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neoblogcrying · 5 years ago

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“Let’s Play a Game” pt.9

Here is the next part! Hope you enjoy!

“Hm… that’s a good choice, a very good one.”

“Is it really that much different from the other one?”

“The end result isn’t much different, but the winning option gives them a chance to unlock another flashback scene!”

“Oh? Which one is that?”

“It’s a secret~ I’ll tell you later during break. For now, let’s get a move on. I’m sure they’re curious to know how the story will progress!”

If anything, this goes to show that the worst option wasn’t chosen this round, so the game was going to continue. Remember to be careful about what options you choose in the future. If you pick too many of the worst possible options, it will result in the ‘death’ end and the game will force close!

That has been another warning for you, do be careful! Be mindful of the hints that the Moderators drop for you!

BEEP!

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“Where are my souvenirs? Don’t tell me that you forgot?” Shen Yuan asked with the smallest of pouts on his face. If there was anything that Shen Jiu was weak to, it was Shen Yuan adopting his younger brother role.

Of course, his brother would never admit to it, but Shen Jiu did enjoy being an older brother. Being able to take care of someone and doing good by them was something that eased the edge off his heart. It helped him feel as though here was a part of him that could do good.

There was someone who believed in him, in his ability to be a good person.

That isn’t to say that Shen Jiu thought himself as a good person by any means. He still thought of himself to be a scummy person, but after he’d met Shen Yuan, he started to feel as though he had a pinky’s worth of goodness in his body.

“I have your souvenirs right here.” Shen Jiu revealed a vibrant red satchel from his sleeve. There was a fragrant smell coming from the satchel that sent a shiver down Shen Yuan’s spine.

The younger of the two brothers accepted the item with trepidation, his eyes narrowing suspiciously at the satchel. He wouldn’t have been suspicious if not for the fragrant smell coming from the satchel. This suspiciously smelled like perfume…?

Something you could smell from a woman.

“Brother… what is this?” He asked slowly, staring at his ‘gift’ with unease.

Shen Jiu was enjoying the unease his brother was currently exhibiting, and he chose not to answer. Instead, he was reorganizing the room to his liking.

Taking the plunge, Shen Yuan opened the satchel to see… was that rouge? Face powder…? This… this is makeup? There’s more in here.

“BROTHER!” The younger brother bristled in annoyance, his tone carrying a hint of an aggrieved whine. What use did he have for make up? He no longer lived in the Red-Light District where he was at the mercy of all the elder sisters there. No longer would he be subjected to being their Barbie doll to play with. “Must you tease me like this? Your younger brother has already extended his heart to you asking for forgiveness, has he not? I am hurt. My honorable brother is finally treating me with such disdain, opting to gift me such a thing. I understand, my brother wishes for me to return to the Red-light district.”

Dramatic.

Shen Yuan was the dramatic sort, and only when the two brothers were alone, he liked to reveal this side of his. Sometimes, his dramatics annoyed Shen Jiu, while at other times, it amused him.

This time, it seemed to be the latter. Shen Jiu’s aim to annoy his brother was a success. He chuckled under his breath, reaching into his sleeves once more to pull out a different satchel, this time, it was green in color.

The color matched the bamboo forest. “Calm down, this is your real souvenir. Hide the makeup elsewhere if you don’t want it.” He lightly tossed the bag to his brother.

In truth, he had bought the make up to get information from those in the marketplace.

The demon was smart with the way he covered his tracks. Unfortunately for the demon, he was up against Shen Qingqiu. With his intelligence, no demon would be able to escape from under his nose.

He managed to find his way to a rouge shop and sniffed out some clues. To loosen the mouth of the shopkeep, he bought some rouge. In the process, he chose to use the gift to tease his brother with. This is what you call a win-win situation.

If he had to guess, if Shen Yuan had been the one to descend from the mountain, he might not have been able to figure out the identity of the demon. He may have even lost his life to the demon, in fact.

It was good that Shen Yuan didn’t replace him on this trip.

Shen Yuan was still feeling miffed by the previous satchel he was given, but he accepted the new satchel easily. The design was pretty, as a bamboo forest was embroidered in the fabric. Both brothers enjoyed the aesthetic of a bamboo forest, so he knew that whatever was inside, Shen Jiu carefully selected for him.

Inside the satchel was an assortment of items. One, was jerky that was carefully wrapped up in a cloth. Another item was a beautifully crafted fan (Shen Jiu likely had a matching one of his own). The last item was ink pots with different colors of ink. This must have been expensive and hard to find.

Shen Yuan spent a lot of his time holed indoors, and he came to enjoy writing and drawing pictures in scrolls. Sometimes he wrote stories he remembered from his life on Earth, or he’d draw images of the things he saw in this world.

Everything was so beautiful in this novel when compared to what he remembered from Earth. The air was polluted, and civilization replaced much of the beautiful scenery you could see in nature.

In a magical world like this, who wouldn’t enjoy the scenery?

You could say that of the twins, Shen Yuan was more gifted in the arts than his elder brother. Similarly, Shen Jiu was the smarter of the two twins. Shen Jiu, the main face of Shen Qingqiu built a reputation of being a strategist due to his brains.

While he didn’t mind dabbling in the arts, he spent most of his time polishing his knowledge. He did have a reputation to maintain, after all.

Of course, that meant that Shen Yuan had to study just as much as Shen Jiu did in order to play the part as Shen Qingqiu well. While he didn’t particularly enjoy studying, he didn’t mind reading piles of books and scrolls.

It was like getting your hand on a book that detailed behind the scenes information on your favorite novel. As a fan, who wouldn’t enjoy such a thing? This world was akin to getting a special OVA of your favorite donghua series, you’re an author making a statement on a question the fans are dying to know!

