#and this was like the 6th visit in the past year! usually you get 1 or 0 visits in a year! why do they keep coming back!!!!

[angiestown]

[video-game-kids-tournament]

MEET YOUR CONTESTANTS!

Yakuza spoilers under the cut! Along with a TW for child endangerment!

Name: Haruka Sawamura

Age: “Like 6 in the first game, eventually becomes a teenager”

• "8-16”

• "9 at debut”

Gender + Pronouns: Female, she/her

Video Game: Yakuza

Victims: Razputin Aquato (Psychonauts)

Backstory: “Little girl eventually adopted by her mom’s foster brother. Repeatedly kidnapped. Tries to make her own way in the world.”

• "Orphaned, found in the middle of a bloodbath by a former yakuza and raised by him at his orphanage. Actually helps him run it and raise the other kids. Went on to compete in a pop idol competition show.”

• "Adopted daughter of the main character Kazuma Kiryu! She's originally searching for her missing mother, who is Kiryu's childhood friend. She's adopted by him at the end of the first game, and continues to grow up as the series goes on--By the time of the 6th game, she's 19 or 20 and has a child of her own.”

• “Hunted by several yakuza groups and is protected by her foster uncle and later opens an orphanage with him”

• “She is born in the year 1995 and is raised in an orphanage called Sunflower. As part of the events of Yakuza 1 she meets the protagonist, Kiryu Kazuma, who quickly becomes a father figure to her as he helps her search for her missing mother, who is the sister of Kiryu’s first love, Yumi. At the end of the game it is revealed that the missing mother IS Yumi herself, and she is reunited with Kiryu and Haruka, but unfortunately Yumi dies shortly after. Kiryu takes on the responsibility of raising Haruka, having formed a bond with her, and is a devoted (if flawed) father to her from there on out. They move together to Okinawa where Kiryu runs an orphanage until he decides to go into hiding for the safety of the children (he is an ex-Yakuza). By the events of Yakuza 5 Haruka is living on her own, pursuing a dream of being a JPop idol and hiding her past Yakuza connections. During this time she learns to dance and sing from a team of coaches led by a ruthless instructor, an ex-idol named Mirei Park. During this time you can play as Haruka and engage in Dance Battles for the purpose of defeating opponents. At the end of this game, while onstage at her debut concert in Tokyo, she publicly declares her love and admiration for her father, known ex-Yakuza chairman Kiryu Kazuma.”

• "Haruka grew up in an orphanage after her mother, Yuki, disappeared, and her father was a deadbeat. Her only remaining family relation was her aunt, Mizuki, who visited from time to time but couldn't care for her full time. After a series of events causes ten billion yen to disappear from the coffers of the Tojo clan, the biggest Yakuza clan in Tokyo, with her aunt as one of the prime suspects, Haruka was embroiled in the middle of a criminal civil war. We first meet Haruka, scared little 9-year-old Haruka, huddled in the corner of a bar, holding a gun. Our protagonist, Kazuma Kiryu (usually referred to by his surname, Kiryu), was on the trail of the ten million yen when he discovered her there. Every other person in the bar lies dead in a gruesome tableau. Over the course of the game, we learn that Mizuki, her aunt, was actually Yuki, her mother, all along - she'd sent Haruka to an orphanage run by the crime family for her protection. A lot of drama unfolds, and at the end of it all, she has nobody left on her side - nobody but Kiryu, who adopts her and raises her as his own daughter.”

• “Orphaned at a young age, Haruka runs away from Sunflower Orphanage to look for her Aunt Yumi to find her mother. She ends up in the center of a 10-billion-yen power struggle among the largest and most powerful yakuza organization in the Kanto region of Japan.”

• "goes to find her mother in kamurocho at age 9, kiryu finds her and end up helping her find her mom who ends up dying, kiryu then basically becomes haruka's father figure, some yakuza stuff happens and eventually kiryu gets an orphanage and haruka helps out with some of the other kids, then more yakuza stuff happens and haruka becomes an idol for a bit but cant talk about her father figure bc hes the infamous Dragon of Dojima which nobody is having a fun time about”

• “She's trying to find her mum”

Why should they win the tournament?: “Amazing talented little girl deserves better. Sweet but hard as nails. Parentified extreme. Sawamura Haruka queen of our heart.”

• "She's the most resilient and wonderful child. Unrelenting positivity and hope in the face of horrible circumstances.”

• "Inherits both the best and worst parts of her father's personality in a way I find really compelling”

• “She deserves everything”

• "Haruka grew up unfortunately surrounded by violence- in her first appearance at age 10 she is cowering under a bar holding a pistol. Later in this game she survives being shot and basically brushes it off. In Yakuza 5 she battles on her own, and in Yakuza 6 she’s hit by a car and survives that too. She has mental toughness in spades and faces off with the gangster who burns down her family’s orphanage in Yakuza 3. This girl is made of steel. Despite all the struggle, she grows up into a remarkably caring and empathetic person who would give anything, including her life, for the people she loves. I think she would be incredibly difficult to take down in a fight.”

• “Over the rest of the series, up through Yakuza 5, we watch as Haruka grows and matures. We even get to play as her for a significant portion of Y5 as she chases her dreams of becoming an idol singer. In between the incidents covered by the games, her adoptive father starts an orphanage of his own; as the oldest of several kids, we see Haruka develop into a responsible, good-hearted older sister to everyone. She spends a significant amount of time in the first three games getting dragged into whatever the latest problems her father has to deal with, getting kidnapped or exposed to violence, but after being mostly absent from Yakuza 4, she finally gets to take center stage and assert her agency in Yakuza 5 (upon which she immediately becomes the center of a murderous plot to take down the Tojo clan yet again). (I'm leaving Yakuza 6 out of this as she had aged into adulthood by that point, but uh, that game also doesn't treat her great. Sega consistently does Haruka dirty and it makes me sad)”

• “She has suffered more than Jesus and is the bravest kid to ever exist. She is so kind and strong and is my daughter and I love her dearly.”

• “she has gone through so much already”

• “She become a popstar later, which is pretty pog”

[jezabatlovesbats]

Today, I brainstormed ideas for how I would continue and conclude Mao Mao. Chances are, none of what I'm about to write is even close to how Parker and the writers intended it to go. But at this point, if I wanna know how this story ends, I'm probably just gonna have to write my own conclusion. (Maybe the show will continue, maybe it won't. I'm just saying.)

Anyway, I'd have the show end after four seasons, and this is how I imagine they'd play out...

Season 2:

-More of the usual stuff. So there's more monster fighting, more Sky Pirate fighting, and more shenanigans around the valley.

-We also find out more about Mao Mao's past, and more about Badgerclops and Adorabat's pasts as well. Therefore, we learn more about characters like the Thicket Thieves and Sonara and Eugene.

-Maybe we get a little bit of history from Sky Pirates as well.

-There are also new characters who come in with both flashbacks and present appearances. For example, in this season, we introduce the sisters and Mao Mao's mom. Maybe each sister has their own episode with the sheriffs, or they're all introduced together in one ep. (I'd have Alina, the name I gave Contacts Sister, be introduced last, personally.)

-In either mid-late Season 2 or early Season 3, Adorabat turns 6, and at her birthday party, she receives her first weapon from Mao and BC as their present for her; at this point, she has enough experience as a hero to get one. I had the idea that her weapon is a shield.

-I also thought of, like, an episode where there's a 1-year anniversary celebration of when Mao Mao and Badgerclops first came to Pure Heart Valley or something.

-At some point in Season 2 or 3, some of the other pirates such as Steel Wing and Thunder Fist come back, too. In fact, the trend of recurring characters is gonna keep going on, and this is mainly because I wanted to see more of characters like Bao Bao and Tanya Keys.

Season 3:

-In this season, we finally find out what the heck is going on with the Ruby Pure Heart.

-Maybe it has something to do with a past ruler before King Snugglemagne, and how he went to extreme lengths to make everything better in the kingdom (because a prominent theme within the show is that you're enough the way you are). But it backfires, so maybe his successor or someone decided to hide the valley away from the world for its own good, and that's why it was cloaked.

-We also get an explanation as to what makes Pure Heart Valley legendary and a further look into why Orangusnake wants the Ruby Pure Heart.

-Also, Season 3 is when we meet Badgerclops' family. He's seen Mao Mao and Adorabat patch things up with their families, and they're still doing that, so he's thinking, "Hm. If they can do it, maybe I can too." So yeah- BC is doing that.

-All the while, Mao Mao is still working things out with his parents and sisters. I think that the sisters are revealed to also have issues, but Mao Mao's helping them overcome their problems with what he's learned.

-Also, Shin Mao has been thinking about everything he's done to his kids since he visited his son, and he's starting to want to make it up to them, even if he knows they're most likely not going to forgive him. It's still worth a shot, though, and he at least wants to try.

-Adorabat is reconnecting with her dad and other possible relatives she has. I like the idea of her telling her relatives about her adventures and heroic stuff, and maybe she does this during the 6th birthday party episode I brought up earlier.

-To expand on the worldbuilding, perhaps there are other places in the world mentioned. Like, for example, maybe there are places of legend or whatever that have the spade, club and diamond in them (because Pure Heart Valley's got the heart).

-Whatever the case is, I think of this being a season where things start to look up for Mao Mao and the gang, but then, it all goes downhill.

-I had this idea that since the Ruby Pure Heart was broken, and then when Orangusnake blasted it that one time, a spirit awoke within the gem. It's probably the spirit of the corrupt king I mentioned earlier who tried so hard to make everything better than it was, but I dunno.

-The spirit reveals himself and then begins his evil plan. Maybe, I don't freaking know... he's gonna grant people's greatest wishes and then use those wishes to harm them, like he did to Adorabat. And it's not just Pure Heart Valley he's gonna corrupt- he's also coming for the rest of the world.

-When Orangusnake and the pirates learn about this, they're like, "On second thought, maybe we're better off doing other pirate stuff..." But the Pure Heart spirit is like, "Well, you wanted to steal the Ruby I came from to become legendary so people would worship you, so now that's what you're gonna do."

-Oh my god, this is AWFUL... So, the stuff above with the spirit and the pirates happens in the Season 3 finale. And because I have no original ideas, I think of it ending Amphibia/Owl House style.

-That is to say, in an intense turn of events, the sheriffs are forced to flee Pure Heart Valley. And because the spirit is starting to take over and corrupt everything, a bunch of evil people are now out to get them, including the Sky Pirates. The spirit possessed them, by the way.

Season 4:

-Mao Mao and Badgerclops are back to traveling around the world and fighting evil. In other words, they're back to square one, pretty much, but it's not the same as it was before because Adorabat's with them.

-The trio travels through a bunch of lands fighting beasts and stopping crimes and stuff, as well as trying to figure out how to stop the Ruby Pure Heart spirit.

-One of the lands they visit happens to be Badgerclops's hometown.

-Eventually, they wind up in the mountains Mao Mao grew up in. When they get there, the entire Mao family has gathered to discuss the current situation, and they're noticeably in distress.

-To spice things up a little more, maybe the sisters' weapons stop working. They lose their powers, and so they freak out.

-If he hasn't done this already, Shin reveals his true size to the rest of the family and apologizes to everyone, admitting that what he did was horrible. The responses are mixed to negative, but he's okay with it because he knew he'd get what's coming for him eventually.

-I thought of a moment where the sheriffs go to a hot spring at some point.

-So, our heroes know that they'll have to "look inside their hearts" (in the words of Zeus from Hercules) in order to save the world and stuff. The character's arcs are being nicely tied up with a bow.

-And I guess Mao Mao, at this point, maybe still wants to be a legend and all that, but not as badly now 'cause he is finally realizing that he's perfectly fine as he is. And BC and Adorabat are realizing that they're okay as they are, too. They're understanding now that maybe they don't need people to love them. 'Cause if you remember, in Lonely Kid, little Mao Mao said that if he becomes a hero, then people will like him. But now, adult Mao Mao knows he doesn't need that.

-So, when the time comes to return to Pure Heart Valley, the gang decides that they're going to take on the Pure Heart spirit as they are. They don't need any upgrades, but they do get some cool-looking armor just for the fun of it.

-When they get there, it's like an apocalyptic wasteland being watched over by a tyrannical spirit, and King Snugglemagne got kicked out of his castle, so he's really in a jam. Maybe, to continue on the point I mentioned earlier, the Sweetypies wished upon the Ruby Pure Heart spirit for something they really wanted, but it went horribly wrong.

-The Sweetypies are, of course, fearing for their lives (except for Pinky), but in the end, they all decide to band together and battle alongside the sheriffs. The spirit's up there saying that Mao Mao will never be a hero or whatever, but they're all coming together to prove him wrong because, despite his flaws, Mao Mao and his crew have really helped them out.

-Characters like Tanya Keys, Bao Bao and others come to the kingdom to join the fight as well. This includes the new characters introduced earlier, like the people from the other lands.

-It proves to be a challenging battle because, thanks to the spirit's corruption, the monsters are stronger, and the Sky Pirates are stronger because they're possessed.

-I also think that, at some point, they battle the Sky Pirates and free them from possession. Perhaps Camille and Honey gave them a magic tool that does that.

-Also, maybe the Sky Pirates reluctantly agree to briefly ally with the sheriffs to fix everything because they don't really want to steal the Ruby Pure Heart anymore. The sheriffs are like, "Alright, fine, but we're going to go back to kicking your butts when this is all over."

-The series finale is probably made up of multiple parts. It's epic, it's suspenseful, and it's exciting. It's the sheriffs battling the evil spirit that came from the Ruby Pure Heart, with the friends they've made along the way (cheesy, I know) helping them.

-The sisters and Shin Mao come in to help at some point. The sisters each have their own reasons. As for Shin, he still wants to do something right for once in his life.

-At one point in the fight, the spirit tries to get in Mao Mao's head, telling him that he can make him a legend. Maybe it shows him, like, a vision akin to the fantasies he had at the beginning of the show. He's like, "Come on. Isn't this what you've always wanted?"

-Mao Mao is kind of tempted. But then, he gives this badass speech about how he's already got everything he wants, and how he's being a hero not because people will like him, but because he wants to be there for his loved ones. He cares for them so, so much. "No. I already have everything I've always wanted. I'm enough as I am. I don't want to be a 'legendary hero.' I want to be a hero of pure heart!" (See what I did there?) So then, he goes in his Golden Truth form and finishes the job.

-When the dust finally settles, Mao Mao falls from the Ruby Pure Heart, and Badgerclops catches him as the sun rises in the background. He and Adorabat notice that Mao's not in one piece because, in the heat of battle, he lost his right hand.

-Yeah, you heard me right. Mao Mao loses a hand! There's none of that fakeout death biz. There are actual heroic sacrifices, and people die. Thankfully, it's not one of the main three. I'm thinking that Shin Mao sacrifices himself.

-Here's all the stuff that happens next. So, maybe, once the spirit is defeated, they have a chance to fix the Ruby Pure Heart. But if they do, they won't need to be there, so they decide not to.

-Whatever occurs, this valley is where Mao Mao, Badgerclops and Adorabat want to be, and it's where they know they belong. So, they choose to permanently live in Pure Heart Valley together.

-Mao Mao probably gets, like, a robotic hand, and Badgerclops is thrilled that they're Robot Limb Buddies.

-The sisters invite Mao Mao and his friends on an awesome family adventure together, and they accept. I want Mao Mao to have this, guys. I mean, he's long overdue. He deserves it. But like I said, he wants to stay in Pure Heart Valley, so once they're done, he's heading back there. His sisters promise they'll visit him.

-People are, of course, talking about Shin Mao's "noble" sacrifice. But, as the years pass, more attention is drawn to how Mao Mao and his friends deserve praise as well. And, you know, it ends with them having fun around the kingdom and being the heroes they are.

-Maybe the very last scene is an older Adorabat remembering her childhood. She's at her happiest because all her dreams have come true. She calls up Mao Mao and BC to thank them for showing her how to be a hero, in a way that matches the theme song.

And that's it! I know what you're thinking- this writing is absolutely TERRIBLE. Like I said, folks, this is only how I personally would continue the show. Maybe we'll get more of it someday, but we'll just have to wait and see.

[aubzikins]

Attempting to write a fanfic so here goes nothing...

I have always wanted to write but usually end up getting frustrated and delete my stuff. This time, I'm following through. I apologize in advance if its not the best! This is also going to be a little bit of a slow burn... Please be patient <3

Also this work is COMPLETELY Fictional. It is completely made up. I am working on my writing skills lol

Chapter 1: The Beginning

I’ve always been a clumsy person. Its been a running joke for years with anyone who has ever met me. "Put her in bubble wrap!, The hospital must give you VIP Parking, Do you have a punch card at the ER? 5 visits and your 6th visit is free?" It was kind of funny at first, but then it gets frustrating to hear time and time again. I'll never let it show though. I laugh it off, add it a "yup" or "mmhmm" and then go about my day. I’ve always dealt with this and always thought it was just shitty luck. I must’ve done something terrible in a past life and now this is my penance. I never thought it would be the reason for one of the most amazing times of my life.

A random April Saturday...

I don’t know what made me think going exploring around the hot springs was such a great idea. I’ve never been an outdoorsy person because it came at a risk. There is no way I would come out of it unscathed. For some reason I decided to go on a whim.

Everything was fine until I was saying hello to a random stranger and tripped, falling into someone. I apologized profusely but when I looked up, I nearly died. In front of me was the LEGENDARY leader of Stray Kids. CHRISTOPHER BANG CHAN. I thought my heart was going to explode. "I'm so sorry sir! So sorry!" Chan looked at me and realized I recognized him. His hat had fallen into a puddle but he still had his mask on. I took off my hat and hurriedly put it on his head and whispered to him "Sorry about your hat, here take mine. You’re recognizable just by your eyes but with your hair showing, you’re way more recognizable..." I handed him his hat, apologized again and went to walk away... that’s when he grabbed my hand. "Hit and Run?" He asked with a smile showing in his eyes.

"Oh... um... I didn’t want to intrude anymore than I already have." I said avoiding eye contact.

"It’s okay really, things happen. Can you write down your number so I can get your hat back to you?"

"Um, no worries. You can keep it or toss it. I promise my hair is clean!"

He looked at me and started giggling a little, "I am sure it is, but I really would like to return it to its rightful owner."

I handed him my business card with my cell on the back. "It really is not a big deal, but if it will make you feel better, here..."

"I didn’t think id ever meet a stay so reluctant to have more contact with one of us." He was eyeing me amusingly.

"Shh!... Before you announce that you are… well you, and get bum rushed. You are on a different level that most people, so it's a bit of a shock to even be able to have a conversation with you. Also id prefer to talk to you like a normal person and not as a massive celebrity" I look up at him and smile slightly.

"It’s very much appreciated. Thank you for the hat to use, I will send you a text when I can get it back to you. I have to head out now, thanks again. Would you be okay with a hug?" He opened his arms slightly.

I stepped in and gave him a hug and smiled. "You really are a sweetheart. Happy to know that that is the same." I smiled, bowed a little and walked away before he could say anything else. When I got to my car, I sat there in disbelief. "Holy hell..." I started my car and headed home. That whole interaction was a LOT to process and of course, I didn’t have anyone else to talk to about it...

A couple hours later, my phone goes off;

Unknown: Hey thanks again for earlier. By the way I didn’t get your name... also I like this hat, it's comfy. Mind if I take you up on your offer to keep it?

Me: Oh! My name is Nia. Yes of course you can keep the hat. I know it's not a beanie like you normally wear but you still made it look good. *I figured it was Chan so I saved his number as Chris so it wouldn’t ever be easily figured out*

Chris: Nia, it was nice bumping into you... 🤣 I appreciate the hat, it did help with my escape out of there. Looks like you were the only one who recognized me. Thanks for not blowing my cover!

Me: No problem, you deserve a bit of peace.

Chris: I want to thank you properly, have you eaten yet?

Me: You don’t have to do that. I am happy you didn’t get recognized lol

Chris: I want to, do you want to come over to the BnB we are staying at? I’ll have a driver come get you.

Me: Are you sure? You don’t even know me…

Chris: We have security, so we are safe. You’ll have to get a pat down before you come in but yeah…

Me: I have a feeling that you aren’t gonna change your mind about this dinner are ya?

Chris: Nope! What’s your addy?

Me: *sends address*

Chris: Driver will be there in about 20 minutes. See you soon

The driver showed up exactly 20 minutes later, so I sent a text to Chan telling him I was on my way. 20 minutes later, we were pulling up to a beautiful Air BnB. The driver didn’t even give me a chance to open the door before he was there opening it. When I walked up to the door, I was greeted by Chan and security. He tried telling them he wasn’t concerned but I insisted on security doing the necessary checks.

Chan laughed a little, “I told the guys about you, and they would like to meet you as well.” I looked at Chan with a little bit of worry, “I am going to meet all of them? That’s a tad overwhelming.”

“They wont bite I promise and if you want to leave at any point, our driver will take you back immediately.” He said smiling.

“Okay, ill meet them. But it was just a hat ya know? Basic common courtesy.” Security finished patting me down and going through my purse. The one guard gestured that I was free to go and then looked at Chan “She has nothing dangerous sir, would you like us to hold on to her phone?” Chan shook his head no, “I don’t think that we need to do that. If she was the type to forego privacy, she would have exposed me earlier today. Nia, there are some slippers right there if you would like to switch to those.” I took off my shoes and put on the little slippers that were left out for me and then followed him into the living area.

Chan walked over to the stairs and yelled up “Guys, Nia is here. Please do not rush her!” Then chaos erupted. Felix peeked out from the kitchen “Channie, we are almost done making dinner, can you set the table??” Felix turns towards me and smiles, “Hello Nia, I’ll come properly introduce myself in a few moments. Lee Know as well.” “Hello Felix, hello Lee Know!” I waved a little to Felix.

Chan walked into the kitchen to get the plates and silverware to set the table. I stood there feeling a bit out of place when Hyunjin walked up to me and held out his hand. “Hello, I’m Hyunjin. Nice to meet you Nia. Thank you for keeping Channie safe earlier today!” I shook his hand and smiled, “Hello Hyunjin, nice to meet you as well. I honestly didn’t do anything but lend him my hat and basically run off from embarrassment.” Hyunjin giggled and gave me a huge smile.

Next came the younger two of the eight, IN and Seungmin. Both smiled, shook my hand and said hello. After shaking my hand, they went to sit down. Changbin and Han came down from upstairs and also shook hands with me and said hello. Han then pulled out a chair next to the head of the table and motioned for me to come sit down. Chan had just finished setting the table.

