like fruits. Another family of succulents, the mostly-South African Aizoaceae, contains the bizarre Lithops, a little plant with rock-like leaves that surround a single flower. Family Amaranthaceae contains several edible plants, such as sugar beets (Beta vulgaris), spinach (Spinacia oleracea), and the “pseudo-cereal” quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa), as well as the saltbush (Atriplex) able to grow in salty sand. In this order we also find two unrelated clades of carnivorous plants: in one, the pitcher plant Nepenthes, which turned some of its leaves into water-filled insect traps; in the other, the sundew Drosera, which trap preys with sticky hairs, and the flytrap Dionaea, which do so with mobile beartrap-like leaves.

The carnivorous plant Drosera tokaiensis (Caryophyllales) from Japan. Drops of sticky sugary sap (drosos is Greek for “dew”) attract, trap, and drown insects. Leaves then curl toward the center to create as much surface contact as possible, while secreting digestive enzymes. Carnivorous plants generally evolve in regions where the soil is poor in nitrogen and phosphorus, but they still get the bulk of their energy from photosynthesis. (Wikipedia, Jan Wieneke)

4d5. Asteridae: A large group of Angiosperm orders, with some cellular and biochemical traits in common. In most, flower petals are partially or wholly fused together, but this might not be an ancestral feature.

4d5a. Ericales: Usually small and shrubby. At the center of this order we find heathers (e.g. Erica and Calluna), which form prairies on poor, acidic soils, as well as Rhododendron and the blueberry (Vaccinium) of boreal forests. Other members of the order include the kiwifruit (Actinidia); primroses (Primula); the Indonesian gutta-percha (Palaquium gutta), whose latex was used to insulate wires before the invention of plastic; genus Diospyros, which gives persimmon as fruit and ebony as wood; and finally the rather bizarre boojum (Fouquieria columnaris), whose pillar-like trunk towers over the Mexican savanna. Not enough? Camellias are here -- most importantly, tea (Camellia sinensis).

Boojum trees (Fouquieria columnaris, Ericales) in Baja California. The trunk, up to 20-25 meters tall, is covered in dense, short branches, each a few tens of cm long. (Wikipedia, Qnonsense)

4d5b. Lamiidae

4d5b1. Lamiales: Key of this order is family Lamiales, once called Labiatae “lipped” because of their bilaterally symmetrical flowers, whose petals form a support platform for pollinating insects. Their leaves sprout in pairs, each pair perpendicular to the adjacent ones, and are packed full of aromatic oils: indeed, here we find many of the herbs of Mediterranean cuisine, such as sage and rosemary (Salvia), thyme (Thymus), basil (Ocimum), mint (Mentha), as well as lavender (Lavandula). In another family, we also find the olive (Olea europaea) and ash trees (Fraxinus); elsewhere, the disquietingly-named “broom-rape” (Orobanche), a genus of parasitic plants that completely lacks chlorophyll and grows on the roots of other plants.

4d5b2. Gentianales: Several plants in this order have poisonous leaves, such as dogbane (Apocynum) and oleander (Nerium oleander). Most, however, will be more interersted in family Rubiaceae, as it includes not only Cinchona, whose bark provides quinine used to treat malaria before it could be produced synthetically, and madder (Rubia), used since antiquity as red dye, but also coffee (Coffea arabica).

A parasitic cluster of Orobanche flava (Lamiales), growing in Northern Europe. Note that this plant has no leaves, and no green parts at all, as it has completely lost chlorophyll. (Wikipedia, Jerzy Opioła)

4d5b3. Solanales: Family Solanaceae, whose petals are fused at the base into long tubes, is of greatest interest to humans, mostly because of the South American genus Solanum, which includes both tomatoes (S. lycopersicum) and potatoes (S. tuberosum). However, it also includes plants that produce more-or-less toxic alkaloids with various effects, such as bell and chili peppers (Capsicum), tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), and the deadly nightshade (Atropa belladonna). Almost as important is family Convolvulaceae, with genus Ipomoea, which besides the several species of morning-glories also includes the sweet potato (I. batatas) and the water spinach (I. aquatica). All have distinctive circular flowers with fused petals. The family also contains Cuscuta, another genus of parasitic plants lacking chlorophyll that grows as a leafless vine on trees.

4d5c. Campanulidae

4d5c1. Aquifoliales: A rather small order, mostly made famous by the genus Ilex, which includes both the holly (Ilex aquifolium) with its waxy, spiny leaves, and yerba mate (Ilex paraguariensis), used to make a stimulant tea in South America.

4d5c2. Apiales: The central family Apiaceae was once known as Umbrelliferae “umbrella-bearing”, as their tiny flowers are gathered in branching, dome-shaped inflorescences. Like Lamiaceae they are often full of aromatic oils, and indeed they comprise such herbs and spices as coriander (Coriandrum), cumin (Cuminum), parsley (Petroselinum), and fennel (Foeniculum vulgare), as well as celery (Apium) and carrots (Daucus carota), but also the hemlock (Conium maculatum) whose juice killed Socrates. Elsewhere in Apiales we find ginseng (Panax) and common ivy (Hedera).

A stand of giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum, Apiales), a invasive species in central and northern Europe. Its sap is toxic and produces painful blisters, but only once it’s struck by sunlight. Note the umbrella-like inflorescences typical of Apiaceae. (Wikipedia, Huhu Uet)

4d5c3. Asterales: Here’s the other big one -- with some 33,000 species, family Asteraceae beats Orchidaceae for the title of largest family of the Plant kingdom. Once known as Compositae, for they have structures that would appear to be flowers but in fact are complex inflorescences: the large “petals” are in fact modified flowers that surround a bunch of smaller tube-shaped flowers. They are usually herbs, and infamous for often having little yellow inflorescences that all resemble each other. A great deal of them are known as daisies (e.g. Bellis perennis); after them, the sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is usually named as “type” of the family. Here we also find the dandelion (Taraxacum officinale), the thorny thistles (Cirsium) and their close relative the artichoke (Cynara cardunculus), lettuce (Lactuca sativa), sagebrush (Artemisia), and the giant-leaved burdock (Arctium), whose hooked seeds, by hanging onto animal fur for dispersal, inspired the invention of velcro. Other families of the order have more conventional flowers: for example, bluebells (Campanula).

Flower heads of the daisies Argyranthemum frutescens from the Canaries (Asterales). It is visible how the center of the heads is, itself, a cluster of smaller flowers. (Wikipedia, Forest & Kim Starr)

4d6. Saxifragales: A member of Superrosidae, related to Asteridae here below. Representatives include Liquidambar, sweetgum trees, whose resin is used as chewing gum and in herbal medicine, as well as Ribes, the genus of currants and gooseberries; witch-hazel (Hamamelis); peonies (Paeonia); and Saxifraga “stone-breaker”, which grows on cold, rocky ground. Particularly interesting is the family of Crassulaceae, or stonecrops, little succulent plants with whorls of thick, rubber-like leaves -- such as the hardy Sempervivum (“always-living”).

The Crassulacean from Madagascar Kalanchoe daigremontiana or “mother of thousands” (Saxifragales), a “viviparous plants” that generates hundreds of plantlets from the edge of its leaves. Note how they are developing leaves and roots even before detaching from the parent plant. (Wikipedia, CrazyD)

4d7. Rosidae: A large grouping of Eudicot order, without clear morphological common features.

4d7a. Vitales: A small order, but a precious one: grapes (Vitis vinifera) are here.

4d7b. Myrtales: A rather diverse group of herbs, shrubs, and trees, among which we find myrtles (Myrtus), cloves (Syzygium aromaticum), pomegranates (Punica granatum), and the 700 species of Australian Eucalyptus, which include the tallest flower plant in the world, standing over 100 meters tall.

4d7c. Malvidae

4d7c1. Brassicales: The family of Brassicaceae or Cruciferae (”cross-bearing”, because of their 4-petal flowers) contains radish (Raphanus sativus), turnips (Brassica rapa), several species of mustard, and woad from which blue dye was made since the Neolithic (Isatis tinctoria), as well as Arabidopsis thaliana, the plant most closely studied and raised in laboratories worldwide. But the star of the order is Brassica oleracea, from which selective breeding created a staggering variety of forms: kale from expanded leaves, kohlrabi from the stem, cabbage from terminal buds, Brussel sprouts from lateral buds, broccoli and cauliflower from flowers. Outside of Brassicaceae, this order includes the saltwort (Batis maritima), which grows on the edge of saltpans, and the papaya (Carica papaya).

Some of the many cultivated varieties of Brassica oleracea (Brassicales), all of them the same species. (Found on the web in multiple copies; I don’t know what the original source is.)

4d7c2. Sapindales: Stranely specialized families here. Burseraceae contains both frankincense (Boswellia sacra) and myrrh (Commiphora myrrha), with their odorous sap; Anacardiaceae comprises plenty of fruits, such as cashews (Anacardium occidentale), pistachio (Pistacia vera), and mango (Mangifera indica), but also the poison ivy (Toxicodendron). Finally, Rutaceae, the family of rue (Ruta graveolens) gives us all citrus fruit: lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruits, all a complex web of hybrid species spread over the genus Citrus.

4d7c3. Malvales: Family Malvaceae is named after the mallow (Malva); it also contains the beautiful Hibiscus, whose carpels and stamina are fused into a single column, and the massive African baobab (Adansonia digitata); linden (Tilia) and kapok (Ceiba pentrandra) trees; and the infamous durian (Durio zibethinus), cola nuts (Cola nitida), and okra (Abelmoschus). But the most important members to us are probably the textile species -- cotton (Gossypium), whose seeds are coated by cellulose threads to catch the wind, and jute (Corchorus) -- and of course cocoa (Theobroma cacao), to which we owe chocolate.

4d7d. Fabidae

4d7d1. Malpighiales: In this order we find plants of great relevance for humans, such as flax (Linum usitatissimum, with whose stem fibers linen is made) and coca leaves (Erythroxylon coca); as well as mangroves (Rhizophoraceae), whose semi-aquatic roots have an enormous ecological importance; poplars (Populus) and willows (Salix); and the impressive passion-flower (Passiflora), with its part elevated in multiple tiers. Star of the order is the vast and diverse family of spurges (Euphorbiaceae), which, while recognizable by their milky white sap, have taken an enormous variety of forms, from succulent and spiny cactus-like species (e.g. Euphorbia obesa) to cassava (Manihot esculenta) to the rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis). One more example? Rafflesia, the largest single flower in the world, which in fact is nothing more than a parasite flower drawing nutrients from other trees, and which takes the (red, fleshy, hollow, stinking) appearance of an animal carcass to draw its pollinators, carrion flies.

A tiny sample of the vast diversity of genus Euphorbia (Malpighiales). From left to right: E. myrsinites (Mediterranean), E. obesa (South Africa), E. pulcherrima (”Poinsettia”, Mexico), E. actinoclada (East Africa), E. dendroides (Mediterranean). (Wikipedia, Qwertzy2/Frank Vincentz/Sparrer 77)

4d7d2. Fabales: Dominated by family Fabaceae a.k.a old Leguminosae -- the family of beans. Here we find all types of legumes, from true beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) to peas (Pisum sativum) and from soybeans (Glycine max) to peanuts (Arachis hypogaea), whose fruits ripen underground. They also include the common clover (Trifolium), the touch-me-not (Mimosa) famous for its mobile leaves, and acacia trees (Acacia). These plants have bilaterally symmetrical (zygomorphic) flowers, and nodules in their roots that host symbiotic bacteria such as Rhizobium (see part 1). These bacteria can break down nitrogen gas in the atmosphere and convert it into ammonia, which can be taken up by plants as a source of reactive nitrogen. This allows beans to pack their seeds full of proteins, and explains the traditional use of clover and alfalfa in crop rotation to enrich the soil.

4d7d3. Fagales: Mostly an order of trees with clustesr of little, wind-pollinated flowers. Here we find a lot of trees familiar from northern temperate forests such as birches (Betula), alders (Alnus), hazelnuts (Corylus) (in family Betulaceae); beeches (Fagus), chestnuts (Castanea), oaks (Quercus) (in family Fagaceae); and walnuts (Juglans). The seeds of Fagaceae, enclosed in wooden shells, are common as food for humans; the bark of the oak Quercus suber provides cork.

Temme-Lauri, a 700-years-old oak tree (Quercus robur, Fagales) in Estonia. (Wikipedia, Abrget47j)

4d7d4. Cucurbitales: The star here is Cucurbitaceae, the family of gourds, squashes, and pumpkins (terms overlapping for various species of genus Cucurbita), as well as melons (Cucumis melo), cucumbers (Cucumis sativa) and watermelons (Citrullus lanatus). They are all vines with large fruits that are essentially massive berries, with a thick rind and seeds embedded in a fibrous pulp. Begonias (Begonia) are elsewhere in the order.

4d7d5. Rosales: The order is of course named after roses (Rosa), but it also includes a great variety of fruit trees and shrubs closely related to roses, such as apples (Malus) and pears (Pyrus), strawberries (Fragaria), thorny blackberries (Rubus) with their compound fruits, and the many-formed genus Prunus, which contains at once peaches, apricots, plums, cherries, and almonds. (Incidentally, the true fruit of Prunus is the woody pit, which defends seeds packed in turn with cyanide; the edible pulp is a secondary coating.) All these species fall in family Rosaceae; all non-Rosaceaean Rosales have small, wind-pollinated flowers. Almost as rich, family Urticaceae is named after nettles (Urtica), which defend themselves with needles full of formic acid, but also includes fig trees (Ficus), hemp (Cannabis) and the hops (Humulus lupulus) used to make beer. Elsewhere in Rosales we also find elms (Ulmus) and mulberries (Morus), whose fresh leaves are the only suitable food for silkworms.

Summary. Dates (mostly based on Bell &al 2010) are always in million years before the present.

Sources Bell &al 2010, “The age and diversification of the Angiosperms re-visited” (link) Crane & al (2004), “Fossils and plant phylogeny” (link) Novikov & Barabasz-Krasny (2015), “Modern plant systematics” (link) Qiang & al (2004), “Early Cretaceous Archaefructus eoflora sp. nov. with Bisexual Flowers from Beipiao, Western Liaoning, China” (link) Sánchez-Baracaldo & al (2017), “Early photosynthetic eukaryotes inhabited low-salinity habitats” (link) Singh (2019), Plant Systematics: An Integrated Approach (4th edition), CRC Press Simpson (2019), Plant Systematics (3rd edition), Academic Press Willis & McElwain (2002), The Evolution of Plants, Oxford University Press

#biology #taxonomy #phylogeny #Tree of Life #longpost

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chaosthroughdesign · 2 years

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FINAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Da'at Darling . (2020). what is choas magick? Occult 101. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbk2kYsDgvY&list=PLHv1y-ek1BfhraEESWWeRtcR7okDCf1Pk&index=2&t=466s . Last accessed 20/5/22.