It was touching to know that his brother went through all that effort to find a gift that he knew that would be appreciated. What was with the jerky, you asked? Shen Yuan was the type of person who enjoyed snacking on things, especially when he was bored. The more flavorful the food was, the more he’d enjoy it.

He personally felt that a lot of the food here was bland, but what could you do about it? They didn’t have all the spices you could find on Modern day Earth.

You can simply chalk it up to the Millenial misses eating all sorts of food. Boba tea, instant ramen, ice cream, etc.

Jerky was something you could carry around with you with ease, so it was essentially like carrying snacks with you wherever you went. It was the closest alternative he had.

This was a rarity for him because Shen Jiu disliked meat jerky. It wasn’t a kind of food that fit the image of a Peak Lord. It was something you’d expect from a common day peasant. As long as Shen Yuan was never caught consuming the said jerky, Shen Jiu wouldn’t have his head for it.

Of course, Shen Yuan knew better than to consume meat jerky in front of others. It would make ‘Shen Qingqiu’ lose so many coolness points.

“Brother, you treat me so well. I am lucky to have a brother who understands my tastes so well.” Shen Yuan was currently praising his brother’s good tastes in souvenirs. Appealing to his brotherly side had its many advantages. For one, it helped Shen Jiu understand that there was another path for him that he could take, although very difficult for him on a personality basis.

Two, it did brighten Shen Jiu’s mood, even if it was by a small percentage… maybe even a fraction of a percentage. He wasn’t an easy man to deal with after all.

Finally, sometimes appealing to his brotherly side would reveal surprising information about Shen Jiu’s character. You could say that after he came to realize that Shen Jiu was not a simple canon fodder character, Shen Yuan was very curious about his backstory.

What secrets were you keeping hidden away? What happened in your past to mold you into a scummy character? Were there dangerous triggers to be aware of? Was there anything in the world that you liked?

All these questions would provide a lot of useful information to Shen Yuan.

Shen Yuan was in a very good mood because of his souvenirs. He was smiling brightly to himself, quietly humming a tune to himself as he started to put the two satchels away. He carefully hid them away in a safe place. Even if one of the satchels contained aggravating items, he still kept it tucked away safely… behind all his books on the shelf.

For the blue satchel, he placed it on the table that he used as a desk. He felt as though he would be dipping into the ink bottles soon, so he chose not to stow it away just yet.

“Brother, you treat me so well, but all I do is cause you trouble with my sickly disposition. How could I repay your good will?” Yes, Shen Yuan was still appealing to Shen Jiu’s brotherly side. Even if they were twins, Shen Jiu had his pride as the ‘older twin.’

He took it upon himself to be the one to protect his younger brother and to guide him to on the ‘right path,’ disregarding how ironic it is for him to do so.

After Shen Jiu finished organizing the room to his liking, he’d sat down on a pillow on the floor. He simply patted the place in front of him, wordlessly telling Shen Yuan to sit down. Being the obedient brother that he was, Shen Yuan sat down to get a palm to the forehead.

“Ow.” “Focus on being healthy, instead of worthless things like that.”

Shen Yuan showed a foolish grin on his face, laughing quietly to himself.

“What’s so amusing to you?” Shen Jiu questioned, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Within moments, Shen Yuan wiped any emotion off his face and he sat up straight and tall. “I only thought about how lucky I was. Shen Qingqiu would not act on the behalf of another person and not expect a payment in return.”

That was a grand blanket statement if there ever was one, but it wasn’t necessarily wrong. Of course, there were exceptions, but given the character Shen Qingqiu was, he didn’t act if there were no benefits for him. If not that, he was likely acting to give Yue Qingyuan face.

“Right, how was your trip, brother? How did it go? Tell me what happened.” This trip wasn’t written in the original novel, so Shen Yuan didn’t know anything about it. He wanted to know what he missed! He couldn’t hide his excitement, and he didn’t bother with trying. Shen Jiu could read him like a book if he wasn’t diligent in controlling his facial expressions, so there was no point in trying to lie.

As such, Shen Jiu could tell that his brother was genuinely excited to hear about the trip, rather than being more curious about how Luo Binghe was treated.

The elder brother thought back to the contents that transpired during the trip. He tapped his chin with a fan matching one of Shen Yuan’s souvenirs in thought. “Yingying got captured by a demon.”

“Ying-er! I assume she’s safe now? You didn’t report any casualties, so you must have saved her in time.” For a moment, Shen Yuan almost panicked. Keyword, almost. As he said, Ning Yingying should be safe. If she had died, Shen Jiu would have reported so.

Even without that, she was one of the Protagonist’s future wives (one of many), so she had to be safe! There was no way she could die! Still, who knew that such a scene transpired in the original novel?

It was possible that she could have died! Maybe this served as a point in time where Ning Yingying’s affections for the Protagonist grew? That was what Shen Yuan was currently contemplating to himself.

“Yes, she is safe. While we were investigating the nature of the murdered women, she asked to go shopping with that brat. Later, he returned stating that he’d lost her. I almost flogged him to death right then and there.”

A shiver ran down Shen Yuan’s spine. He knew that wasn’t a joke. He had a vague idea why, but his brother had a peculiar interest in Ning Yingying. It was as though he considered her highly in particular for some reason.

He was kind to females in general, but he was very kind to her in particular. Given what he learned from the time he lived in the Red-light district, Shen Jiu had some kind of aversion to males. It wasn’t quite so much that he felt uncomfortable around them, but it was as if there was an underlying fear that he kept hidden deep down.

The man would always be on edge if he were around other males, especially any who had formidable strength. Shen Yuan had always theorized that this was some kind of a post-traumatic stress disorder that came from when he lived in the Shen household.