“Thank you Han.” I sat and looked around. Everyone was chatting and then Lee Know and Felix started bringing food out, Chicken and Seafood Alfredo. “I didn’t know if you ate seafood or not, so I made both. And if you are not good with dairy, Lee Know made Beef Bulgogi” Felix said as he put the serving bowls down. “I don’t eat seafood, so thank you. I appreciate it!”

Everyone sat down and Chan looks at me while everyone starts grabbing their servings of food. “What would you like? Lets get you some food before its all gone okay?”

“Id rather y’all get your fill and I’ll grab some then.” I replied.

Chan smirked “that’s not going to work for me.” He picked up my plate and put some chicken alfredo and some bulgogi on the plate. “Here ya go, you don’t have to eat it if you don’t like it, just wanted to make sure you were able to get some food.”

“Thank you.” I take a bite of the chicken and it’s delicious. I also try the Bulgogi and it’s so good. “Felix and Lee Know, these are both very delicious. Thank you so much.”

Lee know smiles and Felix starts doing a happy clap “Awesome, I was worried since Channie told me last minute that he invited you over. I’m glad you like them!”

“Sorry about that!” I look down.

“Hey now, no worries, nothing to be sorry about. He was just wanting to figure out a way to thank you. He kind of went out without security and if people would have recognized him, I’m sure it would have been chaos.” Felix looks disappointingly at Chan.

“To be fair, it was my fault to begin with, if I hadn’t tripped and knocked into him. His hat wouldn’t have gotten knocked off and he wouldn’t have been at risk of being recognized… which again I’m truly sorry. I’m a bit clumsy and should have been more careful” I looked down at the table.

“Nia its truly okay. Everything is all good.” Chan smiled at me. “Plus, I like your hat. Its my favorite color and the hoops and chains on it look amazing.”

I giggled, “Black is my favorite color as well and the best part about that hat, it was only 3 dollars online for it.”

Han looked shocked “Can you show me the website? I want to order one!” As he hands me his phone. I typed in the website and brought up the listing. When I gave it back to Han, he smiled and started typing. “I ordered one in every color!” The guys started laughing.

“So Nia, what do you do for work?” Seungmin asked.

“I am an accountant, so I work on financials for businesses across the United States, currently working remotely.” I say as all 8 men are watching me.

“Are you able to travel while working?” IN asked.

“As long as I have internet access or cell phone data, yes.”

“Noted.” IN said smiling

After everyone finished eating, I went to help take dishes to the kitchen and these men acted like I kicked Seungmin. Han grabbed the dishes so quickly that I stood there in a bit of shock. “You are a guest Nia, we can handle this.” Han stated when he saw my shocked face.

I watched the guys clean everything up and do the dishes. My offers to help were denied every time I offered. When everything was cleaned up, I had fully intended to ask if Chan could have the driver take me home, but before I could ask, Felix walked up to me with a plate of Brownies. “Brownies?” I nodded and grabbed a small brownie while telling him thank you.

“Now that dinner is over, would you want to stay and watch a movie with us?” Felix's eyes sparkled as he asked.

“Um… sure?” I said a bit hesitantly. “I don’t have any work tomorrow so I guess a movie wont hurt. Are y’all sure you want me to stick around?” Worried I may be a bit overstaying my welcome.

Lee Know walked up next to Felix, “If we didn’t want you to stick around, we would have already had the driver here to escort you home.”

“Do y’all normally invite people to dinner and a movie?” I was half joking and half serious. Hard to believe these 8 amazing men would impulsively invite some random person into their personal space.

Chan looked up at me from the couch, “Not normally, but you helped me without asking for anything in return. Also… I may have looked you up online since you gave me your business card. So, we had a general idea of who you are based off of your social media.”

“You really should lock your social media a bit more, just for safety reasons.” Changbin interjected. “We found out a LOT about you in a very short time.”

“Oh, well I normally don’t meet many people, and definitely don’t usually meet international celebrities.” I said with a laugh.

“Well can you do us a favor and make sure you protect yourself a bit more? Don’t want to have to worry about people stalking you or anything.” Changbin smiled. I pulled out my phone, then pulled up my Instagram and Twitter and started messing with the settings. “Now try to look at my stuff then Mr. Safety” I smirked. Changbin searched for my username, and everything came up private.

“Good Girl” he said while showing the rest of the guys. My face pinked a bit at the words ‘good girl’ and I tried to hide my face. Changbin saw though because when I looked at him, he had a smirk on his face and winked.

I sat down on the couch next to Chan while Han put a movie on, “Free Guy”. I knew they loved Ryan Reynolds so it wasn’t a shocking pick. It was lighthearted and fun. Once the movie was over, I asked Chan to call the driver.

“That was fun, thank you very much for dinner and the movie. It’s been awhile since I got to hang out and enjoy company.” I didn’t realize how much I was smiling. It had genuinely been a blessing to have spent some time out of my house and with other people.

“It was definitely fun, we should do it again sometime!” Felix said excitedly.

Each member gave me a hug and Chan walked me to the door. “We enjoyed having you over, and text me when you get back to your place so I know you got home safe”

“I will, y’all have a great visit and a smooth tour. Hopefully I’ll make it one of your concerts soon.” Chan closed the car door and the driver started to pull away. This was one of the best nights of my life and the start of something I could have never imagined…

[gayartistcrying]

Shades of Red; Chapter 1

September, 3rd, 1993

I have just gotten to Phoenix, Arizona, USA. This is the last stop ‘till I go to New York City where my twin brother lives. He is a NYPD detective, “Detective Athon.” 

I will be going on a walk to get more paint, so I can paint a clown.

Now I am back with my red paint. It’s a bit darker than usual but it’ll still work. Worst case, I’ll just dilute it with some water. This is the second clown that I’ve painted so far. I’m trying to get better at it. I’ve done so many spiders and insects, but not many clowns. Only once I painted a dragon with the vibrant paint that I got. 

I’m going to bed now, and I’m almost done with the clown. I need to get more inspiration.

September, 5th, 1993

Today when I went on my usual walk to get paint, I got more inspiration. So, I’m going to paint myself.

Half way done with my painting. I just thought I should write a bit while I have my snack break.

Done with my painting now, I’m having dinner. Maybe tomorrow I will paint a spider. 

September, 6th, 1993

  Hi, I just woke up and I’m having breakfast. Today I’m going to go for my walk in a moment, I just need to finish a few little details on the painting of myself.

 I’m back, and I feel like painting a pride flag. I’m going to paint a lesbian pride flag because I’m lesbian. (and I’m only using red)

I painted the pride flag. I have decided that I’m only going to stay in Arizona for a few more days, and then I will go visit my brother, Ethan, in New York. 

September, 10th, 1993

Today I’m going to New York to visit Ethan. I decided to take the train to the airport and maybe get some inspiration there.

I got to the train a bit early to see if there was anything I could paint there. I found inspiration, a cliff behind the station. 

Once I got to the airport, I got onto my flight to New York. I plan to show Ethan one of my paintings but I’m not sure which one yet. Maybe my newest one. 

I just re-thought my idea to paint a cliff. Instead, I’m going to draw my sister because she was afraid of falling off of a cliff.

Just arrived in New York. On my way to see Ethan now.

September, 13th, 1993

Ethan has been so busy with work these past three days that I haven’t got to see him yet. I’m excited because I haven’t seen him in years. I’ve just been so busy with my paintings. We plan to get dinner at this fancy restaurant across from Ethan’s apartment. He was busy when I arrived so I’m seeing him today. I’m about to leave to go to his apartment but I need to finish the painting of my sister first. I decided to use any red paint, and not to look at the source.

September, 14th, 1993

My conversation with Ethan last night was interesting, he said as a comment on the painting of our sister, “Sometimes you can be really smart, Alex.”  I chuckled at that. I do think it was smart to paint our older sister instead of a regular cliff.

After dinner Ethan came over to my apartment. He looked at my workspace in shock. I did see why. I had paint everywhere and a bunch of different canvases all over the place. Ethan was always a clean freak, while I just threw things around. He told me the usual stuff like “You really need to clean things up here,” and “want me to help you clean? I’m really good at it.” I declined his offer, like always. My workspace was messy, but I knew where everything was, and I didn’t want him messing with things.

Ethan walked down the hallway away from an apartment, pulling out his phone and flipping it open. Ethan dialed a number and someone answered,

“Athon? What do you need?”

“Can you research someone for me Millár?”

“Sure, who is it and why?”

“I was just in their apartment and it was all red and smelled of copper,”

“So….? Your suspecting that the red substance is blood,”

Tears started to form at the corners of Ethan’s eyes, as he blinked it pushed the droplets of water down the his cheeks.

“Am I right?”

“Yes, especially because of the missing persons cases,”

“You think the cases are murders?”

“Yes,”

“Do you know the name of this person?”

All the person on the phone could hear was a muffled sniffle and they realized Ethan was crying.

“Are you comfortable saying the name?”

“Th-the na-name i-is…”

“Athon, take your time,”

“I c-can’t be-believe…”

“It’s ok Ethan, Is this person someone personal to you?”

Ethan held back his sniffles of sadness, not able to speak, standing still in the middle of the hallway, mouth agape, and his jaw was shaking. Tears continued to fall down his tanned cheeks.

“It’s ok, all you need to do is say the name of this person,”

“The name is….     

                                                       ….Alexandra Emily Athon,”

September, 15, 1993

I was supposed to meet up with Ethan again today, but he wasn’t available. Work stuff. His exact words were, “Sorry Alex. I can’t make it today. There have been so many missing persons cases. We think they are all murders. Not sure yet. Bye.” I don’t think he is supposed to tell me this stuff, but I didn’t mind. I was curious if they were going to figure it out. 

September, 18th, 1993

It has been a while since I have painted, so today I will go on a walk for inspiration. I am going to go to the Subway. I am going to go in the middle of the night because there aren’t many people there at that time. There may be a few, but not many. 

I found some inspiration. I am going to paint something new! A train. I am excited to paint it because I think it will be an interesting experience.   

September, 19th, 1993

Today I am going to go to my friend Grace's art store. I need some more pallet knives. I usually use a paintbrush, but sometimes I use a pallet knife for a different texture.

I also saw some red paint, so I got that on my way back. It’s a nice dark red, almost black. It’s one of the darkest reds I’ve ever seen. With it I’ll try to paint darkness.

For dinner I went to a diner and on the way back I found even more paint. It was a bit old and was a bit crusty so I mixed it with a bit of water.

Alice Maria Millár sat at her desk, her amber eyes glowing from her screen as she stared into the loading glow of her computer. Her messy brown hair tied up in a ponytail. Alice was slouched, her wrists resting on the edge of her desk. 

“Detective,”

“Yes Captain?” Millár said, turning her tiered eyes to her captain.

“There's a new case, a murder, this time a body was found this time,” Captain Bell informed Millár.

“I’m looking into someone that Athon thinks is a murderer,”

“Okay, You can continue,”

When Alice looked back at her computer the WebPage had loaded and the page read:

‘Alexandra Emily Athon is a painter with some creative color choices. Alex Athon only paints in red, and the paint she uses seems to be a copper based paint that darkens the older it is. Alex has only publicized panting of common fears, and one painting of herself.’ 

‘That’s odd’ Millár thought,

There was also a picture of a young girl in her early 20s. The girl had shoulder length red-ish brown hair, deep brown eyes, rectangular glasses that sat at the tip of her nose, and a tanned skin. Her freckled look made Alice smile, Alex looked almost exactly like Ethan, except with darker features.

“Millár, whatcha smilen’ at?” Smith said, trying to tap Alice out of her train of thought.

‘Holy moly-’ Millár thought before Drew Smith said something again.

“Millár?”

“Yes, Hi, Hello,” Millár said, finally being snapped out of her train of thought, blushing a little of embarrassment.

“Millár? Are you ok?”

“I’m fine, absolutely fine, yep totally, completely fine,” Millár said, smiling awkwardly.

“Whatcha lookin’ at there Miller?” Smith said, looking at Millár’s computer screen.

“I’m looking at a suspected murderer named Alex Athon, also my name is Millár not Miller,” Millár said, with a little annoyance in her voice

“Sorry Alice, I just can’t pronounce the last part of your name. Also isn’t that Athon’s twin?” Smith said pointing at the picture on the screen.

“Yeah, it is, he asked me to research her,” Millár said, looking back at her computer,

“Do you know why?” Smith asked, putting a hand on Millár’s spinny chair.

“Athon said something about her office being covered in red “paint” and having it smell strongly of copper,” Millár said in a loving voice,

“Is someone in looove~” Smith said, looking at Millár.

“Yes, but not with Ethan,” Millár said, slightly confused, then she proceeded to look down at her lap and then started to blush.

                               *              *              *

Millár was walking down a hallway, she was zoned out as she continuously stepped across the randomly colored rug, staring blankly at the door at the end of the hall. When Millár got to the end of the hall, she put one hand on her gun and with the other hand she knocked on the door.

“Coming!” A sweet voice responded through the door,

A couple of minutes later, Alex answered the door,

“Hello Alex, I’m one of Ethan’s friends, I was wondering if I could come in so we can talk,” Millár said smiling.

“What’s your name?” Alex said stepping out of her apartment and closing the door behind her,

“I’m Detective Alice Millár,” Millár said in her lovely French accent,

“Your pretty,” Alex said looking at Millár, almost examining her,

“Thank you?” Millár responded awkwardly, a little blush forming on her cheeks. “But Can I come In?” Millár said, starting to get annoyed, he grip on her gun got firmer.

“Tightening your grip on your gun won’t do anything. By the way, what do you want to talk about?” Alex said, glaring down at Millár.

“Let’s talk inside your apartment, shall we?” Millár said, her voice was gritted between her teeth as she glared at the taller woman. 

Alex took her right index finger and pushed her classes up utop her nose. Doing this, the glass created a beautiful glint in her dark chocolate eyes, 

“Do you have a warrant?” Alex said smirking, and staring straight into Millár’s sweet deep mint eyes.

“I can help you,” 

¡*BEEP*BEEP*BEE-

‘Ahhhhhh!’ Ethan bolted awake from the sound of an angry alarm clock verbally beating him as the clock struck six o’clock. As Ethan finished waking up all the way  he grabbed his phone and dialed Millár’s number,

“Hello, you have reached the voicemail of Alice Millár. I'm busy at the moment but feel free to leave a message at the beep, Bye!” *BEEP*

‘Wha-? She always answers.’ Ethan thought to himself, with a confused expression on his face.

* * *

“Alice! Wake up, It’s morning!” The young woman shouted, “Millár! Wake up!” 

With that Millár half woke up her eyes still squinted and eyebrows still furrowed her hair was in more of a mess than usual.

“You look like a mess Alice,”

“I just woke up!” 

“It’s ten o’clock!”

“I’m late!” Millár sprung from her bed and started throwing clothes on like a frantic monkey.

“Alice!”

“What now Alex, I’m late for work!” Millár shouted back at her friend, her usually sweet French accent was in an angry tone.

“Work? Sweetheart, what are you talking about?” Alex said in a teasing tone,

“Alexandra Emily Athon! Don’t ���sweetheart’ me! Wait-” Alice stoping her sentence when she realized her mistake. “Sorry Alex, I was still in sleep mode,” 

“It’s ok,” Alex said, in a lovingly psycho way.

“Sometimes you sound crazy, Alex,” 

“Thanks, beautiful,” said in a possessive way,

“Stop giving me nicknames though, we’re just friends,”

                        *                         *                        *

‘MINE, MINE, MINE, MY BEAUTIFUL WOMAN-’ 

“Alex, are you okay? You’ve been staring at the wall for ten minutes now,” Alice said in her worried French accent.

“I’m fine, absolutely fine, completely fine, yup, totally fine,” Alex said, turning her head quickly at Alice and staring possessively at her.

‘She’s not fine’

[marmosa]

hello 💕 i've just gone through your entire fred weasley and i absolutely love your writing and especially your dialogues, they feel v authentic and real xx i read that you have requests open so i'll leave you with an idea from my v detailed v self indulgent daydream cinematic universe starring fred weasley— post war (say a couple of years after) fred is the owner and manager of the hogsmead branch of the joke shop and sneaks into hogwarts to meet his fiancé, newly hired transfiguration (1/2)

thank you so much for the kind words and reading all my writing, i can’t begin to describe how much that means to me! i love the idea of fred sneaking into the castle to see his significant other, it’s so cute, i had to run a lap around my room just thinking about it. also in this house fred weasley never d worded, if you think he did, no he didn’t. also also, it got kinda sad at the end and i’m sorry, i didn’t mean for that to happen i- but anyways, hope you like it and thank you again for the compliment <3

word count: 1.6k

***

“Hey!”

Tink!

“Hey!”

Tink!

[y/n] looked up from the stack of papers arrayed on her desk and glanced around her study for the source of the noise, absolutely bewildered at who would possibly be bothering her at this hour. She prayed it wasn’t a student messing around with her, for she may have been a relatively new teacher but she wasn’t afraid to stand her ground against misbehaving kids.

The sound came again and this time she saw who it was her face lighting up before falling down as she scurried over to the window, unlatching the glass and pushing it open to find her fiancé sitting all high and mighty on his broom like this was a normal everyday occurrence.

“Fred Weasley! What in God’s name are you doing outside of my window? Why are you throwing stones at glass? Do you have any idea how high up I am?” She hissed, reaching for him, despite knowing full well he could only enter the room on his own accord.

He flew closer to the window and balanced himself on the ledge before grabbing her hand and hopping down onto the floor a giddy smile plastered on his lips, “I’m aware how high up this is, lest you forget I was one of the best Gryffindor beaters this school has ever seen.”

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. You do realize you could just come in through the front doors right? McGonagall isn’t going to smite you down for visiting your fiancée,” she deadpanned, latching the window back shut.

“Whatever? If I recall correctly, me being on the quidditch team all those years back had you absolutely smitten, or am I wrong,” he retorted smugly, completely brushing past her statement about walking through the front doors.

[y/n]’s face fell into one of embarrassment as she pushed past him back to her desk, not wanting to fuel his ego any more than she usually did, “Even so, you still can’t be sneaking onto campus. Especially during school hours, you know how it is, I would rather you be turned away at the door than get escorted out by the collar of your robes.”

“But it’s always school hours! Honestly [y/l/n], your new position has really given you a stick up the arse,” He grumbled, leaning back against one of the desks across from hers.

“[y/l/n]?” She repeated, offense written all over her face. Despite not taking it to heart she decided to mess with him a bit for being so stubborn.

Fred’s face fell and he was quick to rush over and apologize, “You know that’s not what I meant! Technically you’re not a Weasley anyway until the paperwork is done legally, so I’m not wrong.”

“I’m telling Molly you said that and she’s going to ground you just like she did 6th year when you got caught nicking something from Filche’s office,” [y/n] pouted, sinking into her chair and crossing her arms.

“You’re terrible you know that,” Fred deadpanned grabbing her cheeks in his hands, “don’t you say a word to my mother or she’ll make me bake you a cake or something.”

“I would quite like that actually, maybe I will tell her,” she replied, biting back a smile.

“Oh, come on! You know George was the one who got all the baking skills! That’s why he’s in charge of all the candy at our shops!” Fred whined, squeezing her face together slightly to try and return the teasing.

“Even if it turned out burnt and gross, I’d still like it because you made it,” she stated plainly, leaning up to try and snatch a kiss.

“Rubbish,” He replied, indulging her and accepting the kiss, smiling down at her when she beamed up at him.

“Whatever you say Freddie, y’know-,”

“Mrs. Weasley? Are you here? I had a question for you.”

All the color drained out of Fred’s face as he recognized McGonagall’s voice from across the room, [y/n]’s features mirroring the same horror as she pushed him off her and shoved him under her desk so he was as out of sight as she could make him.

“Yes- yes! I’m here Minerva, how can I help you?” [y/n] stuttered out, sliding her chair in as far as she could without injuring her soon to be husband.

“Well, I wanted to ask how the preparations were coming along for the annual Christmas Ball? I know you’ve been kept busy with recent exams, but the plans are top priority if we want to keep the spectacular turn out of our ball the same,” McGonagall explained walking up to her desk.

“Oh! The plans are coming along just fine, I haven’t quite finished drafting them up yet, but as soon as I do I’ll have them brought to you right away for approval,”  [y/n] assured her, trying her best not to let on how nervous she now was, trying not to get Fred caught.

“Spectacular! And I expect to see you down in the Hall later? Professors have to arrive early today for some announcement preparation,” McGonagall continued, thankfully still unaware of the hidden person in the room.

“Of course, thank you for letting me know ahead of time,” [y/n] nodded, pretending to assort some papers on her desk.

“Lovely,” McGonagall smiled, heading out of the room, but stopping before she exited the room, “Oh, and tell Mr. Weasley that I say hello, he’s been rather quiet about his surprise appearances to our school recently.”

“Will do!” [y/n] called after her, releasing a breath she didn’t even know she was holding in as soon as the door shut.

“Okay, how come you get to call her Minerva?” Fred complained, crawling out from under the desk, no visible panic at McGonagall’s leaving statement.

“All professors do. Besides, you’re a trouble-maker in her eyes, a darling, but a trouble-maker, she wouldn’t dream of giving you that kind of power,” [y/n] giggled, reaching up to rearrange his  ruffled hair, as he’d decided to grow it out again once he’d graduated.

“Trouble-maker,” Fred muttered, rolling his eyes, “Well she’ll be seeing a lot more of me whether she likes it or not, so I’ll win that privilege, eventually.”

“Whatever you say darling,” she hummed, scooting back in to continue grading her papers.

“You’re ignoring me already?” he groaned, letting his chin rest on the top of her head, arms slinging over her shoulders.

“I’ve got work to do Fred, I’m a professor now. I’m surprised you even had time to visit me, you’re a business owner now after all, it always amazes me how you have the time for these spontaneous visits- not that I don’t appreciate them,” she assured him, setting down her pen and squeezing his hands.

“I own the business, so I get to make my hours, unlike you,” he replied, moving his head so he was peeking over her shoulder.

“Is that supposed to be bad?” she quipped, leaning her head against his shoulder so she could kind of see him.

“Bad for me! I miss you! You’re here far too much,” Fred mumbled, intertwining their fingers.

“Well winter vacation is coming up soon, so you’ll be seeing much more of me. Hopefully you don’t get too sick of me,” she giggled, pursing her lips when he passed her a suggestive grin, “Ah, don’t look at me like that, that is not what I meant.”

“But it is and you know it darling,” Fred hummed, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

“Don’t get too cocky or I’ll come up with extra work to keep me here,” she warned, a teasing lilt to her threat.

