#and apparently it did nothing and the last thing i want is to police her relationships or get in her way

[auspicioustidings]

No second location, that was the mantra that had been drilled into your head. So when a man bullied his way into your passenger seat, put a gun to your head and told you to drive, you did that. When he told you to take the next cut off you did not.

"Naw think I'll shoot ye?"

"Think if you do we're doing 80 and we're both meeting a quick end."

It's night time, quiet motorway that stretches for hours and hours. He laughs in disbelief after the initial plan to intimidate you fails. You can't keep driving forever, but he is fascinated by the attempt.

One hour in and you know each others names. He knows what music you like, knows you're single, that you have a cat. You know this is the first time he's brought a girl back (or has tried to at least), that he's the youngest in his team and this is an initiation of sorts. He connects his phone so he can blast his music. "Naw dying in a blaze of glory to fuckin' showtunes sweetheart."

You scream at one point, raw fury. He screams with you, whooping as you pick up speed and hit 100 in a moment of blind emotion before you slow a little again. He's touching you, a hand running down your body as he whispers filth into your ear. You give him nothing, act unaffected as your hands grip the wheel so tight they are turning pale.

There's a phone call. One of his team.

"As beautiful as you'd be dead, your pretty corpse is of fuck all use if it's burned to a crisp in a fireball."

"Oh, I don't talk about necrophilia until the second date."

"Fuck LT ye should see her. Spitting mad, think she might actually kill herself just tae take me with her."

Soap groans the words out, hard over the idea of dying in this car with you, throbbing with the knowledge that maybe you hate him so much you're willing to give up your life to spite him.

There are other team members, you try and block it all out. You are crying with frustration because soon the motorway will run out. Maybe you'll just drive straight to a police station, but then Price who you think may be their leader tells you that if his boy goes to jail, he may as well do it for murder.

"Soap'll blow your pretty brains right out of your skull luv, now pull off at the next exit and follow directions."

"Isn't it apparent by now that I'd rather die?"

"If that were true you'd have crashed 100 miles back."

He's right. You don't want to die. You really do not want to die. Over the last few hours you've developed an aversion to Soap dying as well. He's crazy, certifiably insane, but the danger of him is the kind of danger that comes with the flood of adrenaline that borders on erotic with how strong it is. You're sort of attached, trauma bonded maybe.

But the mantra persists. No second location.

Soap grins wildly when he sees how you relax, how your eyes fill with resignation. He can see what you're going to do. So he kisses you, tongue trying to bury itself as far into your mouth as possible.

"Let's dae it baby."

So you do. You bank hard right and the car goes flying, tumbling over and over into a field. You don't know how you survive it, but the next thing you know you are in the back of an ambulance. The police question what happened once you're stable in the hospital. You tell them everything. Psychotic break they think, suicide attempt. After all, yours was the only body in that car when they got there.

[syabts7]

My Shadow

summary: You have a secret admirer who stalks you from afar and visits you on nights when you are always asleep. Tonight, though, things are changing… Are you ready to face the new circumstances? What would you do if that unknown man visits you again and you are wide awake?

જ⁀➴genre/au: Taehyung x reader [she/her, female anatomy}, smut, 18+, explicit content, stalking, obsession, knifeplay, Non/Dub-Con.

જ⁀➴ Word Count: 2.728k

Find me on Ao3 for more frequent updates.

[Inspired by the book Haunting Adeline]

Unknown: You are beautiful when you are sleeping, little shadow.

You stare at the text for more than ten minutes, not able to move your fingers and give a response. And frankly, what can you possibly do in this situation? Calling the police was once a consideration, but when the officers pulled over to your house to check for any trace of your secret admirer, they found nothing. And before you knew it, the case was closed.

Apparently, you have a stalker. A man you never saw, but each day you wake up to find presents on your dressing table. Either flowers or photos taken during your daily routine, or even pictures of yourself standing naked in your bedroom before taking a shower. You have changed the locks on your house numerous times and even installed cameras in every corner of every room. However, he always had a way to enter your property and avoid the cameras. He was determined to show you that you were helpless and the fucker was succeeding so far.

However, you were tenacious. You loved this house so much that you didn’t want to abandon it just because someone decided to invade your privacy. Or maybe you were stubborn enough that you wanted to show your admirer (from whenever he is watching you) that you were completely unfazed about his alarming behavior. If someone must back away, it was the creep, not you.

You suck the bottom of your lip by the front of your teeth and finally you start to type something in the screen of your phone. You reread it one last time before pressing send.

Y/N: Quite the gentleman, aren’t you? Protecting me at night from any intruder is really a dream come true for every woman. Do your gentlemanly manners also count if I tell you to fuck off?

It’s the first time you text him back, and you can’t lie, but notice your heart hammering against your rib cage. It doesn’t take one minute, and your stalker has already read it. Three dots appear on your phone screen. The next, a text appears forcing you to suck a breath.

Unknown: I’m far from a gentleman, little shadow. I think we both know that. And I won’t stop haunting you until you come to me willingly.

Y/N: Don’t be delusional. Only someone who is completely mad would approach you, let alone be with you.

“No wonder you keep your identity hidden, you fucking creep.” You muttered under your breath, thinking about how his face looked. You shivered at the idea that this man could possibly be some creepy old man who hadn’t gotten laid in ages. At least if he were attractive, it could make your situation less hideous. It's scary how the privilege of being perceived as pretty sometimes works.

Your phone once again chimes.

Unknown: Don’t say things you will soon regret, little shadow. And one last thing… Don’t call your soon-to-be-boyfriend a creep; find a better pet name like I did for you.

Once you finished reading the text, a sound of footsteps was heard from upstairs. He was all the time here, in your house. You froze, completely terrified, and held your breath to make sure that your stalker wasn’t descending the stairs. But the house had fallen into an utter dead silence. You waited for another five minutes just to make sure, and then jumped from the sofa in the living room and ran straight to the kitchen. Taking from the drawer one kitchen knife, you managed to control your frantic panting and marched towards the stairs that led to the second floor.

Much to your luck, there was no one there. You checked every room, only to find nothing. It was you and your exhilarating heartbeat.

He is here.

Your ears perk up at the sound of his footfalls approaching, and your eyes squeezed even tighter. You’re pretending to have fallen asleep, your hand gripping the knife that you've pushed under your pillow.

After the morning incident with your stalker, you were agitated all the time. It was the first time he made his presence known in such early hours, as he always talked to you via messages. And the moments when he was visiting you, you were always asleep. Today, though, he became bolder, and that scared you. That’s why you promised yourself that tonight, you wouldn’t fall asleep. You promised yourself that if that man touches you, you will fight… Even if the idea seems impossible.

The floorboards creaked beneath the man’s feet. His shadow moves past your closed eyelids, and your limbs struggle to slacken off. The fear has won you over to the idea of him touching you or, worse, harming you. Truthfully, you had a weapon at your defense, but what if he had one of his own? In the end, you regret that foolish plan of yours.

A gentle tug it only takes for the thin blanket to expose your body to him. The blanket falls to your ankles, now feeling the breeze that comes from the open window of your bedroom. You are wearing a silky long nightgown, though feeling his heated gaze admiring you, it makes you feel like you are wearing nothing.

A deep grunt rumbles from his chest, yet his hands never come your way. He doesn’t reach out for your dress or push it up to your navel to force his way on you. Nothing happens, except his heavy breathing illuminating the dark room.

Unfortunately, you spoke too soon.

The bed shifts underneath you, and then his hips straddle your own. Something hard presses against your rear, and not waiting for another moment, you bare your teeth as you expose the knife from its hideaway. Maneuvering your body towards him, you aim for his neck, only for long, thick fingers to slip around your wrist. They stop you midair, and a gasp leaves your parted lips at the sight in front of you.

Where you imagined an old, creepy man to haunt you down, here the man was to prove you otherwise. Black curly hair and deep brown eyes were the first things you noticed. Then your eyes gazed at his sharp jaw, full lips, and a symmetric face, evoking you to forget in what position he had you in or in what position he was that made you alert in the first place.

A smirk stretched across his lips, exposing his white teeth. “You got me a gift, little shadow?”

If his lethal good looks weren’t enough to make you ashamed of yourself, his voice was. It was enchanting and deep. It swirled between the two of you that a shiver skated down your spine until it settled in your core. If he wasn’t your goddamn stalker, you would beg him to talk to you all day.

Your eyes snap at his strong hold around your wrist. The knife trembles in your weak grip, and you wish that you weren’t so stubborn. Really, what made you believe that you could win someone twice your size? If that man has a way to invade your property, that means he also knows how to defend himself.

You have fallen precisely where he wanted… To his trap.

However, your tongue runs faster than your mind. “It’s a shame that I didn’t have the chance to slit your throat with it. Now its value is gone.”

He chuckles like what you said was a humorous joke. But it wasn’t. What you proclaimed was only a threat without any lie. Despite his handsomeness, you still wish he was now dead. At least this is what you are trying to convince yourself.

“Is it?” He mused, his fingertips turning white as to how tightly he held you. A cry fell out of your mouth, and the knife was released from your grasp. It fell on the mattress, and the next thing you knew was him now having it in his hands. The acidic blade shone underneath the moonlight that spilled into the room, and soon your mouth ran dry. You didn’t like the way his eyes examined you, let alone the weapon that was now pointing at your face. “I think it would be quite useful.”

Plenty of remarks and sarcastic phrases rang your mind, yet when your lips parted to sing them out, you stammered the opposite words. “P-p-please don’t kill me.”

Mischief glinted in his eyes, and he smiled with no mirth. His free hand grazed your cheekbone, and your chest inflated and deflated in frantic breaths. Goosebumps arose on your skin when you felt his hips adjusting from above you, hating how your body acted differently than your mindset.

“If my motives were to murder you, I would have already done it.”

“…T-then why are you here?”

In a flash of movement, the hand that caressed your cheek so lovingly now pinched your cheeks between his palm. He forced your face to the side as his lips brushed against your ear. “You think I have drawn any sanity line just to kill you? I’m at your mercy, little shadow, and it disappoints me how you can’t see it.” The man whispers, and you sense the metal of the knife brushing against your collarbone. Your body sinks even further into the mattress when you hear his next words. “I will never lay a single finger on you, Y/N, but I would to any man who dares to approach you, speak to you, or even set his eyes on you. You are mine, and I won’t hesitate to prove it to them. With or without the force of violence.”

He is there, his body heat radiating through you. The way he stands so close to you, your nostrils are filled with his expensive cologne, making you dizzy. Your bloodstream gathers in your pale cheeks, and the hate for yourself only grows with each passing second. Where you shouldn’t shudder at his alarming words, here you are almost purring at the sound of them. You are becoming addicted to his attractive voice and sweet to his looks.

His hand withdraws from your cheeks, and now the butt of the knife presses against your bottom lip. “Wrap your mouth around it.”

In a trice, whatever high hit your head has now ebbed as the reality settles down once again. Your eyes widened in fear, not wanting to guess what your stalker had planned for you.

He must have seen your hesitation because his expression hardened, and a vein worked on his temple. “Don’t make me repeat myself for a second time. Suck.”

And you did.

Opening slowly your mouth, you invited the back of the knife with your tongue — swirling and sucking until it was covered with saliva. Warmth spread down to your legs as your eyes locked. You watched him as his eyes drifted to your pink tongue and then back to you, his pupils expanding in adoration. Once he was satisfied, he pulled it away, and you watched a small trail of saliva connecting your lips with the butt before it snapped in the middle.

“Good girl.” He rasped. And with the knife, he tore your nightgown until you stood only in your white panties. You didn’t have to guess what would eventually happen next.

Tears welled up in your eyes, and even if you wanted to hide yourself from his predatory gaze, it was unfeasible. He stole your weapon, and now he was stealing your dignity. Instead of covering your perky breasts from his sight, your hands balled into fists at your side, defeated. You looked at him, and the man looked back at you.

You gasped when his lips skimmed over your neck. “God, you’re so beautiful.”

His finger pushed aside the thin layer of your panties and your felt the butt of the knife brushing gently on your wet folds. You stiffened at its coldness.

His other hand didn’t touch you. He didn’t place his palm over your breast and knead the rounded flesh. He didn’t kiss you like you expected he would. He only stared at you, drinking in your every expression. Whether it was dread or pleasure.

The knife pushed even further into your folds, pumping it inside you in slow thrusts. You bit your lower lip until you drew blood when you saw his head lowering until he stood between your legs. His eyes never strayed, and you didn’t want to give him the pleasure of hearing you sighing and moaning once he pushed your legs apart to place his mouth to your clit. You struggled to maintain a stiff posture and not to arch your back at how his lips sucked your sensitive bud until your toes curled inward. Suddenly you had the desire to run your fingers through his rich curly hair and ride his face for an orgasm – forgetting completely that he was fucking you with a fucking knife.

In where the thrusts of the knife were slow, now he was picking up the pace, compelling you to grunt as if you were in pain. Truthfully you had other man eating out your pussy but not the way he did. You almost wept when he pulled away. You were so close to cum.

“Play with yourself.” He breathed, fighting the urge to feel your now-sweaty skin. It was crystal clear that your stalker wanted to do a lot more than just observe you, but for reasons that you didn’t know, he didn’t accomplish them. He was refraining.

You were hesitant, but when the knife remained still, your fingers twitched. He was reminding you who had the upper hand in the current situation, and you didn’t waste another second to find out what your punishment would be. Frankly, you were cringing at the idea of the police finding you dead in your bed and a body that seemed to have been railed with a knife. The same knife that would be buried in your sternum if you don’t behave.

Of course, he promised you that he wouldn’t murder you, but like someone wise said before: Trust everything but a man.

One finger pushing the thin layer of your panties at the side to expose yourself better, your middle finger circled your clit hard and fast. Your orgasm was building up slowly, and you wanted this ordeal to end as fast as possible. Despite being drawn by that unknown man, you also wanted him to begone.

Wet sounds illuminated the room and your warm walls were grasping the butt like a vise. The man above you growled, his tongue licking the bottom of his lip that was filled with your taste.

A single cry rumbled from your chest, and as your back arched, you felt your body becoming paralyzed. Your middle finger swirled even faster around your sensitive bud, driving your orgasm until its very end.

Then, your stalker withdrew the knife from your weeping pussy, only for his lips to be wrapped around it. He was cleaning it off while he was staring at you with a dark look.