While he didn’t see much, as he arrived late to the scene, but his brother was in a horrid situation when Shen Yuan first found him. He could only guess what sorts of torment he was subjected to.

It took everything he had to not ask about what happened to Luo Binghe. Yes, Shen Jiu would report if anyone died, but Shen Jiu didn’t think of Luo Binghe as a person. In fact, he was lesser than a horse in his eyes. If he died… Shen Yuan highly doubted it would be reported.

Would you report if you had killed a spider by stepping on it? You wouldn’t.

Having faith in Luo Binghe’s golden plot armor, Shen Yuan patiently waited to hear more of the story.

“I left Ming Fan in charge of the rest of the disciples as I had that brat lead the way to where he’d seen Ying-er last. At that point in time, my nose caught the scent of something familiar. All the deceased women had the same smell to them, and this smell was coming from a rouge shop.” At this point, Shen Jiu realized he didn’t give his brother the background story of what was going on.

“Our client was struggling with women in his household going missing and then being murdered. A girl would disappear for a time, and then reappear later. The peculiar thing was that the body of the deceased would never reappear before someone else went missing. This is an important key point, be sure to remember this. All the victims were young women full of life. None were elderly, and neither were any of the victims male. It’s clear that whoever was murdering all these women, they had a strong preference to females. A curious thing I noted at the time was that all the women were largely lacking in injuries. There were no signs of a struggle to be found on their bodies. Poison, drowning, and strangulation were not methods of killing the women. No bodily harm came to the women either.”

This would rule out a hate crime. If someone had beef with the master of the house, he may target his many wives, and maids. Once caught, they would be murdered gruesomely to make a point. However, this was not the case.

Anyone who was driven to murder from sheer rage wouldn’t stop at just killing people. You would want your target to feel fear and pain. Shen Jiu in particular would want for his enemies to suffer the worst sort of pain before they died.

The lack of poison could reasonably rule out foul play from other members of the household. Jealousy was a dangerous drug that killed many throughout the history of mankind.

Drowning and strangulation were other possible means of foul play, but there were no signs of this on any of the bodies. It was as if all the women simply died.

Of course, as a cultivator, it was not so easy to hide certain traces. All the women were lacking in vital energy. They were sucked dry. There was a bloody smell on all the deceased women, that only a cultivator with a keen sense of smell could pick up on. The corpses all had a pungent smell that masked the scent of blood and decay.

How contradictory for the women to smell bloody, considering it didn’t appear that any of the women had any outwardly injuries.

Lastly, it was faint… but he noticed the presence of a demon in their midst. This was no work of a human, but a demon. It was possible that all these murders were related to a demon cultivator who needed the human woman for a purpose.

How dare a demon station itself so close to his mountain peak!

Shen Jiu had spent much time with Ming Fan (his Luo Binghe bullying protégée), so the young man learned a lot from him, including what sorts of things to look into. He didn’t have to receive an order from Shen Jiu. He simply went and performed different tasks on his own accord.

The elder twin started to tap his fan against the open-faced palm of his other hand. This was an action he often did when he was idling about.

Amazing how he could talk about such a gruesome case so nonchalantly!

“All the women had a stench of blood on their bodies. It was checked, and their bodies contained blood, so it isn’t the case that the faint stench of blood came from them being drained of their blood. The smell was caused by something else. Another thing to note was that all the murdered women were very similar to each other, not only in age, but in build and height. That is another important thing to note.”

He’d given Ming Fan some instructions when Luo Binghe burst into the room, crying that Ning Yingying had disappeared.

It was regrettable, but Shen Jiu had to put faith in Ming Fan’s abilities to get the job done. He had a lot of investigating to do. Testimonies and alibies to collect.

“That’s the background story of why we descended from the Mountains. I followed the brat and found a rouge shop. The shop-keep also sold an assortment of perfumes. I was made to buy some of his wares to get any relevant information from him. He said that before the murdered women went missing, someone from the mansion would come to buy some of his wares. They’d always purchase the same thing. As a man who’d been at his trade for many years, he’s very confident in his ability to distinguish between people. All the women who visited his shop, purchasing the same item had the same voice and eyes. I’m sure you’ve realized by now, brother… we were dealing with a demon cultivator that used humans to cultivate. I had given the task to Luo Binghe to relay this information to Ming Fan and have him organize the rest of the disciples to ready themselves for battle. Additionally, they were to investigate who had left the premises after our arrival.”

He didn’t know this, but Ming Fan had sent out a disciple himself to relay the information he found to Shen Qingqiu. Luo Binghe and this disciple crossed paths. They exchanged information and turned back around.

“The reason why all the murdered women were similar in height and build was so that he could don the skins of one of his victims and disguise a corpse of a skin that has already served its purpose. He would meticulously and carefully peel the skin off, so none of the corpses looked to have any outwardly injuries. If you looked closely enough, you’d see where he had started his skinning process. If the builds and heights are too different, the skin would not be able to wrap around the corpse of another woman so well. The rouge and perfume with a strong fragrance was used to help mask the natural scent that is unique to each woman, and to hide the stench of blood. Ming Fan was tasked to question the residents of the mansion. He asked about what all the women had been doing before they went missing. Who had they kept in contact with? What were their personalities like? Relationships with each other? Were there any particular traits about each woman that was important to note, like walking habits, the colors of their eyes, their teeth, and more.”

One may think this was overkill, but it wasn’t. This was important to solving the case. Armed with all the knowledge he gained, Ming Fan had once again looked at all the women who had passed on, and noticed that there were inconsistencies with their traits. A woman who was said to have dark brown eyes suddenly had light brown eyes upon death? One woman prided herself of her pearly white and straight teeth had a tooth that was crooked and chipped. Why did one have a crooked finger that’s characteristic of another woman whose finger was crooked because of an old injury she sustained as a child?

