#and have surveillance cameras in case someone got aggressive with me

[dyns33]

No one understands why Y/N is mean to Loki. Well, not really mean, but still pissed off when he's around. Yet she is gentle, patient and kind to everyone else.

Loki doesn't understand, because he hasn't done anything to her. Or he doesn't remember it ? He even found her quite charming at first, the only person in the group he tolerated.

Thor, who always stands up for his brother, is going to directly ask her , to find out if Loki did something to her, or if she is angry with him for his past actions.

Y/N immediately apologizes, saying she didn't realize she was so rude. It's just that Loki makes her a little uncomfortable with his mocking smile, all his criticism, mockery, and that she always goes into defensive mode, even when he doesn't say anything, reflexivel, just in case. She promises to do better.

The excuse is valid, Loki is indeed very annoying and a little cruel at times, but never with her. The God of Mischief, however, agrees not to react like a child, and to always be a perfect gentleman with Y/N, according to his criteria.

Strangely the situation worsens. She is even more edgy and nervous as soon as they are together. Loki doesn't know what to do, neither does Thor, he wants his brother to be accepted into the team.

After looking at the surveillance cameras, Tony laughs.

"It's ok I got it."

"What ?" Loki spits. 

"It's me and Pepper."

"It's not all about you, man of iron." Thor sighs.

"No. Loki is like me, when he loves someone. He teases, he doesn't look serious, he hides his feelings with disdain."

"Stop."

"And Y/N is like Pepper. She's shy and panic easily, and doesn’t want it to show, so she's aggressive and wild. She's not mad at Loki, but at the attraction she feels for him. This is so cute."

"I'm pretty sure Pepper isn't like that and that she got annoyed because you are an ass." Natasha said.

"I'm still right. We have two shy people who can't communicate. That's all."

"And what do I do ?"

"You go to her and kiss her. She's going to hit you a bit, then everything will be better."

"Stark… It's not a good idea at all, it even looks like harassme… Where's Loki ?"

"Jarvis ?"

"Loki is with Miss Y/N. They are... busy."

"I knew it !"

[fandom-imagines-stories]

Trapped Secrets

Dr. Spencer Reid x Reader, Derek Morgan Platonic x Reader

Words: 3692

Summary: With no time to lose, you and Morgan storm an unsub’s house before the rest of the team gets there. After not hearing back from you, Spencer and the team start to panic. Injured, trapped, and keeping a major secret, you and Morgan have to stay alive in a frightened unsub’s basement. 

Notes: I picture this in season four because that’s where I am in the series. Plus I really like Spencer’s hair cut at the beginning of this season.  I am totally in love with Spencer Reid so expect to be seeing more imagines for him and for Criminal Minds in general! I hope you guys are as excited as I am. 

Find more Spencer and more HERE

-

“You’ll be careful, right?” You asked, straightening your boyfriend’s tie underneath his vest. 

“Only if you are.” Spencer gave you that little awkward smile that he always gave you. “Besides, I’m not going with Agent Action Hero.” He motioned to Agent Morgan; your search partner for the evening. 

“He’s not an action hero.” You laughed, strapping on your vest. “He just really likes kicking in doors.” Spencer snickered slightly, but his expression was still uncomfortable. 

“You jealous that I’m riding with your girl Reid?” Morgan laughed, patting the younger agent on the back. 

“Morgan.” You hissed, jerking your head towards Hotch. 

“What? We all know about you and the brainiac.”

“Yeah, and Hotch doesn’t exactly like being reminded about it.” The relationship between you and Dr. Reid wasn’t exactly protocol, especially on the same team. You hadn’t quite been able to figure out why SSA Hotchner hadn’t reported you or told you to put an end to it. 

“You guys better get going. We only have about five hours before he’ll likely kill Audrey Lang.” Spencer hooked his finger with yours, only for a moment, but it sent a sweet, tingling feeling up your arm. With both of you being new to any kind of serious relationship, you stuck to pretty small signs of affection. You didn’t mind. It was personal and perfect. Spencer went to join Hotch and you headed to the car with Morgan. 

“Is it just me, or did Reid actually look kind of worried?” Morgan asked. It was more to tease you than from concern. 

“Shut up.” You couldn’t help but grin. Morgan had that effect. You got into the passenger side and waited for his list of snarky comments. He wasn’t done poking fun at you yet. 

“I have to say, you’ve got ‘rule breaker’ all over you, but I honestly did not see this coming from Dr. Teacher's-Pet.” He shook his head with a smug smile and started the car. You just sat and rolled your eyes. Any response would just mean more provocation. “But dating a younger man… I always pictured you as more of the ‘Silver Fox’ kinda girl.” Now that pressed your buttons.

“Okay, first of all, just because I like Richard Gere, doesn’t mean I like older men.” You retorted, “Secondly, I’m not even that much older than Reid. There’s what, three years, between us?” 

“Uuuhuuuh.” The side eye he gave you made you want to slap him. Morgan chuckled. “Come on, you and I are friends, right? Don’t I get a few little details?” From the smirk on his face, you knew what he was talking about. 

“Derek Morgan, we are on a case. We are professionals on a case about three murdered federal employees. I will not divulge information regarding my sex life!” 

“I never said anything about sex, Agent Y/L/N.” His grin grew and you begrudgingly turned your face to the window. Morgan laughed at the red flushing your cheeks. You would be mad if he wasn’t your best friend. 

In the other car, Reid rode beside Hotch in tense silence. Spencer knew that his relationship with you could potentially get both of you into trouble with the bureau. Every time he was around Hotch, he waited for the reprimand. The unusual quiet was almost worse. Hotch turned a corner and took a heavy breath. 

“It’s a bad idea. You know that right?” 

“I know it’s against the rules, if that’s what you mean.” As intimidating as his superior could be, Reid was sure of himself. 

“The rules are there for a reason, Reid.” Hotch sighed. He would give anything to not be having this conversation right now. 

“Have either of us proven to be less efficient?”

“That’s not the point.” 

“If our relationship complicates our work, I can assure you that Y/N and I will be the first ones to address it.” 

“Reid-”

“You know, if anything, I think that we’ve working better together than we have in the past, which is saying something because Y/N and I-”

“Are you happy?” He asked a little more aggressively than he had intended. Reid just blinked at him blankly.

“What?”

“Are both of you happy?” He glanced over at the younger agent and Spencer shifted in his seat. He was awkward, but assertive. 

“I can’t totally speak for Y/N, but… yes.” He sat and waited for his superior’s response. Hotch fixed his eyes on the road. 

“Okay.” 

“I’m sorry?”

“I said okay.” Maybe he was going soft, but he’d never seen Reid or you like this before. If this relationship could help the both of you get through the horrors you saw every day, then turning a blind eye might not be the worst thing. 

“Thank you.” Spencer felt a small smile creep onto his face. Hotch scowled. 

“If a single problem arises, and I mean any dispute or laps in judgement-”

“You didn’t know anything about it. Got it.” Spencer stared at his lap to hide his smirk. 

You were still avoiding Morgan’s inquiring gaze when Garcia’s voice came through your earpiece. 

“Guys, Audrey Lang’s phone just turned on.” 

“Where?” Morgan’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. 

“157 21st Street.” Your stomach turned. As selfish as it was, a part of you had hoped that someone else would be closer. Morgan whirled the car around. 

“That’s just around the corner from us. We’re right on top of him.” He slammed on the brakes in front of the house and the two of you jumped out of the car. The house was about what you expected from a paranoid, conspiracy-obsessed unsub. The windows were boarded up and two different cameras looked down at you from the roof. 

“Morgan.” You pointed to the devices. Jacobs knew you were here. He nodded and spoke into his radio. 

“This guy has surveillance everywhere. He’s going to panic.” He glanced back at you, waiting for you to have his back. Despite your building panic, you didn’t have time to hesitate. You gave him a strong nod. “We’re going in.” 

You pushed your fear to the pit of your stomach. If you showed even the slightest panic, Morgan would know and you could jeopardize everything. So when he kicked in the door, you were right behind him. 

The house was silent. With guns raised, you both covered the first floor, finding nothing but scattered notes and ‘Big Brother Is Watching’ flyers. You located a flight of stairs leading to the basement and cautiously followed Morgan down. Similarly to the floor above, the basement seemed other than a desk with a few surveillance screens. Across from the stairs was a large metal door. It was open.  

Morgan charged towards it, but something wasn’t sitting right with you. 

“Hotch, how close are you and Reid?” You asked tentatively. 

“Five more minutes. Have you found Mrs. Lang?” 

“She’s in here!” Morgan announced. You stepped into the room, but kept close to the door. Morgan was kneeling over the unconscious body of Audrey. While she was out cold, she was still breathing. 

“What about Jacobs?” Hotch asked. 

“We looked everywhere upstairs and he wasn’t there.” 

“Reid, when you went to the other crime scene, you said that the victim had been covered and made to look like part of the rubble, right?”

“Yeah, Jacobs wanted to hide the body. If the construction worker hadn’t been working there, it likely wouldn't have been found.” Spencer’s voice wavered as he figured out where you were going with this. You looked at Morgan with wide eyes. 

“Then how did we get here so easily?” 

Hotch yelled into the radio. 

“It’s a trap. Get out of there. Now!” 

You whirled around and came face to face with Steven Jacobs. You fired your weapon, but didn’t get the chance to see if you hit him. Instead, you stumbled backwards and the large metal door slammed shut. 

“No!” Morgan shouted, throwing his weight against the door to try and break it down. “Hotch, can you hear me? Reid!” The radio connection was dead. Morgan slammed against the door again. 

“Derek.” 

“We’re going to get out of here.” He searched the door for any point of weakness.

“Derek.” 

 “Let us out, you son of a bitch!”

“Derek!” You finally yelled. When he turned around you watched his face morph with panic. Blood leaked through your fingers, your hand pressed against the wound in your shoulder. It wasn’t your gun that had gone off, it was Jacobs’. And you were hit. 

-

The street swarmed with teams from local police, S.W.A.T, and the BAU. In the middle of all of it was Spencer. He just stared at the front door. Somewhere in the basement of that house, his girlfriend and his closest friend were trapped by a paranoid schizophrenic with a gun. Neighbors reported already hearing a shot go off. Judging by the lights still on in the house and the fact that you and Morgan still hadn’t come out yet, it wasn’t one of your guns to make the shot. 

“He must be using something to jam the signal.” Prentiss huffed, her attempts to get a hold of either of you failing. “We need to get in there.” 

“We don’t know what Jacobs has in there.” Rossi said gruffly, joining them after meeting with the S.W.A.T leader. “For all we know, he could try and blow the whole block.”

“The longer we wait, the longer he has Morgan and Y/L/N.” Spencer ran his fingers through his hair. “Audrey Lang is probably dead and we don’t know who shot the gun or-”

“When they found her, Morgan didn’t say anything about Lang being dead.” Hotch said sternly. 

“He didn’t say she was alive, either.” Spencer’s voice was harsh considering he was speaking to a superior. 

“Reid, I want to get them out just as badly as you do, but if we try and storm in there, Jacobs will likely kill them and himself.” Hotch’s tone was stern and surprisingly calm. 

“You thought you had me, didn’t you!?” A voice boomed from the house. Every agent in the street tensed and raised their weapons. Prentiss was the first to lower her gun. 

“Look in the bushes.” She pointed to the shrubbery on either side of the door. “Speakers.” 

“You all thought you would silence the truth! Well I’m smarter than you. That’s right. And I will not be silenced!” 

Hotch looked at the hostage negotiator, who gave him the okay to talk. 

“Mr. Jacobs we don’t want to silence you.” 

“Tell that to the three spies in the other room.” Underneath Jacobs' voice was the sound of banging. Like fists against a door. Listening closer, Spencer could hear a yelling voice. 

“Morgan.” He whispered to the others. They listened to the sound of their coworker- their friend- trying to break free. 

“Jacobs you son of a bitch, we’ve got two injured people in here!” Derek screamed. You closed your eyes, trying to drown out the sound that was just making the pain worse. 

“Derek, don’t antagonize him.” You grimaced, trying to keep pressure against the still gushing bullet hole in your shoulder. “It’ll just piss him off.”

“Y/N, we need to get paramedics in here. Audrey is barely breathing and you’re bleeding out.” He knelt in front of you, lifting your hand slightly to look at the wound. 

“I thought you weren’t supposed to tell the patient they’re going to die.” You teased, trying to get your mind off of the guilt and regret. Derek winced. 

“You’re not going to die. I didn’t mean that.” 

“Go check on her.” You motioned towards Mrs. Lang. “I’ll be fine.” You adjusted slightly so your vest was in your lap. You had to take it off in order to tend to your wound and it left you vulnerable. 

As Derek crossed the room, you felt your vision blur with tears. You should have told him. You should have told him. 

Outside the tension was only getting worse. Jacobs had gone quiet and the team was itching to break the door down. Spencer was pacing, running through plan after plan in his head. If Garcia could hack into Jacobs’ system, they could cut the surveillance feed and go in. But if Jacobs noticed the hack, he would kill everyone inside. Finally, the shrill voice came back over the speakers. 

“One of your spies is dead.” He laughed frantically, a madman slipping more and more into his delusion. Spencer froze. “She said she didn’t know anything, but I knew she was lying. You train them well, you know.”

“She.” Spencer whispered, the panic making his hands shake. 

“Mr. Jacobs, which woman is dead?” Hotch asked carefully. Jacobs laughed again. 

“You have chips in all of them, you tell me.” 

“Mr. Jacobs, I need to know who died.” While he kept his gaze focused on the house, Hotch could tell that the team was holding their breath. 

“Damnit!” Derek exclaimed, slamming his hand against the floor. Audrey was dead. 

“There was nothing you could do, Derek.” You said grimly. You looked around at the metal walls and felt the last bit of hope leave you. “He’s going to kill all of us.” 

“No, no, you don’t get to talk like that.” Derek crouched in front of you and put a hand on your cheek. “We are not going to die in here.” A tear slipped down your cheek and you shook your head. 

“I never even got to tell him.” Maybe it was shock, but you started to hyperventilate. “I didn’t tell him, Derek.” 

“Sweetheart, what are you talking about?” 

“I didn’t tell Spencer.”

“Tell Reid what?” Derek’s eyes searched yours until you watched the realization on his face. “You’re not…”

“Yeah, Derek. I am.” You wiped another tear away. “I found out a couple of weeks ago.” 

“You’ve known that long and haven’t told anybody?” He sighed, sitting down beside you. You laid your head on his shoulder. 

“I’m telling you now, aren’t I?” You laughed humorously. “I know I should have told Hotch as soon as I found out, but I couldn’t tell him before I told Spencer and I just couldn’t figure out how to tell him.” Your voice cracked and Derek pressed a kiss to your temple. 

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” 

It was eerily quiet. Jacobs had stopped his rambling and the sirens outside seemed distant now. Your hands fell to your stomach and you smiled sadly. 

“Help me think of names.” 

“Hmm?”

“Come on, distract me from the pain. Help me think of names for the little genius.” You shifted so that you were looking at Derek. “I was thinking that, if it’s a girl, I want to name her Diana. Spencer’s mom has always been such a big part of his life and I think that’s what he would want.”

“Diana is a beautiful name.” He gave you a sweet smile and took your hand in his. “What if it’s a boy?”

“See, I can’t make up my mind on that. I’m sure Spence would want some super smart author’s name or something, but... he’s the smartest person I know.” You spread your fingers over your belly, thinking about everything you had to lose. 

“Well if Spencer Jr. doesn’t stick, you could always name him after your favorite profiler.” Derek chuckled. His smirk fell when he looked at the sorrow on your face. 

“I need you to tell him.” 

“What?”

“If I don’t…” You gulped. “If I don’t make it out of this, I don’t want him to find out from some doctor. I want him to hear it from you.” 

“Don’t go there. Don’t you go there, you hear me?” He stood with new determination. “We are getting out of here and you and that wonder baby are going to be just fine.” He brought your hand up to his lips before turning towards the door. 