Once he seemed to be done, he released it, and to your surprise, he let the knife fall beside your weak form. Shame washed over you when you realized that he knew you wouldn’t bother holding it and use it to your advantage. He knew that instead of wanting to slit his throat you would beg him to touch you.

You have yielded to his sick desire, and you are embarrassed to admit that from now on, you will fantasize about the day he will visit you again. It only took him one night to have you wrapped around his finger and the asshole succeeded. For the second time.

“It was a pleasure to finally meet you, little shadow.” He said as he made his way to the door. And before you see him disappear into the night, you ask him what his name is. You sounded desperate, but you didn’t care. You have all the time to regret your decision tomorrow or even forever. At this precise moment, you just wanted to know one single information about him.

His name was Taehyung. And before you had the chance to tell him to stay, he disappeared like a shadow into the night.

[poisoneevy]

I've replayed season 2 of ATHWTU and I am really like... shocked by the amount of nothing that is going on in this story. Like it really is kind of an amalgamation of the author just going "isn't this spooky what's happening right now?!" and well, girl... what is it? What is the spooky thing that is happening? I'd love to know. We get no answers about literally anything, which means that most things that happen are just filler episodes, because there isn't really any progression to the story or the status quo from the perception of Lada. Also, I like Lada as an MC but even she herself keep telling us that she knows nothing and she's tried of it and it's like ya girl me too, the fuck.

Also it's so funny that in the entirety of this story people go into the haze and they die immediately, there's no hope, no way to make it out. But in these last episodes literally anyone can just wonder in and out. Dragan goes in alone and comes out like nothing happened. He went on a 5 minute adventure to kill that mermaid, which we don't find out how he did that cause why would we, right? We don't need to know any of that. I mean maybe the Haze didn't want that motherfucker, which I guess I understand.

Most things that happen to Lada happen when she falls asleep and then wakes up in a secondary location with no explanation... sure, why not!

Novak apparently spent majority of his life in the haze so he should have some answers, right? Well guess what? Amnesia!... sure.

When Novak and Volot come back from their little side quest in the haze, Novak asked where Venciena is... girl... you weren't there when she made her appearance. Did the author forget?

Also?!?!? Hannah spoke? Does anyone remember that? The girl was mute and then spoke up for the first time in her life and the author was just like whatever... let's not talk about that anymore. Like, girl... please. Not to spoil the author playing this bizzare peek-a-boo with us but I think it begs to be reminded that a cliff hanger is only interesting because you get to find out what's beyond the cliff in the next episode. And in ATHWTU the answer is always nothing. Nothing happens in the next episode.

I think what's happening is that like... the author maybe had an idea for a story that would span maybe two seasons or something, like 10-20 episodes max. But the format of RC stories is three seasons. Because of that this whole shebang is being stretched out and we get SO much filler and I think the overall quality of the experience really suffers from this, because why has it been 19 episodes already and we don't have an answer to a single question that's been asked throughout this story. We have no leads, girl! The MC did not acquire any new skills. She just got a boyfriend or a girlfriend. Girl, hello? Our sister is dead, can we get PA Blom and the Copenhagen Police on the case maybe?

[ncillary]

Self Aware AU (Rafayel)

Summary: You have the lowest Affinity with Rafayel. The reason is because you hate being the destroyer of everything he loves. His kingdom. His people. His life. Maybe he is better off without meeting you.

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Masterlist Self Aware AU

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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 [current] | 5 |

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"Hear me out."

Your friend nodded.

"I read somewhere that someone got their phone hacked."

Your friend nodded again. Munching her food. You began.

"All of their information like phone number, home address, ID got copied. Their picture was also sneakily taken. The stealer used their information to scam other people. They were visited by police and were almost interrogated. Good thing the police realised it was not them. The case was being reported as identity theft and other serious charges. Apparently, a lot of people admitted to having that happened to them commented on the post."

Your face and hands gestured wildly but quietly between the both of you, emphasizing every sentence as it was told.

"What a mess up thing to do." She looked serious sans the continuous munching.

"Then... then... There's this case where the hacker was actually stalking them. Messaging them. Calling them but no voice was heard on the other side. The stalker eventually appears near their house. Looking like innocent people."

You shivered. She stopped munching.

"Why are you telling me this scary story? I might be a bit scaredy-cat but this is a whole new level."

You calm your nerves, "My nightmare led me to this. Maybe it's a sign for us to be more careful."

"What kind of nightmare are you having?" she was a bit worried now.

"Two orbs of innocent looking at you from the abbys."

She sighed, "Maybe it was the cats that you have been playing around with. Maybe one of them is eager to get you to bring them to your home." she tried to ease your thinking.

You chuckled, "I like that better. But I would rather create a sanctuary for them where they could come and go as they please. My home is a place where they could feel safe and cozy."

Your friend smiled but soon deflated when she saw you pulled out your phone.

"Likeeeeee... Neko Atsume! Have you seen these aDOrable little cats loitering around my home. Look at them. Look at them."

Your friend was shaken enthusiastically by you as you show your little game.

"Okay. Okay. Let me eat in peace. How many games you installed in your phone? It's not a computer."

You looked at her sheepishly.

There's a reason why.

You stared at your phone. Again.

It has been a few weeks since you last opened the otome game. You did however update the game as usual. You sneak a peak at the updated features from the safety of your friend's phone.

You wanted to enjoy a game on your phone as you did with the otome game. That was what made you installed a whole lot of comfort games in it but only settled with one cat game. Your inner cat lady was showing.

It's comforting as the theme suggested.

But.

"Rafayel."

You cupped your mouth, groan escaped soon after.

"Girl! Get your wits together! What if that dusky purple bug is a hacker? What then?"

Then, why are you still keeping the game on your phone?

Your inner voice betrayed you. Maybe you need a closure.

To what?

+-----------------------------+-----------------------+

"Sis..." You started. She hummed in acknowledgement.

"I'll be... staying out for a few days."

She paused the movie you both currently watching, looking at you as you hugged the popcorn tub tighter.

"I just need some time to myself. Nothing serious! Don't worry. Just. Just..."

She laughed a bit. You looked at her confusedly.

"Oh, my baby sister has grown up. Is it a date?"

"What? No. Far from it. I just want to game without bothering you."

She chuckled, "Alright. Alright. Say what you want. Spill me the tea when everything is settled. Let me at least pay the hotel for you. Three days good?"

"Sis. No. I have my own money."

"You're going to agree with me or I'm the one staying at the hotel." She looked at you cheekily.

You huffed out in guilt, "Fine~ I'll be taking up the offer."

+---------------------------+--------------------------+

You laughed lowly as you read the message on your phone. Your stuff was neatly put away in your hotel room. The bed was comfortable as you sat on it.

[Meals included. I have eyes everywhere. Don't make me get the staff to drag you out.]

*Bling*

[I think you might like this one. Maybe you rarely play it now. Just letting you know.]

You smile at your friend's message. She didn't ask why you stopped playing the game but she knew you still had an abundance of interest in it when she played it in front of you.

The 50 seconds video she shared reeled you in. The way he ignited the sparkles. The face of MC that he drew with it. His smile. It made you realise how much you miss him.

But of course.

The hacker is NOT Rafayel. You want your game back EXCLUDING the hacker.

The sun was shining well. It was the beginning point of your action.

You logged into your game. Hearts beating steadily.

The cafe. Empty. Sadness settling in. A mocking upturned on your lips, confirming it was hacked. A slight flash made you blink.

Two orbs from the abyss. Staring at you in disbelief. He slowly walked closer to the screen but stopped short. Lips worrying.

"You need to stop."

He snapped his neck at you in seconds.

"I just want my game back. My Rafayel back. I won't hesitate to report you. Screw you and your scamming buddy for targeting innocent people. Just know what's coming for you is much worse."

He stared. Unmoving. Unblinking.

Unnerved from your part.

"Huh. Did that threat work?" You pondered.

"...again..." His slight whisper hung in the stalled air.

You frowned.

Then, so be it. You got up. Police station in mind. You wondered if the police will be intimidated by your rigid look as much as you're intimidated by their uniforms.

"Say it again."

Right. You didn't exit the game. He might disappear if you did. Plus, didn't he suggest that you can just show him around.

"I didn't know you're such a masochist. Did you get a kick being threathen?"

He laughed, "Cutie..."

"Stop calling me that."

He smirked, "Princess-" you groaned.

"Can you repeat it again?"

"This is ridiculous."

"What was it... Ah... I want my game back. You want... My~~~"

Your eyes widen. Memories flooding back. You're finally focusing on him again. His face was one you want to shove it away out of annoyance.

"Cut it out."

"Let me hear it."

Your blushing was uncontrollable now. You gritted your teeth.

"MY RAFAYEL. GIVE HIM BACK."

His eyes widen. Feet stumbling backwards. Blushing ensued on both of the faces that exist in the room. He turned around, letting you face his back.

"Hey! You lil-"

*Knock* *Knock*

You cupped your mouth. Wild guessed that your shout was the reason. You glared at the fish-head who briefly glanced at you before turning away quickly.

You hoped that your sister wouldn't know about this embarrassing matter.

You grimaced as you slowly opened the door, preparing yourself from the onslaught of the consequence of your action.

"I apolo-"

You're breath plunged you. This is not possible.

That familiar face. That cheeky smile. That playful eyes training straight at you.

"Did you order one Rafayel, cutie?"

That voice which was similar to a siren that sunk countless ships at the sea but instead the voice only burrowed deeper in your heart.

Flickering tenderly.

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| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 [current] | 5 |

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Masterlist Self Aware AU

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[bekkarific]

Playing With Fire:

Pairing: Frontman|In Ho x Fem OC

Chapter One - Where There Is Smoke

Chapter Masterlist

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If you play with fire you’re going to get burned, that was what Ji Ah’s Oppa used to say to her. Fate only knew how right he would be.

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Coffee, that was the only thing that that kept Ji Ah awake for these long shift’s. Sweet coffee was normally her favourite, but Ji Ah would take anything with caffeine. Which is why when a hot cup of sweet coffee was placed on her desk, she almost wanted to kiss her beloved police partner Jun Ho. But she doubted he would appreciate the public display of affection, however platonic it may be.

Taking a sip of the sweet nectar of the gods, she instead sighed a simple “thank you” to her partner, who smiled in return.

This is how their partnership was, having worked with each other for about 5 years, since being promoted to detective, Jun Ho was like her other half. Whilst she felt nothing more than sisterly affection toward him, they held no secrets.

Which is how she ended up on her 14th hour of her original 8 hour shift, working through any leads in the case to Jun Ho’s missing brother, In Ho. She had never met the man in person, but she felt like she knew him having picked through the last few years of his life with Jun Ho, trying to decipher what might have caused him to suddenly disappear. Her heart ached when Jun Ho told her the story of how In Ho lost his pregnant wife to a sudden illness, having lost his job for taking supposed bribes, he could no longer pay for her medical care. Jun Ho commented often on how she reminded him of his sister in law, both stubborn (she liked to think of it as a positive), intelligent and kind hearted. She liked to think of these a good things, however given the sad look in his eyes when talked about it, Ji Ah was not so sure.

Shaking her head to refocus on the facts of the case, In Ho had been missing for several days, no concrete leads on when he was last sighted, unpaid rent and a history of bribes, things where not looking good to his current circumstances and probability of finding him unharmed. Ji Ah was reluctant to say this out loud, like speaking it out into world will make it real and she did not want that inflict that grieve onto her partner who loved his brother dearly. She was hesitant, this wasn’t like her, she did not want to be the person who told Jun Ho his brother may be gone, but the reality clawed at her, In Ho’s disappearance was not just a case any more; it was personal.

Whilst all this was racing through her head, Jun Ho was sat opposite in quiet contemplation, this hands twirling a card with shapes on the back.

“Is there something you need to tell me ?” Ji Ah asked with a pointed look toward to card in his hand.

With a sigh, Jun Ho reached his hand out toward Ji Ah with the card stretched outward. Ji Ah took the small card and pulled her face in immediate confusion, small shapes where on the front and on the back a simple phone number.

“What has this got to do in In Ho?” She questioned, her eyes still examining the card for any clues.

“I found this card in In Ho’s apartment in a small present box, I thought it odd at first, then reports of crazy man coming into the station today, saying about being forced to play a game of red light, green light -“

“The children’s game?” Ji Ah interjected

Jun Ho nodded taking a sip of his coffee “he stated - well ranted apparently - that he and many others where forced to play the game and that those who lost where shot”

“What does the card have to do with this?” Ji ah asked, eyebrows scrunched.

“The man stated that he was approached by a man in a suit at the train station, and after playing rounds of Ddakji for money, the man in a suit handed him a card to join the game. He called the number on the back, was told a pick up point, then stated he was drugged and woke up in a room with other competitors, in numbered clothes” Jun Ho finished solemnly

“So let me get this straight, the guy was invited to play children’s game from a stranger in the subway, and after presumably winning, was given an card like this” she held it up between her index and middle finger “and was invited to play more, he was then kidnapped, woke up in a strange room with other people on in a same situation and then forced to play red light, green light in which the losers where executed” Ji Ah summarised, trying to keep the scepticism out of her voice.

Jun Ho nodded, not meeting her eyes.

Ji Ah sighed, she could tell this was a thread he was not going to let go of “you think this is somehow related to In Ho’s disappearance” she stated more than questioned, knowing her friend too well.

Jun Ho finally met her eyes and nodded. Everything in Ji Ah was telling her this was crazy, the man was clearly mentally deranged and Jun Ho was looking for anyway his brother might still be alive. She wanted to tell him as much, but one look into those sad brown eyes and she crumpled. It would feel like kicking a puppy.

“Okay” she breathed, taking a gulp of her coffee “police work with evidence, so let’s look at the evidence, both your brother and this guy received a card as in invite to a dangerous game days ago, this guy explained people where killed, he returned and we have yet to hear from In Ho” Jun Ho nodded, a frown marring his features. “So we follow the lead” Ji Ah explained trying to remind positive “What do we know about his guy? Surely someone took a report, even if they did think he was crazy”

Jun Ho looked up, breathing a small sigh of relief that his friend was with him on this. “Yes, the desk Sargent said he gave the name Seong Gi Hun from Ssangmun-dong”

“So let’s go” Ji Ah stood, downing the last gulp of coffee and tossing the empty cup. She knew the lead was tenuous as best, but it was all they had. One way other, they were getting closer to truth, she had to believe it.