After careful inspection, Ming Fan then noticed that their initial verdict of no outward injuries was incorrect.

All of these women had the same cuts on their bodies.

These women were wearing the skins of another. This would explain why a missing woman wouldn’t reappear until another woman went missing. All the reappearances were offset by one missing woman.

One woman was still missing, meaning that the culprit was still looking for another victim to claim for his own needs.

With the information they gathered, it was evident that all the deceased women were not wearing their own skins. As long as the order of the disappearances and reappearances were kept in order, it would be a simple matter to return the skins to the rightful owners.

This way, the women could at least be buried as their own identity, rather than another.

There was no need for fancy technology like DNA testing to solve this case. Shen Jiu was able to use his wits to figure out that the bodies and the skins didn’t match.

This situation always served as a reminder for Shen Yuan that Shen Jiu was an intelligent man who was very quick-witted. It was such a shame that he couldn’t use this brain of his to understand Luo Binghe’s potential and hug his thighs because of it.

Alas, Shen Yuan could only hope to slowly reform Shen Jiu for the better.

Figuratively on the edge of his seat, Shen Yuan wanted to know more about this scene that never showed up in the novel. How did Shen Jiu solve the mystery? What happened to Ning Yingying? Did Luo Binghe offer his aid in saving her? Was he okay?

“With all this information, time was off the essence if we wished to save Ying-er in time. The demon must have decided it had overstayed its welcome knowing that we have descended from the mountain and decided to run away.” The demon has come this far, so it couldn’t have been an ignorant fool who couldn’t tell when danger was nipping at its heels.

Now that the infamous Shen Qingqiu has descended from the mountain, notorious for his strong hatred for demon-kind has arrived, it was no longer safe to continue to prey upon his household.

The demon would have to change tactics and choose a victim that wasn’t related to the household. At this point, it was well-believed that the women were being killed for some kind of personal vendetta against the old man.

If this were ordinary people investigating the case, they would have been successfully lured away, but Shen Jiu wasn’t so easy to fool.

Since the demon had to choose a new target to kill that wasn’t related to the old man, who else but Ning Yingying was the best option? She came down the mountain alongside a powerful Peak Lord. She was of a higher quality compared to the regular people of this town.

Shen Jiu sighed, shaking his head regretfully. He originally allowed her to go shopping alongside Luo Binghe because he felt that the mansion was too dangerous for her to stay in. With women being killed one after another, there was no saying she’d be safe.

They’d just arrived, so word of cultivators arriving to solve the murder series hadn’t spread yet. Assuming that this was an outside job, getting her out of the mansion would keep her safe. Unfortunately, the culprit had already seen Ning Yingying.

An embarrassing oversight on his part, but who would have expected for Luo Binghe to be so useless! He couldn’t even protect a single girl.

“The brat returned much sooner than I expected because he’d met with a messenger halfway. I tasked him to investigate any seemingly abandoned buildings as that would be less conspicuous, making it easier to cultivate humans. Once he found anything, he was to promptly report back. Though lacking, this served as his punishment for losing Ying-er.”

Both brothers knew that while that was partly true, there was another aspect that Shen Jiu was failing to mention. He simply did not want to waste his time and energy in running around chaotically, looking for an abandoned building.

Seeing that Luo Binghe was young and easy to bully, Shen Jiu gave him the task.

Shen Yuan understood this point, but he didn’t point it out, “I see, seeing as she was kidnapped not long after the two went shopping, that means the culprit knew of your arrival. Only those who were in the mansion knew you’ve come as you reported straight to the mansion upon arrival. Knowing that their cover would soon be blown, the only option available to them is to find another target to kill. Greedy, they set their sights on Ying-er.” This is why Shen Jiu made them investigate anyone who had left the mansion since their arrival.

He never specified they must be women because there was no telling that the demon would have shed their previous victim’s skin off in a fit of desperation. There was no way of telling just yet whether the demon had the ability to manipulate others either.

If the demon had such an ability, it would explain why all the women were killed without much of a struggle at all. Taking this into consideration, it’s possible that the demon could manipulate others into doing its bidding.

“How perceptive of you, brother. I understand. So, I take it Ming Fan narrowed down the suspects and you were able to find a culprit?”

As expected of his younger brother, he was able to catch on. It may have taken him longer to get to the same conclusion as he did, but he figured it out eventually. Saying that Shen Yuan was just as smart as Shen Jiu was too generous, but it was wrong to say that he was an idiot.

He was rather naïve and careless, however.

“Yes, Butterfly, or whatever her name was, she was our prime suspect. I’d waited for Ming Fan to arrive with his fellow disciples. We’d set off to find the brat when we felt a strong surge of demonic energy.” Shen Jiu’s well-formed eyebrows furrowed deep after saying so, which filled Shen Yuan’s heart with dread.

What could have possibly happened for him to make such a face?

Heart palpitations and sweaty palms was highly inelegant, but in the privacy of their room, Shen Yuan frankly didn’t care for appearances at the moment. “… Ying-er… I’m sure she is safe, because brother didn’t report any casualties.”

Shen Jiu’s brows flattened out, his head bobbing once in approval. His brother understood him quite well. He had to give his brother praise for not singling out Luo Binghe at this point in time. “Yes, we made haste to an abandoned building where we witnessed the brat had disobeyed my orders and confronted the demon himself.”