9 World Chronicles. (2021). What Is Chaos?. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AodmX9v0l4k&list=PLHv1y-ek1BfhraEESWWeRtcR7okDCf1Pk&index=1&t=222s . Last accessed 20/5/22.

ogniank. (2008). Chaos Theory . Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnlkKdDXk-I&list=PLHv1y-ek1BfgpGm6uS5VXPoigbZFG_biv&index=3 . Last accessed 20/5/22.

Andy Elliott Craft & Creations. (2013). Liquid Sound Wave Tests . Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVhYuqr03IQ&list=PLHv1y-ek1BfgpGm6uS5VXPoigbZFG_biv&index=2 . Last accessed 20/5/22.

Dr Ben Miles. (2014). Do You Want To Build A Fractal?. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hVod9OnB6vI&list=PLHv1y-ek1BfgpGm6uS5VXPoigbZFG_biv&index=4 . Last accessed 20/5/22.

jamcdonald120. (2016). How to Make a Fractal. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBSeDgOIWKM&list=PLHv1y-ek1BfgpGm6uS5VXPoigbZFG_biv&index=5 . Last accessed 20/5/22.

Delyan Grozdev. (2018). Tokyo Shibuya crossing during rush hour. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bi61ue_cpMY&list=PLHv1y-ek1BfgpGm6uS5VXPoigbZFG_biv&index=7 . Last accessed 20/5/22.

Visualization 101. (2020). Lorenz Attractor Visualization - Simulation of Chaos a.k.a Butterfly Effect. Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqDQwEvHGfE&list=PLHv1y-ek1BfgpGm6uS5VXPoigbZFG_biv&index=8 . Last accessed 20/5/22.

keirajhill. (2022). chaos . Available: https://www.pinterest.co.uk/keirajodie/chaos/ . Last accessed 20/5/22

Richard Allen Harvey. (2017). CHAOS theory documentary . Available: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BvTKBYBMFY . Last accessed 20/5/2

Shoichi Aoki (2001). FRUiTS. //: Phaidon Press. 272.

Martin Handford (2007). Where's Wally in Hollywood?. united kingdom: Walker Books . 26.

Primary research

A lot of my research was primary, I asked a variety of people for their idea of what chaos is, then used their perceptions and my own to create my on research using practical experiments to develop my research.

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gd4-vincular · 12 days

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Writing Initiative #6

Which piece did you present to the class today? How does it relate to the other pieces previously presented?

During this class, I presented my experimental piece, which was intended to be an investigation board followed by a narrative for viewers to solve. I presented only a sketch and the materials I could potentially use, including a newspaper print from my past projects, which could ha serve as "evidence." Initially, the concept was to depict a case already under investigation, along with photos, transcripts, call logs, and sticky notes. The pins on the board would connect the clues, revealing a word when viewed as a whole from a distance. This piece does not connect to any of my previous pieces, aside from it obviously relating to my word. I wanted to remove myself from exploring relationship dynamics and find other ways to create a link between events, exploring how one decision or action can be interconnected.

2. Describe 2–3 specific strengths your classmates found in your work and their reasons for identifying them.

Only one strength was identified, which involved implementing a large interactive board for viewers to engage with. However, the idea didn't prove as strong as anticipated because it was somewhat literal, lacking a meaningful representation of my word. The feedback suggested exploring a different concept related to my word or making the piece itself more captivating.

3. Describe 1–2 specific ways your classmates thought you could improve this work going forward.

Many suggestions were given on how to improve my work, including the use of different materials to add depth to my piece. Since my piece is a simple investigation board, one suggestion was to incorporate an interactive element using magnets. This interactive feature would enable viewers to connect evidence pieces and reveal clues leading to the solution or suspect.

Another suggestion was to depart entirely from the concept of an investigation board and its narrative. Given that the investigation board concept felt too literal in representing my word, I was suggested to create a board centered around other concepts such as the butterfly effect, Mandelbrot set, or fractals.

4. Consider the remaining outcome you still need to present in the remaining classes; why have you put this one off to the last?

I envisioned creating a suspect/investigation board for an experimental piece. However, after presenting my work in progress, I struggled to delve deeper beyond the idea of simply portraying a narrative representing my word. It felt too literal. Despite attempts to generate new and stronger ideas, I found myself fixated on previous projects, both 3D and 4D pieces centered around the red string theory. The feedback on the experimental piece left me feeling uncertain about how to approach my reflective piece. I haven’t considered any ideas on it, prioritizing the completion of the projects I would reflect on. This approach would guide my process, allowing me to organize my thoughts and better understand my reflective piece.

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full-of-jams · 4 years

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Tangsuyuk Love

Pairing: Jungkook x Reader

Summary: College student Jungkook passes cute notes with a customer who always orders take-out tangsuyuk at his part-time job. Meanwhile he’s trying not to miserably fail his Math class, while hiding his ever-growing crush on you.

Genre: college au, f2l, fluff, smut, one shot, did I mention FLUFF?

Warnings: mild swearing, sexual content, hold your heart palpitations!

Word Count: 11.5k

A/N: I wanted to write something light and sweet before I continued with Good Riddance. It will be easy, she said. It will be fun, she said. It will be quick, she said. Ha. haha. ha. ha. Ignore my pain. Enjoy!

°°°°°°°

[09/04 18:34 PM] User: LatteIsHorse ---------------- ORDER [DELIVERY] 1 Tangsuyuk (large) 1 Jjamppong 2 Kimchi Mandu ---------------- Note: Without pineapple! Please make the jjamppong extra spicy, my boyfriend just broke up with me T-T

Golden Bang 7 Wausan-ro 29-gil, Seogyo-dong

Server: JK ------------------- TO GO

1 Tangsuyuk (large) -- 20,000 1 Jjamppong -- 5,000 2 Kimchi Mandu -- 6,000 1 Soju -- 0

Total: 31,000 -------------------- Thanks for ordering at Golden Bang! Have a golden day!

Note: Service! Nothing’s better than the fresh taste of soju to lighten a heavy heart :) Cheer up LatteIsHorse-Nim!

Paper Note: JK-nim, thanks for the soju. It sweetened my bitter night. This is Tokki, please give him a loving new home! TT-TT

Jungkook was fucking terrified of you. If it weren’t for the fact that he was close to failing Statistical Analysis, he would’ve considered faking a stomach flu and making a beeline straight out of the library.

“If you have a box containing 3 white, 4 red and 5 black balls what is the probability that you will draw a white ball on your first draw and a black ball on your second draw?” you asked again through gritted teeth.

You looked up at Jungkook and were met by an empty stare. Usually you enjoyed tutoring your fellow classmate. He was a smart and funny guy, maybe a bit awkward at times, but always trying his best. Today every little thing grated on your nerves. It took you every ounce of energy to get out of bed and look like a presentable human being this morning. You really didn’t want to sit here for another hour if the boy was just going to stare at you like a petrified statue. “It’s really not that difficult. You just have to apply conditional probability.”

Jungkook let out a frustrated huff and pulled at his hair, “I really don’t know, this doesn’t make any sense! Why do I even need this stuff for my major? Who cares if I pull out a white ball or a black ball first? It’s not like I’m planning on becoming Houdini!”

Sometimes you pitied him, but who on Earth had an irrational fear of Gauss distributions and probability?! They were beautiful, harmless, abstract concepts of life. Your sympathy was muffled by a thrumming headache. All the late-night crying already had you chugging water and slapping ice cubes on your face at breakfast. Right now you just wanted to go home, change into your pjs, order some tangsuyuk and binge watch Boys Over Flowers. The cringy acting and Go Jun Pyo’s luscious locks were the only things that made your miserable life feel a bit less pathetic at the moment. “Jungkook, we went over this last time. Just apply the damn formula,” you snapped.

“Why are you being so scary today?” he asked wide-eyed and apprehensive.

You took a deep breath, rubbed your temples and tried to calm your inner turmoil. It wasn’t his fault; you were just in a really shitty mood. “I’m sorry. It’s not my day today. Is it okay if we rain check? I promise I’ll make it up to you next week.”

Jungkook wasn’t used to seeing you this distraught. He wracked his brain on how to lift your spirit. “Hey, do you want to hear this math joke my friend Jin told me the other day? What do you call an angle that is adorable?”

The boy scrunched his nose adorably and waited for your response. He was really handsome, you noticed that back when you two first met. Back then you just didn’t have a reason to care. Back then you still had a boyfriend.

“I don’t know, tell me,” you answered.

“Acute angle!” he said with a timid smile.

Despite your foul mood you had to snort at his joke.

Jungkook’s smile grew wider. It wasn’t a full laugh, but at least your frown disappeared. He discovered early on that you had a soft spot for bad math puns.

Although he absolutely detested Statistical Analysis, he has come to enjoy your study sessions over the past couple of weeks. The TA of his class, Namjoon, was a close friend of Jungkook’s and a sunbae of yours. Once he discovered that his favorite dongsaeng was abysmal at reading a z-score table, he immediately referred him to you.

At first Jungkook was very reluctant to accept any help. He was a mechanical engineer for fuck’s sake! He calculated distributed load across uneven surfaces and directional derivatives all the time!

His inner protests died down during your first session when you unwittingly asked him if he was constipated while he tried to calculate the standard deviation. During your second session he noticed you liked to doodle small geometric and fractal comics on his work sheets whenever he was solving a problem.

‘What did the triangle say to the circle?’ ‘You’re pointless!’

By the time your third session rolled around he still hated statistics, but it was too late and he’d developed a hopeless crush on you. Your monologues about dead mathematicians and the beauty of an infinite series were oddly captivating. He didn’t think he’d ever met anyone who was so passionate and animated about anything in all his life.

“Is everything okay?” Jungkook asked carefully. You seemed tired and a bit wary. “I-I mean, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t feel like it. Sorry, it’s none of my business,” he immediately added.

You smiled at his flustered state. Jungkook’s heart stumbled when your smile turned sad and you said, “No not really, but I’m sure I’ll be fine sooner or later.”

[13/04 19:12 PM] User: LatteIsHorse ---------------- ORDER [DELIVERY]

1 Tangsuyuk (large) 1 Jjajangmyeon 1 Jjajangbap ---------------- Note: JK-nim! Omg your tangsuyuk is the best! I could drown in that sauce! How is Tokki doing?

Golden Bang 7 Wausan-ro 29-gil, Seogyo-dong

Server: JK ------------------- TO GO

1 Tangsuyuk (large) -- 20,000 1 Jjajangmyeon -- 4,500 1 Jjajangbap -- 5,500

Total: 30,000 -------------------- Thanks for ordering at Golden Bang! Have a golden day!

Note: LatteIsHorse-nim! Little Tokki is doing well and bravely guarding our store! Don’t drown, but here’s some extra sauce for you to enjoy. I asked for it to be without pineapple. Hwaiting!

“Yah! Why does it smell like rotten take-out in your bedroom?” Jisoo asked.

Scowling has become your new go-to expression. “Too soon. Just let me wallow in my self-pity and sorrow.”

If you didn’t know any better you would’ve thought your friend was playing ‘The Floor Is Lava’ considering how gingerly she walked across your room. Safely on the other side, she ripped open a window to let some much needed fresh air in.

“I think you’re going to be wallowing in mold and fungus instead,” Jisoo commented with disgust. “Wallow all you want, I’m here to support you, girl. But I can’t allow you to turn your place into a biohazard zone. Isn’t your sister bothered by this?”

“My sister doesn’t care; our rooms are off limits to each other. As long as we both keep the common area clean, she won’t complain,” you said.

Jisoo sat down on your bed and patted the empty spot next to her. She immediately retracted her hand. “Eww, is that tangsuyuk sauce on your sheets?” she asked, completely appalled.

You shrugged and thumped onto your bed.

“So what are your plans for tonight?” she asked, trying to suppress a shudder.

“It’s Monday night. What plans could I possibly have?”

“We’re in college! Weekdays, weekends, they’re all the same!” your friend exclaimed. She looked at your sprawled-out figure. “I told you from the very beginning he wasn’t good for you. I know it doesn’t feel like this right now, but you’re lucky he’s out of your life. I really can’t watch you torture yourself over a jerk like him. Let’s go out to Hongdae!”

“I can’t go out. I already have plans.”

“Didn’t you just say you didn’t have any plans?”

“I lied. I have a date.”

Jisoo paused for a second, unsure how to respond. “Really? With whom?”

“Gong Yoo. We promised to kiss each other on first snowfall,” you responded listlessly.

“Yah!” Jisoo yelled and smacked your butt.

“Oww! What was that for?” you cried in surprise, rubbing the tender spot.

“Re-watching Goblin is not a date! You scared me for a second,” Jisoo said.

“How is it not a date? I meet a hot oppa, multiple hot oppas, we have dinner together, I giggle and blush and at the end of the night I get kissed to sleep.” You sat up and gave your friend a weary look. “I really don’t want to go out right now, but also don’t want to be on my own. Can’t we just stay in and watch a drama?” you asked with the saddest face you could muster.

Jisoo wanted to argue, but she couldn’t resist your pout. “Fine. But first you change your bedsheets, I’m not gonna sit in moldy tangsuyuk sauce all night. And I get to choose the drama.”

“Call!”

[16/04 17:58 PM] User: LatteIsHorse ---------------- ORDER [DELIVERY]

1 Tangsuyuk (small) 1 Kimchi Kimbap 1 Beef Kimbap ---------------- Note: JK-nim thanks for the extra sauce! It was delicious. Are you a dipper or a pourer?

Golden Bang 7 Wausan-ro 29-gil, Seogyo-dong

Server: JK ------------------- TO GO

1 Tangsuyuk (small) -- 13,000 1 Kimchi Kimbap -- 2,500 1 Beef Kimbap -- 2,500 1 Soup -- 0

Total: 18,000 -------------------- Thanks for ordering at Golden Bang! Have a golden day!

Note: LatteIsHorse-nim! Personally, I’m a dipper, but I don’t discriminate! I added some broth as service for you. It’s chilly tonight. Don’t catch a cold!