Stunned by the sudden change, Jun Ho takes a a minute to respond. He looks at his friend, black jacket on, she moves her hair from her collar and holsters her gun at her hip. Looking at him expectantly.

Jun Ho’s tired eyes softened, he couldn’t hide the faint flicker of hope in his eyes as she looked at Ji Ah. She was always the grounded one, the logical one. But they both couldn’t ignore the feeling in their guts that this could be a dead end.

“Ready?” she said shaper than intended, but it did the job.

Jun Ho nodded as he stands, eyes more enthusiastic as before, ready to head out to a far fetched lead. But he is willing to follow path that leads him closer to In Ho.

[codenamesazanka]

Eri's touted as sort of a 'Tenko But Things Went Right', which isn't wrong, but I feel like her save relied a lot of luck too. And luck shouldn't be a determining factor in child welfare??

It was by pure chance that Deku and Mirio first encountered her. 100% random bump. Nighteye had no idea about any child in the Shie Hassakai compound, despite having staked it out for at least a few days already.

The rescue effort was launched to save Eri, yes, but only because the Heroes had that one lucky detail to connect “DNA inside bullets” to “visibly injured child”. Without that...who knows? If Heroes had no compelling evidence to storm the compound, would they have just continued a routine drug investigation? If they raided the compound but didn’t know about the child beforehand, what would’ve happened to her? Shunted off to an orphanage because she’s ‘a criminal/yakuza’s child’? Place under HPSC supervision because of her relation to the bullets?

The manga itself stated that Eri was going to be sent off to an orphanage, BUT her out-of-control quirk was cause for concern and fortunately there was the one (1) guy who can suppress her quirk and help train her - who happened to be a teacher at a private educational campus run by a multi-millionaire who can afford to take her in as a ward. How amazingly lucky!!!! (And everyone themselves said that they were hoping to teach Eri how to use her quirk so that she can cure Mirio. How nice that her quirk is deadly but also has this miraculous healing ability that lends this additional incentive to take her in.) Eri is still only in custody of UA because her last living blood relative, her grandfather, is still in a coma. Would Pops ever want her back, if he ever wakes up? Would UA let him? Good thing UA has the resources and connections to win a custody battle, in this case.

Plus, before all of that, Eri was already another abandoned child, way before the Heroes ever learned of her. Her mom abandoned her; then her grandfather took her in, but when he fell into a coma, she ended up with the worse possible caretaker. Yeah, Overhaul is Overhaul, but a relative falling ill and being unable to take care of a child is something that can happen to any family.

Eri was abandoned by her mom because she killed her dad. What on earth was the police doing then? Did her mom is not report this? Five seconds after the dad disappeared, the mom immediately plopped the toddler in the car seat and drove her off to Pops? Or is it more likely the mom screamed and panicked and called emergency services, but it turned out that there’s nothing to be done about the dad… and then emergency services also apparently did nothing about the mom or Girl With Newly Lethal Quirk or the beginning of quirk counseling so that the mom could understand the accident as ‘mutant quirk’ and not ‘curse’??

There were points where Eri could've been saved, before she ever bumped into Deku, before Overhaul put Pops in a coma and started cutting her up.

Similarity, saving Tenko shouldn't have just been 'Hero happened to be in the area and wasn't busy and was able to spot this injured child and go help him' (if it doesn't turns out AFO was behind this too lol), or 'if only there could've been a Hero 15 years ago who could handle his quirk, hold his hand, and give him relief'. It should've been 'first person who saw this injured child called the police or took Tenko to a police box'. It should've been 'Kotarou's last act of parenting was not to pick up garden shears and whack his kid with it, but know to keep calm and know what to do in a quirk emergency' or whatever. It should've been 'the three other adults in the household had enough conscience to not let Kotarou bully his toddler'. Hell, it should've been 'All Might and Gran kept tabs on the Shimura boy'.

idk. I just don't think 'Luckily a Hero noticed!' is good enough.

[twstedpometea]

1 year later: Ugigiugi review and thoughts

Hello Everyone.

It's finally been a year since the PDF was released. I decided to do a retrospective post on Ugigiugi, the history of her tracing, and share my personal thoughts now that some time has passed.

Feel free to read below!

First off, I wanted to publicly address the fact that I noticed the new "findings" in the tag. I have collected those for annotations.

As I've stated before in one of my older posts, this whole situation was the first time I'd seen or dealt with a serial tracer like Ugigiugi. Counting her last post day, she had been tracing for 5 years. Given all these things, I decided to reflect a bit on the Ugigiugi situation and things are a year later.

At that time it appeared that Ugigiugi was mostly a tracer/self-insert Mary-sue type of artist. Given her lack of crediting and stealing from others, it was pretty apparent that she was a lazy and passionless person masquerading as an artist and had zero shame in taking the efforts from others for herself.

While there is still plenty of art that has yet to be sourced, it can kinda assumed if Ugigiugi saw it, she stole it, regardless of the source. This is pretty evident when you look at the located sources which spanned from small-time fan artists and to published works, including online media or comics she's read in her own time. And let's not forget the audacity of her tracing over other people's original characters, and comics, or stealing from lgbtq+ ships.

Pharaoh’s Concubine by Misha/Youshi

Ennead by Mojito

Now, generally, it's alright to feel "inspired" by other people's fan art/comics/stories/etc. That's normal. And I certainly can't police what people will end up liking in their media.

But blatantly stealing others shows no passion and demonstrates you have very little respect for your fellow art peers. As I've said in my previous post on Tracing/Copying/Referencing while tracing is one way to "learn" how to draw art, it is not something you should heavily rely on as it can quickly become a crutch. If you're not pulling any useful information from it and just trace without a second thought, you will become dependent on it for everything and never truly learn how to draw without that crutch.

Every artist needs to study the fundamentals to learn how to break the rules. Every artist needs to learn how to use resources properly, be transparent if they borrow from others, and give credit where credit is due. Every artist has to gain confidence so they can create and self-motivate to improve.

Ugigiugi had NONE of these qualities because at the end of the day she did not care about being an artist.

She wanted attention and praise and did not care how she got it.

Looking back on the fallout and how Ugigiugi handled it when people tried to correct her or called her out, I can't consider her a creator in any capacity. Given that most of her pieces are in the genre of Mary-sue/self-inserting, this was really just her putting the spotlight on herself and that's the bottom line.

Now I'll be frank: I don't care for self-inserting. But that is a personal preference. However, I understand it is a thing people do within fandom spaces for fun, and if that's what you like? More power to you.

But if you have to steal from other artists to do that? From fellow fans or even from people who probably spent years developing their skills and putting art online to advertise their artwork or comics? You are just a leech, no different from the "AI artists" plugging prompts into generators to spit out terrible soulless art, scrapped from the honest efforts of thousands before them. And how can you call yourself an artist when you take from everyone else but having nothing to show for yourself?

Finally, for my last point, I'll share my thoughts on Ugigiugi's last known post and her "apology" before she deleted her Tumblr since not everyone got to see her response/rant when the callouts first began to circulate. I'm also leaving her DA post here for reference.

Someone had asked me if there was any actual proof Ugigiugi ever apologized anywhere before she nuked her social media. No, she never did apologize. You can even see in her Tumblr "apology" that she doesn't admit to what she did before going off on a rant. As of this year? She still has never apologized for all the tracing or stealing and for not crediting her free resources.

That being said a lot of what Ugi said at the end of her apologies always bugged me. I'll zoom in on these parts of her posts.

Here's the thing. You can have all the dreams in the world you like. Does creating art help you escape from the troubles of the real world? By all means that stuff is normal. To create art and express things is also fine.

But what isn't normal or acceptable Ugigiugi's lack of responsibility.

You can't build things with stuff that isn't yours to begin with. What story or world is there to share if you're just stealing the building blocks from others with no regard for people's works or boundaries? How can you create or inspire anyone when all you have to offer is a poorly reproduced copy. Can you even call it a hobby when you're not even going to put in the minimum effort? I don't think so.

Yes, Ugigiugi's can have issues with the doxing/political hubbub but at the end of it all, she is in a mess entirely of her own making. If she hadn't traced and just sourced things properly, I don't think people would have gone after her for all the stuff she had stolen (problematic media/opinions aside obviously). Taking accountability is always a sign of maturity.

And that is probably the biggest reason I can't give Ugiugigi a pass. She is not some misguided young artist just starting out. She is an adult. And not just any adult but one in the educational field too. It is appalling and little disturbing that an educator is engaging in such selfish behavior. And in her own words she knows these things and people have corrected her. But instead of taking accountability, she chooses to double down even harder and get mad at everyone for "bullying" her. She acts like a victim and makes excuses right up until the bitter end. And even now, despite a year of silence, I suspect her stance hasn't changed.

But this post is already growing quite long and rather then continue to beat this dead horse, I would rather finish this entry to talk about what people should avoid.

Even a year later after the PDF was published there's still stuff being sourced from her traced works and we have no idea if Ugiugigi is continuing to lurk or continuing to steal but keep it offline to avoid another public fallout.

Whatever the case may be I would like to leave a final thought both to encourage people to not do what she did and also address and of her lingering supporters who might stumble across this:

There are some out there who feel that what Ugiugigi did was not that bad since "everyone traces". But these people are wrong.

When you take something that doesn't belong to you, that is stealing. And when people discover you have been stealing they get upset for far more than just the theft. They get angry because that person is a LIAR. That is a betrayal of trust from an artist they believed was acting in good faith. If said artist can just rip off other people's work or resources without even so much as a token acknowledgement of where their inspiration came from, it calls their entire body of work into question.

And when people discover you have lack integrity, they no longer trust you. And once you lose that trust it can be impossible to gain that back. That is why they leave, block that artist, and refuse to engage further because if they can steal from others, what is to stop them from stealing from you?

Ugiugigi's downfall is ultimately from her own egotism, a misguided belief that she deserved praise while giving negative effort. And while there are still many like her out there, there is at least one less parasite to deal with.

[bamber344]

Culture Shock

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masterlist

it is 20 minutes to midnight but the chapter's done so i'm UPLOADING!!

Once again being bullied by these chapters, though for a very specific reason this time. I was stuck on one scene for like three days because I was trying to write a character doing something that I very much don't know how to do in real life.

Anyway, I'm overall pretty happy with how this one turned out. Enjoy!

CWs: Living weapon tingz, Jordyn's false belief that her abuse is normal, sexual references (in Jordyn's anatomically focused internal dialogue), dislocations, references to previous injury (stabbing), poor videogame skills

Culture Shock

“Need anything else?”

The officer shook his head. “Nah, I think we’re good. Tha-”

“Hey, get back here!”

I turned my head to find one of the suspects I’d just helped apprehend making a run for it. He must have wiggled free from the other officer’s grasp. No biggie. With a little bit of focus, I turned the darkness inside his pant leg solid, and sent a spike of it into the ground. With his hands cuffed behind his back, there was nothing stopping him from faceplanting hard on the asphalt road. Served him right for trying to run. The officer quickly grabbed him and dragged him back over to the cruiser.

The one in front of me cleared his throat. “Right. As I was saying, we should be good from here. Thanks for your help, Seven.”

I nodded, ignoring the way the name rankled. That was dangerous. I was starting to get used to being called ‘Jordyn’ again. “You’re welcome.”

Leaping up to a nearby rooftop and perching on the ledge, I stuck around and watched over the scene until the police left, just in case anything else happened, as per usual. By the time everything was done, the sun was starting to set, bathing Tombguard in a beautiful orange light. The season was turning, apparently. Summer had run its course, and now the weather would begin to grow colder. The idea was exciting. I didn’t feel like the outside world would ever lose its novelty after how long I spent in the facility.

I stepped back from the ledge to make sure no one could see me, and pulled my helmet off. Usually, that would be pretty risky, but I knew Father was out of his office right now, and the odds of him checking back over the footage were pretty low. Yes, I was taking a chance with being put back into that dark room and chained to the wall for another eight hours, but… Well, I’d been thinking about Maggie lately, along with everything she told me. Never stop asking questions, and all that.

Why did Father always want me to keep my helmet on? I thought it was to protect my identity, but everyone at the Union knew my identity now. Even if it was just to protect the sight of my face, surely it didn’t matter if no one was around to see it anyway, right? I mean, he let me run through the city without it back when we went to that ‘party’ thing, so… I felt bad just thinking it, but… it seemed a little arbitrary.  Especially when the wind picked up and I got to feel it rushing through what little hair growth I had since I last cut it two weeks ago – another one of my small transgressions, since Father almost never saw me without my helmet anyway.

These were questions I would’ve ordinarily purged from my mind the second they cropped up, but… after what happened with Steve, I’d been letting them sit and working through them in my head. I still didn’t have an answer for why I had to do that to him, and it was making me realise just how much else I didn’t have an answer to. I did what Father wanted because I owed him for saving me, and that wasn’t going to change, but I just wished he wouldn’t keep me in the dark so much. I knew I wasn’t as smart as Maggie seemed to think, but I didn’t think I was as stupid as Father thought, either. I could handle knowing the truth about more stuff.

…Well, it was pointless to think about. It wasn’t like I could just ask him to explain it all to me. I would have to work hard with this Union job and show him I could earn it.

Speaking of, I should probably head over there. It had been about two weeks since I first joined, and I’d only visited a handful of times. If I ever wanted to finish this mission, I needed to start sucking up my nerves and actually interact with the Union heroes. It was just… very uncomfortable whenever Vivienne was around. I wanted to spend time with her, but knowing what I did to her uncle, it was still difficult to be in her presence for any length of time.

Well, whether she was there or not, I couldn’t procrastinate forever. Better get moving.

—

I stepped into the Union conference room, looking around for any sign of life. So far, the place seemed empty. Aside from Muffin, of course, who somehow always knew when I’d arrived and was always there to greet me. He pranced up to me, trilling, and I removed one of my gauntlets to pet his weirdly wrinkly head.

“Wrinkly little boy,” I said. He mewed in agreement, nipping gently at my fingers.

With no one around, I decided I might as well explore the place on my own. To that end, I followed a hallway out of the conference room, taking turns randomly. Muffin came along for a bit, before getting bored and skulking off somewhere else.