A look of realization dawned upon Shen Yuan’s facial expressions. Anyone who dared to disobey Shen Jiu should expect ‘bad luck’ to grace him until his dying breath. Coupled with the fact that the very one who disobeyed him was the very Luo Binghe he detested… it was obvious to know why Shen Jiu was upset earlier.

“If not for the fact he’d acted against my orders in order to save Ying-er’s life, I would have slaughtered him on the spot.”

The implicit, ‘I can’t harm him in front of Yingying lest I wish her to cry for years to come’ was understood by both parties. You could even say that it was a reward for saving Ning Yingying that spared Luo Binghe’s life.

Shoulders slumped with visible relief. If Shen Qingqiu arrived on the scene, that meant both Luo Binghe and Ning Yingying could rest easy knowing they were saved. Not even Shen Jiu would smite Luo Binghe in a situation like that.

He had an image to keep in front of Ning Yingying, and it would do him more damage to harm her little savior.

“Upon my order, the disciples attacked and made quick work of the demon. We wrapped up and reported back to the mansion. We stayed until Ying-er had recovered enough to travel back up the mountains.” While he didn’t say a word about it, Luo Binghe’s wounds were treated.

Don’t get him wrong, he’d rather leave the brat to suffer his injuries on his own, but Ning Yingying wouldn’t stop crying about it. Luo Binghe put himself at risk to save her.

Tossing a bottle of medicine his way, they returned to the Mansion to tell the old man the ‘good news.’

During the time that Ning Yingying was recovering from her horrific experience, Shen Jiu took the time to scope the various shops that he paid little attention to previously. He never forgot about his other duty, which was to find souvenirs to bring back to his younger brother.

Shen Yuan was content to know that Luo Binghe was okay. Even if his negligence led to Ning Yingying being kidnapped, he still aided in saving her from the demon. That should award him some points in Shen Jiu’s book.

Speaking of getting points… Shen Jiu hadn’t reported to Qiong Ding Peak yet to tell Yue Qingyuan the results of the mission. What did he think about the progress of the disciples? What happened to the demon that was terrorizing the city down below?

It didn’t matter if Shen Yuan hadn’t the slightest of clues as to what relationship the two had, but he wasn’t blind to the fact that Yue Qingyuan held a strong level of importance for Shen Jiu.

There were times that Shen Yuan considered the reason behind the Sect Leader being kind to him was only to garner Shen Jiu’s approval.

“Right, brother, when will you leave for Qiong Ding Peak to report on the events of your trip down the mountain?”

Silence soon made the atmosphere thick with awkwardness, but this was within Shen Yuan’s expectations. Shen Jiu would always react oddly whenever Yue Qingyuan was brought up. Whatever their relationship was, there was a thick tension between them that could be cut with a knife.

“How would you like to go in my stead?”

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Ding!

What will you do? Will you go in his place or will you not? Is this another test he’s giving you?

What reason does he have to ask you to go in his place? Whatever could it be? Think about it and choose whatever option you think is the best!

To note, not all questions are weighted the same way. Some have more drastic consequences if you don’t choose the right answer, but that’s not true for all the questions that will be asked.

Some questions may result in a turning point in the plot, or it will give you the chance to unlock special flashback events!

Observe how the story progresses and decide for yourself how important you think a given question is!

“So...? How important to you think this question is to the progression of this game? Pay special attention to the build up of tension, that may help you decide! Hurry up and vote!”

[CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE POLL!]

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#Scum Villain #SVSSSLifeSimProj #Neo Writes Drabbles

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blouisparadise · 6 years ago

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As promised, here the continuing rec list of fics where Louis is called pet names. Part one can be found here, and when it’s out, part three will also be linked here. Happy reading!

1) Tie You Up and Make Me Scream | Explicit | 2166 words

AU where Harry teases Louis and it becomes a game until they cant handle it anymore and escape to have tent sex while the rest of the boys are in the other tents.

2) Feel The Need | Explicit | 4898 words

Louis and Harry attend Liam's Halloween party. Risky Business ensues.

3) Just Stop Your Crying (It’s A Sign Of The Times) | Explicit | 5864 words

My own imagining of the inspiration for Sign of the Times. Featuring boys in love, even after all this time.

4) We’ll Stumble Through Heaven | Explicit | 6504 words

Louis likes to be a good boy for his alpha.

5) Raised on Rhythm and Blues | Explicit | 8034 words

“That look on your face makes me think you’re not cooking me spaghetti fast enough,” Louis announces as he walks back into the kitchen. Harry knows exactly where Zoe gets her habits from.

“Cooking for my two beautiful and insanely intelligent children, not for the weird bloke that sleeps in my bed and eats all my food,” Harry answers, tilting his head and wondering if he should add more sauce.

6) Forever, Uninterrupted | Explicit | 8578 words

Harry finds a mysterious picture in Louis' bag one night and drives himself crazy over it. It's definitely not what he thinks.

7) Spice Up Your Life | Explicit | 9501 words

After a conversation with his Uni friends, Harry worries that his relationship with Louis has lost it's spark.

8) Infinitely All For Me | Explicit | 10630 words

The Alpha Louis' been betrothed to since he was 14 has finally come of age and Louis' been delivered to his home.

9) Keep Holding Me This Way | Explicit | 13747 words

An English grad student, a frat jock, and an unimpressed rich boy walk into a bar. No one walks out.

10) Let’s Take the World By Storm | Explicit | 14656 words

Harry lifts his head off Louis' chest to look at Louis' face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

“I don’t know, but our sex life feels a bit boring, ‘sall,” Louis says, completely avoiding eye contact.

“Boring.” Harry says flatly. He doesn’t say anything more, and Louis looks up to see that Harry seems to be mulling it over.