Paper Note: JK-nim, let’s be friends? I’m also a dipper! Did you know that butterflies can’t fly when they’re cold? Here is one that I folded, sending back my warmest thoughts to you on this frosty spring night.

The first thing that caught your eye was Jungkook who was patiently waiting at the library entrance. Despite the steaming goods in his hands, his entire body was shivering. The temperature suddenly dropped last night, but he couldn’t be bothered to dig up his padded jacket when he left the house this morning.

Before you could even greet him, he shoved a hot milk tea towards you and mumbled, “Here, it’s cold today so I thought you could use something warm.”

You were surprised by this sweet gesture. “Thanks,” you reached for it and examined the drink in your hand, ”How did you know I like black milk tea?”

He ducked his head and mumbled something into himself.

“Sorry, what did you say?”

Jungkook lifted his head. His cheeks and nose were a lovely wash of pink from the cold. “You mentioned once that you’re an OG milk tea drinker, so I just guessed” he repeated again, louder. “I saw this bungeoppang cart on the way here. We can share them while studying?” he said, holding up a small paper bag.

Your heart warmed and for the first time in weeks your face split into big smile, “Sure, I love bungeoppang! We’re not allowed to eat inside the library. So how about we eat everything first before they get cold and then go in?”

The both of you took a seat on a bench. By now Jungkook definitely regretted being too lazy to find his jacket this morning, but he was determined not to let it show. He passed the bag full of bungeoppangs to you.

You happily reached for one of the fish-shaped pastries and started munching on it. Your face crinkled, steam came out of your mouth. Jungkook’s heart skipped as he watched you in fascination. Your cheeks were flushed. A sudden instinct to stroke your rosy skin overcame him. Instead he reached for a bungeoppang and took a careful bite. “Are you feeling better today?”

“A little bit,” you said between bites, “I’m really sorry about last time. I feel bad now. I ditched you and now you’re treating me to snacks.” You went on and stabbed your straw through your milk tea. “I should be the one treating you instead.”

“I like to treat you,” Jungkook said, mesmerized by the way your lips moved against the straw. He suddenly realized what he was doing and cleared his throat, “A happy teacher is a good teacher! You’re already spending your time tutoring me.”

A laugh slipped out of you, “Jungkook, you’re paying me for your lessons. But it’s okay, this bungeoppang and tea definitely hits the spot, so I’ll accept it with a grateful heart. What are you drinking?”

Jungkook looked down on his drink and gave it a shake, the black pearls swirled around buoyantly. “Banana milk tea, I prefer sweet drinks.”

You leaned back against the bench and looked up at the clear blue sky. “Sweet things are the best combat against the bitter taste of life,” you sighed. You closed your eyes and soaked in the crisp air. Jungkook felt your melancholy, he could warm your body, but he didn’t know how to warm your heart.

“Sorry that I’m bothering you with my personal stuff. It’s just that I had a really bad breakup recently. I shouldn’t let it affect our lessons,” you said with a wistful smile as you lifted your head again.

The boy next to you remained silent. You turned and saw a contemplative look on his face. “It’s alright, everyone can have a bad day,” he finally said, “You don’t have to pretend to be okay when you’re not. If you’re never angry or sad, you won’t know when you’re happy.”

His words stunned you. Has Jungkook always been this thoughtful? You turned away from his gaze and looked down at the pastry in your hand. “They’re rhombus shaped,” you muttered in an attempt of distraction and showed your bungeoppang to Jungkook. “The fish scales,” you added when he looked confused.

“Ah yeah, the scales. It’s actually erroneous since most of the bungeoppangs depict a ganoid scale structure when in fact carps have cycloid scales to allow for a greater flexibility,” Jungkook explained.

A blank look appeared on your face. Probably the same blank look he had whenever you tried to explain the Bayes’ theorem to him. He let out an awkward laugh, “We studied the mechanics of fish scale structures in Material Science. You can correlate the flexibility of a scaled surface depending on its underlying geometric structure and material. It’s pretty cool stuff.”

“I can’t believe you can geek out about the geometry of fish scales, but don’t know how to define your probability population,” you snorted in disbelief.

“Hey, when will I ever need to calculate the probability of two people with the same birthday in a room? I just have a hard time learning stuff I never have to apply,” he said defensively.

Then you suddenly had an idea. “Tell you what, how about this? If you pass your statistics final, I’ll treat you to the best Chinese take-out in town! You can order whatever you want!”

Jungkook didn’t want to dampen your excitement by telling you that his part-time job already allowed him to eat as much Chinese take-out as he wanted. “Okay, but don’t complain when you go broke. My record was five jjajangmyeon and two tangsuyuk in one sitting.”

You batted away his challenge. “First you have to pass your finals,” you teased.

“I’ll pass,” Jungkook said.

You smiled at his cute determination. “Then it’s a date.”

Jungkook beamed back at you. “It’s a date.”

[05/05 18:21 PM] User: LatteIsHorse ---------------- ORDER [DELIVERY]

1 Tangsuyuk (large) 2 Pork Mandu 1 Tteokkguk 1 Jjajangmyeon 1 Tteokkbokki ---------------- Note: No pineapple plz. JK-nim! Happy Children’s Day! For this special occasion I’ve decided to order all of my childhood favorites. Life is too short to eat bad food. I hope today you treat yourself to something delicious as well!

“Yah! JK! Your girlfriend placed an order again!” Yugyeom yelled across the store.

A mop of black hair peaked out from the back of the shop. “She’s not my girlfriend, she’s just a regular,” Jungkook yelled back.

“A regular you flirt with,” Yugyeom snickered, “I saw all the notes you left her in the system. ‘Don’t catch a cold!’, ‘Hwaiting!’ Don’t tell me that’s not your lame attempt at flirting.”

Suddenly an angry Yoongi stomped out of the kitchen. “Keep it down boys, we have guests here.”

Jungkook went up to the register and printed out the online order. “Hyung, can you make a large tangsuyuk without pineapple?”

“It’s a national holiday, there’s like two people here tonight,” Yugyeom muttered under his breath.

“What did you say, Yugyeom?”

“Nothing, hyung!”

Yoongi snatched the order out of Jungkook’s hand and gave both boys another irritated glance before he headed back into the kitchen.

“Hey JK,” Yugyeom said in a lower voice as he moved next to his friend, “aren’t you ever curious how LatteIsHorse is like? I mean, she must have some sense of humor judging by her username.”

“Sometimes. Don’t you ever wonder how our regulars are like? But it’s not like I’m ever gonna meet them or know it’s them when they come into the store,” Jungkook said with a shrug.

“You could though. Mingyu’s out on delivery, Eunwoo’s off so we have a free bike. The store is dead tonight. You could go deliver the order and have a look,” Yugyeom spurred him on.

Jungkook considered his friend’s suggestion. Every time he opened his locker a little origami bunny and butterfly stared back at him and brightened his day. It was true, he was curious how LatteIsHorse was like. “Okay I’ll go, but don’t pretend you’re doing me a favor. You just don’t want to do delivery tonight.”

A pretty girl in a Yonsei hoodie and shorts opened the door. She somehow looked familiar, but Jungkook couldn’t place from where. Maybe he met her on campus before.

“Delivery from Golden Bang,” Jungkook said, holding up his metal box.

“Ah great! I’m starving!” the girl said.

Jungkook started unloading the box and handed the dishes to the girl. Once he was done, he lingered awkwardly in the doorway. The girl gave him a curious look, clearly wondering why he wasn’t leaving. Jungkook gathered his courage and said, “I’m JK by the way.”

What followed was a beat of silence. Jungkook could feel his ears burn.

“Err, it’s nice to meet you, I guess? Is there anything else you need?” the girl asked after the painful pause. “Ah got it! Just a sec!” She ran into the apartment and came back with her wallet. “Here’s a tip, we’ll put the dishes back outside for pick up,” she said as she scrunched a bill into Jungkook’s hand, “Thanks for your hard work. Happy holiday!” And then she shut the door right into his face.

What just happened? Jungkook was stupefied. After an eternity he finally moved and mechanically pulled out his phone. He checked the delivery order on his app. LatteIsHorse – this was the address. She didn’t recognize him. Why was he so naive to believe that she would remember him? All he wanted in that moment was for the ground to open and swallow him up.

“Dinner’s here,” your sister said as you came out of the shower. “Did you order banana milk?”

“No? Why?” you joined her at the dinner table and started rummaging through the dishes. “Where’s the receipt?”

“I threw it in the trash,” she said. When she saw you opening up the trash can and fishing for it, she added, “Gross! What are you doing? Why do you need it?”

Golden Bang 7 Wausan-ro 29-gil, Seogyo-dong

Server: JK ------------------- TO GO

1 Tangsuyuk (large) -- 20,000 2 Pork Mandu -- 6,000 1 Tteokkguk -- 4,500 1 Jjajangmyeon -- 4,500 1 Tteokkbokki -- 3,000

Total: 38,000 -------------------- Thanks for ordering at Golden Bang! Have a golden day!

Note: LatteIsHorse-nim! Happy Children’s Day to you too! I added my favorite childhood drink, banana milk! I hope it brings back as many happy childhood memories for you as it does for me.

There, sitting on the table, was a small bottle of banana milk. A smile spread across your face. “I need to file it away for tax purposes.”

Your sister looked at you like you were crazy. “Let’s eat already, I’m starving. Wash your hands.”

[14/05 16:55 PM] User: LatteIsHorse ---------------- ORDER [TAKE AWAY]

1 Tangsuyuk (small) 1 Jjajangbap ---------------- Note: JK-nim, hope you’re doing well. I’m in the area today, so I thought I’d stop by and say hello in person! Is it weird that I feel a bit nervous?

The restaurant door wasn’t going to open itself. The past 15 minutes of you standing in front of it has proven that. You had some errands to run in Hongdae after school and decided on a whim to place a pickup order at your favorite take-out place.

Why was it so difficult to enter a restaurant? If you steeled your nerves any more, they’d probably break from how brittle they’ve become. You just had to open that damn door.

Sometimes you wondered if you liked that place more because of its great tangsuyuk or because of JK’s little notes which always managed to put a smile on your face.

One thing was for sure, you weren’t stalling because of the tangsuyuk.

“Welcome to Golden Bang!” a bright male voice rang across the restaurant as you passed through the door.

You walked up to the register and sneaked a peek at the boy’s name tag, ‘Yugyeom’. You felt a slight twinge of disappointment.

“I’m here to pick up my order? LatteIsHorse?” you asked tentatively.

A sign of recognition flashed across Yugyeom’s face. “Of course, your order’s ready! I’ll just bag it up for you,” he said cheerfully. He walked away and quickly came back with a white plastic bag full of food. Then he printed out your receipt and handed both to you.

Golden Bang 7 Wausan-ro 29-gil, Seogyo-dong

Server: YG ------------------- TO GO

1 Tangsuyuk (small) -- 13,000 1 Jjajangbap -- 5,500

Total: 18,500 -------------------- Thanks for ordering at Golden Bang! Have a golden day!

You looked around the restaurant, it was empty since dinnertime was still a while away. You wondered if Yugyeom was managing the store alone right now. At least the cook must be in. “Your tangsuyuk is really delicious. It’s probably my favorite.”

Yugyeom gave you a big smile, “Happy to hear that you enjoy our food so much. The tangsuyuk is our chef’s family recipe. It’s one of our most popular menu items!”

You wringed your hands and finally decided to bite the bullet and straight out ask, “Is JK here? He usually takes my orders when I order delivery, so I just wanted to say hi.”

“JK’s shift doesn’t start until 6, so he should be here in about half an hour. If you want, I can relay a message,” he said with a knowing smile, “Or you can also take a seat and wait for him. I’m sure he’d be thrilled to meet you.”

No way you were going to sit here for half an hour and wait up for a stranger. “Ah no, that’s alright. If you could just say hi from me, that’d be great,” you quickly replied with a flush. JK would probably think you’re a creepy stalker.

“Sure, can do! Enjoy your day!” Yugyeom said merrily as you walked out the store.

A feeling of both relief and sadness passed through you. You slowly walked down the busy streets of Hongdae as you reprimanded yourself for being so stupid. What were you going to say to JK anyway if you met him? Thanks for being nice to me? You’re the reason I don’t burst into tears every single night? You’re the reason why I don’t feel completely alone when I’m sobbing into my food over Song Joong Ki’s acting? Thanks for making me gain 3 kilos in the last month?

Whatever you said, it would’ve only made you sound pathetic.

A crippling wave of desperation suddenly washed over you and rooted you in your tracks. A single tear rolled down your face. Then another. You dropped down into a crouch and started to bawl. You couldn’t fathom how you’ve reached this all-time low in your life. Why did you feel so incredibly sad about being stood up by a stranger? Especially when that stranger didn’t even know you were coming?

“Y/N?” an alarmed voice asked. You looked up when you felt a soft shake against your shoulder.

Through your tear-blurred eyes you recognized Jungkook’s face. He crouched down next to you and asked, “Is everything okay? Are you hurt?”

You shook your head and tried to wipe away your tears. It was a useless attempt as they kept on streaming down your face.

Jungkook hesitantly pushed your hair out of your face and asked, “Do you want to go somewhere else so you can tell me what happened?”

You gave him an imperceptible nod.

His hand gently moved down to your arm, afraid that you were going to push him away. With a steady grip he slowly helped you back onto your feet. Then he slid his hand through yours and led you down the hustle and bustle of Hongdae until you ended up in front of a convenience store located in one of the quieter residential side streets. He sat you down in a plastic chair and told you to wait. After a while he came back with a packet of tissues, a bottle of water and two red bean popsicles.

You gratefully took the tissues and loudly blew your nose. A small part of your brain told you to act more ladylike, especially in front of Jungkook, but the bigger part didn’t really care and just wanted to drag you back down into the pits of loneliness. A strangled sound came out of your mouth as you started to hiccup, making you sound like a drowning cat.

You expected Jungkook to laugh at your weird orchestra of emotions. Even you found it absurd and would’ve laughed if you weren’t already crying and hiccupping at the same time. But all he did was quietly open the water bottle and hand it to you.

As soon as you lifted the bottle to your mouth another hiccup made you almost spill the water on yourself. You held your breath for a few seconds and then took a careful sip. It seemed to work. You took a bigger sip, when another hiccup racked your body and you squeezed water all over your face.