Eventually, I came to what appeared to be some sort of gym. Brianna was there, running on one of the treadmills. Her braids were tied back behind her head, swaying back and forth with her movements. It looked like she’d worked up quite a sweat, based on the sheen that had covered her dark skin.

She turned her head towards me slightly, slowing the treadmill down to a walk. “That you, Jordyn?”

“Yeah. How’d you know?” I asked.

She smiled. “The way you walked in. You step like you’re trying not to be heard, but those boots aren’t exactly subtle when they hit the ground.”

…I did do that, didn’t I? “O-oh. I hadn’t realised. That… That’s a pretty impressive skill.”

Brianna shrugged. “Eh. I can’t see people when they approach, so I’ve had to figure out other ways of determining who’s who. Doesn’t work all the time, obviously, but you’re pretty unique, so it’s hard to mix you up with anyone.”

Unique, huh? The thought made me feel warm. “What if I didn’t have my armour on, though?”

She seemed to ponder on it for a second, then shrugged again. “Then I’d probably be out of luck unless you spoke.” She grinned, showing off her teeth. “Why, planning on stripping down?”

“No, just curious.”

Brianna paused, her expression faltering slightly. She then quietly chuckled for some reason, shaking her head. “Ah, you’re funny. Say, do you wanna run with me? I’ve still got a few K’s left before I hit my goal.”

It seemed as good an opportunity as any to start ingratiating myself, and I was no stranger to a treadmill. “Sure.”

I hopped up on the treadmill next to her, turning it on and slowly increasing the speed until I was at a steady run. For the most part, we remained silent, only focusing on the pounding of our feet and the occasional beep of Brianna’s treadmill announcing her progress every 500 metres or so. It was relaxing in a way training usually wasn’t for me. Probably because for once I couldn’t feel Father’s eyes on my back, watching for every mistake.

“You’re keeping a pretty good pace,” Brianna said. “Do this often?”

“Every day,” I replied. “It’s usually just a warm up for my daily training regiment. Gotta keep my stamina high, y’know?”

“Damn, I’ve gotta respect the grind. Though, with the work you do, I guess that’s to be expected. Bet you’ve got a pretty nice physique under that armour though, huh?”

“Y-yeah, it’s, uh… It’s pretty nice, I guess…” I muttered, insides swirling. “You’ve got a nice body, too.”

It was the truth. I wasn’t sure why, but I had to keep myself from constantly glancing over to her to catch another glimpse of her toned midriff, exposed by her exercise-wear. 

Brianna laughed. “Thanks, babe. I work pretty hard for it. You’ll have to show me yours sometime, too.”

I frowned. “How would that work if you can’t see?”

She grinned again. “I’ve got hands, don’t I? I’m sure I’ll be able to get the picture with those.”

I stumbled a bit on the treadmill, almost falling off before righting myself again. “Uh, y-yeah, I guess you would.”

…Wow, the thought of that felt funny. There was this weird, sparky sort of tingling in my gut, similar to that feeling I got back when I first figured out I could touch my clitoris to feel good, only not quite as strong yet. It made me want to go home and do that right now, actually. Or, alternatively, feel Brianna’s hands on my body and maybe between my legs as well. I wondered what that meant.

We ran in comfortable – yet contemplative, at least in my case – silence until Brianna finished up and reached her goal. She powered down her treadmill and got off, reaching down and picking a red and white cane up off the floor as she did so. I followed suit.

“So, you wanna… hit the showers?” she asked, enunciating the last part a little weirdly.

“No thanks. I usually just shower when I get back home.”

Brianna paused for a second, then shrugged. “Alright. Some other time, then. Catch you later, cutie.” 

She winked at me, before turning and making her way out of the gym, sweeping her cane back and forth in front of herself as she went. 

Wow, she was nice. I made a mental note to try and come back here around this time more often, so we could run together again.

Now that I was on my own, I turned back to the gym at large and had a proper look around. The space seemed pretty well-equipped. They obviously had an array of treadmills, but there was also an absolute truckload of other exercise equipment, too. Racks of weights, padded flooring clearly meant for sparring, a small selection of martial arts weaponry on one wall, and in an adjacent room, a big pit in the ground filled with water. That last one confused me a bit, so I ignored it, honing back in on what was familiar: the weaponry.

I picked a bō up off of the wall, examining it. The wood was rough and unfinished, as to be expected, and covered by a slight layer of dust. It was nothing I couldn’t wipe down though, and it had been a while since I got to work with one of these. Might as well make the most of it.

I walked out onto the sparring mat and settled into a comfortable stance, holding the bō in a standard two-handed grip. Taking a breath, I moved through what I remembered of my katas, swinging, thrusting, and spinning the bō around me, in sync with the rhythm of my body. As more came back to me, I began moving through them faster, striking harder, picturing targets in my mind’s eye to take down with my attacks.

Once I’d gone through each remembered kata at least three times, I began improvising, following the learned movements of my bō training and applying them to my own usual fighting style. The bō became an extension of my limbs, lashing out further and with greater power than I’d usually be able to muster on my own. I started flourishing a little, just for fun, spinning the bō around my arms and back as I brought it in for a strike. Then I began incorporating my shadows, using the bō as a conduit to manipulate them to my will.

Despite how hard I was pushing myself to maintain my speed and precision in my practice, I couldn’t remember the last time I’d felt so relaxed. Going through these repetitive yet satisfying movements without Father lurking over my shoulder felt… fun. Almost freeing, in a way. I’d never thought training could be enjoyable, and yet here I was, actually having a good time while working out for a change.

Once I was satisfied, I finished off with one final strike before settling back into a neutral stance, taking a deep breath and letting the tension flow out of my muscles.

A small round of applause from the side of the room startled me. I whirled around to find Vivienne leaning against the wall, clapping her hands along with one other guy I didn’t recognise, who was sitting on the bench next to her.

“That was impressive, Jordyn. You’ll have to teach me how to do that someday,” she said.

“Oh. Uh, thanks,” I replied. “When did you get here?”

“A couple minutes ago. I was actually looking for you. Brea told me you were in here.”

The guy stood up, waving. “I’m here too. The name’s Rishta. I was just coming by to do my dailies, but that was some awesome shit you just did there. Where’d you learn?”

“I had a trainer. I’m a little rusty, though,” I answered, then looked at Vivienne. “What did you need?”

“Oh, I was just wondering if you wanted to hang out. I’ve finished all my studies for today, so I’ve got some time to kill. Do you wanna do anything?”

On one hand, this was a great opportunity to start gaining more trust among the higher-up Union members, as Vivienne seemed to be, as well as an opportunity to just to spend more time with her, which a large part of me still really wanted to do. On the other, what happened to Steve still sat heavily at the back of my mind. I couldn’t keep running from her forever, though. I was never going to make up for the pain I’d caused if I just kept hiding from ever having to think about it. If she had gone so far as to actively seek me out, it meant she wanted to see me. It would only hurt her more if I kept turning her down.

“Uh, y-yeah, sure. What did you have in mind?”

“Hold on,” Rishta interrupted. “Before you girls go anywhere; Jordyn, could I spar with you?”

Finally, something familiar. This must be a common pastime here. As much as I hated fighting, it was something I could do well. Accepting his offer would be a great way to start making ground on my mission. “Okay.”

He clapped his hands. “Great! I’ve been wanting to test your mettle ever since I saw you kick some guy’s ass on the news. I’ve been doing MMA for almost my whole life, but I’ve never seen moves like that. I’d be really interested to hear where you learned your stuff.”

Vivienne rolled her eyes with a smirk, sitting down on the bench. “Well, I guess I’ll ref, then.”

Rishta turned to her, hands clasped in apology. “Sorry Viv, just one match. It won’t take that long!”

She smiled. “It’s fine. It’ll make for some entertainment to see you get put on your ass at least.”

“Damn. Confident in Jordyn, aren’t you?” 

“Jordyn is a highly trained special forces police officer. You are an admittedly pretty good martial artist. While I do think you have a chance, Jordyn’s got you beat in the experience department by a mile.”

“Okay, I’ll concede that,” Rishta said. “Either way, win or lose, I just wanna see how I fair. So, ref, what are the rules?”

Vivienne seemed to think for a second before deciding. “One round, either a ten second pin or a tap-out. No power use. Also, Jordyn? You’ve gotta take your armour off, otherwise it isn’t fair.”

I cocked my head to the side. “Why’s that?”

Rishta snorted. “Uh, because if you hit me with those metal fists you’re liable to take teeth out? And also, how am I meant to land a hit if I might break my wrist with a solid punch?”

That was… pretty reasonable, actually. There was a reason most of my trainers used special equipment when I was fighting them in my armour.

“Okay, but… I’m not allowed to let people see my face.”

“You can use your powers to cover it up, but only for that,” Vivienne said. “Like that night we ran into each other, remember?”

I nodded. “Yeah, alright.”

There was a chance Father would be mad at me for doing this, but… technically, I was still following all of his rules, right? Yes, he wanted me to keep my armour on at all times outside of my quarters, but if they still couldn’t see my face, what did it really matter? If he wanted me to gain their trust, I was gonna have to take some risks.

Step by step, I peeled my armour off, piling it on the floor. I summoned a cloud of shadows around my face before pulling off my helmet, and left it with the rest. 

Rishta whistled. “Damn, girl. You are built.” 

I didn’t know what that meant. Glancing at Vivienne heeded no clues, either. She was too busy looking at my arms, for whatever reason.

“Uh, sorry?”

Vivienne stood up, walking over. “He means you’re muscular. Seriously though, you have some nice arms.” She reached out, but stopped before she could make contact. “Can I feel?”

Most of the time, when people needed to touch me, they just did it. It was weird for her to ask, but oddly, it actually made me feel better about saying yes. I nodded, holding my arm out to her. 

She placed a cold hand on my bicep, gently squeezing, before running her fingers up to my shoulder. I was only dressed in a tanktop and my underwear, so she had a lot of space to explore.

“What’s this scar here?” she asked, tracing over an indent on the front of my shoulder.

“A criminal’s knife got through my armour. It was a long time ago, though.”

Vivienne paused, stepping back with an odd look on her face. “Right…”

Rishta cleared his throat. “Are we gonna spar? Or do I need to give you two some space together?”

Vivienne’s face turned a fascinating shade of pink. She whirled around to Rishta, pointing an accusatory finger at him. “That’s enough out of you.”

“I’m ready,” I said.

“Alright, let’s do this,” he replied, walking into the sparring ring. I followed behind him and settled into a fighting stance on the opposite side.

“Are you both good to go?” Vivienne asked from the sidelines.

“Yup,” Rishta replied. 

“Yes,” I said.

“Alright. Remember, you win by either pinning the other person for ten seconds, or getting them to tap out. No power usage. Just a clean and friendly match. Alright, fight!”

I inched towards Rishta, keeping a close eye on his movements as he did the same. Due to my lack of coverage, I was at a slight disadvantage; any twitch in my muscles to indicate my thoughts would be that much more visible, and I couldn’t read his thanks to his baggy clothing. I would just have to trust in my own reflexes.

We reached contact distance and Rishta didn’t waste any time, throwing out a few clear jabs to test me. I batted them away with ease, and returned with a few of my own. He ducked out of the way of one, but the second grazed his ear. He flinched, jumping back out of my range.

“Okay,” he muttered. “Faster than I thought. That’s fine.”

Why he was wasting time talking to himself, I didn’t know. I would, however, be taking advantage of it. I darted forward, aiming to sink a fist into his solar plexus before he could react. His reaction speed was pretty good though, as he noticed just in time and moved to block the hit. My fist was redirected, but I still landed a glancing blow on his ribs that would succeed in winding him a bit all the same.

I didn’t let up, aiming high this time. He blocked a hook directed at his jaw and grabbed my arm, clearly aiming to throw me as he spun into my centre. I moved with the throw, flipping over in the air to land back on my feet, and used my momentum to land a solid kick to his side. Rishta gasped, letting go of me and backing up.

“F-fuck, Jordyn. You’re-”

Apparently, he hadn’t learned his lesson. I just wanted to get this over with, so I moved in for the kill, returning his attempt at a throw by slipping my leg behind his and flipping him over my hip. He slammed back-first onto the mat and I wasted no time, grabbing his arm and pulling it between my legs as I wrapped them around his throat and waist, trapping him in an armbar. Then, I dropped to my back, squeezed my legs, and pulled with all my strength, pushing my hips up at the same time.

Rishta screamed as the pressure mounted, and it wasn’t long before the tell-tale pop of his shoulder leaving his socket reached my ears. This fight was over.

I released his arm and rolled back up to my feet. Rishta remained on the floor, catching his breath and groaning.

“What the fuck was that?!”

I looked up to find Vivienne staring at me, a horrified expression on her face. “What did you do?!”

“I dislocated his shoulder,” I replied. Why did she look so bothered?

Vivienne’s face didn’t change. “Why?!”

I frowned. “I… I don’t understand. What’s wrong?”

“J-Jordyn,” Rishta called from the floor, voice shaking. “While that was a s-seriously impressive armbar, I… I think she wants to know… wh-why you felt the need to dislocate my FUCKING shoulder!”

“Isn’t… Isn’t that normally how sparring matches go?” I asked, starting to get the distinct feeling I’d done something very, very wrong. “I dislocate my shoulders at least once a week in training.”

Vivienne’s face finally shifted, all the way from horror to pity. “Oh, Jordyn… No, that’s… that’s not normal. You shouldn’t be dislocating anything at all ever. I’m shocked you can even move your arms at this point if it’s happening so frequently.”

I looked down at Rishta, his face contorted in pain. Pain that I caused. I just couldn’t stop hurting people, could I? “I… don’t understand.”

What did ‘not normal’ even mean? This was just the way it had always been. I trained, and if I wasn’t good enough, I was hurt. My shoulders came out easier and easier the more it happened, but that was just what I deserved for failing to meet Father’s expectations. Was that… not how it was done in the Heroes’ Union? Was Father hurting me for no reason? No, definitely not. I never would have become as strong as I am if he didn’t train me like he did. But… If all of these heroes could do their jobs without needing to go through that training…

Vivienne kneeled down, helping Rishta to his feet. “We’ll talk more about this later, Jordyn. Right now, I need to get him to urgent care.”

No. No, I caused this pain, but I knew how to fix it, too. I needed to fix it. 

“W-wait, I know how to put it back in. P-please, let me help.”