“Yeah, boring," Louis says, and keeps talking before Harry can pipe up. “I mean, think about it. We’ve been dating since X Factor, and now things are starting to drag a bit. We don’t even have the time for handjobs anymore, much less actual sex.”

11) The Seed Inside You, Baby, Do You Feel It Growin’ | Explicit | 14793 words

Louis really wants Harry to get him pregnant.

12) Oops, Baby, I Love You (In That Order) | Explicit | 25344 words

The minute Louis Tomlinson decides he don’t need no man to start a family, Harry Styles literally falls into his arms.

13) Another Day Gettin’ Into Trouble | Explicit | 25619 words

Harry’s drunk when the idea occurs to him. He’s also a pop star, so sometimes his drunk ideas turn into actual things instead of just ideas. The clone-a-willy kit is one of them.

In Harry’s defense, when he first thinks about it his intention is just to buy the kit and give it to Louis to make his own dildo with, because that’s what he wants anyway, right? To have a penis filling him up?

Then he realizes that it would be weird if Louis made a copy of his own dick to fuck himself with. It’d be super weird. Louis fucking himself? That’s a weird idea. Harry’s pretty sure Louis wouldn’t like that.

Clearly the only solution here is to use his own dick for the mold.

14) Force of Nature | Mature | 25672 words

Louis is a shy, young musician who doesn't want to go to Harvard.

Harry is a confident, second year athlete who likes to have a good time.

When their paths cross while their families are vacationing at the same lake resort, what begins as a summer of fun becomes a defining journey that might just change everything.

15) Up To No Good | Explicit | 26525 words | Sequel 1 | Sequel 2

Harry doesn’t think of himself as a womanizer, not at all. Sure, he enjoys sex, enjoys how women feel underneath him, and by some people’s standards he has sex with quite a lot of people, but that’s no reason to tell him that he can’t have a female PA anymore.

It’s especially no excuse for giving him a male PA who’s possibly the most gorgeous boy in the world who won’t even let Harry look at him for too long.

Sometimes Harry hates his life.

16) Always Come Back To You | Explicit | 28862 words

“I’ll do it,” Harry offers brightly. No one even blinks. “I’ll do it?”

Louis sighs irritably. “Shut up,” he orders, tossing a pillow in the general direction of Harry’s face. This is a terrible time for jokes, especially Harry’s lame, old people ones.

Not that it was an old people joke. Just that most of the time Harry’s jokes consist of knock-knocks or terrible puns. The type of jokes old people like, Louis’ pretty sure. His nan always finds them hilarious when Harry tells her one.

Harry bats the pillow out of the air without even blinking. “Be reasonable, Lou,” he says in his most reasonable voice.

Louis is perfectly reasonable, thank you very much, and he’s also frustrated and upset and tired and he really wants to punch something. Maybe he should have held on to that pillow a little longer.

“You’re not gonna fucking do it,” he snaps. “That’s the last thing I need.”

17) Blind From This Sweet, Sweet Craving | Explicit | 31170 words

"So, I guess we'll go?" Louis asks later, when Harry has calmed down and eaten his weight in Chinese food. He plays with this chopsticks, spearing another piece of chicken and pops it in his mouth. "I mean, I wouldn't mind. We could make it an adventure."

Harry observes him, watches him seated across from him on their old living room carpet, with a container of food on his lap. He's fidgeting, avoiding meeting Harry's gaze–he probably knows that Harry's mad at him for ruining the one chance they had to get out of this situation. And he's not wrong, Harry is definitely very mad. Harry wants to strangle him and castrate him and smack him upside the head.

But he's also Harry's best friend, and despite everything, despite all the fuck-ups and the plot twists and everything just not playing out the way it should, he'd still rather be stuck in this situation with Louis than any of the other boys. He's got Harry's back, and in a weird, abstract way, he knows they'll be able to get out of this situation, together.

Harry sighs. "We're going," he says resignedly, his shoulders slumping.

Oh well. There are definitely worse ways to spend the weekend than pretending to be engaged to his best friend.

18) Cupid’s Chokehold | Explicit | 35326 words

Louis is a Cupid who tries to match up Niall and Harry. It doesn't work out as planned.

19) Mark My Word (We Gon’ Be Alright) | Explicit | 35524 words

"He’s always known that there would come a time when Harry would bond with some beautiful, quiet omega, and they would have lots of curly-haired pups and live happily ever after.

Knowing it and living it are two very different things, though. Watching the object of your affection desperately search for a mate and completely disregard you as an option is all sorts of painful, but it is what it is, and Louis is just going to have to learn to live with that."

20) Who Would’ve Thought | Explicit | 44275 words | Companion Fic

The idea doesn’t come to Louis until they’ve been at the bungalow for a couple of days. Harry has no idea that he’s going to pop a knot. He’s been living his life with the expectation that he’s going to be a beta, and Louis isn’t going to tell him otherwise.

Louis is an omega, though, and most omegas want to be filled up with a knot, fucked the way their bodies are made to be fucked, and Louis is no different. In ten years he wants to have an alpha waiting for him at home who will hold him down and fuck him exactly the way Louis wants to be fucked without worrying that they’re going to expect him to stay at home, open a joint bank account, raise a litter of babies, cook and clean and, most importantly, be submissive. For that to happen Louis needs an entirely different kind of alpha.

And so the plan is born.

21) Tangled Up In You | Explicit | 45152 words

Harry blinks once. And blinks again. And says, his voice dangerous: “Niall, did you get me a mail-order bride?”

Because what the actual fuck. It kind of looks like Niall’s just purchased a person. For Harry.

Niall blinks back at him for a few moments, before throwing his head back and howling with laughter. Harry throws a pillow at him. Hard. “No, what the fuck, Harry.”