There was a bewildering moment of shock, then you started to laugh deliriously. Forget before, this was your lowest point in life. This was so pathetic that it was hilarious again. Your laughter garbled whenever you hiccupped, only causing you to laugh even harder. You would’ve continued laughing for another long minute if you weren’t choking for air.

A small smile played around Jungkook’s mouth. He took another tissue and started wiping down your face. You hiccupped under his touch. He must think you’re a nutcase.

“I have a question. We have to do some statistical testing in my Quality Management class. What would a hypothesis look like if I wanted to analyze any deviation in a spare parts production line due to temperature conditions?” Jungkook asked.

Did he really forget hypothesis testing already? He finally managed to get it after four sessions! You frowned slightly. “You could set up a null hypothesis stating that a variation in temperature does not significantly impact the parameter of measurement in your production line. Jungkook did you seriously forget this?!” you said indignantly.

Jungkook gave you a playful laugh, “No, I think you drilled it so hard into my brain, I could probably recite all variables of the standard deviation formula if you woke me up in the middle of the night. Your hiccups stopped though.”

They did.

Embarrassment set in as you realized your predicament. Maybe your hormones were going crazy, maybe you were going crazy. You were getting whiplash from the emotional roller coaster you were on. In an attempt to hide your disgrace, you picked up another tissue and wiped away the remaining water, snot and tears.

There was tangible awkwardness in the air.

“I hope you like red bean,” Jungkook said shyly as he unwrapped a popsicle, “Red bean is my favorite. My friends keep on calling me old fashioned, but it just reminds me of the time when my mom used to buy me these after taekwondo class. I think I liked the popsicles more than I liked going to class.” He sighed in reverie and held up the popsicle for you.

You stared at his hand. You remembered how it felt against yours just a few moments ago. Firm, warm and steady. Then you looked up at Jungkook. He hid it well, but you could tell that there was concern behind his encouraging smile.

“This is so embarrassing,” you said as you accepted the popsicle and turned your head away from him, “I don’t know what is wrong with me right now. I’m usually not like this.”

“Did something happen earlier?” Jungkook asked cautiously as he unwrapped his own popsicle and took a bite out of it.

Did something happen earlier? Why did you cry? Where you really crying just because you didn’t meet JK?

“No,” you said and slowly shook your head, “I don’t know. I just suddenly felt overwhelmed.”

Jungkook hesitated before he asked, “Are you sad because of your breakup?”

Were you sad because of your ex-boyfriend?

“I don’t think so. In the beginning when we broke up I was devastated, but I don’t think that’s the case anymore,” you said more to yourself than to Jungkook. “Everyone told me I was lucky to be rid of him. I really didn’t understand why. But I think it’s becoming clearer now. Maybe it’s not sadness. Maybe it’s fear. I think I just feel lost. I don’t know who I am anymore. Maybe it scares me to know that I was able to lose myself and I don’t know if I can find a way back.”

Before you knew it, you spilled your heart, your deepest and darkest fears to Jungkook. You barely knew this boy, yet it still felt oddly comforting. He remained quiet and listened.

“I wanted to meet someone today, but they weren’t there,” you continued, “I think in that moment I just realized how utterly lost I was on my own.”

Jungkook searched for the appropriate words. How do you respond to someone’s most vulnerable thoughts? “I mean you know what they say. It’s not about how much you’ve lost, it’s about how much you have left.”

He peeked at you to check if it worked.

“Jungkook, did you just quote Iron Man at me?” you asked incredulously before a giggle slipped from your lips.

You noticed how his cheeks dimpled when he gave you an embarrassed laugh, “Sorry, I was trying to say something that would cheer you up. I’m probably not doing a very good job.”

In that second you realized how kind-hearted Jungkook actually was. Your heart squeezed. “Don’t say that. Thanks for listening to my problems. And thanks for the red bean popsicle. I also ate this a lot in my childhood. Mainly because my sister hated them. She always used to steal my ice cream out of the freezer so at some point I asked my parents to only buy me red bean popsicles. She never touched those,” you reminisced.

Jungkook laughed at your story, “Your sister sounds like a piece of work.”

“We used to fight a lot, we used to never get along,” you became thoughtful, “At some point that stopped. I think we just grew up and grew to understand and accept our differences. She doesn’t steal my food anymore. I don’t steal her clothes anymore. We may not always agree, but we respect each other’s decisions.”

“You know, for someone who just said she feels lost, you sound pretty self-reflected right now,” Jungkook mused, “Maybe you need to do the same as you did with your sister. Understand yourself and accept the differences of your past and present.”

You paused at this. He was right. You were so desperately trying to fend off these negative emotions that you never took the time to actually think. You were chasing an image that never existed. Not in the past nor in the present.

“You’re surprisingly good at giving advice. Thanks, Jungkook,” you said.

“Surprisingly? What’s that supposed to mean?” he asked, offended. The glint in his eyes gave his teasing away.

Laughter pealed from you. Jungkook was captivated by the sound. He drank in the way your eyes creased with mirth and followed your fingers as they brushed back your hair.

Jungkook’s phone vibrated. “Oh shit!”

“Is everything alright?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I was actually on my way to work and my boss is asking me where I am,” he said as he stuffed his phone back in his pocket.

Jungkook startled when you suddenly jumped up. “Then you should get to work! You should’ve said something sooner. I’m so sorry for keeping you here!”

“No, it’s really fine. I’ve done enough overtime. He won’t complain if I’m a few minutes late,” he said, “Are you feeling better?”

You ignored his question and pushed against his shoulders to get him out of the chair. “Go to work, Jungkook. I’ll be fine, your red bean popsicle did wonders,” you responded placatively.

When he still didn’t move, you grabbed his arm and pulled him back onto the main street. Jungkook’s skin scorched under your touch. “Go to work, Jungkook,” you said again with more emphasis.

“Are you sure…?” he asked, unwilling to let you out of his sight before he knew you weren’t just going cry again at the next street corner.

“I won’t burst into tears,” you said as if reading his mind. “You were right, I need to reconcile with myself. So I’ll go home, enjoy my dinner and think about who I am and who I want to be. And you,” you said giving him another gentle shove, “need to go to work.”

Jungkook saw the stubborn look on your face. He wondered if you realized you were using your teaching voice right now. You weren’t going to take no for an answer. “Okay fine, text me when you get home?”

You waved away his concerns. “Sure. Go already,” you said with a big reassuring smile. “See you tomorrow at school!” you added before you turned around and walked away.

“You’re late,” Yugyeom said as soon as Jungkook entered the store.

Jungkook gave Yugyeom a sheepish look and only muttered, “Yeah sorry, something came up on my way here.” Then he rushed past him to the back of the restaurant and changed into his uniform.

Once he came back out he noticed Yugyeom throwing him strange looks.

“What?”

“Your girlfriend says hi,” Yugyeom said with a hint of amusement.

“Who?”

Yugyeom gave Jungkook a meaningful look, “LatteIsHorse. She ordered pick up. I think she was hoping to meet you. She’s cute. She looks like she’s probably a college student around here.”

“I know,” was all Jungkook replied.

Yugyeom’s eyes bulged in curiosity, “You know? You know she’s cute or you know she’s a student? You never told me what actually happened that night!”

Jungkook gave him a tired look and said, “She didn’t recognize me. She wore a Yonsei hoodie, so I guess she goes there. Nothing else happened.”

“Hmm, that’s weird. She was asking for you today, so she definitely knows your name,” Yugyeom said.

“Who knows, maybe she was having a lot on her plate that day,” Jungkook said with a shrug. He wondered where you lived and if you already got home safely. “Why are you obsessing over this so much?”

“Man, do you know how painful it is to watch your sorry attempts at flirting? I’m just trying to help you out, mate,” Yugyeom quipped.

“I wasn’t flirting! I was just trying cheer someone up who was obviously feeling down! It’s called being a decent human being,” Jungkook exclaimed.

Yugyeom gave him the side eye, “Yeah, that’s still not gonna get you laid.”

[19/05 18:47 PM] User: LatteIsHorse ---------------- ORDER [DELIVERY]

1 Tangsuyuk (small) 1 Bibimbap ---------------- Note: JK-nim, I visited you at the store last week, but you weren’t there. TT-TT I hope you don’t think I’m weird, I just really like talking to you. You always manage to put a smile on my face when I’m having a hard day. We’re still friends, right?

Golden Bang 7 Wausan-ro 29-gil, Seogyo-dong

Server: JK ------------------- TO GO

1 Tangsuyuk (small) -- 13,000 1 Bibimbap -- 5,000

Total: 18,000 -------------------- Thanks for ordering at Golden Bang! Have a golden day!

Note: LatteIsHorse-nim! I’m sad that I missed your visit to our store. I’ll try harder the next time! I added some extra bulgogi to make up for it. :) Of course we’re still friends. I don’t wish any hard days upon you, but I’m glad to hear that my words have a healing effect. In case you ever need a friend to talk to, feel free to talk to me. 010-1234-5678.

The study sessions with Jungkook continued per usual. He still struggled and had frustrated outbursts from time to time, especially when you forced him to revise probability distributions. When you finally reached regression analysis, things became easier.

Although your sessions remained the same, something in your dynamic changed. The both of you became looser and more playful around each other. He wouldn’t clamp up anymore and you felt more at ease around him. You became friends. He never once mentioned that disasterous afternoon.

At home, on the evening of the incident, you shot Jungkook a text and slumped down on the couch. Your sister was out that night, so it was just you in the apartment. Normally, the eerie quiet would’ve unsettled you and you would’ve distracted yourself from your deafening thoughts. But that night you just let them scream, yell and tear at you.

It was an excruciating process, but in the end your head was clearer, your heart calmer. You still weren’t quite there yet, but at least you made a first step out of the endless pit of desperation.

There were other things you noticed about yourself. Gradually you realized you didn’t mind being on your own anymore. You rediscovered your love for drawing and created you own mandala art. You also learned to code your own website and now had a clickable version of your cv on the go. Although you made time for yourself, you weren’t a hermit. You went out for drinks with Jisoo and soon asked Namjoon to take you along to your university’s Math Club. There you met a lot of familiar faces that you’ve encountered in class but never talked to. With them you spent animated evenings discussing stimulating math problems and exchanging incredibly bad math puns.

You also started noticing things about Jungkook. He wasn’t as timid and shy as you initially thought. Once he got over his awkwardness, he turned out to be quite a cheeky and goofy guy. He teased you or told you silly jokes whenever you were on a break. Despite his obvious aversion for statistics, he still took your lessons very seriously. Diligently listening to your explanations and trying to solve the problems to the best of his abilities. His study-mode showed you other sides of him. The cute pout he had whenever he tried to hide his confusion. Or the two little ridges which formed between his eyes whenever he was concentrated and deep in thought. More often than not you fought the urge to smooth them out with your touch or even better, with a kiss.

“Is something wrong?” Jungkook asked when he caught you staring.

“No,” you quickly said, “I was just thinking that you don’t seem to have much trouble with regression analysis.”

“I don’t know, the relationship between the variables just makes much more sense,” Jungkook said.

You looked at him and considered, “Hmm, maybe you don’t need my tutoring anymore?”

Brief dismay crossed Jungkook’s face. “My finals are in three weeks. I think I’d still prefer if you helped me revise the earlier chapters,” he said, “Unless you need more time to study for your own finals.”

Being in college meant that you were always in dire need of more time. That constant nagging voice in the back of your head telling you to study was an occupational disease. But you didn’t have to kid yourself, those four hours a week spent on Jungkook weren’t going to make or break your grade. Besides, you enjoyed spending time with him. You wondered if he felt the same.

“It’s alright, I’ll help you revise. Just don’t embarrass me on your finals. I don’t want Namjoon to tell me afterwards that you didn’t manage to calculate the mean of the population or worse, read the scoring table upside down,” you teased him light-heartedly.

Jungkook’s ears turned bright red. “That happened once!” he said, “How long are you going to hold that over my head?”

You laughed at his indignation. “Don’t forget, you’ll get endless tangsuyuk if you pass.”

[26/05 20:09 PM] User: LatteIsHorse ---------------- ORDER [DELIVERY]

1 Tangsuyuk (small) 1 Jjamppong ---------------- Note: JK-nim, I’d like to get the advice of a friend. There’s this kind, sweet boy that I really like. I would like to tell him how I feel, but he’s seen me in my lowest and ugliest moments. Maybe he’ll think I’m just baggage? I guess I’m afraid of his rejection.

Golden Bang 7 Wausan-ro 29-gil, Seogyo-dong

Server: JK ------------------- TO GO

1 Tangsuyuk (small) -- 13,000 1 Jjamppong -- 5,000 1 Soju -- 0

Total: 18,000 -------------------- Thanks for ordering at Golden Bang! Have a golden day!

Note: LatteIsHorse-nim! It’s only human to fear rejection. I can completely understand. I also have someone I really like. She’s really pretty, smart and funny. Spending time with her makes me really happy, but I never managed to tell her. Maybe we should both gather our courage and cheer each other on? I’m not saying that drunken confessions are the way to go but consider this soju a symbolism for (liquid) courage.

Paper Note: This is a flexagon. Whenever you need a word of encouragement give it a flip!

Jungkook examined the hexagonal origami in his hands. On the outside it read ‘Flip Me!’

He gave the flexagon a flip. ‘JK you’re the best!’ And another. ‘The world needs more people like you!’ And another. ‘Don’t forget that LatteIsHorse is always rooting for you!’ And another. ‘Aja, aja, hwaiting!’ And another. ‘Thank you for being my friend!’

Jisoo barged into you room and flopped onto your bed. ‘Ahhh! I’m so glad you finally cleaned in here. Seriously, if I find another rancid noodle stuck to my clothes, I’ll call in a hazmat team.”

“I don’t know why you’re complaining so much. It’s not even your room,” you said.

“Hey, where are you ever going to find a friend like me?”

Your friend sacrificed many a night away from college parties to binge watch handsome oppas sweep equally beautiful unnies off their feet with you. And she wasn’t shy telling you that.

“Let’s go out tonight,” Jisoo suggested. She rolled back onto her feet and started walking around, inspecting your cleaning job.

“Our finals start in two weeks; I really don’t want to spend my weekend nursing a hangover.”

“I’m not saying you have to get wasted. Tonight is the Pre-Game Night. We have to go!” Jisoo demanded.

The Final’s Pre-Game Night was a campus-wide tradition. Every semester on the Friday a week before finals huge parties were thrown to signal the beginning of the end. It was like a dare – were you confident enough to get completely drunk and still hope to pass your finals? Naturally everybody on campus joined in and drank.