“What are you-”

“Jacobs!” He pounded on the door. “I’m ready to talk! I’ll tell you anything you want to know.” 

“Derek what are you doing?” You struggled to stand and Derek moved you to the wall beside the door and motioned for you to stay still. 

“I’m ready to talk, Jacobs! You win!” You both readied your weapons and Derek stood in the corner. 

It didn’t take long for Jacobs to take the bait. Slowly, the metal door opened and Jacobs cautiously stepped inside. His wild eyes locked on you and your gun and he charged towards you. Before he could get far, Derek kicked the door into him. The impact made him stumble forward into you, shoving you against the wall. Your head hit the concrete hard, disorienting you long enough for Jacobs to aim his gun at your stomach. 

This time the shot wasn’t his. And you didn’t miss. 

-

The second shot had everyone ready to go in. Teams were prepping when the front door opened. 

“Hold your fire!” Morgan shouted. “I’ve got an injured agent here!” He emerged from the house walking as fast as he could. He was carrying you. Spencer broke into a sprint, rushing alongside him and trying to examine your injuries. 

“What happened? Is she okay?” Before he could answer, paramedics swarmed them. 

“She was shot in the left shoulder, no exit wound, and she’s lost a lot of blood. She also hit her head pretty hard, but she’s remained conscious.” He informed them. 

“Sir, you’ll have to come with us so we can examine you as well.” One ordered. 

“I’m coming with you.” Reid said firmly. Nobody argued with him and so they all climbed into the back of the ambulance. 

They sat Morgan and Reid down and got you onto a gurney. 

“Agent Y/L/N, can you hear me?” 

“Agent Morgan, did you sustain any injuries in Mr. Jacobs’ basement?”

“Dr. Reid, I need you to stay over there.” 

So many things were happening at once, Derek could barely get a word in. 

“There’s something you need to know before you give her anything.” He told the woman tending to you. He finally looked at Reid. He’d been avoiding his gaze since he stepped out of the house, but now he had to keep his promise to you. He had to tell him. “She’s pregnant.” 

The paramedics acted accordingly and Spencer just stared at him. 

“What?” 

“She’s pregnant, kid.” Derek put a hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged it off, his gaze shifting to you. 

“That’s not… she would have told me. She would have-”

“She wanted to tell you. She was just scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“I don’t know, kid.”

“Don’t call me that!” Spencer pushed away from him. 

“Sir, I need you to calm down-”

“Reid-”

“You should have waited! If you had waited for the rest of us, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“We were trying to save Audrey Lang.”

“Audrey Lang died!” Spencer snapped. “And now so could Y/N. She could die and could my…” He trailed off, his anger fading quickly into a devastated panic. 

“This is really not the place for this argument.” One of the paramedics warned. 

“She’s going to be okay, Reid. Her and your baby are going to be okay.” He pulled the younger agent into a hug, trying to convince himself as well. 

-

The whole team was in the waiting room. Hotch watched Reid carefully as he paced relentlessly. Judging by the tension between him and Morgan, there was something the two weren’t saying. 

The bodies of Audrey Lang and Steven Jacobs were found in his basement. Hotchner would be filling out the paperwork as soon as they found out your condition. When the doctor finally approached them, everyone was on the edge of their seats. 

“Agent Y/L/N will have to wear a sling for her shoulder injury and she’s suffering from a concussion, but in time, she will make a full recovery.” Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The doctor continued. “As for the other matter,” She gave Spencer a small smile, “she’s asking to speak to Dr. Reid before any other visitors.” 

With everybody’s eyes on him, Spencer followed her back to your room. You looked a lot better now and you were giving him a nervous smile. 

“Hey.” 

“Hey.” He stood in the doorway for a moment, unable to move. 

“I’m going to go fill out some forms, but I will be just down the hall if you need anything or have any questions.” The doctor said before leaving the two of you alone. Spencer shoved his hands in his pockets and slowly shuffled forward. 

“Is everything okay?” He asked. “I mean… is the… are you-”

“We’re both fine, Spence.” You held your breath, waiting for him to react. Spencer pulled up a chair and took your hand in his. His hands were shaking slightly. 

“Why didn’t you tell me?” 

“Spence…”

“Were you that afraid of how I would react?”

“No!” You exclaimed, laying a hand on his cheek. “Spencer, I was afraid of everything. I was afraid of facing it. I love you and I want this child, I do. But… I know geological profiling and how to link victims and what to say to a grieving family. I don’t know how to be a parent.” 

“You think I do?” He laughed anxiously. “I don’t know the first thing about being a dad. But…” He gulped. “I know that I have been happier with you than I have in my whole life. I don’t know a lot about love, but everything I do know, I know because of you. And if you can do that, then we can figure this out.” 

A grin spread across your face and you pulled his lips to yours. You were too distracted by each other to notice the other figure at the door. 

“I believe I was told something about naming a certain baby after me?” Derek smirked. Spencer gave you a look. 

“You’re delusional, Morgan.” You laughed. Derek looked at Reid. 

“Are we good, kid?” 

Spencer smiled. 

“Yeah. We’re good.” 

[i-see-you-now-you-see-me]

Unintentional Coincidence /// Hungry for You

(oneshot/ DYVLONY series, can be read separately)

Pairing: Wayv (NCT) YangYang x Reader (you)

Word count: approx 7k (a long one, i know)

Warnings: smut, blood, violence, drugs usage (the reader get drugged), mention of prostitution, smuty smuttttttttttttttt

A/N: i had to do it though, had this idea in my head and there it is, enjoy

*10043567901;1102033149001. PLANET DYVLONY*

-You can load you gun as much as you like, Detective, - Yangyang smirked, his teeth poking out, lips licking them in anticipation, - but no silver bullets can kill me…

-We just want to talk, - Xiao Dejun spoke calmly not to anger the predator.

-Talk, I see, - Yangyang turned around, - you come into my house, my garden, uninvited, disturb me at this hour, full S.W.A.T gear? Came for a chat? Ha, - he laughed, the sarcasm clear in his tone.

With a swoosh, Yangyang moved across, disarming the weapons from their hands, standing back where he did before, silver bullets flying up in the air and then landing on the ground.

-With what do I ow the pleasure, – he smiled, teeth on full display, - gentleman?

* 48 hours before *

-She attacked me in my own home?! She is not human or alien, she is a monster, - Mr. Gibbs talked, while court magistrate Dejun listened.

-What happened after?

-When she beat me up, I saw her run through the door and that was it, called you straight away!

-Thank you for your time, we will find her ASAP, - Xiaojun spoke.

After Mr. Gibbs had left the building, Dejun dialed Ten’s number.

-We got a problem, - were his first words when the call connected.

-Is everything alright?

-Can you come to High court quarters? I will get someone to greet you when you come.

-I am on my way, - detective Ten spoke.

Minutes later, Ten was going down in the elevator, meeting Xiao Dejun by the door. Walking in silent room, where no one would disturb, they sat down. Xiaojun pulled out a file. Throwing pictures on the table, he sighed.

-She did this, - he said, - number two beat the crap out of Mr. Gibbs and ran. Look at the pictures Ten, tell me what do you think?

Ten was eyeing them carefully not to miss anything. He let out an approval breath.

-There is something not right, - detective said, - when we did the tests on girls none of them were aggressive, there is something more, also, I didn’t hear that she would have tried to escape when Gibbs collected her.

-Exactly, - Dejun spoke, - I think he might have done something to trigger her, that’s why she did this.

Ten nodded. None of the humans were aggressive, no disturbing behavior was seen, nor any they had heard of. Anna was perfect in every way, and Ten’s wife was pulling his strings on purpose, but not like this.

-I will get my team on it straight away, - Ten spoke. Xiao nodded.

-We cannot, - he sighed, - since about humans no one really knows, we cannot have more exposure to what is already out there. I must say, you should do this on your own, mind that, I will help you.

-Ok, we start with surveillance footage by Gibbs’ house, and see where we go from there.

-Yes, let’s do that.

Both of them were soon in a car, driving towards Gibbs’ house, uneasy feeling in Ten’s gut. He was sure Gibbs hurt the girl, and if he was right, surveillance will be useless, either way deleted or, he will hear another of – it must have broken down, I didn’t know - this bullshit.

-How come you are here? – Mr. Gibbs asked.

-We are here to check if we could see your surveillance recordings, I am Detective Ten by the way.

-I know who you are, - he stepped aside, - be my guest.

Leading them through corridor, soon they had reached the camera surveillance room. As a scientist, Mr. Gibbs had the newest technology, including cameras, speaker phones, all sorts of gears, that no one yet would be able to purchase.

Showing the first video, where you ran, into his back garden and then through the bushes, Ten was ready to push some buttons. He turned to face Gibbs.

-And the other footage?

-What are you referring to? – Gibbs asked.

-Where she beats you up?

Mr. Gibbs pulled another video, where it was clear, that you went fully ballistic on him. Kicking him in the balls first, then stomach, then his back with your elbow, until he was on the ground and you kept on kicking.

-And before this?

-What? – Mr. Gibbs felt offended. – what are you after detective?

-Just doing my work, - Ten said back, - if you are liable to information that could help us, it is your job as our citizen to provide us with it. If you fail to do so, we can ask the judge at the high court to write a legal document for it, or, if you won’t cooperate, ask for a lawyer, we can ask for a search warrant.

Ten was right, truth to be told, if Gibbs had nothing to hide, why just not show them. End of story. Gibbs bit his cheek. He knew Ten could be very pushing towards his goal, so he obliged. Playing another video, your body was attached to some system, and clearly Mr. Gibbs was experimenting on you.

-Sir, - Xiaojun spoke, - have you been experimenting on a human being, that you were supposed to keep safe and teach our ways?

Gibbs grit his teeth. He hated this.

-You have no proof!? – he nearly shouted.

-This is enough proof to be showed in a court, - Ten said. – if you tell us now, we might ask for a gentler punishment for you.

Gibbs stayed quiet. An hour later all of his camera footage, since the day you were brought to his home, was taken by police task forces, Xiaojun and Ten collecting evidence of experimenting, as well as trying to get more info as to where you might have gone.

24h later, Detective Ten and a search party had looked at any possible place you could have gone. Unfortunately, it was pointless, nothing had been found. You had showed up in a couple of DYVLONY citizen cameras which are mainly located on the corners of small shops and businesses, but after that it’s like you vanished.

Ten had proposed the GYPE beach to be searched, but lack of money and resources, stopped that idea from happening. He was biting his knuckles now, 24 hours had passed, and still nothing? Ten felt responsible, since he was the one who helped to give all then girls home to live in.

-It’s my fault, - Ten said, - if I would have known!

-Listen, no, don’t do that, he is a public figure, we didn’t know, - Dejun tapped Ten’s shoulder. – but we can find her, or try, like we are doing right now.

-I know, - he sighed, it had been a long day. All Ten wanted to do was go home to his wife and sink between her soft thighs.

-Go home, Ten, we’ll continue tomorrow.

They said their goodbyes and went separate ways. Ten had a feeling that when the morning comes, they will not be able to find the girl, and they will have to let her go.

*Morning after, 36 hours into the search*

-We have lost her, - an officer spoke.

Ten grabbed his hair in frustration. Xiaojun was banging his head against the search board. He sighed.

-We do have one option, - he said in a low voice. Ten looked up.

-What do you mean? – Ten asked.

-You know, - Xiaojun whispered.

-No, - Ten said, - I… I don’t think it’s a good idea.

-I know, but what choice do we have, he might be the only chance we got!

Deep down Ten knew, that Xiao was right, but that was a step he was not ready to take.

*48 hours search/// Lost case, file missing*

-I wish this was a road trip, - Ten spoke. Xiao was driving.

-I know, - he said, - if we would be able to get him to find her for us, that would be perfect. But I have heard many things, and I don’t think that’s how it will go.

-You are right, - once stopped, they both stepped out of the vehicle, Ten putting on a police vest, arming himself with guns that contained silver bullets and were made from silver too. Xiao made sure his silver bracelets are visible as well as a gun, that was secured around his hips.

-Ok, let’s do this, - Dejun took number 2 portfolio with him, to be presented, if needed.

Knocking on the door later on, no one answered. Ten proposed they would go around his house, search for him there. Since it was outskirts of town, there was no one around, but the beautiful nature that surrounded the place.

Taking a turn to go deeper into the back garden, Ten followed Xiao. There he was. Standing by a violet chrysanthemum, hands behind his back, head focused on the flowers, but eyes closed, listening.

-Excuse me, sir, - Ten started, - no one opened the door, so we came to look for you.

The person didn’t turn around, just chuckled.

-Sir, we were wondering… if you would… - Xiao didn’t finish the sentence, when the person turned around. His eyes were red, lips paler than normally, his fangs showing.

-Ah, you were wondering… - he laughed in their faces.

Ten loaded his gun, pointing it directly at the predator. Liu Yangyang, an immortal being, that has the ability to be reborn again, was the ultimate killer if he wanted to be. The best huntsman there was. His thirst is the only thing that keeps him out here, if he would make it to town, all of them would be dead.

-You can load you gun as much as you like, Detective, - Yangyang smirked, his teeth poking out, lips licking them in anticipation, - but no silver bullets can kill me…

-We just want to talk, - Xiao Dejun spoke calmly not to anger the predator.

-Talk, I see, - Yangyang turned around, - you come into my house, my garden, uninvited, disturb me at this hour, full S.W.A.T gear? Came for a chat? Ha, - he laughed, the sarcasm clear in his tone.

With a swoosh, Yangyang moved across, disarming the weapons from their hands, standing back where he did before, silver bullets flying up in the air and then landing on the ground.

-With what do I ow the pleasure, – he smiled, teeth on full display, - gentleman?

-We have a missing persons case, - Ten said, - we cannot find her and… - he didn’t finish, Yangyang looked hooked.

-It’s “her”? – he asked.

Ten looked confused.

-What is the matter? What does that do with anything…? – Ten arched a brow. Xiao felt saliva in his throat being stuck, he had a feeling this would not go well.

Ten was pressed against a column in Yangyang’s garden, by the neck within seconds.

-Why do you look for “her”? – Yangyang licked his fangs.

-I can show you why, - Xiao came closer, - she beat up one of our community members.

Liar.

-No, no, - Yangyang whispered. – you search for her because she is not guilty.

He let go of Ten, who fell to the ground coughing. The file that was in Xiao’s hands was snatched away, Yangyang’s eyes widening in seeing photos.

-So, will you help us? – Ten asked, Yangyang tsked.

-I will, - he said, Xiaojun and Ten looked at each other almost saying “this was easier than we thought”, until, - but when I find her, SHE IS MINE.

-What? No, we cannot, - Xiao was speechless, Yangyang had him by his neck.

-No, no, you listen, - Yangyang spoke, - you came for help, I am helping, and in return, you are willing to give me this “human” to feast on, I do not think it is that bad. You have your missing persons case closed, and I will have a plaything.

Yangyang bit his lip, closing his eyes, when some blood dripped down his lips, licking it up, his face lit up.

-I can almost taste her.

If it wasn’t for Xiao carrying a blood sample, they would think Yangyang is mental. Xiao took out the small ampoule with your blood and handed it over to the predator.

-You’ve done your research, - Yangyang said, - I am impressed. So what’s it gonna be? You both dying here or me having the girl, you choose.

Ten looked at Xiao once again. Understanding that there is nothing else nor a better option, nor they were willing to die, they both nodded.

-Excellent, - Yangyang smiled, walking away back to his starting point by the flowers.

When he heard them both leave, Yangyang went inside his home, sat down on his bed. The blood sample ampule was burning his palm. He again licked his lips, took of his long robe and shirt, made himself more comfortable on the bed. Opening the sample carefully he opened his mouth to stuck out his tongue. A simple drop of blood touched his tastebuds.

Yangyang breathed in and out slowly. Ampoule was closed and put aside and Yangyang felt a hot fire burn him throughout his body cells. A taste he tried first time, and a taste he would never forget. Yours.