“You wouldn’t. Besides even if you did, I’d kidnap you against your will. Also you wouldn’t hurt Molly like that, she always expects you for family festivities,” he replied simply, knowing she would never pass up an opportunity to spend time with him.  

“You’ve got me there. You know me so well,” she sighed, reaching back so she could toy with the hair at the nap of his neck.

“I’d hope I know you well, you’re about to be my wife,” he chuckled, shutting his eyes at the sensation of her soft fingers against his skin.

“Touché, love, touché,” she hummed in agreement, her free hand twisting the engagement ring situated on his finger.

“Anyways, I should probably leave you to it, with your boring paperwork and grading and all,” he sighed, standing tall, her hands sliding away from him and into her lap.

“It’s not boring,” she frowned, crossing her arms across her chest defensively, trying not to cave but ultimately failing when he gave her a raised brow, “okay, maybe it’s a little boring.”  

“I knew it. No worries darling, I know you love it here, I’m only teasing. See you soon though?” He mused, brushing a stray hair out of her face.

“See you soon,” she replied, grabbing his face and pulling him down for a sweet kiss, relishing in one another’s company for their limited time together.

“Farewell my love,” he announced, grabbing his broom and pushing himself onto the window sill, “see you around.”

“Fred wait!”

He laxed the position of his broom and turned around, an adoring smile stretching onto his lips as she pulled him for one last sweet kiss, placing a small object in his hand.

“What’s this?” he asked as she peppered a few last kisses around his face, trying not to let her emotions get the best of her.

“It’s the locket you gave me, I finally put a picture in it, thought it was time to return it to you,” she smiled, stroking his cheek lovingly.

“You’re astounding,” he muttered, tucking the charm in his pocket, “I love you.”

“I love you too, bye Freddie,” she waved as he kissed her softly once more and took off into the setting sun, “see you soon.”

[fandoms-writer]

Again and Again

Weasley!Family x Weasley!Sister (OotP)

In order for my storyline to work, it takes place when Umbridge is here but everyone is pushed back a year. You’re in 7th, the twins are in 6th, the golden trio is in 4th, and Ginny’s in 3rd.

Word Count: 4500+

Warning: slight cursing

Im actually really proud of this.

Being one of the eight children in the Weasley household, you learn how important family is. You learn that you have to protect your siblings no matter if they’re older or younger than you. You used to spend nights awake staring at your ceiling or reading, and wouldn’t go to sleep until you knew that everyone was home. You don’t know why you did that, but you felt like you needed to. You weren’t the oldest sibling, far from it. You were the fourth born, after Percy but before the twins. Your family was split into two groups, the guardians and the guarded. Bill led the guardians followed by Charlie, Percy, and ended with yourself. The guarded began with Fred and George followed by Ron, and ended with Ginny. 

You were always closest with Bill which you found odd since you have 3 other siblings only 1 year apart rather than 7. You guessed that it’s because you feel like you have similar responsibilities as him seeing as he’s in charge of protecting you and the two other oldest Weasleys, and you feel like you have to protect your 4 younger siblings. You’ve always confided in him, whether that be in your school or personal life.

Now with all your siblings you protect at Hogwarts, you feel like the burden to protect everyone, hasn’t gone away to say, but you feel like the responsibility lightened. Even though the school, mostly Ron and his best friends which you consider your honorary siblings, has been through hell these past four years, it still had a sense of security which made focusing on your school career much easier. You’ve given up on trying to keep the twins out of trouble, but that doesn’t mean you don’t get them out of situations at times. Ron ends up getting in trouble without trying, and Ginny is pretty good at staying out of it besides last year's situation with the diary. 

This year felt like it would be a good year, but were you ever so wrong. While you were eating with your siblings at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall for the beginning of the year feast, they introduced a new teacher. It took everything in you to not laugh at the other teachers' reactions to her, especially the way Snape leaned away from her when she stood. How could someone who looks like a 6 year old girl's bedroom teach DADA? You would give anything to have Professor Lupin back, but you know that would never happen.

“I’m sure we will all be very good friends,” she said in her high pitched, already annoying voice.

“That’s likely,” Fred and George said at the same time which you snickered at.

Since that dinner, you had a very bad feeling that this year was going to be like the last four, and it didn’t help that everyone's topic of discussion through the halls and common room seemed to be on the fact that your honorary sibling is being slandered across newspapers being called a liar. After chatting a while with your friends and siblings, you decided to call it a night and head to bed. After what seemed like hours of tossing and turning with worry of what the year will bring, you finally fell asleep.

Usually you would be excited for your first day of classes, but that morning you woke up in a very bad mood, not wanting to go to your first class which of course had to be DADA. After begrudgingly and slowly getting out of the warmth and comfort of your bed, you got ready for the day. You met your best friend, y/f/n, in the common room and headed to breakfast together. Along the way, they talked about their s/o and summer, and you talked about your trip to Romania to visit your brother Charlie that took a lot of convincing on your part, mostly towards your mother who was the most hesitant.

10 minutes after you sat down, you heard the loud voices of your brothers walking towards the hall. Not even a minute later you were bumped in to spilling your pumpkin juice onto your barely touched breakfast. You looked toward the culprit who decided to test your patience even further, only to find the oldest twin sitting right next to you. You didn’t even look pissed, no, you had a blank face. It was no secret that your siblings, younger and older, and sometimes even your dad, were scared of you; they should be. Everyone knew that you wouldn’t hesitate to hex anyone that came at your family, but when it came to you going after one of your 7 siblings, they all knew to not interfere. A trick that you learned from your mother is that you keep your anger on the inside, and a neutral and calm facade on the outside. When you were calm, they didn’t know what to expect, all they know is when you reach your breaking point, they’d hate to be that person that sets you off. After staring Fred down until you could visibly see the fear in his eyes, you looked away and went back to talking. 

Breakfast ended, and students gathered in the halls to head to their first class, and even though you’re dreading going into that room, your best friend will be there to make it a little more bearable. By the time you got seated, the human gumball was nowhere to be seen. Maybe she quit you thought to yourself, and right as you said that, the she walked in. You and your classmates got out your wands, and were about to put them on the desk when she decided to speak.

“You won’t be needing those in my class. You’ll just need these books,” she said while handing out very thick, very heavy books.

You raised your hand and asked,”But this is a defense class, how are we supposed to learn how to defend ourselves without actually practicing the spells?”

“And what or who would you need to defend yourself from?”

“No one specifically, but it would be beneficial to know if a situation presents itself. If you want a specific example of a person, I would have to say Lord Voldemort.”

Her smile faltered at your answer, which made your lips turn up slightly,”There is no need to worry about him seeing as though he was defeated many years ago as you all know. Anything you’ll need to know, you will learn from the books.” Just as you were about to counter her argument, she said,”Open your books to page 1 and copy the script from that to page 10, twice for maximum efficiency.”

Now you weren’t one to argue with teachers, you respected them, but Strawberry Shortcake here was another story.

Class finally ended, and you hurriedly packed your bags and left, not wanting to be near the cheap perfume that was sprayed one to many times. The whole way towards your next class, you complained to your friend about how unbelievable that class was. The rest of the day went smoothly, and before you went to bed, you wished Ron, Harry, and Hermione good luck seeing as they have to deal with her tomorrow.

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

The next couple of months flew by, and it was finally Quidditch season. It was the day of the first game, and what better way to start off the season than a Gryffindor vs. Slytherin match. The weather was perfect, and you were sitting between Ron and y/f/n with Hermione next to Ron. The game was very intense, points going back and forth between the two teams. Your eyes switched between your two brothers, and your sister because as much as you loved the game, you were always worried of them getting hurt. Your eyes found Harry and Draco neck and neck, both going for the snitch, Harry, then Draco, then Harry, then- 

“HARRY CAUGHT THE SNITCH” yelled Lee Jordan,”Gryffindor wins the first match of the season!” Judging from the cheering coming from the red and gold side, you were in for one hell of a party. The parties were one of your favorite parts, maybe even your favorite part of the Quidditch season.

The party was all set up by the time you got to the common room, you were here before the guests of honor arrived, so you went up to your room to change. When you came back down, the party was in full swing. You noticed students from all houses, except Slytherins, were there along with the winning team. You made your way over to the table and grabbed a cup full of fire whisky, and downed it. You then grabbed another and went to mingle with the students. You found your brothers first and congratulated them, you then found your favorite sister and put an arm around her telling her that she did amazing. You noticed that she had a cup too, and gave her a pointed look.

“You get one, got it?” you asked in a serious tone to which she nodded. You knew that she was a student, but she was also your sister and a third year that didn’t need to go to the infirmary for alcohol poisoning. 

You spent the rest of the party dancing, drinking, and talking. The good thing about these parties is that this was a great way to get to know people from your house and the others. You’re not an extrovert, not even close, but once you get some drinks in your system, you gain a lot of courage. 

At around midnight, most students went back to their respected dorm rooms while some ended up passing out in charis or on the ground of the Gryffindor common room. All that were left, awake at least, were you, Ginny, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Fred, George, Angelina, Alecia, and y/f/n. You were all sitting around a table in the middle of the common room drinking and laughing, and just having an overall good time. You were currently leaned against Ginny while drinking from your 6th or 7th cup, you lost track after your 3rd. You knew that you were going to regret this in the morning, but it was your last first season game party, and you wanted to celebrate. After finishing your cup at around 1 AM, you decided to call it. “Well it’s been fun, but I should head to bed. Goodnight all,” while you struggled to get up from the ground, you would’ve fallen over if it wasn’t for your sister there to catch you.

“I’m going to take her to bed to make sure she doesn’t pass out on the stairs. See you in the morning.” Ginny said while guiding you to your room.

“Awe, you’re so sweet Gin. I knew you cared.”

“You’re drunk y/n, and you’re definitely going to regret it when you wake up. Go to bed.”

Before she closed the door, you yelled very loudly,”I love you Gin!”

“Love you too. Now go to sleep.” Once that for closed you fell into a deep slumber, only to be woken by the sun hours later. 

You looked over at the clock and it read 8:10 AM. Your head felt like someone hit it with a frying pan repeatedly. You felt like shit, so you knew that you definitely looked like shit, and you honestly didn’t care. You put on a pair of leggings, one of the sweaters your mom made, combed your fingers through your hair, and went to breakfast. Once you got to the hall, the wave of the chatter of students hit you, and it only made your headache worse. You almost left, but the smell of the food and your grumbling stomach brought you back. You sat in between Ginny and George and across from y/f/n.

“How’re you feelin’ sis” George asked very loudly which made you groan and made him laugh. “Here,” he said while handing you a blue vial which you eyed suspiciously,” it’s something Fred and I’ve been working on. We took it and it worked.”

You hesitantly drank it, it did nothing at first, but a couple seconds passed and your headache went away. ”Merlin George, it worked. One of your inventions actually worked. Maybe you should make more helpful things like this instead of your pranks.”

“You know, normally people thank the person that helped them instead of criticizing their work. I’ll have you know that our pranks do very well thank you very much.”

“Thank you,” you quickly said before digging into your food. 

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

Over the weeks following, she started torturing students by making them write with a hexed quill which made the words you write on a paper, cut into your hand. You were essentially writing the words with your blood. When Professor McGonagall confronted her about it, she just hid behind the Minister of Magic. After the confrontation she was deemed the “High Inquisitor.” Once she was granted that position she went around interviewing teachers and ended up firing Professor Trewlany, but was not allowed to ban her from the school grounds, but Dumbledore stopped her saying that the power still resided with him.

Over the course of weeks following the announcement, there were many “Educational Decrees” that ranged from no music being allowed to play to girls and boys having to be 8 inches apart. The twins even got one dedicated to them and their products. The one that angered the school the most was canceling Qudditch. Educational Decree No. 49 “All hereby Quidditch matches are cancelled. Broomsticks will be turned in to the High Inquisitor for safe keeping” it read on the paper. 

During those weeks, Hermione had convinced Harry to help students seeing as he has the most experience with dealing with the dark arts. The first meeting was held inside a pub, away from Umbridge's eyes. Some students that questioned You-Know-Who to be back apologized to Harry. By the end of the meeting, the group had 25 members including your siblings and yourself.

That next day another decree was put up on the wall. 

Educational Decree No. 68 “All student organizations are henceforth disbanded. Any student in noncompliance will be expelled.” A few days after that, another one was put up:

Educational Decree No. 82 “All students will submit to questioning about suspected illicit activities.” You had a feeling that she knew something was going on, but you weren’t about to let the Wicked Witch win. 

Dumbledores Army found a spot to train thanks to Neville finding the Room of Requirement. You’ve only heard stories of it existing, but you never believed that it was real. The meetings happened after school, and Harry taught simple defense spells, but they gradually got harder. Sneaking around was pretty easy until Educational Decree No. 98 was put up.

It read “Those wishing to join the Inquisitorial Squad for extra credit may sign up in the High Inquisitors Office.” After reading that, you had a good idea of who was going to sign up, and the next day, your suspicions were confirmed. There in all his glory was Draco Malfoy flocked by other Slytherins. It was no secret that she favored purebloods, but loved Pureblood Slytherins which only fueled Dracos ego. 

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

A week has passed since that decree was made, and it was only getting worse. While ‘writing’ the script from page 278, you thought back to feeling safe at Hogwarts, but now, you felt more on edge than you did at home. Instead of finishing the script, you decided to write to the one person you could always count on:

Bill,

How have you been? How’s Egypt? Anything new in the curse-breaking world? I am doing pretty well, except for the fact that Hogwarts is being ran by a power hungry ministry lackey, Dolores Umbridge. You know how I said that I felt safe and didn’t have the need to protect our siblings as much, I take that all back. I feel like I have to protect them even more, and sleep with one eye open.

She’s absolutely terrible Bill. She has made over 100 new rules, or ‘Educational Decrees’ as she likes to call them. Fred and George have one specifically dedicated to the selling of their products; it was one of the first ones made. I’ve been trying to keep that from happening to them again, but they’re making it extremely difficult. She’s already fired one teacher but wasn’t allowed to kick her off the grounds, but since she’s not headmaster, she can’t do that. I feel like it’s only a matter of time before she takes over completely. She cancelled Qudditch. QUIDDITCH. You can’t cancel Quidditch. Oh Merlin, I sound like Oliver. She even has her own little spy squad to keep tabs on students, it’s pathetic really.

I can’t deal with her. She is torturing students. Literally. In detention she makes them write lines, but with a hexed quill that uses your blood as ink. Whatever words you write on the paper, they cut into your skin. She even makes poor first years, 11 year olds, do it. I made concentrated bottles of dittany and have them stored in my room for any unlucky students. Snape knows that and he hasn't said anything. It’s that bad that he doesn’t even take house points because he knows the severity of the situation. 

I don’t know what to do Bill. I feel helpless, and you know that I don’t like feeling helpless. I hope you write back soon, I could really use some advice. I hope you’re doing well.

Love, 

Y/n

You finished that letter right before class ended, and went to your room to send it off before the next one started. You tied the letter to your owl, Athena, and she flew off. You could only hope she would come back soon.

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

The days seemed to drone on, but when you got back to your room and saw Athena with a letter tied to her sitting on your bed, you immediately dropped everything and untied the string. You opened the letter and it read:

Y/n,

It’s very nice to hear from you, I am doing well. Egypt’s the same, and I can’t wait for you to come see it yourself this summer. We did find a chest filled with gold, but it took about two weeks to finally remove all the curses. 

I’m sorry that that is happening. She sounds terrible and you’re handling it better than I ever could. I’m not surprised that the twins had one made for them. I hope that they understand that you're just trying to help them not get injured or worse because it sounds like she is capable of worse. As long as Dumbledore’s there, nothing too terrible will happen, but it does sound like she’s trying to remove him.

As for the healing potion, I’m proud of you. I’m also really surprised that Snape let you get away with that, I guess he does have a heart after all. Who would’ve guessed? As for advice, all I can say is to be there for them. Be ready with that potion. Help without getting yourself into trouble because you in that situation would not do anyone any good.

Hang in there,

Bill

You’re glad that he’s doing good, but you wished he told you what to do, he always knows what to do. You sighed and rubbed your eyes about ready to write back when your door opened. You turned to find the twins standing in the doorway nervous, sad, scared, you couldn’t tell which, but you knew something was wrong.

“What did she do now?”

“Ginny’s with her,” said Fred

“She gave Gin detention,” finished George.

Before they could say anymore, you grabbed your wand and stormed out. Once you were down the hall from the Fat Lady picture, they finally caught up to you.

“What’re you going to do y/n?”

“I’m going to save my sister, and if I ‘accidently’ cast an unforgivable curse in the process, then I will be going to Azkaban,” you deadpanned.

The boys shared nervous looks with each other as you neared her office. You weren’t nervous, or angry, or even pissed, you were livid. She finally tipped you over the edge, and nobody is safe from you when that happens, definitely not the one who tipped it. 

Once at the door you turned to the boys,”You need to go, She doesn’t need to catch you here. I’ll meet you back in the common room with Ginny.”

“Good luck,” they said at the same time.

“I don’t need luck.”

“We're not talking to you,” said Fred.

“We're telling her. If you haven’t noticed, you’re very scary when you’re angry.” You gave a light smile and motioned them to go. Once they were out of sight, you slammed the door open to find a crying Ginny and a smug Umbridge in a room surrounded by pink walls filled with cats. You knew you were right with the crazy cat lady nickname.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing to my sister? Ginny, put that quill down and get your stuff.”

“Miss Weasley, what do you think you are doing. Your sister is in detention, and children in detention clearly need to be taught a lesson, and this helps them soak in the severity of the situation,” she finished smugly which only pissed you off more, and Ginny noticed.

“And why is my sister in detention in the first place because I know that she is a good student. So what is the major crime that she deserves to be tortured for?”

“If you must know, she was late to class with the excuse that she slept late, and she didn’t have her work down.”

“Let me ask you this, has she turned in the rest of the assignments besides this one? Has she been to every class on time besides this? Is she passing the class?”

“Yes, but this is a start of a bad habit that would only result in more laziness.”

“You don’t know that. How could you possibly know that? You don’t know my sister, but I do, and I know that she takes school more seriously than anything. And as for “soaking in the severity” I think she’s soaked it in enough. Ginny let’s go,” Ginny walked out first followed by you, but before you could leave she said,

“I’ll see you in detention after school Miss Weasley.”

You turn around and said,”Looking forward to it,” you walked out of the room while flipping her off, and you hear her screech which only made you smile. That smile disappeared when you heard your sister crying.

You took her to a bench in the corridor and told her to hold out her hands. You produced a small, blue vial from your pocket and poured it over her bloody and cut up hands. She cried harder and you just pulled her into a hug, and you let her cry. After you heard her sniffling diminish you pulled away and wiped off the excess tears that were left on her face.

“You shouldn’t have done that y/n. It was my fault, and you shouldn’t have gotten me out.”

“Gin, I couldn’t let her tortue my favorite sister for something as stupid as being late.”

“But now you have to go through the same thing, but it will probably be worse for you.”

“Not necessarily. You see, I have a natural talent of pissing people off, so I’m going to spend the whole time annoying her until she lets me go. I see it was a win win.” You stand up and so did Ginny, you linked your arm through hers as you made your way to the common room. She stayed with the twins while you went to write your reply to Bill.

Hey Bill,

So, I sort of took your advice. I took half of it. I didn’t take all of it because the she finally crossed a line. She tortured Ginny all for being late to class and missing one assignment when she’s passing, but she’s fine now, well as fine as she can be. So I argued with her for a good 10 minutes then left while flipping her off. I have detention tomorrow, but I plan on annoying her by using my specialty of sarcasm to the best of my ability. It was really her fault because she caused me to finally tip over the edge. I called her the crazy cat lady, and I was right. Her office is all pink and the walls are filled with cats on plates.”

Thank you for the advice,

Y/n

You opened the window up to let Athena in. After tying the letter to her foot, you watched her fly away into the starry sky. You know that Bill is going to be a little angry but also hummored. You walked back into the common room to find Ginny retelling the story. The twins no doubt told the group what happened when they told you Ginny was with her. You found a spot between Ginny and George and listened to the tale. You were glad she was smiling, and if it took you telling teacher off and getting detention in the process to protect your siblings, you would do it again and again.

[thatsassyhufflepuff]

Stronger Than Blood Chapter 31: Felicity

Summary: Hufflepuff witch Felicity Zabini struggles to find normalcy as she enters into her 6th year at Hogwarts, reeling from her father’s sudden death and her mother’s quick remarriage into the Zabini family. If only she had known that discovering Draco Malfoy falling apart in the bathroom would spiral into so much more.

Word count: 2.8k

Warnings: angst, fluff, cursing

Read chapter 1 here!

Ao3

“Lissie, come on, we have to move,” Blaise tugged on my arm. I snatched it away, tears streaming down my cheeks.

“No! Draco, stop!” I tried to run back to his side, but Blaise restrained me. “Let me go, Blaise! Draco!” I thrashed against my brother, desperate to reach my boyfriend-

“Felicity?”

I was snapped out of my thoughts by a timid, familiar voice. I whirled around, having trouble focusing on anything other than rubble and students sobbing. Blaise had gone to check on Theo, Hannah, and Astoria. After a moment I spotted the owner of the voice.

“Teddy?” I gaped at the sheepish boy who had soot all over his face. “What in Merlin’s name are you doing here?” I grabbed him by the shoulders, pulling him to me in a hug. For once, the young Hufflepuff boy didn’t push me away, instead wrapping his arms around my waist and returning my hug.

“I had to make sure you were okay,” he said, stepping away from me. Tears filled my eyes; I wasn’t sure how I had any tears left, really.

“You silly boy,” I sniffed, shaking my head, trying to scold him. “Your parents must be worried sick! You should’ve gone home with the rest of the younger students. What if you had been discovered?”

Teddy rolled his eyes at me. “Why would I need to go home? You sounded just like my mum just then. Besides, no one saw me.”

“5 points from Hufflepuff for your cheek,” I said, then smiled at him. “But thank you. I’m so glad you’re okay. Now let’s get you home, yeah?”

I placed a hand on Teddy’s shoulder, steering him through the crowd as I searched for a familiar face.

“Miss Zabini, I see that you have survived.”

I stiffened immediately, turning around to face Narcissa Malfoy, who was a painful reminder of her son in that moment. I sucked in a lungful of air.

“Yes, well…” I gestured to Teddy. “I’m trying to get Teddy here home, so if you’d excuse me-”

“Felicity,” Her voice softened, which successfully stopped my babbling. “The war is over. You and Draco are free to choose each other. Please know that you have my blessing. I’ve already informed the Greengrasses—”

“Your son made his choice,” I said, cutting her off. “And he didn’t choose me. It’s a pity you turned down the Greengrass family. Astoria is a lovely girl.”