Vivienne looked at me appraisingly, and then at Rishta. “Are you okay with that?” she asked. 

“If she’s really dislocated her sh- shit-” he paused, wincing for a second, “shoulders as much as she says she has, I’m sure she knows what she’s doing. Let her have a go.”

Vivienne nodded, gently laying him back down. I kneeled down next to him, hands shaking, throat clogged with the need to cry. Now wasn’t the time for that, so I forced it back.

“I-I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I- I just thought this was how it was.”

“It’s cool, Jordyn. You don’t get very far as a martial artist if you hold a grudge every time someone puts you on your ass. If you wanna make it up to me, you can teach me how you did that flippy thing when I tried to throw you. Also, find a new trainer. Yours sounds like an asshole. Maybe a therapist, too.”

I grunted noncommittally. As if Father would ever let me choose my trainers. Also, I didn’t know what a therapist was, so it was hard to agree to that, as well.

Step by step, I walked him through the process of getting his shoulder back into place. He cried out a bit louder than expected when it popped back in, but succeeded nonetheless.

“Shit, that was intense,” Rishta muttered, still catching his breath, tears visibly pricking his eyelids.

“Feel better?” Vivienne asked.

“Yeah,” he replied.

“Do you have a sling you could use? Standard procedure with shoulder dislocations is to give the joint a rest for a week. If not, I could get one for you.”

“Thanks, Viv. That’d be great.”

“And you,” she said, rounding on me, poking me in the chest. “Rest your shoulders before you lose use of them entirely. You’re gonna give yourself arthritis.”

I blinked. “Huh?”

Vivienne sighed. “Do your shoulders hurt?”

I frowned. “Yeah. All the time. Don’t everyone’s?” 

“Jordyn.” Her voice turned soft. “Most people aren’t in any pain at all. Your shoulders hurt because they’ve been constantly abused. Every time you dislocate them, the muscles and tendons are stretched far beyond what they’re made for. Even when you set the joint back in, the damage stays, and it takes time, and more importantly, rest, to recover. Even with the rest, your joint becomes weaker. I’m not a doctor, but I am in medical school, and honestly? I think at this point the only way you’re going to ever fully recover is through major surgery.”

“Oh.” That was… a lot to take in. There was no way that was correct, though. Father wouldn’t let me continue to injure myself if it would affect my performance in the long run, right? My performance was practically all he cared about.

“I know that must be pretty daunting, but don’t worry too much, okay?” Vivienne put a hand on my shoulder and I felt it dig straight into my heart. The tears started forcing their way back up my throat, despite my best efforts. “The Union is here for you. You’re never alone when you’re with us.”

This was too much. I needed to get out of here. I’d done my part for the day and now I needed to go.

I moved past Vivienne towards where my armour was, and began re-equipping it as fast as I could. Neither of them spoke a word or tried to stop me, and once everything was back where it should be, I all-but ran out of the room and out of the building, jumping up to the rooftops to hide.

Maybe one day I’d be able to have a normal interaction with Vivienne without feeling more emotions than I thought possible, but today wasn’t that day. So much was running through my head, and I didn’t know what to do with any of it. Once again, that advice from Maggie rang through my ears. Father was hurting me unnecessarily, and I couldn’t understand why. More importantly, how the hell was I supposed to unravel all of this when barely getting through the day took so much brain power already?

Vivienne said the Union would be there for me when I needed them. But would they be there for this? 

—

“No, no, no, no, no, no- Aw, come on!” Vivienne grumbled, throwing the controller down on the bed. 

“Did you die again?” Brea asked.

“Shut up.”

“Have you tried turning the difficulty down?”

“Brianna, I swear to god.”

Brianna giggled, sinking back against the pillows. “I’m just sayin’. Listening to you die over and over again is starting to get boring.”

“Why don’t you try it, then?” Viv teased, though she knew it was a bit of a low blow.

“Ooh, you’re so funny, Viv.”

Vivienne grunted. In truth, she wasn’t all that invested in the game. The earlier events of the day were still taking up far too many of her thoughts for that. Rishta would be fine after a week or so, of course, and he was a remarkably good sport about the whole incident. No, he wasn’t the issue. The issue was that Jordyn had once again inadvertently revealed something about her life that she deemed innocuous, but was actually horrifying, and now Vivienne couldn’t stop thinking about it. The poor girl dislocated her shoulders once a week! She supposed she shouldn’t be surprised, given what they’d learned about Jordyn’s origins. It made sense that de Vygon wouldn’t bother being too protective of her when he literally grew her in a tube and could grow another just as easily. Still, it was just… so fucked up. Vivienne wanted to grab hold of Jordyn, wrap her in blankets, stop forcing her to hide her face, give her a hot chocolate and some plushies and a kiss on the forehead, and put her in front of a tv with some disney movies or something. Just… anything to alleviate the trauma that poor girl was going through on a daily basis.

Yes, these things took time and she just needed to be patient. But knowing that didn’t make the burning need to do something any less powerful.

“So,” Brianna said, holding the syllable out for far longer than necessary. “What do you think about Jordyn?”

Vivienne blinked. Apparently, Brianna had the power to read minds on top of her ability to turn into smoke.

“What do you mean?”

Brianna sighed. “I dunno. Think she likes girls?”

Ah. That made more sense. “Hard to say. Maybe? Why?”

“I was putting out a couple of feelers today when we were running on the treadmills together; y’know, trying to see how receptive she was to a casual fuck. She seemed into it, but then she turned me down when I invited her to the showers, so I’m not really sure.”

Vivienne snorted at her bluntness. “You wanna screw Jordyn?”

“Yeah, why not? She’s cute, isn’t she?”

“I dunno, I’ve never seen her face.”

“I mean, like, her personality ‘n stuff. Y’know, hardworking, determined, but kinda naive. And at the same time, sort of meek. It’s interesting. I’d like to know more about her.”

“And, to do that you’re gonna bang her?” Vivienne asked.

“Well, to be honest, she gives me major anxiety vibes. It would probably be good for her to unwind, y’know? Obviously, if she doesn’t want to, I’m cool to just hang with her, but I’m of the opinion that fucking someone is the single best icebreaker there is. Once you share that… that ultimate vulnerability with each other, there’s no nerves getting in the way anymore, y’know? Isn’t that how our friendship started?”

“I- well, okay fine, you’ve got me there,” Viv admitted, much to her chagrin. Sleeping with Brianna had been a great way to loosen up and also gain some confidence in herself after joining the Union. Hell, it would probably be just as useful for Jordyn, just like Brea was saying. But, knowing what she knew about Jordyn’s whole deal, it could definitely backfire if not handled with caution.

“Still, if you’re gonna do it, just… be careful? Jordyn seems like she’s got a lot going on, and she might… I don’t know… go along with it when she doesn’t really want to. I get the feeling she has trouble saying no to people.”

Brea hummed. “Yeah, I can definitely see that. Don’t worry, I’ll be careful. Either way, I gotta get my intentions through to her first.”

“Honestly? You’re probably best off just being straightforward. Like you said, she’s pretty naive. If you’re not clear, she’s not gonna get it; like you inviting her to the showers.”

“Yeah, that tracks... Anyway, that aside, are you gonna keep playing any time soon? I’m actually starting to get invested in the plot, but if all I can hear for the next hour is the sound of you getting your ass kicked, I’m leaving.”

A laugh burst up from Vivienne’s chest. “Oh, okay then. Tell me how you really feel, Brea.”

She fished the controller up from where it had fallen between her and Brianna’s legs, and unpaused the game. It was serious now; her pride was on the line. Vivienne was gonna beat this boss or die trying.

It was a little weird to think about; Brianna and Jordyn having sex. Part of her instinctively objected to the idea, on the basis of Jordyn’s sheltered-ness and naivety. But, in truth, Jordyn was a grown woman, and she deserved to make her own choices, even- no, especially when it came to stuff like this. Besides, Vivienne trusted Brea. Regardless of how it turned out or what Jordyn decided, she trusted that Brianna would do the right thing. She knew what she was doing in this department far more than Vivienne could ever hope to. There was nothing to worry about. It would all turn out for-

“Did you just die again?”

“Fuck!”

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @thataquaticwhumper

@iamheretohurt @anoyedartist @dontyoubleedoutonme @seastarblue @lettherebepain

@bacillusinfection

This arc is great because it means I can explore Brianna more, since she lives at the Union HQ. She is fr everybody's friend and it is mostly because she just does not gaf about societal norms of intimacy and will love on you platonically until you accept your new best friend. She knows what she wants and how to get it.

(can you tell that her flirting scene was the one that gave me so much grief?)

If you can't already tell, the next chapter will very likely be saucy, unless I decide to put a buffer between them. So, if you're here for that, get ready >:) If you're not here for that, uh... my condolences. I will try to remember to indicate how to skip those parts.

Lemme know what you thought of the chap with a comment or reblog! See ya next time!

[mikailys]

MCL NewGen Ep 10 Commentary

Tbh I didn’t want to write a review or my usual commentary for this last episode because I genuinely have nothing to say. Nothing happened, I wasted about 2000 AP for the nothingness and a two-minutes scene with Jason 🙃

I wasn't keen on skipping it though 'cause I'm sure it would make my future self and my ocd implode so here we are.

It's an episode without shame or glory. As I already said, nothing happened and the little that did wasn't entirely necessary. The driving force of the plot—Thomas and his 'disappearance'—starts off strong but gets weaker as the story progresses. I thought it might pick up a bit toward the end but the excuse they gave for Thomas was honestly terrible but we'll get there later.

To sum it up, it all revolves around searching for Thomas, who hasn’t shown up at the office, is later than usual and isn’t answering his phone. So instead of calling his family as a normal person with a bit of intellect would do we waste time and APs wandering around Amoris because ofc that’s the logical thing to do in such situation. Eventually we find out he had an accident right in front of The Cosy Bear but there’s no sign of his body. After several errands it turns out that yes, he had an accident but in the meantime he managed to already get the insurance money ??? and buy himself a motorcycle ??? all within the span of about 8 hours without a care for the world.... Now, I am astonished and utterly speechless. I get the sitcom-style ending, but it didn’t make me laugh at all. If anything it pissed me off even more. I seriously can’t stand how everything always ends with everyone happily smiling and laughing about it, it is not funny istg

Jason is giving that Scar "I'm surrounded by idiots" moment, I feel him lol

Thomas is a big irresponsable, blame it on the autism certified by yours truly or not, but he's incredibly selfish and doesn't give a fuck about anyone apparently. He had the time to go and buy a new motorcycle on foot but not the time to find a phone and spare a call to Devon?? Are you okay?? That's where your responsabilities lie?? My god.

About the moment with the LI, as a Jason girlie, I’ve come to terms with how hard it is to include him in situations involving the whole main group. That said I really appreciated the two minutes he was on screen because, once again, we see that he cares and knows how to set aside his jerk tendencies when it’s necessary—even managing to actually ‘find’ Thomas color me stocked. The only downside is that he had so little presence in this episode; the police station scene with Nath and Eric was definitely longer than his whole screentime :/

On a brighter side, the next episode involves a new showdown between companies so I’m hoping to see him just as much as the other LIs and to know a bit more about Goldreamz employees' relationships maybe Spencer? Since he only appeared at the fair...

I hate to repeat myself but I have no idea where this game is headed. There’s no driving plotline or future goals established for the characters. It would be great to see Candy outside of the work environment, maybe meeting new people. Aside from her colleagues, she doesn’t know anyone and tbh she doesn’t even know them that well. It’s ridiculous that by episode 10 I still know next to nothing about Amanda unless I’m doing her route...

[chickensarentcheap]

@darknightfrombeyond

Here's Esme telling Tyler about her stint as a Homeland Security Agent lol

Also tagging: @bardic-tales @secretaryunpaid @youflickedtooharddamnit @watermeezer @creators-club

“I mean, I was married, remember? I’ve had boyfriends. And girlfriends, for that matter.”

“Since you left?”

“I’m talking about throughout my entire life. And did you honestly think I wouldn’t date? Or at least try to? That I would have just spent the last five years completely alone?”

“You know how you said you were okay with me going on with my life? Meeting someone else? Falling in love, getting married, all that shit?”

Esme nods.

“I’m not that gracious. Not by a long shot. I didn’t want you with anyone else.”

“For the rest of my life?”

“Well...yeah.”

“You’re being ridiculous.” She reaches for him. “Come to bed.”

“So was this guy the real deal? Someone you could have moved on with? Gotten your ‘always and forever, happily ever after’ with? Totally forget about me and…”

“Tyler, I was never going to forget about you. I carried your child inside of me. Gave birth to her. She looks just like you. Kinda hard to forget you when I’m looking at your clone every damn day. Add the fact that I was still in love with you and always would be into the mix…”

“Would you have moved on with him? Gotten married, had more kids? All of that?”

“All of that was what I wanted with you. ONLY you. So no, none of that would have ever happened. I didn’t want that life with anyone else. Just you. And if that meant I never got any of that, oh well. Now…” She pats the empty spot beside her. “...come to bed. Please? I’ll answer whatever questions you have, but just come to bed. Because you standing there like that? It’s making me incredibly anxious.”

He relents. Laying on his side with her back pressed against his front and forearm draped across her collarbone. And he presses a kiss to the back of her head before resting his cheek against hers. “What was his name?”

“Don. His name was Don. And he was a detective. Homicide.”

“How the hell did you ever meet him?”

“I worked a small job for Nik. Nothing serious. I had to find my way into the main evidence locker at One Police Plaza and steal some papers related to an old case.”

“What the fuck….?”

“Someone hired Nik because an old money laundering and embezzlement case they were involved in was going to be reopened. And if that happened, it was going to cause a big old shitstorm; he had some big-name contacts and clients of his own that would be exposed. Some really well-known people, too. Politicians, lawyers, judges. And if all that got out…”

“Heads would roll. Most likely literally.”

“Exactly. So Nik and Yaz created an entire persona for me. I had the credentials; photo identification, passport, fake driver’s licence.”

“Who were you supposed to be?”

“An agent with Homeland Security.”

“Jesus Christ. And you don’t consider THAT serious?”

“You know, for such a huge police department with apparently the best security in the country, they were sure easy to fool. It was like taking candy from a baby. I was in and out of there in ten minutes. Not even.”