His member twitched in his trousers, Yangyangs fangs dropped down even further, it would only happen if he was to attack someone, or during a high pleasure moment, such as this. His hand reached inside his pants, stroking his cock with eyes closed, he was already picturing you in front of him. Building up his own orgasm, since he was now in a hurry to find you, Yangyang used his super speed, jacking himself off, shots of cum was now painted on his stomach and hand, dripping down his thighs. Fuck.

“I don’t have time for this”, he thought to himself and went to have a quick shower and dress up.

Not knowing how to dress yet, Yangyang put on a simple clothing to blend in with the DYVLONY, the only thing hard to mask was his fangs. He used makeup to cover his face, he redness around his eyes and his lips that would change to different tones depending on the situation.

The more blood he craved the redder his lips became.

He was using transport. How odd for him. His own car felt strange, since he would rarely leave his house, all he needed was there. Driving to town was simple, fast, he sped through the traffic, leaving his car near the High court. The senses overwhelmed him when he stepped out of the vehicle.

He smelled her. You. It seemed like you had just gone past a couple of minutes ago. Yangyangs ability to track and trace someone was based on their belongings and blood, then he would picture where the person had gone.

Fast as a lightening, he was inside the court and out, nobody noticing that he even was there. He went to a house, smelling you on the way. Sneaking inside the house he was searching, then he heard a noise.

-Who the fuck are you?! – someone shouted, and he turned around. A girl greeted him with a pan in her hands. – answer me or I’ll use this!

Yangyang started to laugh. He pushed the girl against the closest door frame, his nose bumping against her neck, breathing in the scent. His fangs scraped the skin.

-Don’t hurt me, - she whispered, Yangyang looked at her, - I am pregnant.

Yangyang stepped back, feeling a barrel of a gun pressed against his skull.

-What are you doing here? – Ten asked, Yangyang turned around.

-Hello there, Detective, - Yangyang started, - the blood sample you gave me, led me to her.

-They are the same species, - Ten said back, - of course there is something similar, but she is not her. This is my wife, - Ten pointed at his S/O, - we would appreciate if you would leave now.

Yangyang nodded and with that he was gone.

Street after a street, and Yangyang felt your essence again. This time it was clear that it was you. A dying neighborhood. You might have tried to hide here, and then he felt a familiar sweet scent. DYVLONY perfume, and he knows only one person who has worn the same one for many, many years.

So, he knew, he had to do what he does best in a situation like this. Kill everyone.

He dressed up as a student, round glasses on his eyes, hair brushed back, even a couple of books in his hands to make it more believable. He felt it being harder to conceal his red eyes, he knew it meant that he would soon hibernate. A couple of streets away, he walked through a massive warehouse, it was empty, he walked further inside, till he reached a room by the far exit of the building. “EXIT” was burning bright red, so they were opened.

Yangyang opened the door and stepped through. Walking down the stairs, he heard voices, he was getting closer to his main goal.

The most popular brothel on DYVLONY was here. Hidden under the massive warehouse, it was filled with people having fun in each other’s company, having a laugh, a drink, and some fun on the way.

Yangyang reached the receptionist.

-No under eighteens’ here, - she announced, Yangyang pushed up his glasses from the bridge of his nose.

-I am eighteen, - he said, - just turned! I got ID if you want.

He really played well this character. Cute boy, no one would ever notice.

-Very well then, how can I help you? – the receptionist asked.

-I want to have some fun, - Yangyang said. – but I would like something different, something fresh, you know like… something extraordinary… I can pay for it…

He smiled without his teeth. His fangs were *this close* to poking out and snapping her neck, if she wouldn’t give him what he desired. He presented a card together with his ID.

-I don’t know what you are after, - the receptionist said, a knock on the door behind her made Yangyang squint his eyes. Another girl walked through.

-The evening auction is about to start, we don’t take no new customers at this time, - she announced.

-It’s a pity, but you won’t have a choice, - Yangyang sped around the table, knocking both ladies out, walking through the door. To everybody else he just looked like a schoolboy who probably came to lose his virginity, but to Yangyang everyone else was just a bag of bones, and he would have great fun soon.

A lady spoke.

-We have a special offer, - she smiled, there behind her back on a post, were seven women, and Yangyang recognized you immediately. – but only for the owner of the biggest dick.

It looked like everyone was near to fishing out their cocks, and Yangyang sighed. Then the DYVLONY lady walked towards you, it was clear to Yangyang that you were on some kind of sedative, your pupils were too dilated to be on normal sex drugs, not unless they still been using the ones who have been forbidden since dark ages.

-This is the tightest pussy we can offer, but only for the one and only, - Yangyang licked his lips.

-How do we know? – Yangyang shouted from the far back. – how do we know she is the tightest?

A man next to him snorted “how would you know what that means, boy”, and Yangyang held it in.

-Do you have the biggest dick to test that? – DYVLONY lady nearly laughed in his face. Your relaxed form on the stage opened your legs wider, your pussy on display, for everyone to see. Man whistled and some groaned seeing your parted legs and the treasure between them.

-No, - Yangyang said, - but I have the biggest fangs out of you all.

Before anyone could react, Yangyang ran down every isle, snapping necks of all the horny motherfuckers who eyed your cunt. The ladies shrieked, running away as fast as they could. Yangyang was on the stage, taking your almost limp, naked body in his arms. From afar a knocking sound seemed to be getting closer.

Another door from the side opened and a lady with a walking stick walked out.

-Liu Yangyang, - she shouted. – You have no right to be here and do this!

The DYVLONY lady was in her 80s, walking stick helping her up, her face angry. Two bodyguards were with her, both looking ready to fight.

-You don’t have a right to steal people from the streets and sell into prostitution either, but here we are, - he said matter-of-factly.

-You are banned from this house, - she said, - many, many centuries ago you were, and now again you strike to displease me, if it wasn’t for my fourth-generation ancestor carrying a baby, I might not have been here, because you killed them all! Your bloodlust and addiction got the worst of you, and you killed innocent men and women, Liu Yangyang, you have no right to judge or touch any of us!

-I am not sorry, nor have I ever been, but this here, - he looked down on you, - is mine. If you wish call the police and ask, add killing these bastards and I will sit in the prison, until I am reborn again, and do this again if I have to.

He carried you towards the exit, not looking back at the anger filled brothel owner. She was fuming. Once out and away from the brothel, Yangyang stripped of his student shirt and put it around you, to cover at least your naked butt. All of the sudden your hand touched his cheek.

-Fuck me, - you lazily spoke, drool forming on the corners of your mouth, it was the drugs talking, and you slapped his face, taking Yangyang by surprise, - fuck the living shit out of me, my pussy hurts daddy, do it all to me…

Your voice broke into a moan like breaths, moaning heavy against his face. You leaned closer to him, your tongue out first to taste his lips.

-I am your cum slut, use me as you want, - you groaned again.

-Nope, not yet, - Yangyang said walking towards his car. – once you are out of that shit, we’ll have a talk.

Bed creaked under your movements, as Yangyang tried to press your body back down on the bed. You were fisting the bed sheets, moaning, sweat forming on your forehead, nipples pressed through the clothing Yangyang provided you with.

Once in a while, he cleaned your forehead with a damp towel, the fever was going down, the drugs slowly, and I mean slowly leaving your system. Yangyang’s trousers tight as ever, watching you be in despair of your feelings, then he noticed your wet crotch. Your juices flowing in copious amounts, wetting the trousers on the way.

He then tied up your hands to the bed post, and removed the damp garment, lifting your ass up and putting a towel underneath.

-As much as I love a sight like this, - Yangyang sighed, looking at your entrance, - I am not an idiot nor a…- and then it hit him. Your smell, which he tried to ignore, suppressing it down to zero, in couple of seconds went up to thousand. His fangs plopped down, and animalistic growl left his lips. His eyes changed color and his lips became darker.

His lips attacked your cunt, tongue diving straight in your core, thirst taking over his mind. Slurping up your juices like mad man, Yangyang was lost, his tongue movements coaxing a scream from you. Grabbing onto your legs and pushing you towards him, he was drowning in your sex, his teeth scraping your skin, a bit of blood pouring, while he licked you up.

A pained expression left your mouth. You opened your eyes, your eye pupils becoming normal with every thrust of Yangyangs tongue, and probably because all the blood that had flowed down to your belly was leaving your system, where his fangs had bit you.

Then you felt it.

Your fear.

Where were you?

How did you get here?

What happened?

Did you manage to run away from that monster?

Tear escaped your eyes and instead of a moan leaving your lips, it was a sniffle of fear and shame and not understanding the situation you were in. The drugs were wearing off.

Yangyang heard this and looked up at you. Your teary eyes stared back at him, he looked down. Seeing your wounds from his fangs, he stepped away quickly.

-I’m sorry, this was not meant to happen, - he got on his knees, - I’m sorry, I’m sorry, - kept leaving his mouth, his own eyes shading his tears away. You saw his red eyes and cowered back closer to the bed post you were still attached to.

You cried. Whimpers leaving your mouth while you looked at him. Yangyang tried to shush you a bit, as he moved closer.

-I won’t hurt you, I promise, that was an accident, - he explained, - let me untie you first, ok?

You nodded. When he did untie you as promised, you kicked him in the chest and tried to run. Your wobbly legs didn’t let you get far, you were scooped up in Yangyangs’ arms again anyway.

-Shhh, - he tried, - I will explain, give me a chance.

He held you by your waist as you sat on his bed, you directly on top of him, sat in his lap. You were trembling.

-Police was looking for you, - he started, you relaxed a little bit, - when you ran, you must have ben exhausted, because someone had found you. An owner of a brothel had found you and you were drugged. I am sorry for touching you like that, I didn’t mean to. Not while you were on drugs.

-Drugs? – you re-asked.

-Yes, drugs that make you ache for pleasure of sex, makes you uncontrollable, your desires or sexual references on display.

-How do you know?

-Well…

*Long, long time ago*

-Ladies and gentlemen, - a female spoke, she was wearing a see-through night gown that was down to her ankles. – today, we introduce you to a beast. Beast of pleasure!

The curtain that concealed the make-shift stage was pulled down, revealing a naked Yangyang, his cock standing proud against his stomach, tip of his penis embellished with a piercing of a pearl.

-Ladies, since the night is all about you, he is yours, only for a dozen dyvo (DYVLONY currency).

She then walked over to Yangyang, pressing a cup to his lips, making him drink the liquid, his fangs were out, but he was clueless to what was happening to him. When the first woman approached him and sank down on his cock, starting a rhythm. Once he realized his purpose was fucking whoever was on top of him, Yangyang used his superspeed to get them off. Once orgasmed, completely fucked out from the act, the woman was helped down, she would not be able to walk straight or walk in general.

Yangyangs cock then would be cleaned down, and then the next one would take place. Since his metabolism burned faster, the more he used his strength, the more drugs he was provided with in the alcoholic drink that was handed to him near enough after a couple of hours.

The body count kept on growing, and as the night moved on, Yangyang felt burn in his chest. It was getting harder to breath, all he could focus on was the wet cunts and squelching noises, that at once started to ring loudly in his ears. Then he started to vibrate, and suddenly, his body exploded, killing the lady who was on top of him. Blood spluttering everywhere it was a sight that was hard to forget.

Exactly thirteen hours after the incident, in the mountains a group of men were enjoying a drink, while they lit up a firepit, ashes were still burning hot when a poof happened. In the middle of the ashes was a naked young man, shivering. The men helped him up, giving him a spare clothing, Yangyangs eyes burned red, fangs showing, as he sunk his teeth in the first victim after his rebirth. He killed them all, until he realized what had happened before, his memories flooding his mind.

When he walked through the makeshift door in the brothel, ladies who recognized him tried to run, the men however were ready to kick his guts. A young maiden stood at the end, Yangyang knew she was the performer who gave him those drugs that killed him. On his way, Yangyang teared limbs of DYVLONY coming for him, snapped necks of women and men, ripping throats out till he reached the lady.

-How are you here? – she asked, Yangyang didn’t respond but his teeth painfully sunk in her neck, she kept on kicking and punching him, screaming, - I have a child!

Yangyang stopped.

-I have a child in me!!! – she screamed, and Yangyang let go of her. She dropped to the floor, - now you have done it! You have had your revenge! You are not welcome here, leave and never come back! I therefore announce you to be banned from this place forever!

Yangyang stood back, turning around, seeing his victims, all of them dead in front of his eyes. He ran as fast as he could, but he ended up in the place he was reborn. The firepit only consisting of ashes. He touched them and cried.

What had they done to him?

Years later, Yangyang had built a home there, the firepit was near enough an altar for him to reborn into again, if/when he dies. A secret room on the ground floor, a room of rebirth.

*

-They would have used you while you couldn’t anymore, - Yangyang spoke softly, you nodded, - come on.

He then led you to the bathroom, helping you strip from the shirt, since your lower half was naked, starting a tap for the bathtub, helping you in. You still felt the effect from the drugs, in between your legs, your juices still pooling your lower lips.

-When does this stop? – you asked.

-Should be a couple more hours maybe, - Yangyang himself had used a drug on a lover of his before. He was so horny that he needed to dick down someone, later it turned to forty-six-hour sex with no breaks, constantly pounding his partner, who wasn’t able to speak, just drool in the covers.

He had not used that ever again.

-I… - you started, - I am a fugitive, I escaped from… my guardian.

-I know, - he said, - I also know you were not guilty of whatever crime you committed.

You nodded, bathtub was now full, and Yangyang helped you clean up, at that moment it felt like he was your boyfriend.

-Who are you? – you softly asked since he seemed to be opened to a conversation.

-I have classed myself as a vampire.

-A vampire? – you re-asked and he nodded. – then the red eyes make sense, - you let out a giggle, - and the lips.

You looked at him and Yangyang stared back at you. He swallowed and you looked away. His fangs were visible, but it didn’t scare you, also, you were naked, but you felt no shame. You had been examined before, when you first got on this planet, when they took you lab, did some tests, gave you a vaccine and a chip, all that time you had no clothing, till they gave you a onesie to wear.

Nakedness didn’t feel like anything anymore. It didn’t give you the blush to your face either, and you felt a rush coming to you. Memories flooded your brain, nothing significant, just a few things with hooded eyes, something that you must have said.

“Cum slut”, you went shades of tomato straight away. What the fuck?!

-Are you ok, - Yangyang asked, - you just went all…

-Uhm, - you turned the other way, facing the wall.

Who did you say this to? You were closing your eyes to remember. The boyish jawline, the glasses, ruffled hair, your hand on his cheek, you looked back at Yangyang.

Shit.

That was him.

-What is it?

You hid your face with your palms.

-I remember, - you said, and Yangyang looked confused, but your hidden face caught up with his mind.

-Ah, I see, - he laughed, - so, you don’t want me to fuck you that bad huh?

You didn’t look up either. This was embarrassing, on today’s episode of how fucked up is this, that’s fucked up, that’s exactly what it felt like. Yangyangs laugh rang through the bathroom.

-I’m sorry, - he said, - I know it’s not funny, but your reaction is just too cute.

You looked back at him.

-Cute? – you asked, Yangyang stood up taking a towel, you got up and he wrapped you in it, helping you out of the tub, walking you back to the room. He didn’t let you sit down on the bed, he just made sure you sat on the chair, dried yourself of, while he took of covers from the bed, put new ones on. It felt almost homey. – What are you going to do to me?

Your voice small, when asking this. Yangyang stopped what he was doing. Detective Ten and Magistrate Xiao probably thought that you would be sucking his dick about now, but Yangyang wasn’t sure himself anymore. The situation was scary, even for him. He would love to pound you into the mattress, of course, no question about it, but that would have to wait for now.

-I thought when I find you, I will play with you, bite you, drink from you, have sex with you, and all that over again…

-So… why don’t you? – your voice quiet. Yangyang stared you down and walked over. When eye-level with you, he smiled, his fangs showing, he licked them while you stared at him. Your eyes wide. Yangyang waited for a different reaction.