Teddy, I noted for the first time, was watching the exchange with a perplexed but amused smile on his face.

“Not a word,” I mouthed to him, which only made his smile widen.

“She is lovely,” Narcissa agreed, politely ignoring my interaction with my housemate. “But he doesn’t look at her the way he looks at you.”

I felt my cheeks flush despite myself, shooting Teddy a dirty look when he laughed silently behind his hand.

“It’s fascinating, you know.” The Malfoy matriarch continued. I tried not to grit my teeth at her.

“What’s fascinating?”

“The way Blaise and Draco are with you,” she answered. “They were raised in the exact same way, in the exact same circles, even with some of the same tutors.” Her blue eyes didn’t waver from mine. “Yet they both seem to have a weak spot for you. Why do you think that is?”

I shrugged, my hand tightening on Teddy’s shoulder. “I haven’t the foggiest.”

“It manifests itself in different ways, of course.” Narcissa went on. I closed my eyes briefly, trying not to snap at her to just go away.

“How’s that?”

The older witch smiled. “Blaise? The boy would die for you; that much is obvious. But my Draco…” She hesitated. “He would live for you, my dear. Remember that.”

I bit my tongue to stop myself from saying something I’d regret.

“Thank you for the sentiment,” I replied when I trusted myself to speak. “Teddy and I should get going…”

Narcissa waved a hand impatiently. “I can deliver him home safely. Our Floo is still in working condition at the Manor. Would that be alright with you?” She looked at Teddy, smiling warmly. Teddy looked up at me with uncertainty.

“Oh, I wouldn’t want to bother you, Mrs. Malfoy.” I said weakly.

“It’s not a bother, dear,” Narcissa countered. “In fact, I insist. Your friends are probably waiting for you.”

I ran a hand through my hair that was damp with sweat, letting out a frustrated sigh. I squeezed Teddy’s shoulder, kneeling down so we were at eye-level.

“You’re safe to go with Mrs. Malfoy,” I told him, brushing soot off of the shoulders of his robes. “No acting up, do you understand? Your parents need you home in one piece.”

“Yes, Mum,” Teddy groused, though I could tell he was trying not to smile.

“Good. Now go,” I kissed his forehead, laughing when he sprang away from me, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.

I straightened, nodding at Narcissa. “Thank you.”

The other witch merely nodded before taking Teddy by the hand and Apparating away.

I exhaled shakily, scrubbing a hand over my face.

“She’s right, you know.” A voice said from behind me, a voice I hadn’t heard for quite a while but hoped I would never forget.

I turned around, then gasped.

“Sweet Merlin,” I breathed, my eyes filling with tears. “Dad?”

My breath caught as he stepped towards me, his familiar scent of pine and musk washing over me. I blinked.

“Are you real?” I whispered.

Dad laughed, his eyes warm as he touched my cheek with fingers that were indeed solid.

“Last I checked, I’m really dead, yes. But real nonetheless.”

I couldn’t keep the tears at bay when he said that. My father quickly pulled me into his arms, holding me close and stroking my hair the way he used to when I was a little girl.

“How are you here?” I choked out, still crying into his shoulder. “I’m not dead, am I?”

“No, sweetheart.” He squeezed my shoulders. “You’re not dead. But you’ve seen death, and can therefore see me.” Dad held me away from him, seeming to memorize my features. “I can’t believe how much you’ve grown.”

I gave him a weak smile. “I’m seventeen now, Dad. I’d be concerned if I looked the same as I did when I was 15 or 16.”

“Seventeen.” Dad shook his head, eyes shining with wonder. “Almost an adult in the States. Is there a boyfriend I need to worry about?”

I nearly choked on my own spit. “B-boyfriend?”

Dad winked. “For what it’s worth, I like that boy of yours. He seems...difficult at times, but he treats you like the treasure you are, and that’s all I could ask for as your father.” He brushed a knuckle down my cheek tenderly. “Give him a chance to explain, honey.”

I lowered my eyes to the ground. “I don’t want to talk about Draco,” I whispered, swiping at the tears that leaked out of my eyes. Then something occurred to me.

“Dad...you act as if you’ve...I dunno, met Draco before. But that’s impossible, right?” When he didn’t reply right away, I narrowed my eyes on him. “Right?”

“I know that look, Liss.” My father rubbed his temples, as if he was getting a headache from the great beyond. “Honey, please try not to assassinate him after a war just ended.”

I was so angry that I couldn’t speak, but then I heard my name again. Blaise, Hannah, and Theo were walking up to me; Only Hannah didn’t shrink back at the look of rage in my eyes, rushing into my arms and hugging me tightly.

“Thank Merlin you’re okay!” she pulled back to frown up at me. “For Godric’s sake, Fee, what’s got you so--” Then, she looked past me and gasped. “Mr. Cannon? Is that really you?”

My dad stepped forward and offered my best friend a small smile. “It’s good to see you again, Hannah. I’m...visiting, I guess you could say.”

Hannah’s wide blue eyes were full of questions, but I shook my head, shooting her a look that said I would tell her later.

“Which one of you is Blaise?” Dad asked, looking between Blaise and Theo curiously. Blaise’s dark eyes were wide. Theo looked only slightly less amused than usual as he gave my father a vaguely offended snort.

“I--I am, sir.” Blaise stammered. “Merlin’s beard, you’re…” He looked at me, mouth opening and closing like a fish.

“Blaise, this is my dad,” I gestured between them. “Dad, this is Blaise Zabini, my stepbrother.”

“Your brother for all intents and purposes,” The Slytherin corrected, slinging a playful arm around my shoulders. I huffed and shrugged his arm off. When I caught Theo’s wounded expression, I rolled my eyes, a bit exasperated.

“And this is Theodore Nott, Dad. Theo, meet my father.”

“Wait until I tell Draco I met his girlfriend’s father before he did,” Theo replied with a snort, sticking out his hand for my father to shake. “It’s nice to meet you, sir.”

All of my anger returned, but before I could speak, my father stepped forward and shook Theo’s hand firmly. “Nice to meet you. And you, Blaise.” His eyes were particularly warm as they landed on my brother. “Thank you for looking after my daughter. It means more to me than you know.”

Blaise shuffled his feet uncomfortably but nodded.

“Actually, Theo,” I interjected, clenching my fists. “My father was just informing me that he’s already met Draco before. Funny how I’m not hearing that from my boyfriend himself. But none of you know anything about that, of course.”

Hannah gave my hand a comforting squeeze. “I’d never keep something like that from you, Fee.”

“First I’m hearing of it,” Theo agreed, which left Blaise, who suddenly looked even more uncomfortable than he had before. I glared at him.

“Tell me you didn’t know, Blaise.” I said through gritted teeth.

“Lissie--”

“Tell. Me. You. Didn’t. Know!”

“I…” His Adam’s apple bobbed up and down in his throat as he swallowed nervously. “I didn’t know?” I glared harder, which made him shrink back. “Bloody hell, witch, I knew, okay? Don’t hex me!”

Blood roared in my ears. “Not to worry, brother dear.” I gave him a saccharine smile. “I’ll be dealing with you after I hex the living daylights out of Draco Malfoy.”

***

It didn’t take long to find him. Students were loudly celebrating in the Great Hall, which is where I found the Malfoy family sitting, looking quite uncomfortable. Draco spotted me first, springing to his feet, rushing towards me.

“Fliss! Thank Merlin you’re okay, I--”

The look on his face was comical as I slapped him, but I hardly cared, and I certainly wasn’t laughing.

“How. Bloody. Dare. You!” I seethed, shoving him back with the flats of my hands. “You met my father and didn’t think to tell me?” I shoved him again. “And you go off on me for keeping secrets? When you meet my bloody father and don’t tell me about it?” I shoved him so hard he toppled to the ground, scrambling back on his hands and feet. “You, Draco Malfoy, are the biggest arsehole-”

Draco scrambled to his feet, holding up his hands placatingly. “Please, Fliss, I can explain-”

“Flipendo!”

Before I knew what was happening, I was on the ground, gasping.

“Bloody hell, Father!” Draco growled, helping me to my feet quickly. Lucius Malfoy sneered down at me.

“Apologies, son.” He said with a sniff. “I was simply preventing the mutt from assaulting you further.”

“Shall I turn my wand on you while you’re not a rotting piece of shit in Azkaban?” I snarled, reaching for my wand stored in a makeshift wand-sheath at my elbow, but Draco’s hand came down on my shoulder, holding me back.

“I would like to see you try, mutt.” Lucius sneered, reaching for his own wand, but Narcissa approached quickly, dragging him back, hissing something into his ear.

“Can we please not have this discussion here?” The Slytherin cupped my cheeks in the palms of his hands tentatively, wincing when I jerked my head away.

“Fine.” I took a breath. “You have five sodding minutes to explain yourself in a location of your choosing. The clock starts now.”

***

Draco was silent as he led me towards an empty classroom, and I wanted to laugh at the irony of it all. We were back to where we started, in a classroom at odds with one another yet again. I wondered if we would always be at odds somehow, if this was what our relationship was destined to become.

I watched as the Slytherin shut the door, surprised that he’d managed to find a classroom that was safe to sit in, what with the castle being in shambles. I folded my arms, waiting for him to speak.

“I…” he raked a hand through his hair, unable to look me in the eye. “I don’t suppose telling you I’m sorry would make a difference?” His gray eyes flickered to mine.

“Not right now it wouldn’t!” I scowled. “Honestly, Draco, are you dense?”

“I’d like to think that my intellect is quite superior-“ At my glare, he coughed and hurriedly added, “but that’s not the point. Obviously.”

“Unbelievable.” I threw up my hands, laughing incredulously. “You don’t even realize what you did wrong, do you?”

A muscle in Draco’s jaw jumped as he gritted his teeth. Silence from Draco Malfoy was an answer in and of itself, unfortunately.

“Draco,” My voice broke. I cleared my throat and began again. “Draco. You know how much my father’s death has affected me. How could you keep this from me? If I had been able to see him-“

“You wouldn’t have,” the Slytherin cut in. “He told me as much. By that point, you hadn’t seen death.”

My eyebrows lowered. “Just how long ago did you meet my father?”

He suddenly seemed to find the floor very interesting.

“When we visited the States.”

I felt like I’d been punched in the gut, all the air in my lungs leaving me at once. Tears began to spill down my cheeks as I stared up at him.

“How could you keep this from me?” I whispered. “All this time…”

My boyfriend took a tentative step towards me, holding his hands up placatingly. “Fliss, I was just trying to protect you!”

“Protect me?” I cried, taking a step towards him until we were practically nose to nose. “Damn you and your family’s protection, Draco Malfoy! Why in the bloody blazes would I need to be protected from seeing my own bloody father again? I don’t care if he’s a ghost, he’s him, and he’s there, and he hasn’t been for so long, Dray! Don’t you see?” A sob escaped my lips. “I would’ve even settled with seeing your memories of him! I’ve missed him so much, Draco, and you took the possibility of seeing him again, even through someone else’s eyes, away from me.”

The Slytherin’s face darkened with understanding, anguish marring his angular features. He reached out a hand to thumb my tears away, not looking surprised when I stepped away from him then.

“Felicity, I’m-“

Suddenly, the door swung open. I yelped and whirled around, my eyes widening when I saw that two large men held Narcissa and Lucius Malfoy with their hands behind their backs.

“Draco Malfoy, for crimes committed against the rightful Ministry and the Wizarding world, I have no choice but to arrest you as you await your trial. It is there that your fate will be decided. Wand above your head,” said a rather ragged but important looking man.

I watched with horror as Draco stepped away from me, his shoulders slumped, as if he’d known this was coming. He showed them empty hands.

“Potter has my wand.” He said curtly, stepping towards the man. I snapped out of my temporary shock, lunging forward.

“Stop! What is this, who are you?” I glared at the man who wrenched Draco’s hands behind his back, securing him next to his parents. Only then did he meet my eyes.

“Kingsley Shacklebolt, your new acting Minister of Magic...for the time being, anyway. And you are?”

“Felicity Zabini, sir, his girlfriend.”

Kingsley arched an eyebrow at that piece of information. “Are you a traitor as well, then?”

“What? No!” I clenched my fists. “Where are you taking him? What’s going to happen?”

The acting Minister of Magic leveled a serious look at me. “You heard the charges, did you not?” He countered. “These are crimes worthy of Azkaban, Miss Zabini. Do not expect Mr. Malfoy to go unpunished.” He turned to his men. “Let’s go.”

With a crack, all of them Apparated out of the room, leaving me trembling in their wake.

Chapter 32

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taglist: @beforeoursunsets @typewriting101 @sadgirlnumber92899 @rosiehufflepuff @desiredmalfoy @riddleswh0r3crux @is-it-really-a-secret

[windstormwielding]

{ ooc } Recent trends show that people are very receptive to big, scary, beefy mommies™... so why not come meet the fine lady who raised Kō-boy here? Hadn’t had much of a proper image for her until recently, but then a bunch of things just clicked and fell into place!

I’ll repost all of the below for her own page on the blog at some point, and might soon open her up for interactions as a proper side/request-only muse like Hai’iro Ranmaru. For now though, here’s the rundown! History, abilities, you name it, it’s down there!

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Profile: Ryōhei Yumiko

Name: Ryōhei Yumiko (亮平 由美子)

Birthday: June 26

Race: Soul

Gender: Female

Height: 185.4cm (6′1″)

Weight: 86kg (190 lbs)

Relatives: Ryōhei Kōtarō (Adoptive son)

Previous Profession: Shinigami

Previous Affiliation: Gotei 13, 11th Division

Previous Position: Lieutenant

Theme Song: “Battle Against a True Hero (UNDERTALE OST)” by Toby Fox

— Appearance —

Yumiko is a middle-aged woman with an imposingly broad and burly figure. Her face, while still retaining some youthful beauty to it, is partially disfigured from an accident with her zanpakutō early in her career. Many scars adorn her muscular form from head to toe, gained throughout her time as a battle-hardened soul reaper of the 11th Division. Her hair is auburn red with hints of greying in the present, usually kept long down her back and tied in a ponytail, and her eye colour is hazel.

She is often seen wearing an amigasa and a frayed, dull green kimono to better blend into the foliage, albeit the fabric is bloodstained. In her younger years, she wore a shihakushō, but customized her look into that of a sukeban-style delinquent: she wore her kosode open over her shoulders, tied to her upper body with a red ribbon; she tore off her shitagi sleeves to bare her arms; her Lieutenant’s badge was worn around her left bicep.

(Present Day Faceclaim: Balalaika of Black Lagoon)

— Personality —

Years ago, Yumiko was a foul-tempered spitfire who assisted in keeping the sorry louts of the 11th in line. Strength meant authority within those walls, and there were really only two within the Division who could challenge her might, but she was never one to lord her position over others. Diligent as can be, she often took initiative for leading combat drills to keep her subordinates’ skills sharp. As a member of the 11th, she was a fiercely determined fighter who also relished in the thrills of combat, often using brute force to get the job done, and let her hair down whenever parties were held and drinks flowed. Though she and 3rd Seat Kuruyashiki often butted heads over trivial matters to the point of trading blows, she genuinely respected his strength and character deep down.

While she grew calmer and humbled when she effectively retired, she still holds no patience for any who seeks to do harm unto others weaker than themselves. Yumiko always had a weakness for children, despite the fact that her appearance tend to terrify many, to her dismay. To make up for this, she starkly changes her demeanour into a far more doting personality, sometimes accompanied by a familiar dopey grin that Kōtarō would inherit. She was fiercely protective of him growing up, and, true to her 11th Division training, killed those who dared to threaten her boy’s life without batting an eye or losing sleep.

— History —

In her heyday, up to 410 years before the present, Ryōhei Yumiko lived as a Gotei 13 shinigami, serving as the Lieutenant of the 11th Division. She fit right into the mold of a squad full of melee combatants and was a master with a blade, living and breathing by the three B’s: brawls, bloodshed, and booze. The many scars she accrued over the course of her lifetime each stood as a testament for her love of fighting, as these only grew in number the higher she rose up the ranks.

Unfortunately, her career was cut short come a terrible incident with her Captain. In a bid to further his own swordsmanship as the 6th Kenpachi, Captain Baishin attempted to merge with his own zanpakutō. This fusion, though successful, turned out to be one-way and took a debilitating toll on his mind, causing Kenpachi Baishin to go on a killing rampage that claimed the lives of over 60 seated officers across the Seireitei, including Lieutenants (OVA: The Sealed Sword Frenzy).

Yumiko nearly lost her life in the assault. While she survived, her saketsu and hakusui were pierced during the battle while she burned through her reiryoku. She awoke to several changes in the Gotei 13, chief among them being: her powers have effectively disappeared forever; Kuruyashiki, her 3rd Seat in the 11th, rose to the occasion and donned the Captain’s haori as the 7th Kenpachi during the crisis; and Baishin fled to the world of the living before being sealed away by Kuruyashiki and five other Captains, with two of them not returning home.

Not wanting to sit around for a pity party as she can no longer work within the Seireitei, Yumiko simply left and returned home in North Rukongai. Though her soul reaper powers are gone and she can no longer hear the voice of her zanpakutō, she still had both her fearsome physical strength and her incredible skill with a sword, just as how she always lived and liked it. She never raised her blade against innocent civilians, but many thugs in their attempts to cross her over the years lost their lives.

Around 270 years before the present, Yumiko found a toddler in the thickets of Kusajishi, just passed on from the world of the living. Disgusted that her former comrades would leave him to die within one of the worst districts for a child to be in, she sought to foster him and take him up to some family in a better-off district closer towards the Seireitei. However, she quickly found herself endeared to him when she realized he wasn’t scared of her at all, clinging to her with not one scream of fear or protest at the sight of her. She then decided to take him in as her son and gave him a name of his own: Ryōhei Kōtarō (亮平 康太郎).

Yumiko doted on and sheltered the boy as best she could over the years. Putting her years of fighting experience to use, she strove to teach her son the way of the sword. This was not only so that he may stand an actual chance by himself in the sticks of the Soul Society, but because she knew from his persisting hunger that one day soon, Kōtarō too might follow in her footsteps as a shinigami.

After he finally left for the Academy, she took to wandering the Soul Society proper, but would still come back to Kusajishi on the occasion he should ever visit.

— Powers & Abilities —

Expert Swordsman: As a Lieutenant of the 11th Division, Yumiko's talent in Zanjutsu was almost unrivalled back in her prime. Though her skills dulled with time and little worthy foes to fight out in the boonies, she still managed to garner a menacing reputation that kept her feared by many in North Rukongai. She passed on much of her knowledge in the combat art down to her son, who later became a worthy swordsman in his own right.

Expert Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Yumiko supplemented her swordsmanship with grappling, throws, and boxing, where her larger size and superior strength come into play. In the past, she often resorted to fighting with her bare fists while her active Shikai was locked into its sheath.

Enhanced Strength, Endurance, & Durability: Kōtarō looks up to Yumiko and calls her the strongest woman he knows; that’s not just him being cute, as he means that quite literally. She built up much of her strength over her long tenure as a shinigami in the most combat-intensive Division of them all, capable of lifting and cleaving boulders that are heavier and larger than herself with relative ease. Her body proved resilient enough to not only survive attacks from a crazed Baishin-zanpakutō fusion, while other seated officers in her position—including fellow Lieutenants—perished, but hold him off solo for some time despite her wounds and failing powers.

— Former Powers & Abilities —

Great Spiritual Power: As a former Lieutenant of the Gotei 13, Yumiko once possessed a considerable amount of reiryoku. Her reiatsu was coloured light blue, and her exerting her spiritual pressure made the surrounding area more humid.

Kidō Practitioner: Having attended Shin’ō Academy, Yumiko proved to have little aptitude for magic. The loss of her powers only took away what little capability for Kidō she had.

Shunpō Expert: Yumiko was surprisingly agile for her bulk and quite fast among her peers, able to keep pace with her old Captain who was himself well-versed in Hohō. While she now lacks the power to use such techniques, she still retains some valuable footwork lessons and continues to apply them toward her swordplay.

Zanpakutō: Yūgiri (夕霧, Evening Mist) resembles a normal katana in its sealed state, with a grey hilt and raindrop-shaped tsuba, and its scabbard came with a clip that kept the blade notched. Though Yumiko can no longer call on its power, she took her blade with her nonetheless when she absconded from the Seireitei, and concealed its distinct appearance by binding its hilt and tsuba in cloth. Yūgiri hangs by her hip. Its release command was “Billow!” (畝れ! Unere!).

Shikai: When transformed, Yūgiri’s blade hollowed out with small holes dotted along its length, gathering moisture from the surrounding area to empower its steel with super-heated steam and scald her enemies. Yumiko used the mist as a smokescreen, and often sheathed her active weapon to compress and build up power within its scabbard for mortal draw techniques, such as steam blades.   Yūgiri’s signature technique, Jyōki Bakusatsu (蒸汽爆炸, Steam Eruption) was the end result of storing up so much pressure, that it creates a steam explosion with extreme heat and force from the sheath once her blade is drawn. The first time Yumiko used this move proved reckless, resulting in the facial burn injury.  

Bankai: Not achieved.

[ggukcangetit]

Dreamcatchers 6

Pairing: jungkook x oc

Summary: DI Jeon didn’t need a new partner. Unfortunately, his superiors felt otherwise; especially considering the extremely high-profile murder that had just taken place in the port city. Recent transfer, DI Choi Yuri finds herself confronted with a new cityscape, unfamiliar people, a hostile partner, and a homicide that is certain to bring back unpleasant memories.  

Genre/AU: fluff/action/mystery | detective! au | police!jungkook, police!oc

Word Count: 5.2k

Rating: NC-17

Warnings: mentions of violence, alcohol, blood, drugs, death. basically stuff you’d associate with a murder mystery/crime drama.

Chapters 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 

A/N:  it’s been a while since i posted and even longer since i updated this fic but its still here and so am i! lol. updates are not gonna be very frequent but i have a list of works in progress that i plan to finish so there will be something or the other being posted at the most random moments.

also, reminding everyone that this story features a named oc because i’m still very unfamiliar with writing second person reader inserts. i’m not aiming for strict accuracy in this story, and all criminal investigation/forensics knowledge i have has been gathered by watching crime drama/procedural dramas! my knowledge of geography is also not totally accurate so apologies for that. once again, one thing right by @hobios​ prompted me to write a police inspector! jungkook story. would highly recommend reading that because it’s probably one of my most favorite pieces of writing!