“Not getting wasted at a Pre-Game party? That’s like saying you’ve decided you don’t need to breathe. I really don’t think…”

“What’s this?” Jisoo suddenly interrupted. “LatteIsHorse-nim! Personally, I’m a dipper, but I don’t discriminate! I added some broth as service for you. It’s chilly tonight. Don’t catch a cold!” she read aloud, “LatteIsHorse-nim! Happy Children’s Day to you too! I added my favorite childhood drink, banana milk! I hope it brings back as many happy childhood memories for you as it does for me.”

You flung yourself across the room and almost tripped over your own feet trying to rip the receipts out of Jisoo’s hands.

“Oh. My. God. Is your take-out guy flirting with you?!” she asked.

“No! He’s just a friend. We send encouraging notes to each other,” you tried to explain.

Jisoo threw her hands in the air. “Okay that’s it! We’re going to the Pre-Game party, whether you want or not. You can’t tell me that the only flirting interaction you have is with a stranger who delivers you tangsuyuk!”

The place Jisoo picked out was ram packed and buzzing with energy. It was an open dorm party; all the common rooms were transformed into dancefloors. Different types of music played from each corner of the building. Crates of alcohol were stacked against the walls.

The both of you grabbed a beer and made your way through the crowd.

“You’re going to have fun tonight, alright?”

“I don’t think this works that way,” you laughed.

“Then put some effort into it. We look way too cute for it to go to waste,” she said as you roamed around the floors and explored the different areas. You looked down on your dress. It was a pretty warm night; you had opted for a flowy summer dress with a blush pink floral pattern. Jisoo was right, it was cute.

You discovered a familiar face at the edge of the crowd. “Sunbae!” you said.

Namjoon turned around gave you a surprised smile. “Y/N! Out of all the places on campus, we meet each other here tonight. What are the chances?”

He was surrounded by a group of friends, you spotted Jungkook right behind him. The boy gave you an excited wave. A slow smile spread across your face. “I don’t know, but why don’t we ask Jungkook to calculate it for you?”

Namjoon let out a hearty laugh while Jungkook groaned in exasperation.

“Do you see what I have to put up with every week, hyung?”

“Didn’t you just say it’s the best thing that happened to you?” Namjoon taunted, “You have some nerve showing up in front of me tonight. You better ace your SA finals. Do you know how many favors I had to pull to get Y/N to tutor you?”

“What do you expect me to do?” Jungkook sputtered, “Go home and lock myself up on Pre-Game Night?”

If it weren’t for Jisoo you would’ve done just that. Speaking of Jisoo, your friend cleared her throat and gave you a painful nudge in the side.

“Ah yes, uhm, Jisoo you already know Namjoon. This is Jungkook. You know, the guy I’m tutoring.”

Jungkook gave her a small wave.

Jisoo didn’t even try to hide her amazement. “This is Jungkook? But you’re like wayyy cute!” She turned to you and added still loud enough for everyone to hear, “Why didn’t you tell me he was cute?!”

The embarrassment was obvious on Jungkook’s face. You could tell that Namjoon was getting a rush out of his dongsaeng’s reaction and before he could provoke him any further you decided to jump in.

“Who wants to go dance?” you asked loudly. You turned around and headed to the dancefloor without waiting for any of them to respond.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were tutoring a hunk?” Jisoo muttered under her breath.

“He’s not a hunk. Don’t call him that.”

“Yeah but he’s hot. You made him sound like he was a nerd.”

“He is a nerd.”

Your friend gave you a glare, “Why are we arguing about this? I know you’re not that oblivious.”

Of course you weren’t oblivious to Jungkook, but you weren’t going to tell Jisoo that.

“Let’s dance.” You grabbed Jisoo’s hand and twirled her around.

Namjoon and his friends joined you on the dancefloor. The mood of the crowd was electric. Music pulsed through your veins. Drinks flowed, shots were downed, people pulled out their best, lamest, craziest dance moves. Everyone celebrated like the world was going to end.

After a while you became hot and needed a new drink. You looked around for Jisoo and saw her grinding up against one of Namjoon’s friends. She’d be busy for a while. You inconspicuously moved away from the group and decided to go get some fresh air.

“Wait up,” Jungkook said as he appeared next to you, “are you getting something to drink? I’ll join you.”

His dark curls were slightly matted with sweat. His baggy t-shirt clung to his body. You weren’t sure if it was the alcohol or Jisoo’s damn voice whispering into your ear. He was hot.

You circled your arm through his and pulled him through the crowd. His muscles shifted under your touch. You grabbed two drinks from a crate and handed one to Jungkook, your nerves tingled when his hand brushed against yours. The both of you remained in comfortable silence, leisurely walking through the dorm, neither of you in a hurry to get back to your friends. You explored the facility areas, weaving through pounding and quiet parts of the building.

“You look really nice tonight,” he said after a while.

The heels of your shoes echoed against marble floor of the dark hallway. “Thanks, Jisoo raided my closet.”

“She’s really something isn’t she?”

“She’s the best. I’m grateful to have her as my friend.”

Somewhere further down the hallway you made out two figures pressed against the wall, probably trying to find a quiet place of their own.

“You also look nice,” you said to Jungkook.

“I’m wearing the same things I always do,” Jungkook said, his voice turning shy.

You were getting closer to the couple. You could see how the guy was sticking his tongue down the girl’s throat. She seemed to enjoy it from the sounds she was making. Lucky them.

Your next words were definitely fuelled by your tipsy state, “I guess that means you always look nice.” Jungkook missed a step. You had to laugh at his blunder.

The couple in front of you broke apart and looked in your direction. More annoyed about being interrupted rather than embarrassed being caught. You were about to make a funny comment to Jungkook when your heart stopped and you froze.

A string of saliva still clung to the guy’s lips. His eyes widened when he recognized your face in the darkness. “Y/N?”

Your breath hitched and your grip tightened around Jungkook’s arm. He glanced between you and the guy, the situation slowly dawning on him.

“Why did you stop? Who’s that?”, the girl whined.

“No one,” the guy responded as he returned his attention to her and they started making out again.

Jungkook didn’t know if he wanted to puke or punch that guy. A sharp pain in his arm brought him back to his senses. Your nails dug into his skin. He put his hand around yours and loosened your iron grip.

“Let’s go,” he said and quickly pulled you past the couple. You followed him in a daze. He stopped once you were outside of the building, hidden away in a quiet corner.

His hands reached for your face and he lifted your eyes to his. “Breathe.”

You closed your eyes, let out a long breath and let your head fall against the wall behind you. The horrible encounter replayed in your mind. You had to open your eyes again.

There he was right in front of you. Worried Jungkook, kind Jungkook, beautiful Jungkook.

Your hands reached behind his neck and you pulled him a bit closer. You tried to decipher his gaze, it was dark and yearning. Everything was a haze, the alcohol in your blood made you daring.

“Kiss me,” you whispered.

His mouth crashed against yours. Your hands slipped up into his hair and your bodies entwined. You opened your lips and sucked in his hot breath. Your tongues found each other; he groaned at your taste.

He moved one of his hands down your side until he found purchase on your leg and hitched it up against his waist, pressing his body further into you. You let out a moan when his hips ground into yours.

All your senses drowned in Jungkook. You drowned in his scent, you drowned in his touch, you drowned in his heat. You tried to use Jungkook to drown out the grotesque image from before. Suddenly the heat of the moment disappeared, and a cold shower ran down your spine.

You broke away from your breathless kiss and put your hands against Jungkook’s chest to put some distance between you. He gave you a disoriented look.

“I’m sorry. We shouldn’t have kissed.”

Jungkook’s eyes grew wide and alarmed. “Did I do something wrong?”

His lips were swollen, his hair was mussed. You wanted nothing more than to pull him back in, but you couldn’t. Not here. Not like this. He deserved better.

You pushed yourself off the wall and gave him a small shove. He immediately let go of you and stepped back. “I shouldn’t have kissed you like this,” was all you said before you ran back into the building.

The next day you woke up to a splitting headache and a heart full of regret. You really needed to talk to Jungkook and explain to him why you ran away the previous night, but you were too much of a coward to pick up your phone and contact him. You decided it was better to talk to him in person at school.

The following week at school you waited for him in the library. Your heart was in your throat. Your prepared speech played in an endless loop in your head.

‘I’m sorry I ran away. I shouldn’t have kissed you in that state. It wasn’t fair to you. You deserve better than that.’

You looked down on your phone to check the time. A message blinked. You opened and read through it. Your heart sank. He wasn’t coming. He wanted to study the last week before finals on his own. He thanked you for your time.

Slowly you got up and packed your bag. You blew it. You wanted to do him right, but you only caused him pain. Thinking back, you realized he gave and gave and gave and all you did was take. He was right to stay away from you. There was no way he’d be happy with someone like you.

The week passed and finals week commenced. You immersed yourself in your exams and tried to get over your heavy heart. You were pretty sure you aced Geometry II, but the Numerical Analysis exam was nothing but a blur.

Although your heart ached, you didn’t fall back into the same dark pit of the past. You didn’t feel lost, you got on with your life. Nobody noticed the Jungkook-sized hole in your heart except for you. You wanted to talk about your feelings, but you didn’t think Jisoo or your sister would understand. They’d probably just tell you to get out there and find a new guy.

Another week passed. You were walking out of your professor’s office, finalizing the details of your summer internship, when you bumped into Namjoon.

“Y/N! What are you doing here? Aren’t you off for summer break yet?” he asked.

“I was just discussing my internship with Prof. Kim,” you said.

“Ah you’re participating in his research program?” Namjoon said, “I heard it’s really interesting, he’s intense though.”

“I think intense is fine for me, I need something to do with my brain. Otherwise I’ll just go crazy,” you said with a smile.

“Speaking of intense, what did you do to that kid?” Namjoon suddenly asked.

You tensed. Did something happen to Jungkook? “What do you mean?”

“Did you brainwash him or something? He got a 98 on his SA final! When I handed him over to you, he was still asking me why the positive and negative z-scores tables had different values,” Namjoon said in awe.

Relief washed through you and your chest filled with pride. “Watch out sunbae, I might be coming for your TA position,” you said with a wink.

At home you sprawled out on the couch. Your sister’s classes ended earlier than yours so now she was away with her friends travelling the countryside. Your mind wandered as you stared up at the ceiling of your quiet apartment. You really wanted to call Jungkook and congratulate him, but you didn’t think you should. He clearly didn’t want to be in contact with you, you hadn’t heard anything from him since his text canceling your study sessions.

A pang of sadness washed through you. It should have been a happy moment for the both of you, you should be eating tangsuyuk together right now. You really wanted to tell someone about your joy and your grief.

Then you suddenly remembered your friend. Your friend who never judged and always had something wise to say. Maybe he would understand the conflicts of your heart. You got up and dug through the receipts on your desk until you found the one with his phone number on it.

You hoped he wouldn’t think you were crazy, but then again, he was the one who offered himself to talk to you any time. You typed in the number and hit call. Your phone dialed when suddenly the number displayed switched to a name. Jungkook.

You quickly hit the cancel button and stared at your phone. Did you accidentally hit Jungkook’s contact? Was your phone broken? This time you typed in the number more carefully and hit call. Again, the display switched to Jungkook’s name. You hit cancel.

Your heart began to race. You opened up Jungkook’s contact and compared it with the number on the receipt.

Holy shit.

JK was Jungkook. Jungkook was JK.

The stranger who cheered you on and made you smile whenever you felt down was Jungkook. You combed through all your receipts and reread them one by one. What was the probability for this to happen? This was so bizarre, but it made so much sense. Jungkook was the kindest person you knew. Why wouldn’t he be kind to a stranger who needed some uplifting words and comforting tangsuyuk?

[13/06 18:20 PM] User: LatteIsHorse ---------------- ORDER [DELIVERY]

3 Tangsuyuk (large) 6 Jjajangmyeon ---------------- Note: JK-nim, I hope you’re doing well! Can I ask you for a strange favor? Would you mind delivering today’s order to me? I would really like to meet you and thank you in person for always being by my side! <3

The doorbell rang. Your heart pounded painfully in your chest. You slowly walked up to the door and opened it.

“Delivery from Golden…,” Jungkook’s voice faltered.

“Hi JK-nim,” you said quietly. You opened the door wider. “Thanks for coming today.”

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” he asked.

You had to smile at his look of utter confusion. “I live here. Come in, you can put the food on the dining table.” You turned around and walked back into the apartment.

Jungkook hesitated before he followed you inside. He moved up to the table and unloaded his box. He tried to steady himself. “You’re LatteIsHorse-nim?” he asked skeptically, “I’ve been here before. Last time someone else opened the door.”

He has visited you before? “Oh, that was probably my sister. I live here with her. She’s out travelling right now.”

“So you’re on your own right now? Why did you order so much food?” he asked. A giant mountain of neatly stacked dishes graced the table.

You came up and pried the metal box out of his hand. Then you moved in front of him and unclasped his bike helmet. He flinched at your sudden closeness.

“To celebrate. Congratulations on passing your Statistical Analysis exam. Namjoon told me you passed in flying colors,” you said in a gentle voice. “I promised you the best Chinese take-out in town, didn’t I?”

Jungkook still looked shell-shocked and simply stared at you.

“I’m sorry about that night at the Pre-Game party. I’m sorry I ran away. I owe you an explanation.”

Jungkook regained his wits and swallowed. “It’s okay, you don’t have to explain yourself. I get it, we were drunk. It was a mistake.” He looked down and tried to turn back around.

You grabbed onto his hands before he could move away. “Jungkook, look at me.”

He stopped turning, but his eyes remained on the floor.

You took a deep breath and squeezed his hands. “I really like you. I’ve really liked you for a while now.”

His eyes shot up to your face.

“The reason why I ran away that night was because I felt guilty. I probably would’ve ended up kissing you anyway, but in that moment, I kissed you because I wanted to forget. I didn’t want our first kiss to be like that. I wanted it to be the me who liked you and not the me who tried to drown out her shitty ex-boyfriend. I’m sorry if I hurt you.”

There was an unreadable look in his eyes. Your heart fluttered in nervousness. “How long have you known I was JK? How long did you know I had a crush on you?” he asked.