-I don’t know, - he finally said. – you still could be having effect from sedative, not unless you want to be my cum slut.

With that he cracked up, and you hid your face, leaning down, pressing your face against your knees.

-I cannot believe I said that, - you still hid, - I am not like that.

-And how exactly are you?

Yangyang was next to you again, his super speed not scaring you at all. He was on his knees listening to what you were about to say. Reaching to cup your face in his hands, he made sure you made eye contact. You bit your lip and tried to look somewhere else. He let out a breath.

-I am, well, - you started, and then there it was, your lips on his. Yangyang didn’t say anything, he didn’t stop, if what he led you on even more, grabbing onto your towel. Kiss was gentle and the type you would want to have with your future partner.

For some unknown reason, it felt right in all of the wrong ways. He was an alien, more so- a vampire alien, but you were an alien too. There was no rights or wrongs in a situation like this. The kiss got more heated when Yangyang pulled apart your towel, baring your body to him. He drank in the sight of you.

-I want to make all of this mine, - he stated, pulling you up on your feet, he pushed you towards his bed. Touching your hair, your waist, your hips, butt cheeks, hoisting your leg up to his hips, - inch by inch, mine and no one else’s.

-I’m yours, - you nodded and gave into his hot mouth again. His kisses and touches seemed to be everywhere, he pushed you onto the bed, lips traveling down to your breasts, sucking on a nipple, and then on the other one, he looked up at you.

-Can I bite you? – he asked, you watched him and nodded, you were up to this. To being his. He chose a spot just above your breasts, kissed the spot, and then slowly let his fangs sink in, piercing the skin, earning a yelp from you. Once bitten, he licked up the wound, that healed immediately, and returned to pleasing you again. His hands traveled between your legs, touching the soft skin, the shortly cut pubic hair, his fingers sliding through your folds, gathering the slick with his fingers, bringing them up to his mouth and licking them clean.

Then his mouth was on yours, his body making way to your parted legs. You felt the bulge of his trousers rubbing directly at your clit and moaned in satisfaction, your hand reached for him through his pants.

-Take them off, - you said, - take it all off.

Once naked, he was on top of you again, but you spun him around. He was lying on his back and you were hovering above him. You kissed down his chest, his lean stomach, your hand grabbing his cock, slowly palming him. Yangyang touched your hair, moving it to the side so he could see your face. Licking the tip of his dick, you swirled your tongue around it, your hand pulling the skin, the wetness of your mouth coating his member, so your hand could slide up and down.

-So… gentle… - he whispered, his hands reached for you as he sat up, turning your bum towards his face, he pushed your legs apart and positioned himself between them, your aching pussy over his face. You didn’t stop pleasuring him though, your mouth still sucking and hollowing your cheeks, as much as you could before choking, since you haven’t done that much before. Yangyangs’ hands held your hips and legs strongly, pushing you down on his face. You moaned out, letting go of his cock when you felt his tongue between your pussy lips. Sucking one into his mouth and then another, then licking you up and down, near your asshole, then sucking your clitoris. You returned to your own job, licking the underside of his cock, the thick veins, down to his balls, sucking on them, while your fist moved up and down.

Your orgasm was approaching, and you tried to move from Yangyangs grasp.

-I don’t want to come, - you stated, and he let go. You turned around, kissing him again. You were about to turn around, when he spoke.

-I want to see you as I claim you.

Hot kisses returned to your skin, and you were pushed on your back, your hand guiding his member through your folds, to your entrance, as he filled you up slowly. The stretch was a bit painful, your walls fluttering around him, to accommodate his length, you had to wait a bit longer. Yangyang kissed your chest, not moving till you would give him a green light. As soon as you nodded, he pulled out just a bit and gave a short thrust, just to do that again, your legs went around his body, tangled up, while your toes curled from the pleasure.

Short thrusts were his game, short and fast, but your pulsing cunt sucking him in from time to time stopped his movements. He gave you a look.

-What is this? – he asked jokingly, - what do you need, baby…

The nickname he gave you put a smile to your lips.

-Deeper, - were the only word.

-Your wish is my command, - he kissed you once more, and you were rewarded with a rich, deep thrust up to your cervix. Yangyang pulled out and did the same again. – let’s make it more exciting, shall we?

You nodded.

You weren’t prepared.

His super strength and speed, had you taken aback, then you felt what it meant – to be pounded into the mattress, an orgasm reached you and you cried out, never had you had an orgasm from vaginal sex only, but somehow this was different. Your senses overwhelmed, Yangyang’s movements not slowing down, your core clenching down on him, while he was nipping on your earlobe, biting it to draw blood.

The next thing you knew, you were up against the wall, hoisted to his waist, as he entered you again, this time, he was moving in humanly speed, lazily filling you over and over again. Your head against the wall, your moans filling the room, he was vocal as well, besides the grunts and groans, and silent words like “this pussy is mine”, he had dangerously “tasty” moans, at some point his hips went stuttering, and his voice got a bit raspy, as he came, giving you couple more strong thrusts, his sperm coating your walls, and dripping down your legs, he had much of it to give you.

You were on the bed again, your legs spread wide, and Yanyangs tongue diving in your mound again. His hot lips sucked on your clit, turning you into a frenzy of moans, his hand pressed down a bit on your womanhood and you reached your high, his lips not leaving your entrance before he had licked every drop up.

Your breathing was heavy, as you came down from your second orgasm, and Yangyang plopped next to you. Then he felt a pang in his heart. The ache unbearable.

-Oh no, - he moaned out, you got up to help him.

-What’s the matter?

He couldn’t speak, his breath coming out short, sharpened, his skin boiling, he squeezed out last words.

-Wait… for… me…

The unexpected happened. In front of your eyes, his body boiled up and exploded, covering you red from head to toe. Your scream leaving your mouth, eyes widening in shock. You got of the bed and onto the ground, tears in your eyes.

Your cries the only thing to leave your lips.

Somehow you ended up falling asleep hugging your knees, not being able to stand up and do anything from the experience. What felt like a day later, you heard rustling from somewhere. Your eyes widened. Who was in the house?

The door creaked open, a figure walked in, approaching you on the ground, covered in dust, while you were still filthy from the blood.

-Waited long? – you finally looked up. To your surprise Yangyang was staring back at you.

-Oh my… - you reached for him, hugging his body, crying again.

-I told you to wait, didn’t I? – you nodded into his shoulder.

-Let’s get cleaned up, yeah? – he pulled you both up, - don’t worry, babe, it won’t happen for at least twenty more years now.

You could only nod.

Maybe you were meant to escape a monster only to be in the arms of a predator, some people are just meant for unintentional coincidences. Universe has its own way of sorting things out, and maybe this was it. His universe became yours.

[jngles]

Thoughts You Definitely All Asked For on ‘The Mandalorian’ Season 2 Finale!!

These are in chronological order for the show.

One of my biggest fears about them reintroducing Boba Fett was that by removing some of his mystery, they would make him less cool. Thank god that has not been the case. He’s still an aloof and nasty piece of work but with dimensions added.

We all know the Empire is most often a metaphor for America right? At least when it’s not being Nazi Germany? The Imperial pilot talking about destroying an entire planet (of peaceful weaponless civilians no less) to stop terrorism hits a little too close to home of the nuclear bombs the US has dropped and the endless destruction of the Middle East in the “war against terror.” And of course we frame all our wars in similar language like “our troops died to keep our country safe,” which hasn’t really been true since WWII.

I do think it’s worth noting that this is the first time SW has had someone acknowledge the human losses of the Death Star blasts. Usually it’s framed as a loss in construction time, strategical advantage, and power. The Empire proved time and time again that the lives of its soldiers were utterly expendable, which always made me question why people remained loyal outside of fear. Through this pilot’s phrasing, you can see the propaganda Imperial superiors used to twist the truth to their followers, always blaming those deaths on Rebel aggression instead of prideful Imperial neglect (I.e. not abandoning ship when there was still time) or even direct Imperial aggression like Operation Cinder where they fired on thousands of their own (discussed in S2E7.)

You can’t tell me Din wasn’t into it when Cara shot that asshole pilot. That cold faced revenge shot? 100% Mandalorian style, and also very very hot.

I appreciate that it was a pretty equal match between Boba and Koska Reeves. So much of Boba’s advantage comes from his suit, but since she also has one, it’s a battle of wits on how to use it, and they even out. This both maintains his legendary badassery and also that of highly trained Mandalorian warriors, and hopefully avoids asshole chauvinist SW fans on the internet complaining abujt “pandering to feminism” (fuck off @ all of them, especially since Mercedes Vernado who plays Reeves is a WWE champ and could kick all of your asses.)

Din point blank asked how many Death Troopers there are and Dr. Pershing never answered, and that annoys me.

Why is no one suspicious why Dr. Pershing is being so helpful and revealing so much information? He totally did not have to tell them about the Dark Troopers or any of the specifics of locations on the ship. He’s still with the empire post-fall, implying he’s a loyalist, so... wtf on his part (since no tricks come of it), and “be smarter” on the part of everyone else. Unless he’s been captive as a clone engineer all this time. But couldn’t he have made his escape back in Season 1 when Din killed everyone at that lab to get the kid back?

Bo Katan really could’ve just told them how the retrieval of the dark saber needs to work in the flight before the mission instead of being vague about “he belongs to me.”

Boba Fett’s usage of “Princess” and “don’t worry about me” are a good throwback to Han Solo and the culture they both grew up in. You can never quite tell if it’s based in misogyny or resentment for upper classes, but both of them seem to use it as a shield for begrudging respect they hold for a woman they think is brave but following a fool’s errand (the Rebellion and retaking Mandalore).

The Comms Officer (Katy O’Brian) assisting Moff Gideon will forever and always look like Ilana Glazer to me, and then I get swept up imagining what would happen if the Broad City cast accidentally got transported to Star Wars.

The launch tube sequence has some amazing cinematography.

The second I saw Boba was cut off from the pack, I really thought they were going to kill him again and make his return bittersweet. Glad they didn’t.

God this team of Bo Katan, Koska Reeves, Fennec Shand, and Cara Dune is SO BADASS. I’m just obsessed with all these characters and their various motivations to get shit done. I honestly didn’t even think about the fact it’s all women until my re-watch, showing that the writers made it feel natural, the way women deserve to have their representation done. You can bet I am SO EXCITED for my future daughter and the wealth of possibilities she’s going to have of characters to play pretend as, action figures she can relate to, Halloween costumes to wear, etc. It’s so validating that we’ve gone from only Princess Leia as a female main character to all these women + Rey, Jyn Erso, Ahsoka, etc. etc.

Can’t wait for the trap remix of the Dark Trooper activation noises. (And the transition from that to the minimalist flute theme is perfect.)

The spy movie version of the main theme music is sick.

The Dark Trooper droid faces have a lot of similarity to Darth Vader’s mask. That callback is especially apparent when the one is literally lit from the inside with fire. He was already a martyr/legend to the Imperial remnants, Kylo Ren didn’t start the trend of ignoring his redemption.

Cara’s “excuse me” right before shooting up Stormtroopers is hilarious. Literally “can’t talk rn, doing hot girl shit and murdering space Nazis.”

Finally an Imperial ship got some frickin security cameras. Truly- the amount of times people just wander down hallways they’re not supposed to be in with no one being able to find them throughout the course of Star Wars is ridiculous when you think about the degree of surveillance our real life society carries out. I also love that this means The Mandalorian characters have also seen The Mandalorian.

The storytelling does such a service to Pedro Pascal and his already heroic efforts to portray emotion through a helmet. For example: Din easily could’ve killed the one stormtrooper outside Grogu’s cell much more efficiently, but instead, to show his absolute rage, they wrote in Din choking him out with a spear.

Moff Gideon would have been the BIGGEST pain in the ass in philosophy class. “Assume I know everything” my ass. I want to hear about his backstory (he would’ve been “coming of age” at the time of the Clone Wars) mostly just to hear about him getting bullied at school.

Smart move honestly, to try to tempt Din with the Mandalorian throne, given the Mandalorian power struggles of the past. Proud of our boy for keeping his priorities straight.

So has the blood from Grogu been transferred out of the ship and back to the remnant empire already, or do they have to find a new “donor” to help with building Snoke and Palpatine’s clones? Will they continue to go after him with Luke?

Lmao Din being so annoyed by Bo Katan being stringent about the tradition of winning the Dark Saber through combat is HILARIOUS, coming from a man who up until like a day ago hadn’t shown his face to a living being in decades.

The dark troopers can punch in blast doors but NOT Din’s helmet?? That’s a wild testament to beskar. Somehow that’s the comparison that sticks out to me, more even than its resistance to lightsabers.

This show works because of the cynicism of so many characters adding contrast to the moments of heart. Cara Dune is not a “fan” the way Rey was (for the record I love Rey, don’t come at her, it’s just different). Cara doesn’t see an X-Wing and go OMG THE REBELLION I LOVE THEM. She’s been through too much to believe in the magic saviourism of the “good guys,” and is instead thinking strategically when she, the one Rebel present, brushes off the usefulness of “one X-Wing.” The only positive things she seems to feel in battle situations are moments of relief and brief satisfaction in hurting the empire, with a dark knowledge that it will never make up for the hurt they did to her.

How do you keep a cloak hood on while fighting? Both from a technical standpoint (my hats fall off without me even having to move- is he expending force energy just to keep it on and look cool lol?) and also because idk, maybe it’s just me, but peripheral vision is helpful when surrounded by killer robots on a thin bridge above oblivion. I know his first lesson was to “see” through the force, but every resource helps, right?

Now that she has the ship, I wonder if Bo Katan can reprogram any salvageable Dark Troopers to help with retaking Mandalore?

There is nothing like seeing Luke’s fighting style, with its efficient choppiness and twinge of darkness. I always wonder how much is natural and how much is influenced by his first fights with Vader (that Skywalker diva flair). I love how they’ve advanced his technique but also kept him extremely “grey” here- like to straight up COMBUST a Dark Trooper takes some violent energy lol.

How tf is Moff Gideon alive after threatening Grogu’s life twice directly? That’s a wild testament to Din’s regard for Cara.

I love how seeing Luke slice through a bunch of murder droids like butter probably was a huge point in his favor for Din actually letting Grogu go with him. Like he will only send his child to boarding preschool if he knows the teacher will be a certified killing machine.

Oh my god they finally brought in some OG Star Wars theme music for Luke to take his hood off to 😭 It felt weird seeing him fight to different music, so the emotional payoff is huge when his themes come back for the face reveal.

Whoever added the digital young Mark Hamill face NAILED those classic shining Luke eyes and the earnest eyebrow lift.

Whoever shines the glass of Baby Yoda’s lil puppet eyeballs each day deserves a raise. The light caught in those babies is devastating.

Din is shaking as he takes off his helmet. This is the most enormous show of love he could give him, and possibly the last he’ll be able to for a long time. He only just got Grogu back and is desperate for a moment of real connection before letting him go once again.

This is the first time anyone has touched Din’s face since... likely his parents as a child.

Whoever wrote this scene clearly actually has kids. Anyone who’s ever had to leave a young child even just to go out for a bit or to drop them off somewhere knows that heartbreak of seeing them look in your eyes and hold on to your leg, trying to keep you with them. Especially when they can sense your mutual separation anxiety. The one thing that starts to make them feel better is something fun like a new toy or friend who can be their guide in the new environment, and R2’s friendly introduction is exactly that (since digital Luke isn’t being particularly emotive or child friendly... I hope that’s just because he’s reaching into Grogu’s mind while also keeping an eye on the multiple people with guns trained on him, not because he’s going to be totally unfeeling raising this kid.)

I love that Grogu and R2 are immediately buddies in contrast to Episode 5 when R2 was like “fuck this guy” @ Yoda stealing food and hitting him with a walking stick lol. I would imagine Luke must be reminded of that first introduction too and entertained by this display of playfulness in a *positive* light between R2 and mini-Yoda.