21st December

"Is this how you conduct a sample analysis?! Where did you even train? I've half a mind to report you and get you kicked out!!"

Yuri stopped at her desk, surprised to hear Seulgi's yelling so loudly that she could be heard all the way from the floor above. She was usually extremely calm and even-tempered, but the past couple of days had seen her irritable, snappy, and downright furious.

"Dr. Ahn sounds really angry," whispered Jisoo, clutching a file close to her chest. "I've never heard her yell at anybody before. I hope she's okay."

"I'm sure everything's fine," said Jeon, walking over to his desk and dropping a bunch of files on it. "Can I talk to you for a second?"

Yuri raised an eyebrow at him, but complied nonetheless. They walked outside, standing near a clump of trees outside of earshot of anyone in the station.

"Guess who I've just brought in on suspicion of murder for the 2nd Nov case?" he asked, lowering his voice.

"No!" gasped Yuri. "Minhyuk?"

"Yep. He's been in the country for a while now. Fancy giving me a hand with the interview?"

"Me? I mean," she bit her lip. "I wasn't part of the original investigation."

"I know, but in light of what you've found out and the fact that you're now my partner, Goh thinks it's okay."

"You told Goh?!"

"I had to. I can't restart the investigation without his permission."

Jeon stared at her for a few moments, trying to gauge her reaction. "So, what do you say?"

"Alright. Let's nail this bastard."

Ahreum was late. She had a meeting with one of her professors to decide on which medical stream she'd specialize in. Despite using forensics as an excuse to distract Seulgi, she was seriously considering it now. Deciding to pursue medicine had been a drastic career switch for Ahreum, and a lot of people had questioned her decision relentlessly. But if there was something she had learnt in the years following her parents' divorce, it was patience and the ability to block out irrelevant conversations. Namjoon had always been immersed in his studies, barely affected by the bitterness existing between their parents. Ahreum, barely in high school, felt lost and helpless during those times. After the divorce, things had become less tumultuous and she was able to see her parents as individual entities. That was when she realized that her father was never going to like any of her decisions, no matter how hard she tried to please him, and her mother preferred to stay aloof at the best of times. Ahreum learnt pretty early in life, that she needed to be there for herself. She loved her brother and parents, though the latter a lot less than the former. Her decision to study English Literature and Creative Writing had been a spur of the moment one - dictated more by the fact that her high school boyfriend was going to study at a major Arts university. She didn't really regret any of her decisions. Her degree had led her to finding a hobby she adored - photography. And having a freelance job meant that she could stay with Namjoon - who earned a significantly larger amount than her - and move whenever he needed to move as well. This was also how she had met Taehyung 3 years ago - a happy coincidence of events when she had been taking pictures outside the museum at Seoul. They had started talking about art and photography, eventually realizing that they lived in the same part of the city. In addition to Yuri, she also considered Taehyung to be her best friend. She had seen him during one of his lowest moments when Seokjin had left home; and then some time later when he had found Seokjin living in the town Ahreum and Namjoon had recently shifted to, she had stayed by him as he grappled with his anger and frustration towards his older brother until an eventual reconciliation.

But at this moment, she was beginning to lose patience with him. Five minutes before she was about to leave for her meeting, she received a bunch of frantic texts from him.

8.25 am

T: ahreum?? are u up??

T: jimins still in custody

T: im so worried

8.26 am

T: u there?

T: i want to visit him...

T: will u come with me?

8.27 am

T: hey

T: ???

T: i didnt sleep much so i dont wanna drive there

8.28 am

T: are u sleeping?

T: ???

He knew she had a meeting today. He knew how important the meeting was for her. She had spoken about it many times. Not for the first time, Ahreum wondered whether Taehyung cared about her beyond what directly concerned him. If it wasn't somehow relevant to him, he never seemed to remember much. It was a careless apathy that had hurt her during the beginning of their friendship, but she had accepted it as a part of him.

Her meeting was at 9 am and she usually needed 20 minutes to get there on her bike. She closed her eyes and mentally rehearsed the points she was going to bring up during her meeting. Her phone pinged once more, breaking her concentration.

8.30 am

T: hey

T: can u pick me up?

She frowned and shot a quick text before pocketing her phone and strapping on her helmet.

A: sorry have a meeting... talk later

As Ahreum sped through the narrow lanes, she was convinced that there was no way she was going to talk to Taehyung today. He would have to manage on his own for once.

Yuri and Jeon sat across from a very nervous Park Minhyuk, his bloodshot eyes indicating that he had been brought in after a rough night.

"Good morning." Jeon began the interview, his notes stacked neatly in front of him. "You were very hard to get a hold of, Mr. Park. Specifically because your company categorically states that you've been out of the country for business."

"I-" His face was white as a sheet.

"When we called your office, we were told that you are often out of the country on business trips. Short trips," Jeon flipped through his notes. "A fortnight, 20 days at max. Your secretary was very obliging - he told us that you traveled on October 12th and returned on October 27th. Then left the country again on November 1st and returned on November 16th. Another trip between November 22nd and December 6th. And finally, one more on December 10th from which you still haven't returned."

"Your phone records are very interesting, Mr. Park," said Yuri, joining in. "I'm DI Choi, by the way, and I will be assisting DI Jeon as his partner on the case. Now -" she opened the file in front of her and took out a particular page - "is this your cell phone number?"

"Yes, but-"

"Our Telecomms division looked over recent activity over the last 3-4 months. While your office confirms that you have been on multiple trips out of the country from October onwards, your phone has been operating in Korea for almost two months. Can you tell us why?"

Minhyuk remained silent, his hands clenched on the table.

"Do you recognize this?" Yuri placed a plastic bag on the table and moved it towards him.

The remaining color drained from Minhyuk's face as he stared at the ring inside the plastic bag.

"Let me help you out, Mr. Park," she continued. "This is an heirloom from your mother's side of the family. There was three such rings - one buried with your mother, one on your brother's finger, and one found at the scene of Son Eunbi's murder. Can you tell us how your ring found its way to a murder scene?"

"I didn't kill her!" Minhyuk looked like he was going to pass out. Jeon poured some water into a glass and passed it to him.

"She was dead when I got there!" he said after gulping down the water. His hands were shaking by this point.

"If she was dead when you got there, why didn't you call the police?"

"I..."

Faced with a possible murder charge, Minhyuk looked frightened but not nearly as forthcoming with an alibi as one would have hoped.

"Mr. Park," Yuri spoke after a period of silence. "Did you know that Ms. Son had a three year old daughter named Gina?"

Minhyuk gulped, his eyes breaking contact with hers. He removed his hands from where they had been clenched on the table, choosing to hide them in his lap.

"Are you Gina's father?" she continued. Minhyuk head shot up at her question.

"H-how did-"

"When did you find out?" she asked.

Minhyuk sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I guess there's no point in denying it since you know everything." He reached out and finished the remaining water in the glass. "In October, after I came back from a trip, I happened to meet her by chance and Gina was with her. It was odd, the way that she tried to avoid talking to me. And the fact that Gina also had clear grey eyes."

For the first time since the interview started, Yuri realised the resemblance between the Park brothers was limited but striking. Their eyes were the exact same shade of grey - while Jimin looked cold and unwelcoming, Minhyuk's glasses did well to give him a warmer appearance.

"I asked her why she hadn't contacted me when she got pregnant. Or in the three years since Gina was born."

"What did she say?" asked Yuri, softly.

"She was scared that I wouldn't believe her." Tears had started to roll down his cheeks. "I loved her... so much. And then she just disappeared one day. I tried so hard to find her but..."

Jeon poured another glass of water for him.

"I told her how happy I was to hear about Gina. That I wanted us to be a proper family. I was willing to do whatever was necessary if that's what she wanted as well. I think she was beginning to warm up to the idea. I even told my father to postpone my next trip so that I could spend a little more time with both of them. But-"

"But?"

Minhyuk stared at his hands, looking tired and dejected. "He - uh, he wasn't happy when he heard about Gina. My father has very particular expectations."

"What did he say to you? Did he threaten you, Mr. Park?"

Minhyuk let out a soft chuckle. "My father doesn't threaten. He suggests."

"And what did he suggest you do about Gina and Eunbi?" asked Jeon.

"That I stay away from them. For the sake of my inheritance."

"And did you?"

"I was planning to... I-I was meant to travel the next day and I thought I would go and see her once more before I left. But when I got there..."

Minhyuk covered his face with his hands, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself.

"What happened when you got there, Mr. Park?"

"She was lying there... in a pool of blood. Gina was asleep in the back. I-I didn't kill her. You have to believe me."

Yuri and Jeon exchanged a quick look as Minhyuk protested his innocence. They were aware that the homeless man had killed Son Eunbi. The DNA found at the crime scene confirmed the fact that he had stabbed her. But they needed Minhyuk to give them as much information as possible.

"I'm afraid we do not conduct our investigations based on belief, Mr. Park," continued Yuri, shuffling her notes meaningfully. "You still haven't provided us with an alibi for that night. Strange thing - the Park family seem to have a particular aversion towards providing alibis. Your brother was also extremely resistant when we spoke to him."

"You spoke to Jimin? What for?" Minhyuk's expression had changed completely. He looked strangely alert.

"I guess you aren't aware that Jimin was arrested for the murder of Kang Eunwoo on December 15th." Jeon spoke deliberately, hoping to elicit a reaction. And he was successful.

"What?! That's impossible! There's no way he could've done that!"

"Why are you so certain of that?"

"Because he was with me on December 15th!"

"I'm sorry but we can't take you at your word. You can't even provide a proper alibi for yourself on the night of Son Eunbi's murder. How can we be sure that the two of you aren't just covering up for each other?"

It was then that Minhyuk realised that he would need to come clean. There was no way to save Jimin without telling them the entire story.

"Fine," he sighed. "I'll tell you everything."

"Everything?"

"Yes. If it can help Jimin, I'm willing to risk my father finding out."

Yuri glanced at Jeon who gave her an almost imperceptible nod.

"Go on."

"After I saw Eunbi... lying there, I couldn't leave Gina. No matter what my father had said, I couldn't leave my daughter in such a situation. So I... took her away with me."

"Where is Gina now, Mr. Park?" Yuri asked, frowning.

"She's safe."

"Where is she?" asked Jeon, sharply.

"In Busan. I have an apartment there and she's been with me since that day."

"Why didn't you tell the police that you had her? Why does your company believe that you are abroad on a business trip?"

Minhyuk rubbed his eyes tiredly and drank some more water. "I couldn't let my father find out. Jimin and I have an apartment in Busan that we bought under a different name. It was a place our father couldn't find us. Gina's been staying there with me since 2nd November."

"Are you sure your father thinks you're abroad? It doesn't seem like something easy to cover up."

"Jimin helped with that," said Minhyuk, leaning back into the cold metal chair. "He told father that I had run away because he hadn't been understanding of my situation with Gina and Eunbi. Jimin's good at convincing people - it's a talent he's barely ever put to good use."

"So Jimin knew that you were hiding in a secret apartment with your recently discovered daughter?"

"Yes, he did. I have an alibi for 2nd November. I was in a meeting till 9 pm and then stopped for drinks at a nearby fried chicken place till 11 pm. I was a bit tipsy after that, which is why I decided to visit Eunbi and Gina. After taking Gina away from there, I went to Jimin's place, got the keys to the apartment and drove straight there. I think I reached around 2 am."

Yuri jotted down all this information, making a note to check on every new detail that had been mentioned.

"What about December 15th? You said Jimin was with you. Why?" asked Jeon, folding his arms across his chest.

"We meet once a week to make sure everything is going okay," said Minhyuk, pinching the bridge of his nose tiredly. "Sundays are usually the best days for that."

"Where did you meet?"

"At the local ice-cream shop," Minhyuk frowned, trying to remember something. "You know the one near the end of town?"

"The Dairy Berry? Yes, I know which one you're talking about." Jeon gave Yuri a brief nod to confirm that this was a legitimate spot and not something Minhyuk was making up on the spot.

"Gina loves sweet things and I thought it would be easier to take her with me the same day I met Jimin. I think we were there till 10 pm. After that, I dropped Jimin at a bar and drove back home."

"Which bar was this?" asked Yuri.

"Sunset."

"And you drove straight home after that?"

"You can check the dash cam on my car and the security tapes at my apartment building, if you want."

"We definitely will, Mr. Park," said Jeon, surveying him carefully. "In the meantime, you will be in custody until we have verified each and every single thing you just told us. So I suggest you keep yourself hydrated."

Yuri could feel a pair of eyes on her as she spoke to Jisoo and Suho.

"We need to verify everything that Park Minhyuk told us. But there's a lot of ground to cover and we've lost quite a bit of time since the murder of Son Eunbi. So I suggest you recruit some uniformed officers as well." Jisoo jotted down the locations and the times they needed to verify, and nodded to Suho to indicate she had forwarded the details to him. "We need to get the information as soon as possible."

"Will do," said Suho, giving her a reassuring nod.

Yuri waited for them to leave before walking over to the person who had been watching her for a while.

"Did you want to talk about something?" she asked Seulgi.

"I-" Seulgi tugged at her sleek, high ponytail, looking oddly hesitant. She seemed in a better mood than earlier in the morning when she had almost scared one of the interns into leaving the country. "Do you have a minute?"

"Yeah- " Yuri checked the clock on her phone - "just a minute though. I'm waiting for Jeon to get a warrant from Goh."

"Did he-? I mean, Jimin, uh... have you...? You know-" It was strange to see her grappling for words. "Are you certain he's done it?"

Yuri stared at her for a second. This wasn't what she had been expecting Seulgi to talk about. The doctor's relationship with Jimin was even more puzzling than she had originally perceived it.

"We're looking into it right now." She paused, trying to gauge Seulgi's reaction. "But you already know about the blood sample match - that, in itself, is pretty damaging."

"Y-yeah, I know."

Before Yuri could say anything more, Jeon came out of the Chief Inspector's office. "We've got a warrant to search Minhyuk's apartment. Let's go."

Glancing one more time at Seulgi's ashen face, Yuri put on her coat and scarf and followed Jeon out the exit.

Once inside Jeon's car, Yuri debated whether or not she should attempt to engage him in conversation. Her decision was made for her when he drove onto the main road, and lowered the volume of the police scanner.

"What was Seulgi saying?" he asked, his eyes focused on the road.

"Just where we were in the investigation."

"I see."

Yuri fiddled with the button on her coat, itching to say more.

"What's the deal with her and Jimin?" she finally asked.

"I- what do you mean?" Jeon raised his eyebrow and gave her the most puzzled expression he could muster while trying to stay focused on the crazy traffic.

"Their relationship is... weird. He keeps flirting with her, and she is on the verge of ripping his guts out at every given moment. But just now, she seemed almost worried about him."

"I don't really know... they've never really seen eye-to-eye on much." Jeon checked the rear view mirror to make sure he was clear before deftly changing lanes. "Jimin has always been the person who tries his utmost to push everyone's buttons. And Seulgi... well, she has a lot of buttons."

Yuri snorted loudly. "That tells me nothing and everything at the same time. You really have a way with words, Jeon."

He smirked at this, his eyes never leaving the road. "So does that mean you trust me now?"

"No." She looked at him and caught the way his face fell slightly at her response. "But who knows what the future holds..."

The smirk was back.

Ahreum had a terrible headache. She usually didn't get many headaches. So on the rare occasion that she did, it put her in a really terrible mood. The only person who knew how to handle this situation properly was Namjoon. He knew that she needed silence, dim lighting, green tea, fresh bread, and absolutely no unexpected company.

So when Ahreum got home after her grueling 3 hour long meeting, hoping to relax and recuperate, she wasn't too pleased to find Taehyung sitting in her living room, playing a very loud game on his tablet.

"You're back!" he yelled, once she slammed the door to make her presence felt. "I've been waiting for hours. How was your meeting?"

"'S okay," she replied, shortly. Taking off her coat, she opened the middle cabinet in the kitchen and searched for the green tea.

"Great! So do you wanna go and visit Jimin now?"

"No."

"What? Why not? You don't have anything else to do right now. Just come with me. Please!" He had walked into the kitchen and was standing in front of her with a pout on his lips.

As endearing as she always found his antics, Ahreum was at breaking point. She placed the cup on the counter with a loud clink, and turned to face him.

"Because I don't have time to follow you on your every whim, Taehyung. Because I have a life of my own. Because I am studying medicine, which, if you aren't aware, is a very taxing occupation." She paused for a breath, as his mouth fell open in shock. "Because I am not your babysitter. Or your handler. Or your caretaker. And I'm tired of being responsible for you. You're a grown ass adult and it's about time you acted like one."

"Ahreum, I'm-" His eyes were wide and worried, and she felt a tiny sliver of remorse. "I don't think you're my babysitter or handler or whatever. You're my best friend."

"I thought so too. In fact," she said, looking away from him. "I thought we were, or we could be, more."

"W-what? Ahreum?" Taehyung sounded so lost and confused that she was tempted to console him.

She walked to the front door and held it open for him. "I think you should leave now. I'm tired, I have a headache, and I don't want to be around anyone right now."

"Wait! What did you mean by that?" he asked, hesitantly standing at the entrance.

"I'm tired, Taehyung. I don't have the energy to explain everything to you. Now, please," she began closing the door slowly. "I want to rest."

"It's clear!" The uniformed officer confirmed to them, before opening the door further.

"Okay, let's see whether little Gina is here," instructed Jeon, his face drawn into a frown.

Yuri nodded and walked into the room on the left of the large living area. It was a study of sorts, with a large wooden desk, a swiveling chair, and shelves upon shelves of books. She quickly checked to see if there was anyone in the room before shouting "clear!". There was another door connecting to a smaller room, it's walls bathed in bright sunlight and smelling of soft lavender. This was clearly some sort of guest room, judging by the inconsistent decor theme. The furniture looked sleek and modern, but the sheets on the bed were soft and pastel colored. A bunch of soft toys stood leaning against the flat screen tv, and Yuri realised that this was probably the room that had been hastily fixed up for a small child's unexpected stay. And sure enough, soft strands of brown hair peaked through the large covers on the bed.

She walked over to the bed slowly, not wanting to startle the child. Yuri barely managed to stifle a gasp as she looked into the child's clear grey eyes - the same color as both Park Minhyuk and Park Jimin.

"Hello," she said, softly. "Are you Gina?"

The little girl nodded, bringing the covers closer towards her.

"I'm a police officer. I help catch bad people." She didn't respond, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Do you want to go to your dad, Gina?" She nodded vigorously, sitting up at the mention of her father. "Okay, we will. But first, tell me, are you okay? Do you feel pain anywhere?"

The little girl shook her head.

"Are you sleepy?"

Again, she shook her head.

"Are you hungry?"

Slowly, she nodded her head.

"Okay, we'll go and see your dad, and also get you something to eat. Is that okay with you?"

"Yes."

"Wonderful."

It was just after 2 pm and Yuri felt completely drained. After they had found Gina, she had insisted on returning to the station to ask Jimin about his alibi for the night of Kang Eunwoo's murder. From what she had understood, he had refused to provide an alibi to protect his brother and keep him out of the police's radar until the situation with Gina worked out. Even though she still couldn't get herself to consider him a pleasant person, his desire to protect his brother had humanized him a great deal in her eyes.

Sure enough, once he was made aware that Minhyuk had come forward and spoken about his daughter and the events of the past month and a half, Jimin looked much less hostile than before.

"I was at Sunset from around 10.30 pm to closing time - which is 2 am," he said, sighing tiredly and rubbing his face with his hands. "You can confirm with them."

While Minhyuk and Jimin's alibis were verified, Yuri received a text from Namjoon, asking her and Jeon to meet him at Seokjin's bakery. It was barely a 2 minute drive there, so Jeon suggested they get lunch over there and make it before Goh finished compiling the list of paperwork for them to finish.

The smell of freshly baked milk bread wafted out of the kitchen, adding another layer of warmth to Seokjin's cozy shop. The man in question picked up the large tray filled with various different confections, and brought it over to the table by the window.

"Peach danish and americano for Namjoon, chocolate fudge brownie and vanilla bean ice cream for Jeongguk, and a snow croissant and hot chocolate for Yuri." He placed everything on the table, before grabbing his lukewarm cup of tea and sitting down with them.

"So you finally find the child, then?" asked Seokjin, sipping the tea. He made a face at the odd taste that tea acquires when it's between comfortingly steamy and soothingly chilled.

"Yeah we did," Yuri replied, when her partner remained silent. "Goh is dealing with Minhyuk and the custody charges. It's no longer in our jurisdiction."

"Namjoon, how's grad school treating you?" Seokjin diverted the conversation, realising that his friend wasn't ready to talk about the case at that moment. "How much longer do you have?"

"A few more months and I should be done." Namjoon wiped the pastry flakes from the corner of his mouth and nearly tipped over his americano in the process. Yuri chuckled at this, suddenly remembering those random moments in high school where Namjoon was a lot thinner and less confident, but still had a propensity for knocking things over.

"Remind me why you're putting yourself through this?" Seokjin broke off a piece of the peach danish and popped it into his mouth.

"The last time I tried to explain that, you spaced out and created a new pastry recipe for your menu. As much as I like helping your business flourish, I'm gonna preserve my energy and only talk about things when necessary."

Seokjin chuckled and picked up a spoon from the dispenser. "Jeongguk, can I get a bit of ice cream from you?" There was no response, and looking at him for confirmation Seokjin's eyebrows shot up in alarm.

"Okay okay, I won't eat any of your ice cream. You don't have to tear up about it!"

Yuri and Namjoon turned towards him as well, not sure what to do when they saw tears slowly sliding down Jeongguk's cheeks.

"Are you okay? What's wrong?" asked Namjoon, patting his shoulder softly.

They sat in silence, as Jeongguk sobbed softly and wiped his face with his coat sleeve. He turned towards Yuri, his eyes glazed with tears but holding a soft radiance unlike what she was used to.

"Thank you."

Yuri felt her face heat up suddenly. This wasn't what she had been expecting. The soft sincerity in his voice startled her. It was nothing like the person she had met only a week ago. She looked away abruptly and nodded her head.

"There's nothing to thank me for. This is our job."

Jeongguk smiled and resumed eating the disgustingly sweet dessert combination in front of him. He nudged Seokjin to take some ice cream like he had originally intended. There was silence once more, but this time, it was very different.

Back at the station, Yuri finished the paperwork for the day. There was a lot to complete, and since they had stopped at Seokjin's for a break, they had lost some time as well. Goh had been very clear about completing all the paperwork for social services to take over the case from them now that Gina had been found.