You could feel your blood rushing through your ears, the butterflies in your stomach beat like crazy. “Since today. I was sad because I thought I couldn’t share the promised meal with you. I wanted a friend to talk to, so I thought to call you. You who was always kind to me, even when I wasn’t kind to myself. Isn’t fate strange? We cheered each other on to find each other.” You had to laugh at the irony of it all.

Your hand hesitantly moved up to his face and stroked across his cheek, “I’m sorry I hurt you. I’m sorry I made you sad.”

Jungkook melted against your touch. “If I’m never sad, I won’t know when I’m happy.” Then he closed the gap and pressed his lips against yours.

It was a sweet but sad kiss. Filled with happiness and sorrow. Every touch was filled with an ‘I missed you’ or an ‘I’m sorry’.

Jungkook pressed you against the edge of your dining table, he lifted you up and you wrapped your legs around his waist. You both deepened your kiss. Your hands snaked through his hair and pulled him closer into you. Jungkook braced his hands against the table and instinctively ground his hips against your core. You moaned his name at the sensation. The both of you broke apart to catch your breaths, you pulled at his jacket and removed his layers of clothing.

You stilled at the sight of his bare chest. He was truly beautiful. Your fingers traced along his skin and marvelled at its silkiness. Jungkook shuddered under your touch. His hands moved under your shirt and you both lifted it off your head. Then you gripped his hands and slowly led them around your back, urging him to take off your bra. You wriggled out of your jeans and laid yourself completely bare in front of him. Jungkook stopped and stared at you, equally amazed.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered.

Your heart swelled and you pulled him back into a kiss. Both his kisses and his hands left a burning trail down your body. His mouth sucked on the soft skin of your neck while his hands moved across your breast, across your stomach, lower and lower. Wetness gathered between your legs.

“Jungkook,” you sighed. The muscles of his back shifted under your touch.

He released your neck with a loud smack and looked at the artwork he created. He still couldn’t get over how overwhelmingly beautiful you were. Your cheeks flushed, eyes bright and his name at the tip of your tongue. He felt himself strain against his confines.

“Please,” you whimpered. You looked down at his hand and tried to silently command him to touch you.

He kept his eyes trained on your face when his fingers moved lower and slid through your folds. Another moan left your lovely lips. He teased you with his touches, gathering your wetness until he finally pushed down where you wanted him most. Your hands dug into his back, your hips bucked, and you threw your head back in pleasure. He steadied your hips with his other hand and slowly pushed a finger inside of you. Another loud moan echoed through the room.

Jungkook was transfixed by you. He added a second finger and started pushing in and out. Your eyes squeezed shut in pleasure and small breathless pants left your mouth. Jungkook increased the speed of his movement and marvelled at the way you reacted under his touch. Then he moved his mouth to your breast and closed his lips around your nipple. You raked your hands through his hair and arched into him. Your core tightened around his fingers. All your nerves were on fire.

You pulled him away from your breast and guided his mouth back to yours. Your tongue traced his lips and you swallowed his moan. You wanted more, you wanted him closer. His fingers curled and his thumb pressed down on you. Jungkook held you tight as you shuddered and fell apart around him.

He rested his forehead against yours, your breath mingled as you both panted into each other. He slowly removed his hand from you and traced his mouth with his slicked fingers, then he moved them to your lips. Your tongue licked the tips of his fingers. His grip tightened around your waist.

“I want to feel you,” you said.

Jungkook shuddered at your words. “Where is your room?”

“The door behind you.”

Jungkook lifted you off the table, you tightened your legs around him and gave him another kiss. He walked you both to your room and gently laid you down on your bed. He took off his pants, then slowly moved onto the bed and hovered above you.

“Tell me what you want,” he said.

Your fingers caressed his face. “I want you to be happy.”

Another shudder ran through him. “I am happy. What else?”

You traced his eyes, his nose, his lips. “I want to be the one making you happy.”

Jungkook couldn’t contain himself anymore. His heart felt like it was about to explode. He covered your body with his and pressed himself into you. Your eyes rolled back as he entered you slowly. You felt so full you wanted to burst out of your skin. You could feel how the Jungkook-sized whole in your heart filled up again.

He rocked into you and took your breath away. Your nails raked across his back and left red lines against his smooth skin. Jungkook ducked his head into the crook of your neck and moaned against your skin. Every pull dragged pleasure out of you, every push brought you closer together.

You wanted more. Jungkook gave you more.

You wanted him closer. Jungkook pushed deeper into you.

With every moan, Jungkook pushed harder, pushed deeper. He wanted to melt into you. He wanted the lines between you and him to disappear. Your desire was his desire. His pleasure was your pleasure.

Jungkook could feel you tightening around him. He moved his mouth over yours and gave you an ardent kiss. The light of your desire turned brighter and brighter until it burst apart into a thousand little flames. You cried against his lips and let the heat consume you. Your body pulsed around his and the overwhelming sensation brought him right over the edge with you.

The both of you laid on your bed and clung to each other. Neither of you willing to let the other go. Your pounding chests beat in tandem. Jungkook stroked his hand across your hair and kissed your head.

“I want you to be happy too,” he said.

“I know,” you said as you smiled against his chest, “You make me happy.”

Jungkook pulled you tighter into him and you remained silent for a while. His hand traced lazy patterns against your skin. Your breathing evened out.

“Are you allergic to pineapple?” he suddenly asked.

You looked up at him in surprise. “No. Why?”

“Because you always order tangsuyuk without pineapple.”

“Oh. That’s because my sister hates pineapple.”

Jungkook frowned, you pulled yourself up and kissed the little ridges between his eyes.

“What?” you asked.

“I think the jjajangmyeon is all soggy by now,” he said.

You had to laugh. “Probably, but the tangsuyuk should still taste great.”

Jungkook kissed you with a smile. “You’re right, tangsuyuk always tastes great.”

°°°°°°°

02/05/20

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rbrooksdesign · 10 days

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"DMT_18," digital + acrylic, April 20, 2024, Reginald Brooks

DMT = Divisor (Factor) Matrix Table

#rbrooksdesign #digital art #color #math #geometry #primes #fractals #exponentials #perfect numbers #number theory #mathematics #butterfly fractal 1 #mersenne prime squares #divisors #graphics #archives #bim

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nightcoremoon · 3 years

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high wall of lothric sucks

undead settlement sucks

if road of sacrifices sucks I quit

and it's not even that the areas are particularly difficult or whatever, but what really sucks is being railroaded into doing them one at a time in a mandatory set order while you get diddly squat as far as soul gain even with the silver serpent ring WHICH YOU NEED 20K TO GET ANYWAYS.

demon's souls, you have the tutorial level and boletaria palace 1-1 but then afterwards you can literally do the rest in any order you want. continue exploring boletaria, go to stonefang keep, go to the tower of latria, go to the shrine of storms, even go to the valley of defilement, do it in whatever order you want, go fuckin nuts

ds1 you can do catacombs first, or new londo ruins first, or lower undead burg first if you're playing broken shitty remastered, or with the master key do darkroot garden or the basin or blighttown first, or go undead burg into parish first. then eventually you HAVE to go to anor londo but then right afterwards you can go to duke's archives or tomb of the giants or the abyss or demon ruins and lost izalith or even oolacile in whatever order you want. and well technically you can do anor londo first if you sen's gate skip, and then do the entire rest of the game in any order.

ds2 gives you five paths fucking immediately. forest of fallen giants, heide's tower of flame, the grave of saints, shaded ruins, and after dragonrider who can literally be killed in 10 seconds, huntsman's copse. in vanilla you can go straight to shulva after black gulch and brume tower after iron keep, you just have to trudge through the gutter and harvest valley. there's variety.

bloodborne and sekiro are pretty open too as far as I'm aware, and elden ring is gonna be a completely open world.

but ds3 it's like, fuck you do high wall first, fuck you do undead settlement second, fuck you do road of sacrifices third, and only then will you have the slightest bit of control over your path.

and already we have gundyr tutorial who is ok if you have magic and ass if you don't, vordt who is, well... not great, dancer who is stupidly OP for early game because hey difficulty is high numbers (right?), curse-rotted greatwood who is literal balls, and... oh you wanted a better variety of first bosses? oh well, too bad.

you go from vanguard to phalanx into either tower knight or armor spider or adjudicator or leechmongeror or fool's idol. that's variety.

you go from asylum demon into literally (gasp) taurus or capra or stray or sif or butterfly or pinwheel or gargoyles or quelaag or iron golem or ceaseless depending on exploits and cheese and that's even more of a variety. you even have hellkite and havel if you count them (I do).

you go from literally the last giant or pursuer or dragonrider or rat vanguard or najka or the rotten first, and then sentinels or gargoyles or sinner or elana or gank squad or skeleton lords or executioner's chariot or the congregation, and then sinh or covetous or freja, or you can skip all of that and unlock the shrine of winter early and you have aava or double dragons. it is an ever expanding fractal blossom.

ds3 it's like... gundyr. vordt. balls tree. crystal sage. then and only then there's deacons and watchers and wolnir and hey by now you're already a third of the way through the game, aside from the dlc, because there's only 19.

plus the level design is fucking terrible.

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the-fae-folk · 4 years

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Story Masterpost

Hey! This took a while to make. But here, as promised, is my story masterpost. I’ve organized some things so you can find them easier, though I’ll admit that “Beauty, Secrets, and Magic” is just the stuff I couldn’t really sort into a smaller category. Of the Fae Unaware Directions Come Running Water Distant Wars Wishes of the Sea In Order To See You Must... An Offer Those who say... Respect is Due An Exchange Cage Come to Us Ancient Wars The Age of Iron What are you? Immortal Hidden Among You First Music The Distant Days Count them with Letters Flower Wars Eyes? The Lost Ones We Fade Believing in Death Prices to pay Dance with the whole World Dreaming Lure *Click* Giants Asleep Fears of Darkness Bigger Problems Listen to the Giants Sweet Faerie Wine The Largest and Tiniest Decay and Dreaming Eyes and Earth Walking Mountains Battle Standard Gnaall Fictitious Dichotomy Faltering Heartbeats Among You Pixie Wings Unable to Perish Bridge trolls What is Fairy Ring? Terrible Wars Beautiful Dreams Kisses in the Night The Will of Trees Make no Mistake Have you Eaten? Beauty and Fashion Can you Calculate the Mind of the Fae The First Skies Do Fae Children Age at the Same Rate? A Dark Memory Black Dwarfs and Dark Futures The Conversation Vows of Love Ship of the Skies Reaching Hands The Little Folk The Prophet of Silvamune Damhán Alla Feasting Lost in the Deep Woods A way out? Faerie Dance Thrice Said is True Fools rush in The Deep Woods Welcome to the Deep Woods Places We Know Silence No Journey Will-o-the-Wisp Where are the Deep Woods? A Dreaming Memory Running Who Knows the Path? Unknown Footsteps Who Speaks? Go Home Whispers in the Mist Mossy Glades Old Gate An Echo of Footsteps Follow Me Tragic Ending The Way Forward is Still Barred Don’t Follow the Wisps Postern Never Know Waterfall When you Go Out Gold-Eyed Beast The Nightmare Step Lightly Bones Alone Golden Eyed Beast In Hiding Forget what comes Something Powerful Standstill Death Beware the Beast The Encounter Companion in the Cold Slumbering The Hunt Begins Again Well of Dreaming Light Screams in the Night Where is the Gold-Eyed Beast? Fear Something has Changed …3 …2 …1 The Crown of Shadow 7 Broken Mirrors Seven Seven Shattered Mirrors Places of Faerie A Faraway Place You The Places Between Distant Wars Buried beneath the Sand Wandering Blind The Lake A Flowered Ocean Exist? Or Not? Life’s Flow Door without a way Time Never Passes Here Only the Stories Remain Cracking Ice Fractal Prison Enough? All that remains is Dust Devastation of Dark Fire More of the Flowered Ocean Cliffs of Illithia and the Naiuruin Forests Beware the Wisps Stardew Deep Furnace Lanterns Lanterns On the River’s Edge The White Hound Do the Fae have Animals? An Old Lantern Lost Letters The Lament Fragment Silent Screams The Wait Together A Near Forgotten Letter Letter from a Brownie Tell a Story Lured Away From the Sea and Shore Warnings Never Free Don’t Stop Eat Not The Rule of Names Defiance Pretend Not To See Swamp Water Trust Me Do not Take Do Not I Seek A Warning