I need to know if Luke and Ahsoka have met- it is KILLING ME.

Does this mean Grogu will get killed by Kylo Ren when he fucks up Luke’s academy??? I will reincarnate Ben just to kill him again if that’s the case.

How does Luke not even fully SMILE at Grogu?? An adorable little baby version of his beloved master Yoda, and you’re telling me he doesn’t have the same heart stopping gasp we all did when we first saw him?? Maybe he did when they first connected through the force. He has a bit of bemusement on his face, and also wonder in his eyes, but I want a grin of recognition and welcome, dammit.

I really wish Luke had somehow acknowledged Cara Dune. Everyone else seems to see the tear drop Rebel sign and know it means Alderaan. He could’ve been like yo I have a badass warrior sister from your planet that you should meet. Or just “thank you for your service.” (I know this actually wouldn’t have been cinematically good but my heart wants it.)

Luke didn’t tell Din his name?? Or ask for any details about the kid and his care?? I could literally never let my kid go with someone, regardless of how worthy, and not be like, “Excuse me sir who are you and where tf are you taking my tiny beloved green goblin in case I need to find him? Here is my contact info. He likes to eat frogs and eggs, and he can have macarons as a treat. He’s 50 years old and his favorite toy is still a ball. Bedtime is 8pm and he’s allergic to dairy.”

Another reason I wish Luke had identified himself would be to see the mishmash of reactions that would ensue. Cara would be like DAMN IT’S THAT GUY WHO BLEW UP THE DEATH STAR AND KILLED THE EMPEROR, ACT COOL (and she would indeed act cool). Fennec would be like ugh it’s that guy who helped kill my best paying client Jabba the Hutt and then fucked over my boss Boba, I helped save the kid for THIS? And I would LOVE to know how Bo Katan feels about him, assuming she’s heard of him, and especially if she knows he’s Anakin Skywalker’s son. That confusion is probably the reason WHY the writers didn’t have him reveal himself- they didn’t want to break the emotion of the scene.

Let‘s all be real I’m just being needy about wanting things from Luke because of what he meant to me as a kid and my resulting innate need to have more canon of him, whatever it is, whenever I can get it. Especially in this form that’s so similar to ROTJ, a movie I watched on endless repeat. Even getting this was incredible though. Who else could we trust this lil heart-stealing green bean with so fully? Yet who would be so arrogant as to try to train a baby yodling (see: Ahsoka’s wise refusal)?

R2 is reckless as hell lmao. Not that we don’t already know that, but for him to just head on in, effectively abandoning Luke’s ship (how can they know if there are more troopers or not who might blow it up?) and also putting himself in the path of the ridiculously deadly Dark Troopers is NUTS. I’m usually on his side but he absolutely deserves a scolding by C3PO for this one.

I wonder if Grogu has any memories of R2 or vice versa since they did occupy the Jedi Temple at the same time. Can Grogu understand droids? They could swap stories about mutual acquaintances.

Does Din pretty much have to go with Bo Katan now since a) he’s shown his face and may not be able to go back to the Watch, and b) because he has the darksaber and has to figure out how to get it back to her without dying?

How in the hell did Bib Fortuna (whose chins age was not kind to) go from being butler to being boss? Were all the henchmen just like, “Fuck yeah, no Hutt parents no rules, let’s do what we want!!” And then they’ve spent the last ten years living off of whatever money they could salvage from Jabba’s non-banked wealth? Why has no one challenged them for that prime real estate and loot? I would love to hear that story.

Fennec Shand says “respect sex workers” so you better fuckin’ do it.

Idk dude Bib Fortuna really was a good butler, and he seemed pretty willing to comply with whoever’s in power. Did he screw Boba over in his attempt to return from the dead and earn that killing shot somehow? Or was this to make sure there was no one left who would have a claim to loyalty? Or maybe Boba just really wanted to sit in that chair.

Does “The Book of Boba Fett” mean we’re not on Din Djarin’s story anymore? Or is it a new show? I would much prefer the latter. I want to see Din help retake Mandalore or at least get a hug.

[moon-for-moon]

Police Brutality

Barry didn't normally wander near the holding cells. He prefered to stay in the lab, analyzing the database and reporting back to Singh.

But it was nearly 11pm and there shouldn't be that much noise coming from down there. Almost everyone had gone home for the night, except for Barry of course, who preferred to stay after hours to catch up on his lateness.

The silence had definitely helped carry the sound of struggling and fighting. It wasn't uncommon for people in holding to pick fights with each other but usually the event would quickly be stopped by the two guards in charge of the night shift.

But this sound had been going on for well past five minutes now. Something was definitely wrong.

Barry checked the halls for any late stayers like himself and flashed to the outside of the containment room.

The fighting was definitely coming from in there. He tried the handle but it was locked, as it always was at night.

He checked around again and fazed his hand through the lock, breaking it and opening the door.

The scene before him was not what he'd expected. Unless, of course, he'd been expecting to see two cops beating down on one man, sending kicks and punches to his curled up form.

Anger exploded in Barry's brain.

"What the hell is going on here!" He shouted.

The two cops turned around, surprised someone else was still here.

"Get out, Allen! This doesn't concern you!" The tone was aggressive and unprofessional. This most certainly wasn't going to be on the surveillance cameras, the CSI guessed.

Barry took a step forward, trying to look around the two men to check on the third. "What did you do!?" He'd heard about police officers abusing their power but he'd never expected it to happen here.

"I said get out!"

One of them moved to Barry and shoved him back, trying to push him out of the room.

Barry grabbed the man's shoulder and threw him against the wall. Speed came in handy in certain situations.

The other cop came at him as well but Barry quickly got him next to his partner.

Only when he was sure the two officers wouldn't cause anymore trouble did he turn to the beaten man.

“Hey, it's gonna be oka-" His voice trailed off when he saw the man's face, immediately recognizing him. "Snart?"

Len groaned and rolled onto his back, his hand cradling his side. A few bruises covered his face and blood was trickling down from a cut above his eyebrow.

Barry looked behind himself to check once again on the officers and gathered the criminal in his arms, flashing them both to his lab.

He set him down in his chair and locked the door. Snart looked around confused and dizzy and tried to get up.

"Hey, hey, hey! Take it easy. You might have a concussion”

“Where am I?” Snart groaned, holding a hand up to his head and massaging his temple.

“You’re in my lab.” Barry explained as he flashed over to the bottom drawer of his closet and took out an emergency kit. He flashed back and was applying an alcohol soaked cloth to Snart’s head before the criminal could even realize what was happening.

The man glared and took the cloth himself, hissing slightly at the burn. A few seconds of silence stretched out, during which Barry propped himself up on his desk, beside the paperwork. (If Singh saw him “risking the lab’s material” and “showing such unprofessionalism during the work hours” (which they weren’t) not even his speed could save him.

“How about this, you get three guesses and if one of them is it, I’ll yell “bingo!” His tone dripped with sarcasm but Barry wasn’t dupe. He’d known the man long enough to recognize his defensive voice and posture.

“Alright.” Barry sighed. “Three guesses.” Snart glared at him again but didn’t roll the chair back into his direction.

“One, Traw and Jones saw you were alone and decided to blow some steam off.

Two, Traw and Jones were sent by someone who doesn’t really like you, geez I wonder why, to “send you a message” or something.

Three..” Barry’s eyes wondered up, as if looking for something. “Yeah I’m out of ideas.”

Snart turned the chair back and smirked, his subtle, not to subtle, ‘fuck you’ or ‘I wanna fuck you’ sign. “Sorry, Scarlet. But you might’ve wanted that last try. You’re not hearing a bingo from me tonight.”

Barry cocked an eyebrow. “Really? Oh man too bad..” There that was done. Now onto seriousness. “Then tell me what happened.”

Snart rolled his eyes again and imperceptibly closed in on himself a little. “I ran my mouth when I shouldn’t have and pissed them off. Doesn’t matter, does it.”

Barry started moving his arm towards the man but a hard flinch made him realize how bad of an idea that was. He let it fall down on the desk again. “How stupid do you think I am?”

Snart’s gaze snapped to him in half a second, sharp as a razor.

“You want me to believe that you, Leonard Snart, the most planning and careful man I know, randomly started talking shit to the point where you angered two cops, two professionally trained officers, so much that they beat you up?”

Snart looked uneasy, shifting uncomfortably in the chair. “Yep.”

This time Barry went through with the motion, resting his arm on Snart’s shoulder and squeezing lightly. “How many times has this happened?” He asked softly.

Although the criminal tensed, he didn’t flinch or break Barry’s wrist, which was a good sign. His lips hesitated, moving slightly before he spoke, quieter than normal. “This was the second time.” There was no vulnerability in his voice, just randomness as if he were talking about the weather.

Barry huffed. He was filled with anger but he couldn’t show that right now. Snart needed to know someone was on his side.

“I guess you win, Flash! Bingo!” Len’s tone was joyful and energetic but Barry could see right through it. Snart wasn’t used to people seeing him so vulnerable. “My father wasn’t the last corrupt cop here. You like to think this place is all sunshines and rainbows because you’re making the city safe. You don’t realize how dangerous this place is for criminals like me after all the “good cops” go home to their wives and we’re left with the dead beat and crooked pigs.”

Barry stayed quiet and crossed his arms over his chest. He’d never really thought about the corruption rate in the precinct, always imagining it pretty low. But it must not be low enough.

“Do you have names?”

Snart nodded, still not looking at Barry. “A few badge numbers. We criminals communicate with one another. I’m not an isolated case.”

Barry slid a notepad and a pen over to Len. “Write down what you can remember, the Flash’ll give it to Singh tomorrow and I promise, change will happen.”

Len rolled his eyes as if he found the idea positively ridiculous but grabbed the pen anyway and scrubbed down a list of numbers and names.

“I can’t promise it’ll be perfect, but it might make it better.”

Len looked up at the csi and offered him a sympathetic smile. “I appreciate that, Flash.”

[a-mellowtea]

The Greatest Kingdom | RWBY Volume 7 Chapter 1 Review

Now that my hype has died down a respectable amount, I think I’m clear-headed enough to express my thoughts on the RWBY Volume 7 premiere. I’m going to hold off on posting this until it’s publicly available and everyone comfortably knows what I’m on about, so by the time of reading, this’ll be a week-or-so old.

Going into Volume 7, I have to say, I was extremely excited. Volume 6 was a little bittersweet for me: a solid mix of things I liked and didn’t, where one didn’t really overshadow or completely take away from the other. The hiatus between Volumes 6 and 7 was also particularly exhausting, on both a mental and emotional level, and while that may sound over-dramatic, I’m sure many can attest to how much of a drag it all was. 

However, Volume 7 set us up somewhere I’ve been aching to see more of for a while: since Volume 2, if I’m honest. That being, of course, the Kingdom of Atlas and its defunct partner, Mantle. There’s so much rich potential for story in Atlas and, as “The Greatest Kingdom” revealed, CRWBY was set to dive right in, to some fairly pleasant results.

We open the Chapter with a shot panning down through the night sky, with our typical emphasis on the shattered moon. This is the first Volume, though, wherein we are aware of its true nature: how it got to be that way and, appropriately, the raised stakes now quite literally looming over our heroes’ heads. There is something more immediate to attend to, however, revealed as the shot finishes moving: the Atlesian air fleet.

I’m not certain if this was mentioned anywhere too openly, but Volume 7 Chapter 1 was originally intended to be the finale of Volume 6. I seem to recall Neath Oum, the voice of Ren, making comment on how an important moment was shifted because of this change (which we’ll get to in a bit). Point being, the Volume picks up exactly where Volume 6 left off, with the heroes’ stolen air ship, Manta 5-1, being welcomed home by an Atlesian officer. It doesn’t feel all that much like the premieres of the past; simply a continuation, though I’m hesitant to label that as a good or bad thing.

“But we are here,” Jaune then insists to the group. “We got the lamp to Atlas, so I guess we land and get some answers.” It’s obviously not going to be that simple -- wouldn’t be very interesting if it was -- but that’s something that stuck out to me. The heroes, this little hiccup aside, have accomplished the majority of their mission. They made it to Atlas, which was as far as they presumably intended to go (Yang, V6Ch6: “We can’t stop until the lamp is safe”). They’re our heroes, of course, so something will keep them going, but I am interested to see exactly what does push them to continue a fight they now feel is rather pointless. James has a line in the trailer about how “until now, I believed it was impossible to truly turn the tide against Salem”. I do wonder what that could be, and moreover, whether or not our heroes will inform him of everything they learned in Volume 6.

Back in the Chapter, Weiss warns that if they land in a stolen air ship, there’s no way they’ll be heard out or get a chance to speak with Ironwood. Now, I promise this is the only time I’ll mention further gripes with Volume 6 but honestly: you couldn’t’ve realized that sooner? That should’ve been the first thing on their minds when they decided to take such a risky course of action: is this really going to get us where we need to go when we know that the Kingdom of Atlas has closed its borders? It doesn’t matter that the air fleet is deployed aggressively; they should have accounted for the fact that they wouldn’t just be able to waltz right up Atlas. Yet somehow they seem to have forgotten about that until this rather convenient -- or inconvenient -- moment.

After Weiss perks up and remembers she can contact her sister, we get our first look at Mantle proper, and it’s wonderful. Literally down-to-earth, the dirty streets and brown-grey color palette intermixed with neon signage gives it something of a dystopian feel that is incredibly unique. Here, we get our first look at General James Ironwood since Volume 4 (discounting the Volume 7 trailer), and the presentation is telling. On an enormous neon holographic display, looming over the city of Mantle, and though his words are a promise of safety, he makes them at a distance. I doubt this is intended as screaming ‘dictator’, but merely showing a divide; one that is certainly not good. Yang and Ruby share a remark that he looks tired and Qrow wonders worriedly what he’s been doing (a year is kindly added to my life every time Qrow calls him “James”, and yes I will die in this rarepair hell). Indeed it seems that, in the month and a bit since Weiss left, things have taken a steep turn for the worse, with constant Atlesian patrols and surveillance drones in the streets. It’s certainly looking bleak, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t love this set-up. The shot with the children lobbing a pebble at a drone, then hiding from it, in particular does a good job solidifying that this has become a norm, but an unwelcome one.

Weiss continues to insist that Winter can help them, but our first look at the eldest Schnee sibling begs to differ. It appears as though she’s upholding the military law placed over Mantle, and this seems to shock Weiss a good deal. With that off the table, Maria interjects that she knows someone who can help them.

Now would probably be a good moment for a quick aside to mention how wonderful of a job Jason Liebrecht does as the new voice of Qrow. The difference is noticeable, but I found it wasn’t enough to completely throw me off: at least, not for long. It’ll take some getting used to, but the character is no different, and Jason’s performance is solid.

Our heroes head out into the streets of Mantle, and we get a bit of light exposition from Maria about the Kingdom on the walk, after Yang continues to be everyone’s favorite brash blonde and kick subtlety out into the middle of the street where it is summarily smashed by a truck. I don’t have much to say about the encounter with Rupert the Drunk other than it felt perfectly in-place for what we know of Atlas and Mantle, and that Maria’s right: these kids have no concept of keeping a low profile when it counts. Not that I can blame Weiss; I honestly probably would have done the same. Although, given that we do see Rupert’s blue-beanie’d friend in the trailer, and how the shot pans back to show Winter, I’m willing to make a bet that this particular man will let someone in Mantle know the lost ex-Schnee heiress is back.

And then we’re introduced to Pietro. He is wonderful. Please protect.

The scene itself plays out as fairly lighthearted, until Yang and Blake bring the topic back around to the situation in Mantle. From there, we hear what we were basically expecting: James is scared (”paranoid”, as Pietro corrects), and it seems like our heroes aren’t the only ones having a hard time figuring out who to trust. I’d be hard pressed to believe that, given the Volume’s opening and the circumstances, the Queen virus from Volumes 2 and 3 is completely out of the picture. As it was so succinctly put by a fellow Redditor: this Volume is going to break this man.