It was barely even 5 pm but Yuri felt a large yawn coming on for the third time in the past few minutes. She wasn't sure how long she would be able to carry on without getting proper sleep at night. At this rate, she would eventually burn out. There was only so much coffee could do for her.

A light tap brought her attention to another person standing in her cubicle. She looked up to see Jeon holding two steaming cups of ramen, tilting his head slightly to confirm whether it was okay for him to sit down.

"Did you need anything?" she asked, after moving her slightly. He placed the ramen on her desk and pulled up his own chair and sat down.

"I've got a peace offering," he gestured to the ramen. "I wanted to apologize properly for being an absolute dickhead to you. I-" He hesitated, looking down at his hands that lay clenched on his lap - "I don't really have an excuse for my behavior but I had a lot on my mind. Particularly about finding the little girl. And, well... you really don't know what solving this case means to me."

Once again, Yuri wasn't sure how to react. She felt embarrassed that he was thanking her for doing her job - something that he did as well. While she appreciated his apology, his entire being remained confusing to her.

"Don't worry about it," she said, waving her hand dismissively. "And thanks for the ramen; food is always appreciated."

Thankfully, her computer ping-ed with a new email before the atmosphere could get any more awkward.

"Okay, we've confirmed Minhyuk's alibi's for 2nd November and 15th December. He wasn't involved in either murder. Jimin was with Minhyuk till 10.15 pm on 15th December - his car's dash cam confirms that he dropped Jimin off at Sunset bar around that time."

"Fantastic! And what about the CCTV footage at Sunset? Does it confirm Jimin's story? He said he was there till 2 am."

"Hang on, I'm opening the report. Th-" she stopped abruptly, frowning at the screen.

"What?" asked Jeon, looking over her shoulder to read the email.

"CCTV footage does not place Jimin at Sunset from 10.15 pm till closing time at 2 in the morning. He doesn't have an alibi for Eunwoo's murder."

She turned to look at him, an odd sense of foreboding hitting her as she realized that they would have to charge Jimin for murder by the next evening. He held her gaze, his dark eyes reflecting a similar shadow of doubt.

please reblog and leave a comment if you liked this part! thank you! 😊 

[one-leaf-grimoire]

crocodile tears

Chapter 1: in which marina has the worst day of her life

Hi! And welcome! Yes, I am publishing the first chapter of this fic on my Black Clover blog, I know it’s a little bizarre. Ahem. Anyway- I hope you guys will read this and enjoy it if you like jojo! I know there’s plenty of overlap between these two fandoms. DM or inbox me if you’d like to be added to the taglist! 

Synopsis: Marina considers herself to be a normal teenager, despite both being the daughter of a senator and the center of many bizarre happenings throughout her life. However, everything gets turned upside down when her whole family is kidnapped. In that moment of fear, something within her awakens. Little does she know, this power is called a Stand, and she has caught the eye of the worst person imaginable. Marina must learn to master her stand, and decide where her loyalties lie: with the man who saved her life or with her newfound friends?

Warnings: Violence, frightening scenes, language, and Dio being toxic lol

March 6th, 1988

Cool water enveloped her body. Everything was cloaked in a sea green haze.

She was laying on the bottom of the riverbed, staring up at the muted sun. A crocodile swam by, almost lazily. It did not notice her, and she didn't feel scared.

It was just a crocodile.

"Marina... Marina, wake up already!"

Something cold and clammy grasped the 17-year-old girl's foot. Marina let out a scream and quickly recoiled under the soft white linens on her bed. "Five more minutes, mom!"

Marina’s mother scowled at her only daughter. She was already dressed in long, light pants and a tropical looking shirt. An over-sized hat adorned her head atop dark brown hair, a few shades lighter than her only daughter's. "Marina, we have five minutes before the ship docks. Dad's already gone up to eat."

"Well, that's just Dad," the girl grumbled back, pulling the covers more tightly around her shoulders, as if this cocoon would keep her safe from her mother's impending wrath. "He gets up early every day, that shouldn't mean that we also have to be up at the crack of dawn."

"It's not the crack of dawn, it's nearly ten o'clock already. The ship is running a little early, so we'll have more time to explore Alexandria."

Marina's only reply was a grunt. Her mother sighed. "What is it with you this morning?" She shook her head and swung her bag over her shoulder. "I'll be up on the top deck watching us dock. It's nice and warm outside, so dress accordingly. We'll see you in five minutes, or it's going to be a very long time before you get to go on another cruise, young lady." A few moments later, and the door shut.

Marina groaned and finally blinked her eyes open, immediately feeling the pounding pain of a migraine wash over her temple. Ouch... did I have a nightmare last night? Usually I sleep like a baby on these cruises.

Marina and her family had been on numerous cruises throughout her life. Her father, Mitchell Porosus was a state senator, and earned a comfortable paycheck, so the Porosus family was able to go on trips whenever congress was on a break. Marina wished her dad was around more, but overall the family dynamic was happy and harmonious. Marina had her 17th birthday recently, and this cruise was supposed to be a celebration of that. 

“You know what that means?” her father had told her that day. “You’re the same age as the Dancing Queen! You know, the song? Dancing Queeeen, young and sweeet, only seventeeen-”

Of course they were in public when they said that, so Marina was horribly embarrassed by her father’s terrible singing voice. For someone with a public reputation, he sure didn’t mind ruining it!

But in the end, it was sweet. Her father loved ABBA and Elton John, and Marina imagined that the two of them would dance to Dancing Queen or Tiny Dancer at her wedding.

Marina loved her dad and mom, and that was the reason why she finally dragged herself down from the bunkbed. From their room on the second level, she could see the dock inching closer and closer. With a yawn, Marina turned and walked into the bathroom, where she finally was able to look upon her tired face in the mirror. Her short, black hair was frizzled, but a few brush strokes later reverted it to its usual sleek form. Marina stretched her arms above her head, wincing a little as she heard her shoulders pop. Jeez, good thing I don’t have a swim meet today, my joints are all out of whack. Her blue-grey eyes, still bloodshot from a fitful sleep, harbored a major case of the dark circles. Nothing a little makeup couldn't fix.

A few minutes later, Marina was finally dressed in some high waisted jeans and a non-descript tank top. She had her trusty mirrored sunglasses on, yet the sunlight from the window was enough to make her eyes water. Leaving her room, she walked down the hallway, strutting with her hands deep in her pockets, her fingers running over the ID card given to her upon embarkation. Marina Porosus.

"Finally, there you are," her father greeted when she made it down to the gangway. "Ready to see Egypt?"

Her father was a tall man, with jet black hair like Marina's. While her mother's eyes were a warm brown, his were blue. He looked like your stereotypical senator, even if he didn’t act like it.”

"Do they even have any pyramids in this town?" Marina asked, a bit apathetically.

Her mother shook her head. "No pyramids, but there used to be a library here, the library of Alexandria!"

Marina raised an eyebrow. "Used to be? Well, what's here now?"

Her parents were at a loss for words. "Well, why don't we go see!" her father exclaimed optimistically, throwing his arms around his daughter and wife. 

For the first time that morning, Marina smiled. Even if it was just her parents and her, the three of them would have a good time.

Alexandria was lively place, full of noise and life. Most of it was centered around the port, where the single cruise ship was docked. It was like any other port Marina had visited, except the air was much more dry than the Caribbean. Even Italy was more humid. Marina walked behind her parents as they made their way farther inland. “There’s some ancient ruins I want to check out,” her father said excitedly. “And are you still curious about the Library of Alexandria, Marina?”

Marina shrugged. “Was I curious to begin with?”

“Yes!” her father asserted. “Anyway, there’s a museum all about it farther inland. The walk is a little long, but it’ll be fun!”

Marina sighed, shaking her head a little. She knew her father had enough money to rent a cab, but he was stubborn and insisted that walking “built character.” 

“Tarot card readings! Have your fortune told by the Tarot!”

For some reason, Marina’s feet stalled. Slowly, she stopped, then turned her head towards the source of the voice.

No... it wasn’t the voice that drew her there.

It was... something else.

Like magnetism. Gravity. Marina’s gaze fell upon a short, clocked figure, sitting at the mouth of an alley. The voice was feminine, wracked with age, but Marina couldn’t be sure. For a moment, she almost kept walking, but a moment of hesitation was all it took.

“Dad! Can I get my fortune told?”

Her parents stopped and looked back at her. Her father eyed the fortune teller suspiciously. “Ah, Marina, you don’t believe that stuff, do you?”

“So? It’ll still be fun.” Marina looked back over at the fortune teller. She still had that weird feeling, like that person was someone she knew. “Anyway, Tarot Card readings originated in ancient Egypt, so isn’t this a good experience to have while here?”

Well, her father couldn’t deny that. “Here-” He handed the cloaked figure a twenty dollar bill. “Will this suffice?”

“Certainly.” A deck of cards appeared from under the sleeve of their cloak, and instantly shuffled itself. They spread out across the makeshift table. A wrinkled hand gestured at the line. “Go ahead... pick three, my dear.”

Slowly, Marina reached down. With one finger, she slid one card forward, then another, and then a third. The fortune teller swept them up immediately and placed them face up. Marina’s eyes narrowed as she saw the pictures on the cards, but couldn’t read the writing on them. “So? What does it mean?”

With a soft chuckle, a withered finger pointed at the first. “This card represents your past... This is the Six of Wands card! Confidence, recognition, and success... you’ve known all three throughout your life.”

Marina gulped, shrugging a little. Maybe... but everyone’s had some sort of success in their life! That seems a little too broad.

“And this is the present-” They gestured at the middle card. “This is the Tower Card... it represents catastrophic change, and... awakening.”

Awakening? That’s interesting... I don’t know what that could be.

“Tell me...” Marina looked up to see an eye peering out from behind the hood. It narrowed curiously. “This card is one of the Major Arcana... it represents a milestone in your life. You must have noticed, then... even if you don’t know quite yet...”

Marina wasn’t sure she liked the way the fortune teller was spinning this. I haven’t noticed anything like that! “Okay... and the last card is the future?”

“Yes, yes...”

The fortune teller’s finger fell upon the face of the last card. Unlike the first two, it was reversed, facing away from Marina. “This card, when reversed, represents dissatisfaction, delays, and... an endless, fruitless search for closure.”

Marina felt a chill go down her neck.

“The World.”

The family left the fortune teller behind after that. Even as they searched farther inland, visiting temples and museums, Marina could not shake the slowly growing pit of dread in her stomach. 

A few hours later, it was almost time to get back on the ship. The problem was that the small family had made their way a little too far inland and were now in real danger of being left behind. 

"This is all your fault, dad!" Marina scolded as she jogged behind her parents. There was a taxi station nearby where they could get transport to the port. "You always geek out over this historical stuff and make us late to things!"

"Well, your mother wanted to get that hat from that store back there, too, so I'm not the only one to blame," he yelled back. "In any case, we can just hop on a taxi and-" His face fell, and the family skidded to a halt. The entire plaza was slammed, bumper to bumper traffic as far as they could see. "Mitchell, we're definitely going to miss the boat," her mom said quietly. Of course, Senator Porosus stayed enthusiastic, shaking his head. "No, we'll make it if we run."

Marina groaned as her father and mother started to run again. "Seriously?" It wasn't that Marina couldn't keep up; she had been swimming her entire life and had great stamina. It was just so damn hot out.

"If you hurry, we'll make it back in time for dinner," her mother encouraged, spurring Marina on into a true run.

With her dad leading the way, the trio raced down the street towards where they thought the port was. There were a lot of people walking on the sidewalks, but it wasn't hard to weave between them without disturbance. Marina craned her neck and, with a ton of relief, spied the top of their ship up ahead. "I can see it, Dad!" she exclaimed, already thinking about what she was going to eat for dinner tonight. "We're going to make it!"

"Here, let's cut through this road." He pointed at an alley that seemingly cut over to where the embarkation area was. "We can beat some of the line as well."

"Perfect!" Marina changed course and ran ahead of her parents and into the alleyway.

For a moment, the sounds of the busy streets died away, leaving only three pairs of footsteps slapping their way down the stone path. The buildings on either side were tall enough to block out the afternoon sun, leaving them in a comfortable chill.

Up ahead was a corner. Marina quickened her pace and turned into...

A dead end.

"Shit," her dad exclaimed, earning him a sharp kick in the shin from his wife. "Ah, excuse my french. Back luck, huh." He shrugged, ever optimistic. "Well, I guess we can double back and keep running."

"Yeah," Marina’s mom agreed.

Marina sighed. What a let down! Well, it wouldn't take too long to get back, at least, at this rate we’ll make in in time-

Marina turned around to see that five men, all armed with guns, had cornered them in the dead end.

"Look at this, just the man we were looking for!” one of them pointed at Marina’s dad. “This is the senator we were told to capture? He doesn’t look like much.”

“Don’t worry, this is him... Senator Porosus, a friend of yours sends this message:” one of the men grinned. “You’ve been in my way for too long, Mitch. It’s time for me to put the fear of God in you. Enjoy your extended stay in Egypt!”

“What? Who hired you?” Mitchell gulped and pulled his wife and daughter behind him. Marina felt her mom's cold hand clutch her arm. This time, she didn't try to shrug it off. “I’ve done nothing but get along with everyone. They all want to see me reach the top! I’m gonna be President one day-”

“We’ll see about that.” The man in charge raised his gun. “For now, come to our truck. We’ll make you and your family comfortable until someone generous pays your ransom.”

Oh no, they had a truck somewhere.

"Look... I don’t care what you do to me.” Senator Porosus said, his voice shaking a little. For someone in so much danger, he was staying pretty composed. “But leave my family out of it!”

“Mitchell-” Marina’s mother whispered, her grip on Marina loosening slightly. “Just do what they say, and-” She was cut off with a scream as one of the men yanked her away from her family.

Marina's eyes widened. Shit! This is actually happening- It was like a scene from a movie, some horrible, scary movie, and panic spiked through Marina’s veins. "MOM! DAD!" Someone grabbed Senator Porous as well, and now two more were advancing towards Marina.

"Don’t even try, you’re just going to get hurt!” one of the guys said with a twisted grin. Marina screamed and struggled anyway as her arms were twisted behind her body. 

No... NO!

This wasn’t how it was supposed to be. This was supposed to be their last stop before flying home, where Marina would finish up the year and enjoy the summer with her friends. But now-

Catastrophic change... and-

With one last burst of strength, Marina wrenched her arm away, freeing herself for a moment. She turned around, her eyes wide and crazed with adrenaline.

Awakening.

The gun leveled at her head was suddenly crunched into a flat piece of scrap metal. The man holding it didn’t have a moment to realize what had happened, because numerous spots of his arm suddenly burst with blood.

He opened his mouth to scream, stumbling back, but it was as if something was clamped down on his arm, hard. Bones crunched as he was suddenly wrenched to the side, and the movement sent him flying into the nearby brick wall.

Marina froze.

What- what on earth-

But then something hit her in the back of the head, hard, and she fell back down to the bottom of the river.

The crocodile continued to circle high above.

And that’s chapter one!!!! I hope you guys are intrigued 0.0 Please comment/inbox/etc if you have any theories or thoughts, I always appreciate them! I’ll probably post the next chapter on Friday. I changed a couple things to make the story flow better than it did when I first released it. Anyway, see you next time!

Also, did anyone catch the meaning of Marina’s last name? hehe...

[perfeggso]

till the sun’s seeing through my eyes (yumark)

ace me out 

Yuta and Mark are next-door neighbors who grew up together, joined at the hip until Yuta went off to college. Due to their four-year age gap, Mark's freshman year at the same school marks the halfway point of an unprecedented amount of time apart. Yuta is sure he can handle it, until Mark's arrival home for spring break makes him wonder if the fondness he has for his friend might be blooming quite literally into something stronger. It's up to him to handle the consequences.

Chapter 1  |  Chapter 2  |  Masterlist 

Characters: Yuta x Mark + NCT ensemble, other SM (and non-SM (?)) idols tbd

Genres: heavy angst, fluff, Hanahaki!AU, small town!AU, slight Witchcraft/Magic!AU, College!AU

Warnings: blood and gore, mentions of death, disease, vomiting, college-typical alcohol use, swearing  

Rating: T

Length: 5.8k 

“Sunny,” Yuta reckoned, was the word most often used to describe both him and Mark – if in profoundly different ways.  Yuta’s favorite season was summer, so it followed that he should be like the summer sun: bright, intense, and all-consuming.  Mark, on the other hand, favored fall, and sometimes reminded Yuta of early autumn sunshine: soft in its glow, yet surprisingly bold.

It wasn’t summer when Yuta started feeling shortness of breath for the first time; it wasn’t fall, either.  It was in early March, during the part of spring where no one can agree if the world still feels like winter or if it’s beginning to thaw.  The thaw was usually something Yuta savored; the slow sensation of sunshine gingerly gracing his skin for the first time in months.  Sure, the winter sun was a welcome reprieve from the town’s usual snow and rain-induced gloom, but even when it came out, Yuta had a hard time feeling it.  It was the difference between being touched by bare hands and being touched through gloves.  Early March was when that transition usually occurred, along with the first appearances of crocuses and daffodils in Yuta’s garden, and he had always relished it; relished the lead-up to his favorite season and how that seemed to elongate it.  Since last year though, Yuta wasn’t sure what he thought about spring anymore – if he could still trust it.  It was almost exactly a year ago after all – last March – that Yukhei had nearly let himself die of hanahaki.

No, the first time Yuta felt an unusual shortness of breath was after soccer practice on March 6th, the day Mark Lee came home for spring break.  The sun was peeking through the clouds and glittering off the distant coast as Yuta kicked the ball around with Kun, who’d met up with him in the park off Main Street once Yuta’d finished running the local junior high soccer team through some drills.  Yuta had played intramurally while studying anthropology at the college a half hour away, as well as participating in several dance troops, and since he was only a year out of school, he still considered himself a relatively fit person, even if he was known to gorge on the Seo family’s matcha and azuki bean muffins until he could barely walk.  That’s why he found it so odd when he ran for the ball, which Kun had kicked particularly hard and far, and felt like the air was being yanked from his lungs like a chair being pulled from under him.

He kicked it back, his body flailing wildly, and collected himself, hands on his knees and upper body heaving, bent over.  Maybe he was developing asthma, he thought.  He’d heard of that happening to people nearly at random and with no history of the ailment.  He would have to make himself something for that.

“You okay?” called Kun, stopping the ball quickly and jogging over to his friend.

“Yeah I’m good,” Yuta responded, peering up at Kun sideways and flashing him his most blinding grin.  “I just felt a little weird for a sec.”

Yuta gazed past Kun, noticing a figure moving on the edge of the field.  Was that –

“Mark?” he yelled, heaving one more time before allowing himself to return to standing.  Kun wheeled around, looking elated, and sure enough, the figure raised both arms in greeting, breaking into a run.

“I’m baaaaack!” said Mark.  Yuta thought he looked older, even, than he had over his winter break, wearing jeans and a brown herringbone bomber jacket, black hair parting down the middle to fall over a pair of round wire glasses.  He looked like a city boy for some reason, not a conservation major from the countryside.  Yuta practically tackled Mark in a hug, trying to absorb his friend’s smaller frame as Kun looked on in amusement.  A grey cloud floated overhead, obscuring the tentative sun and making Yuta shiver.  When he pulled away, he indulged in a look of performative hurt, unzipping his pocket and pulling his phone out just to confirm what he already suspected; sure enough, there were no notifications.

“How dare you, Mark Lee!” he accused, pointing his finger in Mark’s face and leaning forward so Mark felt the need to lean back in response.  “How could you not tell me you were coming home today?”

Mark broke into a body-racking fit of giggles.  “I’m not allowed to give you a nice surprise?”

Yuta huffed in lieu of an answer and pointed at Kun.  “Was he involved?”

“Mark texted me earlier and asked if I could find you and detain you for him,” Kun confirmed, and Yuta glared.

“Whatever.  Markie, you caught me so unprepared!  I hope you know I won’t forgive you.”  But that was a lie.  Yuta had already forgiven Mark the ambush, if it required forgiving at all, and Mark knew this because the moment he’d schooled his laughing (which was no small feat) he sighed through a tight-lipped smile, eyes so big under his glasses and full of familiar warmth.

“It’s good to see you too, man,” Mark said, adding, “and Kun also.  Thanks for being my co-conspirator.”

Now that he’d processed, Yuta realized how giddy he was.  His best friend was back for a few weeks and they could do whatever they wanted; make spring sweet like it used to be.  He shuffled a bit on his feet as his enthusiasm boiled over, pushing thoughts of asthma out.  He slung an arm over Mark’s neck and started walking towards the rest of town while Kun went to fetch the ball like the responsible person he’d always been.

“Ugh, why can’t you just graduate already?” Yuta whined to Mark.  “I mean we’ve already gone through this once when I was gone! It hasn’t even been a year yet and I’m already sick of you being away!”

Mark chuckled.  “Thanks?” he said.  “But you can always come visit me, dude, like you already have…”

Yuta shook his head, petulant.  There were moments he thanked his lucky stars that his friends put up with his shit, and this was one of them.  “Not the same,” he explained.  “Don’t like sharing.”

Mark spluttered.

“Anyway!” Yuta diverted when Kun rejoined them, “Do you want to come over to mine this evening so we can catch up?  Kun, you’re invited too of course along with the others, who I can shoot a text too although it might be a LITTLE LAST MINUTE, you know?  That could have been avoided, but alas.”  Yuta cleared his throat as his friends laughed indulgently.  “But yeah, I’m in the barn these days, so we can have a little shindig.  What do you say?”    

“That sounds awesome!” said Mark.  “Just gotta check with my parents, but I don’t think that’ll be an issue.”

Yuta rolled his eyes and scoffed in mock disdain.  “Underclassmen…”

They emerged from the park onto Main Street and Kun excused himself to check on the coffeeshop, promising to be at Yuta’s whenever they decided the gathering would be.  Yuta turned to Mark.

“I have a couple errands I have to run in town before I go home, and then I need to get ready, so while I’m doing that you can go and make sure you have permission to be out after dark.”

Mark laughed, flustered.  That was one of the plethora of reasons he tended to laugh; the others ranging from fear to disgust to joy.  “Alright, Yuta,” he agreed.  “I’ll see you tonight.  Can’t wait to be back with the gang; well – minus Johnny, I guess.  Anyway, can I get another hug?”

Yuta grabbed Mark before the request had been fully uttered, rocking him back and forth and groaning in a way he thought only appropriate considering the tightness of his squeezing.