“A prostitute then?” Harry also doesn't want a prostitute.

“Of course not!”

“A stripper?”

“No!”

Damn, he’s running out of ideas. He settles for launching another pillow at Niall’s head. Niall bats it away easily, still laughing. “Stop!”

“What did you get me, then?!” Niall must hear the tinge of hysteria in his voice, because he’s pulling himself together, trying to stop himself from laughing.

There’s still a big grin on his face, though, when he says, “I got you a professional cuddler.”

A professional…what. “What?”

22) Nobody Does It Like You | Not Rated | 58820 words

Louis isn't looking for a home, but he finds one in Harry.

23) Tug-Of-War | Explicit | 63000 words

Louis' husband dies suddenly and he is left with nothing. Well, not really nothing. He has Harry. And a St. Bernard puppy named Link, whom his late husband left behind for him. Louis takes care of Link and Harry takes care of Louis. Everything is okay until suddenly, it isn't.

24) Why Can’t It Be Like That | Explicit | 63567 words

A fashion AU with a royal twist, where Louis doesn't need a stylist, Harry's thrilled to have a real life Barbie doll, and they're both very wrong about each other.

25) Perfect Storm | Explicit | 80230 words

What do you do when your best friend asks you and your (now) ex to be the best men at his destination wedding? You can either tell him the truth, tell him you’re not together anymore, and deal with the consequences, or you can pretend you’re still together and roll with it, just pray you don’t spiral. Fake it ‘til you make it. You know, for the sake of the wedding.

Harry and Louis choose the latter.

Check out our other fic rec lists by category here and by title here.

#bottom louis #top harry #fic recs #blp fic recs #blp

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talabib · 7 years ago

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Leadership Journey: Morgan Jerkins

Most of us want to contribute to building a better society for all, but we’re often not sure where to start. In an increasingly multifaceted world, it can be difficult to navigate the varied perspectives on what needs to be done in order to support marginalized communities.

One such community is that of black women in the United States – but in order to help them, you first need to understand the context and historical background that gave rise to their marginalization in the first place.

This is where Morgan Jerkins steps in. Drawing upon her own experiences growing up and living in contemporary America as a black female, Jerkins identifies why black women face hardship, while highlighting the areas that must be addressed to improve their position in society.

Whether you’re a white female, a man or even a black woman yourself, everyone has a role to play in creating a society that is fair and just for all – including for black women.

When Jerkins was a young girl, she wanted to cast aside her blackness and assimilate into white culture.

This is a common desire among young black girls wanting to make it in a white-dominated world. They understand that their blackness is a threat and that in order to be nonthreatening and succeed in the world, it should be toned down.

Therefore, during her teenage years, Jerkins didn’t leave her hair in its natural state and wore jewelry and clothes that were status symbols of whiteness – such as items from Gap and Limited Too – and sought to avoid black classmates who shunned white culture.

During this time, Jerkins learned when it was advantageous to use her racial heritage and when to adapt to the rules of whiteness. She soon realized that, in most cases, white culture always won because many people don’t see black culture as a viable option. Why is this so?

Remarkably, the answer is that some white people see the labels “human” and “black woman” as mutually exclusive.

Once, a white man asked Jerkins why she didn’t just define herself as a human instead of as a black woman – a label that many white people stereotype negatively. Her reply was that she is both; however, the man said that she didn’t assume the role of a black woman. Why?

Because Jerkins was well-spoken, went to Princeton and worked in publishing – all qualities that didn’t fit with the man’s perception of a black woman, the man didn’t see her as a “typical” black woman. Moreover, Jerkins sometimes adjusts her mannerisms to fall more in line with white culture; she minimizes gestures, avoids sucking her teeth and doesn’t talk as loudly.

Blackness is denied when black women don’t conform to the stereotype of “sassy black woman.” This stereotype reinforces the perception that black people aren’t as educated or worthy as white people, and if a black woman doesn’t fit this description, then she isn’t black but rather white – and thus human. And so, by this logic, it is impossible to be both black and human.

Unfortunately, acknowledging a black person as though she or he were white is still considered a compliment.

“Color-blindness” is a myth that doesn’t help people of color.

Many white people think that not being able to distinguish between skin colors is a progressive stance. It’s not.

Being blind to black skin is the same as being blind to black history and everything that being black represents. The daily experiences of people of color aren’t the same as those of white people; a lot of liberal white people claim that they don’t see skin colors because they think identifying someone as black is somehow equivalent to being racist.

However, racism only exists when a negative judgment is made due to the color of a person’s skin.

The problem with ignoring a person’s blackness is that the societal challenges they face, including real systemic racism, are also ignored as a result. Furthermore, the rich cultural history of black people – including all the good things that contribute to their uniqueness – is also disregarded.

Those who claim to be color-blind hold a “universal” standard that is actually a white perspective. The “universal” standard is, in fact, the perspective of white North Americans and Europeans, which white people inaccurately present as inclusive of everyone.

It’s easy for a white person to claim they don’t see color when referring to a black person who has become successful in a white environment. That’s because the black person possibly took on white characteristics in order to assimilate into the dominant culture.

So, when black people aren’t regarded as black because of the claim that color doesn’t exist, it actually means that they have successfully camouflaged themselves as white.

The bottom line is that white people don’t have the right to determine whether someone identifies as black or not.

White people fetishize black women’s bodies.

Historically, black women’s bodies were put on display so that people could openly gawk at them. For example, in the early 1800s in South Africa, Hottentot Venus, a black woman with an extraordinarily big bottom, was turned into a freak show by Dutch colonists.

Though this kind of distasteful display doesn’t happen as obviously now, the mentalities underpinning such acts are still present.