Weiss steps up to ask about the Council and Winter, but it’s quickly sidetracked by Pietro recognizing her, and then Yang by the arm that he, presumably, built for her. The revelation that Pietro knows Team RWBY isn’t given much time to sink in before the alarms out in the street begin to blare and it becomes time for the premiere’s obligatory -- but honestly, very well done -- fight scene.

And now I will make my own obligatory aside to praise the music. The guitar piece in this fight is not done by Jeff Williams, as many probably expected, but is rather Alex Abraham’s work. I’ve seen a good handful of people I mentioned this to be surprised that he even plays guitar, and yes; yes, he does. And he kicks ass at it, if that wasn’t obvious enough.

While I saw the fight scene a handful of times before the Chapter premiered, thanks to RTX and again about three days before hand when it was released through Entertainment Weekly, I’m still incredibly impressed by it on a technical level. It’s a fight scene mostly for the sake of having a fight scene, but it looks damn good. Qrow, Oscar and Ruby’s sections stood out to me the most as having some solid choreography and camera work.

And then in a somewhat jarring shift in tone (will this show ever decide if the Grimm are a threat or not? Will power levels ever not give us a headache? Find out... sometime! Hopefully!), we get the aforementioned big moment: Penny, our resident robotic ray of sunshine, is alive and well!

And... kinda honestly makes our heroes look like jobbers? I say that fondly, and with a good deal of chuckling, because I do recall that Monty (or perhaps it was one of the boys?) mentioned Miles and Kerry were fairly averse to having a character use lasers specifically because of how powerful they are. In any case, it makes for a spectacular entrance, and I do especially love Penny’s graceful little flair of a pirouette up to the moon before she lands.

I will say perhaps my one gripe with this episode isn’t Penny’s return, but Ruby and the others’ reaction to it. It doesn’t break the episode, but allowing for comedy over what should have honestly been a very emotional moment for our lead didn’t sit right with me, personally. It’s treated as though this was almost expected, or at least a possibility they knew about in-universe, not a “holy crap, we saw her get torn to shreds”. Just because the audience expects it doesn’t mean the characters would, and I think I was simply expecting more from it. Then again, this is only Chapter 1, so we’ll see where they go with it.

After Penny blasts off to go save another quadrant of the city (she is now its official protector, after all), and Maria is brilliantly oblivious, RNJRWBY and QO are, in an unsurprising turn of events, apprehended by Ace Ops (ASOPS, Atlesian Special OPerativeS, would make a lick more sense, but ah well). I’m a bit concerned about the big ensemble this Volume, but I love the no-shits-given Chad vibes off their leader, Clover. It seems as though his Semblance, or character inspiration at least, is good luck (spinning a horseshoe, wearing a rabbit’s foot and has a clover as his emblem), and I cannot wait for him to have some dynamic with Qrow.

And Clover summarily lists off how many rules they’ve violated in the city in the span of about 10 minutes. Maria: hums, nods, fucks off. Basically one big “welp, he’s got ya there kids”. Bless her snarky soul; I hope this isn’t the last time we see her.

And, yes, thank you very much: these are the consequences I was hoping for. It’s likely to just get them where they need to go -- we wouldn’t have a Volume if they were in jail for all of it -- but they did still break the law and that’s that as far as Atlas’ forces were ever going to be concerned. I’m contented with something surface-level on that front.

We end the Chapter with our heroes arrested, in the back of a transport, and looking like they’re reevaluating their life choices. Cue the new OP!

Briefly: visuals of the new intro are solid, the staff of Creation being behind Monty’s name is really damn clever, “Trust Love” is a wonderful pop-y theme, Penny’s a cinnamon roll, someone please save James from all this bullshit.

Overall, a strong continuation off the previous Volume, but again I’d be hesitant to say it felt like a “proper” premiere. It’s very different from the feeling of previous ones, which can be chalked up to the fact that it wasn’t supposed to be a premiere but a finale, so ultimately I cannot fault it for coming out like neither. It was a good introduction to Mantle, the dynamic of the lower Kingdom, and left me in anticipation of what’s to come, which is such a refreshing feeling.

I’m hopeful and excited for the rest of the Volume. Let’s see where this roller coaster ride takes us.

[leelee10898]

Chikara: Ikari (5/?)

Ikari roughly translates to anger or hatred. Ellie finds out about Nicks troubled past, after dealing with her own demons. Colt obtains an important source of information.

Rating: Mature. Warning, mention of sexual assult, death, Murder, sexual situations and violence.

Ellie walked through the quad in the days following winter break, colts jacket pulled tightly against her body. Even with her wool hat she could hear the whispers, she felt eyes boring into her. Everywhere she went, they were talking about it, about her and what happened. She had kept to herself mostly,  just like the Ellie that showed up for summer session, broken and alone. Somehow Ingrid talked her i to getting some food with Kyle and Nick. She stood up to get a refill of her drink when she walked past two girls sitting at a table in front of the soda fountain. 

Thats her, the girl who got attacked. One if them said. 

Hmm shes probably just looking for attention. The other chimed in. 

Ellie had enough.  She walked up to the girls and stood in front of them "Excuse me, but have we met?" Ellie asked, the girls turned to look at her stunned. One of them rolled their eyes "ah no." She sucked her teeth and flipped her hair. "Oh? Because you seemed to know me enough to talk shit as I walked past." Ellie snapped. "We don't know you,  so keep it moving. Freak." The other rolled her eyes and motioned to move with her hands. 

Ellie felt the rage building within her. She tossed the soda in her hand on one of the girls, who shrieked.  She grabbed the other, the one with the smart mouth, by the back of the head and slammed her face down on the table. "Keep my fucking name out of your mouth, of the next time I'll break your fucking nose." 

She released her grip on the girl. "Come on, lets get outta here." Nick ran up, pulling her out of the restaurant.  They jumped in his car and speed off into town. They pulled up to a run down building, walked up a flight of stairs to a small apartment.  "Where are we?" Ellie asked as she looked around the small space. "Home. For now. Its not much, but its a place to lay my head." Ellie nodded, her time with the crew made her understand things most people never learned. 

"That was some display you put on back there." He chuckled as he reached in the fridge and grabbed two beers. "You just bring me here to lecture me on how not to act?" Nick shook his head. "Na, the opposite actually. " he held the beer towards her, she shook her head no declining.  Nick sat down on a chair, taking a sip of his beer. "When you were in the hospital, I heard you mentioned the brotherhood." 

Ellies blood ran cold, she could hear her heart beating in her ears. "No, I. I didn't." She lied, she was a terrible liar. "Ellie, I heard you. And If you know about them, if someone was after you because of them. Well, maybe we're not so different after all." Ellie sat down at the table with Nick, did he know something? Did he have a run in with them too? 

"Ok. So what if I did. How do you know about them?" She was cautious,  she never thought Jason would be a dirty cop, she trusted him enough since he was her dad's partner,  she never thought in her wildest dreams he would be the damned ring leader of the brotherhood. Nick let out a long sigh "I'll tell you,  but you gotta trust me enough to tell me your story too." Ellie considered his words, he did save her from being killed in that alley. "Deal." She held her hand out, which Nick shook. 

"I grew up on the wrong side of the tracks, unlike most kids around I had both my parents,  and they loved each other. My dad, he was involved in some heavy stuff, he ran with a local crew. One day a powerful gang showed up and began to take over the smaller gangs, snuffing them out and forcing them to work for them. When they didn't comply, they punished them. My dad, he rose up, spoke out." Nick paused for a moment, Ellie watched the emotions flash across his face. "They killed him and a few others,  spared their families so they could spread the word, the brotherhood meant business." 

"Nick… im. Im so sorry." Ellie reached out to grab his hand.  "Don't be sorry Ellie. It happened a long time ago and ive made my peace with my dad's passing. What I want to know is how a smart, innocent girl like yourself, got tangled up with the brotherhood." 

Ellie took a deep breath,  nobody but the crew knew what had happened, not the full story. Yet she felt comfortable enough to bare it all to  Nick. "Well, it all started with a boy in a car and an asshole on a bike." 

Ellie filled him in on everything,  how kaneko sent Logan to gain intel to the take down, or so she thought, of Jason in the school parking lot." Visiting old wounds opened something within her, paired  with her new found aggression and drive she felt like she had awoken from a deep slumber. "I cant sit around and wait for the cops to not do their jobs. I have to do something,  to take that asshole Shaw down once and for all!" Ellie pounded her fist against the table. "I've been doing some digging into possible brotherhood operations in town, but my hacking skills are limited." She sighed. "You need a hacker." A smile formed on Nick's face.

Ellie turned facing him, she knew that look,  it was the same one Colt would give her when they hatched a plot, there was no turning back now.  Ellie knew exactly what she needed to do. "I need a crew." Nick leaned forward, hands on the table. "And I know just where to find one."

*******

Los Angeles, California….

Colt sat in front of the Laptop, a red bull in his hand. He had been awake for 2 days straight, no signs of sleep in the horizon. Ximena had come to stay with him, they melted down her SUV so there were no traces for the brotherhood to find it. She immediately lifted a new one, black and bigger. They had made a little headway on hunting wallace down. The Kaneko name held weight, Teppei's self sacrifice spread through the alleys and back roads like wildfire. His courageous act, dubbed him as a saint amongst the crime world and left his heir to be feared by many. Colt was young, and more ruthless than his father. Everyone wanted to be in his good graces. 

A neighboring crew shed a little information about a possible underground operation the brotherhood had been running. An old sawmill on the west side of town had seen a lot more activity in recent months. Colt combed blue prints, scouted the location, the surveillance was an issue. It was old, easy to hack into but the picture quality was lacking. He tried to find A surrounding camera to view but hadn't had much luck.  "Fuck. This is ridiculous." he hollered, tossing the laptop onto the couch next to him. 

He rubbed his hands down his face in frustration.  He allowed his mind to wander there. Wondering what she was doing in that exact moment. He counted down the days until he could be with her, He had to be with her. Ximena walked in, a bag of takeout in hand. "You look like shit. You slept any since I left?" Colt shook his head.  "Cant sleep, not til I can get a better look at that warehouse." 

Ximena tossed a plate in front of him, a burger and fries,  She picked up the laptop and plopped down on the couch. "Ok, you eat. Let me see what I can do." 

After a few minutes she spoke up "got it. Just needed to position this camera that way and.." her eyes went wide. "Colt, you're gonna wanna come see this." Colt shot up standing over ximenas shoulder.  "That son of a bitch. He's there?" Before she could say a word Colt was already out the door and on his bike. He speed across town, weaving in and out of traffic. By the time he got there, the building was quiet.  He did find a familiar person. Colt grabbed him by the shirt and tossed him up against the brick wall. "Where is he?" He seethed. "Who. I don't know who you're talking about." 

"Wallace. Where the fuck is he?" Colt cocked his fist back. "I don't know. He left. He's gone." The man cried out. Colts fist connected with his face. "Ok, ok. I'll cooperate." Colt loosened his grip on him. The man opened his mouth to speak, then turned bolting for the door. Son of a bitch Colt huffed as he ran after him. He made it to the door in just enough time to see the guy get close lined, falling to the ground hard. "I don't remember asking for backup." He sneered "yeah, well looks like you needed it." Ximena snorted. Colt hovered over the man, Ximena knocked him out cold. "Were taking him." Ximena arched her brow. "Colt-" she warned. "Not the first time we kidnapped someone, probably won't be the last and We need answers.  You wanted in, this is in." Ximena shook her head. "Ok boss. I got rope in the truck. Lets get him loaded up before someone sees." 

Colt and Ximena pulled up to a run down house, it was one of the safe houses Kaneko had set up in case the heat got to bad in the city. It was outside of La and the best part it was remote. Ximena tossed. Bucket of water on the man as he jolted awake. "What? Where am I?" He fidgeted in his seat, trying to move his restrained hands. "Horacio Salazar." The man whipped his head to the other side of the room. "That's not my name." He spat.  "Sure it is. I know all about you Horacio. I know about your wife Maria. Your two kids Nico and Emalina. Even your little dog scruffy." Colts lips twisted into a sinister smirk as he watched the color drain from Horacio's face. "What do you want? 

"I just want a little information on a mutual acquaintance, Wallace. I want to know everything you know about him." Colt circled like a vulture. "I don't know nothin." 

Colt stopped, staring at the man before him. His hands crossed against his chest. 

"You aren't related to Emilio Salazar are you?"

Horacio lifted his head to look at Colt. "He was my cousin. Why?" 

"He helped my crew out with something. It's a shame what happened to him. I don't know if I would have the stomach to work for the crew that killed my cousin" He smirked "but that's just me." He turned his head, his smile twisted into a bone chilling curl. He was enjoying this more than he should, he knew he knee horacio would cooperate, but he needed him to want them dead, just as much as Colt did. 

A few minutes went by in silence before Horacio finally opened his mouth to speak. "Alright, fine. I'll tell you what I know." Colt flashed ximena a wicked smile.  "Ok Horacio, tell what you know."

Langston….. Nick led Ellie down a dimly lit hall of a warehouse on the outskirts of town. She could hear the bass thumping on the other side of the metal door. She gave Nick a questioning look. "You needed a crew, this is our first step." She nodded as he opened the door. She expected a cold, open space with some tattered old couches, and dirt. Instead the are was fully furnished with leather couches and chairs. A dj played some up tempo music as a few people danced.  They weaved in and out of people before they approached a large, muscular man standing in front of a sectioned off room. Nick whispered something in his ear, he nodded and let them pass. "Rubywrecker? We have a proposition for you." Nick spoke to the hooded figure sitting in front of 4 laptops with their backs turned to them. "Not interested. Who let you back here?" She spoke, not bothering to turn around. "Oh, I think you'll be interested. Especially when it comes to matters of a certain brotherhood."  

The woman stood, slowly turning around. "Not here. But if it has anything to do with taking them down. Im intrigued." She smiled. "Then I think you'll like what we have to say." Ellie stepped forward, it was finally happening. She was forming her crew, her vision closer to becoming a reality. The brotherhood was going to get what they deserved, one way or another. 

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[a-sweet-pea]

Refuge : Five

Previous

Marcus left the shop and slid straight into a waiting Tram; a gleaming silver bullet, marvel of modern technology that would, driverless, take him all the way to Carrien Square in silence and comfort so that he could then walk the extra five blocks to the apartment because the city government couldn’t be bothered extending the tram any further out than the remotest hipster coffee shop.

Once he’d sat in the cushioned seat, swiped his credit card in the slot (changing it from red to green) and buckled his seatbelt (rather awkwardly with only one available hand) he turned his attention to the other passenger.

Her hands were pressed against the plexiglass on either side of her and she was staring blankly into the distance, much as she had when Danby snatched her out of the containment unit. He unscrewed the lid just enough to break the seal so he wouldn’t have to raise his voice.

“How are you holding up in there?”

She pulled her hands back close to her as though she’d been shocked. But she didn’t say anything or acknowledge him.

“Hello?”

She was entirely closed off. Arms wrapped around herself, head down, unresponsive.

Did Danby do something to her?

Marcus unscrewed the lid the rest of the way and lifted it off. “Are you alright?” That got her attention finally, in a big way. She fell back against the tube and slid along the plexi wall until she was sitting as low and far from Marcus as she possibly could (which, considering that he was holding the tube, wasn’t very far).

“Where is my brother?” Her voice was quiet and strained, like she was reluctant to speak.

Marcus felt a weight off his chest. Little folk who’d been gassed ordinarily recovered within a few hours, but he’d seen a few cases where they were still drowsy and slurring their words days later. She’s with it enough to string a coherent sentence together; that’s a good sign. ”He’s still at the shop.” Although he was whispering, she flinched at the sound of his voice. He continued more quietly; in anything louder than the tram he wouldn’t have been able to hear himself talk. “I’m sorry I couldn’t pick him up as well. I should have negotiated more aggressively on the price, but that sales pitch threw me off.” He smiled sadly. “He was right enough that you’d sell quickly once he got everyone on display. I figured the extra cost was worth making sure I got hold of you first.”