“Whatever you want, Markie,” Yuta teased before letting his friend go.  “See you tonight.”  And with that Mark was backing away down the street and towards their neighborhood, giving Yuta a dorky little salute when he’d gone far enough to warrant turning around.  Yuta shuddered as he watched Mark leave, the cool tinge of early spring evening setting in against his exposed arms.  It was already 4:30 and the previous sunshine was diffusing into a blue tint over everything in sight.  The shade reminded Yuta of the hour in summer when fireflies usually made their first appearances.  If only it were warmer.

On his way down Main, Yuta stopped into the herbalist’s before the shop closed, finding Kunhang manning it, himself home for break.  A little bell jingled as the door opened and shut and Kunhang lifted his head from where it had been settled lazily against the metal counter.

“Yuutaaa,” he called, “what do you need?”

“Hey Kunhang,” he greeted, “do you guys have any black seed?  I’m all out.”

Kunhang reached under his desk and rummaged around, emerging with an empty jar about the size of a single serving of yogurt.  “Sure thing,” he said, turning around and tracing his eyes and pointer finger over labels upon labels until he found the one for the product he was looking for.  “Here we go.  What’s it for?”

Yuta shrugged, fishing for his wallet.  “Just a little chest tightness.  Think I exercised too much today.  I’m an old man, you know.”

Kunhang turned back around, jar of black granules in hand, and placed it on a small metal scale.  “You’re the furthest thing from an old man I can think of, but alright.” He said, then named the price.  Yuta laughed at Kunhang’s comment and exchanged a few bills for his purchase, which Kunhang had packed for him in a lavender-colored paper bag folded over at the top.

“You close at five?” Yuta asked, loitering a few feet from the door. Kunhang nodded.  “Perfect.  You know Mark’s back?”

“I heard,” said Kunhang, settling his elbows back on the counter’s copper top.  “But I haven’t had time to see him yet.  I don’t think he knows I work here now.”

“Well, I’m trying to have a get-together tonight at my place to celebrate.  I’ll send out details soon I think.”

Kunhang looked pleasantly surprised.  “Oh! That’s awesome!” he said. “I’ll definitely be there.  Is it, like – what kind of get-together?”

Yuta chuckled and Kunhang’s expression hinted at embarrassment.  College kids…      

“It’ll be chill, but I’m cool with BYOB if you have something in mind.  I have a few herbal liqueurs I’ve been wanting a reason to break out, anyway.”

“Sweet,” said Kunhang.  “See you tonight, I guess.”

Yuta let himself out with a chiming of the bell.  “I hope so!”

Next stop was Taeyong’s flower shop.  Yuta steadied himself before crossing the street, breath hitching again strangely at his trachea.  He cleared his throat, trying to fight the mild jolt of terror it gave him not knowing what was wrong.  It was as if when he drew air into his lungs, a small fraction of it transformed into something else that he couldn’t breathe.  It was…strange; there was no other way of describing it.  He pitched forward a bit and forced himself to take a full breath to calm his nerves.  He’d been conditioned by his soccer coaches his whole life not to catch his breath in this position, but now that he was actually struggling, he found it was the only effective strategy.  Once he felt a bit better, he crossed the street and walked into the Lee family flower shop.

“Evening, good sir,” he said jovially upon entry.  Taeyong seemed to be in the process of tallying up the day’s total from the till.

“Yuta!” he said, looking from under his bangs. “What a surprise.  You need something or just stopping in to say hi?”

“Both,” Yuta answered, calm normalcy settling back into his brain as if he’d crushed it up and taken it in a little pill.  “I’m getting some flowers in Mark’s honor.  Have you seen him yet?”

“Yeah,” Taeyong said, setting down a handful of bills and rocking against the counter in front of him, “he stopped by earlier today.  Didn’t get to talk long though. He warned me not to text you anything about it.”  Taeyong smirked.  

Who else’d seen Mark before Yuta had?   He pushed his petulant thoughts aside.  “I’m having a little impromptu party in the loft tonight if you could be bothered.  Just to celebrate being reunited as a mostly group, you know – now that all the young’uns are back from break.”

Taeyong nodded.  “Sounds perfect.  Just tell me the details and I’ll be there.”

“Great.  In the meantime,” Yuta continued, “I’d like to acquire a bouquet to decorate; make it homier, I guess.  Also, I want it to be something Mark would like.”

Taeyong pursed his lips in thought and hummed.  “What about bluebell?” he asked.  “They just came into season and Mark likes blue.”

“Sounds good,” Yuta agreed as Taeyong cut a square of paper, scissors gliding with a satisfying crisp sound, folded it into a cone, and began arranging the bauble-like periwinkle blossoms inside it.

“Anything else you want in there?” asked Taeyong.  Yuta hadn’t come with a plan, so he found himself pondering his options uselessly.  That is, until a golden bundle of baby sunflowers caught his eye.

“Oh!” he said, pointing in their direction.  “Maybe a few of those; since I like them and because Mark brought the sunnier weather with him today.”

Taeyong smiled softly, plucking three of the blooms and situated them amongst the bluebell in the least awkward arrangement possible considering their vast difference in size.

Yuta nodded his approval.  “Looks good,” he remarked.  “By the way, where did you get them? It’s not really the season...”

“The sunflowers?” Taeyong asked, and Yuta nodded again.  Taeyong leaned over the counter and put a flattened hand on one side of his mouth like he had a particularly juicy secret.  Yuta leaned in too.  “I don’t know if you’ve heard but they have this very exciting new technology called a greenhouse.  It’s still part of a classified experiment, but you know, I figured I could trust you…”  Taeyong giggled at Yuta’s expense and at his own jest.

“Alright, whatever,” Yuta grumbled, reaching again for his wallet.  “stupid question.”

“What are you doing?” Taeyong shot at him.

“Paying you?” Yuta responded.

“No, you’re not.  Friend discount; on the house.”

“ Discount isn’t supposed to mean free,” Yuta protested.  

Taeyong gave a proud look as he forced the flowers on Yuta.  “I am the house, therefore I get to decide what to put on it.  That’s the final word.”

Yuta tried to argue again but lost due to Taeyong’s hard-headed generosity.

Taeyong gestured to Yuta’s bag of seeds as he was preparing to leave.  “That for Mark too?” he asked.

“No, this is for me,” replied Yuta.  “Just out of some herbs.  Also, the flowers aren’t only for Mark.  You’ll all get to enjoy them!”

Taeyong’s eyes rolled up into his head for a moment, contrasting the sweetness of his face.  “Okay, okay, fair enough.  I’ll see you later tonight, then.  I can’t wait!”

When Yuta was out the door, he transferred his baggie so it was pinned between his elbow and side, giving him a hand to manipulate his phone.  There was a text bubble on the screen from Mark confirming he could come over any time after 6:30.  Yuta grinned, sending off a quick message in their friend group chat requesting the pleasure of everyone’s presence at his home at 7:45.    

Yuta’s family lived in a craftsman farmhouse with a compact cluster of woods in the backyard and a garden out front.  The Nakamotos were not farmers, though, so the rest of the land which had once come with the house they sold in part and gave up in part to be used as communal land for the town.  This meant that Yuta grew up with a slew of gardeners, hikers, picnickers, and campers hanging around his home, and his friends credited this with his sociability.

The house’s old barn had been converted into storage space and a study for Yuta’s father, but once he’d graduated from college and returned home, the upper loft area was turned over to Yuta so he could enjoy more privacy from his parents and younger sister.  It was really nice of them to let him move in there while he decided what to do with himself.  He remembered transferring his belongings to the barn like he was moving into his dorm freshman year all over again.

Yuta and Mark hadn’t met in school, since they were four grades apart.  Instead, they met because they lived next door to each other; their families’ properties separated only by a short hawthorn hedge.  Once when they were in elementary and preschool respectively, they became convinced there were dinosaur bones entombed in the plant’s roots and went to work hacking at them with plastic toy shovels until they had unearthed a series of interestingly-shaped rocks, or as they had put it to their horrified parents, “triceratops horns.”  

Yuta still had those rocks on a silver saucer he kept on his dresser to display random natural objects he’d collected over the years, and the memory flashed through him at the sight of them when he walked into his room that day.  He placed his bouquet in a flouted cut crystal vase which he set in the sitting area on the far end of his loft, then ran a hot shower, figuring the steam would do some good for both his chilled nerves and constricted lungs.

When he exited the shower, he rummaged through his herb cabinet, pulling out some honey, turmeric, ginger, and ginseng.  He placed the herbs into his quartz mortar along with a small spoonful of the black seed he’d bought from Kunhang, then crushed it all up with his pestle.  He dumped the resulting paste into a mug, added some honey so that it all resembled liquified amber, and doused the mixture in hot water from his portable kettle.  Before drinking it, he thought up a short prayer that the infusion might permanently sooth whatever inflammation was bothering his airways.  He figured the strange discomfort wasn’t anything serious, but you could never be too careful.

Yuta sipped the pungent concoction and scrolled through his phone.  To his delight, most people were responding positively.  Everyone besides Chenle and Taeil (who happened to be home visiting) was available, and when Yuta offered to reschedule, both of them said they could just have another gathering later and it would be for the better – Yuta’s loft was going to be a tough fit for all of them as it was.  In a way it made him feel better that Johnny couldn’t be there.  That was the trouble with large friend groups: finding a time when everyone was free and motivated was as difficult as finding a spell Yuta’s mother hadn’t practiced.

Yuta hooked his phone up to his speaker and played some music while he got dressed, swapping his black bathrobe for jeans, a white t-shirt, and the letterman cardigan that’d been purchased ironically with the rest of his contemporary dance troupe in college, but quickly turned into one of his favorite items of clothing.  Yuta peeked at his clock.  An hour and a half and he’d be dancing around his room with his friends, pleasantly buzzed and listening to all the hijinks Mark had undoubtedly gotten himself into his freshman spring.

***

Yuta might have been a diviner, he thought stupidly, he had been that accurate in predicting how the night would go.  Of course, it wasn’t hard to anticipate an outcome he’d had a hand in orchestrating, but he excused his jumbled thoughts as they could be easily chalked up to the multiple Campari drinks he’d made himself over the course of the night – or, at least, that he’d convinced Doyoung to make for him.  He was in the sitting area of his room, dancing with Mark and trying not to disrupt any of his furniture in the cramped space.

“Mark Lee,” he said, setting his glass on the coffee table so he could gesture more freely, “you mean to tell me you haven’t been up to anything of note since winter break?”

“I’m telling you man, I haven’t,” replied Mark, bouncing his way into the side of Yuta’s couch and pulling a startled face in response.  A fit of tipsy giggles poured from Yuta, causing Mark to practically heave laughter.

“Okay, anyway,” continued Mark before anything else could throw him off.  “It’s been midterms and stuff, so I’ve been really busy.  That’s about all I can handle if I’m still gonna try to keep the radio slot Johnny left to me and I promised him I would!  Some people sleep, you know.”

Yuta scoffed.  “I sleep,” he said, reaching towards the table to take a swig of the herbal red liquid in his glass.  “Anyway, point taken.”

“You really saw me at my wildest point, Yuta,” Mark said, sipping from his cider, “I’ve calmed down since senior spring.  I was nervous about college and I let that get to me whenever I came to visit you. Now I’m adjusted; I’m a new man.”

Yuta did a little spin and found that it made him lightheaded.  He chose to ignore that observation.  “What have you done with the Markie I knew?” he joked, pouting.  “It’s alright, I guess I just bring out the devil in you and you’ve gone soft now that I’m not around as much.”

Mark spluttered.  “Yeah, dude, definitely.  It’s all that dark magic and shit – total bad influence.”

Yuta rolled his eyes, nearly sending a knee into his table since he couldn’t see his legs for a moment.  “Oh, shut up, that ‘dark magic’ stopped you from needing crutches after you turned your ankle playing drunk badminton of all things!  Imagine explaining that to your parents.  You should be thanking me.”

Mark took a performative bow, extending a leg and outstretching his arms as if he were a 17th century gentleman.

“Thank you, your majesty,” he said.  “Although I seem to remember thanking you, like, a lot at the time.”

Yuta placed a hand over his chest.  “That’s of little importance, Markie.  Don’t you know a despot always needs his ego stroked?”

Mark looked at Yuta blankly.  “A what?”

Yuta stopped dancing to stare in dramatic disappointment.  “You’re kidding, right?”

Before Mark could answer (and Yuta knew, of course, that Mark had been dead serious), they were interrupted by the ringing of metal tapping against glass.  Yuta turned around to find Donghyuck teetering on his bed, surrounded by Yuta’s other guests.  He had a glass of something in one hand and a copper candle holder in the other, clearing his throat.

“Is this a toast?” yelled Yukhei.

“No,” Donghyuck replied, “this is a complaint.  Yuta Nakamoto: I have a personal issue with you that needs redress.”

Yuta scoffed as all his friends snickered in his direction.  “Alright, Hyuck, do tell.”

“I couldn't help noticing that Yukhei got back a week ago and you never threw him a party.  Same goes for Kunhang!" The supposedly offended parties just stood below Donghyuck, apparently surprised by their friend's little interruption. Jaemin and Jeno stood next to them, grinning with their arms tangled around each other by the edge of the bed.  Yuta could never see the two of them together without a near violent glee overcoming him at the thought that everything had worked out.  “And! And, you can't even be bothered to tune into a single one of my Twitch streams! What's up with that? You’re obviously playing favorites!”

“Hey,” Yuta began in his defense, “I’m your friend, not your teacher.  I’m allowed to have favorites.  Get your own best friend.”

“Oh, so he admits it!”

“He’s just jealous you’ve been hogging Mark all night, Yuta,” Doyoung interjected, and everyone laughed save Donghyuck, who wheeled around to glare at the source of the interruption.  He cleared his throat.

“Anyway,” Donghyuck continued, “In all seriousness, the reason everyone here agreed to attend this highly disrespectful event is because we love you, Mark, and we’re so happy you’re home.  If your being away has taught me anything, it’s that I actually do miss your dumb face and accidentally genius sense of humor, but it’s also made me appreciate those things even more when we’re together.  Don’t let Yuta keep you all to himself for the next two weeks because then I might have to challenge him to a duel, and we all know that wouldn’t end well for him.”  Everyone tittered at that except Yuta, who just crossed his arms and tried to look dispassionate.

“Well, I should be concluding, but I think if anyone else has some thoughts for Mark – or for any of the college kids for that matter since they didn't get their own parties – you should express them now.”

The group gave Donghyuck a round of applause and he took a bow, wobbling dangerously as he jumped back to the cedar wood floor.

Next it was Taeyong’s turn.  He stood where he was by Doyoung’s side rather than climb on the bed, clutching a cup in both hands and teasing Mark good-naturedly until he was a mortified mess against Yuta’s shoulder.

Kun went next, joking that he’d hired Jisung as his temporary delivery boy, so if Mark wanted to make any money over break, he’d need to scramble and get his shit together.  He concluded by telling him not to let Yukhei talk him into too many keg-stands when they’re visiting each other.  Mark shook his head like a madman, waving his hands wildly in front of him as if trying to dispossess his parents of a bad impression.

Jaehyun did get up on the bed, declaring that Mark is only in college once and should be allowed to make as many bad decisions as he wants, Kun .  Yuta found himself wondering unwelcomely exactly what kind of Bad Decisions Mark was making without him around.  As Jaehyun moved on to reminiscing about childhood days of cow-tipping, Yuta was suddenly seized by another bout of breathlessness.  It hit him like the slap of cold water in a polar plunge and made him feel as though every bit of tissue in his body was encased in plaster.  He tried to breath through it, but it only got more uncomfortable the harder he focused on the mechanics of his breathing.  Sicheng had draped himself on his side over the bed, preparing to speak no doubt, but Yuta realized guiltily he would need to miss it.  The coughing was starting in earnest.

Mark noticed.  He leaned in towards Yuta, eyes wide in genuine concern.

“You okay, man?”

Yuta nodded, covering his mouth with his fist and holding up one finger to indicate he’d return in a moment.  Then, he took off to the bathroom, the eyes of the group following him in discrete curiosity until Mark assured them all he thought Yuta was fine.

They probably just think I drank too much , he reasoned as he heaved over the sink.  He felt like he had something stuck in his chest that needed to be hacked up, but nothing arrived no matter how much he coughed.  After a few minutes of this, he stuck his head under the faucet and drank down as much water as he could manage, feeling whatever was stuck inside him being doused back down.  His breathing shallowed, but at least he didn’t have a violent need to cough anymore.  Suddenly, a terrifying thought hit him: if this was asthma, the potion he’d made earlier coupled with the prayer should have taken care of it.  What was it, then?  

He looked in the mirror as he heard Sicheng finishing up, the sound of his words filtering in through the bathroom door but not actually registering in Yuta’s brain as coherent ideas.  He thought he looked fine; his skin didn’t have a sickly pallor and his gold-dyed hair didn’t look greasy or sparse.  His eyes were a bit glassy, but Yuta attributed that to all the coughing and gagging he’d just put himself through.  He grabbed a lavender potion his mom had made him from his medicine cabinet and pressed it into the pressure points on his head and neck, trying to breath deeply as he did so.  He would ask her about it in the morning and surely, she’d know what to do.

When Yuta emerged, everyone was still milling around the bed, the quiet chatter that always signals the waning moments of a party setting in.  Mark abruptly cut off his conversation with Donghyuck and bounded over to meet Yuta on his way to the group.

“Do you feel alright?” he asked, hushed, “we were about to send someone to check on you. Need me to do anything to help?  You can direct me and I’ll make you a potion or something.  It might not be as good as one of yours but if you’re too tired –”                

Yuta forced a laugh, cutting off Mark’s cutely concerned ramble.  “No, I’m fine, thanks though.  I just felt a little nauseous for a minute there, but I’m good now.”

Mark nodded like a bobble head.  “Oh, uh, okay.  Cool.  That’s actually probably good, you know.  Now, you won’t get a hangover.”

“Yeah,” Yuta agreed, a pit forming in his stomach as he looked into Mark’s dark brown eyes.  “Probably good.”

***

Yuta awoke about two hours later in his maroon upholstered armchair, one foot extended on his coffee table right next to the bluebell and sunflower bouquet he’d picked up what seemed like days ago by now.  Most of the party had gone home, but Jaehyun and Kunhang were snoozing on the bed, Jeno and Jaemin shared whispers in the corner, and Mark lay across the sofa facing Yuta.  Yuta stood, ready to cattle-prod people out of his room if he had to.  He woke Jaehyun and Kunhang and extracted everyone from his room with as much decorum as he could muster, and once he’d made his way back to Mark, the boy had woken up from all the hushed thank-you’s and goodbyes.  His glasses were askew, and he looked around the room the way people do when they wake up somewhere they don’t remember having fallen asleep.

“Oh, hey,” he said, voice scratchy.  “Am I the last one?”

“Yeah,” Yuta confirmed, perching on the couch’s armrest, “but don’t worry about it.  I saved you for last since you’re easiest to get home.  Let me walk you?”

Mark giggled.  “You don’t have to, it’s not like I could get lost.”

“I insist,” Yuta said, smiling firmly.

They walked, exhausted, from Yuta’s lawn to Mark’s, Yuta’s flip-flop-clad feet dampened by early morning dew cold enough to make him shiver.

“Did you have fun?” he asked, as they came to pause by the hedge between their families’ properties.

“I really did,” said Mark.  “Thanks for getting everyone together on such short notice.  I’m lucky to have a guy like you for a friend.”  Mark smiled.  Sunny , Yuta thought, like real warmth was hitting him.

“Same for me about you,” Yuta reciprocated, cringing silently at his awkward phrasing. Mark didn’t seem to notice.

“By the way,” Mark added, “I forgot to say anything, but I really like the blond hair.”

“Why thank you,” Yuta said, fidgeting side to side. “This color makes me think of summer.  A lot of personal changes can happen in three months, you know.  I’m still convinced I’ll get something interesting out of you, yet.”  Mark guffawed as he took a step into his yard.  “I mean, come on, Markie,” Yuta pressed, “not even a significant other or anything?  You used to be a hot item.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, dude,” Mark said, “and if you insist on prying into that, you’re only gonna be disappointed at the lack of anything to report.”

Yuta felt the air flow freely into his lungs for the first time in hours.  He hadn’t realized how much he’d missed his best friend – or rather he hadn’t allowed himself to realize; probably because the realization hurt.  Yuta’s four years away had been a struggle, but eight was seeming like borderline cruelty.

“Fine,” Yuta offered, “I’ll not pry, then.  Let’s do something tomorrow, hm?  I have work but we can meet up after.”

“Sounds good.”

“Goodnight.”

“’Night.  Thanks again, Yuta.”  Mark started the rest of the way towards his house as Yuta waved him off.

“It was nothing.”

Yuta tidied up a bit and got ready for bed, checking his almost dead phone before turning the light off.  3:42 in the morning, oh dear .  Below the time was a short message from Mark.  “ Btw I liked the flowers in ur room.  Might get some tomorrow from ty .”

Yuta stifled a cough.

***

Yuta woke up the next morning gasping.  He was sure the only reason his body had jolted him to sitting was because he’d stopped breathing in his sleep and it was a last-ditch effort to save him.  Once he’d gathered himself and gotten mostly ready for the day, he sat at his table to do a quick tarot reading.  He shuffled his art deco set against the coffee table surface, then brought them back into a deck, settling for a one-card reading since his tired and confused mind begged him for simplicity.  He took the top card in the deck and flipped it over.  It was the ace of cups, reversed, the image showing an orange goblet ringed by water lilies around its base and crowned by rays of sunlight shining off the rim.  All of it, upside-down.

Self-love, intuition, repressed emotions … Yuta rattled off the card’s associations in a slow attempt not to be concerned by its imagery.  Self-love, intuition, repressed emotions… “repressed emotions” kept jumping out at him when he landed upon it.  Something about that made him uneasy.  Was he repressed? He took the deepest breath he could muster and slotted the cards back in their case, figuring this hunch would grow clearer the longer he lived with it.  He had to be at work soon, but wanted to ask his mom for advice about the breathing situation before he headed out, so he grabbed his soccer bag and rushed down the stairs.  The skylight above them revealed nothing but a grey sky.          

[antiracistkaren]

For Me, Christmas is Trauma

TW/CW: Death, overdose

I really didn’t want it to be that way, but it wasn’t up to me. Since I was born on Christmas, it’s really all I hear about. From birth, people wanted to really highlight the fact that I was born on Christmas Day. The nurses encouraged my mom to name me “Holly” or “Noel” but she went with something different (thank goodness). I have been asked “Do you get double Presents?” over 1 million times, and counting. I have been asked, “Oh... does it suck?” about 500,000 times.