8 Tales at the Hearth’s Edge The Hill A tale of Three Gifts She and He A Chance Meeting The War (Coincidence?) The Girl and the Road Silver Charity A Tale of Autumn Strange Beings The One Who Grieves The Lady The Librarians Not Quite Human Dark Eyed Forge Fires Together the Light She danced upon the Earth Crows for Eyes Wings Aeon Circling A Laughing God Sssssss... Broken Tomb She danced in the Snow The Dragon in the Well What Became of Her... The Prisoner in the Dark She Knows Adventure A Firebird Imprisoned The Child Mine Spoken Before The Descent The Courts of Season The Autumn Days Great Sorrow In the darkest days of Winter The Winter Remains Awakening of Spring End of Summer Wine and Summertime Blustering Winds The Lord of Autumn The Winter Queen Frost The Autumn Court Winter Masque A Cold Truth The Winter Court Nearly Time The End of Winter The Lord of Springtime The Court of Spring Spring’s Song Lovers of Springtime Light after the Rain The Time you Need The Story of the One Who Grieves Nobody Answered ... It Comes Closer Before the Silver Blossoms A West Wind It is Time The End of Spring Other Courts A Courtly Vision A Constellation of Myth Court of Ashes Hosts of Myrkvatn Aiolion Tribes Court of Dawn Castle inside a Raindrop Order The Rivers of Athu The Sidhe The Valley of Ga’Maldor Empire of the Seven Blossoms Canyons of Mür ‘gra Crowns Long Ago Legends Key to Destiny The Second Key The Third Key Three KEYS? About the Cave Crown of Sunlight New Moon Summer’s End What do the Crowns look like? Court of Shadows Autumn to Winter Songs Seek Listen Unknown Follow A Dark Call Burning / Why is it burning? Forgotten Prisoner Chains Come to the Faeries Thorns and Dreaming I Dreamed I Walked Fernweh Stories Told Poetry Bluest Sky Blue Red Yellow Orange Loving Winter Fire and Bone Requiem of a Love Song Eye See You Green Sleep among the Bluebells Song of Stars Night Companion Dancing in the Forest Moon Waters Memory in Sepia Lilies Scream. Cry. Silence. Drifting Faerie Ring Count Them Carefully Fairy Ring Dance Other Tales The Pied Piper Apples for Eternity The Dam Is anyone there? Call to the Sea Warmth Midas Grove of Shadows Resting Place All Hallows Evening Tale The Great Tree Sister of Mine Wit and Words Bread and Circuses Forest and Sea in Sorrow Reflection of the Heart Part 1 The Boy, The Troll, and the Bridge Between Them. The Raven and the Stone Crow Houses and Homes Beauty, Secrets, and Magic Seed Rain Brings Life Such Dreams If Wishes The Ancient Magic Beginning or Ending? Dive Into Silent Unknowns Eternity Like Leaves Imagine you walk across the sand Power of the Moonlight Enchanted Trap Rage Confusion Gifts of Stone Longing for Other Selves Darkened Waves Hunt of the Owl Not You Forgotten. Fairy Tales Curse Ravens Come Look Sun Stars Autumn Reflections Drift Gold beneath Grey Union Incomparable Names Life’s Road Fire in the Heart A sort of Balance Beauty of a Rose Not what they seem Glamour Humanity’s Treasures Compliments Infinity Why must you reject happiness? A Sounding of Silence Winds of Change The Blessing of Indifference In Tears we Grow Beauty A Raindrop The Trouble With Masks Lunar Eclipse Fly Ahead Be Ready Ugliness and Beauty The Secret of Bridges Morning? Wasting Time Widdershins Equilibrium Snail at Home Is it enough? Seven Poisons A Nexus of Roads Silence with us In the Face of Silence Cycle of Burning A Sky full of Joy Cloistered Grove Choices Fly Butterfly Fly Blooming in Adversity Distant Endless Moors Sweet Berries A Dreaming Once Met Seas of Black Sky Heaven’s Peaks Together upon the Road Written in the Stars Stolen Wishes Anew Blooming to the Music Sing A New World Song of Stone Love is... Water to the Soul Eyes will Watch Sometimes its nice Explore Change in the Air Drowning in the Dark The Song Plays On Furnace of Creation A Gemstone Found Upon A Hill Have you? Sometimes the Tree Dies Hold my hand A Simple Magic Of Course New Fallen Snow Seedlings Sleeping Wheel Still Sleeping Snowdrops Enjoy the Spring Cloying Beauty Soft Silence Mystery of the Rose Just Be When We were Here Last Ship Swift River Broken Painful Awakenings The Story of a Butterfly Such Beauty Play On Strawberry Mother and Child Strange Places Beyond Black Suns The Shallow Sea A Foundation of Nothing Awake in the Darkness Endless Darkness Absolutus Infinitus Twilight to Dawn The Burning Light Ruins, Somewhere Quotes from the Writer Alpha Beta Gamma Delta Epsilon Zeta Eta Theta Iota Kappa Lambda Mu Nu Xi Omicron The Journey The Lonely Tree Consider the Stars First City Only the Future Left What makes a Monster? A Secret Place Not Far Off

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ayeshintheclouds · 4 years

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1/5

The End: Manzil

Once upon a time there was a handsome prince named Manzil with the most luxurious life in the Arabian kingdom.

The sun-struck kingdom rose around his palace in beautiful golden minarets, the city below rich with colors and culture. His chambers overlooked the desert landscape, and he loved watching the caravans pass by, the camels adorned with vibrant little tents and the nomads dressed in flamboyant kaftans. His life in the palace was extravagant and lavish, yet he wondered what must it be like to wear clothes that flowed freely, to travel as if you have nothing to lose.

All that his father, the King, ever asked him to do, was to marry the most beautiful girl in the world. She belonged to the kingdom that his father needed to forge an alliance with, and she was the trading pawn, meant to be given to their kingdom as insurance for their contract.

The prince agreed to his father's only request the moment he set eyes upon her beauty. Her hair was as dark as the clear desert sky, her blue eyes as sparkling as the stars that bejeweled it at night. Her skin glowed bronze as if the sun itself were inside of her, radiating a light brighter than he'd ever seen another human carry.

She also carried more sorrow than he'd ever seen another human carry. After days of attempting to coax conversation out of her, he found her personality to be just as dry as the desert sky he'd compared her beauty to.

"I don't understand. What is it you want?" Prince Manzil asked her one day, exhausted and frustrated from being ignored after nearly an hour of one sided conversation.

"To not marry you." was her immediate reply.

He almost choked on his tea. That was perhaps the most response he'd ever gotten out of her. Upon further questioning, he found that his princess had a lover already, that her heart had been promised to someone far before him.

"Why did you agree to this marriage then?" The prince asked, slightly sour now. He wasn't someone quite used to rejection. It did not exist in his world, where one could chop off their own hand and foot it to him if he so commanded it.

The Princess scoffed, whirling to meet his eyes. "Not all of us have a choice, your majesty." She replied venomously. "Both your father and mine would behead me if I disagreed."

Prince Manzil stared at her in shock. She was being forced into this? Was this who his father was? The man who cuts off a tigresses' claws, leaving it defenseless for his son's entertainment? The man who murders the rarest of butterflies and pins their slashed wings on his mantle as trophies?

Suddenly her beauty seemed stolen to him, as if he were wearing borrowed clothes or holding someone else's precious glass. It was a strange feeling for a man who owned anything he ever wanted. But not her. She was not his to love. Nor was she anyone's to own.

Her heart was promised to a merchant from the far corners of the kingdom, who returned every month from his travels to meet her in secret. A man like the one he'd once aspired to be, who lived freely and spoke freely, never under the shadow of his father's power. Their forbidden love stood stronger than anything the Prince ever could've felt for her, and he knew he had to right his father's wrongs. He had to release this captured songbird from her cage.

Together they planned the Princess's escape all night until she was glowing with a happiness he'd never seen her express before him. They'd contacted the man through a caravan that had agreed to bring him back on orders of the prince.

That night, as her true love stood behind the cover of the golden sand dunes, the desert sky glittered with a million stars. Yet as he released her to her lover, she turned to look at him with eyes that burned even brighter.

She touched his cheek gently, and told him, "I am not your home, kind Prince. But your home awaits you." She pointed to the vast desert stretched out before them as the Prince tried to discern what she was pointing to.

He turned back to the Princess to ask what she meant. "What do you-"

Except she was there no longer. And neither was her true love. A breeze circled where she'd stood, and he shivered, pulling his cloak over his head. Confused yet content with his decision, Prince Manzil rode his steed from the desert back into the kingdom.

Only to find the enormous kingdom gates barred.

The King sat on his horse, surrounded by servants. The desert air suddenly felt colder, until the Prince felt exposed and defenseless against his father's wrath. Yet another feeling he'd never experienced before.

"Where is the girl?" The King asked, calmly, looking right into Manzil's eyes.

Suddenly anger coursed through his every vein, fueling the rage he'd felt since he'd found out the truth. Turning his face to the King, Prince Manzil answered defiantly, "I have returned her to her true love. I will not marry someone who is being forced into a marriage for an alliance. It is against my principles."

The King sneered. "How dare your principles go against my orders? Have I not given you the most luxurious life? Bring her back, and I shall have her lover hanged."

The Prince stood his ground, his blood boiling hot underneath his skin. "I will not sacrifice someone's life for your greed, father."

Prince Manzil wasn't sure what exactly happened to the sky at the moment. The peaceful desert landscape suddenly began to rage around him, sand usurped from the ground to rain back upon them, millions of particles spinning in the air.

It was a sand storm. He'd never seen the desert so angry, so vicious. The world around him disintegrated into fractals of sand, assaulting him from every which way.

Great clouds of dust rose around them, violently swirling in the gusting wind.

"Then you are banished! As the prince, and as my son, you are banished from my kingdom!"

Prince Manzil strained to keep his eyes open against the grains of sand attacking him, barely making out the figure of the King's horse galloping away into the dust. The enormous gates were pulled shut by the helpless servants. Manzil's own horse went wild, neighing and sprinting towards the dust cyclone.

So this was who his father was. A man whose son weighed nothing against his wealth. The Prince's emotions felt like the grains of sand, millions of them flung everywhere. Tears stung his eyes, and Prince Manzil was not entirely sure if it was from the grit.

Pulling up his cloak to cover his mouth and nose, he pressed his face into the horse's mane and guided him into the clouds of dust.

Devastated and feeling like his world was ending, Manzil rode off into the desert, never looking back.

He felt himself disintegrate like sand, shattered and scattered into the air until he was everywhere, yet nowhere.

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thiswaycomessomethingwicked · 4 years

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Chapters: 14/14 Fandom: Star Wars - All Media Types, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Orson Krennic/Wilhuff Tarkin Characters: Wilhuff Tarkin, Orson Krennic Additional Tags: all your bases are belong to us, rebels being a nuisance, what is family??, the Emperor is as cryptic as ever, Krennic just wants Wine And A Bath Thank You, Alternate Universe, post-episode iv, Don’t copy to another site Series: Part 2 of Fractals, Butterflies, and Defence Spheres Summary:

Tarkin and Krennic are sent on a mission to redeem themselves in the eyes of the emperor after the loss of the Death Star. Things, naturally, do not go according to plan.

Sequel to Propagating Structure.

Canon, what canon? Only ion-cannons.

It’s over! Multiplicity is done! Many years in the making. Thank you all for coming along on the ride. It means a lot.

Final excerpt!

Krennic watches the construction of DS-2 with sneering contempt. Jerjerrod, he believes, is an uninspired engineer unable to appreciate the full potential of what is unfurling before him. (He railed to Tarkin about this. Tarkin replied: Probably for the best. Which is absolute foolishness on the part of the Grand Moff. And Krennic told him this: That’s absolute foolishness. Because the Grand Moff should know better by now and Krennic knows he does and Tarkin knows Krennic knows but they have a game and rules. It’s a very safe thing, their game and their rules. Krennic plays his aces high, Tarkin low. They make do.)

Bigger than DS-1, DS-2 has greater destructive capabilities that make Krennic’s skin itch with excitement. He paces when he thinks about it. That Jerjerrod is in charge, and not Krennic, is offensive. It’s appalling. Krennic is appalled. And oh, he knows he should count himself lucky. And he does. Truly. He does. He’s lucky, they’re lucky, the emperor was satisfied enough with their performance with regards to rebel-base-destruction to enable a smooth resettlement into old roles and lives.

Krennic found himself promoted to Commander, but denied access to the DS-2 project. He’s not sure what part of the entire thing is more insulting to him. This, too, is something he rails at Tarkin about. Tarkin listens with little patience and snaps that he ought to be content.

‘No, none of us can be content,’ Krennic snaps back.

Tarkin points at him with whiskey glass, ‘You best learn to be.’

#tarkrennic #krennic #tarkin #star wars #this multiplicity #fanfic #writing

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mifsudvisions · 4 years

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Monday night auction!!!!! Here we go!!!!!!! Original painting. 11x14” acrylic on stretched canvas. Starting bid is 150$. Please use at lease 10$ increases. Shipping inside the USA is 15$. PayPal Venmo cashapp or credit debit cards are accepted forms of payment and due at the end of the auction. Games over Tuesday 1/28/20 at 9pm est sharp! Highest bid gets it. 🌈❤️🌈🌈 Unity is what we are meant for and helps us all make the wheel spin that much smoother. #art #artwork #artist #instaart #circle #holdhands #rainbow #chakra #force #light #snowflake #fractal #mandala #spin #portal #butterflies #peace #love #mifsudvisions #thankyousomuch https://www.instagram.com/p/B719lREB1W-/?igshid=1ops543pjwr57

#art #artwork #artist #instaart #circle #holdhands #rainbow #chakra #force #light #snowflake #fractal #mandala #spin #portal #butterflies #peace #love #mifsudvisions #thankyousomuch

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forkanna · 5 years

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Back To The Future and related concepts © Robert Zemeckis/Bob Gale/Universal. Frozen and related concepts © Diznee. This story, plot, and prose © Jessica X and Fruipit. Artwork ©Captnducky. All rights reserved.

WARNING: This story will contain coarse language, incestuous romance between a mother and daughter, and some smut. Also contains Punzanna (Rapunzel/Anna) content. If you have a problem with any of those things, DO NOT READ.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is where the plot begins to diverge a lot more from that of the films. Part I followed the movie very closely, but the many little differences made it impossible to stick that close to the Part II script – or close to it at all. So we went where the writing took us. Sorry for it taking so long for us to get it out there to you, but we hope you are still along for the ride!

[AO3 LINK] [EF LINK]

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The sky flashed. The lightning struck.

Time seemed to freeze for a moment. All ten fingers clamped down around the steering wheel as Anna accelerated toward the thick cable strung between the lampposts, sparks erupting all around the DeLorean. The flux capacitor was ready and only needed the nuclear reaction to power the time-jump. And it was getting it; no sooner had Doc connected two wires at the last possible moment was he blown back from the force of the electricity racing through the connection into a shrub.

Anna McFly squeezed her eyes shut, praying she made it home.

…And then suddenly she was coming to a stop, skidding sideways into a bus stop bench. It made an awful screeching din as it was uprooted from the ground and sent flying back into the nearest building, cracking a single brick with its corner before clattering to the ground.

That could be worried about later. For now… she had to look around and hold her breath.

Cafe 80s. GameStop. Verizon.

She was in 2015. It worked. Despite all the odds, she and Doc had got the stupid time machine working and sent her back to the future.

"FUCK YEAH!" she screamed, slamming the heel of her hand into the steering wheel. "I didn't die!"

Opening the door to the car, she was seconds from jumping out and doing a happy little dance when a familiar van came tearing down the street. Oh no. She didn't die, but someone else would, and soon, if she didn't get a wriggle on.

But it was okay. She could do this. They were from out of town. There were multiple shortcuts she could use to get there before they did. She could do this. Twisting the key in the ignition, the engine roared to life. Briefly.

"No, no, no!" Anna screamed, whacking the steering wheel with her hand. She tried again; once more, the engine sputtered, and died. Why? Of all the times for an engine failure…

She didn't have a car. She didn't even have a skateboard. As she took off running down the street, she had only one thing: desperation.

Never before in her life had Anna run that fast. She lost sight of the van, of course, but she knew Dell Valley like the back of her hand. She was heading straight for Twin Pines Mall.

But one lone teenage girl couldn't outmatch angry armed nationalists in a van, and as she rounded the hill that led to the mall, she knew she was too late. No time to call out, no time to warn Doc the way she had hoped. Only enough time to see bullets raining down onto his chest, blowing him backwards and onto the pavement from the far side of the parking lot.