The girl stared silently up at him for a moment, then lowered her face again. She spoke, so quiet he only barely made it out. “Monster.”

Marcus raised an eyebrow, lifting the container up so he could look at her through the clear side. “Marcus, actually.” Her downcast head snapped up. “Look, I’m sorry I left your brother. With any luck, Danby will hold him until I can acquire the funds.” She hardly seemed to process what he was saying. What little color was left in her face drained away as she stumbled backward, pressing her back against the far wall of the tube. This wasn’t first meeting nerves (which even the most socialized tiny was liable to have) this was the kind of raw, wild terror of someone who’d never been handled before today. Or at least, never by someone who wasn’t about to gas them and toss them into a containment unit.

Marcus tugged on his lapel with his free hand so the multicolored enamel bird pinned there would be visible from down in the tube. “Do you know what this is?” The question was superfluous; her behavior answered it clearly. But some part of him held out hope.

Silent frozen staring, then finally she shook her head.

Right.

Marcus looked away from her and grimaced.

I might have realized if I’d taken even a moment to think about it. Kenneth only sent the bulletin out a few weeks ago; and even so, she was picked up in the Old City, not off the streets. How would she have heard?

Damn.

“I…” Marcus turned to face her again, struggling to work out what he could or should say. There was a camera in every tram. The odds that anyone would look at the footage from any particular tram was infinitesimally small (unless he tried to run it off the track or there was some kind of collision) but Marcus had got into the habit of watching his words whenever there was a chance he was being recorded.

But in fairness, Marcus had no idea what he would have said even if there was no surveillance to worry about. She doesn’t know. Marcus couldn’t help going over the earlier transaction in his head, recolored in much darker tones. Rather than a co-conspirator putting on a convincing show for the shopkeeper, the girl had been genuinely terrified, convinced she was being bought by whatever sort of person usually shopped at Danby’s store. And she’s still afraid; afraid of me. Her arms were hugged tight around her, her body rigid.

“I’ll…explain everything when we get home.” A string of words that illuminated nothing. The girl clearly felt the same way; she just stared at him, expression unchanging. The way he was holding the tube, Marcus could see his own fingers curled around the back of the glass behind the girl. He’d held plenty of little people, but only ever colony bred; either purchased from Danby’s or rescued from homes. Never an Independent. I wish Amber was here. She would know how to talk to the girl, make her feel safe.

“I would tell you not to be scared but I can’t imagine that would help.” He moved his hand a little further down the tube; maybe if less of it was visible, the girl would be more comfortable. “That’s what my mother said to me the first time I went on an airplane; ‘Don’t be afraid, Marcus, it’s perfectly safe.” He chuckled at his pathetic attempt to imitate his mother’s high-pitched voice. “I still spent the whole trip hunched over a sick-bag, absolutely sure we were going to crash and die.” He sighed. “This isn’t helping at all, is it?”

The girl’s expression remained inscrutable, if in fact it had changed at all since he started talking. It was difficult to tell.

“I’m just going to stop talking before I embarass myself further. I’ll leave the lid off so you can breathe properly; please let me know if you need anything.” He turned to look out the window at the passing towers of glass and steel. Some first impression.

A/N: Figures that my first update in a million years is for the story no one was asking for lol. #sorrynotsorry

[ryouverua]

Trial 6 - Retrial (1)

...... Alright, let’s do this.

Speculation post with theories are here.

It’s so... blue....?

i’m not saying this shade of blue makes me think of anyone in particular but I’M TOTALLY SAYING IT MAKES ME THING OF SOMEONE IN PARTICULAR -

Is that a ‘the results will speak for themselves’ thing or literally ‘someone else will choose’ thing??? We’ve had to deal with ‘an outside force is actually a part of this’ thing, but last time that was a force for good and they were pretty much rendered helpless. What are the chances that’s the same this time...

Probably because he and the mastermind being threatened with exposure are two different entities??? It sounds like he doesn’t have anything on the line this time!

MONOKUMA DO YOU REALLY HATE US THAT MUCH

LMAO

Damn you Monokuma you really can make me laugh sometimes when I’m not ready for it.

“’They’ being ‘me’, in case I didn’t make that clear.”

And then, after setting up for the trial and a long pan around the remaining participants, we land on....

.... one Very Tired Detective.

There’s one pretty glaring reason to have a class trial even if there hasn’t been a murder; someone incredibly significant still left to identify....

.... I-I guess this is the way we’re doing it though! Okay! We’re going to straight-up retry it!

I guess this is as good of a way to do it as any! This all pretty much revolves around the events of that night in the end!

“Incredibly ironic, considering the circumstances.”

lmao I swear I mentioned the Ultimate Mastermind as a joke possibility at one point whoops

I do like how we have Himiko to confirm it for us. Actually, that works out perfectly - we have a classmate almost every step of the way to confirm most of the evidence, except... I guess in the case of the flashback light room, right? Which is, y’know, good, considering we’re probably going to be accusing one of them within the hour... 8′D

And he wanted a second. Most people don’t want to go back in for seconds. Here’s a question though - did he remember the last killing game in the prologue? Is that why he recognized Monokuma? But.... why wasn’t he freaking out at that point? Or maybe that’s just because of his apparent ability to keep calm under pressure...

HE GOT FUCKING PLAYED

This speaks to the hidden trap that’s always existed in Shuichi’s own mind - that he often assumes that anything he can do, such as notice the hidden door, other people can do just as easily. Because ‘if someone like me can do it, who only became the Ultimate Detective by accident, then surely it would be presumptuous to think that no one else could make the same observations as me’. N-Not that I understand those feelings on a personal level or anything.............

Out of pure curiosity, I wonder if he was given the Monopad specifically by Monokuma or if he just woke up with the second one? Or maybe it was left for him in his room? He had to have reviewed it at some point in isolation, because he was clearly shaken up by it. For that matter, when did he see it? Just after we first originally met up in the gym, post-talent acquisition? Or later than that? I wonder if it’s possible to pinpoint before and after him going through the Survivor’s Perk based on his reactions? I do remember he was checking out the library during one of Kaede’s FTEs when we approached him, but I can’t quite remember when that was...

Wait, are you telling me the video itself was on his Survivor’s Perk? I thought it was just in that safe - then why was there a copy of it on a USB in his lab??? Was it to paint him as suspicious if we got that far? A bonus prize for someone if they were able to figure out the clues?? Hell, was it a ‘motive’ to paint a target on Rantaro’s back the same way the flashback light targeted Kokichi in Chapter 5, in case he made it that far? WHY WAS THE DECK SO STACKED AGAINST THIS POOR BASTARD

“He just had an incredibly scary face while coming to that conclusion, so naturally it was very suspicious at the time.”

.... Man, what’s with all these people with our best interests at heart having such terrifying sprites? Rantaro, Kokichi, Gonta, Ryoma, and I’d argue Angie in her own strange way - all of these guys had some of the creepiest reactions in the game. the lesson is it’s the plain cute ones you gotta watch all the pun intended -

don’t be rude Himiko

“If only I’d had the protagonist power at the time - I could have wooed him. I could have wooed him!”

This is pretty damn sad, though. I wonder if there was anyone he was considering reaching out to? There’s at least one person that comes to mind immediately and I 100% guarantee it’s not who you think it would be:

.....

Ready? No, it’s not Kokichi.

It’s Ryoma Hoshi.

No, seriously! Ryoma literally made it clear that he was willing to give up his own life to end the game. He showed the resolve to help someone get out of there in order to rescue the rest of them. Rantaro literally had to argue him down from doing that. I know at that point it was the day of the deadline, but... man. What if Rantaro had come clean with Ryoma about what he knew? Could something have changed?

Behold: Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Cryptic.

How heavy was this burden on his shoulders...

I know it’s not relevant to the flashback but SHOW HIS SCARY SPRITE YOU COWARDS

RANTARO WE WILL MAKE UP FOR THIS IN THE BONUS SALMON MODE, I SWEAR IT TO YOU RIGHT NOW -

Behold: Rantaro Amami, the Ultimate Sacrifice -

if there aren’t what-if AUs out there about potential scenarios where Rantaro opens up to someone I will riot.

I-I mean, we weren’t going to explicitly say that but -

“.... Patience, Shuichi. Their time will come. And they won’t know what hit them.”

I see you, sneakily trying to sneak that truth and lie theme back into the trial, and I wholeheartedly approve ~

Are you just saying that...? You were there, right? You saw that we found the Survivor’s Perk. You know we found the lab, so why are you not trying to redirect us? Will you try to do that in the debates or -

oH -

SHE DOESN’T KNOW WE FOUND THE HIDDEN PASSAGE FROM THE BATHROOMS

SHE DOESN’T REALIZE WE CAN PIN HER DOWN WITH THIS

LET’S DO IT!!!!!

Well THIS explains why the Monokubs are participating in the trial. 8′D

E N O U G H

We can match it... aaah, we can match it to the picture that shows him holding it! And it wasn’t there with the body, but in the mastermind’s room!!! Man I’m so pumped up!

I love how Shuichi’s shutting down the Monokids lmao - I’ve never seen him act so aggressively in a Rebuttal Showdown before. 8′D

Man that’s a lot of blood to have landed that way, but who am I to argue about blunt trauma blood physics. THE POINT IS WE HAVE PROOF, BABY! CONFIRMED SECOND PERSON IN THE ROOM!

oh right also this happened:

So we’re just gonna lose them one-by-one during the trial, huh? I’m okay with that.

can you let it slip again

pretty sure you’re thinking of Scar and Simba was Mufasa’s cub -

THAT TOO

DO MONOKUMA AND TSUM - THE MASTERMIND HAVE BEEF OR SOMETHING DEAR LORD

“And it’s totally not someone in this room.” awkwardly attempts to not make eye contact with a certain plain girl -

In those brief few precious seconds...

Cutting all the fluff out, but all you need to know is that all the Monokubs are absolutely useless and don’t know anything except for Monodam because of course.

T... The interval timers. We’ve talked about this already. It was a big thing in the last trial - literally why Shuichi was suspected for a while, and how it got narrowed down to her and Kaede.

It’s always her. It’s always her.

TSUMUGI IS LITERALLY ‘CASUALLY’ TEAMING WITH MONODAM TO DISPROVE SHUICHI I CANNOT BELIEVE HOW BALLSY SHE’S GETTING

Didn’t the mastermind have the advantage of Rantaro triggering the camera both times and setting the ‘30 second’ clock between intervals? Just sayin’ ~

I’m so glad and not surprised that K1-b0 is the one remembering Miu’s contribution. look I have room for kiiruma in my heart too okay

with that said I love the ‘so done’ look he has while he’s next to her in this picture

30 seconds sounds like a short amount of time, and it is. but it can also be surprisingly long. She would have to be quick and deliberate... but she could do it. Dart out, grab it and go. And she’d probably be watching the live feed so she would know exactly when to do it! Between the flash and the ball dropping on him, she has two cues to work with!

I see you too debate online.

this is the ‘take a minute to appreciate the text and graphic design’ minute, don’t mind me - I just really l ike how they have such different styles denoting who’s speaking. Man I can’t get over how well designed it is.

....

Wait, we really have to bring up the idea that they have surveillance cameras? When one of the biggest sticking points of the last trial was that Monokuma didn’t know who the victim was because Kokichi interfered? YOU THOUGHT WE WOULD GET THROWN OFF BY THAT POINT -

This is K1-b0′s big win, so I’m glad he’s the one sassing them and presenting the sixth cub ~

this better be the last damn time we ever agree on anything EVER

I mean, I guess we had to clarify that for the sake of being able to move on but... eh.

OH

Though! Though it does help us confirm that the mastermind had to have been in the room and not one of the people who were known to be downstairs, so that is good! I mean, we honestly pretty much knew that already, but it definitely doesn’t hurt. Gotta tighten that trap after all!

I DUNNO TSUMUGI, WHY WOULD THEY?

“The mastermind is a punk bitch -”

“O-Okay, we plain get it, that’s enough -”

“No. No, I think I need to elaborate on what a scaredy-cat coward the mastermind is -”

LMAO HE’S REALLY INTERRUPTING SWEETCHEEKS ON THIS

..... What a weird point to be hung up on. And the way you’re talking, like you are the mastermind rather than an independent AI, is definitely different than before.

i-i mean look what just happened with kokichi and maki but okay, yeah, we’d totally work together and not have a random student try to make a stand on their own or, hell, have a flashback light designed to instigate chaos and confusion -

Yes............. but. Uh, I’m going to bring this to the point below actually - *

HA

okay blow up a Monokub now

....

damn it

Oh damn, I didn’t think that rule would ever actually come up in a trial. Cool.

LA LA LA LA I CAN’T HEAR YOU -

YOU LITERALLY SET HIM UP YOURSELF!!!

.... Or, the mastermind did. One of you did. I don’t know - I know in my head that I should probably be treating them as one and the same - but they just feel like different entities to me. And if I’m going to humour that idea, that means there is the very real question of ‘who decided to set him up with that message’, ‘who decided they had to steal the Survivor’s Perk back’ and for that matter, ‘were these decisions made independently of each other or was the idea to take back the Perk back conceived the moment the Perk itself was created?’

* To pick up where I left off earlier -

It sounds like discrediting the idea of the mastermind would all be much more important to said mastermind moreso than Monokuma... right? Because Monokuma seems convinced that everything will be fine (the game will continue) even if they find the mastermind, right...??? So I don’t know if the reason was to keep the killing game going, because she clearly showed she is able to create a motive even when the students are banded together against a single person, and she can even misdirect them - I think it’s more to protect herself, because she never wanted that to happen in the first place. Iunno. It just feels a bit different to me than how Shuichi put it.

Oh....?

B-BUT, LIKE, WE CAN STILL FIGURE OUT WHO IT IS FROM THAT... >:( let me accuse my cosplay girlfriend you monojerk

So, erm. Right.

At this point, if you weren’t seeing my little spur-of-the-moment text reactions, you wouldn’t know that I did a double-take when I saw this happen live. Because, well... I’d figured out the whodunnit, the whydunnit, the when, the how - but apparently I’d managed to miss the fact that there was a ‘what’ to resolve. So I figured out the culprit.... but didn’t realize that we weren’t just investigating a theft, but the actual murder again.

With that in mind -

[funky murder mystery jazz music stops]

IT’S    A    W H A T ? ! ? ! ? !

TSUMU - I-I MEAN -

MISS MASTERMIND, WHAT THE HELL HAVE YOU DONE?!?!

[awed-frog]

Just in case this can offer some perspective to those of us who struggle to remember what life was like before the ‘war on terror’: it’s becoming more and more likely that the man who drove his van into a crowd in Toronto had no political motivations, and was experiencing mental health issues. The news that he actually wanted to die and tried to get a cop to shoot him actually hit me hard, because the exact same thing happened in my country, in my city, about fifteen years ago, long before ISIS and whatever else. In fact, I don’t think the event was even mentioned by international medias, because that man, like this guy in Toronto, had no particular message for the world. He wanted to kill himself, and for reasons I’ll never understand, this is how he chose to do it - he sped up as he was crossing a bridge, drove his car into the sidewalk, and dragged three people down with him when the railing broke. They all died. Everyone was completely shocked, and at the very beginning there was a sort of frenzy, a ‘we’ll do anything in our power to make sure this will NEVER happen again’ thing. Like, people were angry that the railing had collapsed ‘so easily’, but the truth is, you launch a car at 120 km/h against anything, you’ll probably break it down. And next someone looked into expanding pedestrian areas - an idea I am absolutely in favour of, 100%, but the truth is, it wouldn’t have worked in that particular place. You can’t have a functional citiy that’s completely closed to traffic, after all. And the last thing was a series of learned interviews with important scientists about car technology, and whether it’d be possible for a car to just shut down in case of dangerous driving; this being the early Noughties, self-driving cars were still a distant dream, so the whole thing got nowhere (still, I’m guessing programming an engine to react to a reckless, aggressive or disturbed driver is still pretty much a utopia). So after all that - after weeks of shock and grieving and looking for answers - everyone went back to normal, and we all accepted what seemed to be a universal truth before the days of constant war and mass surveillance: that you can’t make life risk free, and that’s why you should invest your resources in people, not things. We don’t need concrete blocks in the middle of every street and cameras everywhere and armed soldiers patrolling our neighbourhoods. The drive to harm others, I think, always comes from a deep hurt within yourself. This is what we need to fix. We need to build societies where we can stop that hurt from forming, from festering, from becoming a terminal illness. We need to look after each other and support one another. We need to make all we can to ensure kids live in a happy, safe and healthy environment, that parents have the time and skills and resources to look after them, that schools are properly funded, that people find a job they’re suited for and are paid enough to actually live. This is how we build resilience, and this - stronger communities, families, friends, job satisfaction, a sense of belonging - this is what stops the violence. And, of course - the world is unfair, which means there are people we just can’t save, but whatever we’re comfortable thinking, bad choices and desperation and resentment are much more widespread that innate evil. We would do well to remember that.