“I don’t know whether to be impressed or pissed off. That you even put yourself in a situation like that. Especially with Millie in the picture. If you’d gotten caught…”

“But I didn’t. Well, not until about six months later. But that comes further in the story.”

“So the cop…”

“We met in the elevator. I was running to catch it and he held the door open for me.”

Tyler scoffs. “What a gentleman.”

She scowls over her shoulder. “I thought you promised you wouldn’t get prickly.”

“I’m not getting prickly. I just…”

“YOU asked,” she reminds him. “You wanted to know these things, right? You have questions. I’m just answering them. Do you REALLY want to hear this stuff? Or do you just want to be angry about something?”

“I’m not prickly. Or angry. I’m jealous.”

“Of what?”

“Of anyone that even looks at you the wrong way.”

“Oh for God’s sake…”

“I was never like this before. I never used to give a shit about this kind of thing. I didn’t care how many people my ex dated or fucked before me. Because I was always so far up my own ass that I knew I was better than anyone that came before me. Sometimes I miss that guy.”

“The guy you were before me.”

“I was a drunk and a drug addict before you. So, no.”

“You weren’t ALWAYS that way. You didn’t always have those issues.”

“But I was a prick in other ways.”

“I liked the guy you were when we met. Yeah, you were messy and you had your issues, but so did I. I wasn’t a picnic, either. We were both fucked up. But it didn’t stop me from falling in love with you. And staying that way.”

“And now?”

“Now I like you even more. I’m glad you’re not totally up your own ass, as you put it. I like that you’re not afraid to talk about the hard things. That you’re able to admit you’re self-conscious or…”

“I never admitted to that.”

“Or you’re feeling spiteful or hateful or jealous. I mean, as weird as it sounds, everyone should want their man to be that way. Just completely honest. Because it doesn’t do anyone a lick of good if they keep that all bottled up.”

“So what you’re saying is that it’s okay to be a prickly asshole.”

“Don’t push your luck, Tyler.”

Grinning, he presses a kiss to her temple. “So, this guy…”

“What more is there to know? You asked how I met him. I told you. What more do you need?”

“You just chatted in an elevator and hooked up with him, or…?”

“He asked me out for an Irish coffee. I said yes. It was as simple as that.”

“Irish coffee, huh? So that’s what the kids are calling it these days.”

[mysticsublimeperson]

NUMB pt2

(pt1)

Arthur had noticed something, he didn't quite understand what exactly, and that was frustrating.

Then Merlin cancelled the only date night the had been able to schedule in a month, because of the difference in their work hours, and Merlin spended less and less time with him at work...

So ditching him to go to a club?

Yeah... Arthur was pissed.

But then, "They have notice that I 've been absent, unless you want me to explain where do I spend my free time lately, I better go with them to get them off my back. We wouldn't want anybody knowing your secret right?"

And damn if that didn't hurt.

He knew Merlin wasn't really happy with the arrangement, he knew that he had been crossing the line lately. Going off at work, mostly to throw people off the track, but also to let out some of his frustration. But what could he do?

It was impossible to continue with his life as it was, and have Merlin. He would loose everything, his job, his family, his status, probably the flat too... His father was sure to ruin his life if he gave that step.

But for the life of him, he could not let Merlin go. He will never let him go willingly. Merlin was the happiest he had been in his life. Waking up next to him, he felt at peace, felt understood, felt seen. The way Merlin looked at him, like he meant something extraordinary, made him feel complete.

But then the little doubt creep in, What would happen if Merlin grew tired of this baggage?

No.

What will happen when Merlin grow tired of this situation?

Arthur felt his chest heavy with guilt. It was bound to happen, he knew that, he, himself, had made sure of it. He had enough scape routes in case everything went south, but now he found that Merlin could also use them, and that thought was the scariest of them all.

Merlin went radio silent after that call, and Arthur understood.

Then the next day he could not find him at the company, which was strange but maybe he was avoiding him, and Arthur understood.

He didn't answered any of his calls, or texts, and Arthur understood.

The dread expanding in his belly.

The following day he went to work with a heavy step and a heavier heart.

He knew that this whole circus was his fault, and therefore he had no right to complain or demand anything of Merlin, but that didn't make him feel better.

Merlin was still gone, so he went looking for him. And then Gaius told him that Merlin hadn't gone to work, he was sick, apparently. Gaius didn't know what exact illness but ... "he has been off lately, distant, cold, sad. And with all due respect, that you are keen on humiliating him on public lately hadn't really helped. I imagine it has to do with that. He didn't explain further, just told me he was going on sick leave"

Gaius spoke clearly, and with every word Arthur felt more shame. That dressing down was something he didn't know he needed.

Had he been so awful towards Merlin? Truly?

He bolted, didn't even told anyone, just went.

Went to his flat, and banged on his door, and called his name until the neighbors threatened to call the police.

It was useless.

The last time he spoke to him, he was going to go clubbing with his friends. He knew most of Merlins friends, basically because they were also Arthur's friends. But those friends... he knew them yeah, but he wasn't precisely close, Will, proper hated him, and the girl, Freya, was apprehensive around him, he didn't know why, but he hadn't particularly care up until that moment, he did not have any way of contacting them, not their number saved, not their social media profiles, nothing.

Shit.

The only thing he could remember was where Freya used to work, because Merlin had insisted on buying his coffee there for months just to spend his break catching up with her, at least until they happened.

He went there, his only clue, praying for the girl to be there.

He wasn't lucky, she didn't even had a shift that day. But he had obtained a contact info. He texted her.

And she answered vaguely, not understanding why Merlin's boss was asking for that kind of information. He didn't get much, but the fact that that whole ordeal was orchestrated by Gwaine.

So he went to Gwaine.

He was still hungover, or, more accurately, hungover again. And told him reluctantly that he had tried to get Merlin to relax, because he had been upset as of late. Arthur really ought to pay better attention, everyone had noticed this change in Merlin's behavior, so probably Merlin had been dealing with the burnt of having to lying to everyone.

"We just wanted him to unwind, It was fine... at least I hope so" Arthur's heart stopped at that very moment "What do you mean?" Gwaine was completely unaffected by his murderous tone and stare, and reentered his home trailed by Arthur "I don't know mate, he was having fun, he had been talking to this bloke on the floor, the seemed to have hit it off quite well... that was the last time I saw him, when we didn't heard from him in the morning, well we assumed he'd gotten laid, at least he had fun, but yesterday he told us that It didn't went well, but didn't explain" As he spoke his voice lost it's strength, and the insecurity he must have felt since that message was brought to the surface.

Arthur wanted to scream, to accuse, to point, to break, to do everything at the same time, but how could he? He stopped himself just before he started a shouting match with Gwaine, who was lost in thought in the sofa, because Gwaine was his friend too, and if he had known he wouldn't have done any of that.

His eyes started to sting from the sheer frustration.

Fact 1: Merlin's friends had taken him to a club, so he could cheat on Arthur, not that they knew that.

Fact 2: Merlin had gotten drunk, danced and left the club with another man, Arthur could not grasp how he felt about that just yet.

Fact 3: something went WRONG. WHAT THE HELL WENT WRONG AND WHERE WAS MERLIN? BECAUSE...

Fact 4: Merlin hadn't gone to work in two days, and no one knew where or how he was and the worry in his chest was clouding his mind and shit, he was crying.

He wiped his face quickly with the back of his hand, but couldn't hold back anymore so he struggled a bit saying goodbye to Gwaine and got out of there, didn't listen to whatever Gwaine was saying in the background.

He couldn't tell you how did he find Merlin, just that it was probably illegal and highly unadvised. But by that afternoon he was in front of that hospital door, with mixed feelings, a lot of guilt and one thought.

Hunith opened the door, Hunith was there. His gut twisted in different uncomfortable directions.

"Hunith?"

"Arthur? What are you doing here? Wait, let's talk outside, he finally managed to sleep for a bit" His throat closed off.

"I..He didn't show up at work" It was all he could manage, he could see her eyes harden.

"Yes, well, I am sure you can see he is in no condition to do so, now if you would kindly leave"

"Hunith" he was trembling "Can I see him?" he saw her hesitate.

"He doesn't want to see anyone" she ultimately answered a bit softer.

"What happened?"

"It's not my place to tell Arthur, I need to respect his decision, now more than ever" she said with finality "Look, I'll call you when he changes his mind.."

"IF.. if he changes his mind, you know how he is" he protested "Hunith I just..." he had to stop, before his voice broke "I need to know how he is, I need to see that he is ok"

"I know you are his friend Arthur" Arthur could hear his heart shatter "But this is... He is not ok" she said looking directly at him "He doesn't want to be seen like that, he doesn't want to be judged or pitied. He needs someone by his side right now, someone who would just be there with him, loving him, truly, boldly, despite everything else" Hunith broke down a bit and ran a hand by her hair, talking to him and to herself also "Don't get me wrong Arthur, I know you care for my son, you are a true friend, but you are not what he needs right now. I know the teasing and bantering is your... style, but I am afraid he cannot handle that. I'll call you if he changes his mind, but if not, please do respect his wishes"

She turned around visibly affected and went back into the room. Meanwhile Arthur had his world shaken to the ground.

[aladaylessecondblog]

Red Mountain Waffle House pt. 34 "Keep Away From Sharmat"

https://archiveofourown.org/works/55071724/chapters/165461593

Summary: Voryn gets high. Surely no bad could possibly come of this. (I had an idea and had to do it)

------------------

"What's this?"

Sadara looked down at the open box on the kitchen counter. It looked like oregano had been in it, from the bits remaining.

The ash poet tidying up replied without looking up, "It's from Jiub, that one you recommended to assist Lord Dagoth in the matter of expanding his interests. He sent a sample box - something about proving ahead of time why he was the right man for the job."

Ah, that made sense.

"So...where is it?" She looked up, "Did you get any?"

"Me? Oh - no! I would NEVER, not without leave. Lord Dagoth I believe took it."

"Took it...like...all of it? Where--where is he?"

"The conference room, down the hall."

The conference room, as it turned out, had the expected table and chairs to one side, and a large television screen at the other end. A sofa, clearly recently added, was parked ten feet away and it was on that sofa that Sadara spotted not only Voryn but a hazy cloud that seemed to cling to him like he was a mountain.

This time, on Stros M'Kai Shore...

"You can't arrest me. Don't you know who I am? I'm LYSOLDA OF--

"Ma'am I don't care if you're the emperor himself, you can't do shots on the boardwalk!"

"Idiot." Voryn finally spoke up when the screen showed the woman being tucked into the back of a police wagon.

Sadara stepped closer, and gave a slight gasp when she got close enough to notice a few things.

One, that the coffee table in front of the sofa held an ash tray with twelve burned out joints. Two, that he was working on a thirteenth. And three...

...that he was completely naked, and shoveling Cheetos into his mouth with his free hand.

"Oh my GOD--" Sadara couldn't stop herself.

And Voryn could apparently not stop HIMSELF from laughing in return. "You wanted something?"

"No. No, I...was wondering what had happened to the--to the box Jiub sent in with the weed, was all. Where's--you can't tell me you smoked ALL of it."

"And if I did?" another chuckle. The bag of Cheetos had its top crinkled down before it got put on the coffee table.

"You're only supposed to have one at a time. Two, if you're having a hard time sleeping. Or you end up like...like..."

"Like what?" he gestured, and she finally took a tentative seat beside him.

"You could start hallucinating, that's what. And suppose someone walks in and sees you?"

"Who cares? I own the volcano. I own the chair, the table...the other chairs, the..." Voryn raised a hand and gestured vaguely. "If they walk in...see me, they'll just...turn around and leave. Not their business. Not..."

Again, a vague gesture. She waited for something to happen - but nothing did. He seemed to be the normal amount of baked and given how much he'd smoked that seemed impossible.

Sadara was trying desperately not to look directly at him. Because she knew if she did, she'd start looking down. First at the abs, and then the Coke can between his legs. This was absolutely NOT the situation in which she wanted to see him naked again.

So she kept her eyes on the screen. The infamous Lysolda was making some sort of plan to go out partying, and seemed VERY confident she could catch the eye of some guy she was calling Arrangement.

'I'm going to 'arrange' him right into my booth at the bar, girls, I'm telling you,' she was saying.

"That...that sounds like what you did." Voryn gave a laugh. "You--you were determined to get me...to--"

Another laugh.

"I went to that party determined to get some, so yes." Despite herself, Sadara manage to give a little laugh too, and when he offered the last joint she took it and inhaled deeply. "It's not I didn't enjoy myself, it's that...I was getting impatient."

"Ner...Nerevar was the same way. When he wants it, he doesn't want to wait."

"Despite two hundred years of training?"

"If anything he uses it as a reason to get leashed. He'll push and push and push knowing I can't resist any more than he can."

"I don't do that. But I've never dated anyone longer than a few weeks, so I don't know what I'm like in the long term." Another long inhale, that she held for a few second. She could already feel herself starting to relax. "I just...don't know how to ask. And I'm not going to ask now."

"Why not?"

Voryn was leaning against her suddenly, and reached one long and gangly arm up to give her a side hug.

"Because you're high."

There was a needy groan she would have thought only belonged to Nerevar.

"It'd be taking advantage of you."

"You're no fun."

She'd expected him to be giggly, or paranoid, or something more Ur-like. Creepy, maybe? But he was acting like someone had given him a low dose of ecstasy or something. He touched her sleeve and seemed fascinated with the texture. In the process, getting that Cheeto dust all over it.

Somehow, he'd turned into Nerevar.

Not the Saint Nerevar, patron of soldiers and beloved of House Redoran, but the Nerevar that would on a septim turn into needing attention desperately.

"Come on, stand up. We've got to get some clothes on you. And next time Jiub sends weed don't smoke all of it. How you aren't reacting badly to so much at once I don't know."

She got him on his feet and tried not to look below the waist. Voryn was leaning on her heavily - and in a strange moment she realized he was giggling. Just. Silently.

Voryn would cooperate and go right to bed without much fuss, although he did insist on petting her face a lot before he did.

Nerevar would appear later, having been off doing whatever it was he did of a day.

"The sleepers are acting weird. What's going on? Did Voryn--?"

"Weird how?"

"I found an ash poet uh...getting intimate with his face-tentacle with one of the ash zombies. And...uh...one of the ascended sleepers is...well let's just say three of the lady dreamers are going to go home very happy. And that's just what I saw on the way here. I've heard a LOT of moaning around the mountain."