Using black women for entertainment purposes is made possible by dehumanizing them, a process that has been happening for centuries. Black women were once slaves, which meant that their bodies were the property of their white owners. Back in those times, they were raped by their owners, and in more modern times, they’ve become overly sexualized by the media.

The notion of black women as sexual creatures rather than people has been embedded in society for hundreds of years. Black girls are taught that they shouldn’t embrace their sexuality because it will be used against them – but this teaching restricts their self-discovery.

Even if it’s intended as a compliment, fetishizing a black woman robs her of her agency. For instance, asking a black woman if you can feel her hair treats her as though she were an animal or object that exists only for your enjoyment.

Whether the white person wants to touch the hair because it’s beautiful is beside the point; it’s stepping beyond the boundary of personal space, an act white people hardly have to defend against. Similar acts of touching or petting are also used with animals as a way to express or exert power.

There’s a lot of culture in black hair, and trivializing it as something nice to touch disregards its cultural significance. Natural black hair or black hairstyles, such as twists and braids, are considered bold by white standards. Having your hair natural has become a political sign of nonconformity to mainstream, white culture. Thus, a white person attempting to turn that political statement into something trivial is an offensive and degrading act.

Mainstream feminism usually belittles, negates or doesn’t take into account the experiences of black women.

The 2014 film Girlhood, is about a young, black French girl and was directed by a white woman, who said that the movie doesn’t feature the experiences of a young black girl but instead the experiences of a young girl in general. This, however, is an inaccurate claim, and it serves as an example of color-blindness negating real experiences.

Having black women’s stories told by white women can often be oppressing and belittling.

With Girlhood, generalizing a young black girl’s experience to that of any young girl is inaccurate because it dismisses the very different experiences of black girls compared to white girls. Above all, it ignores the fact that black girls are often sexualized or stigmatized in a way white girls aren’t.

For instance, in coming-of-age TV dramas, the white girls usually experiment with drugs in a manner that is portrayed as challenging the constraints of society. Black girls experimenting with drugs, on the other hand, may well become addicts.

Generally, there are fewer representations of a black girl’s potential role in society, whether seen in the minority of black Barbie dolls or the lack of shows and movies in which the main character is a black female university student.

What women can do to change this lack of representation is to try to understand it, but at the same time come to terms with the fact that they will never be able to fully empathize. This doesn’t mean that white women can’t talk about black women; however, they must do so reflexively and realize that there’s much of the black female experience that they will never truly grasp.

Ultimately, feminism cannot be successful if it doesn’t accept the discrepancies between women of different ethnicities.

Black womanhood is complex and has been appropriated by white women.

Black womanhood is not homogenous. However, it is usually perceived that way by people threatened by its complexity and multitude of power.

Black women are limited by stereotypes forced upon them either by white people or their own community.

One stereotype is that they’re expected to be able to handle a lot of suffering and not succumb to the pain or pressure, just like their ancestors did. Signs of vulnerability are prohibited because they are already at the bottom of the social hierarchy.

Black women perpetuate this stereotype further as a means of protecting themselves and their daughters in a world where they’re already vulnerable. This kind of teaching can prevent black girls from growing up into proud black women who are able to freely express their emotions. Furthermore, it can deny their ability to reject a burden they don’t deserve to carry.

While black womanhood has both negative and positive connotations attached to it, the positive ones only emerge once they have been appropriated by white culture.

The stereotype of black women as sexualized beings is limiting and diminishes these women’s existence as intelligent humans who have control over their own bodies.

Meanwhile, dance moves that originate from black culture, such as twerking, are appropriated by white women. The irony is that white women performing black moves are celebrated, while black women celebrating their culture tend to be frowned upon.

A case in point is the aforementioned twerk, which Miley Cyrus took and profited from. On the other hand, Nicki Minaj is deemed a bad example for doing the exact same dance move.

Another example is black hairstyles. While Kylie Jenner received praise for her cornrows, many black girls and women can’t have their hair this way at school or work because it’s seen as distracting – or, in other words, threatening.

Successful black women need to help other black women.

As we’ve established, the modern world isn’t so accommodating to black women and their efforts toward success.

But just because it’s difficult, doesn’t mean women shouldn’t try to help; rather than being a threat to a woman’s success, elevating fellow black women can be strengthening.

Many black people believe in the crabs-in-a-barrel theory, which likens members of the black community to crabs trying to escape their confines. Once they’re out, they’re advised not to look back and try to pull another crab up in case they get dragged back down.

It’s a mentality of self-preservation that black people – especially black women – learn as a result of the lack of opportunities available for them. The mentality goes like this: if one black woman helps another black woman out of the barrel, it could result in her spot being taken, leaving her to fall back down.

But by working with and helping one another, the constricting barrel can be eradicated altogether.The success of one black woman means success for all black women.

It’s not surprising to find that there’s a strong connection between members of the African-American community, even between those who have never met. Often, this bond originates from a shared sadness, but we must try and extend it to encapsulate joy as well.

When a black son is unlawfully killed by the police, the entire community weeps as if he was biologically their own. Underpinning this shared sadness is the possibility that next time it really could be a member of one’s own family.

Similarly, a black girl making it in a world run by the white patriarchy should be a success for all black women and girls. Parents should be inspired by this one girl’s success, as it lets them know that a bright future is also possible for their own daughters. Furthermore, a single success story can validate the hopes, dreams and struggles of the community at large.

Whether black or white, feminists need to continue fighting for the progress of black women.

Black women in America are dehumanized, fetishized and even ignored by feminists. To overcome these struggles, they need to empower one another, and white feminists must be more inclusive and sensitive to the polarizing effects of cultural appropriation.

#Leadership Journeys

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