Before she could even cry out, she heard her other self scream. That was eerie; even worse was watching a radiation suit-clad Anna come around the corner of the truck, shaking with anger and grief. The newly-arrived Anna shared the rage, and could only look on helplessly as she peeled out in the DeLorean. She wanted to do something else, but what could she do? If she interrupted, it would be one of those paradox things. No… all she could do was wait until the flashes of light and fire-trails gave proof of her disappearance.

Then she saw the nationalists firing off the rocket from their launcher, which streaked for the car… and instead blew a huge crater in the ground in front of them. Unable to swerve in time, they drove straight into the crater, totalling the van and probably knocking everyone inside unconscious.

"Good," she managed to mumble through her veil of tears. Hastily, she started running down the grassy hill, tripped, and rolled the rest of the way down. Then she hopped up to sprint for Doc's side.

It only took a few seconds for her to reach him. Collapsing on the pavement next to him, she brought a hand up to press at his face. "Doc…" she whispered. But no answer came.

Goddammit. Barking out a rough sob, she removed her hand. It had other things to do, like wipe at her tear-streaked face. God life wasn't fair. There was a cough – and it must have been her. After all, she was completely alone now…

"Anna…?"

Fuck, she could even hear his voice…

"Anna!"

Her hands were pulled roughly away, and Anna found herself staring at a very surprised, very not-dead Doc Pabbie. His eyes were wide and concerned, and he looked as though he were expecting Anna to say something. But she was entirely mute. Finally letting go of her hands, he brought his own up to his chest, slowly peeling away the lapels of the hazard suit. There was something underneath, and when Anna realised what it was, she felt she could have sobbed again.

"A bullet-proof vest," she croaked. "How… how did you know?"

He looked away at that question, lined features a little ashamed. "Back in '85, your video. And then your insistence to tell me something. Even if you didn't specify… it really doesn't take a genius to figure out something truly heinous would befall me." She looked at him, and he smiled. "Also… an elf left me this."

And from his pocket he pulled out a letter, weathered and yellow. Anna recognised it immediately. She had left her plan B, which had felt as pathetic a backup as a Plan Z when she left it; had he truly found it? She was a little surprised he hadn't just thrown it out.

"The letter," she breathed, eyes streaming so much that she could barely see it. "Oh… it's ripped down the middle…"

"I did start to tear it up when I first found it," he sighed. "No man should know too much about his own destiny. But then I figured…" A little shrug. "What the hell?"

Laughing, she threw herself into a hug, gripping him tightly – full of so much more happiness than the last time she had. The man hugged her back, even though his laughter was punctuated by a groan of pain. After a minute, she pulled back to ask if he was alright.

"Just fine," he grunted, pushing upward and onto his feet as they gathered up their things and prepped the truck to drive away. Olaf had to be coaxed out from underneath, but eventually he responded to his master. "Though I'm sure I'll have some beautiful bruises from the impact of the bullets, at least they didn't puncture."

"Right; guess that would still hurt, even with the vest. But… I'm so gla-"

"Please, Anna," he chuckled softly, though his eyes were full of an almost grandfatherly affection as he opened the door for her to hop into the passenger's seat. "I'm fine. But I do believe we have some debriefing to do."

"Right… guess that's true." Taking out her phone to call the police about the terrorists, she hesitantly muttered, "But I'm just so damn glad to be home."

CHAPTER 1

By the time they got back to Lyon Estates, the non-functional DeLorean stowed safely back in the confines of the truck, Doc looked quite a bit more sober than he had after cheating death. She had debriefed him about her adventure into the past, understanding that the details were much fresher to her than to him, leaving out some of the more risqué parts that he certainly wouldn't have approved of – but still filling in more details now that they could freely discuss them instead of worrying about past-Doc knowing too much. She felt a blush rising to her face as she recounted what had happened at the dance, leaving out the grisly details from their romp in Elsa's car. Of course, he was there, and knew about the attraction from Elsa's perspective. He did a very good job of not blaming Anna for everything that had happened in 1985, but he certainly didn't look pleased about the turn of events.

"I suppose I should have warned you about the Butterfly Effect when I was doing my demonstration in present day," he sighed. "Well, you're here now, so at least our attempts to correct the issue went off without a hitch…"

"Yeah… at least there's that."

Silence fell thick, and quite uncomfortable. She was sure he could – and probably already had – filled in the gaps that she'd left out. Bone-weary exhaustion was setting in, along with some sadness. The near-miss of the universe ending was now minuscule when compared with the reality of losing her Elsa. The one she'd actually come to know. It would be hard, she thought, adjusting to her new-old life here… but she didn't have any choice. Might as well start getting used to it.

With nothing else worth sharing – at least, not that night – Anna bid Doc farewell as he pulled alongside the kerb in front of her house. Creeping inside, she half-expected to see her mother still waiting up for her, but there was no one. When Anna finally got to her bedroom, she collapsed on the covers, still fully dressed. It only felt like it was about 10:30 – which it was, according to her body.

It still didn't take very long to drift off, despite apprehension for the coming day filling her dreams. But she needed sleep or dealing with reality would be impossible.

~ o ~

When she awoke the next morning, Anna's bones ached from the awkward position in which she slept. At some point, her shoes had fallen off so at least she didn't dirty up her sheets, and she had thrown off her vest before crashing. Could have been worse. Her clock radio had probably been blaring out an old Huey Lewis song for almost a full two minutes before she sat up.

Was it a nightmare? She had to at least address that possibility as she rubbed at her face, stood up shakily. She was definitely starving; she hadn't eaten much last night… whether or not last night was the same night Adult Hans wrecked her dad's car, or the Enchantment Under The Sea dance. So she decided to turn off her brain and go get something to eat.

She only got as far as the living room.

It took a few moments to figure out why she felt an impending sense of disorientation, and when she did, it hit her like a freight train. Everything was different. The bare layout of the house was the same, including the furniture placement and one or two of the art pieces, but the furniture itself was completely different; much more high-end than anything her family ever owned. Some of the uglier paintings were gone, replaced with more tasteful, simple ones, or family photos that looked much less depressing than the ones Anna remembered. The wallpaper was gone, replaced with an elegant coat of paint that couldn't be more than a few years old. And sitting at the breakfast table were John and Wendy…

Except… since when did John wear a suit this early in the morning? Or at all?! And since when did they have grapefruit and muesli on the table instead of Pop Tarts and Froot Loops? Not only that, but there was also a quiche that definitely looked freshly-made, with a few wedges already cut out.

"Uhhhh," Wendy began when she saw Anna pause, staring at her siblings. She probably looked as confused as she felt. "Are you okay, Anna?"

"What- what's all this?" she asked as she slid into a barstool, staring at them. Wendy stared back.

"Breakfast."

"In a suit?!"

At that, John gave a light chuckle. "You know I've been pulling long days at the office," he said.

"Oh, yeah. Hah. Right. The office."

Obviously this wasn't exactly the same world that she had left. Her brother was, at least mildly, successful – at any rate, he no longer seemed to work at the local Pizza Planet. When Wendy stood up from her seat, the differences with her also became obvious; Anna hadn't noticed, but her glasses actually looked… nice, expensive trendy frames. Her hair wasn't an oily, limp mess; instead, it bobbed about her chin in tight curls. Definitely with a curling iron – but they'd never been able to afford stupid luxuries like that.

Maybe she needed to call Doc and have a conversation about that Butterfly Effect thing. Because she had a feeling somewhere, something she had messed up had made a huge difference.

She was just about to ask where her parents were when she heard the front door open. Mr McFly's voice rang through the house, though it was missing some of the reediness. Elsa's voice came through with a reply, and she sounded different, too.

And then they rounded the corner and Anna fell off her seat.

Her dad was in the lead, reaching out to lay his keys on a sideboard in the hallway. He looked to be in great shape, lacking the potbelly of the father she knew, and his grey-streaked blonde hair was in a rugged "rock" style that hung just past his ears instead of slicked back with oil to get it out of the way. On top of that, the pale blue button-up was open at the collar to show off a fine gold chain over his broad, toned chest.

"I… what… you…"

"What's the matter, honey?" he chuckled at her with a slight smile, reaching down to pull her back to her feet. It was still a gentle hand, but a lot more self-assured than he had ever been with her before; the grip was firm, his biceps more than enough to haul her upward.

"What are you wearing? What is anybody wearing?!" she burst out, knowing how stupid she sounded.

"Sweetheart," her mom sighed as she rounded her husband. "Did you fall out of bed and hit your noggin' again?"

And then she saw her. Not her mother… not frumpy Mrs. McFly. This was Elsa, aged thirty more years. Blonde hair in a much more tasteful braid than the younger model, but still braided, still well-maintained and elegant. She was a little plumper, but definitely not out of shape; this Elsa had shed her pregnancy pounds in the name of keeping healthy. Once she pulled her sunglasses off, she saw that there were still slight crows feet at the corners of her eyes, but not the enormous bags that her mother had always been sporting.

This was a woman who loved life rather than suffered through it. And she was beautiful.

"Mom?" she breathed softly, completely confused.

"Ohhh, sweetie," she whispered, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. When Anna froze solid to feel the lips there, Elsa did draw back to look at her for a moment, curious. "Sweetie?"

"Wh-what?"

Then Elsa's expression changed completely – as if she were seeing her for the first time. "Oh."

However, they didn't have much time to exchange that look, or for Anna to respond. Not with the family hovering – and Anna had caught the attention of everyone in the house with her glaringly unusual behaviour.

"By the way, Anna," Wendy was saying behind her, prompting her to whirl around in a circle and look at her sister. "We're not your answering service; that Jennifer Punzel dropped by while you were still asleep and asked what happened to you last night."

"Oh, that's right," Kristoff was saying as he sat down and drew half a grapefruit toward himself. "Wasn't last night supposed to be the big trip up to the lake?"

Anna frowned at him. It was, but… "Yeah, but the car was totalled, Dad."

Immediately, everyone sprung into action. There were cries of, "what?!" and "the car!" as everyone bundled out the door. Anna was swept up with the movement, pushed along until soft hands came from behind, securing her.

"Careful," her mother murmured. Anna swallowed and nodded, trying not to pay any mind to the butterflies. This wasn't fair! She was supposed to have left this Elsa behind, back in 1985. She was supposed to get her alcoholic, depressed mother. She was supposed to help her.

Anna wasn't given time to think on that, though, because soon she was peering out the fly-screen. "Anna Victoria McFly. Don't scare us like that," Kristoff chastised – which was strange enough on its own! If she'd still been sitting, she probably would have fallen from her chair again when Kristoff leaned forward, and called out to the man kneeling in front of the bumper of a distinctly not-totalled car, one that was much nicer than she was used to seeing out front of her house. "Now, Hans, I want to see two coats of wax on that car."

What? Hans? What was that lowlife doing to their car- and Victoria? That wasn't her middle name! Everything was too weird!

Even as Anna looked out, she felt Elsa step closer behind her. "He's lucky he could even get a job after that night," she said, voice low. "A little ironic that it's with cars… since he seems to have so much trouble with them."

Kristoff gave a light chuckle, then moved away, saying something about saving the grapefruit. Elsa didn't move, which meant that Anna couldn't move. Coughing, she cleared her voice. "What night?" she asked softly. Elsa's hands tightened briefly on her arms.

"Oh, you know. You were there, right?"

A spasm of electricity shot through her stomach when she heard those words. What could her mother mean? It didn't make any sense… unless…

"I don't have time to finish it," her father's voice cut through her thoughts. "I'm going to be late for my flight. Just wrap it up."

"Okay, okay, Dad," Wendy sighed. "But I hope you're all packed and ready to go, because I'm meeting Craig for lunch and I don't want to stand him up again."

"Okay, okay, slavedriver." As he passed Anna, he did a brief double-take – seemingly when he saw her hair in its semi-ornate bun. Then he glanced over at his wife, who nodded the barest amount. "Hmm… maybe I should cancel this stop on the tour."

"Tour?" Anna rasped, clutching at the sideboard for stability. Just then, as if he had been waiting for the cue, Hans burst into the house carrying a large cardboard box.

"Guys! Mr. McFly, I think this is it! The proofs for your new one!"

"Proofs? New one?" Anna felt dizzy. Her head was spinning, hands shaking. She was powerless to stop when Elsa pushed her forward again, back towards the kitchen.

"Don't you dare cancel," Elsa said, smiling fondly at him. "You've worked too hard. Leave the… domestics… to me."

Anna had a very strong feeling that Elsa was talking about her, and the panic from mere seconds ago rose up again. There was no room – or time – to make any sort of escape. Kristoff ripped open the box, eyes lighting up as he lifted something from inside of it. And it was…

A book?

"Wow…" he said, giving a low whistle. "Damn, that illustrator is good." Passing it over, Anna's mouth went dry. Her father's name was on the cover. This was his book! So he had continued his passion, after all! This Kristoff certainly did seem happier.

That wasn't what caused the lump rising in her throat, though. Splashed across the cover was the title, jagged future-font displaying the words Blast to the Past. Below that was a girl, clambering from a very stereotypical alien aircraft.

Oh shit.

A loud beep broke the silence, and Kristoff hissed. "Sh…oot," he said, glancing at Anna. "I better get going if I don't wanna miss my flight. Hon, are you sure…?"

It was Elsa's turn to smile. She finally let go of Anna, moving over to her husband to place a peck at the corner of his mouth. "I'm sure. Go enlighten the world, or whatever."

He gave a nod and a smile, eyes flicking between Anna and her mother before he turned away. "Wendy? Are you ready to get going?"

"Psh, yeah, Dad. Just waiting on you. If you moved any slower you'd be a glacier."

So out they finally went. John went along with them, kissing the top of his mother's head in a way that made her sigh and roll her eyes; he wasn't that much taller than her. There were a few scattered goodbyes, but Anna didn't participate; she was too shell-shocked.

Then she and Elsa were alone in the house. For a few seconds, her mother remained at the open front door, watching Hans' auto detailing truck trail away and John and Wendy's cars pulling off toward bigger and better things. Then she gently pushed the door closed.

"Mom? I… are you okay?"

"I'm fine," she sighed, turning back to smile at her. Her eyes held an odd mixture of excitement, dread, and curiosity. "But… I have a feeling we have a lot to talk about… Tori."

TO BE CONTINUED…

#Fractal The Future #elsanna fanfiction #elsanna #fruipit #forkanna writes #jess the writer #Back to the Future

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