"Oh...oh, no. He was--Jiub sent up a sample of marijuana to show why he was a good choice for the job. Voryn...may have smoked a lot of it. I found him watching TV and shoving Cheetos into his face. He was naked, but I thought...since he wasn't doing anything..."

"Gods above." Nerevar's face sunk into his hands. "Okay, look--you didn't know, so I can't fault you. But you CAN'T let Voryn have weed. Ordinarily it just makes him horny as hell, but...given the mask...he might've uh...broadcasted it to...to everyone that..."

"Oh. Oh no."

"A lesson for next time."

"So he made all his followers want to fuck. They're not evil anymore...what's the worst that could happen?"

[marcelwrites]

Love Her To Death (Pt. 1)

The last thing I ever expected to see were Zee's brains leaking out of the gaping hole in her skull. Gore matted jet black hair obscured some but not all of the damage. Bloody jags of bone and bone fragments were scattered on the floor near her final resting place. A thin breeze ran through the space and sent my skin to prickle with goosebumps, a brief respite from the oppressive smell of blood, fucking, friction, must and old rot. A panic started setting in. How did this happen? My mind clawed and scrapped at the thin pieces that comprised of my memory of the last 24 hours. Zee's naked body, thin, pale, and sublime, lay in a graceful heap despite the obvious grotesquerie on display. Before losing all that remained of my sanity I noticed how long Zee's hair really was. When did she ever wear it untied like that? I couldn't remember and the innocence of the thought seemed profane under these circumstances. My phone didn't seem to be in my pocket. Do I call the police? Where's Zee's phone? I hastily checked the room, looking over at the bed maybe her clothes or phone would be under the pillows or duvet. No luck. Looking under the bed I could only see torn condom packets and used condoms. A smear of rusty blood apparent on two of them. What will the police say if they find us like this? A naked body. Brain matter, blood, and bone. A room reeking of cunt and death. What the fuck had happened? I examined my hands. No blood. Bringing them closer to my face to inspect the nails. Nothing there either. I turned to the door and rushed over to it. The old metal handle wouldn't budge. "Oh fuck this!" I screamed. Panic setting in further. I began to smell my own sweat, the adrenal glands setting into overdrive, the cortisol pumping through my body. The window! Despite it being pitch black outside, I could climb out and circle back into the room. Not quite remembering where we were was a problem to be resolved later. I desperately needed that phone.

eeeeekugh and then the whisper of some hideous gargle. I turned back suddenly. Zee's body twitched ever so slightly. No way this was happening. It just wasn't possible. Zee's thin white fingers made the slightest movements. What the fuck was happening!? help... Did I just hear her speak or was this just my mind playing some cruel trick on me? I tried to focus my vision but couldn't trust it. I walked back over Zee's body, looming over it like the grim reaper, and stared. Desensitised to the carnage in front of me but not that ancient musty smell mixed with blood and sex. In a situation like this, what else can you do but disassociate in order to get through it? Your mind can only process it in the same way it processes Horror movies and gross-out flicks. fuck.. me... I thought I heard the craziest, most obscene thing, but no, it was probably just my brain thinking about some shitty Horror movie. I'll pull myself together and get out of here. Get out of the room. Find a phone. Call the police. Pull yourself together, cunt. I walked back to the half open window, it was caked in muck, the sill was dusty, and a red thumbtack was stuck into an old rag to provide some semblance of privacy. Wrenching the window open fully I relished the night air. Outside there was a thick cover of trees and underbrush. Eucalypts and wattles mainly. I could detect their faint perfume. Above was a cloudless sky, the moonlight bright, casting violent shadows across the ground in front of the cabin. Dam... Damian... Me. Come to me. I didn't just hear that! I just want her to be alive. I would believe that she were still alive if I didn't see her brain matter splashed across the fucking ground. My stomach churned. I was going to puke. The smell wash too fucking much. I climbed up and out the window, landing on the soft ground below. My underwear briefly catching on the little latch but thankfully didn't rip. If God were watching I wonder what he'd think? This nightmare was making me question his existence. I was still hoping I'd wake up in a sheen of sweat, panting, thankful for it to be over, but the feeling of the dirt between my toes assured me that this was cold, harsh reality.

[fandomfaeofveryfewf4cks]

Things I noticed the nth time watching Nimona:

Knight armour can get sliced through like nobody's business (Balister's arm), but can take a laser hit without serious, body-altering consequences (Director hitting Ambrosius with a laser made from the same one that apparently has the power to wipe out half the realm, or kill an Immortal being who doesn't feel severe pain from an arrow wound)?

...is this because Ambrosius' armour was made to be more protective than Balister's?

"She manipulated BOTH of us." Ambrosius says this about Nimona, who he had very few interactions with aside from her very blatantly fucking shit up for the institute. How did she manipulate HIM?

I guess it probably makes sense when you consider he was going to arrest the director, implying that he believed Bal AND Nimona, but I dunno. The little rat in my head started running on its brain-powering wheel at all the possible fanfic plots this could lead to.

Nimona as Ambrosius grabbed the Gloreth statue when they fell to the ground.

On the one hand, this could just be actor!Nimona putting dramatic emphasis on how even in death, the leaders of the realm will cling to their hopes and beliefs, or the golden boy finally getting to join his ancestor.

On the other hand, we could make it deliciously angsty (yum yum) and say it is Nimona's personal desire to grab the statue of Gloreth for reasons such as: taking down the monster-killer image of her former friend out of anger and sadness because she never wanted that image to be so true in representing one of the few people who ever cared about her even briefly;

OR, While trying to think about how she would act if she were actually dying, she reaches for the closest thing to a friend that she has, but this is her staging a false death, as that particular friendship was false so this is just fitting, isn't it?;

OR, They wanted it to spread a message that with the fall of the director, would come the fall of the corrupt system they live in, as well as the fall of this narrow-minded view of both Nimona and Gloreth's story as well as Gloreth and Nimona themselves.

Nimona freaking out about the arrow in their leg in the comic vs Nimona treating it like a little scrape not to be worried about in the movie.

This is really interesting to me. In the comic, it's played up for humor like Nimona is almost overreacting, then having Bal take care of her because he does care about her. This shows it as a bit silly, but so very meaningful.

Then you have the movie where Balister is freaking out and it's kind of funny because clearly Nimona is relatively fine about it, so he doesn't really need to make a big deal out of it. Then he helps her and is still very careful about it like with anyone else's arrow wound, and asks her questions so he can better understand them. Again so very important.

I love both versions of these scenes, I just am so curious about why they made such a drastic change.

I love this movie so freaking much. (I knew that already, but it bears saying for the thousandth time. It's just so fucking good.)

For this last one:

TW: mention of police brutality (discussed as a theme in the movie, nothing specific outside of the Nimona movie)

"He's got a weapon." It's not a weapon. It's a phone. But Todd (and who knows how many of the other knights) didn't choose to see it as anything other than what the director told him it was, and destroyed it as he was trained to do. This screams messaging about the stupid, dangerous, and harmful actions of too many police officers who don't check the situation for themselves before acting on "information" they gathered from insufficient data and/or unreliable sources, and combine that with profiling to make decisions that so often end up being harmful and even fatal to others.

[kmazines]

Darl+ing

part i || part ii

Your last argument with Mingyu went nasty and that’s how you and him stop talking and decided to take a break from each others. You don’t know what went wrong this time. Usually both of you will talk it out before it’s too late but since both of you have been busy for months; him with the group comeback and you with company’s big project so every small problems brushed off and and little did both of you know, both of you ended up explode, shouted and said words both of you didn’t mean to each others and hurt each others.

pairing ; mingyu x female reader

warnings ; grammatical mistakes, stalker

Mingyu made sure he was left alone in that meeting room before dialed Wonwoo's number. He texted Mingyu to call him right away after he's done with his meeting and mention it's better if no one was around. Nothing was unusual with that especially when they're on date or off-schedule, it's always better to talk without any staff around.

"Mingyu, did y/n told you anything about what happened?" Wonwoo asked Mingyu over the phone.

"What do you mean? What happened?" Mingyu furrowed his brows.

"I'm on date with Yeri right now and she just told me that someone followed y/n to the office. Apparently he is a part-timer from another company related the last project and bothered y/n few times already while preparing for the event, so the others hvae been be on guard with him too but they never thought he'll follow y/n after the event. Especially when y/n definitely draw the line with him.....Mingyu?"

"Keep going"

"He almost dragged her away outside the office area but luckily the office guard saw it and try to get him but he got away" Mingyu silently listening. He was shaking inside but he's trying to stay calm and trying to brain all this new information he just heard. 'What the hell?'

"Y/n told Yeri to not tell me because she don't want us to worry and figured at least maybe you know. She didn't know about y/n moving out either. Y/n request one month unpaid leave so... I think she moved out to new place got to do with this too. You should go ask and check on her, Mingyu."

Mingyu agreed with Wonwoo that he shouldn't drive so he asked the manager to send him to your house instead. He sat in the car seat, looking outside at the beautiful scenery but his mind was somewhere else.

Mingyu keep rewinding his memories to few months back.

"I wish I didn't need to go to the venue tomorrow. This guy been staring at me the entire time. It's uncomfortable. I can't wait for this project to be over" you complained, pulled the blanket over both of you, turned to see Mingyu beside you, eyes closed.

"Just told your manager or coworkers about it, I bet they will understand you not going. Don't worry much, okay?" eyes still closed, Mingyu pulled you closer before drifting into dreamland.

He sighed, he should ask you more about it. Sometimes it's you that end up fell asleep over the talk, so Mingyu don't think much of it. To think that you did mention about it again another night too, but Mingyu can't even remember if he ever replied you back made him dissapointed with himself. There are a lot of things to prepare for the comeback, especially this time and he barely got time to visit you either. When he did, every conversation during that period end up either like that, or with Mingyu need to rushing back to the company.

Seungkwan called just right when they got into the parking lot.

"I think you should come here. Polices are here", Mingyu get out of the car and run upstairs without even looking back.

"What happened?" you see Mingyu panted and rushed towards you as he enter the apartment. Didn't even care about others around. He then turned to the police officers as he sit right by your side, waiting for explanation from the officers.

"And you are?" the police officer asked Mingyu. Seungkwan, Hoshi and Dokyeom already introduced themselves as your friends.

"Boyfriend. I'm her boyfriend," Mingyu confidently said. You wrapped your arms around Mingyu's arm and nodded to the police officers, giving them the green light to talk about the case.

"He was arrested last night" You gasped and let out a loud relief sigh. Holding yourself from crying right now. Finally!

"He was arrested in front of your previous apartment building. Fortunately, it seems like he don't know you already moved out" you can see Mingyu's head turned to you from the corner of your eyes. You can feel the horror from his stare. Obviously shocked and waiting for some explanation.

The police officers told you that the stalker said he just want to talk to you but it's hard to do so because you're always with others whenever he saw you at the venue to check for the preparation, so he followed you after the event when you're alone.

"But after the investigation, we found out he got few reports on him and he was going around using fake names and identities. Thank goodness we got him this time" Mingyu can feel how tense you are. He slowly moved your arms from his arm and tightly hold your hands. Your fingers intertwined with his fingers, while his thumb rubs your hand, trying to calm you.

It's shocking, really. You can heard the trio's slow gasp and whisper and talking with each others too as they're standing not far behind to listen.

The police officers asked you to come to the police station later whenever you're ready and you just nodded. You barely know what's happening around you anymore after that. When you finally made sense of everything, the house was so silent already. When you looked up, the police officers were gone, seems like the trio excused themselves too. Then your eyes locked on him, Kim Mingyu. He was leaning against the wall in front of you.

You was so flabbergasted by his stares. You know he was patiently waiting for your explanation, but you don't think you can talk right now. You're still overwhelmed and you know you will end up bursting into tears right away if you try to talk about it. You smiled at him nervously then walked to the kitchen to clean the table and stood by the sink to wash the dishes. You stopped as you can feel his presence right behind you.

"Thank you......for coming..." you bite your lower lips, trying to not cry. But your shaky voice, made it obvious. Mingyu's heart sank.

"Y/n...you must be so scared" he slowly hugged you from behind. It's been a while since you felt this secure and safe.

"I'm sorry I couldn't be that person you can rely on. I'm sorry I'm not there to protect you" he said softly, almost like whispering as he tighten his arms around you. He then turned you around, wrapped you around his arms tighter as you start sobbing. Your face buried on his chest, soaking his shirt wet with your tears. You hugged him back tightly when you look up and realised the tears start pouring out of his eyes too.

After you calm down, Mingyu brought you to sit on the couch before wrapping you with blanket.

"Do you want tea or hot choco?" Mingyu wiped the tears under your eyes. You shook your head and pulled him to sit beside you, motion him to join you snuggling under the warm blanket. He smiled sheepishly, gladly do so.

"I want to call you that night but..I don't know. Maybe I was being egoist, stubborn? Maybe I was actually afraid you wont come--"

"Hey hey y/n..shh" he softly shushed you. "It's okay"

"And..and especially when that night, you know how our fight went nasty. I was so frustrated when that guy followed me to the office but instead of telling you about it, I vented my anger on you and blamed you for not paying attention on me"

"It's my fault too, babe. You're right, I wasn't paying attention. I should've take your words seriously. I thought you're overreacting and get mad at you when you must be shocked that day" planted soft kiss on your forehead.

"Now tell me everything that happened. I know what happened at the office on that event day. Yeri told Wonwoo about it". You forgot they had a date today. Yeri is your closest coworker and also Wonwoo's girlfriend. They probably crossed paths few times after you introduced them to each others because not long after, Wonwoo asked you to help him to set a date with Yeri. The next thing you know, they're an item.

"Well...that night, we fought. Then, the next day I went to work like usual. I clocked out early because I'm not feeling good" Mingyu sighed.

"I never thought he'd follow me to the apartment-" Mingyu eyes grew bigger this time, didn't believe what he heard.

"That night he keep ringing the door bell, but when I asked who is it, he didn't answer. I called the police but by the time he arrived, the guard already chase him away. The next morning when I want to go to the work, he grabbed me again.." your spine shivers remembering the situation.

"Ughhh! I seriously want to kill that jerk right now," He groaned. His fist punched the couch pillow on his lap. His voice was stern and full of anger. Your cupped his face with your hands, don't want him to be overwhelmed by the anger and looked into his eyes.