[seigyokus]

9.4 - Calculation and Fabrication

Idolish Seven - Part 3, Chapter 9.4 For more Part 3 translations, click here!

Translation below the cut!

Thorvald: Good evening. Sorry to interrupt in the middle of a meal. I would like to offer a suggestion to everyone. Thorvald: How do you feel about setting up surveillance cameras in this room? IDOLiSH7: No! Izumi Mitsuki: You goddamn stalker! First you follow Nagi around, then you come in and drink our miso soup, and now you wanna set up cameras!? Nikaidou Yamato: You’re mighty bold for a stalker! Like hell we'd say yes to that! Thorvald: It is only reasonable for all of you to react that way. Very well. I shall be bringing Nagi-san back to Northmare with me then. IDOLiSH7: What!? Yotsuba Tamaki: He! He's tryna kidnap Nagicchi! Nanase Riku: We would never hand Nagi over to a stalker! Sougo-san, do you see anything that'd work as a weapon? Osaka Sougo: ......Here, take this! Izumi Mitsuki: You can't just throw glass pots around! That one’s expensive! *door opens* Rokuya Nagi: Thorvald.... Oh! What's the matter, everyone!? Nanase Riku: This dude's been stalking you, hasn't he! Rokuya Nagi: Well, if you were to call him a stalker you would not be wrong, but.... He is not the stalker I spoke of the other day.... Nikaidou Yamato: Y’know.... You’ve got an awful lot of stalkers.... Rokuya Nagi: Hm.... I am quite a sinful man, if I do say so myself. Thorvald: You misunderstand. I am not stalking Nagi-san in the slightest, I-- Ah.... Yotsuba Tamaki: ......!? A bunch of stuff just fell outta his pocket! Izumi Mitsuki: And they're all pictures of Nagi...! Nanase Riku: He has pictures of Nagi as a kid too! He's a veteran stalker!! Izumi Iori: ......This picture.... It must've been taken in a rather luxurious mansion.... Ah.... Rokuya Nagi: Thanks, Iori. Rokuya Nagi: Dropping pictures of my face to the ground is rather impolite, Thorvald, is it not? Thorvald: I apologize for the unacceptable behavior-- Ah.... Sorry, Nagi-san. Rokuya Nagi: In spite of the fact that you are behaving in a manner unbefitting of a subject of Northmare, you dare to warn me? I declare hereafter.... (1) Rokuya Nagi: ....... Izumi Mitsuki: Oh.... They started talking in Northmarean.... Nikaidou Yamato: I have no clue what they're talking about.... If they were talking in English, at least I'd have some idea of what's going on.... Nanase Riku: Nagi, are you sure you don't need to contact the police? He really isn't a stalker? Rokuya Nagi: ....... It is alright. Do not worry, he will be going home now. Thorvald: Thank you for the dinner, it was very delicious. Thank you for having me over. Thorvald: Nagi-san. You can only defer for so long. You are running out of time. Rokuya Nagi: All because the entire lot of you are incompetent. Thorvald: That is, unfortunately, painfully through. (2) Yotsuba Tamaki: You mean, 'painfully true?' Thorvald: That is, unfortunately, painfully true. Good night. May you have splendid dreams. *door closes* Izumi Mitsuki: ....... He came and went like a storm. Man, what a guest.... Rokuya Nagi: A storm would have been more well-mannered than him. Nikaidou Yamato: Nagi, are you really okay...? What the hell is this stalker business? And why didn't you tell me about it? Rokuya Nagi: He is my otaku friend. I was only jesting when I called him a stalker. Nikaidou Yamato: Why'd he break the window, then? Rokuya Nagi: Perhaps he got a little carried away in his excitement. He's in a foreign country, after all. (3) Yotsuba Tamaki: Really? Like, he said he was gonna take you with him back to Northmare and stuff.... Rokuya Nagi: Don't worry. He was just copying something from an anime. Izumi Mitsuki: You're positive everything's okay, right? You're not gonna get stabbed by some weirdo outta nowhere, right? Rokuya Nagi: Oh! My friend! Thank you for worrying about me! I am very happy! Rokuya Nagi: I am alright. If there is ever a night where I cannot sleep, kept awake by my fear, I'll take my Kokona DVD with me and go to your room. Rokuya Nagi: Why don’t we watch it right now! Let's turn on the TV.... Oh.... TV News: Weekly magazines have been publishing a special scoop on TRIGGER's Tsunashi Ryuunosuke-san and Hanamaki Sumire-san! Just what kind of relationship do they have? Nanase Riku: Tsunashi-san...?

Reporter: Tsunashi-san, is it true you invited Hanamaki-san to join Yaotome Productions? Reporter: And when did you get so close to her? Anesagi Kaoru: Please let us through. Ryuu, hurry up! Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Sorry. I’m afraid can't answer that.

Man: Did you hear? Apparently Yaotome Productions just went and snatched up Tsukumo Production's top seller! It was all over the news! Woman: He's being super ungrateful to both agencies! I bet he just wanted to get his girl into the same agency as him, that’s all. Man: Nah, I don’t think so. She was gonna be TRIGGER's rival at Black or White, so he seduced her and made her fall for him!

Yaotome Gaku: Ryuu's getting unilaterally bashed.... Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: I'm really sorry.... I didn't know this was going to happen.... Yaotome Gaku: You didn't do anything wrong. You've been politely declining interviews and doing the usual stuff! Yeah? Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Yeah.... But it feels different this time around.... Yaotome Gaku: How so? Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: The interviewers are really.... Aggressive. It's like they're on the offensive. Yaotome Gaku: ......The articles are like that too.... They've said all sorts of things about us, but this is the first time they're being so blatant. *door opens* Yuki: Is everyone here? Kujou Ten: Yuki-san.... Momo: Ryuunosuke, I'm sorry! I'm really sorry! Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: What's wrong, Momo-san? Momo: I know I texted you about it, but all of this is my fault, Ryuu! Yaotome Gaku: What do you mean......?

Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Modern-day Chiba Salon...? And I'm the one who’s supposedly managing it...? Momo: Ryou-san's got it all wrong. He's trying to get all of the power in the industry right now, and one of the things that'd get in his way is organizations. Momo: Power is like a game of Othello. You get people to turn to your side, little by little, bit by bit. Momo: If one or two people protested, they wouldn't stand a chance. But if all of those people teamed up.... No one would have to turn to his side and they'd all be able to resist. Momo: I gathered all my friends together so we could have fun, but he probably thinks we're that kind of organization. Yaotome Gaku: But isn't that weird? If anything, he should be gunning for you and not Ryuu, Momo-san. Momo: That's true.... Have you ever done something that he'd bear a grudge against you for? Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Me!? I don't think so.... Kujou Ten: People don't usually hold grudges against Ryuu. He's not that type of person. What about you, Momo-san? Yaotome Gaku: Alright, hear me out. I'm only asking this because we don't want to doubt your innocence, not because we suspect you. But you're not on the same team as Tsukumo Ryou, right? Momo: Of course not! If it came down to attacking Ryuu, then I'd rather send an assassin to off myself! Yuki: Momo would never betray you guys. Momo: Yuki...! Yaotome Gaku: And why can you say that so confidently? Yuki: Because he'd never do something that'd make me hate him. Right? Momo: I swear on that. Kujou Ten: I think so too. Gaku, you’re being rude. They've looked after us all this time. Yaotome Gaku: I said it was just in case! Yuki: Well, how about you, Gaku-kun and Ten-kun? Have either of you ever done something to incur Tsukumo's wrath? Kujou Ten: ...This has nothing to do with President Tsukumo, but there's a boy who sees me as his enemy. Yaotome Gaku: What's he like? Kujou Ten: ......He's one of the kids Kujou-san took care of. Yuki: Kujou, again......? Kujou Ten: ....... Yuki: Well, whatever. As long as you're happy with Kujou-san. Kujou Ten: If there's something you'd like to say, please speak. Yuki: Ten-kun, are you a masochist? Momo: Yuki, that’s a little too direct! Kujou Ten: I don't really understand, but just know that I'm a sadist when it comes to senpai who ask inconsiderate questions. Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Ten, that’s pushing it a bit! You might actually start a fight with him! Yaotome Gaku: Well, we can't help it. Ryuu, you were set up by that woman. We just gotta prove that. Yaotome Gaku: Is there anyone who could prove it? Was there anyone else who was there? Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: ......Ah. Yaotome Gaku: There was!? Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: There was.... But given the situation and the fact that Tsukumo's definitely got something up his sleeve, I can't get them involved. Yaotome Gaku: This isn't the time for that shit! We're gonna get their testimony and prove your innocence! Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: I can't. I won't tell you. Momo: Wait, is it.... Your girlfriend? Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: N-no! Yaotome Gaku: What the hell? You should've told us you were dating someone! Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: I'm not! Yuki: Of course he wouldn't want to get his girlfriend involved. What kind of girl is she? Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: I'm telling you guys, it's not a girl! Kujou Ten: If that's the case, then why don't you tell us who it is? Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Yeah, but.... I don't want to get him involved.... Yuki: Fine. So be it. Momo, Gaku-kun. Hold him down. Yaotome Gaku: What are you gonna do? Yuki: Torture him. Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Torture!? Huh? Wait-- Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Ahahaha! Ah! Stop! Stop it! Ahaha! It tickles! Ahahaha! I, I can't take it anymore! Kujou Ten: How merciless.... Tsunashi Ryuunosuke: Ahahaha! Ahahahaha! Okay! Okay! I give up! I'll talk!

To be continued....

TL Notes/comments:

THANKS @kuriiii FOR PROOFING!!! 

THORVALD IS THE GODDAMN FUckIng drops 2098042 pcitures meme I CANT BELIEVe

(1) this bit kind of goes on for a bit without any real subject so i just tried 2 make it sound as official as possible (2) alright there's a japanese saying/kotowaza that goes 'mimi ga itai' (lit. my ear hurts) which applies to anything that has been said over and over to you to the point where you're tired of hearing OR something that is painfully true. Thorvald says 'mimi ga nigai' (lit. my ear is bitter) LOL (3) literally he says 'hustle' but clearly some katakana-eigo is at work because with every example sentence I read the more i was like 'yeeeeeeeah hustle does not mean what it means in english in japanese'

As usual, if you see any mistakes/mistranslations/etc, please message me!

Thank you for reading!!

[shirlleycoyle]

Do Ring Cameras Violate Wiretapping Laws? New Hampshire Is About to Find Out

Last July, Timothy Burke was standing outside his sister’s apartment in Rochester, N.H., allegedly firing a pistol at the ground. Words were exchanged—a conversation of obvious interest to the assistant county attorney now prosecuting the case. Then, the 31-year-old allegedly raised his gun and shot his brother Edwin in the arm.

The case, first reported by the New Hampshire Union Leader, rose to a matter of national interest last week, when the prosecutor asked a judge to accept audio recordings of the incident captured by a neighbor’s Ring camera as evidence. Burke’s public defender has opposed the motion, arguing that recordings from home surveillance cameras like Ring violate the state’s wiretapping law, which makes it a felony to audio record someone without their knowledge.

New Hampshire is one of 12 states that require all parties in a conversation to consent to audio recording. And while police have been eager to use video footage from private Ring cameras—urged on by the Amazon-owned company’s aggressive marketing—national criminal defense and civil liberties experts say the audio recordings pass into untested and concerning legal territory.

“I think it’s a real issue, and we at the ACLU have been keen to combat any kind of threat that microphones will become as prevalent in public places as cameras have,” Jay Stanley, a senior policy analyst at the ACLU, told Motherboard. “There are surveillance cameras all over public places in America but almost none of them have microphones because of these wiretapping laws.”

Motherboard contacted a number of other organizations representing civil liberties advocates, prosecutors, and defense attorneys and none were aware of a specific legal precedent to the New Hampshire case. In previous cases dealing with recording public officials, particularly police performing public duties, judges have ruled that the recordings are legal. The question of third-party audio recordings of unwitting private individuals has yet to be answered, though.

“It’s almost been considered up until now fair game that something done outside in public does not hold that right to privacy, but that’s being challenged because at this point we’re being overwhelmed by infringements upon privacy,” Peter Elikann, a defense attorney and former chair of the Massachusetts Bar Association’s criminal justice council, told Motherboard. “It’s like there’s one big digital neighborhood watch going on.”

Like New Hampshire, Massachusetts requires the consent of all parties to a recording.“We’re really at the vanguard, the starting gate of what’s going to be a huge area of law that’s going to be challenged,” Elikann said.

In its guidelines for law enforcement Ring states that the company provides access to device video in response to a warrant, but they do not mention audio recordings, which are enabled by default on Ring devices. And as Motherboard has previously reported, Amazon has coached police departments on ways to access videos without the need for a warrant.

“As privacy and video surveillance laws vary by jurisdiction, we strongly encourage all of our customers to respect their neighbors' privacy and comply with any applicable laws when setting up their Ring device,” the company wrote in a statement to Motherboard, also suggesting that customers place the stickers provided with each product on their house so passersby and visitors know they are being surveilled.

Assistant Strafford County Attorney Emily Garod, who is prosecuting Burke, told Motherboard that when she learned of the Ring audio recording she messaged a state-wide group of prosecutors to ask for advice or examples of similar cases.

“I got a ton of responses back, none of which were helpful, but saying ‘let me know what you get back on this because we have no idea,’” she said. “It’s really interesting, you have people with Ring doorbells on and [depending on the judge’s ruling] they’re basically committing a crime when they record audio.”

A hearing to decide the Ring issue in Burke’s case has been scheduled for February 4th.

Most state wiretapping laws are based on the federal statute, but they differ between requiring one-party consent—where only one member of a conversation must be aware of a recording— and two-party consent, also known as all-party consent.

In Pennsylvania, a two-party consent state, the Philadelphia district attorney’s office considers audio recordings from Ring and other outdoor home surveillance devices admissible evidence, spokeswoman Jane Roh told Motherboard. But she was not aware of any cases in which prosecutors have attempted to introduce such evidence.

In Michigan, a one-party consent state, in order to violate that state’s wiretapping law, a person must “willfully” intercept the communication.

“Ring and other surveillance cameras record events and the significance is discovered later. The owner of the device is not purposefully recording the conversation. It’s not eavesdropping,” Maria Miller, an assistant prosecutor for the Detroit-based Wayne County District Attorney’s office, wrote in an email to Motherboard.

Defense attorneys are liable to argue a different definition of willfulness.

“You know you’re putting the Ring up there. You know it’s going to record everything that happens within its reach. So it’s not unintentional, that’s for sure,” Mike Iacopino, a veteran New Hampshire defense attorney, told Motherboard.

“Right now, I can tell you as a lawyer, that it’s pretty clear that it is [in violation of New Hampshire law] just because of the breadth of the statute,” he said. “I think that with the Rings and some of the other new products out there that are incorporating audio that it’s going to be a big issue.”

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