And I heave a big sigh, every time it is brought up, and say:

If you want to know the truth, it’s complicated. I was born at 8:22 PM, and for some reason, my mom made a big deal out of the fact that it was not my birthday until 8:22 PM, and it was Christmas every minute up to that. As I got older, I really resented this, as even when family members outside of my house hold would wish me happy birthday, my mother could be heard screaming from the hills “....NOT UNTIL 8:22!”

In my teenage years, this began to truly grate on my nerves, since I had a niece and nephew who took center stage on Christmas. I loved being with them on Christmas Day, and I loved wrapping their toys, but what I didn’t love was that I couldn’t mix my birthday in and celebrate alongside them.

I asked my mom a few times about moving my birthday to my half-birthday (this is the solution that someone usually arrives at when I explain the above situation), June 25th. Mom would say, “But Dawn’s birthday is June 26th.”

Dawn. My sister was 14 years older than me. She was the mother of my niece and nephew. We had a tumultuous relationship, to say the least: when I was a kid she was fond of pinching me until I was screaming, or tickling me until I couldn’t breathe, or body slamming me on the couch, or trying to make me say something ugly to my mother (”tell mom she’s stupid!” she would whisper, and I would yell, “MOM! Dawn wants me to tell you you’re stupid.”)

To me, she was always pretty cool, although she would blow my spot up and tattle to my mother about anything. She would encourage me to drink at her house (in 6th grade), and then tell on me for it. She would allow a boy to come over and then would go out on dates, and then lied to my mother about it. That lie in particular broke our relationship: my mother hit me mercilessly and called me a liar over and over when the truth contradicted my older sister’s lie. But I can’t lie, really, especially not in emotional distress, because I am autistic. So no matter how hard I was hit, I wouldn’t change my story, which enraged my mother beyond rational capacity.

When she started doing drugs, though, she was not at all cool anymore. She had confessed to me trying oxy and saying they “felt really good,” but not liking pot because “it makes me paranoid.” She overdosed on December 26th, 2005, five years into an addiction that started with that first moment in 2000. For me, it was a moment where I kept a secret that I should have told, and for me it is a long line between this statement and the one where I was screaming “NO!” into the telephone to my mother choking out the words “Dawn’s dead.” 

You can see the issue here. My sister, who was in so much pain as a single mother she turned to drugs, died a horrific and sudden death on the day after my birthday.

And now, should I try to have a half-birthday, I am haunted on both ends. My birthday and her death juxtaposed, and a half-birthday and her birth, juxtaposed. She will forever be 36, and I will forever look back over my shoulder at her, instead of ahead of me where she should be.

Holidays during college, during the worst of her drug use, were full-on masking charades to me. I would have knots in my stomach, driving home, often having to pull over and breathe, or find a bathroom, I felt so sick. Dawn would be there, often high, with her kids looking hollow and wide-eyed. I would play with them and take them upstairs, or outside. We would make walks around the neighborhood together, and play Wii. Dawn would sometimes say something excoriating and then proceed to pass out on the couch. She would wake up and remember nothing she had said and done, cheerful and rested, a completely different than the sharp-tongued woman who had hurt me.

The Christmas Day before she died, I was so angry with her for living with another addict, for getting married again, and skipping visitation, that I refused to speak with her. I crossed my arms, shook my head no, and would not take the phone from my mother when it was my turn. Unfortunately, it was my last opportunity to say anything to her good or bad. Unfortunately, I cannot remember when I saw her before that... was it the spring before? I don’t know. It was inconsequential at that point, overshadowed by the guilt of what could have been done on Christmas Day, what I could have said to keep her alive.

So every year I mark time on a day that has never ever been about me. Another year older. Another year closer to the age when she died. And now, I move past her life. I go on without her, but I am so broken and hurt from this last year. I understand how much pain she was in, and how she died trying to numb herself from it. I understand that my passing the phone might have been the last jab she could take. I understand that it is not solely on me.

But I think about it.

So I am not really a big fan of Christmas. Having to put up decorations to the day that your sister overdosed feels fake. Celebrating and decorating are complete masks for me. If I had my way, I would take a week off from the world to think and ponder over the past year, to love on my sister’s memory in some way, and to honor the fact that I am still going. I am still fighting. And I know with confidence that I will Keep Going. Much like, even under pain, I could not lie. Even under extreme emotional distress, I cannot stop moving forward. I must move through this trauma every single year and try so hard to find the joy in it.

I know that I’m not alone in this. Trauma doesn’t care what time of year it is. The over-excited, everything-must-be-perfect, and isn’t-this-time-of-year-wonderful types of sentiments aren’t working for me. My Christmases past are morbid, tense affairs, and are mostly solemn to me. I put up the tree because custom demands that I do so for my children. 

To me, every year, it feels like I am putting sharp objects all around my house, poking at me with their bright lights and tinny sounds. Christmas is living breathing trauma for me, and I survive every year... but it feels like trauma the whole time.

[asocier]

interaction guide for leah!

last edited: april 6th, 2021

         leah overall is a very, very flexible muse, and while she’s mostly an uwu muse, she’s not always ( e.g. potty mouth, kind of aggressive/possessive with certain muses, has “kick your ass” energy even though she’s like 5′1 and cries over everything, is very lewd and can be very forward at times ). i tend to have a lot of fun with her because she’s so dimensional, but below are some good points of entry if you’re stuck or need inspiration!!

          “are you finding everything alright?” — threads that take place at leah’s workplaces ( i.e. the university bookstore or delight, the adult store ); a great way to break the ice since shopping can allow for casual conversation, big or small! retail work can be very strange as well, so there’s a lot of room for some interesting scenarios that can leave a lasting impression for leah to remember your muse by in the future. not every interaction in the adult store has to be sexual or sexually charged, either, so feel free to have some fun with the setting!

          college/university setting threads — being a university student that lives on campus in the dorms ( canonically, anyway; there’s always room for divergence! ), most of leah’s waking hours are spent doing something related to her classes or social events happening on campus. she’s usually not a big partier, but when surrounded by the right crowd, she can easily be roped right into wild parties. though she’s not the type to let herself get wasted; chances are, she’ll be the one taking care of your muse! college is full of possibilities when it comes to shenanigans, like some real wack ass shit can happen, so below are just a few general possibilities for plot ideas. studying abroad has also been my default way of sending leah out of the country, so if your muse has to be in a different country to make a storyline work, i gotchu! your muse:

takes the same classes as leah and befriends her because they sit next to her in class, are partnered up with her for an assignment, engage in group discussion with her regularly, ect. can also just be a brief meeting like an exchange of compliments ( “that’s such a cute top!” “thanks, your pencil bag is super cute, too!” )

is leah’s roommate ( plotting required since it’s canon that she lives alone!! but housing situations change frequently during college so it’s not a huge problem, just gotta work out the details )

is the teaching assistant for a class that leah is taking, so she come to them for help on assignments ( or vice versa: leah is the teaching assistant so she grades your muse’s assignments/tutors them )

a tutor in general that leah can turn to for help in exchange for cash or a different kind of payment ( food, advice, ect. this doesn’t have to be a dirty thing alksjdlkjsad )

met leah at a party and now the two of them are just party buddies or just always get into trouble whenever they hang out and party together

          celebrity/idol + fangirl; city meets country; wealthy meets poor threads — oh my god okay so listen; i really enjoy the idea of “opposites attract” with leah. like the idea of meeting a muse who is a higher status than her socioeconomically, socially, or just comes from a different background than her ( hence city meets country since leah was born in an urban area, so interacting with a muse who comes from a small town would be the opposite of her ).

anyway, leah’s the type to be really into pop culture, so keeping up with celebrities, idols, youtubers, whatever would be a past time for her, and then meeting them in real life would make her lose her shit. being in a relationship of any kind with a celebrity would make her lose her shit, and considering she lives in los angeles, it’s possible to run into one for the sake of a plot.

socioeconomically, leah’s considered low-income, maybe lower middle class ( but considering how vast the “middle class” actually is, can we really say ). as such, she’s very conscious about how she spends her money, so meeting a muse who is very well off financially would be an interesting dynamic. she always jokes about being a sugar baby or like, being a trophy wife so she doesn’t have to work, but whether that’d actually happens depends on what happens when she meets a muse with the means to make that joke a reality.  

anyway, leah teeters on the edge of being a gold digger but she probably won’t be. it’s just fun to pair her up with wealthy muses because they live such a vastly different lifestyle from her usually that she’s like “what”  

          sexcapade threads ( 18+ muns only ) -- leah is a very sex positive muse, and as such, a lot of her interactions can be smutty. taking into account her sexuality, hook-up culture on a college campus, and her freedom away from her parents, quite a few plots ( and their variations ) can happen rather easily. it’s important to note, though, that i prefer to write smut threads that either have some sort of plot to them or can lead to further development in a relationship. writing smut can get boring real quick if nothing new is introduced, but i’m okay with plotting out intimacy privately! also, sex does not always equal romance, so romantic feelings may not always develop between leah and your muse. if you are interested in shipping our muses romantically, please let me know! otherwise, i’ll assume they’re just in a casual type of relationship.

one night stands

friends with benefits

tin/der, bum/ble, or other dating apps/sites dates or meet ups

just gossiping about respective sex lives

first time meeting threads where it’s literally just leah and your muse getting it on is also acceptable, though some plotting might be required depending on the muse.

          verse/au/wishlist plots — i always love a good au. love, love, love my aus. below are a list of verses that are already “premade” on my blog that that you’re welcome to work with. i’ll go ahead and link leah’s verse page as well in case you want to read up on the basics. i do have a wishlist tag as well full of plots that may or may not work with leah. you’re definitely not limited to the verse page or the tags; if you have an idea, please don’t be shy to reach out to me! like i said, leah is very flexible. all i ask is that you respect her as a muse and don’t be weird with her. i get that she’s a very sexual muse but please ... respect her. 

angel verse — this verse is probably one of leah’s most used verses, and important details about this verse can be found here, here, and here! i highly suggest you read these posts bc a lot of her mannerisms hinges on what’s laid out in these posts, and of course you’re always welcome to ask questions if you have any!! angel verse is a good place to begin if your muse is also another supernatural creature, and considering angel leah has no qualms about visiting other realms like hell, it’s very possible for her to meet your muse one way or another.

influencer/idol/celebrity verse — considering how big on social media leah is in terms of her constant engagement with it, plots that involve her being an influencer are right up her alley, and collaborations with other muses who fit into this category are a great way for leah to interact with them! while i don’t have an official verse up for this category yet as of 04/06/21, leah’s very flexible when it comes to what she can do if she gained social media status, but what she’d most likely do involves modeling, acting, and being on youtube or streaming. 

high school verse — high school leah is very different from main verse/college leah in the sense that she’s a lot more reserved and is a lot more closeted about her sexuality. she’s still very enjoyable to interact with, but what sets high school leah apart from canon leah the most is that there’s a more prominent struggle and confusion regarding her spiritual views, and dating her in high school is almost like a chore since your muse will have to jump through hoops in order to date her if that’s something they want to do. in high school verse, leah canonically only has one boyfriend in her senior ( final ) year, but as always, i welcome divergence. your muse is even welcome to be her high school boyfriend if we plot things out ( spoiler: her high school boyfriend was a real asshole ). high school shenanigans are definitely more tame than college shenanigans, but this verse will be good for slice of life plots ( hanging out after school, doing projects together, decorating for the school dance, prom date, applying to college, ect. )

          miscellaneous plots — finally, here are some classic plots that i always love with leah. they don’t really fit into the other categories, but these are plots i don’t mind doing over and over and over again because they’re never always the same each time i write them, and these plots make leah happy too :’)

mom friend/big sister leah bc oh my god i love her with kids so much, but also she’s incredibly doting towards close friends she cares a lot about so yeah call her the mom friend™

in the same vein, pls hire her to be your main babysitter. she’d appreciate it so much bc college is so expensive

beach threads!! aquarium threads!! ocean threads!! pool threads!! leah enjoys water and ocean life, so any thread where these elements are involved really get her going. i don’t care how often she’s been to the aquarium or beach, she’ll go again.

take her on trips with you!! she loves traveling and really like the idea the freedom that comes with traveling around the world

[peachywander]

Around this time, 5 years ago, was when I first watched The 7D, and I'll tell you how I found out about it and how much it meant to me. 

It was somewhere around early-mid june 2015, aka the last days of school from 6th grade. I was in my room, bored to death because I just wanted to watch new cartoons. So I simply started browsing. But there was a liiiiittle problem... I did not like. Any. Of. Them. I thought they were either uninteresting or terrible. To give you a hint, I watched some cartoons from nickelodeon that had...nasty stuff to say the least. I was like: cartoons these days are that bad? Oh my gosh... (Mini side story, ignore if you want)

My hope for finding something new to watch was gone forever lol. I thought it'll be back when I saw Fairly OddParents again on air after like 5 years in my country. No, there were just new episodes from season 7 or 8. I grew up with FoP, but with the first 2 seasons only. Oh oh!! It's that one show I watched 5 years ago! Can't wait to rewatch it! Guess what. I found those new episodes horrible too! :) And nowhere as funny/ cute as the season 1 I grew up with... Maybe I'll watch more, who knows? Maybe it gets better, idk. "C'mon, dude, you are clearly much better than this!" And then I gave up. Y'know what? This show died. I'mma go watch season 1 later because that was miles better. Bye. (End of mini story xd) After I watched whatever I watched, I went to Disney Channel, and The 7D was on. Let's see what's this. I'm sure it won't be any better than what I've already saw. There was the Goldielocks episode, I don't really remember, but I do remember that after it, I fell for this cartoon. It was different, I really liked everything, the animation, the characters, the humour wasn't nasty like...the other shows...and reminded me of Looney Tunes or any (g)old cartoons similar. Honestly, I started my day with watching The 7D since then (I started school in the afternoon and yeah) and i was all happy n cheerful inside during the whole day. The toon really lifted my mood. The characters now. All of them are super likeable and not a single one I despise. My favourite was Bashful. During that period I used to be very shy and quiet, and I usually relate to shy characters (Like I did with Fluttershy for example), so obviously he got my attention first lol Another thing I loved about the show were the dynamic between the chars. My favourite was Grumpy and Happy's dynamic. They always made me laugh cry lmao. How could I forget about Grim and Hildy?? They were so adorable together! They reminded me of Cosmo and Wanda (in their early days on the show) as in they were sappy and always talked about how much they love eachother. I got bitter again because that cartoon got screwed kdgkfl Guess what happened when I found out about that one game on the app store? Yes. I played that game day and night lmao. Also I loved the little introductions of the chars. The love for my show got big and big, so at the end of the year I wanted to reach the fandom. And so I did. I found a lot of nice people in here! ... honestly I never expected to love Sneezy as much as I did after I joined the fandom. He was pretty popular so I was like Oh it's that sneezing dwarf that I really haven't paid attention to? I thought he's kinda cute...he really grown to be one of my fav characters. I wanted to see him do more on the show, though. I made a lot of friends in the fandom, and was also my first fandom on Tumblr. There was also an artist that drew fanart of 7D and their artstyle was so cute, and I remember I wanted my artstyle to be as cute as theirs so I just kept on drawing. And since then I got to more and more fandoms. And then I heard of the cancellation. I felt how a part of my heart broke. And I got angry, cause there should have been some 20 episodes more but they got cut because Disney had other plans. Thanks, Disney. I remember the staff got a Tumblr account and they engaged a lot with the fans, even with me. I got head over heels when they reblogged some of my posts and answered my questions. They were really nice to their fanbase! And then...it ended. Until this day I still keep on visiting old 7D posts, and get reminded of how much fun I had. And how it made me keep on drawing/ becoming the artist I am right now. It started as a relief because it wasn't as nasty as some recent cartoons I watched at that time, to something that made me cope with anxiety/sadness whenever I had it. Now I'm teary eyed lmao. I'm a very nostalgic person by nature, so I get rlly emotional of things that remind me of the past. I'm definitely gonna rewatch this show soon, I keep saying it. But it's hard to make some time because a super important exam is in less than an year for me and I have to choose wisely the college I'll go to. But when I'll do, I'll pretend I'm 12 years old again. Yeah... I-It's weird. I keep thinking, bro, I first started to watch the 7D like...2 years ago. But no. 5 years. It felt like yesterday I was 12 and preparing to go to school, and watching the 7D at the same time. So yeah, I miss the 7D. A lot. Sorry for this super long essay lmao, but I just really love this show so much. Thanks to the people who woked on 7D, the fandom and everyone involved! I'll never forget you! 💖💖💖

[ag4abroad]

Dr. Scott and the Nirvana Fish

June 6, 2020

Background

Beomeosa is located on the eastern slopes of Geumjeong Mountain (Geumjeongsan) in Northern Busan. It is considered a head temple for the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism, representing the Cheongyong-dong district. It is easily one of the Korea's best known and most visited temples.

It was founded and built by the monk Uisang in 678, the 18th year of King Munmu (rule 661-681) of the Silla Kingdom. According to legend, after an attack by Japanese forces, King Munmu had a dream where he was visited by a mountain guardian spirit. He was instructed to climb to the top of Guemjeong Mountain and pray for seven days. After obeying, the guardian spirit would impart his wisdom on how to defeat future Japanese attacks. Both King Munmu and the monk Uisang followed the command, and subsequently defeated the next Japanese attack. To give thanks for the victory, King Munmu ordered the construction of a temple which we know today as Beomeo temple (Beomeosa).  

The name Beomeosa roughly translate to "The Heavenly Fish Temple"; Beom (범) = nirvana, eo (어) = fish, and sa (사) = temple. According to another legend, at the top of Geumjeong Mountain there is a well filled with golden water that cannot go dry. Many years ago, a golden fish descended from heaven into the well, giving the water magical properties.

Most of the original Temple site was destroyed during the Imjin War (1592-1598). One exception is the Cheonwangmun Gate (second gate) housing the four guardian kings. Restoration of the temple halls and dormitories was started in 1613 by monks like Ven. Myojeon and Ven. Haemin, and continued for many subsequent years later. ​One additional hallmark of Beomeosa is the monks training in the famed martial arts discipline sunmundo. This martial art is based on Seon Buddhism; Seon = meditation or zen. Using this training, the monks of Beomeosa famously defeated Japanese invaders during the late 16th century and later as a guerrilla resistance during the Japanese occupation of Korea in the early 20th century.

The Journey​

Traveling to Beomeosa was significantly easier than other temples mentioned on my website.  The Busan subway line 1 (Orange line) literally has a stop named "Beomeosa", and clear directions from exits 5 or 7 to a special bus (Green, #90), that goes to the entrance.

The actual front entrance of Beomeosa is completely paved for cars and only about 400 meters long. Despite these amenities and scores of Korean visitors, the atmosphere was much more subdued compared to other tourist sites like Headong Yonggungsa or Bulguksa. There were also small pieces of history along the trail instead of vendors and food stalls.

Engraved rock in front of burial grounds.

Engraved rock in front of flagpole support

The Temple Entrance

The main path to Beomeosa entrance takes you through three gates and one large pavilion. Below is the information about each gate provided by displays.

Jogyemun Gate 

"The one pillar gate, or mountain gate, is the first of a number of gates built at the entrance to a temple compound. The gate Jogyemun at Beomeosa Temple is renowned as a masterpiece in Korea with its unique style of supporting the roof with four stone pillars. The gate was called a one pillar gate because when viewed from the side it looks as if one pillar holds up the roof. The gate was first built by Venerable Myojeon in 1614, the 6th year of King Gwanghaefun of the Joseon Dynasty (1392 - 1910)"

Cheonwangmun Gate

"The Cheongwangmun (Guardian Kings Gate) is usually the second entryway into the temple compound. It enshrines the "Guardian Kings" of the four cardinal directions for the purpose of protecting Buddha-dharma; North - Vaisravana, South - Virudhaka, East - Dhrtarastra, and West - Virupaksa"

Guardian kings in the second gate. Names of the statues not known. 

Burimun Gate

"The Burimun (Non-duality Gate), aka "Liberation Gate", is the last entrance gate to a temple. The term non-duality implies the Middle Way that transcends relative dualities: Being and non-being or birth and death are no different from each other. This gate was newly built during a massive reconstruction of the Bojeru Pavilion in 2012".

Bojeru Pavilion

"The Bojeru Pavilion (Universal Salvation Pavilion) is the largest hall at Beomeosa Temple and most Dharma assemblies and Buddhist rituals are held here. The current pavilion was newly built through a massive reconstruction to restore traditional architecture in 2012"

The Temple grounds

Passing through the Bojeru Pavilion leads to the actual Temple grounds. The initial area is wide open, containing a stone lantern to the left and a three-story pagoda to the right. Around the left perimeter are halls where you can sign up for one of Beomeosa's famous temple stays. Around the right perimeter are actual Temple halls including a bell tower (with a small souvenir shop underneath), Mireukjeon Hall (Maitreya or future Buddha), and Birojeon Hall (Vairocana or all-seeing Buddha).

Three-story pagoda (right side of courtyard)

Stone lantern (left side of the courtyard)

Looking straight ahead, there are three sets of stairs leading to the Daeungjeon Hall housing the statue of the Sakyamuni Buddha and two observant Bodhisattva (past, present, and future). On this higher level are smaller halls such as the incense pavilion (far right), Gwanneumjeon Hall (Avalokitesvara or Bodhisattva of compassion, right of main hall), Ksitigarbha Hall (left of main hall), Mountain God Shrine (further left), and the combination of Palsangjeon Hall (Paintings of the eight great events from Shakyamuni Buddha's life), Dokseongjeon Hall (Ven. Naban shrine), and Nahanjeon Hall (Shakyamuni Buddha and 16 Nahans or holy disciples). 

Beomeosa is always filled with people, so getting in position for pictures was kind of hard. I decided not to take that many pictures or videos of the inside of any Hall with people praying. You can check out the few pictures and videos I got at my website. 

The Future

Beomeosa was definitely one of the best temples I've visited since being in Korea. Despite being so close to civilization and always filled with Korean tourists, Beomeosa maintains a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere. The wisteria fields and Geumjeong Mountain trails are also large enough to spend a whole day exploring. After the typhoon season, I plan to revisit Beomeosa to check out their Buddhist museum (currently closed for repairs and probably COVID-19) and walk to one of the many hermitages (settlement for Buddhists to live) for additional pictures.

Check out more pictures on the main pages of the website. Follow ag4abroad on Steller, Flickr, and Instagram for updates.

사랑해!