"There are many people around so he couldn't do anything. He's actually stupid if you think about it." you chuckled try to shoo away the anger and anxious feelings away from your boyfriend.

"He's bold and that's...crazy. That's scary, babe. He got away with it many times that's why he's being bold" He didn't mean to scare you but that scares Mingyu. The fact that the stalker's doing that to you in public like that.

"I knew something was wrong when you said the house contract end, l should've asked more about it. I've promised to join you to go house hunting for the next house, remember? But like, we still have few months to go so I was confused. And I know we fought bad this time but you would never moved without telling me. And especially you said before that you prefer the area closer to your office but you moved to place closer to my company instead of yours?"

It's been 10 minutes since you let him rant and nag, to both you and himself. It's been silent and scary for a week, and you hated that. You don't mind hours of his voice echoing in this apartment but you're getting sleepy. You nuzzled into his neck.

"Let's go to sleep. It's been a long week", you nodded. He strokes your hair, loving the scent. Your scent that he's been missing so much.

"Plus, unfamiliar too.."he looked around the room. Both of you just realised how unfamiliar is this house to both of you

"And whatever break is this, let's end it. I can't do this. Not just I can't protect you and be there for you when you're in danger"

"And...I've been missing you so much too y/n. The whole time I feel like I'm going to explode" Mingyu's sad pouts got you. You lean closer and planting kissed all over his face. From his checks, to his nose and to his forehead, and gave a soft peck on his pouty lips, making him giggles.

"I miss you too, Mingyu. Now you're here, I'm not scared and it feel so comfortable in this new apartment. It's so unfamiliar not because it's a new apartment, but because there's no you with me. You're my home. Definitely." You looked fondly into his eyes, giving him butterflies. He giggles before pressing his lips against yours, into a soft kiss.

"Let's not fight like this again, okay?" You nodded as you pulled out from the kiss. You give him another peck on his lips before Mingyu pulled you closer into his embrace and pressing another kiss on your forehead.

Your closed your eyes as you nuzzled yourself deeper into his frame, slowly you begin to drift off, with Mingyu's warmth make it easier to fell asleep.

p/s : it's been hectic since I left this halfway done in my draft. I want to make better plot but I might end up not post it if I'm being undecisive so here it is. Sorry if it's a let down

I will change some words and grammatical mistakes from time to time. English is not my first language, so if you can ignore all those stupid grammar mistakes, that will be much appreciated.

PSSS : I don’t know how or what taglist is and I don’t know how to reply with this account (this is not my main account)

[five-rivers]

Cult Division 4

Part of this series.

“Vlad,” said Maddie.  

“Maddie,” purred Vlad.  “What brings you here today?”

Maddie repressed the desire to curl her lip.  “I am informing you that we’re exhuming Phantom’s body, following the activities of the unidentified cultists last night.”

“Oh, but, Maddie, only family members can do that.  And unless you and Phantom are suddenly family members…”

“Don’t give me that,” said Maddie.  “I.  Know.”

Vlad’s expression soured.  “Yes.  Quite,” he said flatly.  “I am aware.  However, unless you want to make your relationship with the boy public, there’s nothing I can do about the law.”

Maddie, having anticipated this, slammed a piece of paper down on the desk.  “You won’t have to,” she said.  “The law is very much on my side for this one.  Municipal Ordinance 10776.  Investigative professionals registered with the city can request that any grave be exhumed.”

(Investigative professionals here meaning ghost hunters.  Not everyone had the kind of open-mindedness as the average Amity Parker, and although a ordinance against summoning ghosts could be laughed off, things like this tended to be taken a little more seriously.)

“Request,” stressed Vlad.  “Requests, by their nature, are not automatically granted.”

“Maybe,” said Maddie.  “But when word gets around about the cultists, and it will, people will start asking why we aren’t investigating.”

“Is there even anything to investigate?” asked Vlad, putting on his fake innocent act again.  “Goodness, I thought the cultists left the memorial intact and undisturbed.  Are you saying I was misinformed?  Or has something happened to poor Daniel?  I’m sorry, to Phantom?  It really is fascinating that they both have the same first name.”

They glared at each other over the mayoral desk.  

“If I have to,” said Maddie, “I can always reveal you.”

“And I’ll deny everything, or reveal Phantom.”

“Not your ghost half,” said Maddie.  “Your continued sexual harassment.  There might not be enough of it to get you arrested, but there’s certainly enough for some interesting headlines.”

(She could also just wait for the police to get a warrant from a judge, but figuring out how to word it without saying anything about ghosts, cultists, or other things that would make outsiders overly curious took time.)

“You wouldn’t.”

“I would.  Jack would be upset, but if it's for Danny, I think he’ll get over it.”

“Very well,” said Vlad, who looked like he’d swallowed a full box of spiders.  “I will approve your request.”

“Thank you,” said Maddie.  “I–”  Her phone went off.  Relishing the chance to be rude to Vlad, she answered it.  “Hello?”

.

“Kidnapped?” Maddie Fenton repeated again.  “How?”

“Er,” said Collins, drumming his fingers on the wheel of his car.  This was not the best place to have this conversation, but there weren’t a lot of better options, so…  “The normal way, I suppose.  Someone broke into the house and took him.”

“Through Jack?”

“That’s something we’re investigating.”  Jack Fenton had been found passed out near the front door, and was one of the reasons they’d been called in.  Apparently, bright orange hazmat was visible.  Who would have thought.

“But,” said Maddie, “you think Danny’s okay?”

‘Okay’ was probably an overstatement.  An overstatement at best.  They hadn’t found any major organs or limbs strewn around the house, but there were signs of a struggle, and kidnapping victims were, as a rule, never okay.  

Also… Collins made the decision to not mention the bloody backpack.  Some things mothers (and potential suspects) were better off not knowing.  He was fairly certain it wasn’t Danny’s blood on the bag, anyway.  He almost felt bad for whoever kidnapped him.  

Almost.

Whoever those people were, he doubted they were aware of even a tenth of what Danny did for Amity Park.  

“At this point, he is most likely still…” he hesitated slightly before the next word, “alive.”  He wasn’t convinced anything could kill Danny.  The kid seemed invulnerable, for all intents and purposes, and even as a human, he could do incredible things.

Maddie made a strangled noise on the other side of the line.  

“We’d like you to come down to the station,” continued Collins.  “Keep your phone on and with you.  It’s possible you’ll be contacted for ransom.”  Possible, but highly unlikely.  The Fentons were well-off, but not to this degree.  

“I don’t have time,” said Maddie.  “I have to look.”

“We’re looking.”

“You aren’t ghost hunters.  It’s almost certainly a ghost that took him.”

“There’s reason to believe that is not the case.  Mrs. Fenton.  Maddie.  It’s possible that you saw or heard something important before you left or earlier this week.”

Maddie was quiet on the other side of the line.  “You think I had something to do with this?” she asked, a thread of danger running through her words.  

“Not as such, no.  This is just– this is just procedure.  We need to look into everyone.  We’re talking to Jack, too.”

“Is that why you think it was humans who did this?”

Again, the reason for that was more the bloodied bag, but, again, he wasn’t talking about that.  “Go to the station and you can ask him yourself.”

“Are you not at the station?”

Crap, what had he said to make her think that?  “That’s–”

“You’re still at Fentonworks, aren’t you?”

“No?” said Collins.  

Maddie hung up on him.  

Great.  She was on her way and she’d be on the warpath.  He hit redial.

“Hello?” said Maddie, in a way that told him that she hadn’t looked at the caller ID and that she was considering what he’d said about ransoms.

“Look, Maddie, I know you were going up to see if you could get permission to exhume the body.  Could we– If you go to the station, we can get that started right away.  We have the equipment ready to go, the medical examiner is ready.  Everything is ready.”

“You–”

“This is a crime scene, Maddie.  You can’t be here.”  

“It’s my house.  And my son.”

“I know, I know.  We care about Danny, too.  But he’s not here.  You can’t help him here.”

There was quiet on the other side of the line.

“Fine.” 

.

“So,” said Paterson.  “You went to the door and… what, again?”

“I already told him,” said Jack, who was sitting on the back of an ambulance, getting poked and prodded by an EMT.  “Can’t he tell you?”

“Sure,” said Paterson, glancing sideways at McGee, “but can you run me through it again?  For reference?  Sometimes, we remember things better the second time around.”

“I went to the door, and started feeling dizzy, but I opened it up - I shouldn’t have done that.  Should have realized that something was wrong.  I opened it up, and there was this duffel bag there.”

“Do you remember anything about the duffel bag?”

“It was taped over in weird places.  Patched.  Uh.  It might have been blue?  Or green?  But after I saw it, I just passed out.  I don’t know what it was about it that made me pass out.”

“Oxygen deprivation,” said the EMT.

“What?”

“Right, you said I wasn’t breathing before, so–”

“Which was caused by oxygen deprivation.  You show all the signs.  Whoever it was that did this must have released a huge amount of nitrogen or something similar into the area immediately in front of your door.”

“I didn’t feel like I couldn’t breathe, though.”

“You wouldn’t.  Our reflex to breathe is triggered by the presence of carbon dioxide, not the absence of oxygen.  Without rescue breaths, you would have died of asphyxiation.”

“That’s a thing?” asked Paterson, scrunching her nose.  

“Yeah,” said Jack.  “You can’t really work as a scientist without at least hearing about it.”

“People have died from it before,” said the EMT.  “You’re probably going to be fine, you were found fast, but you still need to go to the hospital.”

“But I need to find Danny.”

“They wouldn’t have stuck around,” said Paterson.  “We’ve already got everyone looking for Danny.  Amber Alert and everything.”

“Do you think they did the same thing to Danny?  The nitrogen thing?”

“It would have been in the house, yeah,” said the EMT.  

“Okay,” said Paterson, “so we should look for someone who bought a whole lot of nitrogen tanks or something?  What do people even use those for?”

The EMT shrugged.  “Science, I guess.  You ready to go, Mr. Fenton?”

“Alright,” said Jack.  

“Hey, wait,” said McGee, “I’m not done yet–”

“Then you can come talk to him at the hospital,” said the EMT.  “George!  Come over and help me!”

The EMTs packed Jack into the ambulance and drove away.  

McGee stared after it, tapping his foot.  “Do you think these kidnappers were able to revive Danny, or are we going to be looking for a corpse?”

“Don’t say things like that,” said Paterson.  She’d already seen Danny’s corpse once, after all, she didn’t need to see it again.  “It’s bad luck.”

.

Danny woke slowly.  He felt unpleasantly bruised, for one, and for another, the last thing he remembered was getting kidnapped, which was generally not a precursor to happy fun times.  

He peeled open eyes that felt disgustingly bloodshot, and looked around.  There wasn’t much to see.  The room he was in was small, clean, and bare, and he was lying down on a bed.  Someone had even tucked him in.  

Creepy.  Not that kidnapping wasn’t creepy in and of itself, but this was especially creepy.  

He struggled to sit up, and discovered that he’d been wrapped in a kind of improvised straitjacket.  Several layers of blankets were wrapped around him and held in place by belts.  He strained against them, but unfortunately whatever the cult from the other night had done was still holding strong.  No powers for him, not even a little bit.

And Danny didn’t even know why these people had taken him.  

His legs were still free, so, with a little extra maneuvering, he got up and walked around the room.  The one door didn’t even have a handle.  

He was stuck.  

His mouth suddenly even drier than it had been, he swallowed.  He was stuck.  Trapped.  Hadn’t even figured his way out of this frankly embarrassing ‘straightjacket.’  

The door opened, and Danny stumbled back, overbalancing and thumping into the wall.  Severa masked figures walked in.

“Oh, he’s perfect!”

They came in, crowding him.  

“Back off!”  Danny kicked out, but he was at a bad angle, and the first of the mask-wearers was able to get close enough that Danny couldn’t do anything other than try to bite, which didn’t really work if the person you were trying to bite was holding your face.  

“Just perfect.”  They tilted Danny’s head this way and that, and Danny couldn’t pull away.  “Age, of course, is important, but appearance, too.  I hadn’t realized…”  They fell to muttering.  

Danny’s eyes flicked from mask to mask.  They were plain white plastic with the eyes blacked out with some kind of fabric.  Simple, but effective.  Danny didn’t know who these people were.  

“Yes, our sponsor was right.  You’ll do perfectly.  Perfectly.”  They patted Danny’s cheek.  

“Sponsor?”  Danny didn’t want to interact with these people at all, but he needed information.  

“I know you must be so frightened.  We would have tried a more peaceful way, but those ghost hunters…  They would never see reason.”

The other mask-wearers shifted, grumbling.  

“The number of times they have assaulted our lord–  No, no, we had to get you somewhere safe.  After all, you are to be the host for our lord, Phantom.”

Well.  That.  

What?

He stared at the masked person, uncomprehending as they waxed poetic about Phantom’s - his - virtues.  Many of which Danny didn’t have.

“... honor, to be chosen, and an honor, too, to be here to witness.  But, of course, you’ve asked after our sponsor.  He asked to meet with you.”  They ran their hand through Danny’s hair, which was just.  Bad.  “Yes.  We have followed his word for some time, and he has never led us wrong, you know.”

Danny didn’t know.  And he didn’t want to meet this ‘sponsor’ they were talking about.

“He’ll be coming soon,” said the masked person.  “You’ll talk, and then… then we prepare.”

The masked people filed out of the room and closed the door behind them.  Danny futilely tried to open the door, in case they hadn’t closed it properly.  Frustrated, he sat down on the bed.  

Another cult.  A different one, too, if he knew anything about cults, which was not a sentence he’d have expected to say before he became a half ghost.  Worse, not only was it another cult, it was another Phantom cult.  What part of his behavior as Phantom made people think he wanted cults?  

Superman didn’t have to deal with this.  

Superman was fictional.  

Maybe he could use the walls or the edge of the cot to shift the belts around, and from there he could use the buckles to… pick the nonexistent lock on the door.  Right.  Not likely.  Maybe he could do something to - no, the hinges were on the outside.  At least, he could use them as a weapon, probably?  Maybe–

Danny’s ghost sense went off, and he tensed.  He wasn’t ready for a fight, but he was ready to be a pain, assuming this ghost was involved, and make a plea for escape, if they weren’t.

A ghost phased through the door.  

Danny hissed.  

“Plasmius.”

“Hello, little badger.”